The Turning of the Hearts of the Fathers and the Children
Scripture Reference: Malachi 4:5 – 6
Introduction
Welcome to Father’s Day 2003. This is a great day to reflect on being a father, having a father, or being a witness to the value of a father in the life of children whether you had a father or not.
I had the opportunity a couple of weeks ago to see a movie with Aldon. It was one of the few movies for the first time in a long time to cast fathers in a positive light. I have to say that this animated feature distributed by Disney and produced by Pixar will be on our shelf in video and DVD.
“Finding Nemo” was the name of the picture, an animated tale of fish life in the sea. And it weaves together the story of a father (clownfish) who is left to raise his only surviving child, a son after the tragic death of his wife Coral and their unhatched eggs were eaten by a barracuda.
Marlin, the clownfish, was a father who was responsible, loving, caring, at times overprotective, but balanced and diligent over the life of his son. Monsters, Inc. didn’t a father in it. Toy Story one and two, didn’t have a father in it.
The Lion King did have a father in it, but he died off early. But this movie, “Finding Nemo” had a father in it from beginning to end; an active, smart, and attentive father.
I know what you’re thinking, “Pastor, it is only a movie about fish…you’re either spending too much time in the office or you need to schedule an appointment with Annette Hyman who is working on her counseling degree from Loyola.” And it is an animation at that.
Oh yeah, there was an emotional scene at the end; Did I say emotional? Well, I meant emotional…a scene where the father is seeing his son off to school and the young clownfish is about to begin his second adventure, the son yells out, “hey dad, wait.”
He comes swimming back towards his dad and says, “I love you.” The dad does not brush him off or yells you are embarrassing me or get away from. His words were just as refreshing, “I love you too.” But I don’t want to give away any more of the storyline, but it was an exciting movie to watch.
TRANSITION
But I know of another place where there are no scripts, directors, producers, or agents to rely on to portray fathers in a powerful and positive way – the Holy Bible. Much to our surprise, it is still the one book that not ONLY addresses every relationship that exists in this life, but in particular it references the father more than any other.
His role, his place, his significance, his value, may be undermined in the streets, but it is honored and revered in the Scriptures. With the turn to every book in the Bible the presence of a father can be felt and understood.
Yes, there are some good fathers and some bad fathers and the Almighty Father interwoven in the text not unintentional, but deliberate and dutiful.
There is a group of women in our culture who are attempting to have the Patriarchal, fatherly references removed from the Scriptures to make it more gender neutral. But they need to understand that God does and will have the final word.
In the book of the Bible we have chosen to deliver from --- Malachi. This is next to the last of what is called the Old Testament’s prophets --- John the Baptist was the last one.
Malachi gives us practical guidelines about commitment to God. He delivers to the people of Israel words that remind them that:
1. God deserves the best they have to offer,
2. They must be willing to change their wrong way of living,
3. They should make family a lifelong priority,
4. They should be ready for God’s refining process in their lives,
5. They should commit to the tithing of their income, and that there is no room for pride.
6. They should know and understand that there is a day of judgment that will fall upon all of those who do not love and fear the Lord God.
But church, what caught my attention was the final words of this prophet. You do understand that after the book of Malachi, there is not another word from God through a prophet for approximately 400 years?
They are called the silent years in between the testaments. We end with Malachi in the Old and begin with Matthew in the New. Malachi ends with the talk of a curse and Revelation nearly ends with talking of plagues.
What lasting words does God inspire Malachi to record as a prelude to 400 silent years to come…
5. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 6. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.’’
He ends by declaring to a nation then and to a nation now, that He was going to send a prophet that was here on earth, but now in heaven. And that prophet was going to specifically seek to reconcile fathers and children.
Eight out of the twelve versions of Scripture I examined translated this text to reference fathers the others translated it as parents. But the Hebrew Bible uses the word “Ab’” which is father.
I want to note two of those versions for you and then on to the application…
Living Bible --- 6 His preaching will bring fathers and children together again, to be of one mind and heart, for they will know that if they do not repent, I will come and utterly destroy their land.’’
