Dear Tom & Michelle & Tommy J.,
Matthew 6:9-13
9After this manner ought you to pray:
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11Give us this day our daily bread.
12And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Today we take notice of how Jesus informs His disciple to address God as “Our Father who art in Heaven.”
By teaching the disciples to address God as in heaven what is emphasized is,
1.) The idea that there is a vast difference between the Creator and the creature. God is the Creator and He is “Our Father,” but we must never forget that at the same time that God is completely other than His creatures — His people — who come before Him speaking with Him in prayer. If addressing God as “Father” is to remind us of God’s willingness to receive us, then recognizing that God is in Heaven reminds us that God is great beyond our ability to comprehend. If addressing God as “Our Father,” makes us bold in our approach, then recognizing that God is “In Heaven,” keeps us humble at the same time.
The Scripture reminds us this truth when it teaches that
“God sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers…”(Isaiah 40:22)
Tommy J., Jesus puts the idea of God as “Our Father,” together with the truth of God being in Heaven to teach us that God is both approachable and yet majestic. All to often we tend to forget one of those two truths. When we so remember how approachable He is to the neglect of remembering how majestic He is we tend to treat God with a unhealthy familiarity that communicates a lack of respect and awe. When we so remember God’s majesty to the neglect of how approachable He is we tend to forget how ready He is to receive us and how much joy God takes in us as His children.
2.) When we recognize that God is in Heaven it reminds us that heaven and earth are likewise distinct. Tommy J., you may be a little to young to understand this but there are people out there who tend to want to squish heaven and earth and God and man together so that heaven and earth and God and man are synonymous. The big word for this is “Pantheism.” When Jesus teaches us to address God as “In Heaven,” we are reminded that God and Heaven are independent from man and earth. All things are dependent upon God but God is distinct from all of creation.
That second point will become clearer and more important to you as you get older.
Let us close with a prayer that shows how we can pray incorporating this idea that God is in Heaven.
Father in Heaven we are thankful that the Scriptures teach us that you are completely other than us and that you do not depend on us in the slightest for you being who you are. We thank you that you are exalted above the heavens and that you are great above our ability to understand or speak. We ask of you Father that you would give us an understanding throughout our whole lives of how full of majesty and splendor you are. Holy Father, teach us to live all of our days keeping together in our minds and lives both your approachability and your high royalty. Thank you giving us Jesus to die for us so that we can call you Father.
In Jesus name we Pray … AMEN.
