Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread
Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Savoir Jesus Christ.
Today we are continuing our series on the Lord's Prayer with the fourth petition Give us this day our daily bread.
In the Small Catechism Luther wrote:
Give us this day our daily bread.
What does this mean?
God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.
What is meant by daily bread?
Daily bread includes everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.
If we listen to Luther's explanation it seems that our lives are going to be full of wonderful things. In fact Luther isn't saying that at all.
There are definitely many wonderful things in this world that we may have a fancy car, a big house, and plenty to eat. Not to mention all the toys available to young and old. Dolls, trucks, iPhones, Wii, Xbox, a boat, an airplane, and the lists go on and on. There are many in this world blessed with these things but many more that are not.
Is it wrong for us to have some of these luxuries while others don't? The answer to the question is an if. If we recognize what we have is a gift from God and are thankful for His blessings then the answer is no. If on the other hand we believe we are a self-made individual that whatever we accumulate is of our own doing then it is wrong for us to have these things.
In fact if we are thankful for God's blessings then we should willingly and joyfully share what we have. Sharing our abundance is in a measure God's way of providing for the less fortunate of this world. The tithe of the Old Testament was to recognize that God's mercy and grace on the people provided all that they had. That tithe supported the Levites who ministered to the people. Today when people think of tithe it most often brings to mind negative thoughts. Perhaps because of abuses in the church at large.
I think the resistance is a little deeper than just blaming the abuses of past and present. Although it sounds like a good excuse not to tithe that's really all it is an excuse. That's not to say everyone is a financial position to tithe starting today but rather we can work toward it. I think that the resistance is due to an American if not Western cultural view; I earned it its mine. Even deeper still the selfishness of sin tries to blind us to the goodness of God.
Linda and I attended a Crown Ministries training course and I think one of the most interesting thoughts to come out of that course is that we have difficulty tithing because we aren't good stewards of the 90 percent God allows us to keep. Think about that for a moment God blesses us with 100% he asks that we joyful return 10% in thanksgiving and allows us 90% to use for ourselves. I think that it's a pretty good deal and a proper way to look at the blessings we receive. Whether it's us as individuals, families, congregations, or a nation doesn't matter, at every level we must look at our blessings as 100% from God.
The key here in this petition is that everything does come from God and He blesses us because He loves us. And by what we see in scripture our attitude toward Him and His gifts has plenty to do with the blessings we receive.
Our gospel reading today is a continuation of last week's instructions to the twelve disciples sent out to minister to the suffering people. If you remember they were told to take nothing with them. The needs of the disciples were taken care of during their journeys. Jesus added that they needed to give freely as they had received freely.
Jesus cared deeply for their physical needs and made sure they were met. As we learn this week Jesus warns that not all experiences will be pleasant for His followers. Jesus tells them not to be afraid of those who can harm the body and not the spirit. Anyone can hurt our bodies; we see the evidence of that in the media everyday. Only one can harm our soul and Jesus is there to protect His followers from Satan.
Jeremiah's laments remind of Jesus' warnings. In the reading Jeremiah lashes out at God. He exhibits all of the human emotions anyone in his shoes would experience.
Jeremiah was placed in a tough situation. Israel was destroyed and Judah was about to fall. The once great kingdom under David was split into two kingdoms and then destroyed, the people taken into exile. The people had tuned away from God and worshipped idols. Jeremiah was the prophet at the fall. He was given the task to call the people to repentance and warn of the pending destruction of Judah.
Jeremiah may have felt betrayed, possibly thinking he was put in a situation that was sure to end in failure. The people didn't want to hear his call to return to God; instead they were turning against Jeremiah. He felt He couldn't trust anyone around him and perhaps abandoned by God.
Through all of this Jeremiah ends his lament with praises to God. Jeremiah was cared for despite the difficult circumstances he found himself in. Further Jeremiah continued to do the tasks God asked of him and ministered to the people even when they turned a deaf ear.
We may not ever be placed in such peril or persecuted for our beliefs. Even if that were to come we can be confident God will provide for us on a daily basis. Whether it's financial, food, clothing, mentoring, or any other part of our time and treasures we are asked to give joyfully in thanksgiving to God for the wonderful blessings we have received.
Freely we have received, freely we give.
In the name our Risen Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
