Encore Post: On the heels of the Sanctus, the pastor leads the congregation in the prayer our Lord taught us to pray. The Lord’s prayer, being the prayer of the baptized, takes its place in the Service of the Sacrament. And below I suggest many if not each petition of the prayer gets answered by the Sacrament of the Altar the congregation is preparing to receive.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be on earth as it is in heaven. We will discuss the introduction and the first three petitions together. We are calling out to our Heavenly Father as Christ has instructed us to do. He is our Father who desires to give us good things, and He has given us the very best thing: His very own Son that we might be reconciled to him by the blood which is poured out for us. God’s Kingdom is coming, we just sang about it in the Sanctus: “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord! And He comes to save, which is His will, that all call upon the name of the Son and be saved. Also eschatologically speaking, we are eating a foretaste of the meal that is in His Kingdom that will have no end.
Give us this day our daily bread. Luther spends more time talking about our physical needs here with the 4th petition, but in connection to the Sacrament and Jesus calling himself the bread of life in John 6, we can see the connection between this petition and the Sacrament we are about to receive. It is what truly gives us life and encouragement for the days ahead.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. We will be going to the rail and kneeling to receive with the body and blood of Christ, the forgiveness of sins which He won for us by his death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. Having received forgiveness from God in the Sacrament we are strengthened to forgive one another. Christ did not just die for my sins, but also for the sins that my neighbor committed against me. Having been forgiven and shown mercy by Christ, we too should show mercy to one another. We are strengthened to do that by the Sacrament of the Altar.
Lead us not into temptation. By the very eating and drinking of Christ’s body and blood, we are taking into ourselves the very person who is our advocate and fighter against every temptation of Satan, the world, and our own flesh.
Deliver us from evil. Christ promises in John 6: “Truly Truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live.” Jesus does not lie, and it is the will of His Father to raise up to eternal life those who believe in the one whom was pierced and out of whom blood and water poured out.
This is a bit longer of a post, but I do pray that this has given you a different way to say the prayer our Lord Jesus has taught us to pray when you say it right before receiving the Sacrament of the Altar. See in the Sacrament the answer to the prayer.
Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO
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