Lesson From Huck Finn

There was a yearning, awhile ago, to reread some of the books of my youth.  Among those  I downloaded on my iPad were the Secret Garden, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Huckleberry Finn first heard about prayer from Miss Watson, who told him that prayer was something you did everyday and that you'd get what you asked for. So he tried three or four times praying for hooks to complete his fishing line, but when he still didn't get what he asked for decided that "No, there ain't nothing in it."

At my age, I'm discovering more and more that prayer is a curious activity. It is one I seem, at times, almost inclined naturally toward, while other times, like Huck, conclude I somehow just "couldn't seem to make it work."

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples asked him to teach them how to pray. Jesus said to them, "When you pray, say:

'Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.'" Luke 11:1-4.

It seems to me, that the Lord's Prayer is still held and practiced by fewer and fewer Christians, comes out of this context. That is, out of a plea for help with prayer and out of the praying of Jesus himself. It also seems to me, that it is not just the good advice Jesus had to offer about praying; it is his praying. In fact, giving his followers this prayer, Jesus, like John, was following a common rabbinic pattern. When a rabbi taught a prayer, he would use it to teach his disciples the most distinctive, concise, essential elements of his own teachings. Thus, disciples would learn to pray as their teacher prayed, and from then on, when a disciple's prayer was heard, it would sound like that of his teacher's prayers, bearing his mark and posture before God.

To me, this suggests, when I pray the Lord's Prayer today, it is simultaneously an offering of the voice of Jesus, a declaration that I belong to him, and a pronunciation of the lessons he wanted me most to learn.  Just my druthers, I suppose, but the of being a part of a congregation that prays the Lord’s Prayer, contemporarily.

Somewhat different than fishing hooks, the prayer for daily bread is foundational. News of world food shortages, the prevalence of malnourishment, and volatile food prices remind me the epetition that cries for basic provision are appropriate and necessary. Fifteenth century theologian Martin Luther spoke of the prayer for daily bread as the plea for "everything included in the necessities and nourishment for our bodies such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, farm, fields, livestock, money, property, an upright spouse, upright children, upright members of the household, upright and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, decency, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like."  "The Small Catechism," The Book of Concord, 357. In other words, bread is not merely the private concern of those who need something to eat. It is far broader than this, including far more than bread and far more than isolated individuals before God. Our daily bread is something friends, neighbors, communities, economic situation, and governments affect collectively.

Christ's prayer for daily bread, then, is a prayer for food and clothing, but also for good neighbors, good rulers, and good conscience as I face need and want with others.

My prayer for daily bread can be a reminder that I do not live in a vacuum before God. Rather, I live in a community where I am responsible for others. So when I pray for daily bread, like Jesus, I pray for God's care and provision. But subsequently, I am praying against the things in life that prevent God's provisions. For example, this may well be corrupt governments; it may also be my own hardened heart, fearful spirit, or a self-consumed and consuming living.

 

And if I pray the words Jesus told me to pray, I pray out of the same paradox in which Jesus prayed himself. He was both the Son who knew he would need the Father's provision to get through the days before him and the Son who poured out his life for the crowds and individuals that needed him. Praying for daily bread, I am simultaneously the wealthy who can respond to the needs around me in gratitude for all that God has given me and the impoverished who cry out for the daily bread they need and the God who sustains us both. I am both the rich and the poor, united to my neighbors in ways I am constantly invited to imagine, lest I find myself in only one category. In difficult days, in plentiful days, might I cry to God:  Give me this day my daily bread.