Did you come to this brief time of Lenten reflection without an opportunity to catch a bite of something to sustain you? Is Friday a Fast Day for you? If this is the case, you know a little something about the power of hunger in our lives. If your stomach or your neighbor's stomach growls a little during this half-hour take it as an object lesson for this homily.

Some of you may have cared for your hunger before coming today. I trust you will remember how blessed you were to have a midday meal.

In Iraq there are American and British soldiers are like every other army, the travel on their stomachs and are dependant upon the supply line for their daily bread. They'd give anything for a pizza with their family back home. There are also Iraqi children and others who have had to scramble for any taste of food as their usual supplies have been disrupted and the aid supplies were late in arriving.

We all know the importance of food. It brings to our lives, not only nutritional value, but a sense of well-being. We gather during this noontime to listen to cries for daily bread and to be thankful for what we have received.
For just a moment I would draw our attention to an alternative reading that is noted in many Bibles as a footnote. This 11th verse of the 6th chapter in the gospel of Matthew is familiarly read as: "give us this day our daily bread." Another way to translate this is: "give us our bread for tomorrow."

When we run into such interesting options for translation as a whole change of time reference - from today to tomorrow - it can raise our interest in other perspectives as well.

The phrase just before the petition for daily bread is about GOD's "kingdom" bringing earth and heaven together: "GOD's desire be accomplished on earth as it is in heaven." We might ask about signs of bringing heaven and earth together. The request, the plea, the demand for food is one way of measuring how close earth has drawn to heaven and how near heaven has come to earth.

Let me bring a word of confession here. For the longest time I understood this part of Jesus' Prayer very individualistically. I kept hearing, "give me this day my daily bread."

As a result of my way of hearing, it was easy for me to turn this prayer into my prayer for my well-being.
There were many helpful benefits that came from such a personalization. I still pray the prayer that way and am blessed by it.

What I have found, though, is an equally great blessing to remember Jesus was teaching a whole community to pray and that the language is plural, not singular. We do pray in unison and find personal meaning in that context.

Today I come with a reminder of the obvious - we are called together as a body. The gospel of John reminds us of another of Jesus' prayers, that we would be one as GOD and Jesus are one. Matthew leads into the petition for daily bread through an image of earth and heaven being one together. Luke remembers the disciples asking for a prayer that would unite them as a community, like John's disciples were taught special prayers.

In its larger setting, the prayer is, "give us, today and tomorrow, our daily bread."

Who is the "us" here? Is it only sister and brother Christians? If so, can we hear our sister and brother Iraqi and Palestinian Christians who hunger for the bread that signifies the coming together of heaven and earth, their feasting in a new community of healing and hope as well as simply having food in their stomachs?

Who is the "us" here? Is it anyone? Can it be true that none of us are saved until all of us are saved? What would it mean to commit ourselves to not praying this prayer without contributing to hunger relief somewhere?

Will you add one more Lenten discipline this late into Lent - giving a can of food to the Full Shelf Food Pantry every time you pray the Lord's Prayer or volunteering 15 minutes of time to help feed people at Harvest House for each time you pray this precious prayer?

If those disciplines don't speak to your soul, might you get involved with the root causes of hunger by writing a letter to aid Bread for the World? You should have received a flyer with your bulletin.

If you are more drawn to relationships will you invite someone to a meal in your place once a week?

How about some specific act to challenge our economic system that prizes agricultural patents and future profits because you see the prayer for daily bread as revolutionary - forcing us to measure how far heaven is from earth by the policies and procedures that perpetuate inadequate community, bankrupt common-wealth, and hungry/starving children.

This prayer points us to true anti-terrorist activity. Until you and everyone have their daily bread, my bread is not safe. In this Lenten season let us pray for daily bread again and again, until the communal nature of this prayer pushes us to seeing it come true not only for me, but for all.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Give us this day our daily bread. Amen.