This is a reprint of the blog post from Father's Day, June 19th, 2011.
********************************************************
Today I gave the message (sermon) at church. I also had to organize the service, choose the hymns, write and read numerous prayers, and choose the readings for the liturgist. Some of my friends have asked for a transcript of today's message. I will post below what I basically said/sang. I sung the last song, in case you were wondering.
Every Day is Our Father’s Day
On July 5th, 1908 in Fairmont, West Virginia, the first Father’s Day was celebrated. It was organized by Mrs. Grace Golden Clayton, who wanted to celebrate the lives of the 210 fathers who had been lost in the Monongah Mining disaster. This horrible event took place several months earlier in Monongah, West Virginia, on December 6, 1907. However, West Virginia never officially registered the holiday, so the yearly celebration was shelved for the near future.
A few times the holiday made an attempted resurrection, but on each occasion it was overshadowed by other more important matters. However, in 1972 then President Richard Nixon signed the day into law making it a permanent Holiday on our United States calendar. Once a year, on the 3rd Sunday of June, we take time our of our busy lives to honor the MAN (or men) who have made our lives different; men who we call FATHER.
In my research on Father’s Day, I came across a variety of ways different countries celebrate their fathers. I must say though, Germany had the most colorful traditions of them all.
In Germany Father's Day, or as they say, Vatertag, is always celebrated on Ascension Day (which is the Thursday forty days after Easter). Ascension Day is a federal holiday, therefore, places of business close down. Regionally, it is also called men's day,Männertag, or gentlemen's day, Herrentag. It is tradition, especially in the north and east of the country, for groups of males (young and old) to do a hiking tour. They use manpower to pull along one or more smaller wagons, called Bollerwagen. In these wagons are wine or beer (according to region) and traditional regional food. From what I read many men use this holiday as an opportunity to get inebriated. I suppose many would find that a great way to spend the day!
The word FATHER appears approximately 1500 times in the Bible, less or more depending on the version used. And no, I didn’t come up with this number from our collection of Bibles. I will let you in on a secret: you can get the information on the Internet. And in many cases, the 1500 word usage of FATHER is written about Our Heavenly Creator: God.
Today we celebrate Father’s Day. But isn’t EVERY day OUR HEAVENLY FATHER’S day?
What are your priorities? Are you like most that let the “stuff” take over? Do you fill your life with a bunch of beans like I illustrated to the children earlier? Not having enough room to “fit” God in? Or do you put God at the center of your life, then filling the spaces with the stuff?
During the month of May, I participated in an online social community with other Christian women. We spent the month reading and sharing our journey through the book, “31 Days to Clean, Having a Martha Home the Mary Way,” by Sarah Mae. Sarah Mae uses the familiar story from Luke as a basis for doing “spring cleaning.” Each day the participants had a Martha task: which was some kind of deep cleaning around the home; and a Mary task: which was an exercise in spiritual cleaning.
The story of Jesus’s visit to the home of Martha and Mary has always intrigued me. Martha was so busy worrying about how her home looked and how the food was prepared, which is where I most often find myself. However, Mary was engaged with her guest. So much so, that when Martha found Mary she was engrossed in Jesus’s stories, sitting next to him at his feet. Mary was concerned about the guest and not what was for dinner. The Bible tells us that it is Mary whom we should model our lives after- allowing God into our homes and hearts no matter how “messy” they are.
I am a blogger. For those of you who are unfamiliar with what a blogger is I will explain it as such: a blogger is someone that enjoys writing and/or journaling on the Internet for others to read. So each day during the month of May, I blogged (or wrote) my progress of each Martha and Mary task along with other women in the Christian social online community. We read each other’s journey, and encouraged each other along. Many left the daily challenges behind because they were too time consuming. But I stuck it out. And at the end of the 31 days, my home was much cleaner and (believe it or not) even more organized than before.
However, the Mary tasks were not so simple, and I don’t know if I will ever truly be able to say they are complete.
The hardest task for me was on Day 5. We were asked to list our priorities (from #1 to #5 or 6). I’m sure you can guess items on my list: Jim, the girls, my job. But what I had the hardest time deciding was what should I list as my #1? My marriage? My children? What was the “correct” answer?
Of course, I knew the answer: God. After all, putting God first is what the Bible tells us to do. If we put God first and at the center of everything we do, all the other “stuff” should fall into place. But is it that simple and easy? I do not think so.
Today’s Old Testament reading was from the first chapter of Genesis. We only heard a small portion of the creation story, but I’m sure we could all (including the children) tell you what came next. But just because we can regurgitate scripture ad nauseum, does that mean we are fully understanding what is written at the very beginning of our sacred book? God created everything. EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING out of NOTHING!
