Full Text for The Lord's Prayer, the Pastor's Prayer, part 9 (Text)

The Lord's Prayer, the Pastor's Prayer 24 Ibid., IV, 185. 25 Ibid., p.289. 757 26 Cf. Theodor Kolde, "Veit Ludwig von Seckendorf," Reale'J\cyklo­piidie, fur prot. Theol. u. Kirche, ed. Albert Hauck, 3d ed., Vol.XVIll (1906): Capita doctrinae et praxis christianae insignia ex 59 illustribus N. Test. dictis deducta et evangeliis domi1ticalibus, in concionibus a. 1677, Francof. ad. Moen. habitis applicata a. P. J. Spe'Rero 1689. 27 Lotze, op. cit., p.37. 28 Ibid., pp. 37 f. 29 Walch, op. cit., Parts IV and V, 1149. 30 Lotze, op. cit., p.40. &1 Walch, op. cit., Parts IV and V, 1151 f. 32 Op. cit., p.41. 33 Ibid., pp. 41 f. 34 The title page ends with the words: "Gedachte Schrifft! oder sogenanntes Ebenbild/ ist 1."1 gegenwiirtigem Tractat von Wort zu Worte stiickweise eingeriicket! die Beantwort -und Erinnerung aber mit andern Litem darunter gesetzt/ zu befinden." Quoted ibid., pp. 42 f. 35 Ibid., pp. 43 f. 36 Ibid., pp. 44 f. 37 Ibid., p. 38. 88 Ibid., p. 58. 30 Ibid., p. 59. 40 Ibid., pp. 59-63. u Kramer, op. cit., I, 115. 42 Rambach (ed.), op. cit., p.311. 43 Theol. Bedencken, III, 721. 44 Rambach (ed.), op. cit., p.311. Kramer, op. cit., I, 117. 45 Cf. Lotze, op. cit., p.69. 46 Preserved Smith, A History of Mudern Culture (2 vols.; New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1930-1939), II, 242. 47 Kurt Guggisberg, Das Zwinglibild des Protestantismus ein WandeZ der Zeiten (Leipzig: Verlag von M. Heinsius Nachfolger, 1934), p.89. 48 Theodor KoIde, "Veit Ludwig von Seckendorf," Realencyklopiidie fur prot. Theol. und Kirche, ed. Albert Hauck, 3d ed., Vol XVIII (1906). 49 Lotze; op. cit., pp. 87 f. 50 Gustav Wolf, Quellenkunde der deutschen Reformationsgeschichte (3 vols.; Gotha: Friedrich Andreas Perthes, 1915-1923), I, 10. 4 •• The Lord's Prayer, the Pastor's Prayer The Seventh Petition 'A'J.J..a Qvaat nJ.ta~ Il1CO 'tov 1(O'Vl]Qov. But Deliver Us From Evil. Matt. 6: 13; Luke 11: 4. Jesus acknowledges the existence of evil and the reality of deliverance from it. Since the Father is to be implored, it follows that there is deliverance with Him and that He is not involved in, but ever opposed to, the evil. The Deliverer is mightier than the evil. This petition would have no purpose if His children were not 758 The Lord's Prayer, the Pastor's Prayer exposed to the evil, to its influences and effects. Jesus introduces three factors: the Father, His children, and the evil. The evil is aggressive, God's children are endangered, and the Father is the Defender and Deliverer. Man, without understanding and vain in his imaginations, pro­fesses to deliver himself from evil by the denial of its existence. To him evil is evil only when it is so interpreted. An example of such deliverance is the following: "The intellectual realities, such as all the qualities and admirable perfections of man, are purely good and exist. Evil is simply their nonexistence. . . . In the same way, the sensible realities are absolutely good, and evil is due to their nonexistence. . .. It is possible that one thing in relation to anot..~er may be evil, and at the same time, vvithin the limits of its proper being, it may not be evil. Then it is proved that there is no evil in existence; all that God created, He created good. This evil is nothingness; so death is the absence of life. When man no longer receives life, he dies. Darkness is the absence of light: When there is no light, there is darkness. Light is an existing thing, but darkness is nonexistent. Wealth is an existing thing, but poverty is nonexisting. Then it is evident that all evils return to nonexistence. Good exists, evil is nonexistent." (Some Answeyed Questions Collected and Translated from the Persian of Abdu'L-Baha by Laura Clifford Barney. Bahai Publishing Com­mittee.) Thus also other cults and imaginations interpret the Seventh Petition to mean: Deliver us from the absence of good, and from that which does not exist! Yd they recite this petition in their meaningless prayer. They would save themselves from evil by evil doctrine. Not all unbelievers deny the existence of evil. Those who acknowledge its reality define