Have you ever wondered how Father’s Day got started? According to published reports, the first Father’s day was observed in Spokane, Washington in 1910, 92 years ago. Louise Smart Dodd proposed the idea in 1909 because she wanted to honor her father who was widowed when his wife died giving birth to their sixth child. He raised all 6 by himself.
She wanted to observe it the first day of June, her father’s birthday, but the Spokane city council could not get the first reading through until the third Sunday in June. Well the idea spread throughout the country and in 1924 President Coolidge declared the first observance of a national Father’s Day. President Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June Father’s Day in 1966 and in 1972, just 30 years ago, President Nixon signed into law that Father’s Day was to be held on the 3rd Sunday of June. And know you know, the rest of the story!
Several years ago when our phone companies had the last name of Bell, it was reported that Illinois Bell’s traffic had increased significantly one Father’s Day with resulting delays due the number of collect calls that we being made that day.
A successful attorney once made this statement: “The greatest gift that I ever received was a gift that I got one Christmas when my dad gave me a small box. Inside was a note saying, ‘Son, this year I will give you 365 hours, an hour every day after dinner. It’s yours. We’ll talk about what you want to talk about, we’ll go where you want to go, play what you want to play. It will be your hour!” He went on to say, “My dad not only kept his promise, but every year he renewed it – and it’s the greatest gift I ever had in my life. I am the result of his time.”
I am the result of his time. Much has been made of both the lack of, as well as the importance of, father time in our society and its affects on our society. The National Fatherhood Initiative recently listed on their web-site, (www.fatherhood.org,) the following conclusions from an analysis of over 100 studies on family life entitled, “The Importance of Father Love: History and Contemporary Evidence:” (overhead 1)
a. Having a loving and nurturing father was as important for a child’s happiness, well-being, and social and academic success as having a loving and nurturing mother.
b. Withdrawal of love by either the father or the mother was equally influential in predicting a child’s emotional instability, lack of self-esteem, depression, social withdrawal, and level of aggression.
c. In some studies, father love was actually a better predictor than mother love for certain outcomes, including delinquency and conduct problems, substance abuse, and overall mental health and well-being.
d. Other studies found that, after controlling (allowing for) for mother love, father love was the sole significant predictor for certain outcomes, such as psychological adjustment problems, conduct problems, and substance abuse.
One of our own US Senators, Evan Bayh, has on his section of the US Senate website, (www.senate.gov,) the following sobering fact about Indiana families, over 20% of families in Indiana do not have a father present in the home. (Overhead 2)
But there is this hopeful sign on the same web page. Fathers who completed the Dads Make A Difference Program in Lafayette, Indiana reported the following results:
A. More confidence in their ability to take care of their children and meet emotional needs.
B. More cooperation with the mother of the child.
C. Less hostility towards the mother of the child.
D. More child support payments were made.
E. Improved parenting skills and more contact with the child.
Fatherhood is very, very important. We understand that when we hear the stories, both good and bad, about fathers. There is a yearning in the human soul for a wonderful relationship with dad. It is expressed in ways large and small. Good and bad.
Lowell D. Streiker, an inspirational humorist, speaker, author, and minister said in a sermon entitled, “Help Wanted, dad. Ask for Calvin and Hobbes,” “Great fathering requires three things: being there, being aware, and being real. Everything else is dessert.”
All of us here this morning are the result of our father’s time no matter how that was spent.
But, we are also the result of our Heavenly Father’s time with us. For God, our perfect father is aware of who we are, was there for us on the cross and is still here for us today, and is real in His relationship with us.
In Psalm 139 we read in verses 13 –15:
“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
As I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
Before a single day had passed.”
In the classrooms we hear of the evolutionary creation of humanity. The Bible sees it differently. Now the Bible is not a science book. It is a theological book.
Evolution is a scientific theory that, from what I can tell, has yet to be proven. It speculates that humanity evolved from lower forms of life to what it is now.
The Bible tells us that God created humankind in His image. Such a claim is theological in nature. It says that the origins of the human race are not just evolutionarily biological or chemical but divine in nature. In other words, we were created by One who created the materials by which we are created!
My point? A good father is one who realizes that his children have been created by God and are a gift from God. The good father realizes that his children are not some evolving creation whose life has been biologically predetermined. They are dynamic spiritual beings influenced by the choices and decisions dads make.
