Fathers

Father’s DAY 2015

“God never withholds from His child that which His love and wisdom call good. God’s refusals are always merciful—‘severe mercies’ at times, but mercies all the same. God never denies us our hearts’ desire except to give us something better.”  Ellisabeth Eliot, well known missionary to the native tribes of Ecuador,  and author who died on June 14 of this year at age 88

She also said this which is a shorter version of the same idea:

“Leave it all in the Hands that were wounded for you.”

1.      Our Lord Jesus Christ sets the example for fathers in attitude of acceptance despite the behavior of others.  Luke 15:2

“ This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them….”  So the Pharisees said about our Lord Jesus Christ.  Receives here is a special Greek word, which means to receive favorably. Also Romans 16:2 and that word is the same Greek word , receiving a believer “ I commend to you Phebe our sister which is a servant of the church..that ye receive her in the Lord, as becomes saints…”

Well, does this shake you up as it did me when I saw it?  Then Jesus not only received them, making grace possible for them, but He ate with them!  As fathers and Christians, God is our example in our conduct, is it not? “ Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear Him. For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.” Ps 103:13

And we must act as fathers , mature spiritual children ( I John 2:13  “ I write unto you fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning”) in our love for our children, whether spiritual or physical in the family .

How do we receive others? 

2.      LOST ---the man looks for his lost sheep. The woman looks for the lost coin.  The father looks for his lost son.  What does it feel like to be lost?  Some of us remember that in our own spiritual lives as we felt lost before we had received Christ and eternal life.  How did we come to be found?  I am sure it involved someone else who mirrored the Father’s compassion in some way or fashion, did it not?

We may have read some good thoughts or Bible verses, but there was a human spark to kindle the fire.  Someone showed us love when we did not have it .  Some of us are like the chair that Benjamin Franklin reportedly commented on in Independence Hall in Philadelphia. He looked at the picture of the sun, and asked, whether the coming country was going to exist, and he said , “ Is this a rising sun or setting sun?” 

Our Heavenly Father looked for us and He found us.  “ There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.” 15: 7.

3.Often our world does not feel that it is loved .  Christians sometimes feel this way as well.

Jesus taught in the Lord’s Prayer to say “ Father” in Luke 11 version or “ Our Father in heaven “ Matthew 6

The events of the past week would surely confirm our fears that we are right to feel fearful and that God has abandoned us. 

The man accused of killing nine people inside a black church in Charleston has made his first court appearance, with the relatives of all the victims making tearful statements.

Dylann Roof appeared via video before a judge in South Carolina. He wore a jail jumpsuit and was handcuffed, and spoke only to answer questions. When asked his age, he told the judge he was 21. He also told the judge he was unemployed.

Relatives of the shooting victims also spoke at the hearing, with one victim's daughter sobbing as she said, "I forgive you."

When God brings us into situations we had not planned for we may feel lost.  The Lord’s Prayer has the phrases, “ Lead us not into temptation “ and “ Deliver us from evil ( the evil one)”.  These situations must go back to our original words in the prayer Jesus taught us, “ Father”.  If God pities us as His children, then because of that relationship all will turn out well.  We call this the providence of God.  He will never let us be abandoned but in the darkest times is our Shepherd.

“ The LORD is my Shepherd . I shall not want…Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me….Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”  Ps. 23

As Eliot said, “ Leave it all in the Hands that were wounded for you.”

In the Name of the Father , and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.