The premise and much of the material for this sermon comes from a sermon by Wayde Wilson
An “MVD” needs the “MVT”
We’ve talked in the past couple of weeks about call and being called. Last week Steve and Shannon were called to present Trenton for the Sacrament of Baptism. The Confirmands were called to a life of service. Our newest Elders were called to serve our church. Now, today, I’d like to talk about another, extremely important calling. It being Father’s Day, I’m sure you can guess what I think this calling is.
You know, any man, or boy for that matter, can father a child; it’s a job that takes little talent. You’ve heard the saying: “Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad.” Men will hold many jobs in their lifetime. They may not be good at some of them, they may even fail to succeed in a given job, but the rate for failure in fatherhood is actually higher than in any other occupation. Dads have a huge full-time job that most people underestimate. I believe it is the most important task a man can tackle.
Let me repeat that. The most important job (or project) you will ever have in your life is being a good dad to your children. Now, I mentioned project because being a dad is a large, long-term undertaking in which you often ascribe your feelings and values to your children.
Now, men love projects. We love to build things. But men, if you want to take on a project, if you want to build something, you need to know that building something is always easier with the right tools. So, today, I’m going to help you put some tools in your toolbox. To help you be the “Most Valuable Dad” you can be, I’m going to give you some of the “Most Valuable Tools” to keep in your toolbox.
TOOL #1: THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL
Yeah, I know that most men view this little pamphlet that I hold as absolutely worthless. A waste of paper and ink. Because when you have the technological intelligence of a man, you instinctively know how things go together! Am I right, guys?! You don’t have time to be bothered with all that reading and useless details of how to put your new gas grill together. You tell your wife, “Agh! I’ve put together hundreds of these things! No problem!” Two hours, maybe a few choice words for the manufacturer, and some thrown tools later, you’re taking apart what you’ve gotten together and starting over again because you left out something and the thing won’t go together right! And you realize, you should’ve read the instructions!
When you don’t read the instructions, you waste a lot of time and run into a lot of trouble. You get mad, lose your temper, say things you shouldn’t say, break things, throw things, lose things…it’s bad. Think about it! While all this is going on, who’s right next to you? That’s right. Your son or daughter, your “great helper”.
Listen up, Dads. If you want your “project” to be successful, if you want to build a healthy family, you’ve got to read the INSTRUCTION MANUAL (BIBLE). Being a dad is a super-tough job! You can’t do it on your own technological expertise. You need help. Before you pick up another tool, you need to become as familiar as you can with the God’s INSTRUCTION MANUAL.
There’s valuable information in here that will tell you how to be a good husband. How to love and discipline your children. How to build a healthy home. How to be a man of God. It’s all in here! But a lot of you guys either aren’t reading it or you’re doing that other guy thing, you know, “I don’t need directions. I’m not lost!” When you don’t read the instructions, you waste a lot of time and run into a lot of trouble. So the first tool in your toolbox should be the instruction manual.
TOOL #2: HAMMER
When I think of a HAMMER I think of CONSISTENCY. You can’t drive a nail with one blow. You’ve got to hit the head of that nail over and over until eventually you’ve driven the nail home. Some of you have built your own homes. Maybe you’ve been around when builders are framing a house. If you have, you’ve heard the rhythm of the hammer blows as they do their work. A nail isn’t driven with one blow of a hammer. A room isn’t built with one blow from a hammer. A sturdy wall isn’t made from a couple of 2”x 4”s just thrown together. No, every sixteen inches you lay another 2”x 4” and hammer it into place. Blow by blow, nail by nail, 2”x 4” by 2”x 4”, you get a sturdy wall, and then another and after a while, you get a room and soon, a whole house.
I’m holding this HAMMER to remind you to CONSISTENTLY STICK WITH THE PLAN, the INSTRUCTION MANUAL. Get a spiritual rhythm going and keep HAMMERING away at the right things. Prayer, time with God, Christian friends, reading the Bible, going to church …keep driving away at the right things every day and over the course of your lifetime you will build something that lasts.
