C 10 - The Doxology
10. The Doxology Of this we shall speak only briefly. The words : for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever, do not belong to the original text of the Gospel; it is generally agreed that they are not authentic. The doxology is an addition, an extension, introduced for the liturgical use of the Lord’s Prayer. The whole congregation would say, or sing, these words as a response to each of the six petitions said by the priest. But this does not prevent our considering the meaning of these words. What were the thoughts f the people in the Church of the second century when, at the end of the Lord’s Prayer, this doxology was spoken? It is possible to see a connexion with the sixth petition; deliver us from the Evil One . In fact, of course, the kingdom, the power and the glory belong to God, not to the devil, sin, death, or hell. For means : we ask thee to deliver us from the Evil One, because to thee belong the kingdom, the power and the glory. Or, in other words : Show thyself to be the King, powerful and glorious, by delivering us from the Evil One.
There is another explanation which does not necessarily exclude the first. These last words embrace the whole prayer; the underlying idea would then be : It is necessary for us to pray because the kingdom, the power, and the glory belong to thee and not to us, or to Christian men, or to the pious. All the things we ask of thee can be done only by thee, and this is why we call upon thee. The Heidelberg Catechism explains it thus : Thou art our King, the Almighty, who can and will give us all good things so that thy name may be glorified and not ours, nor the name of Christianity, nor that of the Church.
Amen. It will be enough to recall the words of Luther and of the Heidelberg Catechism. Luther asserts that it is a good thing to say Amen ! In other words, to learn not to doubt when we pray but to believe, because Amen means ’So be it!’ Prayer is not an undertaking left to chance, a voyage into the blue. It must end as it began with conviction : Yes, may it be so! The Heidelberg Catechism declares that Amen means that the certainty of the divine response is greater than our own certainty concerning our needs and our desires. Not what we ask is the most certain thing in our prayers, but what comes from God : his response.