it as the negation of good, the op­posite or goodness, the morally bad, the positive effects of extrinsic negative elections. They deplore its power and destructiveness. They seek deliverance from it by education and training, by laws, by appeals to the intellect and to the emotions, by improvement of social conditions. These attempts rest on the presumption that man's intellect (Greek philosophy) and sensibilities (Roman phi­losophy) are intrinsically good. Through all the ages the Modernists will regress without exception to the one or the other formula, modified ad libitum. Their prayer is: Grant that our conduct may conform to our inner perfection of attitude and knowledge, that so our virtues may react victoriously over all imperfections of in­dividual and social thought and life for the advancement of personal and general happiness. Thus the poor world, as it lies in wicked­ness, encourages suffering humanity to counteract recognized evil by imbibLTlg hidden evil. The Lord's Prayer, the Pastor's Prayer 759 The particle al.l.u, which introduces this petition, does not ad­vance a new thought. It serves as a copulative and appends to the former petition an accessory plea, an adversative. Whether we retain the usual translation of "but" or render it, with equal em­phasis, by "yea," a contrast is expressed in either case. The petition simplifies the definition of the evil: Evil is that from which the Father must deliver us. The concept of evil as an oppressive and burdensome weight is suggested by the eLaqJEQEL'V in the Sixth Petition and the QUEa{}m in the Seventh. For EtaqJEQEL'V means to carry into, and QUEa{}m with Ell. means to carry away out of, or from under, with &.no to carry away from. The evil, therefore, is an overwhelming force, or forces, threatening to crush us. As we, in retrospection, survey the antitheses of all former petitions, we arrive at the conclusion that the evil is the aggregate of everything, of every being, power, and state, opposed to the sub­stance of our prayer. Luther says: "Hier bitten wir, dass er uns erloese von dem peinlichen Uebel, als die Hoelle ist, und alles, was uns am Leibe wider ist und uns bekuemmern mag, auch von dem urspruenglichen Uebel der Suende, als die Lehrer sprechen, damit wir nichts anderes denn Uebeles wollen; dass er uns davon loese, auf dass die Be­gierde des Fleisches nicht gefangen nelli-ne den Geist, als St. Paulus zu den Roemern, Kap. 7: 23, sagt. Nun lasst uns eben merken, wie wir bisher gebeten. Wir haben Gott in den ersten dreien Bitten seine Ehre gegeben; in den andern urn unsere Not gebeten, was uns vonnoeten an Leib und Seele, dass er uns unsere Suende ver­geben wolle; und nun, zum allerletzten, bitten wir, dass er uns vor clem Uebel bewahre. . .. Die ersten drei gehen Gott an, die andern drei uns, von den Suenden, auf dass wir gottfoermig moegen werden. Und wenn diese aile also geschehen sind, so sollen wir bitten: Nun erloese uns vom Uebel. Also sind aIle Gebete und Notdurft hierin beschlossen" (St. L., VII: 750 f.). The verb QUEa{}m, to draw, to draw to one's self, to rescue, to .deliver (Thayer; G. Milligan; also Benseler and Schirlitz; E. E. Seiler on Homer: to draw and carry out of danger), etymologically conveys the idea of haste and speed, as that of a swift and rushing current. Indeed, we ask the Father to rise to His power in our behalf and to make haste (i!~ln) for our help, for the enemies are lively and strong CPs. 38: 19-22). Luther translates QUEa{}m by the word "deliver," but he makes it imply also the thought expressed in the words "graciously take us to Himself." It is stronger than the word "defend," and it calls for quick action to save to the ut­most and entirely. To know the evil from which we ask deliverance, we need only 760 The Lord's Prayer the Pastor's Prayer consult the references in which the verb QUO~aL is used. These are the following: Matt.6:13 (apo) and Luke 11:3 (apo): from the evil; Matt. 27: 43; Luke 1: 74 (ek): out ofthe hand of our enemies; Rom. 7: 24 (ek): from the body of this death; 15: 31 (apo): from the disobedient; 2 Cor. 1: 10 (ek): from so great a death; Col. 1: 13 (ek): from the authority of darkness; 1 Thess. 