Store Up Treasures In Heaven

Introduction

            Somewhere along the line most of us have money problems. Sometimes there is too much month left at the end of our money. Sometimes we are not sure how we will handle a big bill or an unexpected expense. Sometimes we are not certain how to handle our investments. Sometimes we are fearful of how to move from earning a salary to a fixed income when we retire. The Bible has a solution to all of our money problems. Believe it or not, the Bible has a lot to say about money. Howard Dayton points out that 16 of the 38 parables speak about money. In the gospels 1 out of 10 verses(288 in all) deal directly with the subject of money. He has observed that the Bible offers 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith, but more than 2,000 verses on money and possessions.

            I believe that there are three words which summarize the Bible's teaching on money and they are: contentment, generosity and planned giving. If we learn how to live three words, we will be able to be good stewards of what God has given us and we will have a stress free approach to how we live with what is in our purse or wallet.

I.     Contentment

A.   The Sin of Covetousness

            The tenth of the ten commandments, found in Exodus 20:17 is, "You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." Desiring what we cannot have is identified as a sin and rather than getting trapped in that sin, God invites us to be content. Hebrews 13:5 commands, "Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”" In this verse, lack of contentment is identified as a sin because it is an evidence of unbelief. We are commanded to be content because God is taking care of us. If we are not content, it is because we do not trust in God's provision.

            Another perspective on the sin of discontent is given in 1 Timothy 6:6-8 where we read, "Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these." These verses remind us that whatever we accumulate in this life is only for this life. We will go into eternity with empty hands and that is the reason why we came into this world with empty hands. We entered with empty hands and we should therefore live content with what is provided for us. The implication of this is that we are built for eternity and that gives us a powerful reason for contentment. If this present world is our whole life, then it makes sense to accumulate as much as possible, but it is not. Since we are built for eternity and will live by the provision of our eternal benefactor, why spend a lot of time gathering what will mean nothing.

I like the joke about the man who was determined to take his possessions to heaven and gave instructions for his possessions to be converted into gold bars and put in a bag and placed in his hand when he died. As the story goes, he died and his instructions were carried out and he came to the gates of heaven with his bag of gold in his hand. When asked what was in the bag and why he wanted it, he showed the angel his bag of gold, with a smug look on his face. When the angel saw what was in the bag, he was rather puzzled and asked him “why do you want to take pavement into heaven.”  

B.   The Danger of Discontent

            If we are not content, we will get into a lot of trouble. I Timothy 6:9, 10 says, "But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains."

            If we want to get rich, we put ourselves in the path of temptation. If we desire money we set ourselves up to be jealous of what others possess. This can lead to a temptation to cheat and steal. I wouldn't be surprised if more than half of the movies about crime are about people wanting to get rich and committing a crime because they yield to those temptations.

            Wanting to get rich also leads to a trap. I have some experience trapping animals. We once had woodchucks in our yard and I used a live trap to catch them. Of course they would never have walked into the trap without bait and so a little lettuce worked well. They were lured in by the lettuce and the trap snapped shut and they were stuck. The worst trap related to wanting to get rich is that you are never satisfied. When you get what you want, you always want more and are trapped in a never ending pursuit of what does not satisfy.

            Wanting to get rich also plunges people into many foolish and harmful desires. The word "plunges" illustrates a person being submerged and drowning. I don’t think there is a more fitting illustration of this than gambling. People may get into it as a fun game, but soon they want more and more and many of them lose fortunes, jobs, families, respect and sometimes even their lives because they are drowning in a sea of foolish and harmful desires.

            Those who yield to this desire pierce themselves with much pain because of love of money. What kind of pain? There is the pain of a gambling addiction, the pain of never having enough, the pain of dependence on things instead of God and the pain of loss when we depend on things instead of God. One writer says that those who desire riches are self torturers. So why would anyone want to do that to themselves? Although radical compared to how we live, it is quite clear when we examine this with spiritual eyes that the pursuit of godliness with contentment is indeed great gain.

C.   Learning Contentment

If we are honest, we all know that this is true, but we still struggle with being able to actually be content. In I Timothy 6:8 it says that “if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” Who of us is content with food and clothing? We all want much more than that.

            Yet contentment can be learned. Paul says in Philippians 4:11, 12, "Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need."

            What is the secret of learning contentment? The secret to contentment is found in Psalm 131:2 where it says, "But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like the weaned child that is with me." A child who is still feeding at it's mother's breast cries until it is fed. A child who has been weaned does not have the same ready source of food, but they are mature enough to know that mother will provide and they are at rest. What a wonderful expression of contentment. In my mind I have a picture of a child calmly in its mothers arms knowing it is provided for. We will learn contentment when we live trusting in God's care and resting in Him. That is the key to contentment.