When we celebrate holidays such as Father’s Day or Mother’s Day or Grandparent’s Day, we spend most of our time focused on our Earthly families. Those who raised us, or helped raise us. There was a poem I ran across the other day, illustrating what a father is:
Mender of toys, leader of boys,
Changer of fuses, kisser of bruises,
Bless him, O Lord.
Mover of couches, soother of ouches,
Pounder of nails, teller of tales,
Reward him, O Lord.
Hanger of screens, counselor of teens,
Fixer of bikes, chastiser of tykes,
Help him, O Lord.
Raker of leaves, cleaner of eaves,
Dryer of dishes, fulfiller of wishes,
Bless him, O Lord.
There always seems to be a stronger emphasis placed on the importance of Mother’s Day. Maybe it is because Father’s Day was created after Mother’s Day was officially a holiday, kind of like a afterthought. Or maybe it is because Father’s Day cards and gifts tend to be humorous or silly (you know...the proverbial tie, or the set of golf balls, …) and Mother’s Day cards and gifts tend to be warm and sentimental (you know...flowers, or dinner at at fancy restaurant). I also suppose that something must be said about Father’s Day falling in the summer. Unless your child’s teacher has them make a Father’s Day gift or card before school is out, the child does not always have something for their Dad.
There is a story that goes:
Brad was out late with friends one night. Suddenly, he realized it was Father's Day and he had neglected to buy a card for his dad. After much searching, Brad located an open store, but was disappointed to find only two cards left on the rack. Selecting one, he brought it home and presented it to his father when he woke the next morning. Upon opening it, his dad read the message: "YOU’VE BEEN LIKE A FATHER TO ME!" He looked at Brad, puzzled. "Well, Dad," Brad tried to explain, "it was either that or the card that said, 'NOW THAT I’M A FATHER TOO!’”
I am curious how much time we Christians (who call God our Father) spend honoring our Father and Creator. Now, I realize, that God cannot accept physical gifts (like ties and golf balls), but by taking care of the Earth and those that inhabit it, we are honoring our Father’s creation. By putting Him center in our lives, truly making him our FIRST priority we are honoring him.
I am reminded of a scripture passage from Psalm 24:
“The earth is the Lord's and everything in it; the world and all who live in it, for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters."
God created the World. God owns It. God still owns it. We are simply managers of His creation. Of course it is human nature to think He gave the Earth to us humans. But there is nothing in the Bible to say we “OWN” the Earth. We are simply its stewards - put here to make sure it thrives and grows. However, as selfish as humans can be; we must understand that God owns everything on this Earth, not us. Yes, friends he owns the people, the animals, the person who hurt your feelings, the punk that shot up a convenience store, the dump down the street, the ghetto filled with crime and corruption. All of us, and Everything on this Earth. We are all HIS.
Sometimes it is hard to imagine that God is the parent of those we do not like, and those that seem so evil in nature. Jesus told us to love one another, but He especially meant those who seem to be unlovable.
Jesus called his Father, Abba, which is kind of like a child calling their father, Daddy. In this simple word, Abba, we see the intimate relationship Jesus had with his father. Jesus made this great being somehow human and personal. I believe that we should strive to have that kind of relationship with our Creator as well.
As a parent, there are days that I get so angry with my girls. I scream. I holler. I cry. Some days it is so hard to love them. And yet, I do...unconditionally. I am sure all the Mother’s and Father’s out there completely empathize with what I am going through. But have you ever stopped to wonder if God has days like that too. I imagine He looks down and just grieves over what many of his Earthly stewards have done to His creation.
We are all God’s children. He wants us to come to Him. His door is always open. Open for us to live in harmony with his creation. But how many of His children actually listen to Him, obey Him, serve Him, can truly call him “Abba”?
The song, “Welcome To My World,” albeit a classic county tune, is one of my all time favorites that includes Biblical scripture. We sang it in my Kindergarten class (which was a Dearborn PUBLIC school if you were wondering), while Miss Wetmore played it on the piano. In case you were wondering: Miss Wetmore is one of my inspirations, and I still sing songs taught in that class now some 30 years later.
However, it took reading the Bible a few years back, that I realized words from the song were actual scripture passages found in Matthew 7:7 and Luke 11:9. Knowing this has given completely new meaning of the song to me.
