A man the preacher had long written off as gruff and unpleasant turned out, on closer acquaintance, to be a loving father with a generous heart, the image had nothing to do with the reality. That scene opens a reflection on the first words of the Lord’s Prayer from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6). The sermon confronts our pictures of God, the stern judge, the accountant, the indulgent grandfather, with what Jesus reveals about the Father, and leads to the question of a person’s deepest identity. Listen and ask yourself whether you know God or only your idea of him.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In Matthew 6:5-9 Jesus warns against praying for show and against the babbling of the pagans. What do these two attitudes reveal about how people at that time pictured God?
- Why might addressing God as "Our Father" have shocked Jesus' first listeners, given how rarely God is called Father in the Old Testament?
- The sermon names several false pictures of God: a strict judge, an accountant, a kindly grandfather. Which one feels closest to you, and how does it shape the way you pray?
- How is a landlord and tenant relationship different from a child's relationship with a father, and where do you notice "I give something, God gives something" thinking in your own faith?
- The pastor told the fatherless boy: "You are a child of God, go and claim your inheritance." How does being God's child, rather than your success, job or money, change the way you see yourself?
- If the word "father" brings up painful memories for you, or prayer has become a task on a list, what one step can you take this week to talk with God as your Father?