II.  Generosity

            The other key to freedom from money problems is generosity.

A.   The Foundation for Generosity

            The foundation for generosity is the recognition that we live in a relationship with God who is incredibly generous. In an article on giving by Gordon MacDonald, in Leadership Journal, he said, "I pointed out that God's very nature was a giving one, and I tried to show our people that God was actually giving in the creation-story, giving in sending to us His Son, giving in receiving us into his new redemptive community, and giving in providing us a blessed hope. As God is a Giver in these ways, I said, he invites us to emulate him in our own patterns of giving."

            The Bible repeatedly reminds us of God's generosity. James 1:17 says, "Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." II Corinthians 9:15 expresses God's generosity succinctly when it says, "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" What is the gift that God has given us? Above all, He gave us the very expensive, greatly needed and extremely generous gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, who made a great sacrifice in order to come into this world to redeem us.

            Because God has been so generous to us and has provided so much for us and because we can depend on His goodness, it is possible for us to be generous whether we have or don't have. There is a wonderful example of generosity described in II Corinthians 8:1, 2 where we read, "We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part." The churches of Macedonia had two strikes against them. They experienced affliction and they had a great deal of poverty. Yet in spite of that, their hope in God allowed them to be filled with joy and opened their hearts to give generously.

            When we read these things it becomes clear that the foundation of generosity is trust in God and hope in Him.

B.   The Blessing of Generosity

            Another reason why we ought to be generous is because if we are generous, we will experience a great deal of blessing.

            Accountants would tell us that the accounts must balance. What comes in must be equal to what we have and what we have given away. But God's economy doesn't work that way. God is so generous that we can never give more than God blesses. Proverbs 11:25 says, "A generous person will be enriched, and one who gives water will get water." Just as God blesses a harvest of what is planted with much more than what is planted, God also blesses those who are generous.

            Yet we need to understand that when we are generous, the blessings come back to us in more than material ways. Timothy tells us that generosity is rewarded with life. I Timothy 6:19 says that believers who are generous are, "storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life." In this verse it doesn't say that we will become wealthy if we are generous, but it does say that we will find life that is really life.

C.   Learning Generosity

            Naturally, many of us are not generous but with such a foundation of generosity, and so many blessings when we are generous, we will want to learn generosity.

            One thing the Bible says about learning generosity is that it is a fruit of the Spirit as we read in Galatians 5:22. It is the Spirit of God who grows generosity in us. Are we allowing Him to grow generosity in us?

            Generosity begins when we don't set our hope on the things we have, but on God. 1 Timothy 6:17 commands those who are rich "…not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God…" I have wrestled with being generous. I am always afraid that there will not be enough left for me if I am generous. What has helped me learn generosity is to remember that God cares for me and to trust in that care.

When we know how much God has done for us, it becomes much easier to be generous.

            We learn how true this is from the time when the church began. One of the first things that happened was that the believers had everything in common. We read in Acts 2:45-46, "they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts," Their apprehension of the wonder of God's gift in the gospel opened their hearts to respond to God's generous gift of salvation and motivated them to respond with great generosity.

            As we learn generosity we discover that it is not confined to money. Generosity must be a whole life generosity. Yes, generosity gives to the poor, like the time I saw a needy person filling up their car with gas, and someone else spontaneously paying for it. But it goes beyond that and includes a generosity that values relationships above things so that it is possible to say to other family members when the inheritance is divided, “you take what you want first.” Generosity is also demonstrated in the time we give to others.

            The result of generous living is that we make investments in the heavenly bank. When our treasure is where our heart is and our heart is given to God, then our heart is no longer focused on relying on our possessions, nor on worrying about whether we will have enough. Our heart is focused on God because He is holding our treasure.

III.          Planned Giving

            The critical Biblical attitudes regarding money are contentment and generosity. It is out of these attitudes that the way we handle our money is demonstrated. One important and practical way in which we can express contentment and generosity is through planned giving. We cannot just say, I will be content and I will be generous. We also need to think wisely and strategically about how we will give.

A.   Biblical Examples of Planned Giving

            There are many Biblical examples of planned giving. One early example was the offering that was taken up for the building of the tent of meeting in the Old Testament. A special project was initiated to build this temple in the wilderness and everyone brought what they had, generously.

            Both II Corinthians 8 & 9 focus on giving. They have to do with a special offering which Paul was intending to gather from the churches in Macedonia and Asia and bring to the church in Jerusalem, which was experiencing a lot of poverty. There are different reasons for the poverty in Jerusalem, but the fact of their poverty required a response and Paul took it upon himself to gather a gift from the churches who had benefited from the gospel which had come out of Jerusalem. So he instructed the churches in that area to plan for the gathering of the offering. He writes them to "arrange in advance" in II Corinthians 9:5 and he encourages them to think about what they will give in II Corinthians 9:7. I Corinthians 16:1-4 speaks about the same issue and there he encourages them to set aside some money from what is earned every week. There we read, "Now concerning the collection for the saints: you should follow the directions I gave to the churches of Galatia. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come. And when I arrive, I will send any whom you approve with letters to take your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me."

