Daily Office readings for 10/18/2005

Matthew 11:25-30 (NRSV)

25 At that time Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

I recently overheard a woman at church saying she has a problem referring to God as Father. She prefers the word, parent. In today's scripture reading, Jesus refers to his Father five (5) times in three (3) verses. Now I know that God does not have a gender. But when referring to the deity, Christian tradition is to use the masculine (Father, He, Him, etc.). I don't believe it is simply a matter of linguistics however. If the english language had a neutral pronoun ( neither male, he, or female, she) I still believe the use of the masculine would be proper. Why? Well as stated above, Jesus refers to God as his father. I also believe that Jesus is God as part of the blessed Holy Trinity, and since Jesus is male then the use of the masculine to refer to God is also proper.

According to the BCP, in the liturgy, the response to the statement "Let us give thanks to the Lord our God" is "It is right to give Him thanks and praise". My parish and I am sure others as well, has changed the response to "It is right to give God thanks and praise". To many this probably is no big deal, but I believe it is symptomatic of what is wrong in today's church. In an effort to please some folks who are sensitive to these matters, we are changing our understanding of God.

For any ladies reading this, I did not state nor do I believe that God is male to the exclusion of female. He created both male and female and therefore both are found in Him. However, when referring to Him, as you can see I believe that the masculine pronoun is correct. If I hear someone referring to God as 'she', they will not get a rise out of me. I believe God is big enough to have mercy on them for they know not what they do.