Abba — Ways We Can Love Him
Our Father. Our Abba. Most of you already know this, but it bears repeating: the word “Abba” is Aramaic for Father, or better, Dad or Papa. It’s how Jews in first century Palestine, both children and adults, addressed their father. They would have never thought to address God as Abba. In fact they would have considered it sacrilegious if not blasphemous. Actually, this was Jesus’ unique way of addressing his Father. As “the only begotten Son of God,” he was the only one who had the “right” to address God in this way.
At the beginning of his gospel, John says: “Yet to all who received him (Jesus), to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God….” Jesus is the only “begotten” (i.e. natural) child of God. The rest of us who have given our lives to Jesus are “adopted:” “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15). The word “sonship” can and probably should be translated “adoption” or “adopted sonship.” This fits with what Paul writes in Ephesians 1:5: “In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ.”
With our adoption come all the “rights” of being a natural child, including our being able to address the First Person of the Trinity as “Dad.” Calling the Lord’s Prayer the Lord’s Prayer reminds us that Jesus is showing us how he prays. In other words, this isn’t a generic prayer for spiritual generalists; it’s a prayer for a unique group of people who have been “reborn” as daughters and sons of God.
This is a love prayer. It’s a prayer for people who love Jesus, and through Jesus have come to know God as Abba, as Dad.
So how do we show our Dad, our Papa, that we love him?
May I suggest three ways? Three ways we can show our love for Abba; three ways we can strengthen our love for Abba.
By loving his Word (the Scriptures that tell me I can address God as “Father”).
By loving his will. (”Your Kingdom come, your will be done….”)
By loving others. (”Our Father….”)
It is primarily through the Word of God, especially the Scriptures, that I know about Abba and about Jesus, as well as Abba’s will for my life, including why and how it is that I’m to love other people. That’s why this list starts with the Word of God. It’s because of the Scriptures that I can pray the Lord’s Prayer, and be confident that in some form or shape, this prayer goes all the way back to Jesus himself. (Next time I’ll try to say more about these three ways to love Abba.)
God has been showing me that if I’m to love him with my whole heart, soul, mind and strength, I need to love his Word, his will and other people unconditionally. I mustn’t let my doubts (which will always be there) about God’s word and will, or my doubts about other people, or even my doubts about myself, hold me back from believing and entering fully into these three ways of loving God: “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Love lives with abandon. It is full of gratitude, joy and hope. Mistakes will be made — in interpretation, in discernment and in application. But if our desire is to love God, we can be assured that ”Love covers a multitude of sins” (I Peter 4:8). Unconditionally throwing ourselves into loving God’s Word, God’s will, and other people will free us to read his Word expectantly, trust his will completely, and love others deeply and sincerely.
Jesus has given us a way to offer these three loves to Abba as a prayer. If prayed in and by the Spirit of Jesus, our ”Abba” will be a cry of adoration, surrender and hope. This is a going-for-broke prayer initialing a go-for-broke life. It’s a prayer for people in love with Abba and his Son, for those who have been adopted by the Most High God — by our Father who is in heaven.