Welcome to my world
Won't you come on in
Miracles I guess
Still happen now and then
Step into my heart
Leave your cares behind
Welcome to my world
Built with you in mind
Knock and the door will open
Seek and you will find
Ask and you'll be given
The key to this world of mine
I'll be waiting here
With my arms unfurled
Waiting just for you
Welcome to my world
AMEN
Every Day is Our Father’s Day
On July 5th, 1908 in Fairmont, West Virginia, the first Father’s Day was celebrated. It was organized by Mrs. Grace Golden Clayton, who wanted to celebrate the lives of the 210 fathers who had been lost in the Monongah Mining disaster. This horrible event took place several months earlier in Monongah, West Virginia, on December 6, 1907. However, West Virginia never officially registered the holiday, so the yearly celebration was shelved for the near future.
A few times the holiday made an attempted resurrection, but on each occasion it was overshadowed by other more important matters. However, in 1972 then President Richard Nixon signed the day into law making it a permanent Holiday on our United States calendar. Once a year, on the 3rd Sunday of June, we take time our of our busy lives to honor the MAN (or men) who have made our lives different; men who we call FATHER.
In my research on Father’s Day, I came across a variety of ways different countries celebrate their fathers. I must say though, Germany had the most colorful traditions of them all.
In Germany Father's Day, or as they say, Vatertag, is always celebrated on Ascension Day (which is the Thursday forty days after Easter). Ascension Day is a federal holiday, therefore, places of business close down. Regionally, it is also called men's day,Männertag, or gentlemen's day, Herrentag. It is tradition, especially in the north and east of the country, for groups of males (young and old) to do a hiking tour. They use manpower to pull along one or more smaller wagons, called Bollerwagen. In these wagons are wine or beer (according to region) and traditional regional food. From what I read many men use this holiday as an opportunity to get inebriated. I suppose many would find that a great way to spend the day!
The word FATHER appears approximately 1500 times in the Bible, less or more depending on the version used. And no, I didn’t come up with this number from our collection of Bibles. I will let you in on a secret: you can get the information on the Internet. And in many cases, the 1500 word usage of FATHER is written about Our Heavenly Creator: God.
Today we celebrate Father’s Day. But isn’t EVERY day OUR HEAVENLY FATHER’S day?
What are your priorities? Are you like most that let the “stuff” take over? Do you fill your life with a bunch of beans like I illustrated to the children earlier? Not having enough room to “fit” God in? Or do you put God at the center of your life, then filling the spaces with the stuff?
During the month of May, I participated in an online social community with other Christian women. We spent the month reading and sharing our journey through the book, “31 Days to Clean, Having a Martha Home the Mary Way,” by Sarah Mae. Sarah Mae uses the familiar story from Luke as a basis for doing “spring cleaning.” Each day the participants had a Martha task: which was some kind of deep cleaning around the home; and a Mary task: which was an exercise in spiritual cleaning.
The story of Jesus’s visit to the home of Martha and Mary has always intrigued me. Martha was so busy worrying about how her home looked and how the food was prepared, which is where I most often find myself. However, Mary was engaged with her guest. So much so, that when Martha found Mary she was engrossed in Jesus’s stories, sitting next to him at his feet. Mary was concerned about the guest and not what was for dinner. The Bible tells us that it is Mary whom we should model our lives after- allowing God into our homes and hearts no matter how “messy” they are.
I am a blogger. For those of you who are unfamiliar with what a blogger is I will explain it as such: a blogger is someone that enjoys writing and/or journaling on the Internet for others to read. So each day during the month of May, I blogged (or wrote) my progress of each Martha and Mary task along with other women in the Christian social online community. We read each other’s journey, and encouraged each other along. Many left the daily challenges behind because they were too time consuming. But I stuck it out. And at the end of the 31 days, my home was much cleaner and (believe it or not) even more organized than before.
However, the Mary tasks were not so simple, and I don’t know if I will ever truly be able to say they are complete.
The hardest task for me was on Day 5. We were asked to list our priorities (from #1 to #5 or 6). I’m sure you can guess items on my list: Jim, the girls, my job. But what I had the hardest time deciding was what should I list as my #1? My marriage? My children? What was the “correct” answer?
Of course, I knew the answer: God. After all, putting God first is what the Bible tells us to do. If we put God first and at the center of everything we do, all the other “stuff” should fall into place. But is it that simple and easy? I do not think so.
Today’s Old Testament reading was from the first chapter of Genesis. We only heard a small portion of the creation story, but I’m sure we could all (including the children) tell you what came next. But just because we can regurgitate scripture ad nauseum, does that mean we are fully understanding what is written at the very beginning of our sacred book? God created everything. EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING out of NOTHING!
