"Our Father, Who
is in the Heavens,
Hallowed be Your
Name."
We sink, deeply, into the ever new reality - we are His. He
has made us His own - declared us His children. A privileged identity - shared
with whosoever will. The privilege comes, not from having been chosen, but
rather from whom the choice comes. Children have no choice, born, as they are,
without a part. Fathers choose. We only may call Him Father, by His choice. We
are not only taught, we are encouraged, to call Him Father. We sink, deeply,
into the ongoing newness of that redefining reality. We are His. And He, is
ours.
Matthew's recording gives us a sense of the scope of His
being. He is in the heavens - everywhere present - in the space around our
ears, as well as high and lifted up. His is not an oppressive presence anymore
than is the air we breathe oppressive. His is a life-giving presence. It is in
Him that we live. It is in Him that we move. It is in Him that we even exist at
all. It is not that God is in everything as much as it is that everything is in
Him. Everything is dependent for it's being on Him. He is real. Everything else
is only real by association with Him.
This is the great God who has told us to call Him
"Father." Not simply as a term of address - but as a term of
identification. He in Whom all things are held together, has chosen to be known
as our father.
And still, the wonder of real community bubbles joyfully to
the surface and effervesces in friendships and family in Him.
No wonder we ask that His name be held in the highest of
regard. No wonder that we don't use it lightly or meaninglessly. No wonder that
we pause for an awe-full moment whenever we whisper, "Our Father."
And no wonder that we declare the truth of the Name above
all others - the Name proclaimed throughout the universe by every star. The
Name that is holy, holy, holy.
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