Give us this day our daily bread.
Today’s Gospel gem is where Jesus is telling his followers to not practice their piety where others can see. Don’t make lots of noise when you are charitable. Don’t intentionally pray in a place where others can see you. When you fast, don’t look dismal. I love these. It’s not that we shouldn’t give alms, pray or fast. We just shouldn’t do it for the single reason of being seen. Do it in secret, Jesus says, and God will know. After all, that’s why we do these things, right? Not for human affirmation or approval, right?
So in the midst of these statements of humility, Jesus tells others how to pray. Don’t stand on the corner and pray so others can see you. Don’t pray with lots of words. Instead pray this prayer. Jesus continues to teach the Lord’s Prayer. Our Father in heaven. Simple. Short. Sufficient.
This morning I’m struck by the simple line, Give us this day, our daily bread. This has been a line I’ve returned to a lot in the past few months. It’s about living in the moment, and about providence.
I’ve had cause to worry about the future. We all do. But I’ve succumbed to that pressure more frequently of late. What’s going to happen in a month, a year? What will my life look like? Will my well-constructed plans work out? On an especially fought-filled day, I realized, however that I cannot know what next week, next month, or next year will bring. But I do know today. I know that I’ve had crappy days in the past, where big hard things were dumped in my lap. And every one of those days, I handled. I didn’t solve necessarily, but I was well-equipped to deal with whatever came up, and at the end of the day, I put my head on my pillow. Without fail, every day, I handled. So why would that be different tomorrow? Of course I can handle tomorrow, because I can handle what this day brings. Without fail. I still cannot predict or plan tomorrow, next month or next year. But broken into its smallest parts, the future is entirely handle-able. This day, I’ve got. I can handle this day. And I can handle tomorrow as well.
The other thing I’ve realized about this simple sentence is the part about God’s grace to give me today what I need. In the prayer, it’s daily bread. Not a pantry prepared for a month. This day. Daily bread. God will provide today what I need. That is, in fact, how I can handle today.
This prayer doesn’t sugar coat or predict the future. Jesus’ prayer doesn’t promises roses, comfort or certitude in the future, or even tomorrow. More powerfully, it gives us the assurance that today, God will provide our daily bread, with what we need.
In Morning Prayer, we pray the Lord’s Prayer daily. Daily, I’m reminded that God will give me this day, precisely what I need. I will go to bed tonight having handled whatever lands in my world. With this daily affirmation, it’s a lot easier to not fret about next month or next year. Today, I’ve got this. With God’s help.
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