What better way to honor the dad’s in our lives than to run down the top 5 things Dad will never say. And here they are folks, the top 5 things you will never hear Dad say. . .

Well, sometimes its good to have a little fun with Dad, but I think we all know what a huge role fathers play in our lives. This day is so important. Exodus 20:12 commands us to honor our fathers, and that’s what we want to do every day and, especially, today.

The role of father is absolutely crucial. A good father provides for his children, disciplines, teaches, and loves them. And he models his love for their mother, too. We watch our fathers, and we emulate our fathers, and we learn from our fathers, and we rely upon our fathers, and we adore and cherish and love our fathers- and it is good. It is good to have a father. If you are like me, you’re lucky, and you have had the benefit of a father like I just described.

Not everyone is. And it’s alarming that in our culture the term “fathering a child” less often means to raise a child with love and affection and discipline, but simply means to make a biological contribution at the time of conception. This is a cultural shift that is entirely contrary to God’s plan. You see, fathers are appointed by God to a very specific calling. And fathers who model themselves after the Heavenly Father are fathers who make a difference.

In this church, God has blessed us with many dads like this. Fathers who model themselves after the Heavenly Father are fathers who make a difference. And we thank God for all of the daddy’s we’ve got in our church family. Fathers: you are god sent, and we love you.

As we think about Father’s Day, it’s important to remember that fatherhood was created by the ultimate Father, the Lord our God. Psalm 127 says that children are a reward from God. He gives the gift of children, so that fathers and mothers and families can take care of them for a time.

And it is important to know that God’s plan is so perfect and complete that even the fatherless are loved and cared for. So, really, there are different kinds of fatherhood that we should be aware of. There is traditional fatherhood which we normally celebrate today: a father and his children. Then in Deuteronomy chapter 10 we see that The Lord defends the cause of the fatherless, and he uses his people to do this, charging us all to look after orphans in their distress- and this is a form of fatherhood. He also provides for spiritual fatherhood, like Paul describes to the Corinthians when he says, “In Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me.” Paul was the spiritual father of the church at Corinth, because he shared the gospel with them and he helped them to develop their relationship with God, and he disciplined them, and he taught them. And of course God Himself adopted each of us, as Paul tells the Ephesians, we are adopted as God’s sons through Christ Jesus. So the Heavenly Father loves his children so completely and fully that He provided a model for fathers to follow in caring for their children, and surely, for all of us to follow in caring for each other.

Now, in this duty we have as Christians to be good fathers to children and for all of us to care for each other, there are a few attributes that are especially important. They’re extra important because when we do these things in our relationships we are imitating certain attributes of our Heavenly Father. In our role as fathers or as care givers, we emulate the heavenly father when we love, provide, discipline, and teach. These are specific attributes of God. Attributes we would do well to imitate- certainly as fathers of any kind- and also as followers of Christ. Love, provide, discipline, teach. And this morning we’ll look at God’s word to try to understand these four attributes a little better.

Turn with me to 1 John 3:1. That’s almost to the very back of the New Testament, between 2 Peter and Revelation.

Now we can remember, the author of this book, John, is an Apostle. He saw, touched, talked with, knew, Jesus Christ.

And so he saw first hand and personally knew the absolute pinnacle of God’s love for us- Jesus. And John is amazed at the love the Lord has for his children. He’s amazed because God doesn’t withhold His love for us, He doesn’t require us to be anything special or do anything special to earn His love. No, John says God lavishes love on us, which means God gives it to us very generously and freely. And He does. God’s love for us is free of charge, through grace and faith in Jesus Christ. Nobody strong-armed God into covering our sins with the blood of Christ. He did it because he loves us. And he didn’t just give lip service to the idea of loving us, He backed it up. He loves us so much that he sacrificed for us.

He gave his only Son, and put him to a brutal, bloody death, so that we might live with Him despite our sins.

That is sacrifice. And if you’re like me, you probably don’t always understand or comprehend the depth of this love. How can we understand what would move God to go to this extent, this extreme- sacrificing His own son- to save a bunch of messed up, turned around, selfish sinners like us. We can only imagine that God did this out of some deep, indescribable love, the love that John says He lavishes on his children.

And so after I thought about trying to go home and explain why I needed a phone that cost an extra $30 a month, well: this is what I actually walked out of the store with. . . (pull out the flip phone). Pretty basic, eh? Since I picked this thing up I’ve had people refer to it as “ancient” and “a dinosaur”. On top of that, the attorney I’m training under this summer saw it and, barely hiding his disappointment, said: “you still have a flip phone?”

