Matthew 6:9-13 Our Father in Heaven: God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth
Quick Review
Last week we began a new sermon series on the Apostles’ Creed. From now until the end of May we are going to be going through the things the Creed teaches to re-affirm what we believe.
As we get started, let’s take a moment to recite the creed together. One of my goals for this series is that by the end, we will be able to say the Creed as easily as we say the Pledge of Allegiance. Would you stand? Christians, what do you believe?
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
A quick review: even though it is called “the Apostles’ Creed”, it was not written by the Apostles. It carries that name because it is believed to be an accurate reflection of Apostolic teaching. I used the analogy of the sun and the moon. The Creed is like the moon, it generates no light on its own, but it is useful to us as it reflects back the light of the Bible.
And so, in a sense, it’s not very helpful to say that this is a series on the Apostles’ Creed, because I will not be preaching from the Creed. I’ll still be preaching from the Bible. Every week there will be a Bible text or texts that serve as our primary source of teaching; it’s just that I’ll be choosing those texts to show how the Bible teaches what the Creed teaches.
I also gave some images last week to help us think about the function of the Creed. Our text was 2 Timothy 1:13-14, where Paul urges Timothy to keep the pattern of sound teaching and to guard the good deposit that was entrusted to him. Based on those verses, I said the Creed can be thought of as a ruler, a treasure box, and a padlock. A ruler because the Creed is the pattern for sound teaching. A treasure box because the Creed contains the good news of Christianity. And a padlock because the Creed helps us guard the truth from error.
And then, to wrap up last week, I said that whenever we recite the Creed we are saying three things. We are saying: “I agree”, I believe that these things are true. We are saying: “I pledge,” I commit myself to this God. And we are saying: “I trust.” I am putting my life in His hands.
It’s that last idea—that idea of trusting—that I thought about as I was working on this week’s sermon, which is going to be guided by the Creed’s first two lines: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.” It may not seem like it, but that statement is all about putting our trust in God.
Light from the Catechism
Let me explain. Last week I also briefly mentioned the Heidelberg Catechism.
A Catechism is an old way of teaching the Christian faith. If you grew up Lutheran, you might have spent some time learning Luther’s Catechism. If you grew up Catholic, you might have taken some classes on the Catholic Catechism. If you were in a Presbyterian Church, it would have been the Westminster Catechism. And for us, in the Reformed Church, we have the Heidelberg Catechism.
Catechisms arrange their teaching in a question and answer style. The idea is that you would memorize the answers so when your instructor asked you a question you would have a ready answer. And I mentioned last week that a good chunk of the Heidelberg Catechism, questions 22 through 58, are about the Apostles’ Creed.
So here is question number 26:
- 26 What do you believe when you say: “I Believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth”?
And here is the beginning of the answer:
- That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who out of nothing created heaven and earth
and everything in them,
who still upholds and rules them
by his eternal counsel and providence,
is my God and Father
because of Christ his Son.
Stop there, for a moment. That answer makes sense. It is about what you would expect from that first line in the Creed. God is the creator of everything. He cares for and maintains His creation. And He is our God and Father. The parts about Jesus Christ are kind of skipping ahead a little bit—we’ll talk about Jesus in a couple of weeks—but the Catechism (and the Creed, for that matter) is very Christ-centered.
But the answer continues. It’s the next part that talks about trust:
I trust him so much that I do not doubt
he will provide
whatever I need
for body and soul,
and he will turn to my good
whatever adversity he sends me
in this sad world.
Now, when you think about it, that’s quite a leap from “I believe in God the Father, Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.” How do you go from that line to the conclusion that He will provide whatever I need and also turn to my good whatever bad things happen to me?
Well, here’s how, the final part of the answer:
He is able to do this because he is almighty God;
he desires to do this because he is a faithful Father.
Heidelberg Catechism Q & A #26
I think this is stunningly beautiful. It’s all based on two words: “Father”, and “Almighty.” God is able to provide me with whatever I need and turn adversity into my good because He is the Almighty. He wants to do those things for me because He is my Father.
The Lord’s Prayer
Now, is that an accurate reflection of scripture? I believe it is.
There are a number of places in the Bible where we could turn and learn these things, but following Matt Chandler, I’d like us to turn to the Lord’s Prayer. Matthew 6:9-13, where Jesus teaches His disciples how to pray. In these familiar words we can see that: Our God is infinitely powerful and yet intensely personal. Our God is the Almighty ruler of creation, and yet He is a loving Father who cares deeply about each and every one of us. Infinitely powerful. Intensely personal.
Let’s read the text. Matthew 6:9-13:
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
These are familiar words, and a great pattern for prayer, which we looked at a couple of times during our prayer series. But today I want to look at them for what they say about God. And, as I said, we are going to look at two things. God is infinitely powerful. God is intensely personal.
Almighty
Let’s start with infinitely powerful. God the Almighty. What in this prayer tells us that God is powerful?
