Happy Father’s Day, everybody. A special appreciation to all the fathers out there. We have some good ones in this place. Thanks to all of you for today.
Does anyone want to just praise our heavenly Father? Because I think He deserves it. On this day, especially, anyone have a special praise to our heavenly Father? Or you could also thank your earthly father if you like.
So, the kids, you can come forward if you like. Special thanksgiving to heavenly Father. Hey, buddy. Okay. If not, let’s turn to Matthew 17.
1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. (Matthew 17:1-8, ESV)
Okay, let’s pray.
Abba. Father, we thank you that you give us the highest title that any person could ever receive. We are children of God.
The world wants to give other titles, but they are so far beneath the title of child of God.
Lord, we’re so honored that you are our Father. We honor you on this day. We praise you for who you are. You are perfect in all of your ways. We pray that we can shed any wrong view that we have of the heavenly Father through wrong examples in our homes or in our churches.
Father, we want to throw all of those aside. We want to see you clearly for who you are. Thank you for what Jesus did. The curtain was torn in the holy of holies, and we have direct access to Abba, Father, by the Spirit. Because of what Jesus did, we pray, Heavenly Father, that you would come and manifest yourself to us. Your love for us, we receive it now, Lord. In Jesus Name, Amen.
I’m going to start with a fill in the blank. Parents, and in particular fathers, are pleased with children who blank. Parents, and in particular fathers, are pleased with those or children who blank. Does anyone have a… Yes? Don’t sleep in. We don’t sleep in. Okay. Okay.
Now we know what Jim emphasizes. That is a good trait, not to be a sluggard. We see that all throughout scripture. That’s good.
Anybody else have an answer? One who obeys or listens. Amen. Yes, I’ll read a few proverbs.
Proverbs 1:8.
8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, 9 for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck. (Proverbs 1:8-9, ESV)
Proverbs 4:1.
1 Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, (Proverbs 4:1, ESV)
Proverbs 23:22.
22 Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. (Proverbs 23:22, ESV)
And then I’ll read a couple verses in the Old Testament which mirror a verse in the New Testament.
Exodus 20:12.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. (Exodus 20:12, ESV)
And then Ephesians 6:1.
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:1-4, ESV)
My boys like quoting that last verse to me, and then I’ll read one more.
Colossians 3:20.
20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. (Colossians 3:20-21, ESV)
All throughout the Bible we are to honor father and mother. Listen. Obey fathers in particular, and obey parents in everything.
One way I think about this is this is all training, because you have an earthly parent who is telling you to do something, and they have to tell you five times. They have to raise their voice the 6th time. And this is not supposed to be this way. You’re supposed to listen. You’re supposed to hear it the first time and obey right away.
And all of this is training. How on earth will disciples of Jesus obey a heavenly father who is invisible and a Jesus who is an invisible shepherd when we can’t even obey father and mother in everything, especially while you’re young?
It reminds me of the parable of the two sons. They were both given a command to work the vineyard. One said, I won’t, but he changed his mind and went. The other said, I will, but he didn’t do it. Jesus uses this parable as he asks a question.
Which of the two obeyed the father? The first thing they replied, the one who said he won’t, but he actually did. And Jesus uses this to say that tax collectors and prostitutes and people you would not expect are obeying the voice of God and coming in faith, in repentance.
They are entering in the kingdom of God before all the Pharisees who say the right things, but in their actions, they don’t do what the father requires of them.
I also think about Jesus as a young boy, how easy it must have been for Joseph and Mary, because this is in the word of God.
And if anyone is going to obey exactly this word about honoring parents and obeying parents in everything, it would be Jesus. It doesn’t matter. Even if it’s a bad request, if it’s a wrong request.
While Jesus was a young boy, I bet he obeyed Joseph and Mary in everything.
And so, by the time Jesus is a man and about to start his earthly ministry, Joseph is no longer on the scene. I think this was on purpose because what kind of a dilemma would Jesus be in if his heavenly Father said do this, and Joseph, his earthly father, says do that, and they are opposing one another? Jesus would have to disobey one of them. And I don’t think God the Father would have put Jesus, his son, in that situation.
