Bible Text: Matthew 6:13b | Pre\u00ada\u00adcher: Tho\u00admas Grie\u00adve | Series: Aben\u00adt\u00fc\u00fcr Geb\u00e4t | At the very end of the pray\u00ader Our Father tran\u00adsi\u00adti\u00adons into wor\u00adship. \u00abFor thi\u00adne is the king\u00addom, and the power, and the glo\u00adry, for ever and ever.\u00bb This is not only the case in this pray\u00ader, but also in many other places in the Bible \u2013 and could beco\u00adme a habit of life.<\/p>\n
Today is 30 Decem\u00adber. If you still have open New Year\u2019s reso\u00adlu\u00adti\u00adons from last Janu\u00adary, you have about 30 hours left. If your reso\u00adlu\u00adti\u00adon was to stop pro\u00adcras\u00adti\u00adna\u00adting, it\u2019s a litt\u00adle late. Bible Text: Matthew 6:13b | Pre\u00ada\u00adcher: Tho\u00admas Grie\u00adve | Series: Aben\u00adt\u00fc\u00fcr Geb\u00e4t | At the very end of the pray\u00ader Our Father tran\u00adsi\u00adti\u00adons into wor\u00adship. \u00abFor thi\u00adne is the king\u00addom, and the power, and the glo\u00adry, for ever and ever.\u00bb This is not only the case in this pray\u00ader, but in many other places in the Bible\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","wpfc_preacher":[24],"wpfc_sermon_series":[47],"wpfc_sermon_topics":[],"wpfc_bible_book":[],"wpfc_service_type":[12],"class_list":["wpfc_preacher-thomas-grieve","wpfc_sermon_series-abentueuer-gebaet","wpfc-sermon-single","post-1996","wpfc_sermon","type-wpfc_sermon","status-publish","hentry","wpfc_service_type-gottesdienst"],"acf":[],"sermons_blog_filters_topics":"\t\t\t\t
\nToday is 30 Decem\u00adber. Have you ever thought about what the word Decem\u00adber means? Pro\u00adba\u00adb\u00adly not. I know I spend far too much time thin\u00adking about such things. Decem\u00adber comes from the Latin \u00abdecu\u00admo-mens\u00adris\u00bb and means rough\u00adly \u00abof the tenth month\u00bb. And sin\u00adce Decem\u00adber is the twelfth month, that makes per\u00adfect sen\u00adse. But not.
\nLike so many things, we have the anci\u00adent Romans to thank for our calen\u00addar. Ori\u00adgi\u00adnal\u00adly, March (Men\u00adsis Mar\u00adti\u00adus) was the first month. In March, pro\u00adcon\u00adsuls were appoin\u00adted and legi\u00adons moved out. In tho\u00adse days the year had only ten months and the\u00adre were no win\u00adter months. That would cer\u00adtain\u00adly be inte\u00adres\u00adt\u00ading, alt\u00adhough I doubt that only sports holi\u00addays took place bet\u00adween Decem\u00adber and March. I also don\u2019t know how bir\u00adth\u00addays were trea\u00adted bet\u00adween 31 Decem\u00adber and 1 March.
\nOver time, Janu\u00adary and Febru\u00adary were added and Janu\u00adary beca\u00adme the first month. But to this day, the 12th month is still cal\u00adled \u00abof the tenth month\u00bb. As the Gal\u00adlic phi\u00adlo\u00adso\u00adpher Obe\u00adlix says, \u00abThey\u2019\u00adre cra\u00adzy, the Romans!
\nWha\u00adte\u00adver the months are cal\u00adled, the\u00adre are good reasons to cele\u00adbra\u00adte the day after tomor\u00adrow and espe\u00adci\u00adal\u00adly to prai\u00adse God. We read the fol\u00adlo\u00adwing in Luke\u2019s Gos\u00adpel chap\u00adter 2:
\n\u00abWhen the child was cir\u00adcumcis\u00aded eight days later, he was given the name Jesus \u2013 just as the angel had named him befo\u00adre Mary beca\u00adme pregnant\u00bb (Luke 2:21, NL<\/span>).
