Meeting with God: Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your Name

Question 120. Why has Christ commanded us to address God: "Our Father"?
Answer. That at the very beginning of our prayer he may awaken in us the childlike reverence and trust
toward God which should be basic to our prayer, which is that God has become our Father through Christ
and will much less deny us what we ask in faith than our human fathers and mothers will refuse us earthly
things.
- Heidelberg Catechism

I like the word basic in that question and answer. Basic can sometimes mean simple or easy. Other times, basic can mean foundational. I think this use of basic might be the latter. After all, our adoption into the family of God through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is mysterious and complex, defying simple explanation and metaphor. It is also true that our adoption into the family of God is foundational to our relationship with God.

Family is inescapable. As I sit and write this, people are talking in the coffee shop about their associations and business relationships, which appear and dissolve all the time. Contracts are made and contracts expire. Friendships grow distant and cutoff. But there's something about family that leaves a permanent impact and remains despite the challenges.

Family is vulnerable. Nobody knows you like family. Nothing is as nerve-wracking as the first time one brings a boyfriend/girlfriend to meet the family. Family has all the embarrassing photos and the awkward stories. Family knows all of our growing pains and temper tantrums. And yet, when done right, family has the grace to embrace all of the ups and downs and holds together.

Family is human. There is something fundamentally human about families, a mix of love and brokenness. People emerge from families with tremendous strength and scars as well. That's why the Lord's Prayer includes the "in Heaven" clause. God does family differently. God, as the Divine Parent, nurtures and cares in ways both similar and dissimilar to human parents. Radically different is that God does not mess up. God does not abuse. God does not neglect. God does care. Radically similar (yet higher) is that God does instruct. God does earnestly seek our growth and maturity. God wants the best for the family.

Today I celebrate not only the family I emerged from but also the family of God that I have been emerging into as well. May our prayers enter into the embrace of the Father in heaven, hallowed be God's name.