            The example given in this story and other Scriptures encourages us that it is good not only to be generous and respond to a need as we see it, but also to have a giving plan.

B.   How Much?

            The giving plan should include setting aside some money from each pay check and to give it to the Lord, but how much do we set aside. Many people have followed the principle of the tithe, which is ten percent, but 10% doesn't seem very generous if our income is abundant. There are many ways of thinking about how much to give. Some decide how much they need to live on and give whatever is above that. That works well if we have learned the lessons of contentment, but not so well if we haven't. Some give 10% as the portion of their planned giving and then give much more out of a heart of generosity. Each of us must go to the Lord and decide what we will give. II Corinthians 9:7 gives some pretty good guidelines on how much to give when it says, "Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." Please note particularly that God invites us to joyful giving. As we consider this, we need to remember that everything belongs to God and when we bring an offering to Him, we are merely returning to Him what He has given to us in the first place. Giving is not an obligation which we pay back to God. It is an act of worship in which we recognize His grace. The generosity of our giving will arise out of the depth of our perception of His grace.

Conclusion

            I heard someone tell about a phone call they had made to their credit card company. In the course of the conversation the credit card company was trying to sell the person credit protection so that their balance would be paid if they ever became sick or lost their job. The person refused the offer stating that they always paid their balance each month. The sales person was surprised and even envious of the person. This experience suggested to them that a majority of people must be over extended and struggling with money problems.

            There is no reason to live like that. Many TV programs give good advice about wise budgeting and living within your means. They are good suggestions, but the Bible gives us direction that gets behind all money concerns and solves them on a deeper level. Contentment, generosity and planned giving provide the direction the Scripture gives. If we are content, we will not get into money trouble by over extending our credit cards and we will be able to live happily within our means. If we trust God, we will know that He will care for us. If we trust that God is taking care of us, we will also be able to be generous with what we have and reap the benefit of God's blessings and an eternal perspective on life. Planned giving is one means of organizing our generosity and contentment. I invite you to the peace that comes from contentment, generosity and planned giving.

How to Pray

Matthew 6:5-15
Introduction

            It isn't difficult to learn to do almost anything we want. If you want to learn mom or grandma's special recipe you would go to her and have her show you how to do it. The other day I wanted to learn how to sharpen drill bits and I went on You Tube and learned how. If we want to learn something we ask someone, research it in a book or inquire about it on the computer.

            One day the disciples wanted to learn something. In Luke 11:1 they asked Jesus, "teach us to pray." Several weeks ago I spoke about why it is important for us to pray. Today, I would like to follow up on that and talk about "how to pray." So we want to do the same thing the disciples did and go to Jesus to learn how to pray. Instead of following the model prayer which he gave in Luke 11, however, I would like to examine the Lord's Prayer which is found in Matthew 6:5-15.

            If we want to learn how to pray there are many things in the Bible which would help us learn and of course in one morning we will not learn everything there is to learn about how to pray. We will however, carefully examine what Jesus had to say when He  invited us to learn in Matthew 6:5 when He said, "whenever you pray." So let's learn how to pray from Jesus.

            One of the things we will do is not only speak about prayer, but during this message, we will also take time to practice what Jesus teaches us and actually take time to pray because the best way to learn something is by doing it.

I.                Talk to God

            I Googled "how to pray" and was interested to learn that there are actually a lot of web sites that talk about it and many of them are not Christian web sites. As I perused them, I saw many answers to the question. Many of the answers given in those web sites focus on techniques and on positions in prayer. In light of that it is interesting to notice that the focus of Jesus is different. When Jesus answered the question, he focused on one important thing – prayer is a conversation with the Father. Errors in how we pray can creep in even for people who know God and are known by him. Jesus mentions some of these and redirects our focus of prayer to God.

A.              Pray to Your Father

            His first answer about how to pray is given in verses 5 & 6. When some people read these verses, they read "go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret" and they interpret that to mean that prayer must be a private thing. They use it to defend prayer that is personal and private and they dismiss any participation in public prayer.

            If we read only this verse, we might get that impression, but if we read the rest of the Bible, we know that we cannot defend such a position. Many of the Psalms are prayers which are offered in public. Matthew 18:19 – 20 invites us to pray in groups, "… if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” In the early church they often gathered to pray in community. For example, in Acts 4:24 we read, "When they heard it, they raised their voices together to God…" Scripture encourages us to pray in community, so we cannot use this verse to defend private only praying. Although we must pray by ourselves in private, prayer in community is also very important.

