"If You Could Just Make One Wish"
Matthew 6:9-13

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Introduction: In the movie Pinnochio, there is a well known song entitled: “When You Wish Upon A Star.” This song is sung by Jiminy Cricket, who is to be the conscience for Pinnochio, since he is a wooden boy and doesn’t know right from wrong. In one scene in the movie, Jiminy Cricket is trying to help Pinnochio believe that he can achieve his dream of becoming a real boy, and so he sings him this song:

When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are,
anything your heart desires... will come to you.
If your heart is in your dream, no request is too extreme.
When you wish upon a star... as dreamers do.
Like a bolt out of the blue, fate steps in and sees you through,
When you wish upon a star, your dreams, come, true.

This is an encouraging, uplifting song that gives us the motivation to seek our dreams. It has wonderful phrases like “makes no difference who you are,” meaning that everyone can achieve their dreams. And, “fate steps in and sees you through,” helping you to believe that if we can dream it, we can achieve it.

This is all well and good, but the problem is that it causes us to focus too much on ourselves. Last week in beginning our series on the Lord’s Prayer, we learned that Jesus, in teaching us this prayer, wanted us to understand that the focus of our prayer was to be on God the Father. That is why Jesus started the prayer, “Our Father, who art in heaven…” So while it is important to have dreams in our lives, we need to keep our dreams in perspective with God’s will.

So today we look at the second phrase: “Thy kingdom come, Thy

will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

I. Times of Selfishness- (Psalm 139:13-14; Ephesians 2:10; John 8:1-11)

And yet, before I get too far into this phrase of the Lord’s prayer, I do want us to understand that there are actually okay times for us to be selfish.

a. Special occasions- One aspect of life where it might be okay to be a

little selfish is the special occasions that life brings to us. One such occasion is our birthday. When we celebrate our birthday, it is a time to remember that God created us. As Psalm 139:13-14, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” It was God who created you and me. The verse reminds us that we are wonderfully made./ Another verse that reminds us of this is in Ephesians, 2:10: “For we are God’s workmanship…” Isn’t that wonderful? We are God’s workmanship! As a master craftsman would use creativity and imagination to make something wonderful, so God has crafted us the way He wants us to be; wonderful, loving, and gifted.

And so when we celebrate our birthday, and others celebrate it with us, it is a time to remember and give thanks to God for this special day. While we are being selfish, because the focus and attention is on ourselves, it is deserved, because it helps us, and others, to focus on the importance of our existence. Too many people in this world don’t love themselves; don’t believe in themselves. Hopefully, you will let your birthday be a reminder of the wonderful person you are in Christ!

Another occasion to be a little selfish is our anniversary. This day is important because it is a day to reflect on the love and commitment we have to our spouse, whom God gave to us. When we take a day to focus on our spouse and our relationship, it helps us to appreciate the gift this person is to us. When we take this day to do something special, it is a time to give thanks to God for bringing this person into our lives and helping us to be more complete.

In the Bible, we see a woman having the focus turned to her, however not in the way she would want. We find this story in the gospel of John, chapter 8, verses 1-11. In this passage a woman is caught committing adultery. She is brought to Jesus so that she might be condemned for her actions and ultimately killed according to the law. But Jesus does not condemn her, instead he sends her accusers away. There she is face to face with Jesus. At this moment, what would she want the most? Her selfish desire would be to receive forgiveness and pardon for her actions. It is selfish in nature because it is not deserved. But in the end, Jesus says to her in verse 11: “… ‘Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.’” The woman gets her wish; forgiveness.

And this is true for you and me. When we go to God and ask for forgiveness, it is a selfish request; a selfish wish. But the wonderful news is that Jesus does give us that undeserved forgiveness./ It’s like a family whose town has been hit by a hurricane, and yet their house is still standing. Around them they see the destruction of the forceful winds of the hurricane, but their house has not been damaged. They know that this was not because of anything they had done, and yet it is a blessing none-the-less. Our sin can create destruction all around us, but the forgiveness of God keeps our house standing.

b. Make A Wish- You might be familiar with the “Make A Wish”

foundation. Here is a portion of their mission statement: Since 1980, the Make-A-Wish Foundation^® has enriched the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions through its wish-granting work. The Foundation's mission reflects the life-changing impact that a Make-A-Wish^® experience has on children, families, referral sources, donors, sponsors and entire communities. The Make-A-Wish Foundation was founded in 1980 after a little boy named Chris Greicius realized his heartfelt wish to become a police officer. Since its humble beginnings, the organization has blossomed into a worldwide phenomenon, reaching more than 144,000 children around the world.

This organization wants to meet the request of a child who has a life-threatening condition. In a time when life might be pretty low for the child and the family, the “Make A Wish” foundation comes in and brings some happiness and encouragement by granting the child their wish. Now, while it usually isn’t a good thing to give your kids all that they wish, in this situation, it actually is a helpful practice. In this situation, it doesn’t make a child more self-centered, it actually gives them more hope and love for the world.

