Someone once said
Any fool can be a Father,
but it takes a real man to be a Daddy!!
Another person says
A father carries pictures where his money used to be.
Mark Twain said
When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.
God gives an awesome responsibility to any male who is a father.
When I first held my children in my hands,
I didn’t just see how amazing God was with creation,
I also saw someone who God had trusted me with to be part of their future.
A future that need encouraging, guiding and God.
And God had entrusted me to be a major representative for Him in that persons life.
At times this responsibility can be daunting, at times frustrating and often enjoyable.
It also has helped me see that I am always learning.
And so being a male actually means
Men as Learners and Elders.
And as I read scripture and think about my life I realise that I too benefit from the fathers God has put in my life.
In fact I have had at least three fathers and some people have more.
One is my biological father, who also reared me.
For some they have one person as their biological father and another as their legal caring father.
The other is God the Father.
And the third is the fathers of the church,
Or fathers of faith.
These are people in the church who have taken seriously the responsibility that they don’t just come to church for themselves,
they are concerned about the future,
about guiding and encouraging younger adults and children into an active and living relationship with God and with others.
In fact our biological father and the fathers of the church are gifts to us from God.
Now the truth is only one of these father’s is perfect
And that is God the Father.
Unfortunately many people don’t understand what it means for God to be their father.
They treat God as if he is their principal or their police officer.
Someone to be scared of, to revere, but not have too close a relationship with.
That is ignoring scripture.
God as our Father is far more common in the New Testament than the Old Testament.
In the Old Testament there is only a few references to God as our Father, and when it is used it is associated with God being our creator, rock and saviour
like in Psalm 89:26
‘You are my Father,
my God, the Rock my Savior.’
And Isaiah 64:8
8 Yet, O LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
The New Testament however has a far stronger emphasis of God being our Father.
In the New Testament there are two words for God the Father,
One is Pater
It can mean both someone’s biological father and someone’s legal father.
It means father, forefather, elder.
It has a conation of someone who is senior, wise and important.
It involves guiding, encouraging and disciplining.
It is an understanding of father that flows from the Old Testament.
It is used not just for God the father, but also other fathers.
The other is Abba.
Which infact is an Aramaic word,
That is only ever used for God
And used in a way that says He wants
a deep close intimate and caring relationship.
You will only find Abba used in three places.
Mark 14:36 when Jesus is in deep prayer with God, and says
36 “Abba, a Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
And in Romans 8 verse 15 which says
15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. g And by him we cry, “Abba, h Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
And in Galatians 4:6
God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, a Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
Jesus informs us that our relationship with God is not a formal, impersonal relationship
but one where God knows us intimately
and wants to have a close relationship with him.
How do you think Jessica, Nicholas and Marcus Rudd relate to their father Kevin?
Do you think he would be happy with them addressing him as dear Prime Minister?
Or do you think he would be encouraging them to relate to him as their father, their dad?
God wants each of us to relate to him as a loving dad,
Listen to Psalm 103:13
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
and Matthew 7:9-11
9 “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 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!
And so Jesus instructs us not to pray dear gracious and loving King
But Our Father
Now think about what this means for you personally?
How does knowing that God wants an intimate and informal relationship affect how you relate to him?
What does it mean for you that God cares for you deeply?
And think about what this means for us as a church?
Our responsibility as church is to portray God as the scriptures reveal God,
not as we want God to be.
And in scriptures we see that God is both king and our loving father who deeply cares for us.
Someone who wants a close informal, personal relationship with each one of us.
And He wants others to see that.
This should affect everything we do.
How does your relationship with God the Father measure up?
God is there wanting to be your loving father,
the father who has no problems in being called daddy.
Respond to His love in the same way.
Allow him to treat you as someone He loves and cares for.
Someone who will look after you perfectly.
In short God reveals what a true father is about.
It is someone who not just has authority over children
but also is responsible for their physical and spiritual care.
God lives up to this definition of a father.
And this definition also applies to both our biological/legal fathers
and the fathers of the church.
Unfortunately no father apart from God the Father is perfect.
From the very first father to now every father has slipped up.
Consider Adam who was part of the disastrous duo who introduced sin into the world, God still blessed him with children
Or Abraham and Sarah who laughed at God’s ability to make Him a parent
Or Noah who got drunk and revealed himself naked, God still put the future of his family and all other families in his care.
Or David who had an affair and murdered the husband of the woman he had the affair with, God still gave Him children
As you read through scriptures God doesn’t sack them from their role as a father,
He in fact continues to encourage them to be the father He created them to be.
He corrects them,
There is often consequences when they have failed to live up to what it means to be a father .
And He continues to equip and bless them for their role as a father.
And He encourages their children to continue to honour, love and respect them as their father.
Likewise each one of us are called to do the same with our father’s
In the extended explanation to the fourth commandment Martin Luther says scripture reveals that no matter how lowly, poor, feeble or eccentric our father or mother maybe that they are not just to be loved but also honoured. Honouring includes not only love but also deference, humility, and modesty. We should address them affectionately and reverently, and with our words and actions we respect should them very highly, just below God.
Now you maybe saying,
Hold on a moment, you don’t know my dad.
He has this or that flaw.
He does this or that
Or you maybe like my wife
She hasn’t seen her father since she was four.
She has no memory of him as a child
And only reconnected with him around 11 years ago via telephone and email.
God calls us to love and honour our fathers and mothers not because they have earnt the right,
or do everything correctly
but because He has placed them in that special relationship with us.
They are His agents.
And one way we can help them in their calling is by honouring and loving them as God calls us to honour and love them.
Today I encourage you to help you father’s live out their,
Take the initiative to let them know that you love and honour them.
If you have been holding onto something that has placed a barrier between you and them,
Begin a journey of forgiving them.
Give them the gift of forgiveness.
And fathers
Both as fathers of children
and fathers who are responsible for nurturing others who are younger than us in the church.
Being a gift from God means we should be constantly checking to see if we are still the gift God intended us to be.
Wilhelm Busch a famous painter and poet said….Becoming a father is easy enough, but being one can be very rough.
As I think about my life,
And check myself against scripture I realize I need God’s help.
Scripture reveals to us some specifics in what it means to be a father.
One is training
In Proverbs 22:6 we hear
6 Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.
Secondly is correction and discipline
Proverbs 19:18 says
18 Discipline your son, for in that there is hope;
do not be a willing party to his death.
Thirdly is managing your family, including taking the time to help children follow instructions
1 Timothy 3:4
4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.
Fourthly being responsible for and taking the initiative for Spiritual matters in the home
Genesis 18:19
19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him
Fifthly
Praying regular for your family
5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.
Being an encourager
Ephesians 6:4
4 Fathers, do not stir up your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
And 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12
For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 12 encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.
As I look at these I realize one thing as a father I need God’s grace and instruction
I also need the grace and guidance of my children and my wife.
Because I am not always living up to their expectations.
I often can relate to Bill Cosby who says that as a father I often fall for the trap that I am satisfied when everything is quiet.
It doesn’t mean everything is right.
It often means we are neglecting what God is calling us to do.
Living as a father is a holy calling
God is calling us to train and encourage others in their lives
Especially in their journey with God
And in the Christian community this means God has placed you here to train, encourage and help others especially those who are younger than yourself.
Not with stern words or demands
Or a legalistic look at the past or what we like,
but what will be best for those God wants us to encourage.
Lets take God seriously
and reflect the loving caring nature of them one who calls us to call him dad.
Ask yourself this week what attitudes and approaches do I have to drop and what ones do I have to adopt to be more like the person God is calling me to be?
It is great to have a loving father, who trusts us to be his fatherly agents.
Amen
