All Dad’s Have ‘Homer Simpson’ moments!
Anyone who has ever watched the Simpsons would have to agree that Homer Simpson is not your ideal dad. He is goofy, forgetful and does some really dumb things. I don’t believe any dad is as bad as Homer but to be honest with you there is a little Homer Simpson is all dads! And if I might challenge you, there was even a little Homer in Jesus dad, Joseph!
Now before you kill me or freak out, I am going to show you a Bible story that proves this out. We are going to start our reading this morning in the Gospel of Luke. But before we do.
Hold up your Bible
Here at Vineyard Community Church we want to encourage everyone to bring their Bibles to church on Sunday. Of all days, this should be at least the one day where you make sure you pick up your Bible and read at least one verse. I can promise you that we do that every Sunday here at church. So let’s hold up our Bibles and say what it says on the screen TOGETHER.
“This is God’s Word” I believe every word of it I will use it to guide my life.”
Psalm 119:99-100 “I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation.”Do you want to wise? Do you want to have understanding? Learn to meditate in God’s Word. Let’s turn to Luke 2:42:52
Left in Jersualem Luke 2:42-52
The family had gone from Nazareth to Jerusalem about 100 mile journey. Probably walked it with a large crowd of people. Took about a week walking. Then they spent a week in Jerusalem celebrating the Passover. When it was over they headed back north to their home in Nazareth.
Now here is the interesting part. Joseph and Mary did not notice Jesus was missing for an entire day! Now they probably had a few other children along with them at that time. We are told that Jesus had some brothers and sisters. So Joseph and Mary were preoccupied with the young ones for sure. But I find it interesting that they left Jerusalem without their oldest son! They did not notice Jesus was missing for an entire day? Can I say, “Communication breakdown!” Wonder what kind of conversation Joseph and Mary had as they walked back to Jerusalem. “I thought you were watching him. How could I watch him, I was watching the little ones!”
What would you think if you heard that I left one of my children in Cincinnati after we went there for a vacation and did not realize he was missing for an entire day? I have left my children sometimes at stores or lost them at fairs, but never for entire day!
Before I was married, when I read this story I was amazed at Jesus. “Wow at 12 years old he knew he was supposed to be about his father’s business. Wow!” Even after I was married I was still amazed how Jesus could have done this. But after I had a few children and I read this story I had a different perspective. “Jesus, how could you do this to us? You made us look like unfit parents with all our relatives. Man you are sooo grounded! You are sooo busted!”
Wow, that changes my view of Saint Joseph and Saint Mary. I always saw them as perfect parents. I always saw them as the ideal parents. Well I am sure they were good, but at least from this story we can see that they were not perfect.
Even the best parents are not perfect. Even Joseph had his ‘Home Simpson’ moments. What about the fact that Joseph took his pregnant fiancé from Nazareth to Bethlehem and did not have a room reserved for her? What would you think of me if I took my pregnant wife on a trip to another town and did not have a room reserved for her when we got there?
There is another story when Jesus mother thought Jesus had lost his mind! Jesus family, dad and mom liked it when Jesus was telling everyone that He was going to be the Messiah, that He was going to be someone special. It would be sort of like your child saying they are going to be the president someday. But then Jesus started telling everyone that “He was God.” That was just too much for Mary and his siblings. They thought he was having a nervous breakdown. But all was not lost, once Jesus had risen from the dead, we are told that his mother and his siblings believed in Him that he was truly God.
So what is the point?
No parent is perfect. We do the best we can, but we sometimes do some dumb things. We get mad and yell, we are too busy to get involved in our children’s lives. We try our best but we often fall short.
Yet even with imperfect parents we can believe that our children will turn out good. Look at Jesus. He turned out good, even with young teenage mother and father who did not know he was missing for three days!!! Even with his own mother thinking He was having a nervous breakdown as He was trying to fulfill God’s plan for His life.
