Give Us Our Daily Bread
This sermon on the 4th petition of the Lord's Prayer, focuses on our dependence on God. It argues that all daily provisions, not just extraordinary miracles, are gifts from God, urging humility and gratitude. Praying for "daily bread" is an antidote to worry by trusting in God's provision, even in hardship. It emphasizes that earthly struggles are temporary, contrasting them with the eternal abundance promised in the resurrection. The sermon encourages persistent prayer, like how a cat meows to be fed every morning, and advocates living with the understanding that even the ordinary is a divine "treat," while anticipating the ultimate, eternal reward.
How many of you have pets? Every morning, when I get down to our kitchen our cat, Kylo, is there waiting for me. He stalks me with a symphony of meows full of anticipation and attitude. With every meow I believe he is saying something like, “Oh mighty and gracious master, I thought you loved me! And yet, here I am, starving, dying, wasting away because my food bowl is half full empty. Won’t you keep me alive another day?” And then there’s our other cat, Kenobi. Kenobi has two great loves in life, and their names are Tuna and Bacon. If you have tuna or bacon, Kenobi will pray to you unceasingly until you unite him with his great love. Cats love food and treats, they want to be adored, they want amusement, they want laps to sit on, and they require dump trucks of litter. Pets depend on their humans for everything. We depend on our Father in heaven for everything, our daily bread.
Jesus teaches us that God is the one who gives us everything with have. Sometimes we think God only does “God-stuff”, miracles, and if He isn’t doing miracles in my life then He’s not doing anything. But the truth is everything that you have, every opportunity that comes your way, every breath you breath, every minute of your life is a gift of God. It’s daily bread. Maybe that’s why praying “Give us this day our daily bread” can be humbling. I like praying for “treats”: nicer cars, new toys, better circumstances. And sometimes God even gives us tuna and bacon! But Jesus teaches us to pray for daily bread. The truth is: the boring, everyday stuff is a miraculous and generous gift from God. My cats act like it’s a miracle every time I feed them. Even small stuff from God—the daily bread itself—is a miracle.
But what happens when you pray for daily bread, and it seems like God is out of stock? Now, sometimes, when we’re worried about having enough of something, our idea of “enough” needs to change. But there might be times when you don’t have food or good health or money to pay the bills or enough time; when your spouse or child dies, when depression hits hard, when you don’t have a good boss, or people to take care of you. Why does Jesus teach us to pray “give us this day our daily bread” in a world that’s cursed, where you won’t always have everything you need, and everybody dies? I think that’s precisely why Jesus teaches us this prayer: it’s an antidote to worry. Worry is a false belief; it’s believing that God will not take care of you. But if God would even give His own Son’s life for you, a sinner, do you really think He won’t provide what you need? Only a Christian can pray to God for daily bread in a world where one day you die. You pray to a God who turns even death into something as harmless as a good night’s sleep. This life is not all there is to live. God promises to provide daily bread for you for eternity in the resurrection where you will never lack for anything. Praying for daily bread is praying, “God, You are in control. Give me what You know I need this day, even if today ends in my death.”
God is the one who gives us life and He’s the one who takes it away. He’s the one you want to be in control, because He’s also the one who reverses death and gives you eternal life. If God controls even life and death itself to take care of you, then the only thing left to worry about is that life might feel unpleasant sometimes. Who enjoys pain or heartache or stress? But we have eternity with Jesus, who makes all things right, wipes away every tear, and restores creation. A Christian could lose everything in life, but because of the promises of Jesus, Christians never really lose everything. Praying, “give us this day our daily bread” is like praying, “God, give me what I need until You give me more than I could possibly imagine.”
Christians are content with having nothing, but we pray about everything. When life isn’t perfect, Jesus teaches us to rush to the Father’s arms and pray for Him to provide. Jesus says birds don’t have jobs or refrigerators, yet God gives them food every day—you are more valuable than birds. Flowers aren’t fashion designers, yet God clothes them in beauty—you are more valuable than flowers. So, like Kylo’s symphony of meows in the morning, ask God for the things you need every day. Christians live as if everything in life is a treat from God—and sometimes God gives Kenobi tuna and bacon. And sometimes He doesn’t. But in Jesus, God has given us everything for eternity. So, until that day when we get to enjoy the superabundance of the resurrection, we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.”