WHAT combination of words has been repeated so often as the introductory phrase of the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father which art in heaven," and yet how many of the millions who have repeated it have had any deep appreciation of the wealth of meaning therein contained? Coming as it did from the lips of one whose spiritual exaltation fitted him to speak with authority to the raging storm or the sealed tomb, we cannot attach to it too much importance or regard it with too much reverence, especially when we consider the circumstances under which it was first uttered.
The disciples had asked their Lord to teach them to pray, and in response the great Teacher gave them this model to follow, a model that would be passed on down the centuries to be taught and retaught, rehearsed and reechoed in every part of the world; a prayer fitted for the lisping lips of the babe, the sonorous voice of rugged manhood, or the subdued tones of maturer age; a form of expression adaptable to the joyous heart of successful and buoyant youth, the grief-stricken and sorrowful mourner, the penitent sinner or the patient saint. How does this great leader and guide of mankind teach his followers to approach the almighty being called God? Let us listen to his appeal: "Our Father which art in heaven." To the ear of his listeners this familiar manner of approach might seem to border on blasphemy, so foreign was it to the general concept of God. Many of them had been taught to regard God as a mighty potentate who thundered the law of Sinai amid smoke "and vapor, whose vengeance rode forth on the lowering clouds of the tempest or dealt out death through the insidious attack of the plague; a being so exalted, so mighty that they must needs pause before even taking His name upon their lips. If they would approach His sacred presence, they must do so through priests and ceremonial rites, with sacrifices and burnt offerings, the priests themselves being cleansed by the sprinkling of blood. But Christ Jesus presented God in an altogether new light. With the greatest confidence and authority he set forth his own teachings in bold contrast with their false concepts in the words, "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, . . . but I say unto you;" and then he presented to them a God who is in truth our Father in heaven.
In mortal sense men are separated into different grades, some above and some beneath others, and certain dignitaries when approached must be addressed by their distinctive titles, as "Your Majesty," "Your Lordship," "Your Honor," while those in high positions have the privilege of approaching each other with a familiarity that others may not use. In the phrase here given, however, we have no distinction made among men, no privileged class recognized. One relationship alone is observed, and all men may draw near to Him who is "King of kings, and Lord of lords" with the simple and even endearing address, "Our Father." What restful assurance is here inspired, what peaceful reliance! When we contemplate the omniscience and omnipotence of God; that He knows all there is to know and with Him nothing is impossible; that nothing can move or act without His' direction; remembering, too, that He is the "Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort," and that of Him Jesus has said, "Your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things;" when, with the fulness of all this in our thought, we can look up and say from our heart, "Our Father," where then is left any room for anxiety with regard to our welfare?
