As a young father sitting in the pew, I felt guilty hearing a Father’s Day sermon. I could never live up to that virtuous Christian father so often extolled. When I became a pastor, I realized I would never have to listen to such sermons again as long as I never preached one! Nevertheless, the importance of Christian fatherhood needs to be addressed.
It’s difficult because fathers come in such varieties these days. Some greet their children when they come home from work, hear about their day, and attend a ball game or piano recital. Divorced dads perhaps see their children on a scheduled basis. There are dads of adoptive children. There are dads who have an empty spot in their hearts because of a stillbirth or miscarriage. And there are dads who have an empty spot in their hearts because of the death of a child through abortion.
How do you talk about the importance of fatherhood without moralizing and without burdening already burdened hearts? Perhaps the place to start is the fatherhood of God. Remember Jesus’ words to Mary? “Go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’” (John 20:17b ESV).
We learn two amazing things from these words. First, we have a Father who is God! That gives “father knows best” a divinely important meaning. We should not take lightly His directions concerning the vocation of fatherhood. Fathers are important! Our Father, who is God, asks that fathers provide for their children (2 Corinthians 12:14), discipline them (Hebrews 12:7-11), be good examples (2 Chronicles 17:3), and most important, instruct them in the Lord’s saving Word (Ephesians 6:4). We have a Father who is God, and He promises the strength of His abiding presence (Philippians 4:13) as we strive to be obedient.
Our obedience wavers, however, and sometimes fails miserably. That’s why the second amazing thing we learn from Jesus’ words to Mary is so important. We not only have a Father who is God, we have a God we can call Father! Listen to Paul:
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Galatians 4:4-6)
“Abba” is Aramaic and was a term of endearment, a more intimate term often used by children in the home. Our term “daddy” would be comparable. The idea that we finite, reprobate creatures could call the infinite, holy God “daddy” seems incomprehensible and blasphemous. So it would be were it not for our “adoption as sons.” The Son of the Father took our place under the law and bore the curse of the law so that we might be called sons of the Father. Cleansed by His blood, declared holy by His Father, and filled with His Spirit we dare utter, “Abba! Father!”
Under this context of having a God we can call Father, we strive to be obedient to our Father who is God. Neither our successes nor failures as fathers have anything to do with attaining or maintaining our relationship with God as His sons. He has taken care of that. We live as His sons assured of His love, His forgiveness, and eternal life. Do we make mistakes as fathers in carrying out our Father’s will? Yes, frequently. Do we sometimes make very big mistakes, horrible mistakes? Yes. Do any of these exclude us from our Father’s love? No.
This Gospel message speaks loudly to all fathers. Most of us hear it, rejoice in it, lift up our heads, and keep going. But others, especially those who have been involved in an abortion decision, do not always hear this Good News applied to them. One of the reasons LFL exists is to reach out to such fathers and to equip and encourage the Lord’s church and her pastors to do the same. If we never talk about the sin of abortion, then we can never apply the message of God’s Fatherhood in Christ to those hurting because of this sin. They never hear the comfort and hope of being His sons applied to them. But when they realize they too are fully redeemed sons of God in Jesus Christ, their hearts and lives change.
How do you talk about the importance of fatherhood without moralizing and without burdening already burdened hearts? A good place to start is the Fatherhood of God! Thanks for helping LFL speak to fathers and to so many others about our adoption as sons and about the Spirit of Christ who enables us to cry out in humble joy, “Abba! Father!”