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August 12, 2007

For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and Glory for Ever and Ever, Amen

Preacher: Pastor Braun Campbell Category: Biblical

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
The Lord's Prayer - The Conclusion
"For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for Ever and Ever. Amen"

Did you wake up this morning to a beeping alarm, looking over at your clock and its digital display, lashing out at the Snooze button? And when you finally got out of bed, did you flip on the light switch when you went into the bathroom to get yourself ready for the rest of the day? Did you open the refrigerator to get some cold milk for your cereal or juice to drink with the waffles you'd heat up in your toaster? Did you check the news and weather by watching the television, or browsing the Internet on your computer? When you left your home, did you press the little button on the remote to raise your garage door? And now, listening to (or reading) this sermon, might you notice that the temperature's a good bit cooler in this climate-controlled space, away from the heat of this summer? Electric power has made all these things possible. It's all about the power.

Power isn't cheap. Our average monthly electrical bill here at St. John's has come to $1,333.33 for the past three months. We use this power to air condition the sanctuary, to light the classrooms of the ECEC, to run the computers and telephones and photocopiers that help us in our mission to communicate God's Word. The news media closely follows the fluctuations of the price of a gallon of gas, since we depend on it to fuel the vehicles that take us to work, to the store, to practice, or even across the country on vacation. When power is expensive, we often pay more attention to it, trying to save where we can, to get as much as possible for the price we pay.

But we might still take power for granted: think about how many times you'd flipped a switch in the last week and expected a light to come on. When we become accustomed to power, even great power, our appreciation for it can begin to fail. We might, in our practice, no longer regard it as worthy of our attention. The same thing can happen in our attitude toward prayer. Is prayer in your life just an empty routine? In worship, do you just come and sit and stand and kneel, going through the motions, wondering why there have to be so many prayer petitions? Do you find that you might not consider that your petition is worth God answering, or that you "hedge your bet," not having the confidence that God will answer your prayer - or that He even hears it? Do you feel that you have failed to remember to whom you're offering up your prayer, or that you don't think about why we pray?

Our summer's sermon series on the Lord's Prayer wraps up today. Back in June, we began to study the model for prayer that Jesus gave to us, his followers. This is a prayer through which we can come to the one true God, the God who created us and everything around us, as we would a loving father. We prayed that God's name not be hollow and empty among us, but that we keep it holy in our lives through our words and our actions. We prayed that our lives bear witness to God as our King, that we would be about the work of His kingdom in this world until He brings it to its fulfillment in glory on the Last Day. We prayed that God would work His good and grace-filled will in our lives and the lives of everyone in this world, that they might come to saving faith in Jesus, the Messiah. And we prayed for our needs. We asked our heavenly Father to provide everything that we need to sustain our physical bodies and earthly lives. We appealed to Him to forgive us for when we have fallen short and acted selfishly, and to give us forgiving hearts that show others the mercy and grace that He shows us. We came to God and asked him to equip and strengthen us for the daily battles in which we face off against our own inclination to sin, against the world around us, and against the devil, that He would deliver us from all those and bring us through the storms of this life and keep us in the faith into life everlasting.

Now that we have learned how we can pray and for what we might pray, the Conclusion to the Lord's Prayer brings us back to the beginning, as it were, reminding us why we pray. [Read the Conclusion and Explanation from the Small Catechism, which can be found on the "Take Away" sheet in the back of this week's bulletin.] Again, it's all about the power.

You might have noticed that the Conclusion and its explanation were not originally part of Luther's Small Catechism. In fact, the Conclusion isn't attached to the gospel accounts of the Lord's Prayer. The words of the Conclusion come from King David's prayer at the end of the first book of Chronicles. There, David gives thanks to God, praising Him for the goodness that He has shown to His people, goodness that has generously provided the people with the gifts that the people are now returning to God for the building of His temple in Jerusalem. David acknowledges that all that things come from God, that God alone stands above all Creation in power and glory and victory and majesty.

We pray to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, because He alone has the power to answer our prayer. Every good gift comes from God, and so we go to Him with our petitions. He created the universe and its laws of physics and nature. He created our minds, through which we learn to apply the arts of agriculture and government and medicine. He created our souls, that we might love and be loved, in relationship with Him and with the people around us. He is the King who rules, protects, and grows His creation: all authority is ultimately His. He alone is worthy of glory, honor, and praise, because there is none like Him. God alone has the power to forgive our sin.

It's all about the power. Electricity and gas, regardless of how costly they might become, will never give us the power that we really need: the power to live as God's people. We lost this power even before we were born. And the price that we would have to pay for life with God is too steep for us to fully imagine - but God paid that price for us, Himself, on the cross of Jesus. God forgives us, gives us new life, and gives us the power to come before Him in prayer. This power, bought at a price, is now given freely to you and to me, as a gift.

Think again of the light switch. In the week ahead, when you go to flip a switch, remember the power that God has given you, the power to pray. We can be more confident in the word "Amen" than in that light switch. We pray in the same faith that the writer records in our reading today from the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. This same faith looks forward to what we cannot see, confident that God hears. Sure that He will answer prayer. This little word, which means "Yes, yes, it shall be so," reminds us that the gracious God who has given us the command and the privilege of prayer will hear us. This is the word that marks our faith, convinced that what we ask in Jesus' name will be granted by our Father in heaven. This is the word that reminds us that we are to boldly pray the Lord's Prayer, not taking it for granted, but appreciating the power freely given to us as those bought back by God.

Amen: it's all about the power.

Let us pray: O God, Father of all mercy, we thank You for the power and privilege which You have given to us in the gift of prayer. In Your Word, you give us knowledge of your dear Son, Jesus Christ, through whom we may come before You as Your own people. We ask that You would always recall our hearts and minds to the power of prayer and also to the knowledge that You hear us and will answer us for our Savior Jesus' sake.

Amen.