\nFor the Jews, the name and the naming had gre\u00adat signi\u00adfi\u00adcan\u00adce for the life of a child. It was like a pro\u00adphe\u00adcy about him. On the eighth day after his birth, Joseph and Mary brought their new\u00adborn child to the temp\u00adle. The\u00adre he was cir\u00adcumcis\u00aded accor\u00adding to the law. And the\u00adre his name was pro\u00adno\u00adun\u00adced: Jesus \u2013 in Hebrew, Yes\u00adhua. Yes\u00adhua means \u00abYah\u00adweh saves\u00bb. We can also trans\u00adla\u00adte Yah\u00adweh as \u00abI am who I am\u00bb or \u00abI will be who I will be\u00bb or \u00abI am the\u00adre\u00bb. This Yah\u00adweh saves. And that was the name, that was the desti\u00adny, and that was the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
\nAs I cal\u00adcu\u00adla\u00adte it, 1 Janu\u00adary would be the eighth day after Christ\u00admas. On 1 Janu\u00adary, the Gos\u00adpel was pro\u00adclai\u00admed with a name. The Anno Domi\u00adni, the year of our Lord was pro\u00adclai\u00admed and a new age began. Ins\u00adtead of a reason to bin\u00adge, 1 Janu\u00adary is a reason to thank and prai\u00adse our God \u2013 to wor\u00adship him.
\nWor\u00adship is the the\u00adme for this mor\u00adning. This con\u00adcludes our annu\u00adal the\u00adme and ser\u00admon series on the Our Father pray\u00ader. Today is about wor\u00adship \u2013 with a look back and a look for\u00adward. We will look at some Bible texts together.
\nThe Doxolo\u00adgy of Our Father
\n\u00abFor thi\u00adne is the king\u00addom, and the power, and the glo\u00adry, for ever and ever.\u00bb
\nWhat do we do after a play or a con\u00adcert or a sport\u00ading event? If we enjoy\u00aded it, it is cus\u00adto\u00adma\u00adry to clap our hands tog\u00ade\u00adther, for exam\u00adp\u00adle. Clap\u00adping hands is an expres\u00adsi\u00adon of our gra\u00adti\u00adtu\u00adde and app\u00adre\u00adcia\u00adti\u00adon. May\u00adbe we do other things: exact\u00adly what and how depends a lot on our per\u00adso\u00adna\u00adli\u00adty and culture.
\nWhat do we do after a pray\u00ader? I think it\u2019s simi\u00adlar. Not with the clap\u00adping (but why not actual\u00adly), but that much depends on our per\u00adso\u00adna\u00adli\u00adty, habit, and cul\u00adtu\u00adre. At the end we often say \u00abAmen\u00bb \u2013 the Ara\u00admaic word for \u00abso be it\u00bb (\u00abet voi\u00adla\u00bb in B\u00e4rn\u00add\u00fctsch). I need Amen too but some\u00adti\u00admes I won\u00adder why. Do we use Amen like a magic word, or like a send but\u00adton for an email or text mes\u00adsa\u00adge? Or is Amen a signal word that God does\u00adn\u2019t need to lis\u00adten to us after\u00adwards? In the Bible and in anci\u00adent Chris\u00adti\u00adan lit\u00adur\u00adgies, it often hap\u00adpens that a pray\u00ader ends with prai\u00adse or wor\u00adship. I find it inte\u00adres\u00adt\u00ading any\u00adway how clo\u00adse\u00adly rela\u00adted the Ger\u00adman words pray\u00ader and wor\u00adship are. Both come from the word Bit\u00adten and the words show us that pray\u00ader and wor\u00adship have less to do with what we bring and more to do with what we want to recei\u00adve. Does that make sense?
\nThe last sec\u00adtion of Our Father we are loo\u00adking at this mor\u00adning is cal\u00adled the doxolo\u00adgy. The word doxolo\u00adgy is made up of two Greek words: doxa and logia. Doxa means \u00abbelief\u00bb or \u00abopi\u00adni\u00adon\u00bb and is the root of the words \u00abortho\u00addox\u00bb and \u00abpara\u00addox\u00bb. Doxa is also used to trans\u00adla\u00adte the Hebrew kavod (\u05d1\u05d5\u05d3) or \u00abglo\u00adry\u00bb. Logia means a ver\u00adbal or writ\u00adten expres\u00adsi\u00adon. So a doxolo\u00adgy is a word about glo\u00adry or a word that expres\u00adses the glo\u00adry of some\u00adthing. A doxolo\u00adgy is an expres\u00adsi\u00adon of prai\u00adse and glo\u00adri\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adti\u00adon \u2013 an expres\u00adsi\u00adon of worship.