But, the bottom line is my mind was so wrapped up in all those features all those gadgets on that new phone- all those apps- that it had become a need in my mind, not a want. The truth is, even this bulky old flip phone isn’t a need. I don’t need shiny, fancy things- no matter how popular they might be. I don’t need STUFF. The Lord God is what I need- what we need. Jesus is what I need- what we need. And there in Luke, Chapter 12, Jesus is teaching his disciples and starting at verse 22 he says to them: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.” And he continues in verse 30, “For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.” Jesus is saying: “Hey, Neal, forget about the I-phone, forget about the droid, forget about the apps, you don’t need that stuff.” “Seek first His kingdom” Jesus says, “and these things will be given to you.” I like the way Eugene Peterson paraphrases this verse in The Message. According to him, Jesus is saying: "What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving.” The Father provides for us. And if we can release our minds from our human wants, and focus on God’s good gifts, we will be provided in ways we can’t imagine.

Proverbs 3:11-12 reads: “My son do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.”

And so God loves us too much to let us run amok. He loves us too much to let us wallow in our own sin. He loves us too much to let us get comfortable. Instead He disciplines us out of love. He provides us hardships, in which James says we should find joy, and he uses them to discipline and shape us and make us more like he wants us to be. Let’s go to Hebrews chapter 12 together. We’ll start at verse 7. That’s about ¾ in to the New Testament, just after Timothy and Titus. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 7-9.

And so the turbulence we face in life is meant to help us grow. So we’ve got to do everything we can to view that turbulence as a gift- and how hard is that? It is hard, it’s tough. Who takes any joy in being laid off from work, breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend, working through marital problems? Who takes joy in battling sickness or losing a loved one? But we know the Father disciplines out of love. We know he places these hardships in our lives in order that we might mature in our faith and be drawn to Him.

And I love the last part of that passage: “How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!” Those words are so true. And live!!! Because it’s been my experience- and I bet yours too- that it’s not the easy times, the fun times in life when we grow and mature in the faith. It is the hard times. That’s when we grow. The tough things in life- that’s when God’s working on us. And in that way, we should be thankful for His discipline.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment,” He said, “And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’”. And so the Father teaches us to follow the Son, who teaches us the way of righteousness. The one who came to die in place of our own nature- which is sin- and then rose again to cement his stature as the Savior of the World – He taught us the truth: that He is the way, the truth, and the life- no one gets to the Father except through Him.

These are the traits that we celebrate in our Father’s on this day which is set aside to honor them. And how great is our God that he would provide a plan for us that includes a Dad. And that plan is so great, so complete, so perfect, that it provides even for the orphan, and it provides for Spiritual Fathers to guide us in the faith. And through his grace, God gives his own Son, Jesus, through faith in whom all of us- fathers, sons, mothers, daughters, orphans- become children of God. His design is flawless. Father’s who emulate it become Father’s who make a difference. And all who emulate it become people who make a difference.

And now I’m reminded of my own grandfather, John Shenk, who passed away just months ago, on April 14^th, after a battle with cancer. I know several of you probably knew him. Here was a man who emulated God. A man who lived his life in a way that honored the Lord and led his family. And we were fortunate enough to be by his side as he took the walk out of this world and into God’s glorious presence. Right to the end, his faith was firm, as he taught us one last time- how to live, but also how to die: with a passionate and unshakable faith in the promises of Christ. The night before he died, I had the privilege of reading the scriptures to him and our family. Grandpa was tired and fading and we knew this might be the night that he would slip away to be with the Lord. I sat next to him and read Psalm 103 and as I finished it I looked at him and saw him struggle to keep his eyes open. “Grandpa,” I said, “I’m going to stop now and let you rest.” He heard me. Struggled to turn his head towards me. For the last time, I experienced an intensity I knew many times before- the intensity of Grandpa looking right in my eyes as he softly, but firmly said: “keep going.”

Right up to the end. . . Grandpa kept going. Right up to the very end, my grandpa was loving and providing, and disciplining, and yes- teaching. With his last moments, despite the pain, despite the sorrow- with his last moments, he was still teaching. Teaching us all how to finish strong for the glory of the Father.

“Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation,” (Joel 1:3) said the prophet Joel. And Grandpa did. Joel continues on, saying “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance.” (Joel 2:32) And there was. There was deliverance.

The Heavenly Father loved us enough that he sent his son Jesus to die, that we might live. Despite our sins, despite our ugliness, despite the fact that- if you’re at all like me- we make most of our decisions based not on what’s best for others, but what’s best for ourselves, despite the fact that- if you’re anything like me- we are jealous and proud and want to compare ourselves to the next guy, instead of comparing ourselves to the Holy example of Christ because then we look better. Yes it begs the question: who would love us? Who would love us despite all of the deep, dark sins that I have and you have and every human heart has? And how can God love us when my sin and your sin is the sin for which Christ hung from the cross- bleeding, and dehydrating, and dislocating, and suffocating, and suffering- all for you and me. But He does. He does love us, despite us.

And I pray that through my life, and should I someday be given the gift of being a Dad, within that responsibility, I would emulate the Heavenly Father. And that when I come, as Grandpa would say, to the end of the road, I would be able to finish like he did, joining the Psalmist in these words:

It is a beautiful and glorious gift. Happy Fathers Day. Let’s pray.

Prayer