As the
story goes, a Scottish Presbyterian Church had a new pastor who had spent most
of his life in the ivory towers of academia, teaching theology to young
seminary students. He loved to pray
lofty public prayers, using obscure theological terms. One day, his head was bowed as he held
forth. Suddenly, there was a tug at the
coat of his vestments. He looked down to
see a little Scottish woman in a choir robe standing there. She said, “Just call ‘im Father and ask ‘im
for somethin’.”
We all nod our heads in approval at
that story. But where did we get this
idea that we could come to God just as we are, without one plea? Most other religious traditions have very
strict rules about who can get close to their god; even if you’re one of the
favored few, there’s usually an elaborate set of rituals that one must go
through before you speak to God. Yet
most of us in this room think nothing of praying to God in the shower, in the
car, lying in bed in the middle of the night, or anywhere else, anytime we have
a need, a question, or a fear. Is it
just presumption that makes us think that we deserve that kind of access to an
infinitely holy, awesomely powerful God?
For that matter, what makes us think we can call Him Father?
The answer to all those questions is
Jesus. Next week, we will finish our
series about the amazing impact Jesus has had on this world, and the influence
He still has today. But for now, I want
to talk about how Jesus changed the way we relate to God. Jesus taught us to call God “Father.” We see it here at the beginning of the Lord’s
Prayer. Now, there are some references
in the Old Testament to God as the Father of Israel. But no Israelite before Jesus would have
referred to Yahweh as “Abba.” That is a
word in Aramaic, Jesus’ native language, that means “Father.” Except linguists will tell you it’s not a
formal word like our English word “Father.” It is a word of intimacy. It’s probably the first word most Jewish
babies would have learned. It’s something
like “Papa.” It’s interesting to look at
every time Jesus uses that term, and notice the pronouns He uses. For instance, when He talks about
forgiveness, He says, “Your Father,” which excludes Himself, for He never
sinned. When He talks about His sonship
and mission in life, He says “My Father,” which excludes the rest of us. But here, He teaches us to pray, “Our
Father.” You and I may not have much in
common, but we are all adopted sons and daughters of a King who loves us.
This Sunday, we'll talk more about how this idea of a God of love--who wants to be our Father--changed the world forever...and what that idea requires of us, His children.
3 comments:
That's a good observation about the different ways that Jesus used the term "father". I hadn't thought of that before
Thank you, Jeff. I learned that myself as I was studying for this message. Pretty cool insight!
I was shocked when I read that we are to come boldly to the THRONE of GOD. That gives me pause and then it gives me great courage to come and talk to Him. To come to my Daddy, the KING and just talk to Him. Great blog Jeff.
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