\nThe doxolo\u00adgy of Our Father is the only part of the pray\u00ader that is not found direct\u00adly in Matthew 6. It is com\u00adple\u00adte\u00adly con\u00adsis\u00adtent with the theo\u00adlo\u00adgy and tenor of the rest of the pray\u00ader, but it is not part of our cano\u00adni\u00adcal scrip\u00adtu\u00adre. As Bern\u00adhard men\u00adtio\u00adned last Sun\u00adday, Chris\u00adti\u00adans used this word of wor\u00adship very ear\u00adly. The\u00adre are manu\u00adscripts from the 2nd cen\u00adtu\u00adry with the doxolo\u00adgy as part of the Our Father.
\nThe doxolo\u00adgy under\u00adlines the importance of the King\u00addom of Hea\u00adven for Jesus: Thi\u00adne is the king\u00addom, Thy king\u00addom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in hea\u00adven. When we per\u00adcei\u00adve and live out the Our Father, we bring the King\u00addom of Hea\u00adven in and around us. It is a king\u00addom whe\u00adre we honour God. It is a king\u00addom whe\u00adre God\u2019s will comes first. It is a king\u00addom whe\u00adre we expect and trust God\u2019s care. It is a king\u00addom whe\u00adre grace and for\u00adgi\u00adve\u00adness reign. It is a realm of cla\u00adri\u00adty whe\u00adre we rea\u00adli\u00adse that the\u00adre is more going on than what we can see with our eyes. It is a king\u00addom that requi\u00adres our total faithful\u00adness and com\u00adple\u00adte dependence.
\nIs this how I live a life of the king\u00addom of hea\u00adven? No, I fall again and again. And again and again I land in the loving and for\u00adgi\u00adving embrace of my Father and your Father \u2013 my King and yours. To Him belongs all glo\u00adry. Amen.
\nA Doxolo\u00adgy of David
\nThe theo\u00adlo\u00adgy of the king\u00addom of hea\u00adven and the lan\u00adguage of doxolo\u00adgy, are not new in the New Tes\u00adta\u00adment. They are also found in the wor\u00adship of King David. We read the fol\u00adlo\u00adwing text in the book of 1 Chro\u00adnic\u00adles 29. David had cal\u00adled the peo\u00adp\u00adle of Isra\u00adel to gather money and tre\u00adasu\u00adres for the buil\u00adding of the temp\u00adle. The peo\u00adp\u00adle came tog\u00ade\u00adther and brought a huge amount. The peo\u00adp\u00adle rejoi\u00adced at the gene\u00adro\u00adsi\u00adty and David wor\u00adship\u00adped his God.
\n\u00abThen David prai\u00adsed the Lord in the pre\u00adsence of all tho\u00adse gathe\u00adred: \u00abO Lord God of our pro\u00adge\u00adni\u00adtor Isra\u00adel, bles\u00adsed be you fore\u00adver and ever! Yours, O Lord, are great\u00adness, power, glo\u00adry, fame and majes\u00adty. Ever\u00ady\u00adthing in hea\u00adven and on earth is yours; the king\u00addom is yours, Lord. We wor\u00adship you as Lord over all. Wealth and honour come from you alo\u00adne, for you are Lord over all. Power and strength you give to him whom you will make gre\u00adat and migh\u00adty. God, we thank you and prai\u00adse your glo\u00adrious name\u00bb \u00bb (1 Chro\u00adnic\u00adles 29:10\u201313; NL<\/span>).
\nDid you noti\u00adce the simi\u00adla\u00adri\u00adties? David uses the lan\u00adguage of our doxolo\u00adgy in his wor\u00adship pray\u00ader. \u00abYours, O Lord, is the king\u00addom.\u00bb \u00abYours, Lord, is the power.\u00bb \u00abThi\u00adne, Lord, is the glo\u00adry.\u00bb \u00abBles\u00adsed are you for ever and ever!\u00bb Pro\u00adba\u00adb\u00adly the first Chris\u00adti\u00adans were very fami\u00adli\u00adar with this text, Jesus cer\u00adtain\u00adly was. David\u2019s wor\u00adship\u00adping heart shapes us to this day.