So by the time Jesus is ready to obey the heavenly Father fully, Joseph, the earthly Father, is no longer there.
And we get to the text that I read today about the transfiguration, and we see Moses, who represents the law. We see Elijah, who represents the prophets, and then we hear God thundering from heaven and the clouds.
This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.
And if the heavenly Father were here and we could all audibly hear him today, I bet he would say the same thing today to all of us.
There’s a difference between being beloved, being loved, and being well pleasing. We are all beloved children of God. I’m not sure how it is in your family, but there are no favorites in my family. They are all equally loved.
That’s why apostle John, he could so confidently say, I am the beloved disciple.
And when we read John’s gospel, we can easily insert ourselves in there and say, I too am the beloved disciple, because we’re all beloved. God’s love is infinite. He doesn’t withhold his love from somebody and give more to somebody else. No, this is equal portions to everybody. We are all beloved children of God.
But to be well-pleasing is a different story. Another way to translate it, I like the NLT’s translation, is somebody who brings great joy. Somebody who delights the heavenly Father.
And that is different based on one person to the next. We’re all equally loved by the Father. We can all say, I am the most beloved. And we would not be wrong, because we are all loved in that same proportion.
But to be well pleasing, to be a great joy, to be a delight, Jesus is at the top. Jesus is at the top. And so among all of the children of God, sons and daughters, Jesus is at the top. Because he lived a life which was utterly pleasing to the Father.
And so now I want to ask, why was that the case?
Remember Moses and Elijah representing the law and the prophets? We read about that in Matthew 5:17.
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20, ESV)
When it says to fulfill the law and the prophets, it means that God’s will, as made known in the law, was obeyed as it should be in the life of Jesus. Jesus obeyed the law as it should be. He fulfilled the law.
In that sense, he understood the heart of the law. And he obeyed that law exactly as God the Father intended it when he gave the commandments to Moses. At the same time, he fulfills all the promises of the prophets in himself.
And that is why he is the most pleasing to the Father. That is why he brings such great joy to the Father. That is why he is a delight to the Father. And that’s why we need to learn from Jesus. And if God the Father were here, I’m sure he would say, listen to Jesus.
Listen to Jesus. It’s not just for Peter on the mountain. It’s for all sons and daughters. God has one word for us that rings true for all generations. The Father says to us in this generation, look at Jesus. He fulfills the law and the prophets. He obeys my commandment, as it should. He fulfills all the promises of the prophets in his person. Now listen to him.
How do we listen to Jesus? Is Jesus shouting at you every day? Is Jesus speaking audibly clearly to you every day?
Is there a situation that just brings you to your knees every day? Like, how can we listen to Jesus? How can we, the Father, get our attention so that Jesus is there in front of us and he speaks a word and we follow him?
1 Kings 19 is Elijah’s story, where he is fleeing Jezebel and he hides in a cave and God comes to him. And there are some tremendous things that happen.
11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. (1 Kings 19:11, ESV)
And then there was a fire, and the Lord was not in a fire. And there are times when storms and winds and earthquakes and fires just we have. God has no other way to get our attention but to bring such situations to us. And God can speak through these crises, these trials in our lives, but for the most part, he does not speak in this way.
Jesus is gentle in all of his ways, and he speaks as the Lord did to Elijah on this day, in a low whisper.
So if we are to listen to Jesus, you have to get very close to him. You have to get very close to him. Then you can hear him. You have to shut out the noise because Jesus, in the span of a few minutes, is already down the block. And by next week, he’s over at the next city. And he could be speaking, but you can’t hear him.
Even like 20 ft away, he’s speaking in a low whisper. You can’t hear him. But if you stay close to Jesus and he speaks in a low whisper, you can hear him and you have a chance to listen to his voice.
On this Father’s Day, I encourage all of us, we want to be like Jesus. We want to bring great joy to the heavenly Father. We’re all equally loved. That’s not a debate. We have that love. It’s unquestioned. But to be a delight, to bring great joy to our heavenly Father.
