マタイによる福音書6:9-13 Matthew 6:9-13

This August I would like to preach about the Lord’s Prayer which we pray in worship service. The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer taught by the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s Prayer that we pray in Japanese is a bit confusing because it uses old Japanese words. In today’s Bible passage, the Lord’s Prayer is written in easy-to-understand language, so let’s read it again. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Today we come to the first part, “Our Father in heaven.”

“Our Father in heaven” means the God in heaven. Why do we say “Father’” for the God in heaven? It is because the God in heaven is Jesus’ father. Jesus prayed by calling God “Father.” For example, when he was about to be arrested and crucified, he prayed, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:36). “Abba” means “father” in the language of Jesus’ time. “Remove this cup from me” means “Do not let me be crucified.” It is amazing to think that Jesus prayed for such a thing. But that was Jesus’ honest feeling at the time. And Jesus then prayed afterwards, “Yet not what I will, but what you will.” It was a prayer where he honestly told his feelings and left the rest to God the Father. In this way, Jesus trusted God the Father from the bottom of his heart. That is why Jesus taught us to trust in the God in heaven and to pray by calling him “Father.”

There are many different human fathers. Some are kind and some are scary. What kind of father is God the Heavenly Father? There are many places in the Bible where you can find it out. One example is the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-24. A son returned home after spending his father’s wealth in reckless living in a foreign country and having no food to eat. What did the father do to the son? Would he have turned him away, saying, “A stupid son like you is not allowed in the house!” and turned him away? No, he did not. The father went out of the house, ran and embraced him and kissed him. Then he said to the servants of the house, “Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:22-24). What a compassionate father!

Those who believe in Jesus can call the God of heaven “God the Father” or “Heavenly Father.” And we can honestly confide our feelings and pray. We may feel very bitter in our daily lives. We may feel very lonely and alone, too. When those happens, instead of talking to yourself, turn your heart to heaven and talk to God, your Heavenly Father. When you talk to your Heavenly Father, you will be mysteriously inspired to live.