Scripture: Luke 11:1-4
1Jesus 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.’ 2He said to them, ‘When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as in heaven. 3Give us each day our daily bread. 4And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us into temptation, but rescue us from evil.
Sermon: “Lord, Teach Us To Pray”
M: We are going to do a dialogue sermon that explores the meaning of the Lord’s prayer. This dialogue was originally written around 35 years ago by a seminary classmate of mine, Rev. Charlie Bark. It has since been revised and adapted over the years by my mentor, Rev. Maren Tirabassi, and myself. And, 4 years ago a writer in the church I served in Manchester, New Hampshire, Gary Trahan, offered some new edits.
This dialogue is like a little play. I will play the part of a person who is saying her prayers before she goes to bed at night.
M: “Our Father, who art in heaven —“
God: Yes.
M: Don’t interrupt me. I’m praying.
God: But you called me!
M: Called you? I didn’t call you. I’m praying. “Our Father, who art in heaven —“
God: There, you did it again.
M: Did what?
God: Called me. You said, “Our Father, who art in heaven.” Here I am, though sometimes I’m more like a mother, but that’s another story … So, what’s on your mind?
M: Look, I didn’t mean anything by it. I was, you know, just saying my prayers for the day. I say the Lord’s prayer before I go to bed. Makes me feel good. Kind of like getting my work done.
God: All right then, go on.
M: “Hallowed be thy name—“
God: Hold it. What did you mean by that?
M: By what?
God: “Hallowed be thy name?”
M: It means… it means… Good grief, I don’t know what it means. How should I know? It’s just part of a prayer. By the way, what does it mean?
God: It means honored, respected, holy, wonderful, blessed, yada yada yada…
M: Hey, that makes sense. I never thought about what “hallowed” meant before. Can I continue?
God: Sure.
M: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
God: Do you mean that?
M: Sure, why not?
God: What are you doing about it?
M: Doing? Nothing, I guess. I just think it would be kind of nice if everyone down here on earth let Love rule their lives—like it does up there in heaven. Well, I assume …
God: Does love rule your life?
M: Well, I go to church.
God: That’s not what I asked you. What about that habit of gossiping that you have?
M: What?
God: And the way you lose your temper with your husband?
M: Huh? …
God: You’ve got a problem there.
M: I don’t think so…
God: And the way you often compare yourself to other people and wish you were more like them—instead of being happy with the way I made you.
M: Hey! Stop picking on me! I’m not as bad as some other people I could name—like Tim Danielson or Scott Kwarta, why don’t you go pick on them?
God: Excuse me. I thought you were praying for my will to be done. If that is to happen, it will have to start with the ones who are praying for it. Like you, for example.
M: Oh, all right. I guess I do have some things to work on in my life. Now that you mention it, I could probably think of a few other things I could change.
God: So could I.
M: Okay, okay. I admit I haven’t thought about it very much until now. But, I would like to cut out some of those things. I really would. I want to feel better about myself.
God: Then let me help you be a better self.
M: Okay. Okay.
God: Good, now we’re getting somewhere. We’ll work together, you and I. Transformation is possible. I am proud of you for being willing to start on this journey.
M: Look, Lord, no offense, but I need to finish up here. This is taking a lot longer than it usually does. “Give us this day our daily bread.”
God: You could stand to cut down a little on the bread. I’ve seen you on the scale.
M: Hey, wait a minute. What is this, “Criticize me day?” I’m praying — I’m telling you what Jesus told us you want to hear. This is not supposed to be a conversation!
God: Praying is a dangerous thing. You could wind up changed, you know. That’s what I’m trying to get across to you. YOU called ME, and here I am. Ha! “I am.” I should write that down. … I can never find a pen when I need one. Be that as it may, it’s too late to stop now. Keep praying. I’m interested in the next part of your prayer—[PAUSE]—well, go on.
M: I’m too scared.
God: Scared of what?
M: I know what you’ll say.
God: Try me and see.
M: [SPEAKING QUICKLY, TO GET IT OVER WITH] “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”
God: Cough, cough … ahem …
M: What?
God: What about your “old friend” LuLu?
M: See! I knew it. I knew you’d bring her up! Lord, she’s told lies about me, she says one thing to my face and another thing behind my back. She borrowed money from me two years ago and hasn’t returned a cent. I have a right to be mad, and, boy, do I want to get even!
God: But your prayer? What about your prayer? (PAUSE.) Forgiving debts?
M: I didn’t mean it.
God: At least you’re honest. But it’s not much fun carrying that heavy weight of bitterness around inside you, is it?
M: No. But I’ve been working on some “plans” for good ol’ LuLu… She’ll wish she’d treated me differently! I’ll feel better after I get even.
