'Our Lord bases prayer on personal relationship. He taught us to call God our Father, and the implication of sonship changes the whole aspect of prayer....The wonder is not that God hears prayer, but that He is our Father. The greater wonder includes the less. The revelation that God is Father establishes the possibility and reasonableness of prayer....There is no lowering of his majesty in the intimacy of the family relationship. He is still the Holy and Most High God; the High and Lofty One, that inhabits eternity....there are many such revelations of the Divine Glory and Majesty, and it is well to ponder them in adoring worship; but Jesus Christ turned them into terms of filial value. He is our Father! That is the crowning fact. To the child he is just father. Others may cringe in fear, but the child heart is a stranger to terror.' --The Path of Prayer, Samuel Chadwick, 1931.
The implication that God is our father changes everything. Our lives as his children are irrevocably altered when we embrace this knowledge. However the process of embracing it is often much more complicated than we expect. It is relatively simple to comprehend the knowledge; to understand the facts of the situation. God through his grace has adopted us into his family. Simple enough. What most, including me, often find difficult is accepting, believing, and living in the truth of this knowledge. We could spend our time learning different ways to outlive this truth and apply it to different situations. We could do bible studies, exploration groups, we could set up a resource library or get experts to come in preach about it, but ultimately "The Path of Prayer" by Samuel Chadwick (from which the above excerpt is taken) tells us a better way; 'Whatever difficulties may remain, communication must be possible between father and child, and to suggest that a child may not ask of a father would be to empty the terms of all meaning. It is a child's right to ask, and it is a fathers responsibility to hear in affectionate sympathy and discerning love.'
This is where Reveal comes in. Our aim on Thursday nights is to allow space for us to commune with God; to come as children, and speak to our father. The only issue is that in order to do this, we must first believe and accept our position as his adopted children. This is easier said than done for several reasons. Some may have been part of the family of God for so long that they can barely remember they were once an orphan. Others may feel as though they are not worthy of such extraordinary grace (indeed that may be true for almost everyone.) Others still may have a very different experience of fatherhood which makes the knowledge of a loving, gracious father very difficult to comprehend. As we prepared for Reveal, we were keenly aware that many may come to the events with varying levels of baggage in this area. What we didn't want to do was allow the issues that had held us back in the past to become the focus. What we wanted to do was allow God to speak about the journey that he had already taken us on; to give us a chance to consider our new found position in the Kingdom of God.
'We were orphans'...the screen read as people began to arrive. The room was set up with several chairs dotted around, quite spaced out from each other, low lighting, and some reflective piano music on a loop. We considered the best environment to allow individuals to consider their lives before God. From what I understand, this room was particularly challenging for some. The prospect of thinking back to a life without God is unpleasant and uncomfortable. It forces us to remember how abandoned we felt, how hopeless, how alone. Whilst we knew this may push some, our aim was not to undo that which had been done, but to reflect on it. How often do we get a chance to look back and genuinely consider the journey on which God has taken us? How often do we forget that in order for us to become adopted we had to first be in a place of orphan hood? This space was designed for us to allow God to speak into the emotions that our status as orphans conjured. Where was HE during that time? Why were we in that place?
Thankfully this room was only part of the story of the evening. As those reflecting began to make their way to the sanctuary they were greeted with the sight of a vast, long table. The table was covered in fruit, flowers, bread, grape juice, plates and candles. A banqueting table fit for a King. But the seats prepared were not for dignitaries or VIP's; they were for us. You and me. We are seated at the table of the King. We are heirs in his Kingdom.
'The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are Gods Children. Now
if we are children, then we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ...' Romans 8:16-17a
This, our first evening of Reveal, gave us an opportunity to consider the transition we made from orphans, to heirs through the grace of God our Father. This evening was not a definitive answer to the question of our adoption. I am sure it evoked as many questions as it answered. I am also sure that we may need, as a church, to continually consider the journey we have already taken. However we began here for a reason. Reveal, as we see it, is an opportunity for us as the family of God to devote time to better getting to know our father. For us to do so, we must be able to approach him as his children; and to do this, we must first consider OURSELVES his children, and heirs with Christ. We do not claim that week on week you will go away with a neatly wrapped bundle around different issues, but we hope that as the time goes on we may be able to build a picture, as a community covered in his grace grace, of our Father in heaven.
Looking forward to seeing you all next week.
Debbie MacDonald
During lent, Reveal will be running every Thursday evening from 7:30. If you are unable to attend it may be possible for us to make any resources/music/PowerPoints/
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