            So if that is not what this passage is about, what is it about? In these verses, Jesus condemns prayer that isn't prayer, but performance. Their prayer wasn't "God help me, I need you." Their prayer was "look at me, I am pious" Those who are called hypocrites in these verses are people who are not actually praying at all. What they are doing is putting on a performance. Evidently they were very concerned about giving a good impression about their spirituality and so what they did was for the purpose of being seen by others. Interestingly, their "prayer" is answered. What they are asking for is that they will look good and they have their reward. What is not happening, however, is that they have any connection whatsoever with God. They are not interested in God, they are not interested in hearing from God or speaking to God and so the extent of their reward is that they look good.

            The first point Jesus makes in answer to the question "how do we pray" is that prayer must be to the Father. It is a conversation with God. The key phrase in these verses is "pray to your Father." We also need to be careful that the focus of our prayer is on God.

B.              Your Father Knows

            In verses 7-8, Jesus identified another error and teaches us more about how to pray. When we talked about why to pray several weeks ago, I made reference to what Jesus talks about here. Jesus warns against the use of "empty phrases" and "many words" in our prayers. The danger which Jesus speaks about here is the danger of seeing prayer as a way to manipulate God. The reference to "Gentiles" reminds us that the view of the Gentiles was that their gods were unfriendly but could be prevailed upon to act if the right words or enough words were spoken.

            As we come to God in prayer we come to one who knows what we need before we ask and to one who is compassionate. The key words in this lesson are "your Father knows what you need." This corrects all kinds of errors in our prayers. It prevents us from seeking to manipulate God. It reminds us that we are in the hands of a loving Father. It encourages us to keep on relating to God and seeking Him, even when our prayers are not answered in the way we wish they were.

            So to simplify the answer to the question "How do we pray", these verses tell us that we must pray as one coming to a loving Father who cares for us and can be trusted to do what is best. Barclay remind us, "The God to whom we pray is a God of love who is more ready to answer than we are to pray."

C.              "Our Father in Heaven"

            As we get into the model prayer which Jesus taught His disciples, the same point comes out once again in the address which Jesus teaches us to use as we pray. We are called to pray, "Our Father in heaven." Once again our focus is directed to conversation with God.

            We are to address Him as "our" Father. He is not just my Father, but our Father. This helps us remember that we have been called into community. As we pray, we do not only pray our individual prayers, but we pray with each other and for each other.

            As we address God as Father, we come into the presence not of some distant sovereign who is unapproachable, but to one who is related to us in the most compassionate and intimate way. He is our Father. Therefore we can come boldly, trusting in His care for us.

            Yet as we address Him, we also acknowledge that He is not our earthly father, but our Father in heaven. As fatherhood speaks of imminence, His being in heaven, speaks of transcendence. This reminds us that we must respect Him as we come to Him. He is the sovereign Lord of all the universe who is above all and worthy of honor and glory and able to help.

II.             About God's Will

            Following this powerful and clear word to direct our prayers to God we come to the actual petitions which Jesus models for us. As we examine these petitions, we notice that they address two primary areas. They address God's will and they address our needs. So as we pray, these two things must also concern us. We must be concerned with the things of God and we are invited to ask about our needs. Yet as we consider this, we need to note that the concerns of God are addressed first and so our prayer must also address God's concerns first. I like the way Andrew Murray puts it "First Thy name, Thy Kingdom, Thy will; then give us, forgive us, lead us, deliver us."

            I also found it interesting that the prayers are stated as imperatives. That tells us that we can have boldness in our prayer. We come humbly, but not groveling. We come trusting and with boldness. So let us look at the three petitions that have to do with God's concerns.

A.              Let Your Name Be Holy

            If we listen to the language of many people in this world, we know that the prayer which must be our beginning in prayer is one that needs to be answered. Many if not most people do not hallow the name of God. Many people use the name of God carelessly or even violently, so we need to pray this prayer.

            In order to understand this prayer, we need to understand what it means to hallow the name of God. To hallow means to consider holy. To consider holy means to recognize that He is different than anything or anyone else in all creation. Holiness means set apart. God's name, as God Himself, is set apart. It is not like everything else and must not be treated as anything else. He is special, perfect and pure. To hallow His name is to treat it as special and to handle it with care. It is not to be treated commonly or carelessly. The Jews have a special way of obeying this. They will not even pronounce the name of God. In so doing, they seek to honor His name.

            In order to treat God's name in that way we must first of all be aware of God. He exists and He is all knowing and He is everywhere. If we are unaware of God and His presence everywhere, we will not treat Him with respect.

            To hallow God's name also means that since He is special in every way and is Lord of all, He must be obeyed and we must submit to Him.

