Sermons 2025

Text: Third Petition of the Lord’s Prayer
Theme: The Will of God

Outline
 

1.    God’s will done in our lives.
2.    God’s defense and protection

Sermon

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
My dear beloved flock, the text for our meditation today is the Third petition of the Lord’s prayer: 

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 

What does this mean? The good and gracious will of God is done indeed without our prayer; but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also.
 

How is this done?
When God breaks and hinders every evil counsel and will which would not let us hallow the name of God nor let His kingdom come, such as the will of the devil, the world, and our flesh; but strengthens and keeps us steadfast in His Word and in faith unto our end. This is His gracious and good will. (Source: https://bookofconcord.org/small-catechism/the-lords-prayer/ )

Boys and girls, I pray that you are doing well today.  Have you ever been in pain? Maybe you pinched your fingers or fell down and skinned your knee while riding your bike. What did you do? You probably cried and then went to mom or dad to help and comfort you in your pain. They kept you safe from harm and danger. That is what we see in our text for today. God defends us and protects us from every evil and keeps us safe in in and through His Word. How does God’s protection show itself in our lives? Ponder that question as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.

1.    God’s will done in our lives.

We pray in this petition that God’s will would be done upon the earth the same as it is in heaven. It must be asked here, what is God’s will? There have been many books written on this very topic as Christians strive to figure out what God wants them to do with their lives, the most recent example would be Rick Warren’s the Purpose Driven Life.  Many are seeking what God wants them to do. They strive to answer questions like “What does God want me to do?” What is God’s will for my career? Who does He want me to marry?” “Does God want me to have kids?”  And so on. These are up to you. We don’t believe in fate; God has not fated you to fall into this or that career or to marry that specific person (no one has a “soul mate”). He’s blessed you with specific skills, interests, and talents, as well as a complex, intelligent brain. Use it.

All of these seem like grand, and certainly important, questions for us to ask ourselves. The problem is what is the focus? The focus is entirely upon ourselves. They turn us inward for the answers rather than outward to what God has done for us in Christ and the good of our neighbor. 

To see what the will of God is, we only need to go to the Holy Scriptures, to the very prayer our Lord taught us Himself. In the Lord’s Prayer, we find the entirety of God’s will that He promises to give us: to hallow His name on our lips, His kingdom come to us, that He give us our daily bread (and therefore the vocations He has given you to assist others in this manner is His will for your life), that He give us forgiveness of sins, lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil.  That His will is as He says in Ezekiel 33:11 “I desire not the death of the wicked but that they turn from their evil ways and live.” He desires that all come to salvation in and through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and His death and resurrection to live forever.

2.    God’s defense and protection
 

We pray that this will would be done on earth the same as in Heaven. That God’s will would be done in our lives, through our vocations, and making use of what God has given to us. We pray as well here that God would defend us from all of the enemies that seek to thwart God’s will among us.
 

We have many enemies that are against the will of God showing itself in our lives. Satan and all his evil horde are arrayed against us. Satan despises the Word of God. If he could remove all water so that there would be no baptisms, no water for the growing of grain and wine for the Holy Eucharist. If he could dry out the mouths of preachers, make their tongues stick to the roof of their mouths so that there would be no proclamation of the Absolution, he would do so in a heartbeat to rob us of our faith and the assurance and comfort of God’s holy Word.
 

The world will all its pressures to avoid what God says, tantalizing pleasures, cares, and riches of this life are also against us. If we can give up the pleasures of eternal life, forget about things spiritual for things physical and temporal, then our faith and salvation has been lost.
 

Worst of all, our own flesh, according to our sinful nature, is in league with Satan and the world. Our flesh is not focused upon the things of God or His will. Rather, we want to constantly focus upon our own will and desires for this life. We want our will to be done rather than being submissive to the will of God.  We are enemies with God and desire to be gods of our own making. We fall into sin time and time again, sins of thought, word, and deed, sins known to us and those unknown to us, even without our thinking.
 

Thus why we pray here that God will would be done among us as well for we know that it happens even without our prayer. We pray that for God’s protection, knowing all of these enemies against Him and His word. That God breaks and hinders every evil counsel and will. That He would keep Satan upon a leash, keep the world at bay, curb our sinful natures, that the new Adam in Jesus Christ may indeed arise. Strengthened by His Holy Spirit living in us, we may indeed do His will for our lives, carry out what He has given us to do, and endure unto the end steadfast in faith. As one of the early church Fathers,  St. John Chrysostom, said, “God does not forsake you. It is because He wishes to increase your glory that oftentimes He permits you to fall sick.” For just as Christ was glorified in His resurrection after He suffered and died, so we too shall be glorified in a resurrection just like His since we have been baptized into His death and resurrection (Romans 6:3-5).

Heavenly Father, let your will, not ours, be done among us. Curb Satan, the world, and our sinful flesh, keep us steadfast in faith unto the end until that day when we shall be raised and see you in glory forever.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard, and keep, your hearts and mind in Christ Jesus. Amen.