Prayer in the Name of Jesus - Sermon for Rogate, the Sixth Sunday of Easter

Sixth Sunday of Easter – Rogate
May 22^nd, Year of Our + Lord 2022
Prayer in Jesus’ Name

We recite together from the Small Catechism: The Lord’s Prayer, Introduction and the First Petition, with explanations, (LSB 323-4).

Introduction

“Our Father who art in heaven.”

 What does this mean?

   With these words God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask him, as dear children ask their dear father.

 The First Petition

“Hallowed be Thy name.”

What does this mean?

   God’s name is certainly holy in itself, but we pray in this petition that it may be kept holy among us also.

How is God’s name kept holy?

    God’s name is kept holy when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we, as the children of God, also lead holy lives according to it. Help us to do this, dear Father in heaven! But anyone who teaches or lives contrary to God’s Word profanes the name of God among us. Protect us from this, heavenly Father!

   On the night before His suffering and death, in the upper room with the Eleven, Jesus made a remarkable promise:  Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.  Until now you have asked nothing in my name.  Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

   To pray in the Name of Jesus is to pray as the baptized. Because it was in and through the water that He put His Name on you, claiming you as His own, a son or daughter of His Father, even inviting you to pray to His Father as your Father. How great are the promises that Jesus makes about your prayers!

     This Sunday, the sixth of Easter, is called in Latin "Rogate." It’s the only Sunday of Easter or Lent that does not take its name from the first words of the Introit.   "Rogate" instead comes from the Gospel for today. It means "pray," or, in our translation, "ask.” Ask, and you will receive.

     Perhaps this promise of Jesus seems too good for you to believe. Maybe your experience in prayer makes you doubt that Jesus really meant what He said about prayer in His Name. Worse, maybe your experience in prayer leads you to doubt your faith, your place in the kingdom of God, since your prayers do not seem to be answered.  Understanding prayer, especially as Jesus describes it, is hard.

    Some years ago in Montana, I had a vicar, a pastoral intern.  One Sunday, while preaching on this same text, the vicar confessed his own prayer struggle. He was a good man, had many talents, and was looking forward to serving as a pastor.  Vicar had also, for a long time, been praying that the Lord would give him a wife.  His prayer went years without answer.  Vicar left his year with us still a single man.  But, the next spring, at the same time he was graduating from seminary and receiving his first call into the holy ministry, God gave the answer he sought.  Through a website for Lutherans, a Lutheran dating site, (I know, who knew?)  our vicar met, and later fell in love with and became engaged to his future wife. 

   From the vicar’s experience we can learn two things:  First, that the Lord normally responds to our prayers through common, earthly means. The role of the Christian is to pray, and to work, to do what is good and logical in search of our desires.   You pray for healing, and you go see your doctor.  Our vicar prayed, but he also sought to meet a good woman on a Lutheran dating site.  God most often uses earthly means to answer our prayers. 

   Second, patience is needed. The Lord does not delay in keeping His promises.  His timing is perfect.  However, our schedule is not His, nor is ours best. The Lord is faithful. He will fulfill his promises.  God will answer our prayers in the best possible way, in His time, on His schedule.

      At the same time, it is also true that the Lord will not give us everything that you and I might ask for. There is another potential problem we must consider.

     To pray in the name of Jesus, who is God, is to pray as the baptized, pure and holy, reborn from above, new creatures with new hearts, who desire all that God desires. Therefore, if we are asking for something bad, we will have to confess that such prayer does not come from you as a saint, from the new person that God has created.  Rather, such a bad request comes from you as a sinner. Such a request is not really a prayer in the Name of Jesus, for we do sanctify the Name of His Father by asking for bad things.

     Simply put, God does not respond to our prayers if they are evil. If my prayers are motivated by greed, selfishness or lust, then they are certainly not asked in the name of Jesus, even if I say that phrase to end my prayer. Therefore, a prayer that we sinner-saints need daily is to ask the Spirit to guide us so that we do not pray wrongly, so that our faithful and good prayers truly sanctify the Name of God.

