SPECIAL DAYS: Father's Day

June 18, 2000 - LESSON: Ephesians 5.25-33, 6.4, NRSV

SERMON TITLE: Fathers, Husbands and Significant Others

(Back to sermons for 2000)   (Back to sermons Home Page)     (Back to Shultz Home Page)

INTRODUCTION:

  1. What should we speak about on Father's Day.
    1. Feel good without any substance.
    2. Substance with Guilt.
    3. Why can't we have substance with feel good?

MAIN BODY:

  1. Feel good with no substance.
    1. Don't ask why:
      1. Our granddaughter's second-grade class was asked to write about their personal heroes.
      2. Her father was flattered to find out that she had chosen him.
      3. "Why did you pick me?" he asked.
      4. "Because I couldn't spell Arnold Schwarzenegger," she said.
    2. Things are still not quite equal:
      1. The Illinois Bell Telephone Co. reports that the volume of long-distance calls made on Father's Day is growing faster than the number on Mother's Day.
      2. The company apologized for the delay in compiling the statistics, but explained that extra billing of calls to fathers slowed things down.
      3. Most of them were "collect."
    3. A little girl wrote, "My dad is such a nice man that I think he must have been a girl when he was a boy." (1)
    4. "My son's letters always send me to the dictionary," bragged the father of a Harvard undergraduate. "You're lucky," replied his friend. "My kid's letters always send me to the bank." (2)

(Top)     (Back to sermons for 2000)   (Back to sermons Home Page)     (Back to Shultz Home Page)

  1. Substance with guilt.
    1. Paul Harvey has written, "What Is a Father?"
      1. A father is a thing that is forced to endure childbirth, without an anesthetic.
      2. A father is a thing that growls when it feels good -- and laughs when it's scared half to death.
      3. He never feels entirely worthy of the worship in a child's eyes. He's never quite the hero his daughter thinks--never quite the man his son believes him to be--and this worries him, sometimes. So he works too hard to try and smooth the rough places in the road for those of his own who will follow him.
      4. Fathers grow old faster than people. Because they have to stand at the airport and wave good-bye to the uniform that climbs aboard. And while mothers can cry where it shows, fathers have to stand there and beam outside--and die inside.
      5. Fathers have very stout hearts, so they have to be broken sometimes or no one would know what's inside.
      6. Fathers are what give daughters away to other men who aren't nearly good enough--so they can have grandchildren that are smarter than anybody's.
      7. Fathers fight dragons--almost daily. They hurry away from the breakfast table; off to the arena which is sometimes called an office or a workshop. There with calloused, practiced hands they tackle the dragon with three heads: Weariness, Work, and Monotony. And they never quite win the fight but they never give up.
      8. Knights in shining armor--fathers in shiny trousers --there's little difference, as they march away to work each workday.

(Top)     (Back to sermons for 2000)   (Back to sermons Home Page)     (Back to Shultz Home Page)

    1. In Home Life Magazine there was an article titled, "Father's Ten Tenets for Building His Children's Future". (3)
      1. He makes himself responsible for his child's behavior.
      2. He share in his child's activities
      3. He makes his child feel secure
      4. He has his child's complete confidence
      5. He is never blinded by love to his child's faults--he knows he serves his child's interest best by recognizing and correcting weakness.
      6. He is always available to help solve youthful problems.
      7. He does not demand finial devotion -- he wins it.
      8. He recognizes and accepts as largely his, responsibility for the child's mental and spiritual development.
      9. He contributes to making the home his child's heaven and the church his child's spiritual home.
      10. He strives to be the man his child thinks he is.
  1. Why can't we have feel good with substance.
    1. Perhaps there is a way to reduce guilt and find some substance.
    2. Christianity also seeks to establish the greatest force for good and change in the world.
      1. It is not law.
        1. Law has a tendency to be applied rigorously, often without mercy.
        2. God describes law as a schoolmaster whose purpose is to lead us to Christ.
        3. In Christ there is no "law."
      2. It is love which is the greatest.
    3. The strength, tenderness and beauty of love is called upon in our lesson from Ephesians in two ways.
      1. Ephesians 5:25-33 NRSV
        1. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, [26] in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, [27] so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind--yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish. [28] In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. [29] For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, [30] because we are members of his body. [31] "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." [32] This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church. [33] Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect her husband.
        2. With this kind of love, love will not only be for one's spouse, but also for one's children.

(Top)     (Back to sermons for 2000)   (Back to sermons Home Page)     (Back to Shultz Home Page)

      1. This is the purpose of Paul's counsel in Ephesians 6:4 NRSV
        1. [4] And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
        2. Love is not irritating
        3. Love is not annoying.

CONCLUSION:

  1. Love is the greatest.
    1. The love of a father: C. Roy Angel
      1. Spencer Tracy in "The Father of the Bride." He spent weeks and a small fortune in preparation for the wedding.
      2. His only concern was that the daughter he adored would have everything she wanted for the big occasion.
      3. He endured the rehearsals without complaining. He didn't mind being pushed around and even ignored in the frantic rush at the wedding.
      4. After the ceremony the crowd wouldn't let him through to get in the pictures that were being taken of the wedding party.
      5. The only thing that upset him was that he couldn't even get through to say good-bye to his daughter.
      6. From a distance he saw her, in a shower of rice, climb into the waiting car and be rushed away.
      7. When the crowd had gone, he sat down among the debris in the living room, frustrated, depressed, and lonely.
      8. Then the telephone rang. He let it ring awhile and finally answered it with a tired growl.
      9. Suddenly he was all attention, for over the wire came the sweetest message.
      10. His daughter was saying, "Oh, daddy, we're at the railroad station and I couldn't leave without telling you good-bye and that you are the most wonderful daddy in the world. I love you more than I can ever tell you. I wish I could put my arms around you and kiss you a dozen times. I'll see you as soon as we get back."
      11. He hung up the telephone with a face filled with joy, despite a few tears that ran down his cheeks.
      12. Turning to his wife he said, "Everything is like it used to be. I haven't lost a daughter at all...I feel like dancing."
    2. Everything was not like it used to be, but it was good.
    3. So may it be with all Father's on Father's Day.

      4.  

1. PROCLAIM, 2nd Qt., 1985, p.43

2. The Lion

3. Home Life Magazine

(Top)     (Back to sermons for 2000)   (Back to sermons Home Page)     (Back to Shultz Home Page)