Only two words form the opening address
of the prayer Jesus taught his disciples to
pray: 'Our Father.' These words are essential
to understanding the Lord’s Prayer and
the relationship Jesus envisioned his followers
having with the Father.
The word 'our' determines the nature of the
whole prayer. Individuals in private can pray
it, but it is at heart a communal prayer.
All of the pronouns in the prayer, starting
with the first word, are plural. It is a prayer
that is designed to be experienced by the
whole Christian community, and really by the
whole of creation, not just by one isolated
member of it. None of us can claim God’s
Fatherhood for ourselves exclusively.
The word 'father' obviously tells us to whom
the prayer is addressed. Many people do not
have a positive image of their fathers, and
so this term may cause some difficulty. After
all, if the word 'father' brings up memories
of abuse, shame, or absence, it would be hard
to carry on with this prayer. So what kind
of father is God? Who are we praying to?
There are many instances in the Old and New
Testament when God is revealed as a father
to his people, but the most striking example
may be in the story of the prodigal son (Luke
15:11-32). The son rejects his father, demands
his inheritance (saying in effect that he
wished his father were dead), and squanders
his wealth. When the son finally returns home,
his father - in total contradiction to what
would have been expected, or even respectable
- runs out to meet him and pours out his love
for him. Some have suggested that this story
should really be called the prodigal father,
because the father is so free and 'wasteful'
with his love, expecting nothing in return.
This is the father that we address when we
begin the Lord’s Prayer.
Mother Theresa once said, 'I think that every
time we say the Our Father, God looks at his
hands, where we are etched. ‘See, I
have inscribed you on the palms of my hands...’
(Isaiah 49:16). What a beautiful description
and also expressive of the personal love God
feels for each one of us!'
But while it costs us nothing to be the recipients
of the Father’s great love, the opening
words of the Lord’s Prayer should not
be uttered lightly. For these words represent
our desire to be imitators of Jesus in the
relationship he had with his Father. In Israel
at the time of Jesus, children would watch
their fathers carry out their work, and would
learn their trade alongside them. Jesus became
a carpenter by watching Joseph and helping
him in his work. So when Jesus addresses God
as 'Father', he is not just using a term of
intimacy; he is claiming to be working alongside
the Father in his great work of building the
Kingdom. Jesus’ great task in this work
was his suffering and death on the cross.
Therefore, when we imitate Jesus in calling
God 'our Father', we are stating very boldly
where we want to be in relation to God. We
are saying that we want not only to share
the intimacy that Jesus had with the Father,
but also that we want to be considered apprentices
in his Kingdom work. To be apprentices in
this work, we need to take the road that Jesus
took; that of ultimate humility and servant
hood. And while we have already been made
children of the Father, we are not yet the
people God wants us to be. So, in calling
God our Father, we are also asking that he
would prepare us to be more and more like
our older brother, Jesus.