We recite together from the Small Catechism: The second and third petitions of the Lord's Prayer, with explanations. (LSB 324).

The Second Petition

“Thy kingdom come.”

What does this mean?

     To be sure, the kingdom of God comes of itself, without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may also come to us.

How is this done?

     When the heavenly Father gives us his Holy Spirit so that by his grace we may believe his holy Word and live a godly life, both here in time and hereafter forever.

The Third Petition

“Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

What does this mean?

     The good and gracious will of God is done even without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also.

 How is God’s will done?

     God’s will is done when He breaks and hinders every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow God’s name or let His kingdom come; and when he strengthens us and keeps us firm in his Word and faith until we die. This is His good and gracious will.

 

     To pray in the name of Jesus is to pray for the Mission of God. As St. Paul tells us today: I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ² for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. ³ This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  And the truth in which we rejoice is this Good News: in Christ, there is salvation for all.  In Christ, God continues to offer forgiveness and new life to all.  And so we pray, “Thy kingdom come, to us, and to all.”  

      To pray in the name of Jesus is to pray in unity with Christ. You, the baptized, have been crucified with Christ.  You have been clothed with Christ and sealed with His Spirit.  Therefore, as Jesus prays, so you also pray.  Our Lord’s most intense prayer was offered in the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus asked his Father to take away the Cup of Wrath, which was His impending suffering.   “Father, if it is possible, let this Cup pass from me.”  However, Jesus’ prayer did not end there. He continued: "but not My will, but Your will be done. " Thy will be done. As much as Jesus dreaded suffering for the sins of the whole world, He still submitted His will to the will of His Father. So we do, too.  Praying in the name of Jesus is always according to God's will, not ours. Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.

      Prayer in the Name of Jesus is faithful prayer which knows that the Father has given Jesus Christ into the Cross, to rescue us from an eternity in hell. Such a Father, and such a Savior, now risen and seated at the right hand of His Father, such a God will never abandon us. He will give us His best, always.  Now, we must remember this: as we see in the image of Christ dying on the Cross, often it is difficult to see the good in the outward appearance of a thing. But rest assured, just as Christ on the Cross is truly a picture of God's love for all humanity, so also God's will is better for you than your own will. God may take us into unfamiliar and fearful situations.  But He will be with us, and bring us through.  And finally one day He will bring us to His heavenly home, no matter what happens.  

      To pray always "Thy will be done" is, in reality, liberating. To pray according to God’s will is to recognize that we are both saints and sinners, that from time to time we will err in our requests, due to our weakness, or simply our lack of understanding.  Still, as God’s holy ones, we are free to ask for anything we believe is good, trusting that the Father loves to give good gifts.  He will either give us what we ask for, or something better! After all, he has already given us Jesus.   Prayer in the name of Jesus helps us look to the future with confidence, and live with joy today, whether in this moment we are rich or poor, strong or weak, popular or ridiculed.  We trust, because we know how the story of Jesus ends.  And His story is also our story. 

 We recite together from the Small Catechism: The Lord’s Prayer, Fourth and Fifth Petitions, with explanations. (LSB 324).

The Fourth Petition

Give us this day our daily bread.

What does this mean?

   God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving. 

What is meant by daily bread?

   Daily bread includes everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like. 

The Fifth Petition

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

What does this mean?

   We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them.  We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment.  So we too will sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us. 

 

     To pray in the name of Jesus is to pray honestly. This is easy in relation to our daily bread, since we are always getting hungry. Of course, we do need help remembering to give thanks to God for His daily gifts.  To acknowledge that He provides every good thing, whether material, emotional or spiritual.

     It is more difficult to be honest about our sin. For this reason, right in the center of the Lord's Prayer, Jesus taught us to say, "forgive us our trespasses," our debts, our sins. Forgive us again, dear Lord, because we are still sinners. To pray in the name of Jesus in this life, as sinner-saints, is always to pray in repentance. Prayer in the name of Jesus is always humble, never proud, never self-promoting.  Rather we always pray as the tax collector prayed: Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner.  

