June 19 2022, "Father’s Day: The Legacy of Dad" - Matthew 23:9

It’s good to be a father, isn’t it, men? “Why?” you women may be asking?

1: Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.

2: A 5-day holiday requires only one suitcase.

3: When clicking through the channels, you can just keep on going.

4: We’re all certified repairmen who got our degree on YouTube.

5: And for me, picking a restaurant where the family can eat supper in is a much quicker process when done alone.

And yet, by mentioning all of the above virtues of fatherhood, I would not trade the moments I share with my beautiful wife for the world. She drives me absolutely crazy and makes my life more complex much of the time. But yet because of her, I am a husband and a father.

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Cambridge defines being a father as both “a male parent” and “a lifelong responsibility.” Wow! Let that sink in for a moment. It is both a biological process, but also something that will follow us for the entirety of our lives.

What does being a father mean to you?

One person says that being a father means that the children you are raising are your highest priority. It means being willing to put everything else aside to be there for your son or daughter when they need you. Not just for big needs, but for small. It means driving cars for 10 years or more to keep them in shoes. It means eating the foods you hated as a kid to make sure they have the right examples to learn from. It means going on monster patrol, and getting on the floor to play, and sleeping in rocking chairs with a sick kid all night. It means our kids have a larger savings account than we do. It means that minivans are our future.

it means protecting our wife and kids at all costs, and making sure that’s you are properly caring and providing for them.

In short: it means that we are committed to a lifetime of love, laughter, worry, and emotional turmoil because we love and support this kid, who looks up to us and calls us “Dad.”

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My mom once did some needlework for my grandad. It thread formed words that she put into a picture frame and she gave it to him for a special occasion. It said, “Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a daddy.

Fatherhood is not and should not just be about biology, it is also about what we do. At the same time, as we are all human and imperfect, there are times when we must reckon with our humanity and apologize when we do it wrong. Being a father is a constant process of learning both what to do and what not to do. And ultimately, as children of our Heavenly Father, we should take the best and greatest parenting advice from God Himself.

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If you will stand for the reading and hearing of God’s Word this morning:

And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. (Matthew 23:9)

And may glory be to God for the reading and the hearing of His Word this morning, “Thanks be to God.” You may be seated.

Jesus reminded his followers that they all belonged to God’s family and that, above anyone else, God is the one who deserves their honor and obedience. This echoes Malachi’s words in Malachi 2:10: “Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?”

When we recognize our shared Father, it changes the way we see our relationship to others and challenges us to care for one another as brothers and sisters.

I am reminded of The Lord’s Prayer which begins, “Our Father, who are in Heaven, hallowed (or holy) be your name. Your Kingdom come Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Holy means “set apart” helping us to understand that our Heavenly Father’s name is to be of the utmost priority and honor. We should love our Heavenly Father and listen to what He has to say. He will guide into paths of righteousness for His names sake and lead us to a life a being forgiven and having eternal life as we believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

In a country where at least 2 in 5 children now go to bed each night without their earthly Fathers in the home, we and them need our Heavenly Father to be involved in our lives now more than ever before.

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What does our Heavenly Father do for us?

Our Heavenly Father provides for us. Matthew 7:9-12 says, ““Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

One of my learnings as a Father is that I want to help my children receive what they want and not just what they need. I may not be able to provide it all, but I try to listen to them. In turn, the relationship is better and sometimes they will actually listen to me. Maddux likes video games, reading, and theater at Calvary. Paxton is into baseball, playing with friends, video games, and more. Lennox has man y of the same likes as them both but with the added desire to play the piano. We’ll see how far it goes! Just like our Heavenly Father gives us the gifts of salvation, forgiveness of our sins, and so much more, In addition to providing for my children’s food and shelter, I hope to give them the best life possible because I love them. In turn, they make my life richer and more blessed as well.

Our Heavenly Father gives us His time. Time is a precious commodity, isn’t it?!

I am keanly aware that Maddux will be in college in 6 years. That may sound like an eternity to some, but it sometimes is frightening for me. My ability to teach, both directly and indirectly, has a time limit on it. And it’s important that I and you seize those moments so that when they do spread their wings and fly we’ve done our very best to give them the resources that will not only allow them to provide for themselves, but to be able to thrive and be happy for a lifetime. We cannot have influence in our children’s lives unless we show up and spend time with them.

