This Sunday we come to Luke 11:1-13, which includes Luke’s account of the Lord’s Prayer. In preparation for our corporate worship, read the Scripture passage and then ponder a few of the relevant (and so well-worded!) sections of the Heidelberg Catechism (1576):

Q & A 117

Q. How does God want us to pray so that he will listen to us?

A. First, we must pray from the heart to no other than the one true God, who has revealed himself in his Word, asking for everything he has commanded us to ask for.

Second, we must acknowledge our need and misery, hiding nothing, and humble ourselves in his majestic presence.

Third, we must rest on this unshakable foundation: even though we do not deserve it,
God will surely listen to our prayer because of Christ our Lord. That is what he promised us in his Word.

Q & A 122

Q. What does the first request [of the Lord’s Prayer] mean?

A. “Hallowed be your name” means, Help us to really know you, to bless, worship, and praise you for all your works and for all that shines forth from them: your almighty power, wisdom, kindness, justice, mercy, and truth.

And it means, help us to direct all our living—what we think, say, and do—so that your name will never be blasphemed because of us but always honored and praised.

Q & A 123

Q. What does the second request [of the Lord’s Prayer] mean?

A. “Your kingdom come” means, Rule us by your Word and Spirit in such a way that more and more we submit to you. Keep your church strong, and add to it. Destroy the devil’s work; destroy every force which revolts against you
 and every conspiracy against your Word. Do this until your kingdom is so complete and perfect, that in it you are all in all.

Warfield explains that our only hope is outside of ourselves. Our hope is not in our works, and it is also not in our faith. Our hope is in Christ alone, and that is faith!

Sometimes we are told that Justification by Faith is “out of date.” That would be a pity, if it were true. What it would mean would be that the way of salvation was closed and “no thoroughfare” nailed up over the barriers. There is no justification for sinful men except by faith. The works of a sinful man will, of course, be as sinful as he is, and nothing but condemnation can be built upon them. Where can he get works upon which he can found his hope of justification, except from Another? His hope of Justification, remember – that is, of being pronounced righteous by God. Can God pronounce him righteous except on the ground of works that are righteous? Where can a sinful man get works that are righteous? Surely, not from himself; for, he is a sinner, and all his works as sinful as he is. He must go out of himself, then, to find works which he can offer to God as righteous. And where will he find such works except in Christ? Or how will he make them his own except by faith in Christ?

Justification by Faith, we see, is not to be set in contradiction to justification by Works. It is set in contradiction only to justification by our Own Works. It is justification by Christ’s Works. The whole question, accordingly, is whether we can hope to be received into God’s favor on the ground of what we do ourselves, or only on the ground of what Christ does for us…. Justification by Faith means, that is to say, that we look to Christ and him alone for salvation, and come to God pleading Christ’s death and righteousness as the ground of our hope to be received into his favor. If Justification by Faith is out of date, that means, then, that salvation by Christ is out of date. …

Justification by Faith does not mean, then, salvation by believing instead of by doing right. It means pleading the merits of Christ before the throne of grace instead of our own merits.

In Selected Shorter Writings, vol. 1, pp. 283-84.

HT: Darryl Hart

A couple of Sundays ago, in a message on Mary on Martha in Luke 10, I noted how one of the most remarkable things in the story — not to us today, but to its first-century readers — is the way Jesus commended Mary’s choice to sit in the living room and learn…like only a male disciple would have done. I said, that might have been no small part of Martha’s objection, in fact: her sister was acting more like a man (learning) than a women (cooking). But Jesus’ blessing of Mary’s “better” choice was a bold corrective to the first-century Jewish conceptions of gender roles. He was intent to show, not only the priority of “sitting at his feet,” but also the equal place for men and women in redemption, discipleship, worship, etc. Men and woman have different designs for the home and the church, but they do not have different degrees of access to Jesus.

John Piper recently noted the same thing from a different passage: “they marveled that He was talking to a woman” (John 4:27). Here’s the link to a seven minute video of him explaining the verse. Good stuff!

At the risk of recommending so much new reading that I add to your busyness and stress, I can’t pass up recommending one more: “Taking Care of Busyness” by John Ortberg.

This is an article that I just today re-discovered in my files after first reading it in Leadership magazine in 1998. Though more than 10 years old now, the article is probably more needed and helpful today than when it was written, since the problems of busyness and stress have only seemed to get worse.

After re-reading it today, I know why I filed this away: this is a great article. It has pointed conviction, warm encouragement, enlightening stats, practical suggestions, and diverse quotes (from Kierkegaard to Alice in Wonderland).

His prescription is to “ruthlessly eliminate hurry” from our lives. 

Jesus was often busy but he was never hurried. Being busy is an outer condition; being hurried is a sickness of the soul. Jesus never went about the busyness of his ministry in a way that severed the life-giving connection between himself and his Father. He never did it in a way that interfered with his ability to give love when that was what was called for. He observed a regular rhythm of withdrawal from activity, for solitude and prayer. He ruthlessly eliminated hurry from his life.

Go read the whole thing. I really do think it’s worth your time. And then prayerfully seek to apply it. I’m praying for wisdom for you and yours as I write this.

As another follow-up to the sermon on Mary and Martha, this assessment from MSNBC writer, Julia Sommerfield, is illustrative and sobering. She suggests that most Americans are so stressed and harried that they seemingly live to complain about how stressed they are! 

Millions of Americans are so stressed they don’t have time for, among other things: lunch, vacation, sleep, exercise, time with their family or even sex. One thing they do have plenty of time for? Talking about how stressed they are. …

People are now determining their self-worth on how busy they are and how much they have to do …

Ouch! I know. But go ahead and read the whole thing.