The Orphan's Cry: "Abba, Father!"

When I was a youngster, I used to love to sit down at the piano and play and sing a song by Steve Fry called "Abba Father." (O.K., I still love to sit the song, but that's not germane to my point!) It's a song that takes up Jesus' cry of "Abba, Father" in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of His betrayal. Over the last couple weeks as Maggie and I have been starting to pursue our hope of adopting a child from Ethiopia, I have been greatly encouraged by this Word of our Lord. When Jesus used it, when He addressed His Father (and our Father) on that terrible night, He was crying out for deliverance.

Yet, even though Jesus was clearly and understandably frightened and trembling at the prospect of being crucified for us, still I don't believe this was Jesus primarily crying out for Himself. It was not simply His humanity crying out for deliverance from suffering. Rather, I believe it was His cry of deliverance for you, for me, for all the orphans in this world needing adoption by the Father.

The key, for me, is the context in which Jesus prays this impassioned prayer, this impassioned cry for deliverance. "Abba, Father" is what Jesus cried out, as I said before, in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night He was betrayed. It was the beginning of that three-days work which would culminate with the cross and the empty tomb. Listen to how Mark tells us in His Gospel: "And going a little farther, [Jesus] fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. YET NOW WHAT I WILL, BUT WHAT YOU WILL" (Mark 14:35-36, emphasis mine).

Notice how Jesus is not primarily praying for Himself. Even though He was "sorrowful even unto death" (v.34)... even though Jesus WAS praying that God would determine a different way and obviate the need for His own terrible suffering and death... even still (and above all), Jesus was praying for US: He was praying for the removal of the cup of his Father's wrath against our sin. He was praying for our deliverance, that God would take pity on us poor unworthy orphans and adopt as His own sons, worthy of (and heirs of) eternal life. It's a truth we see confirmed by Jesus' humble submission to His Father's will when He drank every last drop in order to deliver us from what we justly deserved.

Good News for Us
"Abba, Father" is also a prayer that God the Father answered. Oh, He didn't answer it in maybe the way that we would have expected; but He answered it in the way that was the best for us. God HAS granted us deliverance. God the Father sent Jesus Christ to the cross in order to answer the cry of Jesus' heart- His desire that we be redeemed from our sin and damnation. The Father enabled His Son to humbly submit to the cross and that, in turn, has resulted in an indescribably good gift to us: the gift of sonship through adoption. St. Paul writes in Galatians 4 that "when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so THAT WE MIGHT RECEIVE ADOPTION AS SONS. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "ABBA! FATHER!" (vv. 4-6, emphasis mine).

Jesus submitted to His Father's Will "for the joy that was set before him" (Heb. 12:2). And because Jesus did that, because Jesus went to the cross for us and earned us adoption into the Father's family... again, because we are now adopted as the Father's sons, we also now have the right to pray that same prayer Jesus prayed. We now have the right to address the Holy God of Hosts as Father, as "Abba, Father" knowing that, because of Christ, God is our true Father and we are His true children" (Martin Luther, Small Catechism, Lord's Prayer Introduction).

How Should We Respond to God's Great Gift?

There are many different ways and avenues through which God moves His people to respond to the Gospel. For Maggie and I, we believe that God is answering our cry of "Abba, Father!" by leading us to James 1: "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction" (v.27a).

Some people are moved by the love of Christ to sing at nursing homes (as one dear departed friend of mine was moved to do for many years). Others are moved to volunteer at the local food pantry. Others are moved to provide a place of home and shelter for abused women. Finally, others are called to "visit orphans"; that is, to provide a home for those who have no home, to provide a family to those who have lost their family, to bring the adoptive love of God to someone needing the Father's love.

In sum, we believe that our family is missing someone- that God has given us a family full of love, love which is overflowing. As the Father has loved us, so He is calling us to love others: in particular, to love one little child who (perhaps not even born yet) has no father, who has no mother. How do we know this? I don't know; we just do; God works in mysterious ways (see John 13:7). He is calling us through the Word. We know that God has adopted us, and that when pray "Abba, Father!" that God is answering our cry. To God alone be glory, Amen.