Father's Day
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Happy Father’s Day!
I’d thought Would start Fahter’s day by reading some of my Dad’s favorite Bible Verses.
but as I was reading them i noticed a bit of a pattern.
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.
The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
My Dad likes to only read parts of the verses.
OF course these are all jokes.
My dad’s favorite passages of Scripture is actually in Isaiah,
Often I find that sermons on Mother’s day usually are celebrating Moms,
How good moms are!
And rightfully so
and then Father’s day sermons are almost universally: Men - Step up and do better.
I think that’s unfair.
However, I think it speaks to the roles fathers are suppose to have
See mothers support and love their kids,
Father’s do to, but they show that love by training their Children.
Yes, Men do need to step up as a whole. So many of societies problems can be linked back to fatherless children.
Children from fatherless homes are 9 times more likely to end up in a state-operated institution.
Young men who did not grow up with their father in the home are about twice as likely to have spent time in jail by around age 30
Behavioral Disorders: Children from fatherless homes are 20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders
Poverty: Fatherless families are 4 times more likely to live in poverty than those with married-couple families.
Drug Abuse: Children from fatherless homes are 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances.
Clearly the need for Fathers and Father figures is paramount.
So what is the role of a Father?
When we look at Scripture, large parts of it are dedicated to who was who’s father.
If you look up the word faTher in the Bible, you find it most in Geneologies.
Only rarely, in special occasions do the genealogies specify who the mother is.
Take the first bit of the book of MAtthew
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
Jesus is introduced at the very beginning of the New Testament by stating who his fathers were.
Which is ironic seeing as Jesus was not technically the son of Joseph, Mary became pregnant as a virgin, by the Holy Spirit, Joseph had nothing to do with it.
But Joseph was known as Jesus’s father.
Church Adoptive Dads are still dads, and they have just as much responsibility, if not more.
Being a father is more than genetics, it involves the legacy we leave our children.
Joseph could have disowned Jesus, he could have left Mary, but he stayed, to raise the Son of God.
And Jesus learned Josephs’ trade.
And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”
the People of Jesus’s hometown didn’t see him as the son of God, but as the son of the carpenter, and Jesus was called a carpenter
Joseph taught Jesus his trade, until Jesus was ready to go beyond.
A mother loves and supports her children
A father teaches them how to live meaningful lives.
Let’s look back at some other father’s in the Bible
Adam, Beyond being the first man, Adam was the father of many children, his first two being Cain and Abel
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.
Abel kept sheep (herds of Animals)
Cain tended feilds and worked the ground.
Where did they learn how to do this?
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
Adam’s first role was tending fields and the trees of the garden of eden
Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.
Adam helped name the animals, which means that he had authroity over them
So he passed down his knowlege to Cain and Abel,
He taught Cain how to work the ground to produce food
He taught Abel how to raise animals.
Then in one of the Geneologies we get an interesting statement
And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
Jabal is the father of people who dwell in tents and raise livestock
the Nomadic herders/farmers
Jubal is the father of all musicians
Tubal- Cain is the forger of tools - the father of craftsmen.
Theres just one problem
all these people died in the flood, and none of their descendants are alive today,
so how are they “fathers” of those groups of people,
Because they passed on their trades to others, not necessarily their biological children.
So being a father is about leaving a legacy, teaching a trade, or a skill, or a way of life.
it is providing the next generation with the tools they need to thrive.
So what does it mean when God calls himself our father?
God is the ultimate example of what a father should be.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
God as our father, wants to give us good gifts, gifts to help us thrive in this world?
These are our talents, or giftings, our skills, the spiritual gifts he gives to the church, the salvation for us all,
but his best gift?
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
He gave us Jesus,
as the sacrifice for our sins,
As the example of how to live
as our Lord and Messiah
as our hope for the future
And Jesus revelas the Father to us!
Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
See Jesus provided us with the same training he recieved from his father
Just As Jesus learned a trade from Joseph, so he reveals to us a way of life from our heavenly father.
We just have to follow his example.
Back in the 90s there was the WWJD bracelets
What Would Jesus Do?
That sounds simple, but it is a very good way to judge how to live your life.
But lets step back, If God is our father, who gives good gifts to his Children, who leaves a legacy, how can we as fathers also emulate that?
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Church being a good father is simple, train your kids in they way they should go.
THat is the best gift you can give to a Child
I have a good father, He taught me a lot of things,
the value of work
the value of family
the value of humor
how to play chess
to respect my elders,
to be a good friend
to help those in need
how to play guitar
how to fix things in the house.
to eat dessert first
to fight for your values
almost all of these he simply taught me by example,
but the biggest thing was that he taught me to follow Jesus.
Train your child in the way he will go.
That is the legacy you should seek to leave behind.
I am becoming a father, and I am excited, and terrified.
I can’t wait to meet my Child, but at the same time i dread what comes with trying to raise him.
I want to do everything right!
But if I can train him to follow Jesus, then the main part of my work is done, because that is really the only thing that matters.
So, Fathers, Men. I have a challenge for you.
Train your kids to follow Jesus,
Help them learn to use their gifts,
leave a legacy
Find other young men and work with them also, because the world needs fathers more than ever.
If you had a good father who raised you and taught you things, then make sure to tell him thanks.
And take time to thank THE FATHER
who gave us his only son.