"Thy will be done" isn't an easy way of life.

But...

...it's part of growing up as a Christian. (I accept this...some of the time.)

"Thy will be done"

Yesterday, on the anniversary of Martin Luther's death on February 18, 1546, the Institute of Lutheran Theology shared this incredible prayer by Luther over on Facebook:

"O Father, it is indeed true that we cannot be strong by our own power. How can we stand before your might if you do not yourself strengthen and comfort us? Therefore, dear Father, embrace us, accomplish your will in us, that we may be your kingdom to your praise and glory. But, dear Father, strengthen us in this life with your holy word. Give us our daily bread. Establish in our hearts your dear Son Jesus Christ who is the true bread of heaven. Sustained by him, we may gladly bear and suffer the breaking and the dying of our own will and the fulfilling of your will. Give grace to all your churches. Send us educated pastors and preachers who will not give us the crumbs and chaff of foolish fables, but who will teach us your holy gospel and lead us to Jesus Christ." Amen.

[Thanks to my son for pointing the prayer out to me.]

Steal My Show!

As Rick Warren puts it in one of the most subversive published sentences in recent history, "It's not about you."

It's not about me.

I didn't make this universe.

I'm not a self-made man.

It's not about me.

It's about the God we know in Jesus Christ. He's the only One worth giving glory or celebration.

He's done it all for us:

• He made us. 
• Then, when we fell prey to sin and death, He became one of us, died for us, and rose for us. 
• Today, He gives new and everlasting life to all who repent and believe in Him.

John the Baptist said of Jesus, "He must decrease, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). If we're ever to experience what it means to be human beings made in the image of God, if we're ever to have any hope of knowing what it means to have a life-giving connection with God, John's attitude must be our own.

Jesus teaches us to pray, "Your will be done." Learning to live that out, but it also introduces us to the only way to live. When we live by the world's code of, "My will be done," destruction and death and discord are the inevitable results.

So, whatever we may have in mind, may we learn to step aside and let the God we know in Jesus bring about His will in our lives and in the life of the world.

Lord, steal our shows!

A Ride Like No Other

We Christians pray, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

But it's doubtful that any of us (especially, I think, I) have any notion of what we're asking for.

I am convinced though, that when God's kingdom comes to us in our every day lives and when it comes to us finally, fully, definitively, on the day of judgment when Jesus returns to this world, it won't look much like the visions of the kingdom spouted either by the Christian Right or by Liberal Protestantism.

Any time we try stuffing the God we know in Jesus Christ into our little ideological boxes or preferred paradigms the way these folks do, we end up engaging in idolatry, worshiping a false Jesus or ourselves.

God defines His kingdom. Our job as Christians isn't to define the Kingdom of God for God or others, but to be so totally surrendered to Jesus Christ, that the kingdom flows to us and from us to the rest of the world in all its richness and wonder.

People who think they can control God are delusional. You can't control a hurricane, even less God. The best we can do is surrender daily to Christ, let God's Spirit take control of us and then, go along for the ride.

That's how the wild, mighty, uncontrollable God of the universe does His will and brings His kingdom to us and through us, to others. His kingdom comes only to those who let go and let Christ be in charge.

It boils down to this: Do you want to drive, knowing that ends in death and separation from God? Or do you want to be God's passenger, knowing that it ends in the full, rich, scary, fulfilling, everlasting life for which you were made?

Who wants to go along for the ride?

"Word of God, Speak"

Less of me; more of God. Not my thoughts, feelings, and experiences; but God's Word alone!

This song expresses so much about the desire of every imperfect, saved, and grateful follower of Christ to live the life of an authentic disciple, who wants to mean it when praying, "Thy will be done."

The song is called, Word of God, Speak, performed by MercyMe.



By the way, Saint Matthew folks, the chorus of this song will serve as our Gospel Verse prior to the the announcement of the Gospel lesson, during the Sundays of Advent.