Faithful Fathers Shepherd their Children with Compassion!

In the game “Operation” players help Cavity Sam feel better. Cavity Sam is filled with bad things, so he needs an operation. Players show compassion to Cavity Sam by removing the bad things inside of him. The game tests the hand eye coordination of children and adults alike. In order to cure Cavity Sam, things like the funny bone, butterflies in his stomach and a broken heart must be removed. Once the players have faithfully removed all the things causing Cavity Sam to feel ill, the game is over.

Today is Father’s Day. And one way you might celebrate Father’s Day is by playing a game like “Operation” together as a family. But there are some families that are not be able to play a game together today. Today there are some fathers who are in a hospital room holding the hand of their child lying in a hospital bed. Faithful fathers in that situation would love to tell the doctor to open them up and take out as many pieces as it would take to heal their sick child, but it usually does not work that way. A father who must watch his child suffer is filled with compassion and would do anything to help.

Unfortunately, there are also unfaithful fathers who show no concern for their children. There are fathers who are not there for their children. They are not there at the hospital bed or at home to care for their children. They are not there to give a hug or hold a hand, not there to provide and pay for medicine or treatments, not there to make sure the basic needs of food, water, shelter and clothing are met. Our world, country, state, community and even our own lives are affected by unfaithful fathers. When we hear the stories and see the statistics, our hearts are filled with compassion for the abandoned mothers and children. We are also filled with frustration, disappointment and anger toward unfaithful fathers.

Father’s Day might give you the opportunity to celebrate. Father’s Day might fill you with gratitude for your father or might reopen past wounds from a father who was not faithful. The people at Jesus’ time were filled with gratitude toward God our Father in heaven because he sent them Jesus. And we hear about the great things Jesus did for many people at his time in our Gospel reading from Matthew 9, 35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. Jesus faithfully brought spiritual and physical healing to many people. And his power continued through his apostles who were able to heal people and share the good news of the kingdom after Jesus ascended into heaven. The apostles were held to a high standard as we heard about in our New Testament reading from 1 Corinthians 4, 1 This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. The apostles were to be faithful with the power and message God had entrusted to them. Although the kind of healing power Jesus gave to the apostles has not continued today, the calling to share the good news of the kingdom of heaven remains.

Sharing the good news of Jesus is a father’s highest calling. The most prevalent kind of unfaithfulness among fathers is not sharing Jesus with their children. When fathers put all the responsibility for sharing Jesus with their children on mom or pastor, they are not being faithful. When fathers invest their time into teaching their children a sport, skill, instrument, etc. rather than invest time in teaching their children about Jesus, they are not being faithful. When Bible study, prayer and worship are something mom and the kids can go to while dad stays home, sleeps, works, plays golf, watches the game, indulges in hobbies, etc., fathers are not being faithful. And there are plenty of other spiritually damaging things fathers do that are unfaithful to their calling and sinful. Now, if you are a mom or child shaking your head up and down indicating your emphatic agreement, and if you are holding back an “Amen, preach it.” Then, you need to hear the truth about your own unfaithfulness. Moms, when you complain, gossip or remain silent about the father of your children’s lack of spiritual leadership rather than pray, respectfully say something or bring a trusted Christian friend, family member or pastor along to have a conversation, you are being unfaithful. Children, your father has more to offer you than the latest tech and fun experiences, or to be the one who lets you get away with stuff when mom is not around, he is there to tell you about Jesus, read the Bible with you, pray with you and bring you to church. When your expectations of your father are shallow or you fight against him when he is being faithful, then you are being unfaithful. You are unfaithful whether you are a father, mother or child. Hearing that you are unfaithful fills you with guilt, shame and regret. It also leaves you afraid of God’s disappointment, judgment and punishment.

In response to your sinful unfaithfulness, Jesus faithfully went after you. In our Gospel reading from Matthew 9, we read, 35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus went to the people of his time knowing they were lost in sinful unfaithfulness. The devil scattered them like sheep to be picked off by spiritual wolves. You were a lost sheep, harassed and helpless. You have been harassed by unfaithfulness and helpless to cure yourself from the pain of the unfaithfulness of those closest to you. At the same time, you have harassed others and left them feeling helpless. Jesus knows all that has been done to you and all that you have done, and his response is compassion. The Greek word translated “compassion” refers to love that almost overwhelms your emotions. The root word refers to ‘the inward parts,’ especially the greater parts like the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. When Jesus looks at you, he feels deep consuming love. Jesus’ compassion for you brought him to not only give up pieces of himself but to sacrifice his whole body on the cross. All the harassment, helplessness, sin, unfaithfulness, fear and unfulfilled faithfulness in your life, all of that was taken by Jesus and brought to the cross. He died and was buried, and he rose to show his real power. His power to heal earthy illnesses was a testimony and small glimpse into his great power to cure you spiritually and give you eternal life. All your guilt, shame, regret and fear are gone through Jesus as we hear in Romans 8, 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Jesus speaks on your behalf in heaven, no one can harass you because Jesus stands as your defender. You are not hopeless, but hopeful which gives you confidence as we hear in Hebrews 4, 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Jesus is with you every moment to get you through trouble and bring you to heaven as we hear him say in John 16, 33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Compassionate fathers tell their children about Jesus. Jesus spoke with compassion to his disciples as we hear in Matthew 9, 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Jesus sees the world as his harvest field. He has compassion for all people, and he wants workers in the harvest field. Jesus’ encouragement to you is to pray for faithful pastors filled with godly compassion for all people who share the law and gospel, even when it means rejection or persecution. Pray for all Christians who also work in the harvest field. And pray for compassionate fathers who faithfully share Jesus with their children. Fathers, when faithfulness, compassion and the call to share Jesus with your children seems too much, you have this encouragement from what Jesus said to his twelve disciples in our Gospel reading from Matthew 10, 5 … “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” At first, Jesus just sent the disciples to those from their own extended family, the Israelites, and he gave them the power to do miracles. Those twelve disciples were regular guys who for the most part were unsophisticated, uneducated, slow to learn and weak in faith, but the power and content of their message did not depend on them. So, it is with you. The message of Jesus is already written, and the Holy Spirit is the power behind it. Fathers, freely give Jesus to your children and the Holy Spirit, who is God himself, and never tires, runs out of love, energy, compassion, faithfulness, etc. will give them faith and life. Keep in mind too that the bulletin each week has a message to share with children and two Bible reading plans. Plus, you have pastor as a resource, a Children and Family Ministry Coordinator, Kingdom Kids teachers and a congregation supporting and praying for you.

In the game “Operation” players remove the things making Cavity Sam ill. Fathers, your children are ill from sin which leads to death and hell. Jesus has saved your children from sin, death and hell. In our Old Testament reading from Numbers 27, Moses knew his time as Israel’s leader was coming to an end and he wanted them to be taken care of when he was gone, so, 15 Moses said to the Lord, 16 “May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community 17 to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” God listened to Moses and appointed Joshua to lead them with faithfulness and compassion. Joshua is the Hebrew name for Jesus, which means “the Lord saves”. Fathers, the Lord Jesus sacrificed his whole body to save you and your children. Jesus now lives in heaven ruling all things for his harassed and helpless sheep. Fathers, share the good news about the kingdom of heaven and point your children to Jesus. All of you, pray for faithful fathers who share Jesus with their children. Pray and thank God for faithful fathers who shepherd their children with compassion. Amen.