What Paul Knew
ILLUSTRATION: BRUCE LOCKERBIE WRITES IN HIS BOOK FATHERLOVE THE FOLLOWING STORY, “WHEN I WAS ELEVEN YEARS OLD, OUR FAMILY DROVE FROM TORONTO TO EASTERN ONTARIO, TO THE REGION NORTH OF THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER, WHERE MY FATHER HAD BEEN BORN. WE REACHED THE LITTLE VILLAGES OF VENTNOR AND SPENCERVILLE JUST BEFORE MIDNIGHT; THE RESIDENTS HAD LONG SINCE GONE TO BED. BUT DAD NEEDED DIRECTIONS TO FIND THE OLD HOMESTEAD, WHERE WE WERE TO SPEND THE NIGHT. RELUCTANTLY HE STOPPED AT A DARKENED HOUSE AND KNOCKED ON THE DOOR. AFTER SEVERAL MINUTES OF WAITING, THE YARD LIGHT CAME ON, AND AN OLDER MAN OPENED THE DOOR. I COULD HEAR MY FATHER APOLOGIZING FOR THE INCONVENIENCE AND THEN HE IDENTIFIED HIMSELF AS THE SON OF PEARSON LOCKERBIE – MY GRANDFATHER DEAD FOR MORE THAN A SCORE OF YEARS.
OH, COME IN, COME IN SAID THE MAN, NO TROUBLE AT ALL. WE KNEW YOUR FATHER.
THAT’S THE GREATEST LEGACY A MAN CAN LEAVE HIS SON
INTRODUCTION: THIS IS THE DAY WE SET ASIDE TO HONOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE FATHERS AND THOSE OF US WHO HAVE HAD FATHERS
ON JULY 5, 1908, A WEST VIRGINIA CHURCH SPONSORED THE NATION’S FIRST EVENT EXPLICITLY IN HONOR OF FATHERS, A SUNDAY SERMON IN MEMORY OF THE 362 MEN WHO HAD DIED IN THE PREVIOUS DECEMBER’S EXPLOSIONS AT THE FAIRMONT COAL COMPANY MINES IN MONONGAH, BUT IT WAS A ONE-TIME COMMEMORATION AND NOT AN ANNUAL HOLIDAY. THE NEXT YEAR, A SPOKANE, WASHINGTON WOMAN NAMED SONORA SMART DODD, ONE OF SIX CHILDREN RAISED BY A WIDOWER, TRIED TO ESTABLISH AN OFFICIAL EQUIVALENT TO MOTHER’S DAY FOR MALE PARENTS. SHE WENT TO LOCAL CHURCHES, THE YMCA, SHOPKEEPERS AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS TO DRUM UP SUPPORT FOR HER IDEA, AND SHE WAS SUCCESSFUL: WASHINGTON STATE CELEBRATED THE NATION’S FIRST STATEWIDE FATHER’S DAY ON JULY 19, 1910. SLOWLY, THE HOLIDAY SPREAD. IN 1916, PRESIDENT WILSON HONORED THE DAY BY USING TELEGRAPH SIGNALS TO UNFURL A FLAG IN SPOKANE WHEN HE PRESSED A BUTTON IN WASHINGTON, D.C. IN 1924, PRESIDENT CALVIN COOLIDGE URGED STATE GOVERNMENTS TO OBSERVE FATHER’S DAY. HOWEVER, MANY MEN CONTINUED TO DISDAIN THE DAY. AS ONE HISTORIAN WRITES, THEY “SCOFFED AT THE HOLIDAY’S SENTIMENTAL ATTEMPTS TO DOMESTICATE MANLINESS WITH FLOWERS AND GIFT-GIVING, OR THEY DERIDED THE PROLIFERATION OF SUCH HOLIDAYS AS A COMMERCIAL GIMMICK TO SELL MORE PRODUCTS–OFTEN PAID FOR BY THE FATHER HIMSELF.” YET IT WOULD NOT BE UNTIL 1972, IN THE MIDDLE OF A HARD-FOUGHT PRESIDENTIAL RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN, RICHARD NIXON SIGNED A PROCLAMATION MAKING FATHER’S DAY A FEDERAL HOLIDAY AT LAST. TODAY, ECONOMISTS ESTIMATE THAT AMERICANS SPEND MORE THAN $1 BILLION EACH YEAR ON FATHER’S DAY GIFTS.
TRANSITION: THERE IS NO BETTER GIFT THAT YOU CAN GIVE AS A FATHER, OR BE GIVEN FROM A FATHER THAN AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT A STRONG RELATIONSHIP LOOKS LIKE BETWEEN OUR CREATOR AND HIS CREATION. HERE IN THE LIFE OF PAUL AT THIS MOMENT, WE CAN SEE SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS PAUL EMBRACED IN ORDER FOR HIM TO BE AN EXAMPLE TO OTHERS.