Children are incredibly resilent. They can recover from our parental mistakes. Especially if they know they are loved. Jesus knew He was loved. Even though Joseph had his ‘Homer’ moments he did do something right. I would like to just point out two this morning.
Joseph did do a few things right Lk 2:22, 40-41, Matt 2:12-15
Joseph was a spiritual man. Luke 2:22 and 2:40-41
He was a man who was faithful going to church. He set an example for his family, going to the Temple; attending the feasts. (We read about it in LUKE 2:22 and 2:41) He was regular in going to God’s house. Our kids are watching our faithfulness. Let’s look at another place where we can see Joseph’s spiritual approach to life. Turn to Matt 2:12-15
He was a man who OBEYED God. He explicitly followed the Lord’s leading and direction. He didn’t follow his own marked-out plan for life - he wanted God’s plan for his life. So when God spoke to him in a dream and told him to marry Mary (even though she was pregnant) HE OBEYED.
Then when God spoke and said: “Take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt for safety” - he immediately obeyed. He closed up his business and left. Then when God said: “It’s O.K. now, head back to Israel”. again he did as he was directed. He was a man of obedience.
He was a man of faith. It takes faith to pack your bags and head off to a foreign country with no prospects and no planning; simply on the basis that God said so. He had faith and obeyed the dream. He could have made excuses to stay where the prospects looked good, but NO - he was a man of faith.
Interesting question. How did we get these stories? No one else was around only Joseph had these dreams? Joseph told these stories to his children and to others. He was not afraid to talk about his faith. Fathers here this morning, your faith will speak to your children! Raise them in an environment of faith toward God. Live your faith at home, talk about your faith with your children. Be the spiritual head in your home.
Joseph was a man of faith. Our children start where we leave off. If we only go to church 2 times a month that is normal to them and that is where they start. We need to live our faith in our homes.
Joseph was willing to sacrifice his career for his son. Matt 2:12-19
When the child came along, the child he had not conceived there was no attitude in Joseph that “This boy is not my flesh and blood.” There was no resentment or indifference toward Him; no lack of love at all. Joseph adopted Jesus as his own son.
He was willing to change his career plans for the sake of his new son. You can be sure that Joseph had plans for his new family. He was planning on going back to Nazareth and opening a carpenter business, a furniture business and raising his son with his new wife. But then God appears to him in a dream and tells him he must flee to Egypt. God tells Joseph that Herod is going to seek to hurt his newborn son. He was told to flee that very night!!! This was an unexpected change of plans. But Joseph was willing to adjust. He knew his priorities and had his values in order. He knew his family came BEFORE his career and he was willing to sacrifice his career plans for his family.
How different that is today. So many men and women are willing to sacrifice their family for their careers. They think that their responsibility is to provide money for their family, and it is, but not at the expense of neglecting their family. This is nothing but selfish living. Dads the most important thing you can do for your children to let them know they are important and valuable is to give them your time, lots of it. There is no replacement for your presence. Jesus was greatly affected by this. He grew up knowing He was loved and secure and was able to live a life of unselfishness serving others because he saw his parents willingness to sacrifice for him.
Summary
My encouragement to you today is to do the best you can. Don’t fret over the mistakes you make, move on. Your children can recover, if you don’t give up. Let them know you love them, give them as much of your time as you can.
Do as many things right that you can, be a spiritual man, put your career after your family.
Closing
The Illinois Telephone Company has reported that the volume of long distance calls being made on Father’s Day is growing! In fact, the numbers are growing faster than the number of calls being made on Mother’s Day. In issuing the report, the company apologized for the delay in compiling the statistics, but explained that the ‘extra billing’ of calls was the reason for the slow tabulation. It seems that most of the calls to fathers on Father’s Day were made…. ”collect.” (Page 300 “God’s Little Devotional Book for Dads”)
In honor of Father’s day we would like to bless our dads and not charge the call ‘collect.
Have dad’s stand and have ushers pass out free Café coupons good for 30 days.