God: No you won’t. Let me tell you a secret: you won’t feel any better. You’ll feel worse. Revenge isn’t sweet. Think of how unhappy you already are about this. Think about how much time and energy you’re wasting on someone you don’t even like anymore. Think about how LuLu, in effect, has taken over your life. But I … we … can change all that.
M: We can? How?
God: Forgive LuLu. Then I’ll forgive you. Then the anger and the sin will be LuLu’s problem, and not yours. You may never get your money back, but you will have settled your heart.
M: But, Lord, I can’t forgive LuLu!
God: Then I can’t forgive you.
M: Woah. Wait a minute. What do you mean by forgiveness? Do you mean forgive and forget? Do you want me to continue giving LuLu money and let her take advantage of me? Do you want me to be a doormat and let people walk all over me?
God: You know I don’t want you to be a doormat. I made you to be a person of dignity, worthy of respect, so you must respect yourself. However, You need to let go of the anger and bitterness—it’s eating you up inside. That is what I mean by forgiveness—letting go of the bad feelings and getting on with your life.
M: Okay. You’re right… You always are. To be honest, I still want to get back at LuLu …
God: I know.
M: … but more than that, I want to be the person you want me to be.
God: And that’s not a doormat. That’s a welcome mat.
M: Perspective.
God: Perspective.
M: I’ll try to let go—I’ll try to forgive LuLu—but you’ll have to help me.
God: I will.
M: … And maybe you could help LuLu, too. Help her to find the right road in life. She’s bound to be pretty miserable and lonely, now that I think about it. Anyone who does the things that she does to other people must feel pretty bad inside. I don’t think she has any real friends. Maybe somehow, some way, you could show her a better way to live.
God: There now! Wonderful! That was a lovely prayer—right from the heart! How do you feel?
M: Well, not bad. Actually, I feel pretty good. I think I might even sleep better tonight. I haven’t been sleeping well lately; I guess the grudge against LuLu has been keeping me awake. Maybe I won’t feel so tired when I get up in the morning!
God: Bingo! (Pause.) Sorry, I’m multi-tasking. Now, you still have a prayer to finish. Go on.
M: Okay. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
God: Good! Good! I’ll do that. Just don’t put yourself in a place where you can be tempted.
M: What do you mean by that?
God: I mean, those frequent trips to the Mall where you buy too many things that you don’t need; or how about your tendency to call in sick for work because you’ve stayed out too late the night before with your friends; and what about that little — ahem — “typo” on your taxes?
M: I can explain—
God: No need. I understand.
M: You do? I’m not sure I do.
God: Sure you do. Let me explain. You get into bad situations, into trouble, and then you come to me, saying, “Lord, help me out of this mess, and I promise you, I’ll never do it again.” You remember some of those bargains you’ve tried to make with me?
M: Yes, don’t remind me. I’m feeling bad about it, now that you bring it to my attention.
God: Which bargain comes to mind?
M: You want me to say it out loud? Don’t you know?
God: Yes, I do. But humor me.
M: The time I borrowed my sister’s new sports car, without asking, when she was away for the weekend, and I got a little scratch on the door, and I remember praying to you, “Lord, don’t let her notice the scratch, and I promise I’ll be in church on Sunday.”
God: She didn’t notice the scratch, but you didn’t keep your promise, did you?
M: No—and I’m sorry, I really am. Up until now, I thought that if I just prayed the Lord’s prayer every night, then I would have fulfilled my religious obligation and that would be that. I didn’t expect you to actually get involved!
God: Go ahead and finish your prayer.
M: “For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
God: Do you know what would bring me glory? What would make me happy? Truly happy?
M: No, but I’d like to know. I want to make you happy. I can see that I’ve been pretty much doing what I want without thinking about what you would have me do, and living like this hasn’t made me happy. Not really.
God: The light dawns.
M: I think I would be better off—I think I would even enjoy my life more—if I were following you … more closely.
God: You just answered the question.
M: I did?
God: Yes, the thing that would bring me “glory” — I’m using air quotes here — is to have more people like you truly love me. To consider me. To think of me. And I see that happening between you and I. Now that some of these old habits — actually, I call them sins — are out of the way, well, there’s no telling what we can do together.
M: Lord, let’s see what we can make of me, okay?
God: Yes, let’s see.
M: So that was our dialogue—a different perspective on the Lord’s Prayer. I thank Sue Borchard, who played the part of God so well! J
We hope that it will give a deeper meaning to those familiar words that we are so used to saying—because, often, when we are in the habit of saying something a lot, we don’t take the time to reflect on what the words actually mean.
So, now, we invite you to say the Lord’s Prayer with us.
Our Father, who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy Name
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts
As we forgive our debtors`
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. AMEN
Rev. Dr. Marlayna Schmidt
Susan Borchard
Franklin Federated Church
Franklin, MA
September 6th, 2020