The Father asks of us to do one thing, it’s to listen to Jesus. And how can we listen to Jesus? We have to remain close to Jesus. That’s the only way. That’s the only way.
In my home, I am a soft-spoken person in general, and so I like just saying things once. And if one of my boys didn’t hear me, tough. It’s their fault if they have earphones or they are just not paying attention, tough. It is their job to hear my voice even if I don’t shout it.
It’s their job to register that, oh, the father is speaking. I should listen to him. And he doesn’t have to make a big scene. It’s just he speaks, and I just listen to the father.
It’s the same thing. Jesus speaks, and he doesn’t always shout. He doesn’t always bring an earthquake or a wind or a fire, but he just speaks. And if you’re close, if you stay close, you will hear him.
As children living in your home, listen the first time to your parents. It’s a training for the rest of your discipleship with Jesus.
You want to listen the first time. You don’t want to have your parents repeat themselves over and over and raise their voice. Listen the first time.
It’s all training to the Lord. It’s not actually about doing the chore that the father says. That’s not really the issue. The issue is, are you the type of person who will die to yourself and die to what you want to do and just surrender your life?
And whatever Jesus says in a low whisper, you say that I will listen to because my life is not my own.
He bought me at a price. You surrendered your life. It’s training for the parents to be a leader in God’s church by how well you disciple and discipline and raise up the children in the Lord.
For the children, it’s also training for you one day to become a child of God, a disciple of Jesus who hears a shepherd’s voice. And if you have shut your ears to all earthly authorities for your life, chances are you will not listen to your heavenly Father when he wants to address you.
And when Jesus, your shepherd, says go this way, no. Your whole life you’ve been on your own, you’ve gone the opposite way. It will be a tough thing that the Lord will have to do to get you to listen.
And you’re going to have a lot more difficulties in life because the Father will have to bring maybe the winds and the earthquake and the fire to make you bow the knee to Him, to listen to His Son.
And so let’s make it easy on our parents as children.
Let’s make it easy on ourselves as children of God. We want to be the kind of people who listen right away, who hear right away because we’re so close to Jesus.
Okay, let’s pray.
Father, we understand that we’re all beloved children of God, that Jesus is loved and we are loved equally. Jesus is not loved in a special way because he is divine.
But in terms of bringing you delight, in terms of bringing you joy, in terms of being a well-pleasing son, he far surpasses all of us because he obeyed the law as it was meant to be obeyed.
He understood the heart of the law. He was not selective in what he wanted to obey, when he wanted to obey in his own way. No, he understood your heart, and he obeyed every law to the fullest.
And that’s why he brought you such joy. He listened to you, Father.
He obeyed all of your commandments, all the promises of the prophets. Jesus fulfilled in his person as well. And we want to be like Jesus, who is also, as a son or a daughter of God, equally well-pleasing, equally bringing you joy, equally delighting you.
Then we need to observe the life of Jesus. We need to be close to Jesus. We need to listen to Jesus.
We need to do life the way that Jesus did life. The way he interacted with his parents, the way he interacted with the woman caught in adultery, the way he interacted with tax collectors and prostitutes and invalids and all the outcasts of society, the poor.
Lord, that has brought you such great joy, the way Jesus lived the first 30 years, in humble submission, in quiet anonymity, and for three and a half years in total obedience, interacting with other people exactly the way that you wanted him to be, reflecting your heart perfectly in all interactions.
Father, we want to be like Jesus. We want to be like him. We want to listen to him. Lord, we fall short. Forgive us. Forgive us. We have not heard the Shepherd’s voice. We have gone our own way. We’ve gone astray.
By starting today, we want to get closer to Jesus, and we want to listen for that low whisper of the Shepherd. Thank you, Lord, for your body that was broken for us and your blood shed.
As we come forward and partaking in the Lord’s Supper, we are committing that we will draw near to you as best we can so that we can hear your voice.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