Let’s start with the first line:
Our Father in heaven,
The word “Father” hints that God is close to us. I’ll come back to that in a bit. But first of all, we need to recognize that in that culture a Father had quite a bit of authority. You may have heard that fathers literally held the power of life or death over their children. In theory, a disobedient child could be turned out of the home or even executed at a father’s command.
And Jesus is by no means the first religious figure to picture the deity as a father. It was not uncommon for the Greeks or Romans to speak of their gods as Father. The Roman Emperor would be spoken of as a Father. In every case, the emphasis was on the authority and power these deities bore. Think of what you remember from Greek mythology about Zeus: not exactly the kind of papa who would get down on his knees and play with the kids, right?
Now, as I said, the way Jesus talks about God as Father is going to turn some of that on its ear, but for now I want you to notice the power God has.
Or, again, notice where God is: “in heaven.” This is about God’s transcendence. He is a God who is above it all. If this prayer were “Our Father who art in the living room” or “Our Father who lives down the street” it would lose a lot of its power. God is the God of heaven. He’s the God of creation. He’s the God who is on the throne.
Some of you remember the space race of the 1960s. We were racing the Russians to see who would get to space first. And actually, the Russians beat us. They were the first to put a man in orbit. And, because they were communists and were committed to atheism, they reported that when their cosmonaut got to space, he didn’t see God. To which Jesus would say, “Of course he didn’t.” Orbit is not heaven. Outer space is not heaven. You’re not going to get there in a rocket.
God is everywhere at once, He is outside the boundaries of time, and yet there is a heavenly throne room from which He reigns over all of creation.
Let’s move to the next line:
hallowed be your name
Hallowed is a word that means to hold something as holy, or in awe. It has to do with respect and reverence. There’s even a note of fear here. God is so great, so powerful, so immense; that he should be treated with reverence and honor and even fear.
Let’s think of it this way: the bigger the animal, the more you respect it. Suppose I come to your house to visit and you have a dog. Let’s say it’s a little 1 and ½ pound Chihuahua that you named Killer. Funny name. I see what you did there. That’s ironic. But let’s say Killer is bouncing around my feet and barking at me and just generally losing his mind. It’s not going to bother me much. I’m just going to nudge Killer away with my feet.
But let’s say you have another dog. I great big Rottweiler you named Fluffy. Again, very clever with the naming. And let’s say Fluffy is about 160 pounds of muscle and teeth, with that slobber coming out of his mouth that looks like it could burn through wood. And Fluffy isn’t barking. He’s just kind of standing there with his hackles raised up and a dead eye stare and a low, rumbling growl coming deep out of his throat. I’m going to keep my distance from Fluffy. There’s a little bit more fear in me, a little bit more awe around Fluffy than there is around Killer.
And if that’s true at the animal level, how much more true should that be with the infinite God?
This is why the commandment says “Don’t take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” That has to do with a lot more than swearing. Don’t be flippant about the things of God. Don’t take God lightly. God is serious. Hallowed be His name.
Or the next line:
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Now, I’ve always thought of this line as a sort of promise to God. We’re agreeing to help make things on earth look like they do in heaven. We’re saying we want to do His will, as His people.
But a pastor named Matt Chandler points out something I hadn’t really thought about before with this line: we are literally praying for God to bring His kingdom down. We’re praying for the second coming of Jesus. We’re praying for heaven to come to earth.
Now, think about some of the things the Bible promises for when that happens. The Bible says the desert will burst into bloom (Isaiah 35:2). It says that the wolf and the lamb will lie down together (Isaiah 11:6). The Bible says that when the kingdom comes, that will be the death of death. (Rev. 21:4)
What does it say about a God who can make those sorts of things happen? What kind of infinitely powerful God can restore peace in the animal kingdom—make it so that wolves and lambs play checkers together? What kind of God can make the desert bloom with roses? Who can kill death? What sort of power must you have to say to death: “Yeah, you can’t do that anymore?” (http://www.tvcresources.net/resource-library/sermons/god-the-father-almighty-creator-of-heaven-and-earth)
That’s the power of God. That’s what we mean when we call Him “Almighty.” Nothing is impossible with this God.
Father
But there’s another side to this God. Not only is He infinitely powerful, He’s also intensely personal. This prayer doesn’t just show us that God is big and transcendent and awe inspiring; He is also very close to us and concerned about us and involved in our lives.
Go back to the first line of the prayer:
Our Father in heaven,
I’ve already talked about how the word “Father” implies unquestioned authority. That’s how most people would have thought about the fatherhood of God. But the thing that Jesus does, where He breaks new ground, is He uses the word “Abba.” “Abba” was the equivalent of “Daddy.” It was a term of affection. The kind of word a toddler would use while his papa was throwing him in the air and catching him.
So instead of a stern disciplinarian, Jesus pictures God as a Father who is deeply connected to His children.
In fact, Jesus teaches us to pray “our” Father. Our. The personal possessive pronoun. This is personal. God has a connection to us. God cares about us.
