Week 1: October 2

Our Father by Brian Benoit

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DAY 1


Read: Matthew 6:9-13


Then you [Moses] shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son…’ (Exodus 4:22)


The Jews in Jesus’ day were living under an oppressive Roman rule. In fact, since they had returned from their exile in Babylon, they had lived under the oppressive rule of one empire after another. And the whole time, the Israelite people had chafed under this oppression. They longed for the prophesied Messiah to appear and rescue them from their oppression. At various times, there were even actual rebellions – the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah is the celebration of one, and Jesus’ disciple Simon was nicknamed “zealot,” meaning that at some point in his life, he was ideologically aligned with a Jewish rebellion against Rome. (Luke 6:15)


When Jesus instructed his disciples to start their prayers with “Our Father,” it’s likely that at least some of the people listening - the ones waiting for the Messiah to come rescue them from Rome - were reminded of the Egyptian Exodus story, because it’s the very first passage in the Old Testament that refers to the idea of God as father.


The Israelites had been slaves for 400 years when God called Moses to lead the people out of slavery. Crushed and oppressed, God used one man to lead them to freedom. He led them to a land where they could be free, and freely worship the God who had rescued them. At one time they were not a distinct people with a distinct land, but God rescued them, and gave them an identity and a place in the world. And this whole rescue, this “exodus” from slavery in Egypt, started with God sending Moses to Pharaoh and saying “Israel is my firstborn son.” (Exodus 4:22)


By starting the prayer with Our Father, Jesus was not only promising relationship, he was also promising rescue. Rescue not from the oppression of Rome as some people thought, but as it turns out, from the much more insidious oppression of our own sinful nature.


However, even if no one in the audience caught the promise of rescue in those words, the idea of God as father was certainly shocking to anyone listening. How could someone dare to claim something so intimate of one so holy?


“In ancient Israel, Yahweh (God) remained unapproachable. No one dared utter His personal name. Indeed, when reading scripture aloud, the Israelites, preferred – and still do – to substitute various alternatives rather than possibly offend Him with mispronunciation….The God of Israel, the Lord, the Holy One, remained transcendent….no one in Israel would have expected or dared speak of a ‘personal relationship with God.’ Such familiarity was unimaginable.”


-David Timms, Living the Lord’s Prayer


Yet, God wants that relationship with us! And it is how we start The Lord’s Prayer. Our Father. We’ll look at that more in depth in a couple of days.


For Reflection:

What has your relationship with “God as father” been? What struggles have you experienced accepting the idea of “God as father”?


What sorts of feelings come up for you when you think of God as father? Make a list.

DAY 2

Read: Matthew 6:9-13; 1 John 4:20-21


When you pray, how do you start your prayer?

  • Dear God…
  • Heavenly Father…
  • Jesus…

Or maybe you just plow right in and get to the point without any kind of address.


In Jesus’ model prayer that we will be studying for the next weeks, he starts with a word that I confess I don’t usually use when I pray.


Our.


It seems so unassuming, and if we’re not paying attention, we are apt to glide right by it, and move on to the “meat” of the prayer. But this word choice is both deliberate and important. Jesus’ use of the word our instead of my, points us to a deeper truth. We are not a Christ follower in isolation. There is an entire community of believers, a body of Christ, that walks beside us. By acknowledging at the very beginning that we cannot do this alone, we are setting the stage for the rest of the prayer. Because, as we read ahead, we see something else we might have missed:

  • “Give us this day,”
  • “forgive us,”
  • “lead us not into temptation.”

The idea of community is absolutely integral to the Lord’s Prayer.


But let’s face it. Community isn’t always pretty, or easy. It’s been said “The Church would be great, if it weren’t for all the Christians!” And, while that’s maybe overstating our point a bit, the acknowledgement is there – community is hard. Community is messy. It’s full of people with desires and wills and rough edges and baggage. I will admit that there have been times in my Christian life when I thought I’d be much better off as a Christian hermit, pursuing the holy life out in the woods somewhere. How much easier it would be if it was just me and God!


But that’s not how God designed the kingdom. We don’t live in our little Christian silos – me and you. We do this life together. Our father.


For Reflection:

In the book “Living the Lord’s Prayer,” the author makes a distinction between “society” (like a club or neighborhood), and “community” consisting of authentic and honest relationships between people committed to one another. “Society speaks to our ability to organize ourselves as a group of people. Community speaks to our connectedness to one another. Society refers to structures and systems. Community refers to relationships.” (p. 26)


How do you see the church? As a society, or a community?


What are some characteristics of a church that operates primarily as a society? As a community?


What is one small thing you can do this week to move towards community in your own life?

DAY 3

Read: Matthew 6:9-13; Romans 8:14-17


“Our Father.”


