The Father Who Finds Nemo

FATHER’S DAY 2024

THE FATHER WHO FINDS NEMO

LUKE 15:11-32 #FathersDay

STORY SEGMENT 1

Clownfish Marlin and his wife, Coral, live happily in an anemone in the Great Barrier Reef near Australia. They are about to become parents, waiting for their many eggs to hatch. It is a happy time full of anticipation. An ooooh-barracuda, which is a large predatory fish known for its fearsome appearance and ferocious disposition, is out for a meal. It approaches the anemone and knocks Marlin unconscious. Upon awakening, Marlin discovers that Coral and all but one of the eggs have been eaten by the nasty barracuda. The last remaining egg has all of his attention. Marlin vows to keep his only surviving child safe.

TRANSITION - FATHERHOOD

Yes! Today is Father’s Day. Father’s Day is a secular holiday that we also loosely observe in the church because it is not a bad thing to focus on fatherhood, encourage thankfulness of fathers and men who have influenced us, and even challenge fathers in their important task. We all know that Mother’s Day is far more important than Father’s Day in the scheme of things, but our attention to fathers is important.

ILLUSTRATION… barnadev.wpengine.com/research/friendship-and-fatherhood/

Social scientists tell us that fathers and men who fill father-rolls in life are important. Research tells us that men in general are having children later than past generations and perceptions of gender roles within fatherhood are shifting; in fact, 78 percent of practicing Christian men tell Barna Research they think it’s okay for fathers to be stay-at-home parents. The role of father is very important for children and to us.

Christian men who report a positive relationship with their father growing up are considerably more likely to say they are very satisfied in their relationship to their own children (53%, compared to 42%).

And men, don’t think just because you are not a father that being a mentor or an influence is not important. Strong supportive connections outside the home matter as data shows that especially intergenerational friendships tend to correlate with greater overall relationship satisfaction. Practicing Christian men who report having intergenerational friendships with both older and younger men are nearly twice as likely to be very satisfied in their relationship with their children (54% vs. 30%) and in their marriages (63% vs. 54%).

What does research tell us? It tells us that fathers are important influences in our lives and having a good relationship with a father or a father-figure is a great indicator of marriage health, health with relationships with children, and general satisfaction with life.

STORY SEGMENT 2

Clownfish Marlin immediately and over time becomes overprotective of his son, Nemo. On Nemo's first day at school, the two have a heated argument regarding Marlin's parenting approach. Through a series of unfortunate events on a school fieldtrip, Nemo defiantly swims to a speedboat and is captured by scuba divers. It is Marlin’s worst fears realized and his son is lost and gone out of reach.

Marlin frantically pursues the fast boat in vain. In the course of time, Marlin meets Dory, a blue tang with acute short-term memory loss, who offers to help him. The two encounter Bruce, Anchor, and Chum, three sharks who have sworn to abstain from eating fish and through another set of events, blood sends Bruce into a frenzy and he accidentally sets off old naval mines. The journey to finding Nemo is dangerous.

Nemo is placed in a fish tank in the office of dentist Philip Sherman in Sydney, Australia who is the scuba diver who caught him. Nemo meets the "Tank Gang", led by Gill. The gang finds out that Dentist Philip Sherman plans to give Nemo to his niece, Darla, who killed all of her previous pet fish. Gill, who also wishes to return to the ocean, devises an escape plan: Nemo, the smallest fish in the tank, will block the aquarium's filter tube with a pebble, obliging Sherman to put the fish into bags while he cleans the tank. This will allow them to roll out the window and into the harbor. Nemo attempts to block the filter but fails and is almost killed by the filter's machinery, causing Gill to feel deeply regretful.

Meanwhile, Marlin and Dory have many perilous adventures along their way searching for Nemo. Everyfish in the ocean hears that Marlin is searching for Nemo. The story of Marlin's quest is relayed by the turtles all across the ocean to Sydney, where it reaches Nigel, a pelican who regularly converses with the “Tank Gang.” Nigel tells the “Tank Gang” of Marlin's journey, motivating Nemo to try blocking the filter again.

Watch this clip:

VIDEO CLIP… youtube.com/watch?v=kUsC5fR_EMY

NEMO THE FATHER

In the clip I just showed you that happens in the middle of the story about Nemo, the pelican tells Nemo that his dad Marlin has been swimming the entire ocean looking for him. He tells him he has travelled hundreds of miles battling sharks and jellyfish. Nemo reflects and knows his dad is very timid and safety conscious and would never do such things. He’s a great dad, but not bold and daring like that.