And you see that in the second half of the prayer. Jesus tells us to pray:
Give us today our daily bread.
This is intensely personal. Basically, this is a request that God will give us what we need. Give me today the bread I need for today. It’s a faith filled trust that our heavenly Father knows what we need and will see that it is provided.
Now, a word of caution. Remember some of the things we talked about in the prayer series. This is not saying that God will give us whatever we want. This is not a blanket promise that God will answer our every request in the affirmative. Quite the opposite, really. This is about God giving us what He knows we need.
Look, if you are a parent, then you know this. A loving parent will not say “yes” to every request our children make. That’s not loving. That’s not good. If we said yes to every request we’d have ponies living in our garage and our kids’ teeth would be rotting out of their heads from all the sugar they ate. Sometimes the most loving thing a Dad can do is say “no”, even when the child doesn’t understand.
So when we call God “Our Father” we are saying that we believe He knows us well enough to give us what we need. To provide us bread when we need bread. To put the blessings and trials in our lives that we need to shape us to be the kind of people He wants us to be. Calling God “Our Father” is a way of saying “Father knows best.”
Or, move to the next line:
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
This is also infinitely powerful. God knows our debts. He knows our sins. Every sin we commit is ultimately a sin against Him, and nothing escapes Him. He knows about the little lies you tell your parents to get out of chores; He knows about the bad words you mumbled under your breath when that driver wouldn’t get out of your lane; He knows about your secret dreams of being in charge of everybody. He knows about them, and He is willing to forgive them.
That’s why Jesus came. That’s why Jesus died on the cross. We owe Him a debt, and He is willing to cancel it.
But my point is that this infinitely powerful God is also intensely personal. He knows about the ins and outs of our lives. No detail is too small to escape Him.
And when He forgives us, He also makes it possible for us to forgive one another. He reconciles us to Himself, and then begins to reconcile us to each other. This is intensely personal, where God forgives my sin, heals me, reconciles me to Himself; and then begins to reconcile me to others I have sinned against, and who have sinned against me. The vertical is healed, and then the horizontal begins to get healed. Intensely personal.
And then, one more line:
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
Now, the reason I would categorize this as intensely personal is because temptation is different for each of us. Right? What tempts me might not be any sort of temptation for you. And vice versa. So, for example, if I get a phone call and somebody on the other end has a great opportunity for me to buy into this time share out in Hawaii if I just give up my credit card number, that’s really not much of a temptation for me. I’ve got no problem hanging up the phone before he even gets to his second sentence. I’m Dutch. I’m not that easily parted from my money.
But for somebody else? Somebody who feels that urge to spend? Somebody who likes to ride the thrill of punching that credit card number into the internet machine? That might be a much bigger temptation.
So when we ask God to lead us not into temptation, we’re saying that He knows us. He knows our particular bent. He knows our struggles. He knows our weaknesses. But the Bible also promises that we will never be tempted beyond what we can bear. There will always be a way out. He can deliver us.
In His Hands
So our God is infinitely powerful. He is the Almighty. He’s in heaven, He’s hallowed, He’s bringing His kingdom to earth.
And He is intensely personal. He is our Father. He knows what we need. He knows our mistakes. He knows our weaknesses.
He’s BIG. But He’s close. This is the God we are talking about when we say: “I believe in God the Father, Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.”
So what’s the take away? What’s the application? I have two things:
First, He has the whole world in His hands. This is the powerful part.
This Almighty Father is the creator of heaven and earth. Everything that exists comes from Him. And He still upholds and sustains it all. In fact, if He let go it would all fly apart.
And so, we can take comfort in the fact that He has the whole world in His hands. One of my favorite old hymns is “This is My Father’s World.” The third verse says:
This is my Father's world.
O let me ne'er forget
that though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet.
Sometimes it seems like the world is falling apart at the seams. On the one hand, secular people are denying God and mocking the church. On the other hand, unscrupulous people use the name of Jesus to justify cruelty and immorality. In everything there is conflict and tension and doom and gloom. We have just entered into a new war. We don’t know how long it will last, or how involved it will get. There is so much uncertainty, the “wrong seems oft so strong.”
But we can take comfort in the fact that God is the ruler yet. He is still on the throne of heaven. He’s not going anywhere. What seems impossible for us is an easy win for Him.
And then, second, He has your world in His Hands. This is the personal part.
Not only does God care about the big things, the cosmic things. He is also intimately involved in the details of your life.
He’s a loving Father. Your papa. Your dad.
And so, we can trust Him. We can trust Him even when He says “No” to our most often repeated prayers. We can trust Him when adversity comes our way. We can trust Him when we don’t know what comes next, or what the future holds.
Let’s give the final word today to the Catechism. I don’t think I can say it any better than this:
I trust him so much that I do not doubt
he will provide
whatever I need
for body and soul,
and he will turn to my good
whatever adversity he sends me
in this sad world.
He is able to do this because he is almighty God;
he desires to do this because he is a faithful Father.
Heidelberg Catechism Q & A #26
