************ Sermon on Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 128-129 ************


By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman

This sermon was preached on June 7, 2009

Q & 128-129
1 Chronicles 29:10-13
"Kingdom, Power, Glory, Amen"

Introduction
"For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever" reminds us that our prayers are supposed to be God-centered and God-focused. Unfortunately, prayer today has often degenerated into something self-centered and self-indulgent. The "prosperity gospel" and the book, "The Prayer of Jabez," has turned prayer into nothing more than a "name it and claim it" shopping trip.

God, not us, is supposed to be the Alpha and the Omega of our prayers. God, not us, is supposed to be the focus of our prayers. The doxology we are considering today helps us to do that. Says the Catechism,
... your holy name,
and not we ourselves,
should receive all the praise, forever.
Not only the Lord's Prayer but all of our prayers should include praise to God. We must exalt our God, we must ascribe glory to Him.

I An Addition to the Lord's Prayer?
A The Catechism tells us that in teaching us how to pray Jesus ends His model prayer with a doxology: "For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever." I dare say that we have all learned the Lord's Prayer with this ending. However, this doxology is not to be found in the original Greek text of the Lord's Prayer. In fact, the doxology does not appear in Greek texts of Matthew's gospel until the sixth century.

B The doxology, however, does appear already during the first century in the "Didache" ("The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles"). We also know that in the early church the Lord's Prayer was never prayed without some closing words of praise to God. In doing this the church was following the tradition of the Jews. In Judaism, prayers were often concluded with a sentence of praise made up by the person who was praying. This is, doubtless, what Jesus intended with the Lord's Prayer otherwise it would end with "temptation" and "evil" – which is simply unthinkable. And, over time, as the Lord's Prayer was increasingly used in public worship, it was thought necessary to establish a fixed ending.

C There is no question that the doxology, though not taught by Jesus as part of the Lord's Prayer, is completely Biblical in content. It is but a shorter version of what King David prays in today's Scripture reading:
(1Chr 29:11) Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.
Similar statements are also to be found in the book of Daniel (cf Dan 2:20; 4:34; 6:26; 7:14) and in the book of Revelation (cf Rev 4:11; 5:12-13; 7:12).

The only conclusion we can come to is that a Spirit-filled and Spirit-led church decided to add the doxology as a fitting and Biblical conclusion to the Lord's Prayer.

II Drawn Back to God and His Glory
A In praying as Jesus teaches us to pray, we make a staggering number of requests. We ask God to help us know, bless, worship, and praise Him; we ask that His name be always honored and praised and not blasphemed because of us (first petition). We ask God to rule over us, to keep His church strong, and to destroy the devil's work (second petition). We ask God to help us reject our will and obey His (third petition). We ask God to take care of all our physical needs (fourth petition). We ask God to forgive us our sins and to grant us the grace to forgive others (fifth petition). We ask God to grant us victory when faced with temptation and evil (sixth petition). In all of this asking our attention is mostly focused on ourselves.

"For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever." By ending our prayer with these words our attention is again being drawn to "Our Father in heaven." In the doxology we are turned back to the One Who can and will do something about our requests. We are being taught to look beyond our needs to the heavenly Father to Whom we pray. We are being reminded that our life, and our prayer life, ought to be God-centered and not me-centered.

B Remember how the Lord's Prayer starts? We pray to "Our Father, our Abba, our Daddy in heaven." The doxology teaches us and reminds us that this is not just a term of endearment and trust and love; rather, the Father we pray to has kingdom, power, and glory.

First of all, God has kingdom. The kingdom. Which means the kingdom of heaven. God both possesses and presides over His vast kingdom. He is the sovereign king, Who exercises supreme authority and unrestricted dominion over an immense empire. He not only commands the affairs of men and nations but even the intricate workings of the entire universe. From His throne above, God "works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will" (Eph 1:11).

Second, God also has power. The power. Which means that God does not merely possess power, but all power. He has all power in heaven and earth. All that God's supreme will chooses to do, He has the power to execute it fully. Nothing can hinder the free exercise of His sovereign good pleasure.

Third, God also has glory. Our prayers should end with a declaration that all glory belongs to God.

Notice the addition of the word "forever." God's kingdom is forever. God's power is without end. God's glory is never ending.

Along this line, I want you to notice what the Catechism says about this:
We have made all these requests of you
because, as our all-powerful king,
you not only want to,
but are able to give us all that is good.
Our Father, Our Abba, our Daddy in heaven is king; He rules over everything and everyone. His is kingdom, power, and glory. So He is more than able to answer all our petitions. But, He is also our loving Father in and through Christ; and, as Father, He desires to give us what we need.

"For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever." This ending to the Lord's Prayer reminds that our God is a listening King. This ending reminds us that God wants to hear our prayers and is able to answer them. When we look through the telephone book we sometimes run across the note, "If busy call ..." and another number is listed. But there is never a busy signal with God. He wants to hear our prayers; He is able to hear and answer them. Why? "For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever."
In Saudi Arabia it is the right of any citizen – rich or poor, herdsman or oil sheik – to demand a private audience with the king. So one week a year the king holds public court. Petitioners come forward one-by-one and all advisers and body-guards, to respect the right to privacy, have to stand beyond hearing range. The king leans forward and listens to and talks with his subjects.
This is a picture of our God – not just for one week of the year, but forever.

