Our Daily Bread — Luke 11:1-4

Luke 11:1–4 Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him: “Lord/Kyrios, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them: “When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom/basileia come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.”

This prayer of Jesus is one of the best known and loved from our scriptures. It has been translated into many languages — and with each translation and iteration the nuance varies. In this article I’ll suggest how we can use it in our ecological context.

In the opening phrase of the story Jesus is praying (Lk 11:1-4). He’s engaged in a human activity but one which links him with the Divine. It reminds us that prayer is grounded in place and time — Jesus prays in “a certain place” and he ends his praying. We can ground our prayer in our own space, place and time when ecological concerns are at the forefront of our consciousness.

Then one of the disciples asks Jesus to teach them to pray. He responds from his own experience: “When you pray say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name’”.

Jesus offers his disciples his own intimate name for God: Father. This name draws the disciples into a loving relationship including them in his experience of being the beloved.

But the name “Father” has other connotations. Addressing God as “Father” immediately sets it within human relationships. It is the title designating the pater familias, the head of the first-century Roman households. He owned and ruled over the entire household: women, children, slaves and property. This image of “father” has accompanied the gospel across the centuries. But in these times we recognise that an image that encourages domination and subjugation in relationships, particularly in relation to gender, is unhealthy for the human community, for the Earth community — and for our relationship with God. So as well as critiquing these connotations, we can use new metaphors such as “mother”, “lover”, “friend”, “gardener” and many others. These addresses for God can enrich our prayer at this time in our world.

Thinking of the first-century world of Jesus, the sense of “father” as pater familias sees God as protector of the humans within his “household” and also of the other than human — the dwelling itself, land, water, animals, tools, grain and many other items. The whole of God’s household is gathered up into this prayer — a chorus of the human, animal and material praising the Creator and protector.

After opening the prayer by naming and praising the Divine One, Jesus invites disciples to pray for the “coming” of the basileia — the reign of God not the empire of Rome. Michael Trainor suggests that longing for such a basileia is the “recognition that all is not right on Earth and that God’s loving power is what will eventually overcome the oppression experienced”. We hear this in the request: “Give us each day our daily bread."

The request for daily bread is rich in ecological significance when we face excessive accumulation and desperate want in our world. The prayer asks for the bread that is necessary just for that day. Our challenge in the 21st century is to trust that tomorrow will provide what will sustain all creatures, all life-forms that rely upon Earth for survival. It is a radical challenge to the human community to share and to live in a way that allows all life to flourish.

The prayer continues: “forgive us our sins”. In this context sin is not just individual transgressions but includes the structural and ecological sins of the global community and its local manifestations. The sins of polluting, contaminating and dumping affect the air, water and earth — the flourishing of Earth. Michael Trainor calls these “social and environmental sin” because they affect all life on the planet.

There is a sense of reciprocity and restoration in the phrase: “And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us." As Earth dwellers we are all impacted by ecological sin and we are Earth’s polluters. We sin and we are sinned against. The prayer invites us first to recognise our own implication in ecological sin and to pray for forgiveness. And our prayer must move beyond words to include restorative action in relation to all Earth’s beings.

The final verse is a plea: “Do not bring us to the time of trial”. In an ecological context we have heard the evidence suggesting that our Earth is slowly moving towards a tipping point where it will no longer be able to support life. Rather than dismiss these warnings as fearmongering we can face the evidence and urge the global community to change. In individual and in global ways we can promote truth and work with hope.

This prayer that Jesus first taught his disciples continues to be our prayer in the context of ecological awareness. We can pray it from a personal perspective — to guide us through our daily life — but it can also become humanity’s prayer for the protection of Earth. As we pray it in our communities, liturgies and public events we can remind one another of our participation and responsibility in seeing that the whole of God’s creation flourishes. Michael Trainor sums it up well: “Rather than prayer being a private…address to God, it is an address to the One who desires ecological and social renewal.”

Our challenge in the 21st century is to trust that tomorrow will provide what will sustain all creatures, all life-forms that rely upon Earth for survival. It is a radical challenge to the human community to share and to live in a way that allows all life to flourish.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 239 July 2019: 24-25