GLIMPSES OF FATHERHOOD

What Does It Mean to be a Good Father?

Today, on Father’s Day, fathers deserve to be honored with a “TO DO LIST”!  Father’s:  DO enjoy you day; DO eat the meal of your choice; and DO celebrate your fatherhood and grand-fatherhood.  Your involvement is vital to blessing of your family and society.

Transformation of Society

The transformation of society requires the turning of hearts:  First to God; then of fathers to their children.  Father’s do deserve to be honored today; but not with more things “to do”.  Rather, honor fathers with genuine appreciation for their leadership in families and society.  When a father’s leadership is missing, all families and society suffer because of it.  (Luke 1:11-23).

Greatest Needs of Fatherhood

In our society the greatest needs of fatherhood are presence, not presents.  The kind of presence children needs is the deliberate and just practice of nurturing, teaching, admonition, and discipline for God’s holy purpose.  (Ephesians 6:1-4, Colossians 3:20, Hebrews 12:3-11).  Families need men who will lead and be examples and mentors in the purposes and ways of our Lord.

Good Fathers are Just

Good fathers work hard, protect their families, and deliberately provide the guidance and example of devotion to the Lord.  All good fatherhood arises out of one significant character trait:  The man is a just man who understands that leadership is not self-serving and harsh; but redemptive and kind.  Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, exemplified this.  The prodigal son’s father, who represents God, also practiced redemptive fatherhood, rather than punishing fatherhood.  (Matthew 1:18-25, Matthew 2:13-15, Luke 2:22-24, Luke 2:39-40, Luke 2:41-52, Luke 15:20-24, and Matthew 19:13-15).

Good Fathers Build Up Their Children

Good fathers show affection and provide caring, corrective, up building involvement in their children’s lives.  Good fathers encourage rather than shame and they charge rather than punish.  Encouraging and charging involves deliberate, strong guidance and empowerment.  While corrective punishment may be needed, good fathers are rather willing to suffer much personal pain in order to bring good things and blessings to their children.  Good fatherhood was a model for church leadership and church leadership should be a good model for good fatherhood.  (Acts 15:36-41, 2 Timothy 4:11, 1 Corinthians 4:14-21, and 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12).

PREPARING FOR PRAYER ADVENTURES

Faith in God Can Move Mountains

Prayer adventures are not climbing mountains but moving mountains.  One week of preparation is enough to realize the great possibilities of prayer adventures.

DAY 1:  TRUST

Worrying about food, clothing, livelihood, possessions and money shows little faith.  Instead, trust your heavenly Father.  Matthew 6:5-34.  Jesus promised:  “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”  (Matthew 6:33, ESV).  Trust takes the worry out of stress.  Demonstrate trust by boldly asking, seeking and knocking for the blessing of your good and caring heavenly Father (Matthew 7:7-11).

DAY 2:  PRAISE

In a shepherd boy God found one after His own heart.  David slew the giant Goliath with his sling and soothed the soul of a wicked king with his harp.  In all challenges David’s most effective instrument was his lips.  David’s lips expressed a colorful palate of heartfelt prayers and joyful songs.  Through his Psalms he inspired believers to embrace the greatness and goodness of the Lord his God.  David’s radiant face came from exalting, praising and thanking God (Psalm 34).

DAY 3:  ASSURANCE

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  (Hebrews 13:8, ESV).  Jesus honors confidence, not doubt.  He manifests himself through those who obey him and practice love (John 14-15 and 1 John 3).    Jesus urged his disciples to ask his Father for anything in his name.  Pray in Jesus’ name because his sacrificial offering is your ground of confident access to God (Ephesians 2:11-22).  Draw near to God through Jesus in full assurance of faith (Hebrews 2:14-18, 4:14-16, and Hebrews 10:19-22).

DAY 4:  FERVENT

James, the brother of Jesus, was so earnest in prayer that his knees were noticeably knobby.  He rebuked those who neglected or misused prayer.  Some so befriended the world, God became their enemy.  If they humbled themselves and drew near to God, God promised He would draw near to them in grace and friendship (James 4:1-10).  The great prophet Elijah epitomized the effectual prayer of a righteous person.  He was only human, like us.  Yet he was fervent, so God took him seriously.  Get serious about God and He will get serious about you (James 5:13-18).

DAY 5:  GROW

Practicing prayer strengthens faith; neglecting pray exposes little faith.  When Jesus corrected his disciples for little faith, he insinuated they had neglected prayer (Mark 9:14-19).  With a small mustard seed, Jesus challenged them to grow great faith.  Against life’s challenges humans may feel as small as a mustard seed.  Yet they can become great in faith like the mustard seed that becomes big compared to its beginning.  Jesus challenged them to grow in the practice of big faith (Matthew 17:14-20).