A wise person once said that the best moments of life occur when we are together. The best moments often are unexpected and unplanned. And we cannot experience them unless we make a purposeful effort to give our time to those people that deserve our attention the most. As a Father, I believe that my family is of the utmost importance and therefore my time will be spent with them accordingly.

Jeremiah 1:5 says, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” (NLT)

Because he loves us, our Heavenly Father disciplines us. Discipline may not be popular, but it is important. Parenting is definitely a balancing because it cannot be all about discipline just as it cannot be all about permitting children to do what they want all of the time.

When Jesus rebuked Peter saying, “Satan, get thee behind me.” He portrayed the power of love through the act of discipline, not wanting Peter to be lost in the current way of thinking.

Discipline is difficult, and it is often times received by our children as a bad thing, but it is a primary fruit of fatherly love. Dad has to discipline if he loves his children.

Proverbs 3:11-12, “My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.”

A dad has to discipline because he wants the best for his children. The discipline of a father sets the whole course of his families lives on fire. Children raised in the discipline of a strong and loving father have greater discipline as adults, and disciplined adults make greater contributors to society.

A young man was making poor grades in school, particularly in math. His parents tried various things, none of which seemed to produce the desired improvement. Finally, they decided to enroll him in a private school. At the end of the first grading period, the young man came home and proudly presented his report card to his parents. They were shocked to find that all of his grades had improved significantly. Most noticably, he had received his first-ever "A" in math.

His parents were overjoyed and began to question him to determine what it was that had finally produced the improvement they had sought. "Was it the non-traditional teaching methods in the private school?" No. "Was it the smaller class sizes and more individual attention?" No. "Well, what WAS it then that caused such a big turn around?" they asked.

"Well," the son replied, "when I walked into that school on the first day and the first thing I saw was that man nailed to that plus sign, I KNEW I’d better take math seriously here."

Discipline is the act of a father urging his kids to live the right way, for the development and growth of his family. In the movie, “Remember the Titans,” the coach pushed those students to the brink of their abilities. Some accused him of trying to ruin them and break their spirits. But by pushing them - he made them stronger. It prepared them for a difficult season of football - and in the end they went undefeated and won the championship because of their discipline.

If he hadn’t pushed them, they never would have pushed themselves. In the same way, a family is made by a father’s discipline. And so, like a coach that pushes his players – the father disciplines and urges his children, to make them stronger.

Our Heavenly Father protects us.

We should continually pray for the Heavenly Father’s hedge of protection to be over us!

Jesus applied the example of the greatest love possible when He laid down His life to save us, His people from death and hell. In the same way, a father is charged with the duty of laying down his life, his desires, his personal interests for the sake of his family. I know my own father didn’t always want to do everything he ever did, but he did it anyway. Mom and Dad went to the Friday night football games because I was playing in the band. They took me to church, whether I wanted to go or not. It was not an option! When I decided to on tons of summer camps, with the Methodists, Baptists, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, they paid for me to go. One summer, I went to camp and they decided to renovate the house while I was gone. Doors were missing and in different places when I came back. They blessed me with the gift of helping me through college. They probably could have found other uses for their money, but they supported me and my brother. And most important, they did not always give me what I wanted, but what I needed. Sometimes they would protect me from things that I wanted to do but that might not have been the in my best interests. A Father’s job is to put their own interests before their own, and today I am able to partake in the rewards that might come into my life because of the investments and sacrifices Mom and Dad made to help me get here.

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To all of the Fathers and Men Like Fathers today, I say to you, “Happy Father’s Day!”

Let me leave you today with this challenge.

The greatest legacy an earthly Father can one day leave to their children is the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. It’s true, when a parent dies, their children expect to receive an inheritance. Sometimes that inheritance involves riches and sometimes it doesn’t. But there is no greater inheritance than the legacy a father leaves concerning eternal salvation. Eph 6:4, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

A Father who loves his family will do his best to lead them in the way of the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 2:11-13, “…as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”

SALVATION POEM