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For seven weeks we have been
unfolding some of the deeper meaning in the Lord’s Prayer,
phrase by phrase. Today we come to the final doxology of the
prayer: “For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory
forever.”
Two questions are always present
with this prayer. The first one we have already dealt with.
Why do some people say “trespasses”, others say “debts” and
still others say “sins”? But the second question is this: why
don’t Roman Catholics finish the prayer? If you were in a
Roman Catholic church this morning and you prayed the Lord’s
Prayer, you would end with the words “and lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Sometimes when I am
officiating at weddings I feel like I am finishing the Lord’s
Prayer solo; I can only conclude that there are many Roman
Catholics in the congregation.
It is quite possible that the
closing of the Lord’s Prayer was a faith addition by the early
church. That’s why it appears as a footnote in your Bible.
Johann Sebastian Bach is said to have always had a little
footnote after every piece he composed. He wrote in very small
letters, “SDG”—which means, in Latin, “To God alone be the
glory.”
Maybe this part of the Lord’s
Prayer is a footnote, but it is certainly a majestic closing.
It echoes the words of King David in I Chronicles 29:11.
Yours, O Lord, are the
greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the
majesty…yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as
head above all.
For thine is the kingdom and the
power and the glory forever. Those are not only great words
with which to end the prayer; they are also great words with
which to proclaim the message of Easter Day.
WORDS OF CONTINUITY
First, they are words of great
continuity. They remind us that God is always in charge, no
matter what happens. God was present at the beginning, is
present throughout life, and will be present at the end.
I read a story about a pastor
who had the reputation of being out of the office more than he
was in. Every time he returned there was a stack of those pink
slips saying something about “while you were out.” One day a
member of the staff decided to leave a very special message.
When he returned he found this note on the pink slip: “While
you were out Constantine converted to Christianity, Martin
Luther spearheaded the Reformation, Wesleyan revivals broke
out in England, and William Jennings Bryan won the Scopes
trial.”
I suppose there is a subtle
message in that note, but one message is clear: God is at the
beginning, and God is at the end of human history.
Raymond Calkins writes:
When all looks like winter,
we know that there are infinite forces at work that can and
will bring to life all that is best in humanity and in the
world. We have the romantic hope that is not based on a
secular appraisal of life, but rather has its source in the
energizing power of God…Who shall not be satisfied until the
kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of
his Christ.
Thine is the kingdom, the power,
and the glory forever.
Forever is God’s word,
and it is a difficult word for us to comprehend. There was
once a contestant in the “Miss USA” contest who was asked the
question, “If you could live forever, would you want to, and
why?” Her answer was very strange. This is what she said: “I
would not live forever, because we should not live forever.
Because if we were supposed to live forever, we would then
live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would
not live forever.”
Forever is a mysterious
word, but it is a part of the continuity of God.
WORDS OF COMFORT
Secondly, the final words of the
Lord’s Prayer bring great comfort. At age 64, Sigmund Freud’s
26-year-old daughter died. He wrote to a friend, “I do not
know what more there is to say. It is such a paralyzing event
which can stir no afterthoughts when one is not a believer.”
This text in the Lord’s Prayer brings words of comfort. When
death is close, when tragedy strikes, we say these words.
I remember some years ago when a
colleague of mine died very prematurely of kidney cancer. His
son wrote about the final moments in the hospital. He said,
“When Dad drew his last breath, we joined hands around his bed
and sang the Doxology. It was not great music, but it meant a
great deal at that moment.” Like the Doxology, the closing of
the Lord’s Prayer brings great comfort.
I don’t think I have to tell you
that we live in a time of increased vulnerability. I believe
our national leadership needs to acknowledge this more than
they do. We should not avoid the reality of the time in which
we live. Some of the presumed safety we long took for granted
can no longer be presumed.
As Christians, however, we can
stand tall even in this acknowledgment. The kingdom, the
power, and the glory belong forever to God.
WORDS OF CONFIDENCE
Thirdly, these words in the
prayer bring confidence and assurance. Assurance is a big word
in the United Methodist tradition. It was an important word to
John Wesley.
