John 16:12-15
Romans 5:1-5
My Father's Heart
SERMON
Today is a
challenging day in terms of preparation. Not only did we have the wonderful
baptism of Rosie and Oliver and a sermon on baptism could have filled an hour. As
I’ve already mentioned today is Trinity Sunday, it’s the start of World refugee
week and to top it all off it’s also Father’s day. I bet when they put together
the church’s liturgical calendar they had a good laugh in the office as they
thought about all the headaches they’d be causing preachers. So I did what all
good preachers are supposed to do and let the Scriptures speak to me.
We heard Jesus
promise earlier that he would send his Spirit and that the Spirit would guide us
in all truth. And as someone who has always been someone who is quick to question things I
found myself asking what does Jesus mean by the truth. I found myself reflecting
on the Romans passage and I came to the conclusion that one of the truths Jesus
is talking about is the way God relates to us.
And that’s a really
important thing to think about. There’s a wonderful book called the ‘Father heart
of God’. It’s written by a gentleman called Floyd McClung. It starts with him
and his children looking at a picture in a museum in Amsterdam called ‘Man’ though
it was originally called ‘My Father’ by Dutch artist Karel Appel. Now I went
online and had a look at the piece and it’s quite dark and bit miserable
really. After a long discussion, his daughter asks the question if Appel
believed in God and if so did he see him as a loving father. And McClung comes to the conclusion that we
often don’t recognize God for the loving faithful father he is. He then spends
the 140 pages exploring what it means to be loved by God. If you can get your
hands on a copy it’s worth a read.
Just as a brief
straw poll how many of you have or have had good relationships with your fathers?
How many of you have or have had difficult relationships with your fathers? How
has your relationship with your father affected the way you see God as our
Father?
Father’s Day has
always been difficult for me. My dad died on Christmas Eve shortly before my 4th
birthday. My stepdad was an alcoholic so my experience of fathers hasn’t always
been the best. It was only in my twenties that I met someone who would truly
show what being a father was like. David was my supervisor when I worked for
Youth for Christ. And in him, both in terms of his relationship with me but also
his relationship with his own sons I saw what true fatherhood was meant to be.
It was David that introduced me to McClung’s book and he had used it to map out
his understanding of God as a father. And he helped me see that the way we see
God is not the same way God sees us. You may think that’s blindingly obvious but
it’s worth exploring the question how does God relate to us?
There’s a really
technical word in the Romans passage. It’s called justification. Paul writes
that we are justified by faith. What does that mean to us in reality and how
does that tie into our idea of God as our Father? Justified means that we have
been put right with God. It stems from the Biblical principle that we have
turned our backs on God and God in his love and his faithfulness has sought us
out. While God had every right to cast us off and leave us to our own devices
God sent Jesus to break down the divide between us. This is what Paul calls
grace, that God loves us and wants the best for us even though it is us that
has rejected God.
This is one of the
truths that the Holy Spirit shows us. That God the Father has given his all for us
in his son Jesus Christ. God’s relation to us is built on love in all it’s glory.
The problem isn’t with God then, it’s with us and the way we see God. If our
father was abusive then the likelihood is that we will see God as some big bad
ogre. If our fathers were cold and distant, then God is likely to be seen as
cold and distant. If like me your father wasn’t there then God is likely to be
a distant abstract figure that really has no meaning in your life as was the
case in mine.
There was an occasion that
showed me what true fatherhood was. I had overstepped the mark with something,
and it had gone horribly wrong. I was called into a meeting and as I sat in
David’s office I could see that I had truly hurt him. But as we sat together
and he balled me out, I could see that while he was angry and hurt, he still
cared for me. It turned out that he had taken the blame on himself. At great
personal cost. Earlier that year he had made a commitment to us. We were part
of a new program and he knew there would be times when we would drop the ball
so he made us the promise that he would back us no matter what.
That day as I sat
in his office, I saw what real fatherhood was. I saw for the first time what
the father heart of God was. It was love, it was being faithful to the promises
made, it was sacrifice. It wasn’t judgment or ridicule. It wasn’t rejection or
abandonment. It was bearing it all for my sake without my asking for it but recognizing
that I needed it. In that moment I saw God’s heart. That is how God relates to
us.
All that remains
for me to ask you is how will you respond?
Amen
