Pilgrim - The Lord's Prayer

A Course for the Christian Journey

Stephen Cottrell, Steven Croft, Paula Gooder, Robert Atwell, Sharon Ely Pearson

• Publisher: Church Publishing
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780898699401
• eBook ISBN: 9780898699418
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

Pilgrim is a teaching and discipleship resource that helps inquirers and new Christians explore what it means to travel through life with Christ. A Christian course for the twenty-first century, Pilgrim offers an approach of participation, not persuasion. Following the practice of the ancient disciplines of biblical reflection and prayer with quotes from the Christian tradition throughout the ages, Pilgrim assumes little or no knowledge of the Christian faith. Individuals or small groups on the journey of discipleship in the Episcopal tradition can use Pilgrim at any point.

There are many different aspects to helping people learn about the Christian faith. We have taken as our starting point Jesus' summary of the commandments. We are called to offer our lives to God through loving God with all our mind, soul, strength, and heart, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Learning about Christian faith and growing in Christian faith is about more than what we believe. It's also about the ways in which we pray and develop our relationship with God, about the way we live our lives and about living in God's vision for the Church and for the world.

Course 2. The Lord's Prayer: How do Christians know and worship God? Explore the Lord's Prayer in these sessions as a gateway to the Christian gospel, as a guide to our own prayers, and as a way of deepening our relationship with God. Here is a way of seeing God and the world and yourself which is profound and revolutionary and good news.

SESSION TWO:

YOUR KINGDOM COME, YOUR WILL BE DONE,
ON EARTH AS IN HEAVEN

The aim of this session is to unpack the idea that the kingdom of God is central to Scripture, to Jesus’ teaching, to the Lord’s Prayer, and therefore to the Christian disciple.

Opening Prayers

O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness;

let the whole earth tremble before him.

PSALM 96:9

The earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it,

the world and all who dwell therein.

For it is he who founded it upon the seas

and made it firm upon the rivers of the deep.

“Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD

and who can stand in his holy place?”

“Those who have clean hands and a pure heart,

who have not pledged themselves to falsehood,

nor sworn by what is fraud.

They shall receive a blessing from the Lord,

and a just reward from the God of their salvation.”

Such is the generation of those who seek him,

of those who seek your face, O God of Jacob.

PSALM 24:1-6

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe the good news.”

MARK 1:14-15

O Trinity of love,

forgive us that we may forgive one another

heal us that we may be a people of healing

and renew us that we also may be makers of peace.

Amen.

THE IONA COMMUNITY WORSHIP BOOK (ADAPTED)

Conversation

If you could put just one thing right in the world, what would it be?

Reflecting on Scripture

Reading

The Book of Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and prayers. Psalm 99 is a hymn of praise which celebrates the truth that God is King and reigns over creation. God reigns eternally and Jesus came proclaiming the coming of his kingdom on earth.

The LORD is king; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! ²The LORD is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples. ³Let them praise your great and awesome name. Holy is he! ⁴Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. ⁵Extol the LORD our God; worship at his footstool. Holy is he! ⁶Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called on his name. They cried to the LORD, and he answered them. ⁷He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; they kept his decrees, and the statutes that he gave them. ⁸O LORD our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings. ⁹Extol the LORD our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the LORD our God is holy.

PSALM 99:1-9

Explanatory note

The cherubim in the Old Testament are angels whose wings hold up God’s throne in heaven.

Zion refers to a mountain near Jerusalem, though it is often used, as here, as another term for Jerusalem, where the temple stood.

Jacob is another name for the nation of Israel.

Moses, Aaron, and Samuel are great figures from Israel’s past. The story of the pillar of cloud is told in the book of Exodus, where it leads God’s people through the Wilderness after their escape from Egypt.

• Read the passage through once.
• Keep a few moments’ silence.
• Read the passage a second time with different voices.
• Invite everyone to say aloud a word or phrase that strikes them.
• Read the passage a third time.
• Share together what this word or phrase might mean and what questions it raises.

Reflection

LORETTA MINGHELLA

“The Lord is King”

The opening verses of Psalm 99 place faith firmly in the context of everyday life, claiming that God rules over the earth, both over the people of Zion and over all peoples. The Christian faith cannot, therefore, be relegated to the margins of society, or to some esoteric community. For the Lord’s Prayer invites us to pray “your kingdom come” to acknowledge that God’s reign over the universe is a reality but not yet fulfilled.

For a Christian to describe the Lord as king is to acknowledge the Church is part of something much larger. We are a community belonging to the kingdom of God. In the words of writer Brian McLaren, the Church is “a community that lives to see God’s dream come true for the world.” The Christian is a citizen and servant of the kingdom of God.

Life in the kingdom is one of personal and corporate responsibility; it is spiritual, and is highly practical. It focuses on who you are and how you live. Jesus came to announce that God’s kingdom was near, but it is not yet here in all its fullness: it is something we long for and pray for and work for as Christian disciples. The question each of us must answer is “How can I live as a faithful member of God’s kingdom?”

As well as describing God as “Mighty King,” verse 4 declares that God is a “lover of justice”’ who has “established equity.” This powerful phrase tells us something of the character of God. To love someone, or something, is to be totally committed to them, it is to afford them priority in your life. It implies a willingness to give everything for them. That God loves justice elevates just acts, and just living, as an essential commitment.

Worship and service

The psalm also encourages us to worship God (in vv. 3, 5, and 9). Worship is offered to the One who is worthy. Worship is expressed in many ways, but not least through one’s personal life choices. The greatest act of worship is to do that which pleases God; to reflect the character of God through obedient, loving service.

The Christian life is lived in a rhythm of worship and service. That service includes a love of justice and equity, and a commitment to work for these to be manifest throughout life globally. We cannot divorce faith from politics, or the local from the international. Justice must be applied universally, to everyone and by everyone.

In short

The Old Testament often describes God as King. God’s kingdom is the place (heaven) where God’s ideals of justice are lived out perfectly. We worship God in the whole of our lives by loving justice as much as God does.

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Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Welcome to Pilgrim
• Introduction to The Lord’s Prayer
• Session One: Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed Be Your Name
• Session Two: Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done on Earth as in Heaven
• Session Three: Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread
• Session Four: Forgive Us Our Sins as We Forgive Those Who Sin Against Us
• Session Five: Lead us Not into Temptation, but Deliver Us from Evil
• Session Six: For the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory Are Yours Now, and for Ever. Amen
• Notes