Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Today’s Reading  |  Luke 11:1–13        
He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.” And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (NRSV)

Reflection
When we first set out on this Lenten journey of ours, Luke made certain we had our bearings. We are traveling a landscape of kingdoms: we have King Herod of Judea in the opening words of chapter 1. Then there is Emperor Augustus and Quirinius governor of Syria. Moving from births to public ministry, we discover that Tiberius is Emperor, Pontius Pilate is governor of Judea, Herod is ruler of Galilee, and Philip is ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias is ruler of Abilene.

Against the backdrop of that very clear power structure, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray to their God “Your kingdom come.” What bold, defiant words for those who follow Jesus to utter. To proclaim. Words that give voice to what Jesus has been showing us all along this journey: that true power lies in feeding the hungry, healing the hurt, forgiving sins, welcoming the outcast, loving the neighbor, not passing by on the other side. That is Luke’s picture of God’s kingdom come. It is a kingdom in which we see, writes N. T. Wright, “God revealed in the inglorious glory of the manger, in the powerless power of the cross.”

It is a kingdom that orients and locates us not just in where and what but just as importantly, for Luke, in when: “In the days of King Herod.” “While Quirinius was governor.” “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor.” And “Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread.”—or in the Greek translation, tomorrow’s bread, that language for the grace-filled abundance of the messianic banquet, where all are welcome and all are fed. This day.

To that we, the body of Christ, are called, that it might be so each day on earth as it is in heaven.

Prayer
Thine is the kingdom, O God, the power and the glory. Now. And forever. Amen

Written by Ann Rehfeldt, Director of Communications

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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