how you acknowledge a relational context…

JESUS begins the LORD’s prayer in matthew 6 by saying, our FATHER and that holds great significance to HIM and to us.   

when you use a name, you make a statement about the nature of the relationship you have with another person.  that’s why names are so powerful.  a name expresses the relationship you have.  you acknowledge a relational context.  you state how much closeness exists.  in a fairly formal relationship, you say mr. or mrs.  if it’s a friend, you call them by their first name.

now if it’s a real close friend you might have a nickname. if it’s a family member there might be a pet name. that expresses the fact that this is a uniquely close relationship.

i only have two people on this earth that call me “father,” and that single word gets my attention probably quicker than any other.

if i pick up the phone and i hear that word first, “dad?” that establishes a context between me and the one who’s speaking to me that is stronger than iron.  and everything else they say, any requests they make, any confession they have to make, anything else they say takes place within the context of the relationship that’s expressed by that one word “father.”

now there were records in the old testament of people using the image of a father to describe GOD.  that had happened before.  but there is no record of anyone ever coming to GOD in prayer and addressing him as FATHER until JESUS did it.

then HE uses an aramaic word “abba.”  it’s a real tender word.  little children used it.  adults would use it too.  it’s not quite exactly like our word “daddy” because it was an adult word as well as a child’s word, but it was a very tender word.

and there’s no record of anybody coming to GOD in prayer and calling him that until JESUS.  and JESUS not only does it, HE invites you and me to do it.

that’s unbelievable. so when you pray, you put everything else aside.  you put aside a hurried mind.  you remember that you’re not just sitting there thinking right now or worrying, and you begin with the word our FATHER.

just a thought from the front porch…