THANKS TO GOD & DAD
Holy Trinity Sunday
June 16 & 17, 2019
John 3:16; Romans 11; Isaiah 6
Grace and mercy to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
It is written: For God (our Father) so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Jesus should not perish but have everlasting life. For God (our Father) did not send His Son (Jesus) into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Dads Are Fallen Creatures
Fathers have fallen on hard times. The fall began with Adam. Father Adam did not trust God. Adam should have protected Eve from the serpent. Adam should have provided Eve with better fruit to eat. Adam should have taught the faith.
But Adam failed.
But It Gets Worse
But it gets worse! The problem is so bad that when Eve conceives their first born, Cain, it is said that Cain was made in the image of Adam. Fathers inherit the bad rap. Hollywood portrays fathers as dumb and bumbling fools. There is not much to love among fathers these days. End of story.
God Loves The World
Which makes today’s Bible story so much more amazing. It is written, “Our Father so loved this dumb and bumbling world that He gave His only Son.”
Leave it to God our Father to find something good in this world of flooded fields, corrupt congressmen, and fallen fathers.
Leave it to God to forgive fathers. And by forgiving you for the sake of Jesus, God our Father recreates you in the image of Himself.
Your Father has baptized you. You are the Holy Father’s adopted son. His name is marks you as His own.
Your Father gives you faith. You are believing in the promises He has taught you through the preaching and teaching of the Word.
You fathers, in this place, are new creations unlike anyone the world has ever seen.
This Father’s Day we give thanks to fathers young and old. Fathers are a gift from God our Father and He has populated this congregation with really good fathers.
Like your heavenly Father you too are given a little portion of the world for you to love. Fathers have families. A wife and children.
And you earthly fathers love the world like this:
You provide for each person in your household so that they can both survive and thrive. That is you know what their needs are. You provide food and shelter and clothing. You provide a home and take care of it, including cooking and cleaning and yard work. You provide education for your children at school and church. Thank you, fathers, for providing for all our needs.
You protect your wife and children. You lock the doors after they go to bed. You make sure the car is safe to drive. You pray for them and commit them in your heavenly Father’s care. Thank you, fathers, for protecting us.
You forgive and seek forgiveness. You know your weaknesses all to well. Your boss and wife and children blame you for many things. When they are wrong, you quietly forgive them in the name of Jesus for they know not what they are doing. Your heavenly Father knows. When they are right, you ask for forgiveness. You tell your boss your sorry and ask how you can set things straight. You tell your wife that you were wrong and show her by your actions. You even tell your children that what you said or did to them was wrong. You seek a child’s forgiveness. Thank you, fathers, for righting your wrongs.
Dads Model The Love Of God
You model for us the love our heavenly Father has for the world. He protects, provides, humbles Himself and listens to all our prayers.
For God (our Father) loves the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Jesus should not perish but have everlasting life. For God (our Father) did not send His Son (Jesus) into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Jesus said, if you don’t believe My then at least believe the miracles. Dads, it is a miracle both that you believe the words of Jesus and that you love us when you know us better than ourselves.
And We Give Thanks
What next step can we take today to say thank you to all the dad. How about this.
First, it is culturally appropriate for a group to say thank you by clapping. So, if you are not a dad, I invite you to say thank you with a gentle round of applause for our dad’s.
Second, it is Biblically appropriate for us to say thank you to God by making a sign of the cross upon ourselves; in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Facebook