1. PAUL KNEW THAT GOD WAS WITH HIM
a. FOR FATHER’S THIS IS A FOUNDATIONAL TRUTH WE NEED TO EMBRACE
i. I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU OR FORSAKE YOU
ii. I WILL SEND ANOTHER COMFORTER
iii. GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS TAKEN UP RESIDENCE IN YOUR HEART
b. IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THE WAYS GOD REVEALED HIS PRESENCE WITH YOU
i. PAUL HAD VISIONS
ii. PAUL UNDOUBTEDLY SENSED GOD’S PRESENCE THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE
iii. WE NEED TO BE SENSITIVE TO THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN OUR LIVES
1. ANSWERS TO PRAYER
2. STRATEGIC INTERVENTIONS
a. PROTECTION
b. IN RESPONSE TO HIS WORD
3. GOD SIGHTING MOMENTS
2. PAUL KNEW HE BELONGED TO GOD – WHOSE GOD I AM
a. OWNERSHIP DETERMINES USAGE.
b. WHOEVER OWNS IT CONTROLS IT!
c. PAUL UNDERSTOOD THAT HE WAS THE PROPERTY OF THE KING OF KINGS AND THE LORD OF LORDS
i. GOD WAS THE DETERMINER OF HOW HE WAS TO BE USED
d. GOD OWNED PAUL AND US IN A VARIETY OF WAYS
i. GOD OWNS US AS A BRIDEGROOM OWNS A BRIDE – AN ENVIRONMENT OF LOVE
ii. GOD OWNS US AS A PARENT OWNS A CHILD – AN ENVIRONMENT OF GROWTH, MATURITY, AND DISCIPLINE
iii. GOD OWNS US AS A SHEPHERD OWNS A SHEEP – AN ENVIRONMENT OF PROTECTION.
e. AS MEN, WE NEED TO EMBRACE OUR OWNERSHIP BY GOD
i. OWNERSHIP COMES FROM AN ABIDING SENSE OF SUBMISSION
ii. PAUL WOULD TALK ABOUT THIS IN THE ANALOGY OF THE POTTER AND THE CLAY
f. OWNERSHIP IS ABOUT MOLDABILITY – IS GOD ABLE TO MOLD US?
3. PAUL KNEW HE WAS IN THE SERVICE OF THE LORD
a. PAUL HAD BEEN TOLD BY GOD THAT HE WAS GOING TO BE A WITNESS FOR HIM IN ROME
b. PAUL WAS NO THERE YET
i. HE WAS ON A SHIP
ii. HE WAS IN A STORM
iii. HE WAS GOING TO BE SHIPWRECKED
c. IF HE WAS TOLD BY GOD WHERE HE WAS GOING TO GOAND HE WAS NOT THERE YET, THEN HE WAS GOING TO SURVIVE THE STORM AND THE WRECK
d. GOD HAS WORK FOR US
i. GOD WILL THEN PRESERVE US THROUGH THE WORK
ii. GOD WILL ALLOW US TO SEE HIS WORK THROUGH TO COMPLETION
iii. WE DO NOT NEED TO ALLOW THE WORK GOD HAS FOR US TO FRUSTRATE US
1. GOD IS NOT FRUSTRATED
2. NEITHER SHOULD WE BE!
4. PAUL TRUSTED GOD IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES
a. AFTER ALL, PAUL WAS THE ONE WHO WROTE THAT ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR THE GOOD OF THOSE WHO LOVE HIM AND ARE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE.
i. THAT IS US!
b. HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED THAT GOOD AND BAD ARE A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE
c. MEN, WE NEED TO HAVE THE ATTITUDE THAT GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME AND RESPOND ACCORDINGLY
5. BECAUSE PAUL KNEW THESE TRUTHS HE COULD BE AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO THOSE WHO DID NOT
a. DAD’S, WHERE DO YOU THINK YOUR KIDS ARE GOING TO LEARN ABOUT THE WORLD, HOW TO FACE IT?
b. IF NOT FROM YOU, WHERE ELSE?
c. IF YOU DO NOT EMBRACE THE PRINCIPLES PAUL HELD DEAR IN TIMES OF GREATEST STRESS AND DIFFICULTY, HOW CAN YOU EVER EXPECT YOU CHILDREN TO?
d. THE ABSENCE OF A SPIRITUAL ROLE MEANS THE ABSENCE OF A BIBLICAL FOUNDATION.
