We have had an unusual opportunity for the past few weeks to study the Sermon on the Mount with Dr. James Bailey, Professor Emeritus of New Testament at Wartburg Seminary. He has been teaching a five-session class in three separate locations in the conference. In order to fit into our schedule, we have attended this class in two of the three locations over the past few weeks, so this has turned into not only an opportunity to study the Bible, but also an opportunity to get to know members of two local ELCA congregations better.
As part of last week’s lesson, we took a closer look at the Lord’s Prayer, which is at the center of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. At the conclusion of this session, we were asked to write our answers to one or both of these two questions.
From your experience, what does it mean to ask for “our daily bread”?
It means that we admit our dependence on God’s providence, that we take time to ask him for:
• the basic necessities of daily life
• the means and abilities to earn those essentials through our own work
• freedom from worry about the essentials for ourselves, so that we can really act and work in God’s kingdom here and now
• justice, that “all of us” might have the necessities and this same freedom from worry
• all of us to experience God’s gracious and abundant love!
From your experience, why is forgiveness so essential to our living?
I have shared my answer to the first question from my class notes and invite others to reply with their answers as well…
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