1: 10 (apo): from the wrath to come; 2 Thess. 3: 2 (apo): from perverse and wicked men; 2 Tim. 3: 11 (ek): from persecutions and afflictions; 4:17 (ek): out of the lion's mouth; 4:18 (apo): from every evil work; 2 Pet. 2: 7: from the filthy conversation of the wicked; 2: 9 (ek): out of temptation. The prepositions apo and ek are used with QuecrihlL, the former in five references, the latter in seven. In conn.ection 'Ni.th this verb, ek means from within, indicating that we are surrounded by the evil, while apo refers to the contact and power, or the grip, which the evil endeavors to maintain on us. Faithful and serious-minded pastors are painfully touched by the plight and distress of their co-laborers, and they grasp at once at what comfort there is in the knowledge that the same afflictions are accomplished in their brethren. No less than six references arranged above are written by st. Paul and allude to his personal and official experiences with the evil. In Rom. 7: 24 this great brother complains bitterly that he is an evil to himself, inasmuch as his flesh will not yield to the Spirit, and he cries out as in agony: T£~ ~E QUO"E"taL El!. "tou O"ro~a."to~ "tou il'a.vu."tou 'tou"tou; In Rom. 11: 26 he calls Jesus 0 tPU6ItEVO~, and in the passage before us he rejoices in triumph: "I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord." His own flesh, his own sinful nature, is an evil from which the pastor cannot extricate himself. He must pray that the Father may deliver him and his brethren ( lJItU,) from his own body of this death often during the day, and as often he will glorify the Deliverer. In 2 Cor. 1: 10, Paul describes to his readers the danger of inevitable death which encompassed him and his companions, and out of which (ek) the Lord delivered him. In this instance he treats death as an evil, as likewise in 2 Tim. 4: 17 (c£. Ps. 22: 21; 57:4) the danger of death, referring rather to the circumstances, while elsewhere he welcomes death as a blessing. Persecutions and afflictions, from which (ek) the Lord had already delivered him, 2 Tim. 3: 11, he includes in "every evil work," from which (apo) the Lord will finally deliver him by granting him a blessed end. Twice the holy Apostle refers directly to the children of the world as an evil which troubles us and from which (apo) the Lord delivers us that we are not contaminated. In Rom. 15: 31 Paul speaks of unbelievers in Judea, and in 2 Cor. 3: 2 of unreasonable and wicked men from whose repulsive and deceitful presence we seek deliverance. As we read the context of 1 Cor. I: 10, 2 Thess. The Lord's Prayer, the Pastor's Prayer 761 3: 2, Rom. 15: 31, we are impressed by the power of prayer for deliverance by the Father's favorable answer to the sincere inter­cession: Deliver us (i1J.l.a~) from the evil. We as Christ's ministers and stewards, exposed and sometimes subjected to the evil, should never fail to beseech our charges to pray for us. And we should pray with them and for them: Deliver us from the evil. Another review of the circumstances attending Paul's struggles with the evil proposes the question whether Luther derived his classic classification of the evil from the study of these passages, himself under the strain of the same experiences (2 Tim. 3: 12; 1 Pet. 5: 9) as preacher and pastor; for he suggests that we pray for deliverance from every evil of body and soul, property and honor, and an unhappy death. Luther rather broadened the text, if 'tOU JW .... llQOU is to be taken as the masculine. We quote: "Here again there is an elaborate debate on a comparatively unimportant question. The probability is in favor of the masculine, the evil one. The Eastern naturally thought of the evil in concrete. But we as naturally think of it in the abstract; therefore the change from the A. V. in the R. V. is unfortunate. It mars the reality of the Lord's Prayer on Western lips to say: Deliver us from the evil one. Observe that it is moral evil, not physical, that is deprecated." (The Expositor's Greek Testament.) Robertson (Greek Grammar) does not decide the issue. "With masculine adjectives the substantives naturally sug­gest themselves out of the context or the nature of the case. CE .... probably 'tOU JWVTjQou (Matt. 6: 13)." "In Matt. 6: 13 MO 'tOU JtOVTjQou, most likely aL(J.