Sermon on the Mount
“Desperate times call for desperate measures”
There are great and terrible themes in the Bible.
One great theme is slavery by way of description of the plight of many.
What imprisons you? Us?
What traps us?
What fears? Prejudices? Hatred?
Unforgiveness?
Greed?
Anger?
Addictions?
One the great themes the Bible rests on is the theme of escape. Escape from impossible situations. Like slavery. Or in the case of Jesus – death itself. Maybe an even better word than “escape” is “liberation.” Being set free because of divine “search and rescue.” Or to use an especially powerful Biblical term – “Exodus.” The rescue and liberation of a people from oppression and slavery; and into freedom to worship God and serve Him.
In short – Matthew wrote this gospel for a particular kind of person. A person under pressure. Maybe even under persecution. Actually – it’s more accurate to say he wrote it for a particular kind of church. A church under pressure and persecution. He wrote it for groups of disciples who were keen to take Jesus seriously. And the words of the Sermon on the Mount most certainly test that desire. It is very demanding. At one level there is the sense of “who can live like this” but also with the sense “this is what it takes.” And with this realisation the pressure mounts of what it really means and takes to take upon yourself the Name of Christ and be associated with Him. In the hearts burned the hope for an Exodus. For freedom and liberation. To somehow come out from under a weight of pressure and suffocating oppression and to experience the kingdom of God. Escape. Liberation.
Against these realities we come to the section of the Sermon of the Mount commonly known as the “Lord’s Prayer.” It is a tragedy of the Christian faith that for so many disciples today – it seems that these words of Jesus have lost all meaning and power. In short – the prayer is “boring”. Maybe this is one of the most telling blows satan has dealt to the church – that the only recorded prayer Jesus taught to His disciples is treated with such indifference. Of course not by all – but certainly by many. But somehow it has become domesticated, comfortable and optional. The Lord’s prayer sits at the very middle of the Sermon on the Mount. And as such – its very position is a statement. The centre of this Sermon has the image of a praying Jesus with His disciples. It is literally centre-stage in the Sermon on the Mount. Its place in the Sermon on the Mount is a statement. Its place – or lack of it – in the life of a disciple is also a statement. If it’s a regular part of your prayer life it is in keeping with the will of God. If it is absent from your prayer life, questions ought to be raised. The challenge is this: Given it is the centre piece of the Sermon on the Mount, and that it is the only prayer Jesus taught His disciples to pray – does my life reflect its prominence? If not – what Biblical reason can I give for its absence?
It is the means of making the impossible – possible. Insofar as the Sermon on the Mount is concerned – it is full of directives from God to His people. And now Jesus teaches His disciples, then and today, to make specific directives to God. Yes – “directives.” More than simple requests. The language of this prayer is strong. It is a bold prayer. From the first, when Jesus said pray “Our Father…”, there would have been a sharp intake of breath by His disciples and those who heard Him. To address God as Father would have immediately reminded them of the Exodus. Of when Israel was enslaved in Egypt for 430 years. In was then that God was revealed to them as their “Father.” To now pray in this way was to raise the hope that another Exodus was possible. That this was a prayer calling upon God as the One Who defeats the oppressor and works miracles and leads them out of darkness, hopelessness and meaningless. And with it comes a humbling sense of responsibility.
“Father” also means obedience. You don’t just pray “Father” glibly. To take that intimate name on your lips means that you are serious about what He says and asks of you. Our Father in heaven. The transcendent and almighty God – Who lives in unapproachable light and holiness – is now accessible because there is Someone Who bridges that distance. And to pray accordingly “Your Kingdom come” is to pray that the will and plan of God continues to break into this world. With all its prisons. In every dark and sinful and oppressive place. God’s plan unfolding through the life of His Son. His will is that by the Kingdom breaking in all can call Him Father. Every prisoner and slave can cry out with hope. It’s not a prayer about the kingdom being experienced in the “by and by” but in the here and now. It is a prayer of subversion and conversion.
The Lord’s Prayer ends with four pleas. They concern salvation; forgiveness; temptation, evil. Again – this part of the prayer can be intoned without enthusiasm or much interest. Consider the following moments in scripture:
- The terror and fear of the disciples in a storm (Matt 14:26-28);
- Peter sinking (Matt 14:30);
- and the desperation of the Canaanite woman crying out "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.”" (Matthew 15:22)
These incidents are worded in the same desperate way that the 4 last petitions of the Lord’s Prayer are worded. They last part of the Lord’s Prayer is to be prayed with the same desperation and urgency. In fact – they have a demanding quality about them. “Give us these things right now!” It sounds rude and irreverent even. And it is the way Jesus taught His disciples to pray.
“Give us this day our daily bread” means “Give us tomorrow’s bread today.” This part of the prayer is calling upon God’s salvation in every way to come now. That the promises of the future would be experienced today. It is a defiant prayer in the midst of evil. Like “He prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies”; like “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” “Give us today our daily bread” is about the nearness of God. “Forgive us our debts” has the sense of a debt too large to be repaid. This is the only place in the New Testament where sin is equated with debt. It is a cry for divine mercy from the most terrible of enslavement. This word “debt” appears in a chilling way later in the Gospels.
In John 19:7 Jesus is on trial. And those accusing Him say “"The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because He has claimed to be the Son of God.”" In Greek “ought” is the same word as “debt.”
“He is “indebted” and death is the payment.” We have been cleared of an insurmountable debt. How does that translate to those who are indebted to us? Do we build prisons for others? Exasperate their own suffering and remorse.
The next desperate cry is "Lead us not into temptation." The church this Gospel was first sent to was suffering the temptation to fall away. But they, and we, have a pioneer of our faith. A pattern to follow. One Who was tempted in the wilderness; resisted attempts to make Him king after feeding the 5000; resisting Peter’s encouragement to turn away from the Cross; resisting the temptation to give up in Gethsemane; and to come down from the Cross when He was taunted to do so. Do you resist temptation that passionately and desperately?
Do you pray this prayer with heart when you are tempted to succumb to failure or success at the cost of what it means to be a faithful disciple of Christ’s?
The last petition (“deliver us from evil”) can be paraphrased, "Dear Father, this one request grant us: preserve us from falling away from You." For those in need of liberation. Who are trapped and imprisoned. Who are being assaulted by evil. Who are being overwhelmed by evil and their grasp on God is slipping.
“Deliver us from evil!”
Presented By: Rev. Geoff New