Amplified ---- 6And he shall turn and reconcile the hearts of the [estranged] fathers to the [ungodly] children, and the hearts of the [rebellious] children to [the piety of] their fathers [a reconciliation produced by repentance of the ungodly], lest I come and smite the land with a curse and a ban of utter destruction.
I guess by now you can see the three points for the outline…The Heart of God, The Heart of the Fathers, and The Heart of the Children.
I. The Heart of God
There are two things that I want you to get right off the bat and that is God is a heart surgeon and that God has the heart of a father.
Heart Surgeon
First off He is a heart surgeon. Did you know that God examines the heart more than anything else? For God our motives, our actions, our attitudes, and everything else stems from a heart condition.
Consider these verses for Scriptural support of were the eyes of the Lord roam:
1 Samuel 16:7. But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’’
2 Chronicles 16:9a. For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.
Romans 8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart
The Bible has so much to say about the heart. I want don’t want to take up a lot of space here talking about the heart, but I need to connect this to where we are going so stay with me, let me give you two more verses:
Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.
Matthew 15:17. "Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18. "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19. "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. 20. "These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.’’
Heart of a Father
Does that prove He is a heart examiner? But you must also know that God has the heart of a Father. There are many ways to know God, but the one most intimate is that of a Father. God wants to be known not just as Lord, but as Father.
Look at Malachi 1:6:
6. "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence? Says the Lord of hosts to you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, `In what way have we despised Your name?’
What is the one relationship that is definitive throughout the New Testament? In the Old Testament we see the relationship of a God and his people. There are many other relationships that are etched into its pages, but you leave with a sense of a God and his people, very few intimate views.
They only knew God as just, but never as Father.
They only knew God who demanded full obedience of the law, but never as Father.
They only knew God who spoke of blessings and curses, but never as Father.
They only knew God as powerful, but never as Father.
But when Jesus came along He introduced to them and to us an intimacy with a God who seemed distant yet desire to be close.
In the New Testament what is that one definitive relationship that can be seen as a strong theme --- God as Father and we as His children. And that became more apparent when Jesus Christ came into the world. The one title Jesus often referred to God as --- was Father. And the on title He often referred to himself was --- Son.
He speaks of the Father seventeen times in the Sermon on the Mount and fifty-one times between John chapter 14 and 17.
God is seen as a Father, who loves, protects, gives, listens, is pleased with, chastises, and looks after, coaches, counsels, and a whole host of other things.
One of the ways God has chosen to manifest His heart as a Father is through the heart of men who would be fathers. I am not saying that God does not work through the hearts of wives, women, girls, men, boys, singles or marrieds.
But they way He has chosen to capture the part of Him who is Father is through those who would be fathers here on earth. That is why when you don’t have a father in your life it makes it most difficult to capture that part of God. It takes the work of the Spirit to capture that:
Romans 8:14. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15. And so we should not be like cringing, fearful slaves, but we should behave like God’s very own children, adopted into the bosom of his family, and calling to him, ``Father, Father.’’ 16. For his Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts, and tells us that we really are God’s children
That’s amazing to me. When we are not fathers, we rob our children of a model that helps them bridge that particular identity with God. That leads us to the heart of the Father.
II. The Heart of the Father
Father has become one the most controversial roles in many circles today. Many women would say they don’t need a man to be fathers to their children, just ask Jodie Foster or Rosie O’Donnell. Hollywood says they are inept and not stable. Many children are forced to get along without them.
But this no accident that God would inspire Malachi to declare more than an idea. This text is not the slip of the prophet’s pen but the picture a nation’s destiny hinging on the quality of a relationship between its fathers and children.
In the Hebrew text the word “father” is translated like this… father of an individual of God as father of his people, head or founder of a household, group, family, or clan, ancestor, or grandfather.
What a word. What a power-packed word. Is it any wonder all of God’s children are taught to pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven….”
Keith Meyering, administrator for Men’s Life, illustrates the incredible spiritual power of a father in a child’s life. He states:
When the father is an active believer there is about a seventy-five percent likelihood that the children will also become active believers. But if only the mother is a believer this likelihood is dramatically reduced to fifteen percent.
