"Amen, O hear us, Lord!"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Our Father, who from heav'n above

Bids all of us to live in love

As members of one family

And pray to You in unity,

Teach us no thoughtless words to say

But from our inmost hearts to pray (LSB 766).

Our Father in heaven bids us to pray, and in today's Gospel lesson, His Son, our brother, teaches us how to pray, so that we may pray not with thoughtless words and unsure hearts, but with faith and confidence, believing that He will give us all that we need.

For you, O Christians, have the joyous Word and promise that God is with His people. He is with you every moment of your life, from the instant of conception until the end of your last breath, and then He continues to preserve you in glory in His eternal, heavenly kingdom. Your God is not distant or far off or caught away in the furthest heavens, far removed from you. No – your God is Immanuel, God-With-Us.

This is why He teaches you to pray “let Your kingdom come”. You pray this, not that your prayers make the Kingdom of God come, but that He make you continually aware that the Kingdom of God is in fact already come among you through the gracious presence of Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Kingdom of God is where Christ is, and where Christ is, there are His people also. God is with His people, and so He bids you pray that you may be kept safe and secure within His domain, where He washes and feeds you and guards you.

The Psalmist leads you in praying “To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.” To the God who is with us, lift up your soul and ask that His Kingdom come among you and in you, that you may do the work of His kingdom, here in time, and for eternity in heaven. As the Kingdom of God comes presently, you ought also to pray “Make me to know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths.” Lift up your soul to the God of heaven, who is here and now present in His Kingdom. Pray that He would make you to know His ways, that you may walk not in your own understanding, but in His paths of righteousness for His Name's sake.

God is indeed with His people, as He always has been. However, this is not always a comfort. At Mount Sinai, the Israelites, the chosen people of God, were terrified of the presence of the Lord. Which is fitting. The presence of God is absolutely deathly terrifying for sinners. For the Lord of Hosts is pure and holy, and cannot abide the presence of sin. He warned Moses that no one may see the face of God and live. The presence of God invokes judgment.

But yet, the presence of God does not terrify the faithful. Instead, the faithful people of God pray “remember Your mercy, O Lord, and Your steadfast love.” You can come into the presence of the Holy One of Israel because of His love and mercy, which caused Him to pour out His wrath and judgment on Christ instead of you.

Therefore you may encounter the one true God, the Holy One of Israel. And as you encounter Him, you fall before Him, worshiping Him in faith, and praying “Hallowed be Your Name.”

Who is this God of Hosts? Who is the God who is with us, whose kingdom comes among us? “Who is this King of glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory!” proclaims the Psalmist. The Holy Spirit has revealed to you by faith, through your Baptism, that this Lord of Hosts is none other than the same Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, into whom you are baptized.

So how is God's Name kept holy? We confess that God's Name is kept holy among us “when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we, as the children of God, also lead holy lives according to it.” (SC III.2.2) His Name is hallowed when you keep the Third Commandment, which enjoins you to hear the Word preached, receive it with thanksgiving, and live the life of the Baptized people of God that He has created and re-created you to be.

But there is where you fail. You fail to speak the Word of the Lord among one another. You fail to live your life as one shaped by the cross of Christ. You fail to comfort the distressed, console the sorrowful, or forgive the repentant brother among you. You fail to give generously to the work God has put before you, either of your time or your treasure. You fail to give thanks in all things for the gifts God has given. You fail to hallow God's Name, because you want your name hallowed instead. Repent.

Repent, and pray fervently “forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” And even if you struggle to forgive everyone who is indebted to you, pray for forgiveness anyway. For your forgiveness will always falter, but the Lord's forgiveness is constant and unrelenting.

Christ Jesus, our blessed savior has died the death due for your sin. He has risen to eternal life, in order that “you who were dead, God made alive with Him.” God has breathed life into you by His Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon you. This same Spirit has given, and continues to give, to you the Gifts Christ has won for you – forgiveness, life, and salvation. He has made you to be His people by dying for your sins, then uniting you to Himself through your death in the blessed waters of the holy font. So then, you who are washed by the blessed flood and made alive in Him who is eternal Life, you too will gladly forgive and do good to those who sin against you. You know love and life, because Christ has loved and given you life.

So then, from the mountaintop Jesus charges His Church to make disciples wherever and whenever she goes, confessing His holy Name before men and angels, bringing children young and old to be drowned and raised in the living waters, and teaching all nations to keep all things whatsoever our Lord has commanded them.

As you go about your lives as the baptized and forgiven children of God, speak the Word of God in love and truth, pray boldly and confidently to Immanuel – God-With-Us, rejoice in His great mercy, which enables you to also be merciful to your brothers and sisters in Christ, and live as members one of another, walking in our common life together with Christ Jesus our Head and our Lord.

Amen, that is, so shall it be.

Make strong our faith in You, that we

May doubt not but with trust believe

That what we ask we shall receive.

Thus in Your name and at Your Word

We say, “Amen, O hear us Lord!” (LSB 766.9)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.