The Choice To Be A Father

The Choice To Be A Father

Psalms 1:1-6 Ephesians 6:1-4 Text Luke 7:11-17

Today is father’s day. It is a day we take time to say thank you to the men in this world who have impacted our lives in a wonderful and helpful way. For some of us it is a day of sadness and reflection for those men and fathers who are no longer with us on this side of the grave, but fond memories of them remain in our hearts.

For some it is a day of rejoicing and celebrating because those men are still with us and still bringing joy into our lives. For some it is a day of regret, as we think about what might have been if only circumstances had been different and different choices had been made.

I can honestly say that being a father has been one of the most rewarding blessings that God sent into my life. My second most loved name to be called by is Dad. I would tell you my most favorite which comes from my wife, but I would hear some of you calling it out for the rest of the day as a joke.

One of the great honors of serving at Roxbury, at Glenville, at Calvary, and at New Life at Calvary for an extended numbers of years was watching so many of the men becoming great fathers, husbands and leaders in the church.

I watched several of you men who had no children of your own, yet you heavily invested in the youth of this church. As a pastor, you do think of the youth in the church as your own in a spiritual kind of way. I am so proud of so many of your accomplishments in life and in your walk with the Lord. You all will never what a tremendous impact you have had on my life. For that I say thank you.

So often we can’t see the impact that our lives have on others, so I encourage you to look around you and for father’s day, call and tell a man who may not know what a blessing they were in your life through something they may have done for you or said to you. I shared the story once, of when I was a twelve year old boy in Georgia back in 1968 when segregation was the law of the land. Racism was normal and in Dublin still had the white and colored fountains at the filling stations and bus station.

I got caught stealing in a grocery store, and I was terrified after being taken into a room in the back of the store with two white men. They closed the door and fear gripped my heart as a little Negro kid. But I was not terrified enough to keep from telling a lie. When the young white store manager asked me why I was stealing, I said,” Some older boys made me do it or they were going to beat me up”.

The young manager told me, to go home and have my parents call the store or else he was going to send the police to my house. I got home as soon as I could and had my grandmother call while my mother was at work.

I knew I could smooth talk my grandmother a lot easier than my mom. She called and I heard the manager say to her, “He seemed like a nice kid and I didn’t want to ruin his life by getting the police involved. You all handle the situation.” I didn’t go back into that store until decades later after my life had been totally changed.

The store had changed its name and was called Piggly Wiggly. I went into the store on one of my vacation visits back to Dublin. I saw this older white man who looked vaguely familiar. I went up to him and asked, “Excuse me sir, but were you ever a manager in this store back when it was called Colonial.” He said, “yes I was.”

I said you won’t remember this but when I was twelve years old, I stole something out of the store and got caught, and you gave me a second chance. I want you to know I went on to become a Christian, A presbyterian pastor, and a lawyer. Thank you for giving me that second chance. He said, “Son you have really made my day.” But in actuality, being able to say thank you to him, made my day. Is there anyone left that you can say thank you to for helping you more than they will know?

How many of you know that you would not be here today if your parents never existed? How many of you that you would not be here today if your grandparents never existed? How many of you know that you would not be here today if your great-grandparents had never existed? If we stop right there, do you realize God had to organize 30 people’s lives for you to be born and that 15 of them were men. So even if you had problems with one of the 15, be thankful for the other 14 whom God used to make you possible.