            So what does it mean to pray such a prayer? It means that we come to God with a an awareness of Him in our world and therefore also in our lives. It means that we come humbly, bowing before Him and recognizing His Lordship in our lives. It means that we are praying that all people on earth will also recognize God and hallow His name. Andrew Murray writes, "Our prayer must be for God to reveal the holiness, the Divine power, and the hidden glory of His name in ourselves, in all His children and in the world."

            Can we get really practical? I have noticed that some people, even Christians, use the phrase OMG on Facebook or in other correspondence. If we pray this prayer, then we cannot use those letters for if we do, we would not be honoring the God to whom we pray.

B.              Let Your Kingdom Come

            In order to understand the next part of the prayer, we need to understand the meaning of the "kingdom of God?" The best place to learn to understand this phrase is from the teaching of Jesus. Some people view the kingdom of God as entirely future. If that is the case, then this would be a prayer for Jesus to return. But as we study the use of this term on the lips of Jesus, we notice that He speaks of it not only in future terms. He speaks of the kingdom of God coming, but He also speaks of the kingdom of God present within us. He speaks of it as growing from a mustard seed in the present time. He speaks of it as hidden and being revealed. The best way to understand the kingdom of God is to realize that it is any place and any time where God's will is being done and where people are following Him. Barclay says, "The Kingdom of God is a society upon earth where God's will is perfectly done as it is in heaven."

            If that is the case, it is not difficult to understand what it means to pray, "Thy kingdom come…" It means to pray that the reign of God will come into our lives and that the reign of God will come into this world. It is a prayer that God will make us into His subjects who follow His way in the world. Therefore it is a request for God to help us obey His purposes and His way every day. Can we pray this prayer if we don't mean that we intend to obey God? Can we pray this prayer if we have no intention of submitting to Him? It is also a prayer that the kingdom of God will be established on earth. It is a prayer that all the lost, all those who do not know God and all those who do not now follow God will come to salvation and become disciples. Can we truly pray this prayer if we have no intention of involving ourselves in proclaiming the kingdom and living as kingdom subjects so that others will also want to follow the King? It is also a prayer for Jesus to return. Can we pray such a prayer unless that truly is our desire?

            To pray this prayer is a powerful thing and we better be ready to do more than say the words. It is important in our prayers because it draws our attention to what God wants, not what we want.

C.              Let Your Will Be Done

            Barclay points out that to pray "your will be done" can be stated in different ways. It can be stated with hopeless resignation. We can pray it and mean, "You are sovereign and, I have no choice but to submit to your authority, so your will may as well be done because it will be done anyway." It can also be stated with bitter resentment if we say the same thing, but add the attitude that we don't like what God is up to, but we will submit to Him because we know that there is no choice. But if we know God as Our Father in heaven, then we have the blessed privilege of being able to pray "Your will be done" in perfect love and trust.

            To pray your will be done also focuses on what God wants. As we pray this it is a way of aligning our heart to His heart, our will to His will and our deeds to His work.

            So the content of our prayer must first of all be directed at God, His kingdom and His will.

            Prayer is best learned not only by talking about it, but by doing it, so this morning, I would like to invite you to pray these three prayers. I would like to invite us to gather, as we are able, in small groups of two or three people and to try to put in your own words something of what it means to pray "hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Then I will go on to speak of the other three petitions and then we will take time to pray about those as well. Please take about 2 or 3 minutes to pray in a small group. If there is no one near you or if you wish, you may also pray alone, but I would encourage you to allow God to draw you into prayer in community.

III.           About Your Concerns

            The final three petitions have to do with our needs. As I have already stated, the order is important. First we need to pray about God's concerns, then about our own. To maintain that order will help us keep a proper perspective on life and to keep the Lord always before us instead of keeping our needs always before us.

            William Barclay points out that the three petitions deal with life in time. Bread is a request for what we need today. Forgiveness is a request for failures of the past and help in temptation deals with a request for what will happen in the future.

A.              About Daily Bread Daily

            What a blessing that Jesus taught us to pray about our daily bread. It reminds us that God is concerned about our physical needs. Yet it is interesting to notice the way the prayer is phrased. It says, "Give us this day our daily bread." It sounds redundant, but that repetition is required. It means that each day, we can ask God for what we need that day. It is a prayer that keeps us daily in dependence on God. It is a prayer that helps us to stop worrying about tomorrow. It is a prayer that reminds us of Jesus' words in Matthew 6:34, "“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today."

            As people who have enough stored up for many days, the need to pray about today seems almost unnecessary. But we know it is not. The needs of today may not be for what will be placed before us at breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are many needs in our lives that require God's help today. So let us be bold and bring them before the Father and trust His provision.

B.              About Forgiveness

            Daily prayer may also apply to the request for forgiveness. The longer I live the more aware I become of the many ways in which I sin every day. What we sometimes forget is that each time we sin it is a debt before God. We fail to realize what David realized in Psalm 51:4, "Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment."

