Ah, how four letters contain such power!  “Abba”!  No, I’m not thinking of the famous foursome Swedish folk/rock group, either!  I’m thinking of Someone far more famous:  our Abba in heaven… “Abba” being a Hebrew child’s word for “father” – think “Daddy”!  When Jesus called on His Father, he cried out “Abba”.  Such is the intimate bond that we are invited to enter with Jesus!

I have no greater love in this life than to help you know personally the healing power of God our Abba.  I want nothing more in this life than to see people – you! – come into that astonishing experience of encountering a Love far greater than all our shame:  a Love that overwhelms our inner wounds, and frees the child within us all to nestle ever deeper into the security, peace, joy, freedom, and confidence that only Jesus can provide. 

Where do you need Jesus’ Abba love in your life?  How much does that child within you feel the pulse of His life-giving affection and grace?  Where do fears seek to keep you imprisoned?

What a deep joy for me to seek in last Sunday’s sermon to show you what I’ve discovered in my Abba, Jesus!  There is so much to discover!  We are loved beyond what we can yet imagine!

I sense the Lord put something on my heart to share with you about His Abba love that I ran out of time to cover in said sermon:  so I’ll pick up the trail here!

Speaking of fathers:  I am aware that we pastors are often seen, to some degree, as father-figures for many.   This helps explain some of the tensions congregations feel in a time of transition between pastors:  one “father-figure” leaves, another one (eventually?) comes.   And it is not uncommon that it is the child within us that feels most of the anxiety, the grief, and the uncertainty of it all.

Some of you, I know, are feeling these feelings.  While some are handling the transition very smoothly, for others, you are struggling with John Hamilton’s departure and feeling sad, perhaps even grappling with feelings of abandonment; feeling lost or rejected.  Others of you are wondering and anxious about the interim search process.  Sometimes these feelings intertwine with the child within us, as such uncertainties recall earlier times of emotional turbulence in our lives.

If this is you, I keenly respect and appreciate your struggle.  Let me offer some ways forward!

1.   These feelings are common and nothing to be ashamed of.  Find someone you trust, and share what you’re going through.   Be open!  Ask for prayer and let someone pray for you in person.

2.   Allow this challenge to be a growth opportunity for you!  Let this be a time where you seek to build your relationship with Jesus Christ deeper than ever before.  Part of this growth can involve the needed and very vital step of taking us pastors “off the pedestal”!   While we pastors are honored, humbled, and glad to play a mentoring role in your lives, the best thing we could ever do for you is to help you bond with Jesus as your ultimate Abba.   The American church greatly over-relies on pastors to be father (or mother) figures.  When we do so, times in a church between pastors become much more anxious than they need to be!  

Over-dependence upon any human being – no matter how wonderful or gifted -- always limits our growth and confidence in Christ.   The more we put another “on a pedestal”, the more we limit ourselves, and become mired in insecurity, passivity, and dependency.   I freely admit that this was one of the hardest lessons that I personally had to learn.   Slowly it came home to me that the more I put others on a pedestal, the worse I felt about myself…

There is no greater discovery I have made than realizing that Jesus Himself is “more than able” to give me all the fathering I could possibly need – and that His fathering alone can set me free in peaceful confidence and security!  Only Jesus Himself can really fill that role for you and me.   Come discover that yourself!

Of course our interim search is important.  Just be mindful of what’s going on inside you!  Are you placing your trust in a human being?   Or in Jesus?  Bring any fears that surface directly to Jesus:  and He will bring us into a deeper season of fathering, healing grace than we could possibly imagine!   

Rev. Dr. Jim Tilley