III The Importance of Praise
A I want you to notice that the Lord's Prayer begins with praise and worship, "hallowed be your name." It ends with praise as well, "For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever." This framework reminds us, congregation, that praise is so very important. Praise is what we are made for. God created us to live for the praise and glory of His name. He wants and demands our praise. It is especially in the psalms that we see this.
(Ps 33:1-2) Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. (2) Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.

(Ps 66:8) Praise our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard;

(Ps 96:2-4) Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. (3) Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. (4) For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods.

You don't have to understand everything about God in order to come to the goal of living. People don't have to become theologians or artists in order to praise. The unintelligent, the weak, the old, the infirm, the unborn, the crippled, the disabled – all have the right to existence in order to praise God. They all are to live for the glory of God.

We must bring our praises to God in the place God has put us. Bring Him praise at work and at play. Bring Him praise at the baby's crib and on the basketball court. Bring Him praise on the wedding day and during the funeral service. Bring Him praise at sunrise and at sunset. Bring Him praise on the dairy, in the truck, in the shop, in the field, and in the orchard. Bring Him praise in the home and in the school and in the church.

To God we are to bring glory and praise today and tomorrow, next week and next year, and forever.

Did you know that praise is the language of the Kingdom of Heaven just as English is the language of the U.S.A. and Spanish is the language of Mexico. And, those who are citizens of the Kingdom speak the language of praise. Not just the words of their lips but their whole life is to be praise to God.

"For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever." We must understand that real living is praising God. Our greatest hour is not payday or graduation or our wedding day but when we start praising God.

We learn today that in our prayers, too, we are to praise the Lord. For this reason we say, "For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever."

B When we think about it, we have to admit that in most of our prayers we come to God not as praise-bringers but as prayer-beggars: "Give me, bless me, help me ...," we all say over and over again. But in the doxology we, for once, do not ask but we give to God. "For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever." In the doxology we finally do what God made us and saved us and redeemed us for doing: we give God honor and glory and praise!

Contrast petition to praise. Petitions are earthly and temporary; in heaven there are no petitions for all of our needs are satisfied. But our praise, our doxologies, they are eternal. Long after we have forgotten our petitions, our requests, and our needs, we will still be singing the doxology, the language of praise. Listen to the praise in heaven as John heard it from the lips of the redeemed:
(Rev 4:11) "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."

(Rev 7:12) "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"

C "For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever." Most often this praise finds its way to God through song. Much of the strength, joy, and health of the church is in her singing, because in our songs of praise we come closest to our reason for existence. All of us are better Christians when we sing than when we argue. According to an ancient German proverb, evil people have no songs. Without doubt, the greatest moments in our lives are those in which we spontaneously sing and praise God. When I was visiting with Christine Fukano in the past year, she told me more than once that she sings as she dealt with her tumor and the chemo. She understands something that many Christians never learn – real living is praising God.

In music and song we come the closest to bringing God the honor and glory due His name; so how it grieves God when some of His children refuse to sing. In music and song we come the closest to bringing God the honor and glory due His name; so how careful we must be that professionals and performers do not elbow congregational singing aside; and how careful we must be that no "special music" by soloists or groups is phony, insincere, not from the heart and mere entertainment.

In music the church comes closest to living out her reason for existence. Yet, I can never forget what a Seminary Professor told me in class: "Music is the church's war department." Many churches have arguments about hymn books, choirs, organs, organists, soloists, praise and worship, and the like. How thankful I am that we don't. How thankful I am that we are united when it comes to the worship and glory and praise of God.

Conclusion
Finally, notice how the prayer ends: with "Amen." Our children think they know what "Amen" means. It means the prayer is done. It means the preacher is finished. It means they can finally get up and leave.

"Amen" comes from a Hebrew root meaning "to be firm, to be secure." Or, as the Catechism puts it, "This is sure to be!"

Now, think back on what you all pray for. Sometimes, don't you feel like God is not listening at all? Maybe you prayed for someone to live, and the person died. Maybe you prayed for direction and didn't seem to get any. Maybe you prayed for healing, and the healing has not come. Maybe you prayed that a friend or a family member would confess Christ, but so far they have not. Maybe you prayed for a marriage, and the marriage still broke up.

Maybe you have prayed and prayed and prayed for something, and it seems like God is not listening. It seems like God is on another line, busy helping another person. It seems like God is far, far away.

Here is where "Amen" comes in. Amen means "It is even more sure that God listens to my prayer, than that I really desire what I pray for."

How could the authors of the Catechism have written this? When these words were written, the whole world was in turmoil. Catholics and Protestants were fighting with each other; Protestants were fighting with other Protestants. One of the authors lost several friends in a boating accident and had spent time in jail; the other one grew up very poor and was not very healthy.

Were the authors of the Catechism ignorant of the troubles around them? Were they walking around with blinders on their eyes? Were they deaf to the cries around them?

The only way they could write "Amen" at the end of the Catechism was because of what they wrote at the beginning of the Catechism about comfort. "Amen" does not mean game over. "Amen" does not mean the end. "Amen" means this is sure to be. This is really going to happen. This is reliable and sure. "Amen" means there is no doubt at all
That I am not my own
but belong –
body and soul,
in life and in death –
to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.
This faithful Jesus listens to my prayers. This faithful Jesus Who has kingdom, power, and glory is more than able to answer my prayers. Amen!
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