Sermons are often a
work in progress. If you pay
attention to the name of the sermon as printed in the study guide each week,
you might notice that the title sometimes changes by Sunday morning. In the study guide for this message I
used the title Forever. In the program this morning the title
is The Final Four. It’s changed once again and is now The Real Final Four. Being in a state that is very serious
about basketball, I decided to play off the idea of the final four as a title,
but then decided to make it The Real
Final Four in recognition of the more serious nature of the phrase we will
study this morning.
Completing our study of
the Lord’s Prayer, this week we come to the final phrase, For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. We will again read the Lord’s Prayer,
as found in Matthew’s gospel, with another passage that also comes from
Matthew’s gospel.
Matthew
6:5-15;
9 “Pray, then, in this way:
Our
Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it
is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us
from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
Amen.
Matthew 16:13-18
13 When Jesus came to the region of
Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man
is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the
Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do
you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the
Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon
son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my
Father in heaven.
18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and
on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome
it.
There are four words I
want to focus on in that final phrase of the Lord’s Prayer, The Final Four – kingdom, power, forever, and amen.
1. For thine is the kingdom.
There are a couple of unusual aspects to this final part of the
Lord’s Prayer. First, depending on
the translation of the Bible that you use, you may be surprised to find the
final phrase – for thine is the kingdom
and the power and the glory forever, amen, missing. In most of the newer translations this
phrase is either placed in brackets or in a footnote. The translations omit this phrase because it doesn’t appear
in many of the early manuscripts of Matthew’s gospel. Interestingly, it begins
to appear more often in the manuscripts that date to the time when the church
was suffering terrible persecution under the Roman Empire. It was an important reminder that came
at a very difficult time and was a way of saying never give up! Don’t lose hope. Don’t lose faith.
Don’t despair. The world is in the hands of God however
much it may appear otherwise.
That was the message sent to a church under terrible persecution – God
is in control, not the Roman Empire.
When Tanya and I were in Rome in May we visited the Colosseum. I took this picture, which has some very
interesting symbolism. The cross in
the picture marks the spot where the Roman Emperor was seated when he was in
the Colosseum. I was surprised to
find it at ground level, as movies generally show it being elevated.
It’s amazing that so much of the Colosseum still stands after so
many centuries, but what is most interesting is to consider the fate of the
Roman Emperor. It’s been many
centuries since the end of the line of emperors and many centuries since the
end of the Roman Empire. What
would have once been inconceivable – that the Roman Empire would come to an end
– is now a long proven historical fact.
The once invincible Roman Empire is long gone. What an historical irony, that standing in the very spot
where the Emperor – the seat of the office that sought to end the church and
the Christian faith – is a cross, the symbol of that faith. The Colosseum was
the location where some early Christians were put to death by the Roman Empire,
but as it stands in ruins that cross proclaims that God’s kingdom continues to
prevail. Jesus said he will build
his church and the very gates of hell will not prevail against it. Kingdoms come and go, but God’s kingdom
remains. The Roman Empire is gone,
just as the empires of the Greeks, the Assyrians, and the Babylonians before
them. Every kingdom has a shelf
life and will eventually disappear, except for God’s kingdom.
How many of you feel hopeful about the state of the world? It may not be in great shape, but it’s
been in worse circumstances, and what has been the constant through the past
two millennia? The church. Kingdoms rise and fall, but God’s
church and God’s kingdom stands forever.
The political debates might occupy our attention for a brief moment in
time, and the outcomes do have consequences for our lives, but they are but a
moment in time. God’s kingdom
stands forever.
2. For thine is the power.
The word kingdom is a
reference to the larger picture of God’s kingdom. The word power is
a reference to the individual, and how God’s power can fill us and empower us
for whatever comes our way. When
you feel as though you want to just give up, when your life gets to the point
that you feel so overwhelmed you want to just throw up your hands and say what’s the use? I give up! I
quit, remember that God’s power can fill you and give you strength for
whatever difficulty you face.
The evil in the world can cause us to lose hope, and some people
have abandoned faith because of the evil they see or experience. It is tempting to lose heart because of
the struggles we face in life. It
is tempting to say what’s the use in
trying? It is tempting to say what I do doesn’t matter. It is tempting to say nothing I do makes a difference. But this final word of the Lord’s
Prayer is a reminder that in spite of how bad things might appear, God is
ultimately in control and he will fill us with the power to persevere.
Scripture, on page after page, affirms that God is indeed in
control. The Old Testament book of
Job is about the testing of Job and
raises the question of whether he would be able to endure in spite of a series
of great trials and testing. In spite of all the difficulties Job
experiences, he doesn’t lose faith.
