In the last several sermons on the Lord's Prayer, our focus has been
on God. He is our heavenly Father, we pray that his kingdom will come
among us, and that his will will be accomplished on earth as in heaven.
These three petitions reminds us to always put God first both in life
and in our prayers. Beginning today we come to the last three petitions
which are focused on us, on our needs and requests.
"Give us this day our daily bread". Do you remember when was the
last time you prayed asking God to give you your daily bread? We must
have prayed for a job, a good job, or a car, a house; but daily bread?
In our affluent society, some times we may have lost sight of this
petition's significance. Certainly very few of our younger generation
would understand its meaning.
In order to understand, we need to take a look at the audience of
that first century. Who were they and what did they hear?
It was an agricultural society. Many of the laborers worked in the
field. They got paid at the end of the day, after work. The wage was
minimum, just enough for one day's food, therefore no money was left
for savings. If one crop failed, then disaster would follow. So, living
under such circumstances, "Give us this day our daily bread" were
certainly no empty words.
So, what does it mean for us today?
I. God is the ultimate giver of good.
In the temples I have visited in HK and China, I find most of the
gods' statues are fierce looking. As if they are always angry at someone
or something. Therefore in our folk religions we do our best to please
the gods. We try to accumulate good works or to give whatever money
we have, so the gods would show favor and be good to us. It's a fearful
and uncertain relationship.
Yet in this prayer Jesus taught us, he wanted us to know the God
we pray to is our heavenly father. He is good and kind, holy, yet
merciful, just, but full of grace. Because he is a good heavenly father,
we can come to him and ask him to give us our daily bread. Even though
we do not any of the good, yet He is a good God who gives us what
is good for us.
In Matthew 7:9-11, Jesus told the story of an earthly father. Even
with our sinfulness and shortcomings, we parents want to give our
children what is good. How much more so our father in heaven who wants
to give good gifts to his children.
In James 1:17, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming
down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like
shifting shadows."
These passages tell us that while we live in this sinful and broken
world, a world full of sorrow and hardship, our Father in heaven is
the ultimate source of every good.
With this truth, we can boldly come to him and ask for our daily
bread.
II. God cares for us Physically.
In the early church, there was the heretical teaching saying that
since God is a spirit, therefore our spirit is good and the body is
evil. Consequently we can either abuse or let the body do whatever
it wants. Only the spirit is important. But here Jesus is saying,
"give us this day our daily bread". Bread is physical. Its purpose
is to meet the physical needs of the body. Yes, God cares for our
soul, but he also cares for our body.
Take a look at Jesus. He healed the sick. When people had followed
him for 3 days listening to his teaching, he was very much concerned
if they had anything to eat. Then look at this creator God. He came
into the world and took the form of a human body and lived among us
for almost 33 years. God does care for our body, our physical needs.
1. Basic necessities.
So what is bread to us? To the 1st century listeners, bread meant
their basic necessity, what they needed to survive and live. This
includes food, clothing and shelter. A father or mother cares for
their children's physical needs and a master cares for his servants
needs. When we say, "give us this day our daily bread", we are being
reminded that our God will take care of our basic needs.
Certainly it is increasingly difficult to discern what is basic needs.
What used to be considered as luxury items, such as a washing machine,
TV and VCR is now a necessity. Living in this affluent society, we,
especially our children get confused between needs and wants. Oh,
I really need that 72" HDTV. Is that a need or a want?
Greed is one unique characteristic of our society. There is no end
to wanting more. Wanting a bigger car, a bigger house, a new and more
updated equipment. The line between necessity and nicety, need and
want has become almost invisible. Two years ago, I was shopping for
a basic reliable transportation car. Looking at my credit report,
the salesman said, "your credit is very good, you can buy any car
you want, even the most expensive one in our lot." Tempting, wasn't
it. The credit company said I can afford any car I want, but do I
need it?
So often we ask God to give us the niceties in life. But is it necessary?
This prayer teaches us to ask for the necessities in life. He will
listen and give us what is needed. As you look back, is there a day
or a week that God has not taken care of your basic needs?
I like this prayer in Proverbs: Proverbs 30:8-9, "Keep falsehood
and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give
me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown
you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and
so dishonor the name of my God." In other words, "lord, give me what
I need, and you know what they are."
2. Spiritual needs.
Besides our physical needs, there is also the spiritual needs. Such
as our need for permanence, moral direction and relationship. On several
occasions, Jesus claims that he is the bread of life, the living water.
He is the one who can truly satisfy our deep spiritual needs. Yes,
we need the Christian community to affirm permanence, moral direction
and relationships. But we can be disappointed by fellow Christians
too. For this reason, we need to draw near to God, for he alone can
satisfy both our physical and spiritual needs.
III. God cares for us Daily.
Now let us take a look at this word, "daily". A simple word, right?
The word 'daily' is rarely used in the Greek language. It is found
only in this prayer. Part of this word was found in an ancient Papyri.
