Readings for 1 January 2012, First Sunday after Christmas: Isaiah 61:10–62:3, Psalm 148, Galatians 4: 4-7, Luke 2: 22-40
Why discuss God as “My Father” on the first week of Christmas? Because: (1) it is at this time that we remember that God sent his own Son to redeem us and offer us adoption as His sons and daughters; (2) it was God’s Son, Jesus, who introduced us to the idea of God as “Abba! Father!”; (3) our society, here in the United States (I cannot speak for other modern societies) is hurting from the absence of fathers.
The idea of fatherhood varies from culture to culture. Individuals within the same family may even have a different idea of what a makes up a good father.
Some may have had wonderful fathers. Others may not have been so blessed. These ideas and concepts we gain from our culture and our own experience can greatly impact how we understand God as Father.
In Paul’s letter to the members of “God’s family” (Gal 1:2 – NRSV) in Galatia, he spells out the path from slavery (spiritually speaking) to adoption. Not just freedom from slavery, but adoption into God’s family.
4. But when the fullness of the time came (when the time was right – NLT), God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, (NAS)
Last Sunday we celebrated God’s plan in the right time manifested to the world, that is, the birth of Jesus to Mary. The next verse reveals the purpose of His coming…
5. so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
[Note: the Greek language uses the plural masculine much like our Latin languages. The male plural can be all inclusive—including both males and females. So the verse can be interpreted as “adoption as sons and daughters”.]
God so loved the world that He sent His Son to redeem us; to deliver us from slavery to the elemental or basic principles, things, powers of this world (Gal 4: 3b). Yet God offers us more than freedom; more than emancipation. He offers us adoption!
This is a gift that God enables us to receive. He does not force it upon us. Rather, the work of Christ makes it possible for us to receive this great gift.
We are offered to become members of His family. Not a nephew or a cousin; not a foster child (in no way minimizing the value of foster parents); but, rather, He offers us to become His sons and daughters. Heirs of His name.
I would love to hear of some long lost relative or another who made me their heir. In our humanness we like to think of being an heir as coming in to wealth, financial independence, prosperity and an avenue to have what we have always wanted.
God is offering us something that goes far beyond our limited human understanding of being an heir. He is offering to be our Father. He is offering us His love, his protection, His promise that He will always provide what we need. Perhaps not all of what we want. As a good father, he will make sure we have what is best for us.
Our kids often think they know what they “need” or cannot live without. As parents we want to give them more than their basic needs; but we seek to do so in a way that is good for their development and not creating what we often call “spoiled” attitudes. God knows our desires and needs, and what is best for us better than any parent.
6. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
It is the Spirit of God’s Son in our hearts that cries out to God, “Abba! Father!”. Without this work of the Spirit we would not be able to know God in this capacity.
Ἀββά is an Aramaic word (אבא) represented in Greek letters meaning: father. It can be translated, the father or my father. Aramaic was a common language and widely used in first century Palestine and in Jewish influenced communities.
The word is transliterated rather than translated. Transliterating a word is to represent a word from another language with your own alphabet. Whereas translating a word is to represent the meaning. Two examples of words in the Bible that we transliterate rather than translate from Greek are angel and deacon. A simple translation of those words would be messenger for angel and servant for deacon.
The word Abba denotes more intimacy than the formal word for father in Greek or Hebrew. Yet it also carries with it great respect. It is not a word a slave could use when speaking of the father of the family to which the slave belonged. It would be spoken by people of all ages when speaking to their father.
In scripture God is never addressed solely as “Abba”. This word always occurs with the Greek word for father, πατήρ (patēr). Abba, Father is found in two other Bible passages, Mark 14: 36 “He said, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” (NRSV); and Romans 8: 15 “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” (NRSV)
Jesus is the first on record to refer to God as Abba, Father. He did it while praying in Gethsemane shortly before His arrest and crucifixion. In doing so He established that God as father is more than a remote or abstract concept. He is personal and accessible.
