Unshakeable Men (An Unshakeable Hope)

Intro:

Good morning and Happy Father’s Day. Every 3rd Sunday of June our world celebrates the manhood of every father in the world. We celebrate their genuine love, their sacrifice to establish their own family and the good examples that they showed that mold us into responsible adults. We have our own experiences with our earthly fathers and it reflects on how we call them like most of us we call them “papa or short-term paps”, “daddy or dad”, “tatay, tay or itay”, “amang o ama”. Although it has the same meaning to all of us.

One of the important characteristics our father has is being sacrificial and sustaining. He is unsusceptible to any discouragement that would lose their hope especially when it comes to family. He will remain to be the last man standing within the family. Since our theme for this month is “Unshakeable Hope” with a theme verse found in 1 Corinthians 15:58 which says “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

And so today, I have chosen 3 fathers in the Bible whose lives were great examples of being steady, immovable and an example of being worker for God whose works will never be forgotten by his family and by his God. Today we will know those who are…

Unshakeable Men Ang Di-Matitinag na mga Lalaki

1 Thessalonians 2:11-12

11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deal with his own children, 12 encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

ASND “Alam ninyong katulad ng isang ama sa kanyang mga anak ang turing namin sa bawat isa sa inyo. Pinalakas namin ang loob n'yo, pinayuhan at hinikayat na mamuhay nang karapat-dapat sa Dios na humirang sa inyo para sa kanyang kaharian at kadakilaan.

Though the Apostle Paul has never been a father who has his own children, his disciples within his influence considered him as their father in faith and not in flesh. For Paul, the influence of being a father is someone who is encouraging, comforting and urging to live a godly life, which is the primary requirement for godly works. We need good examples of being steady in their faith, immovable in his principles and available for God’s works. In short, we need unshakeable men and women of God whose hopes are high despite of all difficulties and trials in life that come along their way.

So, the question is “Who are these unshakeable men with full of hope in the Bible?” This question can be answered immediately by those major Bible characters we know like Abraham, Noah, David etc. But I could give 3 unnoticed fathers in the Bible but have major learnings and contributions to our faith.

1. Joseph (the foster father of Jesus) – the protective father mapagtanggol na ama

Surely one of the most underrated fathers in the Bible was Joseph, the foster father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We knew Joseph as the one who taught Jesus’ carpentry and the basic teachings of the law of Moses when he and Mary went to the temple for Him to be dedicated. We saw Joseph as the Bible calls him as a “righteous man”. And Jesus must have loved his earthly father for his quiet strength, honesty and kindness.

Yet Joseph went through great difficulties to protect his wife Mary and their baby Jesus. To whom did he protect his family from?

a. From public judgement – Joseph protected his wife Mary from public disgrace as he decided to cancel his marriage to Mary secretly after finding out that she is pregnant.

Matthew 1:19 “Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.”

Did he plan to divorce her because he wanted to save his own life from being unlawful by marrying an adulterer? Absolutely not. But instead, he was thinking of Mary.

Application:

Fathers will always protect the dignity of their own family. Family’s name is so important to our Filipino culture. And on the other hand, we are so proud if one of our family members is succeeding and excelling. How much more our God who is so protective to His own children.

Matthew 7:9-11 “9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”