It appears to mean: of the day that is coming. If it is said in the
morning, it means; we ask for the food for the day that is coming.
If in the evening, it means tomorrow. Jesus teaches us to ask for
food for this coming day. So how about tomorrow or day after tomorrow?
In verse 34, "do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
about itself. Each day had enough trouble of its own. That is, live
one day at a time. Don't worry about tomorrow, over events or circumstances
that we cannot control. Why? Because this loving heavenly father will
see to it that our daily needs are met.
What does it mean to us? In some societies, there is the family system
in which the younger generation will take care of their aging parents.
I am always touched to see how some of you faithfully and lovingly
take care of your aging parents so they don't have to worry about
what to eat and wear. However, such family system and support is increasingly
less and rare to find.
For those of us living in this culture and society, the needs of
tomorrow are often met through planning and saving what we have. If
you live in this country and say, "Jesus teaches me not to worry about
tomorrow, so I don't need any kind of insurance; health, car or life."
Since he is going to provide my daily needs, therefore I don't need
to plan or save for my later years. God will provide. In this society,
such thoughts are dangerous and rather irresponsible.
As God has given us more than what we need for today, it becomes
our responsibility to plan and save for the future days. However,
it is also important not to be overly wrapped up in our planning.
The 911 attack, recession and Enron collapse have taught us how unreliable
our material possessions are. Yes, we do our best to plan, but we
need to constantly remind ourselves that God is the ultimate provider.
IV. God cares for OUR daily bread.
Again, we come to this familiar concept. The Lord's Prayer is a community
prayer. It is OUR Father in Heaven, give US today OUR Daily Bread,
forgive US OUR sins, Lead US not into temptation but deliver US from
the evil one. When I pray for my daily bread, I am also praying for
the daily bread of others around me.
If we would shrink the entire world population into a village of
100 people, with every thing in the right ratio, this is what we have:
59 Asians, 15 Europeans, 9 South and central Americans, 11 Africans
and 6 US and Canadians. However, 59% of the world wealth is found
in North America. According to a 1998 UN report, there are 500 million
people starving. One Sudanese Christian asked this on a Christian
TV station, "how can the Americans ignore us who are starving?" Many
of us have gone overseas to some third world or underdeveloped countries.
What is the common statement we made upon our return? "We are so blessed
in this country. We just take so many things for granted." So we become
more diligent in praying for them. We pray that God will also give
them their daily bread. Is this enough? I don't think so.
You remember the story about the rich man in Luke 12:13-21. What
is the issue here? Is it wealth? No. Look at how many times the word
"my" appeared. Its nothing but my, my, my……. And Jesus said, "you
fool…"
So when I pray that God will give us our daily bread, it also tells
me of my responsibility to the poor and the starving. Some simple
suggestions:
1. Simple lifestyle.
You remember when you first come here as a student, you were making
about $200 or $300 a month. With the first job, it was a 3 or 4 fold
increase of your take home salary. Yet for some reasons, we never
seemed to have enough extra money. You see, the more money we had,
the higher was our standard of living. We spent more money on our
house or car. We wanted to get the best we can afford, thus tying
up our cash in endless monthly payments. So we never seemed to have
the money we needed to help others.
We need to ask before every major purchase: do we need this? We don't
have to use all the money we have. Even as our salary keeps going
up, our living standard does not have to keep going up. Yes, we may
afford that $10,000 a month mortgage, but is it necessary? In an affluent
society, a simple life style is a powerful witness for the God who
cares for all.
2. Be proactive in helping the needy.
When we maintain a certain standard of living, we will begin to have
more money to help others. In January, we learn that for as little
as $28 a month, we can help a child in some part of the world so he/she
would have decent clothes to wear, food to eat and school to go to.
To many of us, $28 a month is really not that much, isn't it? But
this $28 can certainly go a long way in some countries. In January,
over 30 families took part in sponsoring different children in different
countries. We don't have to wait till next January to sponsor a child.
We can do it today. On the table by the main entrance, we still have
some brochure on Compassion International and the contact person in
our church, Patrick Chong.
Besides sponsoring a child, we can also give financially to various
organizations to help the poor and starving in different parts of
the world. World Vision has been a leader in this ministry and is
certainly a worthwhile organization to support.
Give us this day our daily bread, is also a request that reminds
us of our responsibility to those in physical need. Conclusion:
After Jesus' resurrection, one early morning he was with the disciples
by the sea. After breakfast, he and Peter took a little stroll by
the shore. You remember earlier that Peter had denied Jesus 3 times.
As they walked, Jesus asked Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly
love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love
me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep."
What did Jesus associate loving him with? To feed his people. Certainly
in this context it is a reference feeding God's children with the
Word. But the principle is quite clear, isn't it? Feeding and loving
go hand in hand.
This is what this prayer is all about. Give us this day our daily
bread. Yes, it teaches us to trust God for our daily needs, not to
take things for granted. What is even more important is that it tells
us that our heavenly father loves and cares for us, he is able to
answer such requests in a most faithful way.