DAY 6:  FULFILLMENT

It’s not selfish to cast all anxieties on God.  “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”  (1 Peter 5:6-7, ESV).  Before Jesus was unjustly arrested, tried and crucified; he agonized in prayer to his Father with sweat dropping from his face to the ground like large drops of blood.  He pleaded to have the cup of suffering removed from him.  Yet he yielded:  “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:39-46, ESV).  Fulfillment of life is realized through trusting obedience to God’s will (Hebrews 5:7-10).

DAY 7:  REWARDS

“Have faith in God”, Jesus dared; then asserted the impossible (Mark 11:22-25).  Pray and cast the mountain into the sea.  Life flows with challenges you may think you cannot do or get through.  If you trust God you can survive and thrive.  If you believe God exists, show him you believe he rewards earnest seekers.  Hebrews 11:6.  Continue to practice prayer to develop mountain moving confidence in God.

PRAYER GUIDE FOR NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER

WHAT TO PRAY FOR

 TEACH US TO PRAY.  Jesus’ disciples observed his devotion to prayer.  They heard him and discerned his unique confidence and his earnest perseverance in prayer.  They appealed:  “Teach us to pray.”  This is when Jesus taught them the words to the prayer traditionally called “The Lord’s Prayer.”  (Luke 11:1-4 and Matthew 6:7-15).

 PRAY WHAT MATTERS TO GOD.  This example of Jesus teaches us to honor our Father in heaven.  All who pray petition God.  Jesus showed that we should first petition for God’s kingdom and for God’s will.  He also encouraged us to pray for our daily food, which implies prayer for our needs.  If our personal desires are motivated by covetousness then we are asking wrongly (James 4:1-4).  God really cares and provides for us, so Jesus encouraged asking.  Our great spiritual need is forgiveness, but our Father forgives us when we willingly forgive others who have wronged us.  This issue is close to our Father’s heart because it shows that what matters to Him matters to us, that we care deeply about salvation and reconciliation.

 INTERCEDE AS PRIESTS.  Christians are priests of God for the whole world, just as the nation of Israel was called to be a kingdom of priests for all the nations of the world (Exodus 19:5-6 and Revelation 5:9-10).  The fruit of our lips in praise to God are sacrifices of our priesthood that pleases God (Hebrews 12-16 and 1 Peter 2:9-10).  The priestly ministry of Zachariah in Luke 1:5-17 illustrates the privilege and power of the role of intercession by priests of God.  His duty was to tend the altar of incense during the time of prayer, to intercede for God’s people and other great concerns according to the will of God.  He certainly interceded for the redemption of Israel, but he also prayed for a child.  The Lord gave him and Elizabeth a child who would prepare God’s people for redemption by turning the hearts of parents and children toward each other and toward God.  This child, John the Baptist, would introduce Jesus as the Messiah to Israel.  Anna the prophetess is a great example of a devote woman of Israel who devoted herself to worship, praying and fasting to bring about God’s desire for the consolation of His people (Luke 2:36-38).  The world’s redemption is not yet complete, and God seeks men and women who will devoutly intercede until God’s desire for blessings of redemption for all the families and nations on earth is complete.

 THE CHURCH’S CALLING.  What a great calling God has granted to His church to intercede as priests on behalf of the whole world, even the leaders of the world.  The rulers of our nation and the world require wisdom to rule with justice.  The Apostle Paul urges us to intercede for the salvation of all and for peace and safety that will support the dignity of all who worship God (1Timothy 2:1-8).  Most of all God desires salvation for all, and He has bound His desire to our devotion in prayer.  In prayer we work as intercessors with Jesus, the mediator of humankind’s reconciliation with God.  Yet the church will fail in this great calling if it succumbs to the indignity of angry disputes.  The church spends time praying or disputing, but it cannot do both.

 PETITIONS THAT MATTER.  Clearly the salvation of all matters to God; therefore, it matters that we petition the Lord of the harvest of souls for workers, and that we pray for the confidence and success of the workers (Matthew 9:35-38 and Colossians 4:2-6).  The fabric of our petitions should be meaningfully stitched and laced with praise and thanksgiving to our Father and the beloved Son of God, who is the purpose and design of our creation.  For this reason it matters that we pray that the church mature in spiritual wisdom; gain wisdom though suffering against evil; and learn to fully appreciate and articulate the immense significance of Christ for this creation (Colossians 1:9-23 and James 1:2-8).  Indeed, a mark of understanding the significance of our King’s rule will free us to love our enemies and to pray for those who contemptuously mistreat us (Matthew 5:43-48).  When we pray for those who are physically and spiritually sick, we should pray earnestly like Elijah, believing that Christ built his church to be the steward of the house, power and blessings of the kingdom of God in this age (Matthew 16:13-20, James 5:13-20, Ephesians 1:15-23, and Ephesians 3:14-21).

