Pastor Stewart asked me to speak in our church along with 2 other men in honor of Father's Day. It went well. Deacon Lamar Gaines and Brother Keith Warren Gaines did awesome. I've put a transcript approximating my remarks from that day. The text in "[]" was something I thought I was going to say but during the time I was delivering this, I thought that it was too far a digression but I included it today. The pictures are of my family.
Fatherhood is a gift from God. Plain and simple. It’s one of the best gifts that I have ever received and perhaps the most daunting. When I think of what being a father is I feel blessed and grateful because God did not have to give me Makayla or Matthias. I think of how I get to be a link in a chain that stretches back to the beginning of the human race. I get to pass on the things God wants us to know to a new generation as it was passed to me.
My own father is a good example for me. He showed me much about how important it is to provide for the family God has given you charge over. And although he always taught me that education was important, he himself modeled that the most important things you can learn are about God. God makes life worthwhile. I never have seen my daddy reading many things, but I have always seen him read and study the Bible as if life depends on him knowing as much about God as possible because it does. He instituted the policy in his household thst we all go to Sunday School every Sunday and he was always at YPWW and any other service he could go to. In addition every opportunity I have had came from God, through the sacrifices of my parents. These are the legacies that I have obtained from my father that I owe to Makayla and Mathias to pass on to them as I have received. I believe that this is the responsibility of every parent to their children (ie the children God has put in their lives.)
I’ve recently heard a lecture from a psychologist who studied famous atheist and found out they all had poor relationships with their fathers. He concluded that a bad human father makes it difficult (not impossible) to accept God as Father. Hearing this made me even more grateful for my father. It also challenged me because the last thing I want to do is to be a stumbling block to Makayla and Matthias to come to God.
There are a lot of scriptures about being a father. The Bible even gives examples of what not to do. For example when you have time check out Jephthah from Judges Chapter 11. Although Issac and Jacob were not horrible fathers, they still showed favoritism. That is also as fathers we must avoid. God doesn’t do it. We should not either. [As a freebee, at the risk of digressing too much, I’ve got to point out that election spoken of in Romans 9 and the way that God selects us in Ephesians 1: 4-6 says
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
I love it…for this is the gospel in a nutshell. Again this is what I want to make sure our children (and all of us) get.
The passage does not mean that God shows favoritism because “chose” which in the Greek is “eklegomai” means “chosen/pick out of a group” and carries the thought that what is selected is “picked without rejecting that which was not picked”. God picked you for Himself without rejecting anyone else. Just like when I choose to give Makayla a birthday gift in August, it does not mean that I’m rejecting Matthias if I don’t give him the same gift. I’m going to have press this point further at a different time.
Back to topic:] I want to focus on the scriptures that come to mind first about fatherhood.
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 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! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets – Matthew 7:7-11
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. – Ephesians 6:4
Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their enemies in the gate.
Pslam 17:3-5
These are just snippets of what the Bible teaches about fatherhood. Fathers are important to God and He is holding us accountable for the families He has graced us with. He wants us to call him “Daddy” and have that kind of right relationship with Him. This is why Jesus came and died. Remember Pastor Stewart’s message reminding us to remember we are children of God and admonishing us to remind one another?
I want to end with Romans 8: 14-16 which says:
because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
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