EX. In the case of Christopher Greicius, age 7, on April 29, 1980, a caring group of the Department of Public Safety personnel started Chris’ day with a tour of the city in a department helicopter, which also flew him to headquarters. Three cruisers and a motorcycle officer greeted him before his meeting with the DPS command staff. There, Chris was sworn in as the first honorary DPS patrolman in state history. It was a wonderful day that he would not forget. Soon after that he was even given a custom-made DPS uniform. However, on May 2, Chris was back in the hospital. He asked to arrange the room so he could always see his uniform, his motorcycle helmet and his “Smokey Bear”-style campaign hat. DPS motor officer Frank Shankwitz presented Chris with his motorcycle wings. He accepted them with a smile that lit up the room. The following day, Chris passed away, but not before seeing his dream come true and experiencing the hope, strength and joy that came from receiving his wish.

There are times when it is okay to be selfish in our wishes.

II. Times of Selflessness- (Matt. 6:9-10; Revelation 22:1; Heb. 9:24; Ps. 37:3)

a. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done- The first phrase, “Thy kingdom

come,” is really characteristic of the whole New Testament. The kingdom of God was central to the message of Jesus. When Jesus first appeared on the scene, He came “preaching the good news of the kingdom of God.” (Luke 4:43) But what does this mean?

It actually has 3 meanings; past, present, and future. In the past, we see the kingdom of God existing through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and existing through the prophets. But it also had present meaning for Jesus. Jesus wanted us to know that the Kingdom of God was a present reality in Christ; it was here and now. And yet, the Kingdom of God also had future implications. There was an aspect of the Kingdom of God to come. It had meaning for when the end times would come; when heaven and earth would be done away with and a new heaven would come about.

So Jesus, in using this phrase, tries to help us understand how the Kingdom can be past, present and future. So, any person, of any time, who did God’s will was and is within the Kingdom. That’s the past and present. As we do God’s will, we join with those who in the past have done God’s will, together being a part of the Kingdom of God. And yet, since God’s will can’t be perfectly done, there will be a time in the future when we will be brought together into God’s presence and live together perfectly in God’s will.

To be in the Kingdom is to obey God’s will. The beauty of this understanding is that the Kingdom is not nations and countries, but you and me. We are each a part of the Kingdom, and together make up the Kingdom. The Kingdom makes a demand of us to give ourselves over to God’s will. It requires selflessness on our part; we must give up our selfish desires and wishes to be able to seek God’s will. It is only when we can each give up our will together, and join together in seeking God’s will, that the Kingdom of God can be seen here on earth. Which brings us next to seeing how God’s will comes to earth as it is in heaven.

b. On earth as it is in heaven- ILLUS. My son Tyler has gotten into

collecting baseball cards. We have discovered that on the back of some of the cards there is a chart of numbers, and by the numbers are baseball terms. So by the number 1 it might say fly-out; by the number 2 it might say ground-out; by the number 3 it might say single; and so on all the way up to the number 11. We realized that we could use these numbers, with dice, to play a baseball game. So Tyler picked the National League and I picked the American League, and we found players for each position. Once we found the players we wanted, we made a batting order for our players. And then we play games using the dice and keeping score, inning by inning. Not only do Tyler and I have fun with this, but it is teaching Tyler strategy. He has to figure out in his head his “ideal” team batting order. You want your singles hitters first, and then your home run hitters later.

This is similar to God’s creating the world. God had this preferred world in mind when He created all things, including people. And we see that this was taken from aspects of heaven. For example, the river of life that was in the garden of Eden, is in heaven flowing from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1). In Hebrews 9:24 it refers to sacrifice on the cross like the priest of the Old Testament who shed the blood of the sacrificial lamb to remove sins. The phrase here in 9:24 says: “For Christ did not enter the sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one…” The true sanctuary is in heaven. Any sanctuary we have down here on earth is just a small likeness of what is in heaven.

So when Jesus says to pray… “On earth, as it is in heaven,” He is reminding us that God has a master plan, and things on earth are copies in part of what is in heaven. Just like a copy of a painting is not as wonderful and glorious as the original, so what we copy will never be as glorious. But it will be wonderful in its own way, because it is a following of what God has for us to experience.

We can’t lose sight of the fact that God is the expert on life. God created our life; God created this world; God created all that exists. God as the creator knows what the best plans are to be. So we need to trust ourselves to God in this. As Psalm 37:3 tells us: “Trust in the Lord, and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.” If we want to experience the best that God has for us, then we must have the understanding and commitment to seek out and follow God’s will.

Conclusion: There is a wonderful poem by Annie Johnson Flint which says:

“God hath not promised skies always blue, flower-strewn

pathways all our lives through; …God hath not promised

sun without rain, joy without sorrow, peace without pain.

But God hath promised strength for the day, rest for the

labor, light for the way, … grace for the trials, help from

above, unfailing sympathy, undying love.”(…Tardy Oxcart, p. 235)

Conclusion: God’s desire for us is good. But we tend to doubt this. We might say that you believe this, but our actions speak louder than our words. For example, when we worry, we are not trusting that God can bring good to our life. When we make decisions apart from seeking God, we are not trusting that God’s way is the best way. When we want something that we know God doesn’t want us to have, and we get angry at God, we are doubting that God desires good for us. As the apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8:32- “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with Him?”/ Jesus wants us to understand, in this second phrase of the Lord’s prayer, that God knows what is best and we need to seek God in all that we do in life. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.