7.19.26 Worship Preview Doxology Part 2

WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY: 10:30am. “The Heart of the Matter: a Doxology”  Rev. ChristopherEshelman preaching. Scriptures: 1 Chronicles 16:23-31, Philippians 2:1-13, Philippians 3:4-21

I recently took some vacation time to see my grandson who just turned 8 months old. He is learning and growing so quickly. To hold him as he laughs or sleeps is heaven. To watch his face crumble into tears breaks my heart – even as I know whatever it is making him sad is probably easily fixed. A clean diaper, feeding, or just a change of how we’re sitting usually fixes things right up. He doesn’t know anything about war, violence, racism. Everything is a wonder to behold, a new experience to explore. We have some favorite toys and favorite books already – you can tell because his face lights up in recognition. He is learning patterns, finding comfort, and expanding his horizons. It was a glorious few days. And I’m finding myself hit all the harder by the weight of the troubles of the world having come back from that brief hiatus. The violence, greed, and suffering of the world are weighing heavily on me. 

One way I’m dealing with these is focusing on an exploration of the Doxology of the Lord’s Prayer. “ForThine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, forever. Amen.” The familiar words that Protestants end the Lord’s Prayer with and that are used in other liturgical ways by Roman Catholics and Orthodox faithful. It is not found in the words Jesus gives his disciples in Luke at all, and is only included a few later translations of Matthew, but the words of the doxology are ancient. The first time they are directly appended to the Lord’s prayer appears to be in a writing called the Didache from the 1st Century, an early treatise for instruction of the faithful and organization of the church. It appears as a margin note in some copies of scripture, then becomes a part of the liturgy during the Protestant Reformation with influence by Luther and his followers and English ritual, formally being added under Queen Elizabeth 1. There is a bit of irony in a movement that often distrusted Catholic reliance on “tradition” and advocated for a return to Scripture having added a traditional doxology not found in most manuscripts. We make choices, we usually have good reasons, we become set in our ways, and we often don’t realize it. One of the things I personally like about saying the doxology is that it returns our focus to the heart of the matter - God’s kingdom, power, and glory. God’s will, and our part in it. Our charge to respond and participate - not control or define. I agree with Theologian Helmut Thielicke’s conclusion “The closing words of the Lord’s Prayer are not an assumption which we must have accepted in order to be able to pray, but rather the final conclusion to which our repeated use of the Prayer has driven us.”

We’ll explore this with readings from Phlippians celebrating Jesus’ humility, proclaiming Jesus’ glory, and how Paul responds to his own encounter with Christ. Considering these passages, author C. Clifton Black writes “We praise God that all these properties belong to him. At the same time we express gratitude that we may pray to God in the way the Prayer guides us. We assert trust that God hears and binds himself to us as we knit ourselves to God by so praying we affirm hope that all of this prayers petitions may be fulfilled, both now and in the age to come. Exhalation, thanksgiving, faith and hope blend and resolve themselves into adoration. All we truly want to ask for ourselves from God is God and the grace to do his will.”

If the world has you down. If you can’t make sense of what is happening. If you need a shot of hope – and if you’d like to see a different way emerge, we’d love to have you join in worship. We don’t have all the answers. We aren’t perfect and we won’t dictate your choices. But together we keep finding that God makes a way – and that all our stories matter. So, come just as you are – with your doubts and questions, with your laments and fears, and with your deepest hopes and joys. Whether you are a longtime member, have never been to church at all, or find yourself needing a change - together we will find our paths and share our journeys. Thanks be to God!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

FEEDING FAMILIES IN HIS NAME: Wednesday, July 22 - A free, no obligation meal is served “to-go” style from underneath our portico from 5:15pm to 6:15pm each Wednesday, prepared each week by our members as well as several area churches and community groups. We aim to provide 400 meals per week. 

ICE CREAM SOCIAL: 6pm, Sunday, July 26^th in Fellowship Hall. Come share a cool time of fellowship and tasty treats with the people of First United Methodist!