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Friday, February 04, 2005
It was the first Scripture I ever memorized.
In the liturgy of my first church, our entire congregation repeated it together each and every Sunday.
Various sports teams I was on huddled up before games and said it together.
When I was chaplain of a football team, the coach asked me to pray it specifically to help with "team unity."
It's commonly referred to as The Lord's Prayer.
And I find it ironic that within the context of avoiding public prayer and meaningless repitition that it has become the most public of Christian prayers and said so often that we've often forgotten the meaning within the words.
But before we spend the next 9 or so days looking at the meanings of each line, I want to review the context.
Remember the entire Sermon on the Mount is Jesus' manifesto...his political plan. At least that's what was common among 1st century Messianic wannabes, of which there were plenty who went up on that mountain to stir up political support for their movement. Generally, this was some sort of plan to remove Israel from underneath the Roman occupation...and plenty of those wound up crucified and having the movement squelched.
Well, Jesus' manifesto was upside-down.
In chapter 5 of Matthew 6, He announced to Israel that this revolution would be within the hearts and minds of the hearers, not in military might. The Kingdom will be ushered in on the backs of all the "wrong people," those who are humble, gentle and weepers and mourners. And, oh by the way, Israel, you're supposed to be the light of the world, the salt of the earth and you're failing miserably. Largely, this was due to the fact that your religion has become more focused on an outward show rather than an authentic walk with God.
In fact, by the time we get to Matthew 6, Jesus begins to show them some practical realities about what the spiritual life looks like...and we've already seen in the past week that prayer is supposed to be a private matter between you and God rather than a show for the public, that you should go into a private place rather than the public square, and talk to your Father, who knows you and loves you and knows what you need before you even ask. He's a good Father, taking care of us.
Then, Jesus begins to tell us about the content of our prayers, which starts with the words "Our Father..."
Notice first that the pronoun is plural. Our. It's a collective word that reminds us that we are not alone. The spiritual life was always meant to be lived in community where iron can sharpen iron...where believers could get together and encourage one another. Share with one another the good times in life as well as the storms of life.
Another reality is that we are quite literally, a family. Everyone included in "our" has the same Father. We have brothers and sisters in Christ. Our relationship should have that reality of purity and honesty and transparency that close-knit families have. That long history of life lived together.
And then the word "Father" itself.
You have to remember the context of 1st century Jewish life. It was a life lived in which the people generally didn't approach God directly. A priest did that for them, and you could go to the Temple and commune, albeit indirectly, with Him. God had names that described His character, but to refer to God as "Father" actually was even akin to the familiarity we might have with our earthly fathers: "Dad" or "Daddy."
This was a new way of approaching God. That God isn't this far-off, fear inducing patriarch who we approach like the movie character Arthur approached his own father. In that scenario, the millionaire playboy Arthur's father wanted to arrange a marriage with a business partner's daughter so they could have a merger. Arthur had to schedule a meeting at his father's office, even being required to wait in the waiting room until his father finished his other appointments.
None of that for the Kingdom approach. No, God is more like Hobson, Arthur's butler. Hobson was approachable and loving (even if that required truth telling), and Arthur developed a relationship with Him over the years. Arthur could talk to him...tell him his hopes and dream and fears and ask for advice. In return Hobson looked out for him, guiding him. Arthur felt his love continually and later in the movie returned the favor.
So, can you imagine what this would do to your view of God in the first century? God isn't this high-powered unapproachable entity anymore, but rather a Dad in which you could crawl up in His lap and simply enjoy the reality of the new relationship.
Initially, the content of our prayer is to focus on God, who loves us like a good father loves his children and has their best interests at heart.
So, we're all family, part of God's historical plan for the universe...and He is our father with our best interest at heart.
For today, think it through as to your view of God. How does viewing Him as a good Father affect your talking to Him? What would that sound like? What would change? Stay the same? How does viewing others as true brothers and sisters living life together affect your view of Christian interpersonal relationships? How would it affect praying with others? What are the dangers? What are the joys?
Tomorrow: Who Art In Heaven.
Brent 5:32 AM
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