PART 2
Salutation: Our Father (6:9b)
".The prayer begins by addressing God as "Our Father
Bible scholars pretty much agree that behind the Greek word patēr, "father", is the word `abba in Jesus' native Aramaic tongue.1 Rather than the formal word for "father," `abba is the family word, something like the affectionate "Dad" or "Daddy" that we use in English. (See also Mark 14:36; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6). There is a formal word for "father," but the word apparently used here stresses the intimate family relationship. This is striking. Jesus was teaching his disciples to understand God as their Father. Though the rabbis spoke of God as the Father of the people, Jesus is teaching them to address God as their own personal Father, a new and wonderful revelation.
When you meditate on this a moment, the awe and wonder of it begins to break over you. The God who created the universe is our Father. The God who revealed himself in fire and smoke and thick clouds is our Father. "Father" is a relationship word, and to consider that we have the relationship of child to father with God himself is an awesome thought.
In Jesus' day, "father" included the concepts of care, love, responsibility, discipline, hopes and dreams for one's children, respect, authority, and blessing. In the West, fathers have no where near the life-long patriarchal authority that fathers have in the Middle East and Far East. Our fatherhood is but a shell of the powerful concept of "father" that Jesus communicated through this intimate word. Some of the Middle Eastern father is depicted in Jesus' parable of the Father and the Prodigal Son to illustrate the loving, searching, longing quality of our Heavenly Father (Luke 15:11-32).
"Father's Love Letter," originally written for a sermon illustration by Barry Adams, a pastor in St. Catherine's, Ontario, Canada, is a wonderful meditation of what kind of Father our God is. I strongly recommend that you read it, and take it personally. You'll be enriched (www.fathersloveletter.com)
Some in our generation have excised the word "Father" from their prayers on the basis that too many bad fathers have hurt too many children, and the image of father makes it hard for some to want to come to God. Resist this teaching that contradicts the express teaching and example of Jesus. As you meditate this week on the Lord's Prayer, I encourage you to reclaim for yourself the term "Father." Seek to find out in what ways he is a Father to you
Notice that Jesus teaches us to call out to God as "our Father." Not just a self-focused "my father," but a communal "our Father." The Lord's Prayer is intended to be prayed not only privately, but especially in the community of God's people, the Church.
(Who Art in Heaven (6:9
Jesus then teaches us to pray to God "who art in heaven," which adds infinity to our understanding of God. Though Solomon built a temple for God, he prayed, "But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!" (1 Kings 8:27) Yes, God is greater than his creation, but "the heavens" is a way to understand the greatness of God's dwelling. And when we reflect on God's greatness, it is easier to have faith to ask of him things that seem difficult to us.
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