Some say that the word Abba meas, “daddy”. Others would say that addressing God in such a manner is blasphemy. Both of these views may be extreme—especially the blasphemy claim.
Our own experiences, needs, desires and cultural influences impact how we understand the idea of father; and these things shape our understanding of the word Abba. Our idea of “daddy” may vastly differ.
Some see daddy as the one they can cajole or manipulate into giving them what they want. This attitude may not present itself in the extreme; but at any level it is lacking the respect represented in the words Abba, father. Others, even within our own borders, may have never experienced the positive affection we attribute to the word daddy–the healthy idea of the one who will show appropriate attention, affection and support no matter what the circumstance.
An example of a different understanding of affection and fatherhood is a Native American friend of mine who cannot recall ever receiving a hug from his father. He grew up in a Christian family and he knew that his father loved him. But most in his culture did not show love in a way that is familiar to many of us.
We must take care not to define words from two thousand years ago primarily from our culture and experience. From what we can understand from the first century languages, culture and use of the words in the Biblical text, the idea of “Abba! Father!” carries with it familiar and more intimate idea the father (pater) alone. It also carries a deep respect from the child to the one they are calling Abba. Perhaps a good translation would be “My Father!”
He provides what we, His children, need. We have different needs; or perhaps more accurately, different degrees of the same needs–. affection, attention, acceptance, assurance, discipline, direction and the list goes on. Whatever we need, our “Abba! Father!” will provide.
We, by the Spirit of His Son in us, can cry out to God, My Father. We are more than guest, more than extended family that may wear out their welcome; we are sons and daughters.
The Cornyn family of Fife, WA is an example of family that offers all of itself to others. They do more than open their doors to those in need. They have adopted over 70 kids from 14 countries over the last thirty years or so. Many of these kids have special needs. In an interview on Evening Magazine (a news program of channel 5 in Seattle – king5.com), Rocky Cornyn, one of their children, now an adult, who suffers from post polio syndrome report, “I probably would not be alive today if it were not for this family.”
Imagine a time and realm of “nobility”, where family names and lands meant access to resources and people. A time when being the son or daughter in the right family (that is with the right name) meant doors would open and things could be accomplished because you had the right name. Now imagine you are an orphan in that same context with none to care for you, no resources, no name to call upon. You are snatched off of the streets and forced into slavery. A nameless character that society does not care about and only wants for what it can get from you.
Now imagine that one with the most powerful name in this realm sends out messengers with the proclamation that the price of their freedom has been paid. Not only has it been paid, but that adoption is available to all who will receive his name. The slave masters kill the messengers and try to twist and distort the message. They use all sorts of trickery and deception to try and keep their controlled population in place. They even offer some liberties and in some cases what appears to be “freedom”. Anything to keep you from true freedom and sonship.
This, in a small way, illustrates what God is offering us. Freedom and adoption. He offers us all that we need, all that is good for us. He offers us His resources and His name. The creator of the universe, this all powerful and perfect being offers us relationship by way of His Son.
How does our own experience with our biological fathers affect how we relate to God as Abba, Father? What in our lives can get in the way of us accepting all that it is to be adopted by God?
The answers to these questions will vary. But no matter what we have experienced with our earthly fathers from good, to not so good to bad, God as Father is perfect in His love and intentions toward us.
In our society that is so longingly for a healthy “father” relationship, what can we do to make visible the love and strength of our heavenly Father to this generation? How can we communicate this healthy idea of Abba, Father to so many who have been hurt, abandoned, abused or neglected by their earthly fathers?
This year as we grow in our understanding of our heavenly Father, let us seek ways to communicate God’s offer of freedom and adoption to all who do not yet know Him as Abba, Father. Each of us has a unique ability to communicate this truth in a way that can reach different people. God will use our experiences (good or bad) and our culture to help us connect people to this truth. Each of us is vital, as each of us can reach out, connect with and understand people in different ways.
May the blessing of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit be with you and remain with you throughout 2012. Amen.