Start:Stop-Thy Kingdom Come

Searching for God - Almighty Hands by Nic Fiddian Green at Southwark Cathedral

Good morning and thank you for joining us for Start:Stop. This reflection will last around ten minutes - please feel free to come and go as your schedule dictates.

Between Ascension Day and Pentecost the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have invited Christians around the world to join together to pray that more people may come to know Jesus. In our reading this morning we hear the teaching of Jesus concerning prayer. If you’d like to follow along it’s on page six of the New Testament.

Bible Reading - Matthew 6.5-15 

‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

‘When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. ‘Pray then in this way:

Our Father in heaven,

   hallowed be your name.

   Your kingdom come.

   Your will be done,

     on earth as it is in heaven.

   Give us this day our daily bread.

   And forgive us our debts,

     as we also have forgiven our debtors.

   And do not bring us to the time of trial,

     but rescue us from the evil one.

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Reflection

Think back to the times in your life when you have a distinct memory of saying The Lord’s Prayer. What were the circumstances? Perhaps it was a time of great stress, uncertainty and anxiety, before an exam or after a difficult situation at work or in a personal relationship. Maybe it was at a time when no other words could fully express your joy? Or perhaps you were in great pain emotionally or physically? Were you alone, or together with others, praying in thanksgiving before receiving communion? Maybe you were alongside someone in hospital in the final moments of their life on earth - or at a baptism celebrating the beginning of a new one?

The chances are that you will have said this prayer at many or all of these times - and more. The Lord’s Prayer is woven into the fabric of the lives of all Christian people. As St Paul reminds us in that wonderful phrase in his letter to the Galatians “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying “Abba! Father!” The Lord’s Prayer is universal – the early Church Fathers called it the prayer of all prayers – a prayer of this life and the life to come, a prayer that speaks to us individually and collectively – a prayer that centres us and is central to our existence.

Perhaps it is no surprise then that we find it here in the Gospel of Matthew at the very centre of the Sermon on the Mount; this prayer is at the heart of Jesus’s teaching about the essence of discipleship – what it means to know and to follow Jesus – what it means to be a Christian.

This is a prayer of action as well as contemplation. Action because, unlike the hypocrites, we are called to express this prayer in all aspects of our lives, not just through words. Contemplation because this is a prayer we are asked to take in to the “secret room” of our own hearts. The Lord’s Prayer, like all of Jesus’s teaching on discipleship, places great demands on us, beginning by turning to God and recognising Him as Our Father – the source of true life.

Karl Barth said “to clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.” The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer of revolution – of release from the disorder that we have created. The prayer teaches us that fulfilling God’s will – a will that was manifest in the life of his Son; a life of servant leadership, forgiveness and sacrificial love – is central to our lives. However the words of the prayer, which Jesus says with us, recognise that fulfilling God's will is not always our first priority and that we need His support to do so.  

Rowan Williams has said “every single bit of the Lord’s Prayer is radical because it challenges our assumptions about who we are and who God is and what the world is like.”

Someone asked me recently “what is my favourite bit of the Lord’s Prayer?” At first I thought this was rather an odd question – how can we cherry pick bits of the prayer that Jesus himself taught us? But meditating on each phrase of the prayer is a worthwhile practice that has occupied the thoughts of some of our most celebrated spiritual writers.

Trying to comprehend the magnitude of the first two words alone is inspiring. St Teresa of Avila was moved by the generosity of this phrase. This is not a prayer addressed to My Father or The Father but “Our Father”. A prayer framed by unity not division. In her characteristically humorous way, she explains that in these two simple words we are reminded that God is the source of all life and truth and of our own fallibility - despite which we are still invited to be in relationship with God, through his Son. Reflecting on the opening words of the prayer, “Our Father”, Teresa remarks “His Majesty knew what a fuss would be made in the world about who was fashioned from the finer clay.”

On Thursday we celebrated The Feast of the Ascension and in his sermon, the Archdeacon of London reminded us that in fulfilment of Jesus’s ministry on earth, the Ascension unites us with God through the humanity of Christ. Our human nature through the human nature of Christ becomes one with God in glory. A wondrous solidarity that confronts us in the opening words of this prayer. This is an idea which some find difficult to entertain, but as Rowan Williams has said “As soon as you’ve said Our Father, you have been given a share in Jesus’s relationship with God.”

Meditation

In a moment of silence before we pray together, perhaps we might imagine ourselves alongside Jesus on the mountain saying together the “Our Father” for the first time. Which words of the prayer do you notice in particular? What does this radical text say to you about Jesus and your relationship with Him?

Prayers

This prayer, attributed to St Francis of Assisi, is a personal meditation on The Lord’s Prayer:

O our most holy Father:

Our Creator, Redeemer, Consoler, and Saviour,

You are in heaven:

And in the angels and saints,

Inflaming us to love, because You, Lord, are love,

And filling us with happiness as our Supreme and Eternal Good.

Glorious is your Your name:

May our knowledge of You become ever clearer

That we may know Your blessings and Your majesty.

Your Kingdom come:

Give us unclouded vision to let you rule in us through Your grace,

And so we enjoy a blessed companionship with You forever.

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven:

That we may love You with our whole heart,

Desire You with our whole soul,

Always think of You with affection,

Spend all our energies in serving You,

And that we may love our neighbours with Your love.

Give us this day our daily Bread:

Which is our Beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

And forgive us our trespasses:

Through Your indescribable mercy to us in Christ,

Which we see in the faith and prayers of the blessed virgin Mary.

Help us to forgive those who trespass against us:

You, Lord, enable us to forgive to the full

So that we may truly love our enemies and intercede for them.

Lead us not into temptation:

Keep us from all sin, hidden or obvious.

Deliver us from evil:

Keep us from all that’s bad in the past, present, and to come.

Bringing before God all that is written on our hearts, we say together;

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 trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power, and the glory

for ever and ever

Amen

Blessing

May the God of life and love, whose Son was victorious over sin and death, make us alive with his life, that the whole world may resound with his praise; and the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among us and remain with us this day and always.

Amen

Thank you for joining us for Start:Stop today. Please join us tomorrow between 8am and 8pm for our Day of Prayer when the church will be open for prayer and reflection. Resources on different approaches to prayer will be available and special service at 1pm will include music sung by our community choir.

I hope you have a great day and a wonderful week ahead. This reflection will begin again in a few minutes.

Links

About Start:Stop at St Stephen Walbrook
About Thy Kingdom Come
Image : Searching For God, Almighty Hands at Southwark Cathedral by Nic Fiddian Green (on display during "Thy Kingdom Come")  
St Francis's Prayer Inspired by The Our Father
The Way of Perfection - St Teresa of Avila
Rowan Williams on The Lord's Prayer (From BBC Songs of Praise)