F is for Father-Psalm 103:13
Psalm 103:13 (Lk 15:11-32)
“As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.”
Happy Father’s Day. As a title for God in Scripture, Lord is far more frequent than Father. Father, applied to God, is rare in the OT, becoming common in the NT. It is Jesus’ own name for God, while he does not address God as Lord or as King. “Father” (Gk. patēr) is “Abba” in Aramaic, the everyday language spoken by Jesus (cf. Mk 14:36; Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6). It was the word used by Jewish children for their earthly fathers.
Theme: God is our Father in heaven who never ever lets his children down.
In our sermon series on Practical Christian Living–the ABCs, the themes so far are A is for Accountability, B is for Beauty, C is for Community, D is for Delight and E is for Experience. In this sermon we will consider:
- Our Human Fathers
- Our Heavenly Father
Questions for reflection:
- What recollections do you have about your dad?
- How has your relationship with your dad affected you? Others? Your view of God?
- How can fathers love their children (Ex 20:5; Dt 5:9; 6:5; Col 3:19; Eph 5:25)?
- Why do you think Jesus teaches us to call God “Father” (Mt 6:9; Lk 11:2)?
- When his son Absalom died, how did King David express the heart of a father (2 Sam 18:33)?
- Consider who God is from Isa 9:6, Ex 34:6-7, Ps 103:13, Lk 15:11-32.
- Why is Jesus the way to the Father (Jn 14:6; Mt 27:46; Mk 15:34)?
I. Our Human Fathers
My dad. As I thought about how to prepare a sermon on God as Father, I began thinking about my dad who passed away two decades ago. My predominant thoughts are that my dad loved me dearly. He played and wrestled with me as a kid. He took me to the movies regularly. He loved my mom and was faithful to her throughout their 55 year marriage. Though he wished that I, his youngest son, would marry a Chinese, yet in his sadness and disappointment he blessed me to marry an American woman without objection or protest. Thoughts of my dad brings tears to my eyes for they invoke a deep sense of love for him, as well as a regret that I did not attend his funeral nor grieve with my mom and brother when he died.
Absent dads. When I came to the U.S. in 1980 I was somewhat surprised to find that many students I met were from dysfunctional and divorced families. In contrast to them, I hardly knew any relatives, friends or classmates that did not live with both of their biological parents. I did not understand their “brokenness” of growing up with an AWOL dad, who was either absent altogether or emotionally disconnected. Once I became very angry with a young man for always coming to study the Bible with me in a drunken state. I pleaded with him countless times saying, “Can you meet with me before you drink? Then after meeting me you can go and drink.” But he would always show up for Bible study after he has drank multiple 6 packs of beer. Once I lost my temper and called him a punk. In retaliation he punched me four times in the face. But I knew that he did not punch me with his full strength, and that he punched me with much restraint. Otherwise, he would have broken my jaw. At that moment I sensed that he loved and respected me even in his anger and drunkenness. My heart was touched and moved. After that I was no longer angry with him. I reasoned in my heart that if my wife and I were like his alcoholic and divorced parents, then my four children would be like him. We became good friends after that.
Dads who break their children’s hearts. I have heard countless sad and heart breaking stories from young men and women when they speak about their dad. There is a young woman who cannot stop crying whenever she recounts stories of how her dad physically and emotionally abused her mom and cheated on her. Worse yet are those who were sexually abused by their own father. Such stories are not only gutwrenchingly painful to listen to, but they also point to me as a dad who is in a position where I can very easily hurt my own four children. My favorite quote of loving my children is this, “The best way a father can love his children is to love their mother.” The scariest Bible verse about parenting is Ex 20:5, Dt 5:9: “…punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.” To love my children, I must love God (Dt 6:5) and love my wife (Col 3:19; Eph 5:25).
II. Our Heavenly Father
In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus taught his disciples to pray to God by saying “Father” (Lk 11:2) or “Our Father in heaven” (Mt 6:9). Praying to God as “Our Father” conveys the authority, warmth, and intimacy of a loving father’s care, while “in heaven” reminds believers of God’s sovereign rule over all things. The theme of “heavenly Father” is found throughout the OT (Dt 14:1; 32:6; Ps 103:13; Jer 3:4; 31:9; Hos 11:1). In this way Jesus invited his disciples into the intimacy of God the Son with his Father. The Lord’s prayer underscores the unique relationship of Christian believers to God as their “Father” (cf. Rom 8:14-17; Gal 4:4-7).
Who God is is a question of the ages. God is both immanent (near) and transcendent (beyond). In the Bible God has many names. Isa 9:6 refers to the Messiah to come as “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” When God passed in front of Moses, he proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation” (Ex 34:6-7).
A good father is wise. He is a symbol of strength, security and stability. He makes his family feel protected and peaceful. He is always fair and just. He does not show favoritism and does not discriminate. His greatest outstanding attribute is compassion (Ex 34:6; Ps 103:13) and love (1 Jn 4:8, 16). God the Father is the perfect example for all earthly fathers. Though we human fathers all fall short, we have an Everlasting Father who will never ever let us down.
David had the heart of a father. David’s son Absalom had murdered David’s oldest son Amnon from another wife. Then Absalom raised an army to oust his father as king. Absalom became a murderer and a traitor to his father David. But before the battle, David pleaded with his three generals Joab, Abishai and Ittai, saying, “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake” (2 Sam 18:5). But Absalom was killed in battle. It was a resounding victory. But David could not and did not rejoice even though he defeated Absalom and won back his kingdom. Instead, he lamented and moured. 2 Sam 18:33 says, “The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: ‘O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!’”
God is like the father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Since this father represents God in this parable, it is most confounding, confusing and even contradictory to most people. Fathers, even Christian fathers, would not be as gracious and generous if their youngest son demands from them his share of his inheritance (Lk 15:12), which in Middle Eastern culture was equivalent to wishing his father dead. Also, most fathers would not be as patient and tolerant toward a son who refuses to celebrate with him when his lost younger brother returns home (Lk 15:28, 31-32). We humans, even Christians among us, incline toward and prefer punishing rebellious and immoral people like the younger son by giving them what their sins deserve. We also incline toward condemning proud self-righteous people like the older son, because they are so smug, arrogant and condescending toward others. But God loves both immoral younger brothers and self-righteous older brothers ever so gently, graciously and generously by reaching out to both lost sons. God is indeed the God of initiative toward all lost sinners.
Why is Jesus the way to the Father? Jesus said, “No one goes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6). Jesus lives from eternity to eternity in love, nearness, intimacy and closeness in the very bosum of the Father (Jn 1:18, NASB). Thoughout his earthly life Jesus called God, “Father” (Mt 26:39, 42; Mk 14:36; Lk 22:42; Jn 5:17-23, 3637, 43, 45; 17:1, 5, 11, 21, 24, 25; 20:17). But only on one recorded occasion, did Jesus not call God Father. It was when his Father turned his face away from him when he was on the cross. At that moment, Jesus cried out the most mysterious and profound words ever utterred, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) (Mt 27:36; Mk 15:34). On the cross when Jesus lost his Father he lost everything. But in love Jesus had to lose his Father, so that we, who have alienated ourselves from God, would be restored to our Father.
