Bishop Hutterer: Give us this day our daily bread

*Image: The Lord's Prayer (Le Pater Noster), between 1886 and 1894, by James Tissot. Brooklyn Museum, New York*

“He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ’Lord, teach us to pray‘…”

— Luke 11:1

During this Lenten season, I am discovering new meanings in the Lord’s Prayer. This common prayer, known to so many throughout the world, yields new treasures upon repetition. Jesus taught us to pray these words:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and glory forever and ever. Amen.

When I prayed this prayer today, I was profoundly moved how each petition turns our attention away from heaven and toward our neighbor on earth. This is a justice prayer.

Today, I lingered over the justice statement: give us this day our daily bread.

We petition God to give us our daily bread because our sustenance ultimately comes from the hand of God, our bountiful provider. And yet, around the world almost 700 million people go hungry.

More than one in ten American households are not sure where their next meal will come from. The food insecurity rate in Nevada and Utah is 12%, in Arizona it is 14%. Each state of Nevada and Utah contain 136,000 food-insecure children. In Arizona, 348,550 children are without the food they need for a healthy life.

A healthy life is so much more than our daily bread, so much more than food. Martin Luther wrote in the Small Catechism:

Daily bread includes the necessities and nourishment for our bodies, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, farm, fields, livestock, money, property, an upright spouse, upright children, upright members of the household, upright and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.

It takes all of the necessities on Luther’s list to bring about an abundant and healthy life, not just daily bread.

What causes food insecurity? You and I. Abundant life for others is tied to our consumption. And our consumption informs and is informed by our U.S. economic practices and policies.

I recently heard a story that illustrates this. A strawberry picker from Central America said, “Our children go hungry, you know, because this land grows strawberries for your tables, when it should be growing beans and corn for our children.”

It doesn’t need to be this way. We forget we are inextricably interconnected, all living on a planet full of God’s bounty, where our actions literally circle the globe to either uplift or deny other beloved children of God.

The well-being of our neighbor is deeply a matter of faith, and deeply connected to our relationship with God.

From the Lutheran tradition, we cannot throw up our hands and wait for God to solve the problem. God hungers for all people to experience abundant life. God is at work in the world through us. God brings justice through us.

It is my hope that as we listen and pray, God will transform us into agents of change, so that all may know God’s promise of daily bread.

On an individual level, one journey you can take is to ask a simple question as you eat your food: Where did this food come from?

Another journey awaiting you is on the policy level, and I recommend reading the ELCA’s social message on government and civic engagement in the United States, which explains how to be a disciple in a democracy. On a state level, you can support Lutheran Engagement and Advocacy in Nevada (LEAN) and Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Arizona (LAMA) in their work to eradicate hunger and poverty.

And finally, pray. Experience the Lord’s Prayer in a new way. And as we close this letter, will you pray with me a prayer from Mother Teresa of Calcutta?

“Make us worthy, Lord, to serve our fellow human beings throughout the world who live and die in poverty and hunger. Give them through our hands this day their daily bread, and by our understanding love, give peace and joy.”

— Amen