One of the greatest events in fatherhood since the advent of color TV has been the admission to the birthing room and the ultrasound screen. Those two items have brought fathers much closer to the reality of what is growing and moving inside of mom’s body. And it is not some thing it is a moving, growing alive human being in the making!
Now God has not only taken the time to create us, He has also taken the time to redeem us! And Jesus gives us a glimpse of the fatherhood of God in John 17. This passage has been commonly called his “High Priestly Prayer.” But, I want us to notice the intimate connection with God the Father as I read portions of this chapter starting with verse 1. (Read through to verse 5 and then move to verses 20 and 21).
As Jesus heads to the cross, who is it that He constantly communicates with even as he hangs on the cross? God the Father!
“Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine.” “Father, forgive these people, because they don’t know what they are doing.” “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands.”
Jesus is not personally concerned with what others are thinking and saying during these moments. He does not ignore them, but His focus is on accomplishing what His father sent Him to do.
The work of Jesus Christ, which makes possible forgiveness and a right relationship with God, is a result of God’s redemptive time on our behalf. Why? A good father sacrifices for his children.
Finally we experience the result of God’s time for us as we experience His care. In a passage that we spent some time in last week, Psalm 103, we read in verses 13 and 14:
The LORD is like a father to his children,
tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
For he understands how weak we are;
he knows we are only dust.
Prior to these verses we read of God’s slowness to anger, His patience with our condition, and His mercy and care for us.
David personally understood and experienced what he writes in this Psalm. As we review his life, we remember the affair with Bathsheba, the intentional murder of her husband, and the cover up of both.
But, David acknowledged and confessed his wrongdoing and God forgave him and restored him to a right relationship with Himself. I believe that it is out of that experience, as well as a life lived as faithfully as possible, that David could write these words. He understood that God understood the human condition.
For some individuals they wrestle with this passage. This is not their experience with their earthly fathers and therefore faith and trust in God does not come easy. But, that has never been God’s purpose from the start. His purpose has always been and always will be that we experience His care.
Earthly fathers understand what it means to be human. In an article entitled “Imperfect Dads Expect Perfect Sons,” Archie Wortham wrote of his struggle to not “over do” his fathering and said this, “Maybe it’s because I realized how hard it was for me to learn some of the stuff I learned on my own. I want to make it easier for them.”
And so does our heavenly father. In one of those “you have to accept by faith” moments, “God became flesh and dwelt among us.” He too, understands what it means to be human for He also experienced life on this planet. He saw first hand all the things that we think are modern problems – domestic violence, family splits, terrible diseases, mental illness, and spiritual disinterest– but gave people a hope beyond themselves and their circumstances.
Let me put it this way this morning, one of the results of God’s time on earth, in the person and work of Christ, is that “he understands how weak we are; he knows that we are only dust.”
And as David puts it in Psalm 68:5, “Father to the fatherless, defender of widows – this is God, whose dwelling is holy.”
CONCLUSION:
So what does all this mean to us dads? Lowell D. Streiker says this, “What are the primary tasks of being a father? And how should we perform them? Fathers protect. Fathers teach. Fathers model. Fathers instill values. Fathers empower (or disempower), and Fathers are a child’s point of contact with the wider world. In particular, a father is essential for the development of his children’s sense of values. In simplest terms: No dad, no conscience.”
That is a tall order for dads. It is a constant challenge. It is doable in many ways. But, we never perfectly master these things. But, God does because He is the perfect father: (Overhead 3)
1. He is always present, even when we do not give Him the slightest thought.
2. He is aware of everything. He knows what is going on and knows that total picture.
3. He is real. “There is no shadow of turning with thee,” says the great hymn, Great Is Thy Faithfulness. There is no dishonesty or deception with God. He is real through and through.
My prayer for us this morning is twofold:
1. That we dads recommit ourselves to our Heavenly Father and out of that recommitment we become better fathers and husbands as a result by being there, by being aware, and by being real.
2. And That all of us find peace of mind and soul in the embrace of God the Father who is our perfect Father and who desires more than anything else to make us into what we have been created to be so that we become the results of His time in us. Amen.
(Power Points of this sermon are available. Send an e-mail to pastorjim46755@yahoo.com and ask for 061602 overheads)
