Fathers Day 2009
Psalm 32
While sitting in my office preparing for this sermon for Fathers Day I was hoping that it would be a thoughtful message full of wisdom, reflection and insight. All the while I could not help but wonder if the smell I was taking in from my office could be attributed to the new paint on the walls or was in fact coming from one of the four electrical outlets I rewired with new receptacles?
I remember getting shocked at least four times as I rewired my office using my limited skills and knowledge I am used to that in fact my wife is even used to that. It seems everyone in my family is aware of my limited abilities when it comes to household electrical repairs. For everyone it is a given that I succeeded replacing the electrical outlets by trial and error. They also understand that a successful home renovation means that we did not have to dial 9-1-1 more than twice.
Still I wonder if the smell in the room is from the paint that is drying or could it be coming from a still smoldering electrical outlet? Only time will tell and depending on the actual origin of the odor time could in fact be very telling indeed.
For me that is what Fathers Day is like. It arrives each year as a kind of telling or telltale sign of what society and the Hallmark Card Company considers Fathers to be all about. You can come off as a real success as a Father or come off as a real stinker with the kind of odour that is hard to categorize. It depends on what has transpired over the last year.
Being a Father is kind of like cheese, some of us ripen with age and only then do we acquire our full aroma and flavor. Some of us will need the mold scraped off before it is realized that there is something worth saving underneath. Each Father will have a distinctive flavor that helps to distinguish him from the other fathers making him unique.
Wow, have I lost all direction here comparing Fathers to moldy cheese? It must have been a hard week for me to conclude that you have to get past the mold in my life as a Father if you want to see any of the good bits. It may sound a little harsh but that is what I find Psalm 32 speaking about as I read it.
Here David makes a comparison between people like him and mules or horses. He avoids the cheese analogy all together. You know the old saying, you can lead a horse to water but you can not make him drink or the other one he is as stubborn as a mule. Both these old sayings seem to have a root of authorship here. David is saying that some of us are like that horse who refuses to be led by the bit in our mouth which is Gods word and some of us need to be hit over the head from time to time in the same way a grand mother might use a bible as a tool of instruction or correction.
In a nutshell that is what being a Father is about. It is realizing your limitations as a human being, your strengths and weaknesses and your absolute dependence on God to help you through the tangled road map of life as you try to be an example and blessing for your children who are looking to you to lead them through the same road map.
Here in Psalm 32 David is laying it all out for us in a straight line. The man or Father who seeks the forgiveness of God in his life will know the blessing of God and will have his sins covered.
Our world is pretty hard on Fathers. It pokes a lot of fun at them as well as a lot of harsh criticism through television and movies. Today our kids have examples like Homer Simpson, Stan Smith from American Dad, and Peter Griffin from Family Guy. All of these Fathers are portrayed as inept, incompetent and insecure. I guess if I am honest I am guilty of all three of those charges but it is not for a lack of trying.
Being a Christian Dad I realize I am a sinner who is in need of Gods ever present hand in my life. I do not feel as though Gods hand is heavy upon me like some great weight but rather I sense that Gods hand is there to gently hold me and cover me as a means of protection from the sin in my life and the world around me.
Even in the cartoon examples I gave you there are redeeming qualities. Several years ago my son Josh pointed out to me one of Homer Simpsons greatest qualities. Josh got tired of hearing me trash the television show one day and said - your right Dad they make Homer out to be a joke as a Dad, his own family fails to respect him, his boss walks all over him and he often makes bad decisions but the creators of the show have Homer taking his family to church every Sunday.
I was caught breathless that my son had made that observation all on his own. But it was true, Homer was all those things yet he was still a God fearing man. I stopped my criticism of the show that day and began to watch it with my son looking for moral lessons amidst the chaos. Once again that is exactly what we Fathers are to do, look for moral lessons amidst the chaos of life as it explodes all around us and our children.
Every Father regardless of how old his children are is a man who is constantly looking for answers. Right from the moment our children begin to speak they utter the most difficult words in the English language, why Daddy, why?
With their big hopeful eyes and trusting face looking into our soul we Fathers attempt to explain everything that our children ask us from why the sky is blue to why they must suffer a broken heart.
We do not always come up with the right answers and just like David we sometimes groan all day long as if our bones were wasting away. So great is the desire to want to provide the right answers and so complex are the problems we are given that we are often left with our strength sapped. Just as a maple tree is drained of its sap we too feel our inner strength is drained away or bled off by the many problems we attempt to solve as Fathers.
Praise God that we do not have to rely on our own strength or wisdom! Our Heavenly Father offers to instruct us in the way we should go. Our Heavenly Father provides the counsel we need and watches over us with his care and protection.
What a comfort that is to me as a Christian Dad. Despite the conflicts my children face or the conflicts I encounter with them as a parent God is the Peace Maker.
The bible has many examples of Fathers. Some are great role models and others are outright shameful examples. In all the extremes we find ourselves somewhere in between.
We like them are just men, flesh and blood who happen to be fathers with children who need to be provided with the necessities of life food, clothing, shelter and protection. But as Fathers our responsibility goes further than the necessities of this life. We as Fathers are to point our children towards God. That is a sacred responsibility for which we are accountable.
Even Homer Simpson seems to realize this as he takes his family to church each Sunday. Homer may fall asleep in church and miss the message entirely but he at least got his children into the sanctuary.
We need to be able to say that we did just as much. Maybe we are not the best example of Christian living, maybe we are not the best example of what a Godly man is but at least we can bring our children to a place where they can learn about our Heavenly Father and His love for them. Jesus is the best example we can expose our children to.
The bible says in Proverbs 11:30
30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
and he who wins souls is wise.
A Father exemplifies wisdom when he tries to win his child to Christ.
James 5:20
20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
Be a Dad who demonstrates the same character as our Heavenly Father will be a Dad who covers over a multitude of sins, be forgiving, not critical or judgmental. Like the parable of the Prodigal Son welcome your children with open arms and an open heart when they return to you after recognizing the error of their ways. Likewise children receive your Fathers in the same way with unconditional love.
Oh and Dads read Psalm 32 this week at least once and know that God is proud of your efforts as a father.