TOOL #3: WATCH
Men are good at focusing on the task at hand. So I encourage you to keep a WATCH in your toolbox because you’ll get so absorbed in what you’re doing that you’ve lost all track of time and your family misses you. The average father spends 15 minutes a week with his kids. Nearly all men feel a responsibility to provide for their families. They take their God-ordained role as “breadwinner” seriously. Maybe too seriously. Men who focus too much on the “providing” aspects of fatherhood risk becoming an ATM for their families instead of a D-A-D. Children need fathers who take active, caring, loving interest in their lives. That’s hard to do when you’re spending all your time at the office!
TOOLS #4 & 5: TAPE MEASURE AND LEVEL
These are two important tools for testing the integrity of the things you are building. Any builder knows that you can really mess something up just by a slight miscalculation in your measurements. How many of you have ever cut an outlet hole in the wrong place. It doesn’t have to be off by much to cause a serious problem. “Measure twice – cut once”.
The same is true with the level. If you don’t want your walls to be crooked, you’d better make sure, “they’re on the level.” If you get off just a little bit, and you don’t correct it, you’ll have a mess!
Once again, we’re back to the INSTRUCTION MANUAL as we try to keep our responsibility of being a Godly dad “on the level”. God’s Word is your “plumb line.” Your “measuring stick.” You’ll never “measure up” if you take your measurements from the standards of the world around you. There is compromise everywhere.
TOOLS #6 & 7: THERMOS and SCREWDRIVER
Once a guy gets “into” a project, it’s hard to get him to stop! We get focused and all we can think about is the job. We never want to quit. Sunup to sundown. Late into the night. Totally absorbed. Let’s be honest this morning guys. Some of us need to grab the THERMOS and take a break! We’re wound up way too tight. All stressed out. Grumpy. Tired. Serious all the time. You need to get out the SCREWDRIVER and LOOSEN UP!
It’s just my personal opinion but I think any really good dad needs to have a “screw loose here and there!” We need to have a sense of humor and be able to laugh. Life’s too short to be so serious all the time! In fact, studies show that people who laugh and have a sense of humor live longer. If that’s true, then I’ll live forever!
TOOL # 8: BAND-AIDS
If you remember the show “Home Improvement”, Tim Allen played a guy with a show that dealt with working around the house. He was always getting hurt and going to the hospital. This is not something you’ll usually find in a tool box but it’s a good idea to have some BAND-AIDS in there because when you’re working with tools and trying to build something, accidents happen. Sometimes you say things that don’t come out right and they hurt your child’s feelings. This is the time for Band-Aids. In this situation, the best Band-Aid is 2 little words: “I’m sorry”.
And while we’re on the subject of healing wounds, do you know what the three most important words you can say to your child are? (Not "Here’s your allowance") "I love you." Love heals all wounds.
In sports like baseball and basketball, they have an all-star game where the best players gather to play against each other. And in this game they have a MVP of the game. An MVP is the one who leads his or her team to victory. So, in this toolbox of MVT’s for a MVD, I am choosing for the honor of All Star: the INSTRUCTION MANUAL! If you’ve been putting things together the wrong way you may need to dismantle and start rebuilding. (Of course, building things other than God’s way have a way of dismantling themselves!) The instruction manual will lead you in the right direction to the successful completion of your project.
Dads, you have been called and given a great opportunity to build the next generation. To successfully complete this project, you need the proper tools in your toolbox. You need to use ALL of the tools at the right time for the right job.
1. Hammer: for consistency
2. Watch: take time for your family
3. Tape Measure/Level: to maintain integrity
4. Thermos: Take a break
5. Screwdriver: Loosen up and laugh
6. Band-Aids: to mend the hurts along the way
Most importantly, you need the instruction manual for your project. This is your road map, no folding necessary. If your children see you utilizing this manual (and they ARE watching you), then they will see the value in it themselves. So, use it often. To paraphrase another saying about the Bible: An instruction manual that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone
