In Jesus’ Parable of the Sower from the gospel of Mark, it describes to us about the kingdom of God: “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how….”
Jesus may not have been talking about fatherhood, but I believe this is the very area in which we, the fathers can participate in the coming of God’s reign on earth. Raising good children is like scattering seeds on the ground. Let me use this parable to encourage fathers to help nurture their children as we celebrate Father’s Day.
We know there are no guarantees in planting seeds. The farmer can till the ground at the right time, put in the right seed, and irrigate and fertilize according to the textbook. But that does not guarantee a bumper harvest.
It is the same with parenthood. We try our best to help nurture our children so we can help bring about God’s reign in our midst.
I
One of the roles of the father is to help our children know God. A 1920’s greeting card contained this Father’s Day wish: “May you sleep as long as you want in the morning. May you have the newspaper when you want it and as long as you want it. Here’s hoping no one will ask you to drive the car or go to church. Happy Father’s Day.” That, for me, is wrong. Fathers can be a channel for children to experience God’s grace.
There is this old saying, “No matter how you teach a child, he insists on behaving like his parents.” Parents, observe your children. You will notice there are times when they talk like you, walk like you, and behave like you. They even use words that you use. Children are smart. If they sense that the Bible is not a vitally important book in the parent’s life, chances are, it will not be in theirs. If they seldom see their parents pray, except a perfunctory prayer at mealtime, they will not take prayers seriously. If children sense that Sunday worship is just something to be done grudgingly rather than a treasured privilege, they will stop coming to church as soon as they get a chance. It is a formidable responsibility to be a parent.
Hilding Halverson, a gospel musician, overheard his son one day talking to two other boys. The boys were bragging about which Dad was more powerful. One boy bragged, “My Dad knows the mayor of our town!” The other boy said, “So? My Dad knows the governor of our state!” Halverson’s son was the last to speak, and said, “That’s nothing; my Dad knows God!” Upon hearing this, Halverson quickly slipped away to his room, and with tears in his eyes, prayed, “O God, I pray that my boy will always be able to say, ‘My Dad knows God!’”
In Matthew 7:11, Jesus speaks the following words: “If you then, who are evil, can give good gifts to your children….” The verse begins by calling parents ‘evil’. That is not very flattering, but it is quite truthful. We know we are not perfect; we know that we make mistakes, we misjudge situations, we do good things sometimes for wrong reasons. In other words, we are sinners. It is a basic theological component of Christianity, and it says to us that none of us are going to parent perfectly.
But don’t despair. It continues on to say that though we are sinners, we still know how to give good gifts to our children.
Even though we are sinners, good things can still come from us. We will make mistakes, but every once in a while, we also get it right. This is what we call “Grace” — God’s grace. We have the ability to give good gifts to our children. We know how to teach them right from wrong. We know how to make them feel loved. In fact, because we are fathers, we can do things for them that no one else can do. God bless those fathers who are doing good for their children.
II
But fathers, it is not only our responsibility to let our children know God, it is also our responsibility to let our children learn how to love.
If we want to touch the future beyond our own life, the best way to do is to be a loving parent.
We need fathers who can help children understand God’s love the way they relate to their children. Of course, the love of any parent is but a pale reflection of the love of God. We would not even know how to love if God had not first loved us. Nevertheless, let us try our best to reflect the love of God in our lives.
If you want to touch the future beyond your own life, the best way to do it is to be a loving parent. Great fathers can have that kind of influence. Many Moms are just as courageous. Still, it is true that a conscientious father can do wonders in the lives of his children. There are no guarantees, but when a conscientious parent plants a seed, and takes the necessary steps to nurture it, miracles can occur. Fathers, your words have more power than you can imagine.
Jesus talked about ordinary, unspectacular people. That means, you and me ordinary Christians who daily strive to be witnesses of God’s presence in this world to our children. We stumble sometimes, but we rely on God’s grace, and do what little we can.
And so we thank God for fathers and mothers who make efforts to nurture their children in the Lord. Through us, the reign of God is established, it takes root and grows in this world sometimes in surprising places, where we would least expect it. It starts small, like a seed; but the result is an amazing return at the harvest season. It is a return that is not based on what we do with the soil. It is simply an act of God’s grace.
A story was published in the Christian Reader called Priceless Scribbles: A young boy watched as his father walked into the living room. The boy noticed that his younger brother, John, began to cower slightly as their father entered. The older boy sensed that John had done something wrong. Then he saw from a distance what his younger brother had done: he had opened their father’s brand-new hymnal and scribbled all over the first page with a pen. Staring at their father fearfully, both brothers waited for John’s punishment. The father picked up his prized hymnal, looked at it carefully, and then sat down, without saying a word. (Books were precious to him; he was a minister with several academic degrees. For him, books were knowledge.) What he did next was remarkable. Instead of punishing his son, instead of scolding or yelling, the father took the pen from the little boy’s hand, and then wrote in the book himself, alongside the scribbles that John had made: “John’s work, 1959, age 2.” He continued to write: “How many times have I looked into your beautiful face and into your warm, alert eyes looking up at me and thanked God for the one who has now scribbled in my new hymnal. You have made the book sacred, as have your brother and sister to so much of my life.”
“Wow,” thought the older brother, “This is punishment?” That hymnal became a treasured family possession, a tangible proof that their parents loved them, and that it taught the lesson that what really matters is people, not objects; patience, not judgment; love, not anger.
The Parable of the Sower is actually a story of hope. Even when we come to realize that not all of our efforts are productive, the end result is still astonishing. God’s grace: God’s active, loving presence makes a significant difference in our lives and in our world when it takes root. Life can indeed be the art of the possible which succeeds in spite of overwhelming odds to the contrary. If we hear it, then we are called to go tell it, to plant more seeds, and to scatter our particular brand of hope on a world which has none.
Go, scatter some seeds through your children.
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