In spite of the fact that Job’s friends encourage him to give up, he
does not do so. In 13:15 Job’s
hold to his faith allows him to say though
he slay me, yet will I hope in him.
The 23rd Psalm reminds us that even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we can fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod
and thy staff they comfort me.
Isaiah
40:28-31 reminds us Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the
everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired
or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power
of the weak. Even youths grow tired
and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will
renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run
and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Romans
8:37-39 reminds us who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution
or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through
him who loved us. For I am
convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any
powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be
able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Philippians
4:13 reminds us that we can do all things
through Christ who gives me strength.
The
book of Revelation, often seen as only prophecy, is really a book to instill
confidence in people who were suffering terribly under persecution. So many of the images in Revelation are
of a God so much mightier and more powerful than the armies of Rome. God
is still in control is the message of Revelation. It is his power that is at work in the world and it is his
power that is the ultimate power.
3. Forever.
Some years ago I had a young lady in my youth group who came up with
an interesting idea about how we would spend our time in eternity. She had evidently thought about this a
great deal, and this was her idea – when we arrive in eternity we join a long
line of others, all waiting to ask God a question. When we arrive at the front of the line we are allowed to
ask God one question – any question – which he will answer. After we receive our answer we are sent
to the back of the line to wait for another opportunity to ask our next
question. It didn’t sound all that
appealing to me, but it seemed to her to be a good way to comprehend
eternity. It would be my luck,
that the person in front of me would ask God my question, and not being able to
think of another question quick enough, I would be sent to the back of the
line!
Time is an interesting
concept. We believe we never have
enough time, and yet we don’t always appreciate the precious nature of the time
we are given. We certainly find it
difficult to appreciate what it means to be part of a faith that stretches back
so many millenia. How do we
comprehend a thousand years, two thousand years, and more? II Peter 3:8 tells us that with the Lord a day is like a thousand
years, and a thousand years are like a day. We exist within time, while God does not, and we have an
almost impossible time trying to understand such long passages of time.
It is so difficult to comprehend
the passage of a millenia or two, so how do we comprehend a concept such as forever? But what do I know about time? I spent two hours yesterday trying to decide what to do with
the extra hour we got from turning back the clocks.
I believe the message of the word forever is further confirmation that we should never grow
discouraged and we should never quit.
We should never lose heart.
We should never lose faith.
Those words are a promise of the goodness of God and the faithfulness of
God.
There are countries in the world where groups are trying to drive
Christians from the land. They
need to know the promise and the hope of forever.
Forever, Jesus says. Forever. When the economies of the world are
shaky and on the verge of collapse, God is in control, and he is in control
forever. When political
instability threatens – God is in control – forever. When wars and violence rage on, God is in control –
forever. When hatred seems to be
getting the upper hand over love, God is in control – forever. And when we are faced with our final
breath we can find comfort in the promise of the 23rd psalm that we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Some
of you are facing tremendous challenges.
Some of you may be on the cusp of giving up. Some of you may be wondering how you will make it. Never give up. Do not lose hope. Don’t quit. Your life doesn’t rise and fall on the stock market. Your life doesn’t rest upon the success
or failure of a political agenda.
Your destiny does not rest upon the report a doctor offers, but upon what
is deeper, higher, and more powerful – that which lasts forever. Forever! Say it with me – Forever!
God is in control, forever.
4. Amen.
It’s easy to think of the word amen as little more than the word we use
to end a prayer. For me, I always
know when to end a prayer, because Trish Fegenbush will squeeze my hand if I
pray too long. When we are
preparing to leave on a trip with the Recycled Teenagers or to offer a blessing
before a meal, Trish always manages to stand next to me so she can squeeze my
hand if I pray too long (and she will probably want to squeeze my neck for
saying this!)
Amen
means let it be so. In one way, the words let it be so can be spoken with a sense
of resignation, as in a sense of surrender. But that is not the way we are asked to say amen. To say let it be so
is an acknowledgement that all of these promises in the Lord’s Prayer, and all
of these affirmations of the Lord’s Prayer, and all of the hope that is infused
into the Lord’s Prayer have been true, they are true, and they always will be
true.
Amen to Our
Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Let it be so!
Amen to Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it
is in heaven. Let it be so!
Amen to Give us this day our daily bread. Let it be so!
Amen to And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
debtors. Let it be so!
Amen to And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us
from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
Let it be so!
Amen.
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