Community Church Sermons

Year C

June 20, 2010

Pentecost 4

Happy Father’s Day

Psalm 103:1-14

Luke 15:11-32

Rev. Dr. R. Tim Meadows

LISTEN IN!

Happy Father’s Day! As you know Father’s Day is not a religious holiday. I learned just the other day while shopping for a card for my dad one of the theories of its origin. The card asked on the front: Do you know why FATHER’S Day is in June?  Inside it read,  “Because we celebrated Mother’s Day and about three weeks later someone said Hey, wait a minute!”

Well, I do not know if that is the origin of Father’s Day or not, and no, Father’s Day is not a religious holiday, but our Scriptures are filled with all kinds of instructions for fathers and stories about fathers. We hear things like Fathers do not provoke your children to wrath, (an ironic word, my wife says, since God did not need to give this instruction to women), fathers have compassion on your children as the Lord has compassion for you. There are numerous stories about Fathers, the most recognizable likely being the story that was our New Testament lesson for today. This is a rather curious story that on a cursory reading does not necessarily leave us with the best impression of the Father. We may conclude about him:

· that he has two difficult sons over whom he has no control.

· that he is too quick to give those sons what they want when he should say no.

· that he is helplessly manipulated by his sons.

· that his inability to parent properly probably gave him a bad reputation and created problems for the community that had to deal with his sons.

We may conclude this but we would be wrong. Jesus offers this parable not to condemn or correct ineffective fathers but to offer a picture of the kind of father, God is. The picture that is left from this story is a radical departure from what most people imagine when they think of a Father or when they think of God, but that is what Jesus often did with his parables. He told stories that presented images of God that were radically different from the status quo. He told stories that would challenge his followers to live and value life differently than those around them. In this case, he told the story of a father with two difficult sons and what he sought to do about them. From this story we learn of a father who:

· Is firm but giving: This father made room for his sons to be who they were. He supported the decisions of both sons to explore and engage life at the place where they were comfortable but remained committed to the life he had created and to a relationship with both sons.

· Is patient but expectant: This father allows both sons to have their say, to live their experience, but anticipates that both will ultimately yearn for home. He does his best to welcome and include both as they make their way home.

· Hears our confession but welcomes us as family: As both sons seek to speak their piece, this father listens and hears but rather than bog down in confession and complaint, he points them toward celebration, toward reconciliation, toward the future.

· Celebrates our appearance: The unbridled joy of this Father in receiving both sons is the best part of this story. The genuine affection on display reminds us that this is the purpose of family ------ a place where we are celebrated just because we show up, no matter what we have done!   

· Does not forget other members of the family: It would have been easy to tell the whining elder son to grow up and get over it but this dad knows that the most important thing is to connect with everyone in the family, so he misses the party in order to reach out to the son who is not yet part of the celebration.

So what does Jesus want us to learn about God from this story of a Father with two difficult sons? At least that God is like a father with two difficult sons who loves both enough to go to whatever lengths necessary to share life with them.

Just the other day, I was participating in a local village think tank with Carl Burke and Bob Puckett (truth is they were thinking and I was tanking, and anything else we were doing is probably not fit for public consumption) but in the conversation I observed to them the following: I’ve noticed in my years in ministry a trend in preaching on the occasions of Mother’s and Father’s Day. It seems we preachers are inclined to celebrate mothers but we want to tell fathers what they ought to be doing. So, my temptation in preaching on Father’s Day is to tell all you fathers to act like the father in Jesus’ parable and declare mission accomplished, but it is not that easy. You see Jesus intends for the model of this father to apply to all who would follow him. So, the message today is that what we expect of fathers from this parable, God in Christ expects of all of us. May God give us the grace to love others as this father loved his difficult sons.  AMEN!