MARK 4:26-34
TODAY IS FATHER'S DAY.
IT DOESN'T GET AS MUCH PLAY AS MOTHER'S DAY, AND THAT'S FINE. WE
FATHERS PROBABLY DON'T PUT NEARLY AS MUCH DIRECT EFFORT INTO RAISING
OUR CHILDREN THAN DO THEIR MOTHERS. ON THE OTHER HAND, MOST OF US
HAVE BEEN THE MAJOR BREADWINNER, THE DISCIPLINARIAN, AND THE ONE WHO
TAKES THE KIDS OFF THEIR MOTHER'S HANDS ONCE IN A WHILE SO THAT SHE
CAN REST OR CATCH UP ON OTHER THINGS. A LONG OR SHORT TIME AGO WE
AND OUR WIVES MADE THE DECISION TO HAVE CHILDREN, AND WITH GOD'S
HELP, CHILDREN CAME ALONG. EVERY DAY WE DO WHAT WE MUST; AND EVERY
EVENING WE GO TO BED KNOWING THAT WE COULD HAVE DONE MORE. THERE ARE
ALL THOSE MOMENTS WHEN WE COULD HAVE SPENT TIME WITH THE KIDS BUT
DIDN'T BECAUSE SOMETHING ELSE SEEMED MORE IMPORTANT AT THE TIME.
THERE ARE THOSE TIMES WHEN BECAUSE OF A TEMPER FRAYED AT THE
WORKPLACE WE OVER-REACTED TO SOMETHING THAT NORMALLY WOULDN'T HAVE
MADE US LOOK UP FROM OUR NEWSPAPER. AND WE GO TO BED GRATEFUL THAT
OUR CHILDREN HAVE SHORT MEMORIES AND ARE DISPOSED TO LOVE US AND LOOK
UP TO US REGARDLESS OF OUR MANY FAULTS.
AND AS THE GOSPEL SAYS,
WE SEW THE SEED AND SLEEP AND RISE AND THE SEED GROWS AND YIELDS
FRUIT, WE KNOW NOT HOW. AND WE OLDER FATHERS LOOK AT OUR CHILDREN,
AT THEIR INDEPENDENCE, THEIR SEPARATE AND UNIQUE PERSONALITIES; WE
REJOICE IN THEIR JOY, WE FEEL THEIR PAIN; AND SOMETIMES WE GRIEVE
BECAUSE THEY LEAVE THE CHURCH OR FIND THEMSELVES IN FAILED MARRIAGES
OR DIE BEFORE WE DO. AND WE RECOGNIZE THAT GOD HAS THE GREATEST HAND
IN HOW THINGS ARE GOING TO TURN OUT FOR THEM, AND WE ARE JUST
INSTRUMENTS.
THERE IS A MOMENT IN
SCRIPTURE WHEN THE NOTION OF FATHERHOOD TURNS UPSIDE DOWN. REFERRING
TO GOD AS FATHER WAS NOT VERY COMMON AMONG THE PEOPLE OF THE OLD
TESTAMENT. FOR THEM, A FATHER WAS, WELL, LIKE FATHER ABRAHAM.
ABRAHAM COULD COMMAND HIS WIFE TO JOIN THE HAREM OF THE LOCAL PRINCE;
IF SHE WAS NOT FERTILE, HE COULD TAKE HER MAIDSERVANT. AND WHEN HE
HAD A SON BY THIS MAIDSERVANT, AND SARAH BECAME UPSET, HE HAD NO
COMPUNCTION AGAINST DRIVING THE SON AND HIS MOTHER INTO THE DESERT,
PRESUMABLY TO DIE. AND STRONG AS ABRAHAM'S FAITH WAS, THERE IS STILL
SOMETHING SHOCKING, AFTER ALL THESE CENTURIES, TO IMAGINE HIM ABOUT
TO KILL THE SON HE LOVED BECAUSE HE WAS COMMANDED BY GOD TO DO SO.
AND WHEN YOU LOOK AT OTHER EXAMPLES OF FATHERS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT,
AMONG THE PATRIARCHS, AMONG THE KINGS, THEY WERE DESPOTS TO THEIR
CHILDREN AS WELL AS TO THEIR WIVES. DAVID'S FAVORITE SON, ABSOLOM,
REBELLED AGAINST HIM AND TRIED TO TAKE OVER THE KINGDOM. IN THE BOOK
OF LEVITICUS, FATHERS HAVE THE RIGHT TO PUT THEIR SONS TO DEATH FOR
CURSING THEM. IN THE PSALMS, THERE ARE A FEW REFERENCES TO GOD AS
FATHER, BUT MOST OF THEM HAVE TO DO WITH GOD DISCIPLINING HIS
CHILDREN, OR INSTRUCTING THEM.
