Sermon: Fathers Day
Date: June 21, 2009
Text: 1 Thes 2:7-12
Introduction
- The third Sunday in June is generally observed as Father’s Day, throughout the United States
- It was a woman in Spokane WA, Sonora Louise Smart Dodd, who is most frequently credited with originating the idea for a Father's Day observance, in 1909 - http://www.historictrinity.org/fathersdayorigin.html
- Her mother had died when she was very young, and her dad, a civil war veteran named William Smart, had had to raise herself and five sons
- Recognizing the difficulties he had faced, and as an expression of appreciation for his devotion, Mrs Dodd urged the Spokane Ministers Association to sponsor the first Father’s Day Celebration, to honor all fathers
- This first celebration was held in Spokane on the third Sunday of June - the month of her father's birth - in 1910, with local ministers calling the attention of their congregations to the appreciation fathers deserved.
- William Jennings Bryan, complimented Mrs. Dodd on the inspiration for Father's Day , and remarked," too much emphasis cannot be placed upon the relation between parent and child."
- The observance of Father's Day did not spread rapidly - not, for instance, as rapidly as Mother's Day, which was started just before this time
- Several others also came up with the idea, independently, but Mrs. Dodd is credited with beginning the celebration.
- President Woodrow Wilson officially approved the idea of Father's Day in 1916.
- Then in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson issued a Proclamation that Father's Day be observed on the third Sunday in June.
- On Father's Day in 1970 Mrs. Dodd, still living in Spokane, stressed the fact the one very important, timely, practical value attached to Father's Day was to provide an occasion for children to express appreciation of their fathers and for fathers to acknowledge their responsibilities to their children.
- Many of us have had dads who did not live up to their responsibilities
- Many of us ourselves have not been the parents we should have been.
- But we can break the cycle, by being good role models in the future, and raising up our children to be responsible dads when they grow up
- Today we are going to look at some of the roles dad’s play in the family
- 1 Thes 2:7-12 “As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.
8We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.
- 9Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.
10You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.
- 11For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children,
- 12encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.
ABLE TO EXPRESS GENUINE LOVE
- 1 Thes 2:7-12 “As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.
- The first attribute a father exhibits, is that of love
- This is important – it does not come naturally to most men
- We need to learn to show love
- In the Bible, women are rarely told to love their husbands because that tends to come naturally for them
- That can be stunted and crippled of course, by the experiences men have put them through
- But it the natural order of things, women are naturally loving.
- Men, on the other hand do not have this natural ability
- So Paul tells us in Eph 5:25 – husbands love your wives
- He describes this love as the love which will give up everything for the other person, including his life
- This does not come naturally, and it is something we have to learn
- This applies not only to our relationship with our wife, but also with our children
- How many of us are fathers?
- When our baby came home, we had to learn to cradle the baby in our arms, so the head is supported
- We had to learn to protect the soft spot on the top of the baby’s head, because it was vulnerable
- We had to learn how to deal with our baby when it cried, and when it needed its diaper changed
- For our wife, however, it seemed a more natural thing
- Our wives don’t seem to have the same learning curve in this area
- We have to learn to be affectionate dads
- But then one day, our baby is grown up
- Our grownup child still needs the same affection
- We don’t change diapers any more, but our kids still need hugs and kisses and affection
- In my case I never had a child of my own
- I have had to learn to be a dad to my step children
- I know I still have a lot of learning to do
- But I love them, and I tell them and they know it and love me back
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- LIVING A TRANSPARENT LIFE
- The second train Paul talks about is transparency
- 1 Thes 2:8 We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.
- He speaks of sharing the gospel and his own life as well
- It is one thing to speak the gospel, it is another to live it
- Paul is saying he was a role model for these people in Thessalonica
- If you are a Christian, your children should know it by the way you live
- It will affect the way you speak, the things you watch, the activities you engage in, and the values you hold dear
- It means that when it is appropriate, you will tell your kids about mistakes you have made in the way in which you brought them up, in the e3xample you have set, and the ways in which you have let them down
- This will promote healing in your relationship
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- CARING FOR OUR FAMILY
- 1 Thes 2:8 Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.
- Part of being a dad is that we take care of those for whom we have taken responsibility
- This means that we get a job, build a stable home, and provide for our family
- In our lives, thing have often gone wrong
- We no longer have that relationship that we used to have
- But we still have a responsibility to our children, to ensure they are cared for and able to grow to maturity
- So it is important that we take care of these responsibilities
- We should pay our child support, to the utmost of our ability
- Some of us probably owe enormous sums
- But our role as dad, is also that of a provider
- After we divorce, we still have a responsibility to our children
- Financially, but also in our communication with them, our encouragement, and backing them up, and the example we set
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- CONCLUSION
- A dad has many responsibilities
- But it is awesome to be a dad and have children whom we see grow up under our very eyes
- It is incredible that we have the chance to mold a new life as it grows up, to become a mature and responsible adult
- We may have messed up in the past, but we can make amends and change the course of the future, starting today
- We may need forgiveness, both from our child and from God
- But God’s forgiveness is available to us, so that we can move beyond the wreckage of the past
- The cycle can stop with us
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