“Our Father"

 

 

“Jesus spoke to him first saying, ‘What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?’ When Peter said, ‘From strangers,’ Jesus said to him, ‘Then the sons are exempt. However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.’”  (See Matthew 17:24 – 27)

 

“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven’…” (Matthew 6:9a).

 

How are you reading the Bible? As a stranger? As the equivalent of an employee? Or as a daughter or a son?

 

When you read the Scriptures, are you listening for the Voice of your heavenly Father? Can you hear Him speaking to your heart, your mind, your soul, your spirit? Can you sense the gentle brush of the Holy Spirit against your face, your inner person? Do you realize that your dear Lord Jesus is with you, and that He is with you as the Firstborn is with His siblings, His sisters and His brothers? (Romans 8:29; Hebrews 2:10 – 13; John 20:17).

 

Do we realize that the veil of the Temple has been rent in two, from top to bottom, and that we are called by the Trinity to live in the Holy of Holies as a Way of Life?

 

Sometimes we pay the tax so as not to offend. Indeed, perhaps we pay it many times so as not to offend – for who but sons and daughters understand the intimacy that we have with the Triune God? Who but His children know the cry, “Abba! Father!”? (Rom. 8:15 – 16; Gal. 4:6 – 7).

 

O how many times have we been in Sunday school classes and small groups and have heard the Bible read as if by strangers to it and to Him, have heard the Scriptures talked of as if they were a strange language from a stranger world? We often say nothing about this, lest we offend. Perhaps we can attempt to speak of Him as our Abba, our Daddy, our dear Father, but it can be hard, lest we offend. We meet professing Christians who speak to us of religion, of going to church, of religious programs, of the latest and greatest book or revelation or music or teacher – and they are so excited. But they do not speak of the Firstborn, the Lamb, His Word; they do not radiate 1 John 1:3 and its koinonia with the Father and Son. And so we say little, we nod our heads, we acknowledge what we hear; but we are careful, lest we offend.

 

We stand with congregations and pray “The Lord’s Prayer,” and yet at the very beginning, at the “Our Father,” it is as if we are collectively addressing a far-off figure in a far-off land who is even farther off Monday – Saturday. We can say little, if anything, lest we offend.

 

But are we, am I, are you, reading the Bible as a son or a daughter, are we hearing the sweet Voice of Abba speaking to us? If I read as a son I will hear my Father, I will hear because “he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” You, dear sister and you dear brother, our Father will speak to you, your Father will speak to you, through His holy Word, and the Holy Spirit will envelop you in eternal communion – and you will know the reality of 1 John 1:3 and Romans 8:15.

 

If we are in Christ Jesus, then we are not strangers and we are not employees or family servants, we are sons and daughters of our Father and the Bible is transposed upward into the transcendence of the Trinity so that we may hear the Voice of God speaking to us in intimacy, in love, in affection (yes, God has great affection for us!), in joy, and in peace which defies our comprehension.

 

Let us say, as we begin to read and mediate, “Holy Father, dear Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, speak to me through your Word. Let me please see You. Let me please hear You.”

 

And then, let us see how God will surprise us!