Here we are at the forefront of yet another manmade holiday. Father's Day is on Sunday. We've had Mother's Day, Grandparent's Day and a host of other days to celebrate anything but Jesus. Father's Day has it's own place in American culture. It's not celebrated around the world. It's not celebrated by different religions. It's not celebrated by those who have no father or they aren't father's themselves. Like Mother's Day, Father's Day celebrates a segment of society unlike Christmas and Easter that are celebrated universally by the Christian world. So, why the focus on these "other days" in the Christian life? What is it that we are doing and why are we doing it. I don't mean to disrespect anyone's father or grandfather. Fatherhood is a serious undertaking. Yet, we spend one day a year celebrating fathers everywhere whether they are living examples of "fathering" or not. Abandonment of fathering responsibilities are present every month of every year. Yet, here we are one day of the year and suddenly father's rise up to be celebrated? What gives? I'm reminded of Darth Vader's statement, "Luke, I am your father." We know how that turned out! Adam is known as the father of mankind and Abraham the father of the Israelite people. Then we have the Catholic church and their idea of "father". What about the Bible though? What does the Bible say? It says that we as followers of Jesus should call no one on earth father as our Father is in heaven. God the Father is there, wanting to shed his love and provision on all who would turn to him. Even Jesus taught his disciples to pray, "Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name..." There is a reason for this and hopefully people won't get to offended as I try to convey what I believe the Bible wants us to focus on.
Don't get me wrong, the Bible lists "honor your father and mother" in the Ten Commandments. Even Jesus on the cross tells John to take care of his earthly mother. The promise of honoring your father and mother is that "you will live long and prosper." We are called upon to honor God the Father first and foremost. It's the first of the Ten Commandments. The first 4 of the commandments are how we are to honor and serve God. The last 6 relate to our relationships with other people. What we are to do in honoring God and honoring others was summed up by Jesus regarding the greatest commandment of "love the Lord God with all your heart, soul and might." The second commandment is to "love your neighbor as yourself." Honoring should be easy. We take the honoring part of the two commands and make them difficult, impossible and on certain days irrelevant. If I plant a seed in the soil, water it, and give it sunshine the seed will sprout and grow into a plant. If I have planted a seed that results in vegetables or fruit I have succeeded in having something to eat. God provides the seed, soil, water, and sunshine. He causes it to grow and mature. He provides the fruit so that man and animal alike have something for nourishment. God is the source of life. He's to be honored as the source of life in you and I. That would mean we would need to put God first before ANYTHING else. Should we honor God in this manner, we like the seed, will produce and the nurturing will be spread out from us to others. Because we honor God with all of our heart, soul and might, we have love for Him who gives us life and sustains us. In this position we give God the Father to the world. Get this! If we are His, are doing His will, and He is living through us; we cannot help but honor those he puts in our lives. It's a side effect if you will. When we give up our life and God takes up our life, it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. Thus the Father is our father and it is He alone that we are to honor.
When you get together to celebrate, remember that God the Father is your father. Jesus was approached and told that his brothers and sisters were outside wanting to see him. He responded, "Who is my brother and sister and mother and father? It is they who do my will." When we become that "new creation" we say goodbye to the old man and hi to the new man. We say goodbye to death and hello to life. This is a conscious choice made by the prompting of the Holy Spirit. God the Father is our father. The Holy Spirit is our comforter and companion. Jesus is our Lord and Savior. Do we honor them as we should? Do we do this only on Sunday or Wednesday night? Do we make it a point to show up and honor them on Christmas and Easter? Just how do you understand "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and might"? Do you gather to have the bbq and then go away forgetting the "day"? It's because we set aside only one day to honor father, mother, birthdays, and first and foremost God the Father. It's our choice. It's my choice. It's your choice. Remember that you live with your choices just as I do mine.
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