Grace, mercy, and peace, and mercy
to you from God our Father and from Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Jesus
teaches us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” We take our daily bread for granted, don’t
we? We tend to think about the things we
have: the food on our table, the cars that are in garages, the house, the land
as ours, as if we earned them. But
Scripture teaches something different; because of our sin, we deserve nothing
from God. We treat our daily bread, our
stuff, as if we’ve earned it, as if it’s ours to do with what we please. We fail to realize the grace and mercy that
went into putting that loaf of bread on your table. Isn’t it amazing that we, who are sinners who
deserve nothing but death and hell, would approach the holy and righteous God
and dare to ask him for even a drop of water?
God
once fed Israel, who was wandering in the desert, with manna from heaven and
with quail and still they grumbled against God and against Moses. They longed to be back in Egypt, under the
yoke of slavery, but at least they’re bellies would be full. As God was trying to save them, lead them to
the Promised Land, God dragged them kicking and screaming. They received the manna from heaven but
still, against God’s command, some horded it away as if they didn’t trust that
God would provide for them tomorrow.
Like Israel, we’re often thankless when we receive our daily bread. We have food on the table, but it’s not the
kind we like the best. We have a house
but it’s not big enough. We have
clothing but it’s not the latest trend.
God sends rain and other weather but it’s never just what we want. Like Israel we receive our daily bread with a
ho-hum, grumbling about how it wasn’t good enough. Imagine a Father giving his son a brand new
red toy car for Christmas, only to have the child grumble and complain about
how he wanted a blue one. It would be an
outrage; the child would be reprimanded and taught to receive gifts with
thanksgiving. Yet, we’re like a child
sitting under a Christmas tree receiving gift after gift but it’s never exactly
what we want. Or we worry that God has,
somehow, forgotten about us and will fail to provide.
But we offer our
petitions to a loving Father who knows what we need even before we ask. Earthly fathers know that their children need
to eat and be nourished; they know that their children need a house and home,
food and drink, clothing and shoes before they even begin to make that first
babbling sound. A baby never has to ask
for anything, yet all she needs is provided without her asking. Our heavenly Father also knows what we need,
what is necessary for our lives, and He provides, even to those who don’t have
faith, even to those who do evil, even to sinners, even to the grumblers, even
to those who deserve nothing from the hand of God; people like you and me.
The word “content”
seems to have fled our vocabulary because we haven’t realized what that daily
bread cost God. What does a gallon of
milk cost, about $4.00 or so? But for
God that gallon of milk, that He most graciously gave you despite your sin,
despite your rebelliousness, cost Him the blood of His own dear Son.
Why
does God give us what we need? Because
He loves us? Because He’s
long-suffering? Certainly. But how has He loved us? Everything we are given, whether it be
salvation, eternal life, redemption; whether it be food, house, home, cares,
money, goods all flows from the cross. The
Father loves us through His Son, whom He sent to take upon Himself your sins
and mine. Apart from Jesus dying on the
cross, reconciling us to the Father, we get nothing. No salvation, no eternal life, no bread, no
drink. All we would get is death and
hell. All good things, all of God’s
gifts flow from the cross, whether they’re things of salvation or daily
bread. We deserve nothing from God, yet
He gives us these gifts for which we pray in the Fourth Petition on account of
His Son who suffered and died for you.
Our
Father knows what we need even before we ask.
When we pray the Fourth Petition, we’re asking that God would lead us to
realize this and receive all we have with thanksgiving; that we not take for
granted the gifts of God, to not receive them as if the earthly wealth we have
is somehow owed to us. To realize that
even this crust of bread, the sun that shines, the air we breathe all flows
from the cross, where God has shown His love for you.
A
child of a loving father doesn’t worry about where if he’ll receive his daily
bread, neither should we. Our Father
know that we need to support this body and life, in fact He gives us so much
that we can go out and help our neighbor support his body and life. He gives us so much that we can give some
back to support the ongoing proclamation of the Gospel, which is really our
first need. Better to have a full spirit
and an empty belly than the other way around.
Jesus
teaches us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Whether God has given you much or little, we
receive it through Jesus’ cross and we can be thankful and content for what God
gives. God knows what you need before you even think to ask. He loves you.
He gave His Son for you. And
He’ll continue to care for your needs both soul and body. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses
all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life
everlasting. Amen.
