He’s Our Father and We Love Him

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Matthew 6:

Once again Jesus teaches us to think of and address God as “Our Father.” The significance of this cannot be overstated. The power at the center of the universe, the brilliant mind behind all that is, the One whose glory exceeds all measure and who can hold in the palm of his hand the one hundred billion galaxies we know—that One is at his essence warm, friendly, and approachable like a father.

But our Father is also in heaven. Heaven is above and beyond us. In heaven, God has a view and a perspective that we don’t have. So this warm, friendly, and approachable Father also knows things we don’t know and sees things we can’t see.

We pray to “hallow God’s name.” God’s name is the abbreviation of God’s nature and character in the same way that your name is the abbreviation of all that is you. To hallow God’s name is to give God all the attention and weight that he deserves. It is to know God as he really is and to live life the way he, as life’s Creator, intends for it to be lived.

To “hallow” God’s name is to give him glory. Glory and gravity come from the same source. Gravity is what weighs us down, not in a burdensome way, but in a liberating way. When we glorify God, he gives our lives weight. Life’s greatest security comes in orbiting around the gravity well of God’s love and power. Then, when the winds of change blow, when your prospects look grim, when trouble grabs the things you love and scatters them afar, when doubts stir up a congregation of fears, though you may be rocked, you will not be moved.

Anne Lamott writes about taking her son to a beach on the Pacific Ocean. They spread out their towels on the sand and settled in to enjoy the day. About that same time, another group spread their towels right next to them. They were a noisy bunch with a bad habit of using Jesus’ name in all sorts of crude and disrespectful ways. At one point Anne’s young son, Sam, walked over and quietly requested of them, “Please don’t talk about Jesus that way. He is our friend, and we love him.”

In teaching us to hallow God’s name, Jesus teaches us to give God the respect he is due. His glory is above the skies, but he is also down to earth. He is our Father, and we love him.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: What impact does your knowledge of the size and complexity of the universe have on your relationship with God? In what ways does God give weight to your life? In what ways do you see society giving less and less weight to God? How do you respond?

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, when I consider the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have made, I wonder, who am I that you should care for me? But you have made me a little less than yourself and crowned me with honor and majesty (Ps. 8). I pledge to give you the full weight you deserve in my life because you are my friend and I love you. Amen.

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Dave Peterson is an ordained pastor who is the Director of Community Outreach for The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation and Scholarly Advisor for the H. E. Butt Family Foundation. He is the author of Receiving and Giving, Unleashing the Bless Challenge in Your Life. Dave and his wife, Terri, have four adult children and four grandchildren. Send a note to Dave.

Technology at Work

Will there be technology in heaven, or is technology simply for our use while we’re here on earth? What technology will we take to heaven? And what is technology, anyway? God placed humanity on the earth and gave us instructions to take care of it. Does that mean God had technology in mind right from the beginning? We are quick to judge technology and find it wanting, but what if technology can help us as we partner with God as co-creators and restorers on the earth? How would we steward technology differently if we thought it might actually have an impact on the kingdom of God? Our theme Technology at Work explores some of these questions and more.

Featured image by Don Christner. Used with Permission. Source via Flickr.