BUT SOMETHING CHANGED,
AND IT CHANGED NOT WITH JESUS, BUT WITH JOSEPH. FOR JOSEPH WAS THE
NEW KIND OF FATHER. HIS WIFE AND SON DID NOT EXIST FOR HIM, BUT HE
FOR THEM. HE WAS A JUST MAN FROM THE BEGINNING; WHEN HE BELIEVED
MARY HAD BEEN MADE PREGNANT BY ANOTHER MAN, HE DID NOT TAKE THE
REMEDY HE COULD HAVE, WHICH WAS TO DEMAND THAT SHE BE STONED, OR
EVEN, DEMAND THAT SHE BE CAST OUT OF THE VILLAGE. HE MADE UP HIS
MIND TO TELL PEOPLE THAT SHE WAS CARRYING HIS CHILD, BUT THEY JUST
COULDN'T GET ALONG ANY MORE. JOSEPH WOULD TAKE THE SHAME AND THE
GUILT. AND JOSEPH ALWAYS LOOKED TO GOD FOR HIS DIRECTION, RATHER
THAN HIMSELF. WE HAVE FIVE INSTANCES IN WHICH JOSEPH MADE DECISIONS
BASED UP HIS DREAMS, DECISIONS WHICH HE NEVER WOULD HAVE MADE IF HE
WERE PURSUING HIS OWN INTERESTS. AND WE CAN ONLY IMAGINE THOSE YEARS
IN NAZARETH, WHEN JOSEPH TAUGHT JESUS HIS TRADE, WHEN JOSEPH HELPED
JESUS STUDY THE HOLY BOOKS OF ISRAEL, WHEN JOSEPH TREATED MARY AS A
REAL HUMAN BEING AND EQUAL PARTNER, RATHER THAN AS HIS PERSONAL
POSSESSION, HIS SLAVE – THE WAY WOMEN WERE USUALLY TREATED IN THOSE
DAYS.
AND JOSEPH ONLY KNEW THAT
THIS CHILD WAS SPECIAL BECAUSE OF HIS DREAMS. JESUS, AFTER ALL, WAS
LIKE US IN ALL THINGS BUT SIN. AND JOSEPH GOT UP EVERY MORNING AND
PUT IN A LONG DAY AT WORK, SPENT SOME TIME STUDYING, PRAYED IN THE
SYNAGOGUE ON SATURDAYS, MADE THE ODD PILGRIMAGE TO JERUSALEM, AND HE
WORRIED ABOUT BILLS, AND TRIED TO WALK THE LINE WITH JESUS BETWEEN
BEING A DISCIPLINARIAN AND BEING SOMEONE JESUS COULD COME TO WITH HIS
QUESTIONS AND TROUBLES. JOSEPH HAS BEEN WHERE ALL OF US FATHERS HAVE
BEEN.
AND JOSEPH GREW SICK AND
DIED, AND ON HIS DEATHBED HE LOOKED AT THIS SON, WHO HAD GROWN TO BE
A GOOD MAN, A GOOD CARPENTER, AND A DECENT HUMAN BEING; BUT NOTHING
SPECIAL, NOT YET. AND JOSEPH THOUGHT TO HIMSELF, IT IS AS IF A MAN
WERE TO SCATTER SEED ON THE LAND, AND IT WOULD SPROUT AND GROW, HE
KNOWS NOT HOW.
AND MAYBE JESUS WAS THE
FIRST TO KNOW A NEW KIND OF FATHER, A FATHER SO CLOSE, SO LOVING, SO
CARING; A FATHER WHO PUT HIMSELF COMPLETELY AT THE SERVICE OF HIS
WIFE AND SON; A FATHER WHO LAID DOWN HIS LIFE FOR THOSE HE LOVED.
AND WHEN JESUS WAS DESCRIBING GOD, THE IMAGE THAT CAME CLOSEST TO
WHAT JESUS KNEW GOD TO BE WAS FATHER, THE ESSENCE OF FATHERHOOD,
REFLECTED WITH SUCH CLARITY IN THE HUMBLE CARPENTER, JOSEPH.
BEING A FATHER IS AN
AWESOME RESPONSIBILITY AND A GREAT PRIVILEGE. TOGETHER WITH THEIR
MOTHER, A FATHER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT WHICH
UNDER THE BEST OF CIRCUMSTANCES WILL RAISE UP SAINTS. HE DOES THIS
BY PROVIDING THE MATERIAL NEEDS OF THE FAMILY; HE DOES THIS EVEN MORE
BY BEING A ROLE MODEL FOR HIS CHILDREN; AND HE DOES THIS MOST
SUCCESSFULLY BY GIVING HIMSELF UP, EMPTYING HIMSELF OUT, DAY AFTER
DAY, IN IMITATION OF GOD THE FATHER. AND A FATHER DOES ALL HE CAN,
KNOWING THAT, LIKE JOSEPH, HE WILL PROBABLY NEVER SEE THE FRUITS OF
HIS EFFORTS; BUT HIS CHILDREN AND HIS CHILDREN'S CHILDREN WILL ALL
BEAR HIS MARK, FOR GOOD OR FOR BAD.
MAY WE FATHERS LIVE IN
SUCH A WAY THAT WHEN OUR CHILDREN SAY THE LORD'S PRAYER, THEY IMAGINE
OUR FACES WHEN THEY SAY THE WORDS, “OUR FATHER”.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!
