"Lovable Goofy Doofuses" Sermon for Father's Day

Sermon:

Text:

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ who loves goofy doofuses.

            I’m super excited! It’s father’s day and my dad and mom are coming to visit me next week!

            Now, Father’s day is one of those days where we usually spend it differently than was originally intended. It’s the day we give dads grill stuff or tools, and then we grill out and lounge around. There’s not all that much too it.

            Father’s day doesn’t have the long history that Mother’s day does. In fact many of you were around when it was officially declared a holiday. It’s been celebrated around most of the country since the 1910’s and 20’s. But, it wasn’t made an official National Holiday until President Nixon signed it into law in 1972.

            Now as I said, Father’s day has become a day of relaxation, grilling, and MORE POWER!! wHoowhoowoowoowoo!  To do my best Tim the Tool Man Taylor from Home Improvement impression. That’s the image we often have when we think Father. A loving goofy doofus of a guy who attempts to take care of his kids, but mainly is a big kid himself and just wants to grill and play with power-tools. If you look at TV and commercials that’s what you see. Some dumb guy, who constantly screws everything up and if it weren’t for his wife the kids would be in rags, if not taken away. I saw an article about a family where both parents worked, and the wife had to leave for a week for work, and everyone she knew constantly began asking her, did you leave meals for your husband? What about a list of what needs to be done? Did you make sure he had phone numbers to call if problems happened? Are you worried the kids aren’t going to get to school on time? What if they don’t have lunches for school? Should you lay out clothes for them to wear?

            We spend too much time making fun of fathers and thinking they are worthless and not enough time giving advice. It’s no wonder that when I went to find blessings for Father’s Day most of the ones I found weren’t about giving thanks for fathers, but about fathers who have left and abandoned families. If all we do for fathers is show examples of bumbling idiots who we laugh at and those who leave, no wonder we have a father problem in our country. When I look at TV and some of the best examples I can find for Father figures are Tim the Tool Man and Homer Simpson, that’s a sad fact. I love Homer and yes, he’s a very loving father and has his episodes of being a great father, but he’s certainly not who should be a prime example and source of fatherly advice.

            Looking at our texts today, we can find a little bit of fatherly advice, from two people who are not fathers.

            First is from Jesus in our Gospel today. It sort of feels like an everyday situation. Jesus has spent the whole day preaching on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and as the day winds down he decides they should go to the other side of the sea overnight. So, they get in a boat and set out. And as many fathers after a full long day of work, he goes to take a nap in the back of the boat. And this huge storm comes up. It says that the boat was being swamped, so this is no small little storm, it’s a big deal. And the disicples, almost like children, run to Jesus. Jesus, Teacher, We’re dying out here!!!!! Why won't you help us!!!!!!!

            The TV dad image would of course wake up grumpy and mad, WHAT ARE YOU KIDS DOING!! I’m trying to sleep! Jesus does something different. He gets up and before talking to them, he tells the wind to stop. Peace, be still. So, what we learn is that to be a good father you have to be able to stop the wind.

            No?  ok, that’s a little overboard. I think that’s another problem we put on fathers and fathers to be. That they have to be perfect. That everything is depending upon them.

            What we tell fathers is that they have to be able to walk on water, and we’ll laugh at them if they sink, and when they do something right it’s because their wife helped them or it was a miracle. Those are big things to deal with.  So, what do we have to teach fathers? Look out for what’s going on first. See what the situation is. Here is a very real problem. The wind is blowing and the boat’s starting to sink. So, Jesus first thing? He solves the problem. Maybe you can’t do that, but you can assure your kids that you are there. Maybe you can’t say “peace, be still” to the wind, but you can certainly say that to your kids, what’s wrong buddy? What’s wrong princess? I’m here. That’s the first step, looking out for others before yourself.

            And really it’s the only step. Everything flows from that. Love the other. Be welcoming of those around you, especially your kids.

            Paul in our reading from 2^nd Corinthians gives some great advice. The last line in our translation says, “In return – I speak as to children – open wide your hearts also.” Which sort of makes it sound like he is talking down to the people of Corinth. But, another translation, called the Voice (which I really enjoy, very easy to read) says. “If I could offer some fatherly advice: open yourselves up as children; share your hearts with us as we have done for you.”

            Share your hearts with us. Open wide your hearts. If I could give advice to anyone, especially Fathers it’s that. Love. Love your kids. Love your wife. Love your parents. Love your in laws even. And share that idea with your kids. If you are loving, they will be loving.

            Maybe I was too harsh on the TV examples. They’re not perfect, far from so, but for the most part, they do love their families. That's what we can take from these role models.

            Do you have to be perfect? No. Do you have to know everything about everything? No. Can you still make mistakes? Yes. If you are loving, even if you are a goofy doofus, you’reon your way to being a great father.

            Maybe the message is more for the rest of us. On this Father’s day, let’s remember that fathers are in fact capable of doing things, they might not always be perfect, but neither are we. They are adopted children of God just as much as we are.

            As we see commercials and TV shows portraying Father’s as bumbling incompetent fools, why don’t we also open wide our hearts in love. Instead of putting them down, telling them that they’re screw-ups, lets say, peace, be still. You’re a loving father, and doing a great job, and your God walks with you, in storms, at baseball games, while grilling, while napping, and when the kids come running afraid that the world is sinking. Let’s stop telling them they can’t do anything, and instead tell them that the love of Christ, which strengthens, nourishes, and forgives, goes with them.

            Fathers. Go out! Be loving, be God loved goofy doofuses, and know that you are great, because God walks with you.

The rest of you, let them be goofy, let them be loving, and let them actually be fathers. God gives them gifts just as much as the rest of you.

            Let us pray,

God of Fathers. Help them. Walk with them. Help us. Help us to not put them down. Help us to trust them. As you are our Father, let us share your love both as fathers, and to fathers. Amen.