11th sunday Father's Day
Happy Fathers Day
Happy Fathers day my dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
In Mark 1:16-20) says “As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
In Hebrew tradition, one was known as the son of one’s father. In my neighborhood I am just my father’s Son. Oh he is the son of so and so.
James and John were the sons of Zebedee. James slashes Zebedee. John slashes Zebedee. One’s last name was the name of one’s father. Like myself. My last name John is my father’s name.
As you sit here today, my dear brothers and sisters, I want you to think of your own father. I hope you knew him. I hope you loved him. I hope he was a good father, as mine was. In book of Sirach 3:1 says “Children, pay heed to a father’s right; do so that you may live. He who honors his father atones for sins…in verse 12 we read My Son, take care of your father when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives.”
But even if you didn’t know your father, even if you didn’t love your father, your father has still helped make you, negatively or positively, who you are today. There is a bond between father and child that nothing can break, not even death. In the first chapter of the book called Letters to My Son by Kent Nerburn, the author writes these words:
None of us can escape this shadow of the father, even if that shadow fills us with fear, even if it has no name or face. To be worthy of that man, to prove something to that man, to exorcise the memory of that man from every corner of our life - however it affects us, the shadow of that man cannot be denied…we all labor under the shadow. It makes us who we are and shapes the [person] we hope to be.
Brothers and sisters, it is never too late to make amends if we have wronged another. It is never too late to offer forgiveness to those who have wronged us. It is never too late to say “I love you” to another especially to our Dads, or to hear another say “I love you” to us. Whether you are a father, or a son, a mother or a daughter, it is never too late to touch and be touched by those with whom our lives in are forever inextricably bound.
On this Father’s Day, I wish to give a special challenge to all the men here today and always when I speak I am speaking to me too. You are an example to those around you, especially to children. Be a person of character and integrity. Modern Evangelical Faith has put too little importance on character.
Character does matter. Jesus said, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Paul says in his letter to 2 Corinthians 3:18, “As all of us reflect the Lord's glory with faces that are not covered with veils, we are being changed into his image with ever-increasing glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” Laura Schlessinger says is plain, “We are what we do.” Forest Gump put it another way, “Stupid is as stupid does.” As much as we may hate it, our character is defined, not by what we say, but by what we do. Whether or not we love our family is not revealed by what we say, but by what we do. Character is defined by the willingness of a person to do what is right following a code of conduct which is the basis of the community and the faith.
This poem by an unknown author helps to show the important of character:
Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
We have all heard the quote: "I can t hear what you are saying because what you do speaks so loudly." This is especially true of fatherhood. I must face up to the fact that "Do as I say, not as I do" just doesn’t work.
Several years ago, I had a single parent come in to see me because she was at her wits end, she had two girls and a boy, and the two girls had made the wrong choices which ended up in their getting pregnant. She didn’t t know how it could, because she was always so strict and constantly telling them that premarital sex was wrong. I asked her how the message was getting through to her girls when she had her boyfriend in for over night visits, and then even living together for a while. God wants us to use our minds. God wants us to think, but God does not want us to be disobedient. What has God told you in the Bible you didn’t follow, and it troubles you? It troubles your conscience because you know you should not do it - but you have done it? We might argue that nobody knows. We can argue that everybody else is doing it. We can try to rationalize our actions, but we have an obligation to God and to others. Though it may seem small at the time — disobedience to God does matter a hundred years from now. What we do when nobody else sees, is seen by God, and that matters.
Our Country has all the rights and freedoms. We should have a universal declaration of children’s rights saying that every child has a right to have a mother and a father. This is what people often forget when they discuss divorce. They tend to look only at the interests of the man and the woman. But I think that the party that is most hurt by a divorce is often not the man or the woman but the kids. Kids need fathers just as they need mothers. They need their fathers as role models as much as they need their mothers. A father’s love is different than a mother’s love and the child needs both in the same way that our bodies need both proteins and carbohydrates in order to achieve a balanced growth.
Let me just give you five alphabets to be remembered when we celebrate the father’s Day and when we look into our own lives as a responsible person.
First Letter is H:- Happiness. We need to be happy people. There are ups and downs in the life. If you are only concerned about your complexes and forget about the greatness in you. You will be always a sad person. Be happy. Rejoice in the Lord always.
Second letter is U:- Understanding. To stand under. When you stand under the foot of the cross you will know what the Suffering of Jesus is and why He suffered. We should stand under, capable of being adjust to any circumstances with prudence.
Third letter M stands for Maturity.
To be mature your intension should be innocent.
Actions should be proper
And your Reactions should be prudent.
The Fourth letter is A which stands for Ability. God has blessed you with lots of Talents and gifts. Do not burry them under the fig tree. Use it and be a successful man.
I think you have realized my final alphabet that is N which stands for Nobility.
And that is what I wanted to tell you. Be H-U-M-A-N. Be a Human. Sometimes we are fighting with ourselves to be something we are not and end up in mess. Be a Human and Jesus was really and Human .He wept, He was upset, he was angry, He accepted the invitations of the Pharisees for dinner. He accepted sinners. He only hated sin and always he welcomed the sinners to his life. Be human then it is always easy to be a good Father.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Happy Fathers day my dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
In Mark 1:16-20) says “As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
In Hebrew tradition, one was known as the son of one’s father. In my neighborhood I am just my father’s Son. Oh he is the son of so and so.