\nA Doxolo\u00adgy of Paul
\n\u00abGlo\u00adry and honour belong to God alo\u00adne, the Eter\u00adnal King, the Invi\u00adsi\u00adble One, who never dies and who alo\u00adne is God, for ever and ever. Amen.\u00bb (1 Timo\u00adthy 1:17, NL<\/span>).
\nThe New Tes\u00adta\u00adment is fil\u00adled with doxolo\u00adgies. Sin\u00adce the Apost\u00adle Paul wro\u00adte a lar\u00adge part of the New Tes\u00adta\u00adment, many doxolo\u00adgies come from him. One exam\u00adp\u00adle is this one from 1 Timo\u00adthy. I ima\u00adgi\u00adne that as Paul wro\u00adte his let\u00adters and reflec\u00adted on the ama\u00adzing gos\u00adpel and our won\u00adderful God, he was over\u00adwhel\u00admed and fil\u00adled with prai\u00adse and wor\u00adship. It is the same for a fri\u00adend of mine when he talks about God.
\nIn this exam\u00adp\u00adle, Paul has just expres\u00adsed his gra\u00adti\u00adtu\u00adde for God\u2019s grace and call on his life. He pro\u00adba\u00adb\u00adly wept when he wro\u00adte this doxology.
\nDo we know this full\u00adness of emo\u00adti\u00adon and gra\u00adti\u00adtu\u00adde? I per\u00adso\u00adnal\u00adly wish for much more of it. How deep\u00adly has the truth of the Gos\u00adpel grown in our hearts? A doxolo\u00adgy is not a con\u00adfes\u00adsi\u00adon, it is a passion.
\nBy the way, Paul also needs \u00abAmen\u00bb; it is biblical.
\nDoxolo\u00adgies in Revelation
\nFinal\u00adly, I would like to look at the doxolo\u00adgies in the Book of Revelation.
\nMay\u00adbe you won\u00adde\u00adred why we had last year\u2019s trai\u00adler this mor\u00adning. May\u00adbe you did\u00adn\u2019t even noti\u00adce and that\u2019s per\u00adfect\u00adly fine. I don\u2019t noti\u00adce ever\u00ady\u00adthing eit\u00adher, for exam\u00adp\u00adle new hair\u00adstyl\u00ades, shoes, glas\u00adses, bir\u00adth\u00addays. For me, it\u2019s cool if you haven\u2019t noti\u00adced. We deli\u00adbera\u00adte\u00adly show\u00aded last year\u2019s trai\u00adler this mor\u00adning. Last year our the\u00adme was \u00abFore\u00adsight\u00bb and we did a ser\u00admon jour\u00adney through the book of Reve\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon. Today I am try\u00ading to bring the last 2 years tog\u00ade\u00adther. In Febru\u00adary it will be 24 years sin\u00adce I came to Switz\u00ader\u00adland to mar\u00adry a B\u00e4r\u00adner\u00admeit\u00adschi. I feel com\u00adfor\u00adta\u00adble in my adopted coun\u00adtry, except when the\u00adre is high fog. I\u2019m not par\u00adti\u00adcu\u00adlar\u00adly sen\u00adsi\u00adti\u00adve to light, but I feel quite dis\u00adori\u00aden\u00adted when I can\u2019t see my sur\u00adroun\u00addings. During the sports holi\u00addays that year we were in S\u00f6ren\u00adberg. I took the cable car up to Bri\u00aden\u00adzer Rot\u00adhorn and found mys\u00adelf com\u00adple\u00adte\u00adly sur\u00adroun\u00added by grey fog. Joy reig\u00adned! Sud\u00adden\u00adly the\u00adre was a bright light and a squa\u00adre win\u00addow bro\u00adke through the wall of fog. Through the win\u00addow I could see the blue sky, the moun\u00adta\u00adins and Lake Bri\u00adenz. They were always the\u00adre. I just did\u00adn\u2019t noti\u00adce them becau\u00adse of the wall of fog. I nee\u00added a window.