~OAO~ is meant, not mere evil" (pp. 652 f.). We quoted Luther's view above. If we understand the article of 'tou JtOVllQOU to be emphasizing the universality and multiplicity of evil, then we find cause and effect included in "the evil." The Expo&itor's Greek Testament advances in favor of the substantive, and then in favor of the adjective, an argument outside of the text and context and outside of Scripture, namely, the difference in the trend of Eastern and Western thought, as noted above. G. Milligan writes in Vocabulary VI under JtoVTjQLa: In the VI/A. D. amulet, BGlITli. 954: 24 (Selections, p. 134), the phrase in the Lord's Prayer is cited as Quam YJJ.La~ MO 'tij~ .7tOVTjQLa~, which some may be tempted to quote in support of the A. V. of Matt. 6: 13." "We pray in this petition, as the sum of all, that God would deliver us from every evil." The Evil One, Satan, is the prime cause of all evil, but now not the only source and cause. We reiterate the statement that the evil is that from which the Father must deliver us. We repeat that the evil, according to the context, is every force opposed to the answer and realization of any or of all the former petitions. We observe that all other petitions refer to no persons directly except 762 The Lord's Prayer, the Pastor's Prayer to the Father and His children, and consistency and conformity urges us to discard the masculine of "tou Jtov'l']Qou. We note that JtOVllQOU is related to JtELQaC1J.1.0V as the general to the specific, in the very substance of the petitions. And we compare the preposition d.Jto (and E'll elsewhere) used with QUEO'&m, and the double ct~ in the Sixth Petition, to state that while temptation to evil is limited to certaL'1 boundaries, our contact with the evil is not limited to the experiences with the personal devil. Tou JtOVllQOU is all-inclusive.­We are not at variance with the Large Catechism, which says: "In the Greek text this petition reads thus: Deliver or preserve us from the Evil One, or the Malicious One; and it looks as if he were speaking of the devil, as though he would comprehend every­thing in one, so that the entire substance of all our prayer is directed against our chief enemy. For it is he who hinders among us every­thing that we pray for: The name or honor of God, God's kingdom and will, our daily bread, a cheerful conscience, etc. Therefore we finally sum it all up and say: Dear Father, pray, help that we be rid of all these calamities. But there is nevertheless also included whatever evil may happen to us under the devil's king­dom -poverty, shame, death, and, in short, all the agonizing misery and heartache of which there is such an lU1Uumbered multitude on the earth" (TrigL, 729: 113 ff.) Vy"hatever starting point we may choose, "tOU 1tov'flQou as masculine or as neuter, we arrive at the same substance of the petition, and all speak the same thing; for we have found no expositor who does not "finally sum it all up" or treat the term as collective, including the innun1erable per:;onal and im­personal evils arrayed against the children of God. The evil is not an edifying theme. The thought of it is de­pressing, and the fact of it is terrible. Where the good ceases, there the evil begins. Without evil in and about us this earth would be the narthex of heaven. Through sin this world is the home and playground of all evil. Sin and the devil constitute the greatest evil. Sin challenges and forces into action the eternal laws of God's justice and subjects the sinner to God's righteous punishment now and in eternity. Therefore the concepts of sin and evil often meet and concur, as in Provo 11: 19. Evil already at its birth is saturated with the poison from which it dies. The contemplation of our deliverance from the devil and all evil by the Father's grace and power is most edifyLl1g. The Petition proves that God only can deliver. To Him only do we pray. Christ's work of redeeming us from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil is the earnest of our deliverance from all evil. The tense of the Petition (aorist) reminds