FATHERS ARE SONS OF GOD
Pentecost 4 Fathers' Day

Galatians 3:23-29; Luke 8:26-39; (Proverbs 4:1-4)
Paul Swartz - June 20, 2010

 

[This is Fathers' Day weekend when dads are complimented, pampered, and given gifts. One little boy gave an interesting description of Fathers' Day. He said, "Father's Day is just like Mothers' Day, only you don't spend as much on a present."

 

Well, Fathers' Day is a big deal, especially when we recognize fathers who understand, Biblically, that they are to be ones who speak for God, ANDwho seek to live their lives guided by Christ's love and Christ's commands.]

 

A group of first graders was asked to draw a picture of God in their Sunday School class. Their finished products contained some interesting theology. One child depicted God in the form of a brightly colored rainbow. Another presented Him as an old Man coming out of the clouds. One little boy drew God with a remarkable resemblance to Superman. The best snapshot, though, came from a little girl. She said, "I don't know what God looks like, so I just drew a picture of my daddy."

 

I wish every little girl and every little boy could see God in her or his father. Unfortunately that doesn't always happen. Sometimes the image of a bad father spills over into one's understanding of God. That's really sad.

 

Then we have the Gospel today on Fathers’ Day about a man possessed by a “legion” of demons…not just “a” demon, but by a “legion” of demons. And if we’re honest with ourselves, don’t we at times feel as though we too are “possessed” with the many competing claims on our time, energy, and money. The typical parent, mother or father, could be responding to many claims simultaneously: The Parent Teacher Organization needs a treasurer, Gloryland leaders beg you to sign on for another year, the Scouts and or Dad’s Club require your involvement…all of that in addition to the demands and pressures of work; and don’t forget about the neighborhood association and the “honey do” list of things to tend to around the house. Do we not find ourselves, at times, “possessed?”

 

Maybe that’s the reason why movie producers create so many monsters, from Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein” to The Nightmare on Elm Street’s “Freddy,” Friday the Thirteenth’s “Jason,” to Stephanie Meier’s vampire “Voltaire.” Why does the public keep on the look out for bigger, scarier, “bumps in the night?” And why do we keep making up monsters that are so elaborate and extraordinary, so super-powered and immortal?

 

Could it be we need our monsters to be as unlike ourselves as possible so that we can ignore the presence of the “real”  monsters that possess us…from the inside out?

 

Demonology isn’t something we talk about much less study anymore. But we can’t escape talking about demon possession after reading a text like today’s Gospel lesson. The “Gerasene Demoniac” is a classic “monster.” He is nothing like the “normal” people in his community. He runs around naked. He is “out of his mind.”  He is strong enough to break out of any chains and shackles. He can escape from any prison that his neighbors build to contain him. He lives in the graveyard. He spends his life ranting and raving among the tombs, living with the dead.

 

Yet he is NOT  a monster. He is just a man. A man possessed by a “legion of demons,”  but a human being nonetheless. Once Jesus calls out the unclean spirits from him, the man is restored physically and spiritually to his full humanity. Having been healed by Jesus the man joyfully proclaims “how much Jesus had done for him”  to all his neighbors, even “throughout the city.”

 

This is someone who was never “a monster.” But he had been a man possessed.

 

Do you think “demon possession”  is a relic of a pre-scientific age when mental and physical illnesses were attributed to evil spirits? The fact is we live in a culture that suffers from a “legion”  of possessing spirits, as toxic and traumatic as those that came raging from the from the Gerasene demoniac.

 

• The spew from one of the most destructive demons is even now washing up in greasy globs all along the coastlines in the Gulf of Mexico.
• We are possessed by a life style lubricated by more and more oil. We will do anything to keep the grease coming.
• We are possessed by a greed that puts profits before protecting people and the planet.
• We are possessed by an insatiable desire for “more stuff”—and the cost of that “stuff” is increasingly deadly.

 

When Jesus banished the evil spirits from the Gerasene demoniac, He filled the man with a new identity and a new mission. Long before Saul became Paul on the Damascus Road, Jesus had sent a missionary to proclaim the Good News to the Gentiles. Because the healed man felt God’s power and presence so fully in the person of Jesus, he became a new person in Christ.

 

We are no different from that Gerasene demoniac. We are all possessed by demons. Maybe your demon comes in a bottle. Maybe your demon comes on a card table or a food table or a one-armed bandit. Maybe your demon comes in a shopping mall or a porn site. This is a culture haunted by demon possession.

 

Scripture is clear in telling us that even Jesus was assaulted by the devil and demons surrounded Him, and He needed time to re-focus, to center. He even “dismissed” the crowds that wanted to make Him King so He could go off to pray. He said “no!”  to a good opportunity in order to say “yes!”  to a better one. It was a deliberate choice to honor His priorities. Jesus' first responsibility was not to satisfy a crowd or even satisfy His own ego, but to be faithful to his Heavenly Father.

Remember Jesus saying once, "Blessed are the meek."  We don't like that word "meek."  It suggests to us weakness or being wishy-washy or wimpy. But that's not what it means. The Greek word for meek used in the Bible is the same word used to describe a wild stallion that has been trained for the saddle. It means power under control, strength with direction. It means to be focused. Blessed are the focused, those who know their priorities and honor them.

