Brent Kuhlman

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Wednesday of Lent 4                                                                                      

17 March 2010                                                           

 When You Pray Say:  “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread”

St. John 6:1-15; St. John 19:23-30

Jesus has taught us to pray to our Father who art in heaven.  That His name be kept holy among us, that His kingdom come to us, and that His will be done among us.  To pray for this with all boldness and confidence as His dear children. 

“Seek first God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness,” Jesus says in Matthew 6:33 and everything else God will take care of.  God’s kingdom.  God’s righteousness.  All that comes with the first three petitions.  His name.  His kingdom.  His will.  All for you out of His divine goodness and mercy.  Without any merit and worthiness in you. So why all the worry?  Why all the high anxiety?  He’s given you His name.  He’s given you His kingdom.  He does His will among you.  He’ll see to all the rest of your needs. 

And so the Fourth Petition: daily bread.  God gives all that we need for this body and life.  He gives and gives and gives.  To all.  Whether you’re a Christian or not.  The rain falls on the good and the wicked alike. 

But it’s time to learn that God is the Giver.  He gives daily bread. And we are to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.  Let me illustrate.  There was a pastor who told all the people of his community to meet at the county courthouse at noon to hear a very important announcement.  The storeowners didn’t want to leave their businesses untended.  The housewives said they had dishes to wash, clothes to iron, and babies to feed.  The children said they all had to be in school.  The farmers protested because they had crops to tend.  And all the retirees said they had fish to catch.  However, they loved their pastor and they granted him this one wish.  All the people of the community gathered together outside the county courthouse to hear his big announcement.

When they were all present the pastor dressed in his vestments proclaimed:  “I want to tell you that there really is a God in this world!”

And that was it.  Sermon over.  But the people understood the point.  They had been carrying on with their lives as if God didn’t even exist.  They observed daily routines with all its incessant ritual and they recited the correct order of prayers.  But their actions did match God’s will for their lives.[1]   

“Give us this day our daily bread.”  We’re begging that we’d see the Giver in the gifts and receive them with thanks.

When you pray for “daily bread,” you’re praying for all that you need for your body and this life in the world.  Food and drink in the refrigerator and on the table.  Clothes and shoes in the closet.  A house to live in.  A bed to sleep in.  A job to earn money.  Money to buy what you need.  The joy of being a family.  Having a devout spouse and devout children.  Here we pray that God would preserve our homes and families from divorce, drugs, drunkenness and disobedience.  

When you pray for “daily bread” you’re praying for a good and healthy economy.  And that everyone in our country do their jobs well.  From the farmer in the fields, to the baker in the bakery, to the congress and president of the United States.  Devout workers.  Devout and faithful rulers.  Good government.  When you have that you have “daily bread.”  When the workers, the rulers and government are wicked – chaos results – and “daily bread” is hard to come by.  The shelves in the stores can be empty.  The prices too high.  Unemployment matastisizes because greedy employers lay off workers for more profit.  Crime skyrockets.

When you pray for “daily bread” you’re asking that creation itself be maintained by God.  Daily bread is a prayer for good weather and for peace in the world.  This is a petition for protection.  Against fire, flood, tornado, drought, pollution, pestilence, and hail. It is a prayer for God to give you health, self-control and a good reputation so that you can work.  So that God can use you to provide for your family and open your heart to the poor.  Daily bread is a prayer for good neighbors and good friends too.  So that they can help you in times of need.  So that you can enjoy them in times of plenty.

“Give us this day our daily bread.”  And to all His giving we say:  “Thank you Lord.  It’s all from you.”

Jesus Himself, true Man, received daily bread from His Father in heaven.  He was given His flesh and blood from His mother, Mary.  He received His sustenance from her as an infant.  After fasting 40 days in the desert after His baptism, He is hungry.  Satan tempts Him.  Change the rocks into bread.  But Son of God Jesus will not even though He’s starving.  He patiently waits on His Father to open His hand and give Him His daily bread no matter how much His stomach growls.  At Sychar Jesus is thirsty.  And there are times when He is tired and needs to sleep. 

And now on the cross -- bloody and beaten Jesus thirsts.  Yet He provides.  Daily bread.  For His mother.  Flesh of His flesh and blood of her blood.  She carried Him in her womb for nine months.  She gave birth to Him.  She nursed Him.  Changed His diapers.  Lullabied Him to sleep.  At His side when the shepherds visited and later when the Magi followed the star to worship Him as King!  She was there at the temple when Simeon took baby Jesus in his arms and prophesied that a sword would pierce her soul.  Then there was the wedding at Cana.  Water into wine.  And now she’s at the foot of the cross.  Simeon’s words have come true.

Her Son.  Dying helplessly and unjustly on the Roman tree of torture.  And yet in His death Jesus provides “daily bread” for Mary His virgin mother.  “Woman, behold your son.”  And to John He says:  “Behold your mother.”  He provides for her even in His death.  Puts her in a family.  Always taking care.  Never putting Himself first.

I have a very important announcement.  There really is a God.  He is Christ Jesus the Lord!  He takes care of you.  With “daily bread” that has everything to do with your body and life.  What do you have?  What have you accumulated?  It’s all from Him.  His gift to you.  For you.  For your benefit.

And with Jesus there’s always more.  Jesus is the very bread come down from heaven.  He is the bread of life -- the true and living bread that a sinner can eat and live forever.  On The Cross Jesus is the Living Loaf.  He gives and sustains your life by His Mount Calvary Death. 

And in the Lord’s Supper Jesus takes ordinary bread.  Presses it into His service for you.  Speaks His Word that this daily bread is His very Body.  Daily bread and Bread of Life Jesus are eaten together as one.  Daily bread and eternal food become one Loaf.  The altar becomes the Lord’s dinner table.  He is the Host, the Butler, and the Meal.  He bestows His Body with the bread given for you with the promise that your sin is forgiven.

The bounty of His giving:  daily bread that is used to feed us with eternity’s bread, the very flesh of Jesus – results in thanksgiving.  Eucharist!  Eucharistic praying:  “We give thanks to You, almighty God, that You have refreshed us through this salutary gift.”  And then you are strengthened for daily living wherever He’s put you.  To receive and eat your daily bread with thanksgiving.  “Give us this day our daily bread.”

In the Name of Jesus.