            If each sin places us into indebtedness with God, each day must also bring with it this prayer for forgiveness. Thankfully, we already know that God has promised to forgive us as He says in 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

            The awareness of our frequent sin leads us to daily confession and also daily apprehension that we are forgiven completely. Such a recognition must also lead us to forgiving the sins of those who sin against us. This is the only prayer about which Jesus comments further in verses 14 & 15. How often we fail to forgive, even though we have been forgiven so much. If we honestly pray this prayer we will be led not only to the joy of forgiveness, but also to the conviction to be forgiving.

C.              About Rescue

            The key word in the final request has been variously translated "temptation, testing or trial." The word itself can be translated temptation or testing, but I really like the translation "trial" as in NRSV. The Bible tells us that God does not tempt anyone, so God cannot lead us into temptation. God does, however, allow us to go through times of trial which can be times of tempting or testing if we are not careful. This prayer then is a request that God will not allow us to experience the trials of life as temptation, but rather as times of turning to God.

            When we allow trials to become temptations, the evil one is hard at work seeking to draw us away from God and into disobedience. Whether we translate the word "evil" or "evil one" does not much matter, for if we yield to that temptation, the evil one will have victory and we will be involved in evil. So as we pray this prayer, it is a request for God to work in us so that all times of trial, which come to us or which He permits may become in us not times of walking away from God, but times of growing closer to Him. If God invites us to pray this prayer, we can be assured that He will also answer this prayer.

            So God invites us to pray about our personal needs and so we want to take some time to do that. I would invite you to pray individually or in pairs about the needs and concerns that you have. Keeping in mind the invitation to pray about daily needs, forgiveness and trials, I invite you to bring these kinds of things that are on your heart before the Lord. Then we will conclude the message by praying the Lord's Prayer together.

Conclusion

            As we read the text earlier in the service, you may have noticed that it did not include, "For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever, amen." Most translations do not include that because it most likely was not in the original. However, it is a good conclusion to the prayer, so as we conclude the service let us pray this prayer together as we have it on the overhead.

Don't Lose the Wonder!

Introduction

            This is a picture of our daughter when she was about a year and a half old. It was the first Christmas she would have been somewhat aware of what was happening. We put up the Christmas tree and you can see the wonder in her face as she looked at the Christmas lights. This was a magical moment for her and she was quite impressed.

            This is a picture of our granddaughter, Anemone, taken about two years ago. I had taken out my violin and was playing it, something I have not done since so don't get the idea that I play. Evidently she was quite impressed by what was happening and you can see the look of wonder on her face.

            When was the last time you had that kind of a look on your face about anything? When was the last time you had such a feeling of wonder in your heart?

I.     Don't Lose the Wonder

A.   Stale Faith

            Does it ever happen to you that you come to a worship service at church and when you leave you realize nothing significant has happened in your heart or your mind? No thought has impressed itself on you, no truth has stirred your emotions, nothing has caused you to wonder?

            Have you ever observed the Lord's supper and it has just been something to do? The thought of Christ dying on the cross has not caused you to feel something, the wonder of His forgiveness and the depth of his love have not stirred your heart to obedience and love?

            Have your devotions ever gotten to the place where you quickly read your Bible and mumble your prayers, but you have no sense of God's presence, no amazement at the truth of God's Word, no joy because of God's work?

            Have you ever felt an obligation to speak to someone about your faith and you have quickly mumbled some pious phrase, but without conviction or confidence?

            I suspect that all of us have experienced moments, perhaps even days or weeks like that. When our faith is stale and our hearts are cold, God seems absent. It is one thing if it happens once in a while, but if that is the perpetual state of our relationship with God, there is something wrong.

            Isaiah spoke about such stale faith in Isaiah 29:13 and Jesus quoted these verses in Matthew 15:8. Isaiah said, "… these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote…" Here he describes a faith that is formal, obedient, faithfully observed, but lacks heart, conviction abd wonder. Have you lost the wonder?

            It doesn't have to be that way. In Isaiah 29:14(NIV), "God says, Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder…" When our faith life is in a state of perpetual boredom, God wants to do something. God desires to show His wonders and to do wonderful things so that we won't lose the wonder. God will do things that only God can do and His people will be filled with wonder. Does God want to do the same in our lives today?

B.   What Brings Wonder?

            One of the times in history when God did an amazing thing was when He redeemed Israel out of Egypt. Over a period of time He did amazing things in Egypt which eventually resulted in the impossible happening. A slave nation was released from slavery all at once and allowed to leave the country. Then on top of that, while caught between the army of Egypt and the Red Sea, the whole nation watched as God allowed them to cross the Red Sea on dry land and so gain victory over their enemies and experience a marvelous deliverance. After this experience, they were filled with wonder and they declared the wonder of God in Exodus 15:11, "“Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders?"