us that God's acts of delivering us correspond in number and frequency to the evils that befall us. They are always of such power and kind as the The Lord's Prayer, the Pastor's Prayer 763 counteroffensive demands to accomplish our rescue. It is much, therefore, that we beseech the Father to do for us. How great and mighty is our God! His defending and savi,"1g capacity is un­limited. Either He takes us away from the evil, or He removes the evil from us, or He eases our burden. And He can manage the uninterrupted answer to this petition for each and everyone according to the petitioner's need. The Father knows the evil, as well as His own resources for our deliverance, better than we do. Nor does He ever underestimate the power of evil. The Lutheran pastor therefore believes that "im Vater Unser legen wir un­zaehlige Teufel darnieder und verschlingen die ganze WeIt in einem Gebet" (Luther, St. L., II: 62), and that he has omitted nothing in the presentation of his need of deliverance. Luther classifies the comprehensive term as every evil of body and soul, property and honor, and of death. T:PJs order covers the other range: evils of childhood and youth, of manhood and old age; evils of personal, common, and temporal, of spiritual and eternal, of financial and moral, significance. The Litany (Lutheran Hymnal, p.l11) enumerates many evils in a similar order. The evils may be classified also as of the past, the present, and the future. Unless the pastor's body is "kept under" (1 Cor. 9:27), it be­comes an instrument of evil and an object against which he and we must pray. While it is kept under to obey the law of the Spirit (Rom. 7: 22), to be presented to God a living sacrifice (Rom. 12: 1), and to be dedicated as the temple of God and His instrument for good, it is yet subject to vanity (Phil. 3: 21) and at times passes through days of evil. Then the pastor sighs the complaint of Job (Job 7), which is a long paraphrase of our petition; but he also sings Job's Psalm of Life and Deliverance (Job 19: 23-27). No pastor is excluded from the sufferings of Christ or from the comfort of Christ (2 Cor. 1: 3-6). In his poor and vile body that may, besides, be burdened with ill health, the pastor's soul is ever alert and busy to serve the Lord with gladness and to pasture the flock faithfully. Yet he himself may be assailed by doubt and vexed in the spirit within himself (Rom. 7: 24). He is still a wretched man, but without ceasing he prays to be delivered from the evil attributes of his own soul and mind, from false doctrine moving in his thoughts. And praying for the safety of his body and soul, he opens the Bible for wisdom and strength to meet himself in combat, that the spirit may conquer the flesh. The pastor also knows that God is in earnest when He admonishes us to duty in Ezek. 33: 1-9. Not the ninety and nine whom he has gained, but only the blood of Christ can deliver the pastor's soul from the guilt of having lost by negligence the one hundredth soul. 0 Father, deliver us from every evil of the soul! 764 The Lord's Prayer, the Pastor's Prayer What, by comparison, is earthly property and temporal pos­session but an handful of sand! The pastor has that share of it which he can call his own, treasures on earth exposed to moth and rust, to fire and flood, to thief and robber. These treasures the Father protects and blesses to the welfare of the pastor. The dangers threatening the possessor as such and his possessions con­stitute the evil of property (Prov. 30: 7-9). The pastor who prays this Seventh Petition will l;le on guard against the love of money and the things of this world. The pastor's honor and reputation is to him of greater value and importance as ambassador of Christ than all the riches of this world. Because he is a Christian pastor, his good name is often "appointed to destruction" by Christ's' enemies, and sometimes careless members, misunderstanding their pastor's motives, judge him harshly and uncharitably circulate false reports about him. In the experiences of persecution by the tongue the servant is not above the Master. The evil reports may linger in the mouth of the pastor's survivors. On the other