     And Lord has mercy, for you! The Lord always has mercy upon us, for the love of Jesus. As sinners, we must always pray in repentance.  As saints, as believers in Jesus, we can pray in repentance, regretting our sins, and yet at the same time praying with confidence and joy, because we know God has taken away all our sins, and given us new life, in Jesus.

We recite together from the Small Catechism: The Lord’s Prayer, Sixth and Seventh Petitions, with explanations.   (LSB 324-5).

The Sixth Petition

“And lead us not into temptation.”

What does this mean?

   God tempts no one.  We pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great and shame and vice.  Although we are attacked by these things, we pray that we may finally overcome them and win the victory.

The Seventh Petition

“But deliver us from evil.”

What does this mean?

   We pray in this petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.

      This life is full of temptations. Satan wants us to submit to evil.  Our wicked foe hopes we will do evil as if we were never baptized and rescued by Christ. The Lord allows us go through temptations.  God’s hope and expectation is that we learn to pass through temptations like minor trials, because He is with us, and always offers us the way of escape.  Our way of escape is Christ himself, our Defender.   Our daily struggle against the devil, the world and our own lingering sinfulness, is way more than we can handle. This is why Jesus teaches us to pray for the help of his Father, that He not let us fall.  This also is to pray in the name of Jesus.

     And grace upon grace, what kindness without end!  Although we should not give into temptation, although we deserve rejection for our daily failures, the Lord is not like that. Even knowing our weakness and the fact that we were not going to stop sinning, He still became our Savior.  And so Jesus teaches us to pray: "But deliver us from evil."   From the beginning, and every day until we reach the finish line, our salvation is a divine work, a rescue that God himself carries out.  It must be, or we will never arrive.  It’s not that we are inert, like a stone or a fallen tree trunk that does not contribute anything to its movement.  No, in Christ we live, and actively participate in the Christian life, fighting every day. But salvation does not come from our struggle to resist sin.  And praise God for this, because our struggle to resist sin and evil is not always so impressive. Our salvation does not come from our struggle to resist sin; rather our struggle is a sign of our saving faith. 

   Despite our weakness, our victory over evil is already finished, in and through Christ. His life of love and good works is our merit before the Father. His sacrifice and suffering in our place is our Absolution, our Justification before the Father.  In Him, through Him, and with Him, the devil, the world and our sinful flesh are defeated, and our future is secure.  And so we are free, free to love and serve without thought to our status before God, because Christ is our status before the Father. 

   While we live here, in a world that proclaims every day a message completely opposed to this Gospel, we need to hear the promise over and over again.  And so, pray the Lord’s Prayer out loud, so it also hits your ears.  Because your petition, that we be delivered from evil, is also a little sermon every time we pray it, a proclamation of Truth.   Because our deliverance is already a fact, in the One who has taught us to pray in His name, Jesus Christ.

We recite together from the Small Catechism: The Lord’s Prayer, Conclusion, with explanation. (LSB 325)

Conclusion

“For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever, Amen.”

What does this mean?

   This means that I should be certain that these petitions are pleasing to our Father in heaven, and are heard by Him, for He Himself has commanded us to pray in this way, and has promised to hear us. “Amen, amen” means “Yes, yes, it shall be so.”

     To pray in the Name of Jesus is to give the "Amen" to everything He has done and said. Amen is a Hebrew word, which has come into Greek, Latin, German, English, Spanish and many other languages more or less the same as it was in Hebrew: Amen.  Depending on the context, "Amen" can mean, “Truly," or even "I believe." It is the response of faith to the Word of God, the joyful affirmation of the People of God to the Gospel. It is the privilege of the congregation to say it, as we have it set many times in the course of the liturgy.  You are also free to say it any time something true has been proclaimed.  When the pastor distributes the body and blood of Christ, the communicant can respond: Amen.  Likewise, in the farewell of the sacrament, when the Pastor says "The body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen you and keep you in the true faith, in body and soul, go in peace," it is the privilege of the faithful to respond with a hearty "Amen."

     So too, we end the Lord's Prayer with "Amen," trusting in everything that our Lord Jesus has given us to pray, in His Name, forever and ever, Amen.