 THE LORD’S PRAYER.  The Lord Jesus really did pray a prayer for his disciples and the whole world that unveils our heavenly Father’s purpose and pleasure (John 17).  Jesus prayed this prayer with solemn earnestness on the night of his betrayal while he observed the Passover with his disciples.  Thus Jesus revealed what mattered most to him.   The part of this prayer recited often in the teaching of the church is Christ’s prayer for the unity of his disciples so that the world may come to believe in him.  The church has interpreted unity as a doctrinal and institutional unity, idealizing the eternal life that makes unity possible and enjoyable when doctrinal and institutional unity is imperfect, even illusive.  Christ prayed that we would find in him the same oneness that he enjoyed with his Father because of his Father’s love for him and for them.  To realize and understand the Father’s love is to experience and enjoy the glory Jesus knew, which is the eternal life that comes from knowing the only true God.  Christian doctrine meaningfully reveals this truth, and the institutional church should facilitate our mature understanding and practice of this truth.  Alas, has the church really joined its heart together with Jesus in understanding unity as he understood it, so that we can pray his prayer with understanding and earnestness?

THE WORLD IS HARSH BUT WE CARE, PART 2

When I first saw Les Miserables on Broadway I was very deeply moved by Jean Valjean’s resolve for compassion against harshness in a time of unrest — the 1800s after the defeat of Napoleon. He changed and became a man of outstanding character and generosity. He rose from a marked ex-convict to being major of a town and owner of a factory. Yet even in his own factory he failed to see an injustice in progress against Fantine, a poor, single mother who was envied by other women factory workers. There harassment and false accusations of prostitution led to the sleazy factory foreman firing her. When Valjean discovered his oversight, he did all in his power to make amends. Yet the harshness of life left indelible pain upon Fontaine and brought about her death. She beautifully sung of her harsh experience in the song, “I Dreamed a Dream”. She knew of a time when men were kind but it all went wrong. Her wonderful dreams never came to be, because the tormenting life she lived killed her dreams.

 

I have not seen all the movie versions of Les Miserables, Victor Hugo’s novel; but I have seen a French version made in 1995 with the setting being the Nazi occupation of France in World War II. As Nazis sought the genocide of the Jewish, you would hope everyone else would rally to save them. There was some compassion; but even in these most harsh times, people took advantage of “the miserable ones” for their own gain.

 

Most recently in our times when people have suffered great losses and hardships due to economic disaster brought about by reckless backroom betting in financial markets. The injured see that the shady, greedy brokers get help while the common person gets fleeced of work-earned retirement investments, and imprisoned by usurious credit rates. You would expect financial firms to see the hardship and lower the rates; but they force diligent debtors into more financial ruin by doing the exact opposite.

 

Jesus saw those who labor and are heavy laden and he invited them to receive rest for their souls by taking his yoke upon them (Matthew 11:25-30). Jesus explained that the Father, who is Lord of heaven and earth, had a special desire to bring rest to the souls of his little children. This is why He revealed His will in a way that would appeal to them, and to all who are willing to be humble. The yoke is not merely law or teaching, but a relationship of walking and working together with Jesus, like yoked oxen walk and work together in plowing a field. The work of Jesus is to establish justice, not to stir people to rebellion and terrorism; but to show and teach the way of kindness of mercy to the world. This is the nature of his rule and the power of his kingdom to change things. Jesus brought justice through a personal service of love and goodness that deliberately cared for those most often overlooked due to the evils of pride, self-serving power, and favoritism. Indeed, Jesus would not break the bruised reed or snuff out the smoldering wick (Matthew 12:15-21).

 

Do the kind of actions taught and exemplified by Jesus, and imitated by Valjean seem too little to make a dent against the world’s systemic evil? Even today’s world, with all the happiness it claims, is harsh and filled with many harassed, helpless and burdened souls in need of mercy. Are we up to the task of this great calling? On one occasion the disciples failed in their calling and wondered why. Jesus rebuked them for being faithless and twisted; not for lacking faith, but for having so little faith when they should have had more faith. He challenged them to have the great faith of the mustard seed which is little, like we are without God; but which grows large because of great faith (more than a little) in God (Matthew 17:14-20). Though we feel small and inadequate, our Lord challenges us to take hold of the confidence to do big things, like moving the many mountains that overshadow and oppress people in this harsh world. If we seriously undertake this challenge, we will succeed as fellow workers of the kingdom of God. The church should guard its calling as the light and salt of the earth, so that its testimony is unique: “They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:9, ESV; and Matthew 5:13-14).

