“Give us today our daily bread.”

Fourth Sermon on the Lord’s Prayer

Easter V; May 14, 2006

Exodus 16:9-21

Consider this bread. ¹ The children in the Communion Class and I baked it this morning; it’s the recipe your Board of Deacons uses to make bread for many of our communion services. It’s tasty, cuts into nice, even pieces and has substance to it.

Why do we pray, “Give us today our daily bread”? Beyond the fact that the Lord told us to; why do we ask for daily bread? After all, in a weight-conscious era, a lot of us don’t even eat all that much bread anymore. Still, for much of humanity, for longer than our recorded history, bread has been a staple food. Types of bread vary from culture to culture, but you will find it commonly throughout history and throughout the world. The word “bread” is often used as a metaphor for necessities in general: in our culture, we call the person who is the primary provider of financial resources in a family the “breadwinner.” So the prayer for daily bread is not specifically for a loaf of Sara Lee Whole Grain or a pile of tortillas, but is a prayer that God will provide the necessary resources for the day.

Perhaps my struggle around this prayer reflects yours. Here is this piece of bread, which like most breads contains flour, liquid and salt. Where did they come from? The flour I bought at HyVee or Fareway – I don’t remember which – and likewise the milk. The salt came out of the cupboard in the Church kitchen. In the case of the flour and the milk, I paid for them; and in the case of the salt, the pledge-givers of this congregation paid for it.

So let’s back up a step. I paid for the flour and milk out of money I earned preaching sermons, visiting the sick, attending public meetings, studying the Bible, and so forth. The money to buy salt you freely contributed, out of what you had earned doing whatever you do, or did until you retired. It seems to me that you and I mostly earn our daily bread; so why pray for it?

The prayer reminds us that, no matter how hard we work to earn our keep, none of us is self-sufficient. Even if I had my own field of wheat and my own flour mill; if I had my own simple desalinization process to collect salt from sea-water (in Iowa?) or perhaps a salt-lick; if I had my own well – so that I could produce my own flour, salt and water: would I truly be self-sufficient? Do I cause it to rain, so that my wheat will grow? Do I provide the water-power or wind-power to turn the wheel on my mill?

None of us is truly self-sufficient. You who earn or did earn your money from Lisle/E-Z Way: where would you be if no one bought your products? if you had no co-workers and had to do it all yourself? if no one provided the raw materials to make the products? Where would I be if none of you contributed to the Church to pay for the services I provide? Where would you school teachers be if we did not pay our taxes? All right, this is one of those sermons that does not tell you anything new, but reminds you of what you already know: that we are not self-sufficient. We are dependent upon one another and, behind it all, we are dependent upon God. Who created the elements sodium and chloride that combine to become the salt for my bread? the elements hydrogen and oxygen that make up water? Who is the God of evolution that resulted in the wheat and rice and other grains that make up our breads?

I hope your family is in the habit of saying grace before you eat together. If you are not in that habit, I insist that you start: today. If you need help, I can give you some simple suggestions. Prayer before meals does not need to be fancy, but it does need to be grateful. To give thanks when you eat is the other side of saying, “Give us today our daily bread.” It acknowledges that you and I are not self-sufficient, that we are dependent on each other and on God, and that we are grateful that we have this food to eat.

It seems I neglected someone in this reflection on a piece of bread: the person who bakes it. When I was growing up it was universally assumed that Mother did the cooking, and that was certainly the case in our house. Whenever we grilled out, Dad would put on his apron and light the charcoal and cook the meat: then we congratulated him for a meal that included a potato dish that Mom had made, and a vegetable or salad that Mom had made, and frequently a dessert that Mom had made. ² Our society is better, I think, that home-cooked food could be associated with Mom or Dad. And the Church is better that when a minister stands at the Holy Table preparing bread and fruit of the vine for a sacred Supper, that minister might be a woman. Good food, and holy food, might come from Mother or Father; in any case, standing behind it all is God, whose sun shines and whose rain falls on the grain.

One other point Jesus wants us to internalize by praying this way, and you find it in both Scripture readings: ³ focus on the needs of the day. Now, Jesus was not opposed to financial planning; he has other stories and quips that emphasize the importance of planning ahead. ⁴ But he does not teach us to pray for enough income to get through the next year; he teaches us to pray for the needs of today. The birds in his saying from the Sermon on the Mount work hard to find their food, but they find only the food for the day. They don’t build elevators to store it in, or have a deep-freeze in their nests. The people who gathered manna gathered just enough for the day, plus the Sabbath, and those who tried to gather a little to hoard found that it went bad.

You’re all too smart to push this too far, so I don’t need to tell you not to give up the elevators, the deep-freezes, and all attempts to plan ahead. After all, the manna stopped the day the people of Israel took in their first harvest, and that harvest had to last them! You must rather simply see the point God is giving us: don’t fret about tomorrow. Plan ahead, work hard, say your prayers, and enjoy today. In Jesus’ time, laborers were paid daily. You didn’t get a paycheck at the end of the week or the end of the month; you received your pay at the end of the day. You knew you and your family would eat that day. There was no guarantee that you would be hired again the next day. There was only hope.

So, Jesus is teaching us, be grateful for what you have today, and when tomorrow comes pray for your needs for tomorrow, and go work for them. I’m afraid there is nothing complicated or even particularly deep about it: for that, too, let us thank God.

God of creation: thank you for making the world abundant to provide all that your people need. Provide our needs for this day, and teach us to trust you for tomorrow. We pray in Jesus’ name; amen.

Robert A. Keefer

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Clarinda, Iowa

1 I held up a piece of bread.

2 Comment: It was Mother’s Day.

3 In addition to the one in the heading, we read Matthew 6:25-34.

4 For example, Luke 14:28-32. That is not the point he is making, but it does seem to be his assumption.