WEBVTT
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Grace, mercy and peace to you from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus
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Christ.
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Amen.
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One now retired professor of one of our Concordia universities has a
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unique way of describing this fourth petition.
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He would say it's about praying for, quote, our daily bread and
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chicken.
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And of course, we could also add and gas for the car and a roof over
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our head and good health and a salary that pays the bills and safety
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on the streets, and, and, and. As Luther said in his large catechism.
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To sum these things up, this petition includes everything that belongs
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to our entire life in the world, for we need daily bread because of
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life alone.
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That's why Luther includes that long laundry list in this small
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catechism.
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And you have to appreciate that little phrase at the end and the like
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that must be German for et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
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It's in this petition that our Lord moves our attention from the
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heavenly, divine things to our earthly needs.
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For the first three petitions in this conversation with our true
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Father, we've prayed for things on his mind his name, his kingdom, his
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will.
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And now, finally, we get around to the needs of our poor breadbasket,
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the necessary things of our body and of temporal life.
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This petition, though, is about much more than merely asking for our
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physical, earthly needs and receiving whatever God happens to toss our
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way.
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After all, God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our
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prayers, even to all evil people.
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God, our true Father, is much more than a heavenly vending machine
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that tosses out goodies every time we put the coins of our prayers in.
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How does Luther teach us to pray?
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We pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to
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receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.
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It's about much more than gathering and securing goodies.
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It's about receiving in faith.
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If we want to pray this fourth petition rightly, perhaps we need to
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walk in the sandals of the people of Israel in the Wilderness of Sin.
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There they were, in the barren wilderness.
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No more meat pots, no more bread to the full.
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No, please do not imitate their grumbling and complaining.
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But they were confronted with their very real need.
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They were coming to grips with a very stubborn fact.
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They could not provide for themselves.
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They had to rely on someone else.
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And despite the grousing and the complaining and the grumbling, God
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still was gracious.
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He promised to rain down bread from heaven, not just once, not just
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twice, but each and every day.
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Then God announced, and let me see your faithfulness.
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I will supply your need day by day.
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Each morning, go out and gather what you need for that day according
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to the size of your household.
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No more, no less.
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Oh, and by the way, I will help you keep my Sabbath day holy. On Friday
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morning
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gather up twice what you need, and you'll have plenty for Saturday as
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well.
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And on top of all this goodness, God gave them a one time bonus meal,
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some tasty quail that very evening.
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God certainly gives daily bread to everyone, and he wants us to
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receive it with the thanksgiving of faith.
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Since we are walking through the Wilderness of Sin with the Israelites
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and through the wilderness of our own sinful condition, let me invite
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your participation.
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How many of you, by show of hands here, how many of you have at least
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two changes of clothing in your closet or dresser, one for everyday
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wear and the other your Sunday best?
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Raise your hands.
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Good.
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How many of you have enough food, enough daily bread and chicken in
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the cupboard so that you do not need to go hunting and gathering at
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the grocery store every morning before breakfast?
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Raise your hand.
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How many of you have either a car or a bicycle or a scooter or at
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least two legs to get from A to point B?
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Good.
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God certainly gives daily bread to everyone, even apart from your
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prayers.
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And here are some questions that need no hand raising.
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How's that whole receiving with Thanksgiving thing going for you?
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What would you do if God, in His Fatherly wisdom, happened to downsize
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your wardrobe or thin out your food pantry?
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How would you respond if God, for your eternal benefit, chose to empty
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the store shelves or slow down the supply chains, or allow things such
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as higher gas prices, inflation, a global pandemic, or social unrest?
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How much grumbling and complaining would there be?
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Or is there?
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God certainly gives daily bread to everyone, and he wants us to
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receive it in times of want as well as times of plenty with the
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thanksgiving of faith.
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When you read Luther's Large Catechism on this fourth petition, he
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gives a very brief explanation and sketch showing how far this
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petition extends through all conditions on Earth.
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He says that anyone might indeed make a long prayer on the topic.
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And if you think as long as your list and the small catechism was
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long, just wait till you read and ponder this one.
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Yes, we ask God to give us food, drink, clothing, house, home, health.
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We pray for the crops in the field to grow and mature.
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And let's also add prayers for good harvests and everything included
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in getting those crops safely to market for our shopping and
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consumption.
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And of course, we pray for Godly spouses and children, for faithful
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friends and neighbors.
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We pray that our work would prosper and succeed.
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And by the way, for those of you who are soon to end up in a parish,
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that prospering and succeeding looks a lot different than that for the
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corporate CEO or the small business owner.
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Your success and prosperity is in being faithful to your Lord and His
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Word.
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And Luther also urges us to pray for wisdom, strength, and
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success to emperors, kings
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and all estates.
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Boy, is that in desperate need these days.
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No doubt we have not because we ask not.
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The fourth petition also leads us to pray against certain things, as
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Luther says.
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This petition is especially directed also against our chief enemy, the
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Devil, for all his thought and desire is to deprive us all of all that
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we have from God, or to hinder it.
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Yes, we may pray for our enemies to be vanquished.
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We may pray that bad laws be overturned.
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We may pray that society slide into Godless chaos, despair and
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corruption be reversed.
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So much to pray in this petition and so little time to pray it.
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But fear not, God also gives us a salutary perspective.
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This fourth petition comes right in the middle of our Lord's Model
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Prayer.
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First, we prayed for things on God's mind his name, his kingdom, his
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will.
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And then we arrived at the single and lone petition for all of our
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earthly, physical, bodily needs.
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And the petitions yet to come continue to focus on our needs, but
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needs of the soul, our forgiveness, our protection in times of
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temptation, our deliverance from this valley of sorrow.
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And so when you work the math, praying for our daily bread and chicken
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takes up a mere one 7th of our attention.
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14.3%.
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And that leaves a whole six out of seven petitions, a whole 85.7% to
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focus on our life with God, both here on earth and there in heaven.
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God indeed is gracious.
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God certainly gives daily bread to everyone, and he wants you to
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receive it with the thanksgiving of faith.
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How did Jesus say it?
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Do not be anxious saying, what shall we eat?
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Or what shall we drink?
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Or what shall we wear for the Gentiles
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seek after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you
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need them all.
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But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all
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these things will be added to you.
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God does want us and invites us to pray for our earthly needs, our
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earthly goods.
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He wants us to recognize that we receive them all from His gracious
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Fatherly hand.
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He invites us to know and experience His Fatherly goodness toward us
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in His gifts.
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And in addition, and more importantly, our Lord would also remind us
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of our true daily bread.
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God gave manna bread from heaven to the Israelites for their daily
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bodily needs.
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But he also gives us a better bread.
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For the bread of God is he who comes down from Heaven and gives life
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to the world.
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Jesus Himself is our daily bread, baked in the midday sun and heat of
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Good Friday, broken for you on the cross and always giving life
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because of His resurrection so cling to His promise.
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I am the bread of life, He said whoever comes to Me shall not hunger
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and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst.
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God certainly gives daily bread to everyone and his promise comforts
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it, sustains.
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It also enables you to pray.
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Give us this day our daily bread and let us all be clothed and fed.
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Save us from hardship, war and strife in plague and famine spare our
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life that we, in honest peace may live to care and greed no entrance
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give. Amen.
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And the peace of God, which goes beyond all understanding, will guard
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your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Amen.