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Wednesday of Lent 3
10 March 2010
When You Pray Say: “Thy Will Be Done”
St. Matthew 26:36-46; St. John 6:35-40
If anyone’s will is going to be done, it may as well be God’s.
Jesus prays precisely this way in Gethsemane. “Not my will Father but yours be done. I will drink this cup since it is your will.”
And His Father’s will is to save -- a world -- chuck full of sinners. Through Jesus. His Son. And only by Jesus. By means of His Son’s agonizing suffering, death, and resurrection. It is the Father’s will to crush Him. To lay on Him the sin of the world. To put to Jesus’ lips the cup of His wrath and damnation. And that He drink it completely. For you. For all. For your salvation. The Father’s will is that Jesus be your Savior.
The arrest in Gethsemane, the kangaroo court before Pilate, and the bitter suffering and cruciform of Good Friday -- this is God’s good and gracious will. For without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Jesus is more than willing to do just that. And He did it. His sacrificial blood that is spilled all over the altar of the cross, sprinkled on your body, and poured into your mouth -- purifies you from all sin.
Jesus was always about doing the Father’s will. That was His whole life. “My food,” He confessed in John 4:34, “is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work.” In John 6:38 Jesus proclaims: “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.” His work to save you!
“It is finished.” God’s will is done. By Jesus. Without your prayer. “The good and gracious will of God is done even without our prayer,” the Catechism correctly teaches. God created everything and you without consulting you. He didn’t ask the world or you if you wanted to be redeemed. He sends His Son Jesus without your prayer. God doesn’t wet his index finger and stick it in the air to see where the latest opinion poll winds are blowing. God did not need your permission in order to save you. He didn’t ask: “Now, would you like to be saved?” Truly, truly I say to you: where God causes His name to be hallowed – where God causes the reign of Jesus’ death to come, be manifested and bestowed – THERE HIS WILL IS DONE!
In heaven God’s will is unopposed. But here on earth it’s a different story. And so Jesus teaches you to pray “Thy will be done” so that the good and gracious will of God be done among you.
That God’s will be done among you. That’s what you’re praying for! And when you pray this way you’d better buckle up. Strap yourself in tight. You’re in for a rough ride. The battle is on.
Your bitter enemies -- an evil trinity -- Satan, the world, and your sinful nature won’t stand for all this hallowing of God’s name, that Christ’s reign of forgiveness be lorded over you, and God’s will be done among you. They will go on the offensive. Attack. Satan is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. “For where God’s Word is preached, accepted or believed, and bears fruit, there the blessed holy cross will not be far away.” This evil trinity blasphemes God’s Name and assaults God’s kingdom. So that His good and gracious will might not be done among you.
So Christ leads you and carries you in fighting back. Against your old Adams and Eves. Against the world and against Satan. With His very own words! When you pray, say: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” With these words we’re not trying to change God’s will. Instead, He would change and align our will to His. That His name be hallowed among us. That His will be done among us. And this means that our stubborn and wicked wills be crushed! That our sinful wills be drowned and put to death! Everything in us that will not hallow God’s name nor let His reign come must come to an end.
What is it in your life that refuses to hallow God’s name? Or let Christ’s reign of redemption have its way with you? Whatever it is it is time to pray: “Not my will be done Father. But Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Praying this way with Jesus and with His own words puts to death all that would prevent, hinder or block the hallowing of God’s name and His gracious kingdom among us.
“Thy will be done!” In our families, homes, marriages, bedrooms boardrooms, and congregations! “Thy will be done.” In our sicknesses, sufferings, and service to others. “Thy will be done.” In our doubts, despair, and most especially in the hour of our dying.
The liturgy of private confession and absolution in the Small Catechism and the hymnal goes like this: “Dear pastor, please hear my confession and pronounce forgiveness in order to fulfill God’s will.” Pronounce forgiveness in order to fulfill God’s will! Incredible! Forgiveness for Christ’s sake is God’s will for you!
That’s precisely why God gathers you into the church so that you can hear this forgiveness in the Word of the Gospel, Baptism, Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper. Your prayer is answered. God’s good and gracious will is done among you in the forgiveness of all your sins. Jesus promises: “This is the will of him who sent me: that I shall lose none of all that he has given me but raise them up on the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Thank God for His good and gracious will for you!
In the Name of Jesus.
Edited on: March 10th, 2010 3:32 pm
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