A Charge to a Ministerial Candidate at Hills and Plains Presbytery
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(I gave this charge to a ministerial candidate at the 11 October 2022 meeting of Hills and Plains Presbytery)
I’m doing something a bit different today. I’m presenting
this charge to you from a passage that is disputed by all textual critics. It’s
that portion of the Lord’s Prayer that ends in a doxology: “For Thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.”
Right now, I’m going to give you two reasons for continuing
to use this verse, and then at the end I will give you two more. First, it is a
summary of Scripture, specifically, 1 Chronicles 29:10-13. There, after the
people have given lavishly and generously for the building of the Temple, David
breaks out in that prayer, “Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our
father, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the
glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in
the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head
above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your
hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give
strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.”
Those three verses are crammed and packed into Matthew 6:13. So, it’s all
Bible.
Second, even if the
textual critics prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this verse doesn’t
belong, yet in the church’s wisdom, in the liturgy it has been included for
almost two millennia. For example, in the early 2nd Century work, “The
Didache” (8:2) it is included. So, it’s Bible, and in the wisdom of the church
it has been in the church’s worship all along.
- “And the power” – We often think and act as if we’re omnicompetent, the power is all mine! “I have the power!” But here, in this doxology, we are relinquishing all claim to the power. Just like Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:5-6… So, not “Mine is the power” but “Thine is the power!”
- “And the glory” – again, we want all the glory. But the WSC makes clear that the “chief end” of our ministries is “To glorify God and enjoy him forever.” But I love how John Piper has tweaked this catechism answer in good baptisty fashion: “To glorify God by enjoying him forever.” And there we run up against another one of our problems. As good Presbyterians, I don’t think most of us enjoy God. But I love the way St. Augustine puts it in his Confessions, which is all a prayer (Book 10:22): “For there is a joy which is not given to the ungodly, but to those who love you for your own sake, whose joy you yourself are. And this is the happy life, to rejoice to you, of you, for you; this is true joy, and there is no other.”
And so, the third reason to keep this doxology is because it
is the first stage of answering the prayer you just prayed, “Hallowed be Thy
name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, etc.”
Here’s the first stage of the answer: “Lord I relinquish all claim and all
rights to your kingdom, your power, and your glory!”
The final reason to keep this doxology as the conclusion to
the Lord’s Prayer? It’s all about Jesus, who said “So Jesus said to them, “When
you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I
do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he
who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things
that are pleasing to him” (John 8:28-29). And also said, “Jesus answered, “If I
glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom
you say, ‘He is our God’” (8:54). Here is the One who relinquished any claim of
the kingdom, power or glory, submitting to the Father for us and for our
salvation.
Therefore, every time you pray the Lord’s Prayer and come to this doxology, know it is crammed with Bible, it has two millennia of witnesses, it’s all about Jesus, and it’s thew first stage of the answer to your prayer: “Here, Lord, I relinquish all claim to your kingdom, power, and glory!”
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