I don’t claim to be an expert on world religions, but as far as I can tell, there are no other religions in the world that would claim God as father. And not just “father” as a fact of human origin – God made us - but “Abba,” or “Dad,” as a statement of the nature of the relationship we can have with him. Sit for a moment, and reflect on what an audacious claim that is! We often take for granted the relationship that God offers us (or, at least, I do) without really thinking about what an awesome thing that is - “awesome” in the true, original meaning of the word.


The word father can carry quite a bit of baggage for many of us, many times negative, but there are at least two things that calling God “Dad” speaks to: intimacy and security.


Have you ever had one of your children call you by your first name? Or, maybe you don’t have children – have you ever called one of your parents by their first name? It feels weird. And it feels weird, not just because you’re in the habit of using a certain name for them, but it also doesn’t acknowledge the special relationship that you share with that person. Out of the 7 billion people in the world, there are only four that can call me “Dad.” That’s a really, really small number! And if someone who wasn’t my child were to call me Dad, they would, at the very least, receive a confused look from me. And why wouldn’t they? They would be using a term of familiarity – a term of relational intimacy – that did not apply to who they were to me. Now, think about it. God – the creator and sustainer of everything – wants us to come to him, and call him Dad. He wants that special relational intimacy with you.


The name Father also gives us security of our status in God’s kingdom. I will always be my children’s father, regardless of what they do (or don’t do), what they say, or where they go. Those things never even enter into the equation. My status as their father, and their status as my children, is secure and unshakeable. Nothing can change that.


Finally, let’s acknowledge that the word father can carry a lot of baggage. None of us had a perfect father growing up. For some of us, our fathers were absent, or abusive, or at times were simply not who we needed them to be. Unfortunately, when we speak of God as father, a lot of those things can color our view of God, even if we don’t mean them to. Sure, we say “God is the perfect father,” but are we still carrying an incomplete picture around? For example, was your father harsh and judgmental? Lax and permissive? Emotionally distant, or actually absent? In what ways do you feel your father fell short? These are important questions to ask, not to place blame or bring up past hurts, but to acknowledge ways in which that “earthly” relationship may be coloring our view of God as father. Awareness is key here, if we want to enter in to a deeper, more authentic relationship with God, our father.


For Reflection:

Which aspect of God as father – intimacy and security – do you connect with more? Why?


Spend some time reflecting on the ways your biological father fell short for you. Make a list. Does anything on that list influence the way you view God? (e.g., I never felt like I measured up to my father’s expectations, and I view God as always judging how well I’m doing.)

DAY 4

Today, we’re going to do some art! Get a blank sheet of paper, and some crayons, markers, or colored pencils. You get to be a kid again! (Don’t worry, you don’t have to share your masterpiece with anyone if you don’t want to.)


Choose option A if you’re a more visual person. Choose option B if you express yourself better with words.


Option A

Choose one of the following:


1. On your sheet of paper, make a representation of what your experience with church was growing up. It could have been your experience directly, or how you viewed the church from the outside. Your picture can be literal or symbolic. Then, flip your paper over. On the back, draw a representation of how church should ideally be.


2. On your sheet of paper, make a representation of what your relationship with your father was like growing up. Your picture can be literal or symbolic. Then, flip your paper over. On the back, draw a representation of how you wish your relationship with your father had been.


Option B

Choose one of the following:


1. On your sheet of paper, make a word cloud describing your experience with church growing up. It could have been your experience directly, or how you viewed the church from the outside. (Do not make a list – write the words all over the paper. Use different sizes, locations, and colors for your words to represent how important they are in your memory.) Then, flip your paper over. On the back, make a word cloud of how church should ideally be.


2. On your sheet of paper, make a word cloud describing your relationship with your father growing up. (Do not make a list – write the words all over the paper. Use different sizes, locations, and colors for your words to represent how important they are in your memory.) Then, flip your paper over. On the back, make a word cloud of how you wish your relationship with your father had been.


For Reflection:

Spend two minutes studying your drawing. Are there any significant details that you notice? What might those details be revealing to you?

What are some differences you notice between the two drawings? What are some similarities?


What are some details from your first drawing that you may be incorrectly applying to your view of God or the church community?

Day 5

Today, spend some time reading the Lord’s Prayer from the New Living Translation of the Bible. The text is below, for your convenience.


Before you read the whole prayer through, recite the first two words – Our Father – five times.


Say the words slowly, meditating on each one individually. What does this word mean? How does it set the stage for the rest of the prayer?

Then, read the whole prayer through – slowly, paying attention to each line, and making this prayer your prayer.


Our Father in heaven,


may your name be kept holy.


May your Kingdom come soon.


May your will be done on earth,


as it is in heaven.


Give us today the food we need,


and forgive us our sins,


as we have forgiven those who sin against us.


And don’t let us yield to temptation,


but rescue us from the evil one.


For Reflection:

Did God bring up anything new to you today as you read certain lines?


What is God telling you today through the prayer, or through your reaction to reading it? What are you going to do about that?