            There is so much that can bring us to wonder about God and what He has done.

            Look around at everything that God has created. Do what the Psalmist does in Psalm 8:3, "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers." Psalm 19:1 tells us of the marvelous work of God in creation when it says, "The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork." There is no power in my words. I can't even get my cat to come to me. But God created everything by a word. The delicate wings of the butterfly and the roaring waterfalls at Niagara Falls came into being because He spoke. The tiniest insect and the largest mammal exist because God said, "be." These marvels of creation and so many more are cause for wonder. Do they cause us to be filled with wonder?

            One day when Jesus was teaching, a group of friends dug through a roof so that they could get their paralyzed friend close to Jesus. Jesus healed the man and also forgave his sins. In the context of the healing, Jesus said to them, "the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…" After the healed man left, we read in Luke 5:26, "Amazement seized all of them, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen strange things today.”" It was an experience that brought wonder and it was not only the healing, but the words about sins forgiven which brought wonder.

            The forgiveness of sins which Jesus provided by dying on the cross is another event which brings us to wonder. When we were in Israel we climbed Mount Sinai to watch the sun rise. As the sky began to lighten and the sun began to rise, every few minutes the light and shadows on the mountain gave a different kind of beauty. In a similar way, salvation can be looked at from so many different angles and each one brings us to wonder. One perspective that always brings me to wonder is to realize that the perfectly holy God who cannot be in the presence of sinners loved us enough to find a way to forgive our sins and yet remain just and holy. He demonstrated His love by dying for us. If you consider each facet of that grace, it certainly will lead to wonder. Ephesians 1:3-6 is a breathless passage which expresses the wonder of God's salvation. There we read, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved."

            There is so much more. Think about the descriptions of God in heaven which are recorded in Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4, 5. That is why asked that the "Revelation Song" be sung because it expresses the wonder of God and of salvation. Creation and scripture are full of the wonder of God, who He is and what He has done. Psalm 72:18 summarizes nicely when it says, "Blessed be the LORD…who alone does wondrous things."

            There is no reason to lose the wonder because there is so much that brings us to wonder.

II.  Living in Wonder

            And if we keep the wonder and live in wonder, what will life look like?

A.   We Will Be Transformed

            Dad says, "Son, please go wash the car." With a grumpy look on his face, the young fellow quickly goes and washes the big dirt off the car. When this same young man is old enough to drive and has earned enough money to buy his own car, something within him drives him to accomplish the same task of "washing the car" with a completely different attitude and a completely different result.

            If our relationship to God is cold and heartless, we may well obey God, but it will be out of a sense of duty. If we are filled with wonder, our lives will be transformed because we will want to become like Jesus from the deepest part of our being. This is part of the message of II Corinthians 3:18, "And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit." The mention of wonder in this verse is that we have the blessing of "seeing the glory of the Lord." The result is that we "are being transformed."

            How has contemplation on the wonder of God changed your life?

B.   We Will Live In Hope

            On the Day of Pentecost people saw the wonder of God's presence. God made Himself known through His Spirit and various manifestations of His presence. As Peter explained what was happening he quoted Psalm 16. In that Psalm, as we have it recorded in Acts 2:25-28 we read, "For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover my flesh will live in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One experience corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’" David's perception of God's presence caused him to live in hope. The wonder was the presence of God and the resulting change in life was the hope with which he was able to live. Peter's use of this verse in Acts 2 has the same effect. They saw the glory of God and were filled with hope.

            Wonder will do the same thing for us. As we know God and what He has done and what He is doing and what He will do and we allow that knowledge to fill our hearts, we will not doubt or be cast down. We will know that we always have hope.

C.   We Will Express Joy

            Paul and Barnabas were preaching about Jesus in Antioch. They went first to the synagogue and preached to the Jews there, but after several weeks, the door closed and they could no longer speak there. Then they spoke to the Gentiles. In Acts 13:49 we read, "When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the word of the Lord; and as many as had been destined for eternal life became believers. Thus the word of the Lord spread throughout the region." The Gentiles saw the wonder of God's salvation and embraced it. But they also saw something else. The Jewish leaders in the synagogue stirred things up and those who had brought the word of salvation were persecuted and sent out of the region. Yet in spite of knowing that persecution was possible for followers of Jesus, we read in Acts 13:52, "And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit."

            The wonder of God's work of salvation caused them to be filled with joy. That is what wonder will do, it will allow us to live in joy. It will change our life's attitude into joy because the Spirit of God fills our hearts with rejoicing.

D.   We Will Act In Love

            We read about people who come from dysfunctional situations and have never experienced love and learn that they often find it very difficult to love. If they are shown love and finally come to believe that they are loved, then they are able to show love as well.

