Mt. Lebanon United Presbyterian Church     
 
Pastor Tim Janiszewski - "Whose Will Be Done?"

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This Sunday
Dec. 20, 2015



Sermon Title:
"Whose Will Be Done?"



Scripture:
Hebrews 10:3-10
Picture of Pastor Tim
December 20, 2015
 
Dear MLEPC Members and Friends:
 
The Lord's Prayer can be a dangerous prayer. Right in the middle of it, we say the words, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Don't you think that is a very open invitation to God to do whatever He sees best with our lives? Are we not petitioning God to conform and even overrule our wills--whatever it takes--in order for Him to establish His will in us? We know that whatever God says in heaven is what goes in heaven. In the Lord's Prayer, we in effect give God the same prerogative here on earth and particularly in our own lives.
 
Are we up for that? Or might we think twice the next time we pray the Lord's Prayer? I hope I am up for it, and hope you are, too!
 
But let's be realistic. Sometimes there will be a war between the wills--His and ours--as we journey with Jesus. In the midst of that struggle, I believe that God wants to bend and even break our wills for our own well-being, but He does not seek to crush our spirits.
 
Most parents know how true the battle is for bending and breaking the will of their child without at all wanting to crush the spirit. Many years ago, one of our children at age two was going through a particularly stubborn phase. One evening, he sat at the dinner table with peas on his tray. He knew the mealtime rule: You must take at least one bite of everything served before being excused. Well, the peas displeased him mightily. He refused. And so he was not excused. After quietly fuming for some time, he then proceeded to scream bloody murder at the top of his lungs--a frightening racket. For twenty minutes, his little lungs did not relent; nor did his parents' determination to win this little battle of the wills for his own good.
 
At that point, I needed to go up the hill (we lived in a church manse/parsonage) to a church event. I asked Juli to go for me, telling the folks I would be late. And so my son and I sat as he screamed, and I patiently asked him to take one bite. Finally, exhausted and spent, he stopped hollering, put his head down on the tray and promptly fell asleep. Another twenty minutes later, he woke up. I was still there and so were the peas. He put out his little hand, grabbed a handful and stuffed them in his mouth. I immediately picked him up from his chair, gave him a huge hug, told him I loved him, and said, "Let's go play!"
 
I wonder if we sometimes are a bit like this story with our "Abba Father." We pray, "Thy will be done," and He takes us up on it. But we then sometimes dig in our heels and refuse. In love and tender mercy, He waits us out, though it feels like torture at times, because He must bend and break our wills without crushing our spirits, so that we can embrace His will. And when we finally give in, we know His marvelous, loving embrace.
 
So let's keep on praying the Lord's Prayer, knowing it is dangerous. Let's pray it, knowing that we are asking Him to change our wills so that we may learn to love His ways.
 
Pastor Tim
 
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