hand, he will subdue his pride if he feels desirous of posthumous fame. Why does he want to be remembered by posterity'? It is enough that the Lord has written his name in the Book of Life. It is more than enough that the gracious Savior will remember the pastor and his faithfulness over little things. And without the pastor's effort, He has provided for His undershepherd's posthumous fame: Remember your leaders who spoke to you the Word of God, Heb.13:7. Hence the pastor need do nothing about his honor and reputation but deserve it by his faithfulness and pray that the Father may preserve his good report in life and after death against the vile mouth of slanderers. And finally the pastor's last hour comes. He knows not when, where, or how; but the Lord will be his Guide even unto death (Ps.48:14). He was going home all along, and now he is at heaven's door. In death he fears no evil. The Lord is with him. A farewell to those who will follow later: "And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace." There may be some physical pain, and there may be a bodily struggle, before Elijah's chariot bears the happy soul to heaven, where the Father is. Once more and at last: Our Father, deliver us from the evil, and take us to Thyself in heaven! Then the divine miracle of gr.\Ce: the life of Jesus is made manifest in the pastor's mortal flesh even at his death! He does not see death. He shall never die. He is de­livered from all evil. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." And a humble soul, grown footsore in the paths of his Master as he hopefully followed on in the course the Savior was leading, now leaves his earth to this earth, his ashes to other ashes, his dust to be mingled with dust and buried to Sennon Study on 2 Cor. 5: 1-10 765 coming ages. But his soul triumphantly rises by faith in Christ's gracious pledges on to another day, to the day of joy everlasting. Then also his crumbled earth, his very dust and his ashes, united again with the soul, will rise in glory resplendent and bear the reflection of Him who saves us from every evil and exalts us to beauty unseen, to bliss beyond comprehension, to peace no mortal now feels, to life that never expires. It is fitting that the pastor's mortal remains should be robed in the vestment in which he preached the deliverance from all evil through Jesus Christ, the Lord of Life, and that a palm leaf be laid on his casket as a symbol of victory. Liberatus ab omni opere malo, dormit secure in manu Iesu. Los Angeles, Calif. G.H.SMUKAL Sermon Study on 2 Cor. 5:1-10 Eisenach Epistle for the Sunday after Christmas This text is taken from that section of the Second Letter to the Corinthians in which Paul describes "the glory of the Apostolic ministry: human weakness permeated and transfigured by the power and glory of God" (Bachmann), 3:1-6:10. Human weak­ness (cp. 4:7-12, 16, 17; 6:4-10); God's power and glory as mani­fested in the Gospel (3:1-4:6; 5:11-21), and changing weak human beings into unconquerable heroes of faith (4: 7 -18; 6: 1-10). Therefore "we" in our text refers primarily to the incumbents of the ministry of Jesus Christ, the Apostles and their associates, such as Timothy, named 1: 1 in the superscription, and Silvanus (1: 19), one of Paul's assistants. Yet Paul does not mean to say that the precious truths expressed and the experiences described by him pertained exclusively to pastors and preachers. No, they apply to all who like Paul and Timothy and Silvanus are believing children of God, whether Apostles and preachers or not. What glorifies and transfigures their human weakness as ambassadors for Christ (5: 20) is the very same power and glory which permeates and glorifies and transfigures every Christian's life, spent in the weak­ness and frailty of human, earthly existence. While this text is particularly appropriate for a pastoral sermon, in the Sunday sermon the preacher will naturally apply its truths to all the hearers directly. V. 1: "We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." The Apostle had spoken of his mortal flesh (4:11); of death working in him (v. 12); of the perishing of his outward man (v. 16). What perishes is his mortal