The
Readings (1 Sam. 15.34-16.7; Mark 4.26-33; and 2 Cor. 4.6-15) give us good
teaching on the role of Fathers as co-creators with God, wives and friends, of
the Kingdom of God on Earth. This is a spiritual kingdom based on love and
faith where men are judged by what is in their heart, not by outward appearances.
The two agricultural images of reaping what we sow and taking responsibility
for sheep, help us understand what God expects men to do in our time.
1. Many men have lost their identity and authority
in our time
Men and women were given their identity and
authority by God. In Genesis 1.28 we are taught they are to ‘fill the earth and
subdue it’.
The rest of the Bible is the story of how men
and women have struggled to fill the earth and subdue it over the last 4,000
years. In our time there has been a serious loss of male identity and
authority:
·
Many men have not had fathers who taught them
how to be a man and a father
·
Many men have not read, been taught or
studied the Bible
·
Many men have either lost their faith or
never had a faith
·
Separated from God they have lost their identity
& direction
·
Separated from God they have lost their
authority as priests to the family and become self-centred and isolated
·
Women have shamed men and often replaced them
as the spiritual authority in the family in our time
·
Good news is that many men are now beginning
to realize that they need to attend a church and join a Bible Study group to re-discover
their identity
The story of Samuel anointing David as the
future King of Israel teaches us what God wants to see in our lives. What God
wants to see is a growth in love. The Parable of the Mustard seed reminds us
that love can start as something very small – a boy tending sheep, and grow
into something very big – a God-loving King of Israel. The shepherd is the
model God teaches us for how to be a man:
·
Reliability – the shepherd is alone with the
sheep
·
Responsibility – he has to solve any problems
·
Protector – sheep get lost, attacked by
predators
·
Provider – sheep need to be moved to food and
water
·
Self-sacrificial love – life based on the
needs of others
3. Fathers are co-creators of the Kingdom
of God
The Mark Readings are called “kingdom
Parables” because Jesus is teaching us what the Kingdom of God is like. This is
an invisible, spiritual kingdom that we are part of through our love of God and
each other. Our acts of love, worship and prayer are outward visible signs of
this Kingdom. Fathers are co-creators of this Kingdom when they work with God, their
wives and other people to increase love.
a. Co-creators
with God:
i. God
provides direction, teaching, wisdom and strength – tells Samuel where to go,
what to do
ii. Fathers
get this through Bible reading, prayer and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.- need
to stay connected
b. Co-creators
with wives:
i. Wives
give birth and provide the nurture, physical, emotional and spiritual help
needed to grow love
ii. Fathers
provide the material and emotional support wives need to nurture this growth in
love
iii. Fathers,
like shepherds, provide the security and protection needed to enable this
growth of love
c. Co-creators
with others:
i. Fathers
need to work with other people in a community to develop the Kingdom of God
ii. Samuel
visits Jesse to anoint David
iii. Fathers
do works of love to help others and create a community based on love relationships
Father’s
Day is a celebration of the self-sacrificial love of fathers in co-creating the Kingdom of God
If we sow a little love - we reap a
great deal of love.
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