Did you know that there is approximately the same amount of gunpowder in a firecracker as in a rifle shell? But the firecracker is unfocused. It just makes a big noise and accomplishes nothing. The rifle shell, on the other hand, focuses that power in a specific direction and delivers an enormous punch.

You can be a firecracker Christian or a rifle shot Christian.  It's a matter of focus. St. Paul was a highly focused, rifle shot Christian. He declared, "I press toward the mark for the high call of God in Christ Jesus." And fathers, ours is a high calling! You can be a firecracker parent or a rifle-shot parent. One makes a lot of noise. The other gets results. It's a matter of focus.

 

Our Lesson from Galatians for today puts the emphasis on who we are, not in relation to our earthly father, but to our heavenly Father. Paul writes to the church at Galatia, "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the Promise."

On this Father's Day weekend, let me suggest three truths that may help parents focus on healthy priorities.

FIRST, A PARENT IS A ROLE MODEL 24 HOURS PER DAY.
Parents communicate values by what they say, what they praise, what they condemn, what they ignore, but even more powerfully by the way they live. Our children listen to our every word, watch our every deed, and draw their own conclusions.

 
I know a mother who picked up her five-year-old son from kindergarten and then hastened to run five errands on the way home. She was in a big hurry and driving too fast. When she saw the policeman's blue light flashing behind her, she was totally frustrated.
He pulled her over and asked to see her license. There was a long silence while she searched for it. Suddenly her son's little voice was heard from the backseat saying, "Mama, he doesn't look like a turkey to me." Our children hear everything we say. We are role models for them constantly.

If you mutter racial slurs as you listen to the evening news, your child will form conclusions about people of other races.

If your child hears you use God's name carelessly or profanely, the child will draw conclusions both about God and your relationship with God.

None of us is perfect. We sometimes show our worst sides before our children. How important it is at such times to acknowledge our failings honestly and ask forgiveness.

 

A SECOND TRUTH FOR PARENTS IS THIS: NOTHING CAN SUBSTITUTE FOR YOUR PRESENCE.

 

Many parents rationalize by saying, "I don't spend much time with my kids, but what we have is quality time."

 

A first-grader asked his mother why his Dad brought home a briefcase full of work each night. She explained that he had so much work to do that he couldn't get it all done at the office. The youngster pondered this soberly, then asked, "Well, why don't they put him in a slower group."

Parents, remember this. If you can't say no to some claims, your life will drip away like a leaky faucet. You won't make much of a splash anywhere.
There are times when we should say no because something/someone more important required a yes.

FINALLY, A THIRD TRUTH ABOUT PARENTING: NO ONE CAN LEAD A CHILD TO GOD AS WELL AS A PARENT

 

If the parents fail, chances are small that the church or a grandparent or a friend can make up that deficit.

Children are so bright. If they sense that the Bible is not a vitally important book in your life, chances are that it won't be in theirs. If they seldom see you pray, except a perfunctory prayer at meal-time, they will not take prayer seriously. If children sense that Sunday worship is a grim duty rather than a treasured privilege, they will stop attending as soon as they get a chance. I remember a mother who took her poodle dog to obedience class each week without fail, and paid considerable money for it. But she failed to bring her little daughter to Sunday School even though it was free. One day God may ask her, "Why did you care more about your dog's obedience than about your precious daughter's relationship with me?"

Often I think about my late father whom we called "papa." I recall some wonderful family vacation experiences. Saturdays were always a day of preparation…making sure the car had enough gas for any travels on the Sunday, and that there was enough food for meals because you did not “purchase” anything on Sundays, and then of course finding a “Tourist Home” to stay the night and discovering the location and time of worship for Sunday morning.

One Sunday morning we were in Washington D.C. None of us were feeling very well, but it was about 10:00 AM and it was time to leave for worship. Mom was none too thrilled by the idea, considering how ill every one felt, but father insisted. Grandpa, who was with us, was excused. Isn't it strange that after all those years I still remember that day? That church where we worshipped? Dad thought that a Sunday without worship was like Memphis without a river. One by one we left that worship service, sick to our stomachs and finally made it back to the Tourist Home, sicker than dogs. I can still hear my grandfather asking as we trudged up the stairs, “How many more of you are sick?”

Clovis Chappell, a great preacher of a previous generation, used to tell the story of two paddleboat steamers. They left Memphis about the same time, traveling down the River to New Orleans. As they traveled side by side, crew members made disparaging remarks about the slowness of the other boat. Words were exchanged. Challenges were made.

And the race began. The competition was keen as the boats roared down the Mississippi. One boat began falling behind. Not enough fuel. There had been plenty of coal for the trip, but not enough for a race. As the boat dropped back, an enterprising crew member took some of the ship's cargo and tossed it into the ovens. Their boat began to catch up, so they made fuel out of more and more cargo. They finally won the race, but in the process they burned their cargo, the very material they had been hired to transport.

Parents, our primary mission is not to yield to the demons, to win a rat race, but to faithfully care for those persons entrusted to us, especially our children. Blessed are the focused, those who know their priorities and honor them. AMEN!