            I John 4:16 reminds us that we are loved by God when it says, "So we have known and believe the love that God has for us." The consequence of knowing the wonder of God's love is that we love, as we read in I John 4:7 where it says, " everyone who loves is born of God and knows God."

            So the realization of the wonder of God's love leads us to also act in love.

E.   We Will Be Bold in Proclamation

            Furthermore, we will be much more bold about talking to people about Jesus. We know that we are quick to talk about whatever excites us. Did we get engaged? We tell everyone. Did we just have a grand-child? It won't be long before everyone knows. Did we win something? We can hardly wait to tell our friends.

            In a similar way, when the wonder of God and His grace fills our hearts, it will naturally spill out. Acts 4:20 says, "for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Wonder is mentioned when it says, "what we have seen and heard." The result is, "we cannot keep from speaking."

            The inspiration for this message came from an article by Margaret Feinberg which I read in Leadership Journal. The title was Don't Lose the Wonder. She talks about her experience when she was filled with wonder. She writes, "I began noticing that I couldn't talk to a customer service agent, repairman, or call center without having a conversation about faith. Whenever I called to inquire about a bill or update our credit card information, the conversation shifted to God without effort. This wasn't just happening to me, but also to my husband, Leif. We were both left wonderstruck."

            So there are many reasons to be filled with wonder and when we are, it makes such a difference in our life. Since that is true, we need to know, "How do we keep the wonder?"

III.          Keeping the Wonder

            When we become Christians we are filled with wonder. When we see God do something unusual, it isn't hard to sense the wonder of His work. At camp or after a particularly meaningful worship service, wonder often stirs our hearts, but how do we keep the wonder?

A.   Seek God

            In order to be filled with wonder, there is something we can do and that is to live with our eyes wide open to God. Feinberg writes, "Wonder asks us to live with eyes wide open to God. Wonder invites us out of the shallows and into the hallows of the divine."

            Scripture invites us to have our eyes open. Psalm 34:8 invites us, "O taste and see that the LORD is good; happy are those who take refuge in him." Isaiah 55:6 instructs, "Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near;"

            When Carla did her first marathon, I was waiting at the finish line. I was standing in the sun and hadn't put any sun screen on and was afraid I was going to get sunburned. I didn't have my sun glasses with me and that was uncomfortable. There were other things which caused me some discomfort. I had all kinds of reasons to turn away and deal with some of these discomforts, but I knew that any moment she would come across the finish line and I was determined that I would not miss her, so I stayed and watched carefully, looking at each runner so I would not miss seeing her cross the line. Because I had my eyes opened, I did see her. God is active in this world. We have mentioned some of the things which God has done and is doing. There is reason to approach life with eyes opened to see Him and thus to see the wonder.

            How do we have eyes open to what God is doing? We do so through faith. If we believe in God and trust that He is God and is active in our world, then we will be able to live with eyes wide open. The more we are open to what God is doing, the more we will see what God is doing and that will allow us to be filled with wonder.

B.   Ask God

            Earlier we read in Isaiah 29:13 about the hearts of people who did not have eyes open to the wonder of God. In the next verse of that passage we read that God promised that He would do a wonderful thing. Such a truth invites us to ask God to show us His wonder. Scripture invites us to pray such a prayer for ourselves. Psalm 119:18 says, "Open my eyes, so that I may behold wondrous things out of your law." In Ephesians 1:17-19 Paul gives us a wonderful example of such a prayer for one another. He writes, "I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power."

            Feinberg speaking about this in her article says, "I began praying for wonder. When I added the request to those I lay before God each morning, I never guessed that such a simple prayer could be so potent. In the appeal for wonder, I petitioned God to rouse me anew to the message of Jesus that shocked the ancient world. I asked God to draw me deeper into His holy presence to reveal divine unspeakables. I beseeched the Creator of all to renew the childlike sense of wonder that had long since faded under the responsibilities of becoming an adult." Because she did, she experienced a much greater sense of wonder. She writes, "…since I began praying for wonder something changed. I began encountering details and scenes I never noticed before…I'm praying for wonder and now I'm encountering these moments of spiritual awakening that make me want to know God more."

Conclusion

            Television gives us many opportunities to awaken desire. Cooking shows and food commercials certainly stir up in us a desire for food. My hope this morning has been to awaken in all of us a desire for wonder.

            No one lives on the mountain top all the time. Sometimes we are filled with wonder and at other times, God leads us through the darkest valleys. Yet in all of those times, we can continue to live with eyes open and we can continue to pray that God will show us the wonder. Whether we are on the mountain top or in the valley, the worst thing is a life of faith that has gone stale. So the invitation to all of us today is, "Don't lose the wonder!"