James and John were the sons of Zebedee. James slashes Zebedee. John slashes Zebedee. One’s last name was the name of one’s father. Like myself. My last name John is my father’s name.
As you sit here today, my dear brothers and sisters, I want you to think of your own father. I hope you knew him. I hope you loved him. I hope he was a good father, as mine was. In book of Sirach 3:1 says “Children, pay heed to a father’s right; do so that you may live. He who honors his father atones for sins…in verse 12 we read My Son, take care of your father when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives.”
But even if you didn’t know your father, even if you didn’t love your father, your father has still helped make you, negatively or positively, who you are today. There is a bond between father and child that nothing can break, not even death. In the first chapter of the book called Letters to My Son by Kent Nerburn, the author writes these words:
None of us can escape this shadow of the father, even if that shadow fills us with fear, even if it has no name or face. To be worthy of that man, to prove something to that man, to exorcise the memory of that man from every corner of our life - however it affects us, the shadow of that man cannot be denied…we all labor under the shadow. It makes us who we are and shapes the [person] we hope to be.
Brothers and sisters, it is never too late to make amends if we have wronged another. It is never too late to offer forgiveness to those who have wronged us. It is never too late to say “I love you” to another especially to our Dads, or to hear another say “I love you” to us. Whether you are a father, or a son, a mother or a daughter, it is never too late to touch and be touched by those with whom our lives in are forever inextricably bound.
On this Father’s Day, I wish to give a special challenge to all the men here today and always when I speak I am speaking to me too. You are an example to those around you, especially to children. Be a person of character and integrity. Modern Evangelical Faith has put too little importance on character.
Character does matter. Jesus said, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Paul says in his letter to 2 Corinthians 3:18, “As all of us reflect the Lord's glory with faces that are not covered with veils, we are being changed into his image with ever-increasing glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” Laura Schlessinger says is plain, “We are what we do.” Forest Gump put it another way, “Stupid is as stupid does.” As much as we may hate it, our character is defined, not by what we say, but by what we do. Whether or not we love our family is not revealed by what we say, but by what we do. Character is defined by the willingness of a person to do what is right following a code of conduct which is the basis of the community and the faith.
This poem by an unknown author helps to show the important of character:
Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
We have all heard the quote: "I can t hear what you are saying because what you do speaks so loudly." This is especially true of fatherhood. I must face up to the fact that "Do as I say, not as I do" just doesn’t work.
Several years ago, I had a single parent come in to see me because she was at her wits end, she had two girls and a boy, and the two girls had made the wrong choices which ended up in their getting pregnant. She didn’t t know how it could, because she was always so strict and constantly telling them that premarital sex was wrong. I asked her how the message was getting through to her girls when she had her boyfriend in for over night visits, and then even living together for a while. God wants us to use our minds. God wants us to think, but God does not want us to be disobedient. What has God told you in the Bible you didn’t follow, and it troubles you? It troubles your conscience because you know you should not do it - but you have done it? We might argue that nobody knows. We can argue that everybody else is doing it. We can try to rationalize our actions, but we have an obligation to God and to others. Though it may seem small at the time — disobedience to God does matter a hundred years from now. What we do when nobody else sees, is seen by God, and that matters.
Our Country has all the rights and freedoms. We should have a universal declaration of children’s rights saying that every child has a right to have a mother and a father. This is what people often forget when they discuss divorce. They tend to look only at the interests of the man and the woman. But I think that the party that is most hurt by a divorce is often not the man or the woman but the kids. Kids need fathers just as they need mothers. They need their fathers as role models as much as they need their mothers. A father’s love is different than a mother’s love and the child needs both in the same way that our bodies need both proteins and carbohydrates in order to achieve a balanced growth.
Let me just give you five alphabets to be remembered when we celebrate the father’s Day and when we look into our own lives as a responsible person.
First Letter is H:- Happiness. We need to be happy people. There are ups and downs in the life. If you are only concerned about your complexes and forget about the greatness in you. You will be always a sad person. Be happy. Rejoice in the Lord always.
Second letter is U:- Understanding. To stand under. When you stand under the foot of the cross you will know what the Suffering of Jesus is and why He suffered. We should stand under, capable of being adjust to any circumstances with prudence.
Third letter M stands for Maturity.
To be mature your intension should be innocent.
Actions should be proper
And your Reactions should be prudent.
The Fourth letter is A which stands for Ability. God has blessed you with lots of Talents and gifts. Do not burry them under the fig tree. Use it and be a successful man.
I think you have realized my final alphabet that is N which stands for Nobility.
And that is what I wanted to tell you. Be H-U-M-A-N. Be a Human. Sometimes we are fighting with ourselves to be something we are not and end up in mess. Be a Human and Jesus was really and Human .He wept, He was upset, he was angry, He accepted the invitations of the Pharisees for dinner. He accepted sinners. He only hated sin and always he welcomed the sinners to his life. Be human then it is always easy to be a good Father.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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