A Father’s Legacy

A Father’s Legacy

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God [is] one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of hy house, and on thy gates.”

Mark 12:29-30 “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments [is], Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all hy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment.”

Why Father’s Day? We all could agree that Mother’s Day is a good idea. Mothers are renown for their love and their vital role in shaping a child’s life from the cradle to the grave cannot be debated or denied. But why Father’s Day? How did it come into existence?

It is perhaps appropriate that two concerned and caring mothers had much to do with bringing Father’s Day into existence. Jane Adams wrote in 1911, “Poor fathers have been left out in the cold. He doesn’t get much recognition. It would be a good thing if he had a day that would mean recognition of him.”

Some claim Father’s day was originated by Sonora Louise Dodd of Spokane, Washington in 1910. She said her father was a “kind and loving man” who kept their family of six children together when her mother died. After listening to a sermon extolling the virtues of mothers, Mrs. Dodd suggested to the pastor that such a day of recognition should also be set aside for fathers. He presented the idea to the local ministers in his area who then set aside the third Sunday in June for such a purpose. Sixty-two years later President Richard Nixon signed a bill into law designating Father’s Day as a national American holiday.

When we read the passages shared today, it is clear that God the Father and Jesus the Son also took the role of fatherhood very seriously. In the context of the culture of both these passages, the burden and blessing of passing our spiritual heritage down to our children and future generations is placed squarely upon the shoulders of Godly fathers.

When Moses was ready to depart the scene God spoke through him to renew the covenant that He had originally made, “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, [and that] ye shall not prolong [your] days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth

to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:” (Deut. 30:15-19)

In this the Lord makes it abundantly clear that the blessings of a spiritual heritage can be passed on through faithful fathers generation after generation. But He also makes it amply clear that the sins of neglecting ones spiritual responsibility as a father may also have an increasing negative effect upon succeeding generations. I think that on Fathers Day it would be appropriate to ask the fathers of our community and nation this question, “If you, as a father, were to pass from this mortal scene today, what legacy would you leave your children?” A father’s answer to this thought provoking question would obviously say a great deal about his life’s focus and the importance he placed upon spiritual priorities in his life.

Some fathers might honestly feel that financial security and a monetary inheritance should be at the top of the list of the legacies that would leave their children. Does not our culture seem to say that the pinnacle of success is reached if a person suddenly comes into a great financial fortune that he in turn can share with his family and friends? Especially, if he can set his children and grandchildren up financially for life?