\nSuch a win\u00addow is the book of Reve\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon and this rea\u00adli\u00adsa\u00adti\u00adon I had on the moun\u00adtain top was our the\u00adme in 2017. We often live sur\u00adroun\u00added by spi\u00adri\u00adtu\u00adal fog and do not rea\u00adli\u00adse what is going on around us. God\u2019s word and reve\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon shows us what is true. And what do we find in the book of Reve\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon? Doxolo\u00adgy and worship:
\n\u00abIn the midd\u00adle and around the thro\u00adne are four living crea\u00adtures, full of eyes in front and behind. The first of the\u00adse living beings looks like a lion, the second like a young bull. The third living being has a face like a man and the fourth resem\u00adbles a fly\u00ading eagle. Each of the\u00adse living crea\u00adtures has six wings that were full of eyes insi\u00adde and out. Day after day and night after night they do not cea\u00adse to cry, \u00abHoly, holy, holy is the Lord God Almigh\u00adty, who always was, who is, and who is yet to come.\u00bb \u00bb (Reve\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon 4:6\u20138; NL<\/span>).
\n\u00abWhen\u00adever the living crea\u00adtures bring glo\u00adry and honour and thanks\u00adgi\u00adving to him who sits on the thro\u00adne and lives for ever and ever, the twen\u00adty-four elders fall down befo\u00adre him who sits on the thro\u00adne and wor\u00adship him who lives for ever and ever. And they lay their crowns befo\u00adre the thro\u00adne and say: \u00abYou are wort\u00adhy, our Lord and God, to recei\u00adve glo\u00adry and honour and power. For you crea\u00adted all things; becau\u00adse you wil\u00adled it, they are here and were crea\u00adted.\u00bb \u00bb (Reve\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon 4:9\u201311; NL<\/span>).
\n\u00abThen I saw again thou\u00adsands upon thou\u00adsands of angels around the thro\u00adne and around the living crea\u00adtures and the elders, and I heard their sin\u00adging. And they sang in a migh\u00adty cho\u00adrus: \u00abWort\u00adhy is the Lamb that was slain. He is wort\u00adhy to recei\u00adve power and riches and wis\u00addom and strength and honour and glo\u00adry and prai\u00adse.\u00bb \u00bb (Reve\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon 5:11\u201312; NL<\/span>).
\n\u00abAnd then I heard all the crea\u00adtures in hea\u00adven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea sin\u00adging, \u00abPrai\u00adse and honour and glo\u00adry and power are due to him who sits on the thro\u00adne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever.\u00bb And the four living crea\u00adtures said, \u00abAmen!\u00bb And the twen\u00adty-four elders fell down and wor\u00adshi\u00adp\u00aded\u00bb (Reve\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon 5:13\u201314; NL<\/span>).
\n\u00abAnd all the angels stood round about the thro\u00adne, and the elders, and the four living crea\u00adtures. And they fell down befo\u00adre the thro\u00adne and wor\u00adship\u00adped God. They cried out, \u00abAmen! Prai\u00adse and glo\u00adry and wis\u00addom and thanks\u00adgi\u00adving and honour and power and strength belong to our God for ever and ever. Amen!\u00bb \u00bb (Reve\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon 7:11\u201312; NL<\/span>).
\nIn conclusion
\nThe Our Father is an adven\u00adture. It is the best known pray\u00ader on earth and has accom\u00adpa\u00adnied huma\u00adni\u00adty for two mil\u00adlen\u00adnia. This pray\u00ader is an exam\u00adp\u00adle of how we can pray. And yet it is much more. The Our Father shows us how to live the King\u00addom of Hea\u00adven. It shows us how to tre\u00adat our fel\u00adlow human beings. It shows us how to deal with our\u00adsel\u00adves. And it shows us how to deal with our God.
\nPray\u00ader points us to the Gos\u00adpel and the Father of the Gos\u00adpel. He is the Father who has given us ever\u00ady\u00adthing we have. He is the Father who allows us to turn our backs on him and walk away. He is the Father who longs to wel\u00adco\u00adme us and bring us home. He is the Father who gave ever\u00ady\u00adthing so that we could come to Him. It was His idea to send His Son as a child in this world. It was his idea that Jesus took our guilt upon hims\u00adelf and died for us on the cross. He is the Father who\u00adse embrace res\u00adto\u00adres us and makes us pure.
\nI want to encou\u00adra\u00adge you and all of us to make 2019 the year of our Lord (Anno Domi\u00adni). To come and live in God and His embrace. I want to encou\u00adra\u00adge you and all of us to make 2019 a year of pray\u00ader and wor\u00adship. Amen.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"