There is a story about the
change in location for one of our United Methodist bishops. At
the reception held in his honor in the area from which he was
leaving, there were huge flowers and baskets on the head
table. One of the flowers had a bow on it that said simply,
“Rest in peace.” When the bishop asked his host about the
strangeness of that message, the host simply replied, “Oh,
don’t worry, Bishop. Somewhere across town in a funeral parlor
somewhere there's a basket with the words on it, “Good luck in
your new location.”
Confidence is a great deal more
than luck. Madeleine L’Engle writes,
During my journey through
life I have moved in and out of agnosticism and even atheism,
as I become bewildered by what humankind has done to God…but I
cannot live for long in this dead end world, but return to the
more open places of my childhood’s intuitive love of God,
where I know that all creatures are the concern of God, who
created the galaxies and who nevertheless notes the fall of
each sparrow. And from the darkness I cry out: God! And it is
enough.[i]
A friend of mine tells a story
of a young wife and mother who called him for an appointment
for her and her husband. When they came to his office it soon
became apparent that their marriage was in a fragile state.
The problem was traced to the wife’s overwhelming fear of
death. She had suppressed it since childhood, when her father
had died suddenly and later when her older brother had lost
his life in a boating accident. The buried fear had been
reawakened, however, after their marriage, and then after the
two children were born it became a sheer obsession for the
woman.
If her husband was late coming
home from work, panic set in and she concluded that something
terrible had happened to him. She hovered over him and tried
to keep him from water-skiing and scuba diving because she was
convinced that he, like her brother, would drown. The husband
had tried his best to handle her irrational anxiety, but he
had gradually distanced himself from her and was considering
leaving her. He was also concerned for the children, whom the
mother had made prisoners of her fear. She never let them out
of her sight. Many nights she ended up sleeping on the floor
beside their cribs lest something happen to them as they
slept.
My friend finally persuaded her
to seek professional help. He continued to meet with her
regularly to talk about her spiritual life and her faith in
God. This is what he wrote in conclusion:
“I shall not forget the
wonderful day when the breakthrough came for her, when she was
released from her sense of terror, when she could entrust
herself and her family to God’s love. Nor shall I forget the
following Easter morning when I looked into her radiant face
as she stood beside her husband and they both sang, through
their tears, “Crown Him the Lord of
life, who triumphed o’er the
grave… His glories now we sing, who died and rose on high, who
died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.”[ii]
She began living this side of
Easter in the joyful freedom of love and its eternal
possibilities.
Thine is the kingdom, the power,
and the glory forever.
WORDS OF CONVICTION
Finally, these words in the
Lord’s Prayer are words of conviction. Conviction moves beyond
confidence. It is something even stronger.
Desmond Tutu, retired bishop of
South Africa, says, “In the middle of our faith is the death
and resurrection of Jesus. Easter happened, and forever we
have become prisoners of hope.”
The conviction is reflected in
the Chapel Choir anthem for today. The opening words of the
anthem are, “He is alive.” Notice how each word is emphasized
separately: “HE is alive, he is ALIVE, he IS alive.”
Remember the great passage in
the 8th chapter of Romans. Paul says, “I am sure
that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ
Jesus our Lord.” Paul does not mean here that he is almost
persuaded, or gently persuaded. He does not mean here that he
is pretty positive or fairly positive. The words literally
mean, "I am absolutely convinced that nothing can separate
us.” That’s conviction.
Yesterday we had a memorial
service for Nancy Conover, a member of this church for over 40
years. I had several remarkable conversations with her before
her death. She shared her absolute convictions without any
fear. Her final weeks were a lesson on how Christians face
death. They face it with conviction. “For God’s is the kingdom
and the power and the glory forever.”
Somewhere there was a seminary
professor who was greatly loved and respected by not only the
student body, but by his colleagues. One day word came to the
campus that his only son had been killed in a motorcycle
accident. The professor dropped out of sight for a while.
People really didn’t know where he was. After about three
weeks he returned to the campus. He addressed the student body
with these words: “Ladies and gentlemen, I can report to you
that I have been to the bottom. But I can also report to you
that the bottom is solid.”
That’s conviction. We are a
people who come together this Easter Day to announce and to
remember that the bottom is solid. For God’s is the kingdom
and the power and the glory forever. Thanks be to God.
[i]
Madeleine L’Engle, The Irrational Season.
[ii]
Thanks to Don Shelby, retired from FUMC, Santa Monica, CA
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