THE WORLD IS HARSH BUT WE CARE, PART 1

By January 2, 2009 the number of centenarians on record exceeded 180,000 and it is estimated that in just over 40 more years the number will exceed 800,000 (www.grg.org). Even my father, who is in his mid 80s has seen so much already. What will we all live to see if the creek doesn’t rise and we are blessed to live a very long life. Present centenarians have witnessed the best and the worst of the human race. Within the last hundred years, in spite of the Great Depression and our present severe recession, the world has experienced marvelous technological upgrades and unprecedented economic prosperity. The prosperity became so great that last year before the crash of the world markets, some were proudly reporting how happier the whole world was getting. (“Happiness is rising around the world: U-M Study”. University of Michigan News Service.

http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=6629.) Yet within the same 100 years, the eyes of the living have also witnessed some of the most devastating wars and atrocities ever. We do not feel safe when darkness advances through terrorism, organized financial crimes and scams in traditional trusted institutions, the epidemic spread of sectarian and racist ideologies, and the reactive super increase of governmental regulation and surveillance. What else can governments do when the foundation of trust in free societies crumbles? I just asked the question, I don’t justify it; because governments are symbiotically tangled within the mesh of evil that has infested complex human institutions.

 

Ancient times had their own version of intertwined complex human institutions that failed to serve their people in a trustworthy and fair way. Jesus could see this and he saw the pain and suffering from the predatory powers of foreign occupation, the rule of a corrupt dynasty, egregious tax collection, and abusive, fleecing religious authority. He knew that the Zealots and their supporters were stirring their countrymen to hate and violence in order to usher in the kingdom of God (Matthew 11:12, context Matthew 11:1-19). Jesus saw how all these nationalist, sectarian, rebellious, malevolent and self-serving powers oppressed the common people (Matthew 9:35-38). All this compounded their ordinary burdens of poverty and poor health. Jesus saw the real conditions and real needs of the people of his day. And because of his compassion for people, he preached the good news of God’s kingdom, which is different than the dysfunctional and oppressive kingdoms of men. Therefore it was different than his countrymen ever believed and imagined.

 

Jesus described his people to his disciples as harassed and helpless, sheep without a shepherd – easy prey for the predators. Through his teaching and miracles Jesus introduced them to a new rule over life, a rule that delivers hope by transforming persons, people, cultures and the world. This is the power of the kingdom of God, but God’s kingdom would not be established by violence or any kind of sudden change by force of human strategy and will. Jesus taught parables revealing that the primary power of the kingdom of God in this age is the Word of God, God’s power to make His Word fruitful, and human workers who spread the Word and live by it (See Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8). When Jesus was moved by compassion for the harassed and helpless crowds, he called upon his own disciples to pray to the Lord of the harvest for workers to bring in the harvest. Certainly our Father in heaven cares, and His Son Jesus on earth cared, and Jesus still cares as he rules the kingdom of God from his throne beside His Father.

 

We who follow Christ need no persuasion that Jesus cares. The great crowds who followed Jesus at one point exceeded 5000 men and included women and children. They were harassed and helpless, and many of them were so angry they wanted change now, by force, by the power of the King anointed by God (Messiah, which means “anointed one”). But Jesus would not cave into their demands to make him king by force (John 6). To understand the way and power of the kingdom of God, they must understand the way and power of the beaten and bleeding body of their King by embracing this way as the food and drink provided by God for life in this harsh world. The King of the Jews shared fully in the Jewish experience of suffering in this harsh world, and yet they rejected him for it (See Isaiah 53). The Jews were so repulsed by image of Jesus’ words about eating his flesh and drinking his blood that most of them did not hang around to learn the true meaning of his words.

 

Before most of the people in this crowd forsook Jesus, Jesus fed them all with five loaves of bread and two fish, because he had compassion on them and he wanted them to learn that he is the bread of life that God sent to impart eternal life to them (John 6 and Matthew 14:13-21). The disciples assessed that the crowds needed food but were in a desolate area away from the towns where they could buy food for themselves. Their solution then was to send the people away. But the calling of a disciple of Jesus is not to send people away, but to find a way to provide. Jesus had the compassion to meet the need; and so he challenged his disciples to care: “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” (Matthew 14:16 in part, ESV). Thus, they joined Jesus in seeking the blessing of his Father, and in caring for the harassed and helpless crowds. Acting in compassion for the sake of Jesus with the blessing of God brings the blessed miracle of a little food becoming a lot of food when served with compassionate hands. Does not Jesus today look upon the harassed and helpless people of the world with compassion, and seeing their great need for the good news of the Kingdom of God, command: You pray for workers; you feed them my life giving body and blood; and so you show that you care too.