Fathers Day

Fathers Day.

Hello to you, one of my 7 faithful readers! Thanks once again for checking out the blog! As you may know, today is Fathers day, so to my dad: Happy Fathers Day Dad! I have been so fortunate to have such a great Christian leader and influence in my life. I am very thankful to have you as a friend and look forward to spending even more time with you when I get home!

--Just watched a player from Paraguay score a goal and scream “Papa! Papa!” as a celebration. Awesome.

In the spirit of Fathers Day I figured I would write a little bit about fathers and their influence, or lack of influence, in their children’s lives. Let me just say real quickly that when I walked into church this morning, one of the greeters asked me if I was a father! Am I really getting old enough to look like a potential father?! I certainly hope not!

Anyways, back to the subject of fathers and fathering... Today at church, the King of Kings pastor, John Thomas, gave a sermon on the importance of fatherhood and used examples from the Bible to illustrate this. I must say it doesn’t really apply to me right now but it is always good to think about the type of character I should strive for in the future.

Having a solid foundation at home in the form of a father is incredibly vital to the development of good character. Here are some statistics on fatherless homes:

In South Africa...

90% of homeless people come from a fatherless home

80% of rapists come from a fatherless home

71% of High School drop-outs come from a fatherless home

68% of suicides come from a fatherless home

85% of those in prison come from a fatherless home

Pastor John imagines how different this place (and the world in general) would look like if there was a firm foundation at home in the form of a father. And even more so, the solid influence of a Christian father at home. The statistics above do not even include households with poor fathering.

One thing of interest that I have noticed in my 24 days of living here is that people mostly address God in prayer as “Father God.” Almost every local, whether at Living Hope or in Ocean View, refers to our Lord as “Father God.” -- Almost to the point of annoyance, but not quite! A short prayer may sound something like this:

“Dear Lord Father God, thank you so much for the opportunity we have to work with these kids Father God. Father God, please work through us Father God and be reflections of your image Lord Father God. Allow us to share your gospel Jesus Christ and give us the type of patience and understanding that can come from you, Lord Father God... Amen”

Maybe this excessive use of “Father God” doesn’t mean much, but maybe it does. Obviously, many of the people living here have grown up with either no father or a poor example of a father. Why then do these people use the term “father” when addressing their God? It would seem that people would shy away from the use of this term if they have a bad history with their father but this doesn’t seem to be the case. It could be that they feel adopted into the family of God and are just so excited about their role as children of the greatest Father imaginable. And they are family. We are all family and we are all children of a perfect father who will never forsake us.

(this may be my favorite picture of all time!)

As much as I love my dad and wish I was as smart and wise as him, he is not perfect. Especially when it comes to basketball, just kidding, but seriously... He has started to loose some hair and I dread the day I will do the same! He is a wonderful dad in all honesty, but not perfect. In Luke 11 the disciples ask Jesus what they should say when they go to the Lord in prayer. He answers them by saying: “Our Father who is in heaven...” The greek word abba is an intimate term for a father that shows a close relationship between the one saying it and the one to whom it is being said. A commonly preferable translation of the term abba is “dad” or “daddy.” It is in this moment, as the disciples circle around Jesus hanging on the his every word, that He invites them into the family of God. This is a prayer for all of us to say and to place great importance in. People often overlook the role of God as father and maybe it is time that we acknowledge the implications of this. We become God’s sons and daughters. We are literally adopted into a family. It often costs at least 20,000 to 30,000 dollars to adopt a child in the U.S. (not to mention the cost of food, clothes, and schooling!). But this is nothing compared to the cost that Christ paid in order to adopt us! Thank the Lord (our father) for that!

In one of Jesus’ most desperate moments, He cries out to the Lord (in Mark 14:36) “Abba (Dad), Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will but you will.” --> “Dad, please take this responsibility from me. But if it is not your will, I will do as you will.”

Powerful stuff. In this desperate moment he cries out to God as “Father.”

(I’m almost done, hang on with me for another minute)

In the most desperate moment of His entire ministry on earth, Jesus is trying to pull himself up on the cross using the nails hammered through his wrists to merely take a breath. In this moment he cries out: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Now some may initially think that this is a very negative thing for the Christ to say in his moment of death. However, it is quite the opposite. In those times, people often memorized large portions of the Word since they were not an abundance of copies lying around with dust on their covers, like today. In this culture one would often quote the first phrase in a passage and others would then know that this person is actually referring to an entire passage rather than simply one verse. So when Jesus says “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani” -- “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” -- He is actually referring, in Hebrew, to the entire 22nd Psalm. Not simply one line.

Go read it. The whole thing. Read Psalm 22 knowing that Jesus was using this passage of scripture to describe his emotions and experience on the cross and his utter reliance on his abba.

Pretty powerful stuff my friends. Imagine if you could rely on your father like Christ did. Imagine if you could strive to be the type of father where your children could rely on you like this. Thank goodness for our Father who fulfills this role for all of us no matter how disappointing or wonderful our earthly father was. We all have this Dad to rely on and depend on. I only hope that I can try to communicate this idea to some of this kids, fatherless or not, over the next two months.

Cheers,

Josh