Listen, it doesn’t take long for you to see the hearts of the fathers in our culture today. Why, because it is reflected in the behavior of the children. Aside from their own inborn sinful nature, when the father’s heart is absent, the children can rebel which will lead to ungodly like actions.
An absent heart can lead to children absent of values, absent virtue, absent respect for adults, and absent respect for themselves.
The Model
A father influences the behavior of both son and daughter. Understand the model and don’t let it out of your mind and your heart.
A son can treat his wife by the way his father modeled treatment towards his mother. Now if that is the case I am wondering what a son would do without a model. Now a mother can teach him and tell him, but she can’t model it for him. So how would he emerging as a man know how to imitate it? (A seventh grader in school and Reston Powell as examples)
A daughter chooses a husband based on the character and qualities of her father. I am wondering what a daughter would do without a model. Now a mother can teach her and tell her, but how will the daughter relate if there is no man around who models or the men who are around are modeling that which contradicts the teaching and the telling.
The Mending
That lack of modeling has wounded many of us. Let’s be honest for a moment. Children, sit back and listen to these probing questions. What kind of man would you have turned out to be if your father was in your life?
What kind of mistakes could you have avoided as a woman in relationships had your father participated actively in your life?
Listen, what issues in life are you wrestling with now that your father did not overcome? What is it, now that you are 25, 35, and 45 that you have to deal with because your father could not or would not deal?
I am not asking you to participate in the blame game, but remember some of your extremism maybe related back to your relationship with your father. Maybe that’s the reason why you work so hard and so long to provide for your family because you didn’t have a father provide you.
So you have the mind, I am not going to let that happen to me. But in the process you are killing yourself and robbing your children of the one thing they need, not Nintendo, but daddio.
I have moved from modeling to meddling now to mending. Fathers have a heart. It is no coincidence that the Scriptures did not ask us to turn over our wallets to the children or to turn them over to their mothers, but we are to turn our hearts.
Because Daddy’s heart ought to be God the Father’s heart. Turn to neighbor and tell them, “We need fathers.” Turn to another and say, “We need grandfathers.”
If you are here and you are a father, keeping it going because we need it. If you are here today and have children, but have not been a father become one now, today, at this moment in your heart --- you will never regret it and your children will never forget it.
III. The Heart of the Children
To the children sitting in various places throughout this congregation this morning, the word for the day is, “Get Connected”.
Children get connected to your father or a father, which fully represent that which God wants to convey about Himself. Get connected for no other reason than the fact that one day the boys will become fathers and the girls will give birth to children of husbands who will be fathers.
Get unconnected to the world and get connected to the Word of God. For it commands honor for the father. We have too many Christian kids acting like all the other kids in the neighborhood.
Why does God make a special promise to children who obey their fathers? The reason, I believe, is this: God knew that children properly nurtured in a home or in their hearts would become the strengthening fiber in society.
That’s what Malachi helps to paint the picture of. If respect for authority, reverence, and honor did not start in the home, it would never get to the street. And if it never hit the street, it would never touch the community.
And if it didn’t touch the community, it wouldn’t affect the city. And if it didn’t affect the city, it would never move on to the state. Eventually a whole country undergoes a collapse that started because some kid didn’t want to do what Dad said.
We say, “Well, one kind can’t bring down a state.” Maybe, but try fifteen or twenty thousand disobedient young people.
Listen, all of us are children to somebody, whether we want to admit that or not. Some of us know our fathers and some of us don’t. But the text stated that children must also have hearts turned towards the father.
Our reactions to our fathers can be systemic to our reaction to the God who is Father. I am a little slow but I believe if you are here and he is not, you can by the power of the Father draw near in relationship or draw near in reconciliation even if he is not here with you today.
Did you know children that honor literally has the power of life and death in it? I don’t care how Bart Simpson treats his father. It doesn’t matter how Penny Proud reacts to her father. Forget about how BET or MTV say how you should treat your father --- God says that there is the power of life and death in honor.
Children get connected to your father down here, but don’t forget about your father up there.