When we celebrate holidays such as Father’s Day or Mother’s Day or Grandparent’s Day, we spend most of our time focused on our Earthly families. Those who raised us, or helped raise us. There was a poem I ran across the other day, illustrating what a father is:
Mender of toys, leader of boys,
Changer of fuses, kisser of bruises,
Bless him, O Lord.
Mover of couches, soother of ouches,
Pounder of nails, teller of tales,
Reward him, O Lord.
Hanger of screens, counselor of teens,
Fixer of bikes, chastiser of tykes,
Help him, O Lord.
Raker of leaves, cleaner of eaves,
Dryer of dishes, fulfiller of wishes,
Bless him, O Lord.
There always seems to be a stronger emphasis placed on the importance of Mother’s Day. Maybe it is because Father’s Day was created after Mother’s Day was officially a holiday, kind of like a afterthought. Or maybe it is because Father’s Day cards and gifts tend to be humorous or silly (you know...the proverbial tie, or the set of golf balls, …) and Mother’s Day cards and gifts tend to be warm and sentimental (you know...flowers, or dinner at at fancy restaurant). I also suppose that something must be said about Father’s Day falling in the summer. Unless your child’s teacher has them make a Father’s Day gift or card before school is out, the child does not always have something for their Dad.
There is a story that goes:
Brad was out late with friends one night. Suddenly, he realized it was Father's Day and he had neglected to buy a card for his dad. After much searching, Brad located an open store, but was disappointed to find only two cards left on the rack. Selecting one, he brought it home and presented it to his father when he woke the next morning. Upon opening it, his dad read the message: "YOU’VE BEEN LIKE A FATHER TO ME!" He looked at Brad, puzzled. "Well, Dad," Brad tried to explain, "it was either that or the card that said, 'NOW THAT I’M A FATHER TOO!’”
I am curious how much time we Christians (who call God our Father) spend honoring our Father and Creator. Now, I realize, that God cannot accept physical gifts (like ties and golf balls), but by taking care of the Earth and those that inhabit it, we are honoring our Father’s creation. By putting Him center in our lives, truly making him our FIRST priority we are honoring him.
I am reminded of a scripture passage from Psalm 24:
“The earth is the Lord's and everything in it; the world and all who live in it, for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters."
God created the World. God owns It. God still owns it. We are simply managers of His creation. Of course it is human nature to think He gave the Earth to us humans. But there is nothing in the Bible to say we “OWN” the Earth. We are simply its stewards - put here to make sure it thrives and grows. However, as selfish as humans can be; we must understand that God owns everything on this Earth, not us. Yes, friends he owns the people, the animals, the person who hurt your feelings, the punk that shot up a convenience store, the dump down the street, the ghetto filled with crime and corruption. All of us, and Everything on this Earth. We are all HIS.
Sometimes it is hard to imagine that God is the parent of those we do not like, and those that seem so evil in nature. Jesus told us to love one another, but He especially meant those who seem to be unlovable.
Jesus called his Father, Abba, which is kind of like a child calling their father, Daddy. In this simple word, Abba, we see the intimate relationship Jesus had with his father. Jesus made this great being somehow human and personal. I believe that we should strive to have that kind of relationship with our Creator as well.
As a parent, there are days that I get so angry with my girls. I scream. I holler. I cry. Some days it is so hard to love them. And yet, I do...unconditionally. I am sure all the Mother’s and Father’s out there completely empathize with what I am going through. But have you ever stopped to wonder if God has days like that too. I imagine He looks down and just grieves over what many of his Earthly stewards have done to His creation.
We are all God’s children. He wants us to come to Him. His door is always open. Open for us to live in harmony with his creation. But how many of His children actually listen to Him, obey Him, serve Him, can truly call him “Abba”?
The song, “Welcome To My World,” albeit a classic county tune, is one of my all time favorites that includes Biblical scripture. We sang it in my Kindergarten class (which was a Dearborn PUBLIC school if you were wondering), while Miss Wetmore played it on the piano. In case you were wondering: Miss Wetmore is one of my inspirations, and I still sing songs taught in that class now some 30 years later.
However, it took reading the Bible a few years back, that I realized words from the song were actual scripture passages found in Matthew 7:7 and Luke 11:9. Knowing this has given completely new meaning of the song to me.
Welcome to my world
Won't you come on in
Miracles I guess
Still happen now and then
Step into my heart
Leave your cares behind
Welcome to my world
Built with you in mind
Knock and the door will open
Seek and you will find
Ask and you'll be given
The key to this world of mine
I'll be waiting here
With my arms unfurled
Waiting just for you
Welcome to my world
AMEN
