One of the things I love most about hearing from my dad is news about how things are going for him. Although I can’t be there with him, hearing about life’s simple moments makes me smile and wish I could be there. As a father of adult children living in another country, nothing makes me happier than seeing one of their names light up my phone. Sometimes, it’s just nice to hear their voices. Those brief moments of connection are sweet, and I always wish for more.
The Father’s Heart: Love, Covenant, and Connection
That’s why I appreciate David’s relationship with the Lord in the Psalms. Some passages read like family conversations or poetic letters from a son to his father. I love his honesty, passion, and poetry as he cries out to God. Although the psalmists don’t address God as Father, their relationship expresses intimate dependence built on a covenant of love and hope.
This reminds me of an earlier time in Israel’s history. In the dark days of slavery, Moses was called to go to the pharaoh and seek their liberation. There are so many reasons the Egyptian king should free the Israelites, mainly because the One True Living God has required it of him, but another is more tender. Exodus 4:22: “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD: Israel is My son, My firstborn.’” Moses is told to remind Pharaoh that Israel is Yahweh’s son, and He’s ready to shake heaven and earth to free him.
Even after later times, Isaiah’s prophetic vision announces Israel’s eventual captivity and liberation. Speaking through the prophet, the Lord doesn’t call the estranged men and women prodigals or refugees; He has a name for them that testifies to His loyal love. Isaiah 43:6: “I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’ Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth.” He calls them His sons and daughters! The Lord loves his own, walks with them through their darkest moment, and even foretells their future deliverance while they live in rebellion. The Father knows His children and cares for them eternally.
In the New Testament, when the risen Jesus tells Mary in John 20:17 to go and tell the others that He’s going to His Father and theirs, we see the beginnings of the New Covenant in action. The cup of Redemption has been taken; the veil was torn, and Jesus opened the way. Mary isn’t just a servant; she belongs to the family. My heart is full, knowing that through Jesus, I’ve also been adopted into the heavenly family. I have a Father in heaven who knows and loves me. It’s hard to put words to such a profound relationship.
Hearing the Father’s Voice: Scripture as a Living Conversation
This is why I like to remind myself that when teaching through the Bible, it isn’t just written for us but to us. I want everyone in the church to know the closeness and beauty of being part of the family. In his book, Mere Christian Hermeneutics, Kevin Vanhoozer wrote: “To read the Bible as if it were addressed to someone else, therefore, is to succumb to third-person Christianity, in which the words and actions of God concern them, not us.”[1] He’s not advocating an overly spiritualized Bible reading that ignores the authors and their original intentions, but he’s speaking of Scripture as living and God-breathed. This is an excellent reminder because sometimes, in my preaching, I can be so careful in my exegesis that I can perfectly nail what the passage meant to those who first read it without moving into the heart of what God would say today. When I do that, I miss out on that spark when people are drawn into a transformational moment with God.
The problem is one of distance. The Father is the living God; we can get no more personal than Him. This is why the name “I Am” befits Him. Though He is entirely other, our relationship with Him is close, for He is near, His Spirit even living in us. In its deepest, richest sense, this is paternal, for He watches over and cares for us. We speak to Him in familiar ways, praying “our Father,” we speak heart to heart with Him. To put it another way, I like Martin Buber’s terminology, which states that our relationship with the Father is an I-You relationship and not an I-It. We speak to a Person, not a thing or idea. “The basic word I-You can only be spoken with one’s whole being. The basic word I-It can never be spoken with one’s whole being.”[2] Like the Psalmist, we speak to the Father with our whole being, and He hears because He’s near.
To return to the idea of losing spark or enchantment, I’ve noticed that using an abstract name like Yahweh in preaching can distract my post-Christian congregation. There’re appropriate times when, in explaining a passage, especially in speaking about the covenant relationship between Him and Israel, the Name brings out the rich relational meaning. Yet, there’s usually the nuance of talking to my people about a relationship where they’re only spectators. Yahweh can quickly become academic for Gentiles and nails on the theological chalkboard for my Jewish listeners. We’re back to this feeling of distance, especially for a culture that comfortably believes biblical values were a natural part of human development in ancient times but whose ethics and priorities are of an outdated Old Testament god of anger and judgment. Yet the Father would draw them in through the Spirit, convicting them of sin, drawing them to Jesus, who then glorifies the Father. Vanhoozer spoke true: “The Bible is the medium of divine address. To read the Bible as God’s word is therefore to encounter something living and active (Heb 4:12): the voice of God, God personally speaking, the triune God in communicative action, doing things with, in, and through human words.”[3]
From Distance to Intimacy: Rediscovering the Father’s Presence
In writing this, I’m equating the loss of enchantment with perhaps loss of relationship and closeness. Sometimes, God the Father feels distant, the name itself theological and stale. There aren’t many depictions of Him like in The Chosen that endear Him to us in an accessible way. I believe Jesus showed us, in His relationship with the Father, how close our relationship can be with Him. The Father becomes ours when we’re adopted through the Son. The Spirit testifies that we’re His children, even as we cry out, Abba Father. It brings beauty and dignity to our renewed humanity when we call on Him as our Father.
Although most of us know the lacunes in our parenthood, thankfully, the Father gives us a better example. There are so many moments I wish I could do over in my children’s lives! Moreover, our society generally doesn’t give the best examples of fatherhood, compared to the Father as He is revealed in the Bible. What’s more, there are many attacks on the Father today; some are genuine questions from people trying to reconcile the wars in the Old Testament with the more peaceful version of Jesus they see in the New. We may receive pushback from those watching Alex O’Connor or other notable atheists, but they can give us a chance to present the Father they don’t know yet, who reconciled us to Him through Jesus.
The Father is a title and a name we don’t need Hebrew to understand. Every Sunday, we most likely see examples of men seeking to be more like our Heavenly Father in their homes. There are possibly more who have strained relationships with their parents who see the patriarchy as a source of much injustice. We have a chance to show them the beauty of the Father in a way that heals their souls. When we tell of how Jesus expresses the Father, shows us His heart, His welcome, His loving gaze, and His redeeming love, we’re melted in our resistance as the Spirit moves viscerally. No wonder Jesus uses the term so many times in the Gospel of John, to the confusion of His harshest critics. When we preach the Son, we will also preach our covenant Father. “For God so loved…” Then, through the Gospel, they can find renewal for their soul and a fresh vision of the Father.
References
[1] Vanhoozer, Kevin J.. Mere Christian Hermeneutics: Transfiguring What It Means to Read the Bible Theologically. Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition. p. 8
[2] Buber, Martin. I and Thou, Trans. Kaufmann. Kindle Edition. p. 54
[3] Vanhoozer, Kevin J.. Mere Christian Hermeneutics: Transfiguring What It Means to Read the Bible Theologically. Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition. p 9
