ROMANS 12:1MEN’S BREAKFAST
2/9/2008
We’ve survived winter. It’s the second day of spring. The mornings are getting lighter. Summer’s on the way... you can tell; only one of Bob’s chefs had a beanie on this morning… And it’s Father’s Day on Sunday. I like Father’s Day. I love Father’s Day. I’m hardly a veteran of these things – Grace is only six… but Father’s Day gets better and better each year.
We’ve survived winter. It’s the second day of spring. The mornings are getting lighter. Summer’s on the way... you can tell; only one of Bob’s chefs had a beanie on this morning… And it’s Father’s Day on Sunday. I like Father’s Day. I love Father’s Day. I’m hardly a veteran of these things – Grace is only six… but Father’s Day gets better and better each year.
Which is really odd, because the presents are getting worse and worse.
It goes like this. Gracie is getting older. As she’s getting older, she’s able to make some choices and some guesses as to what makes a good present. She’s able to make cards all by herself. So now, instead of either a really funny card or a really poignant card (and my wife is brilliant at finding exactly the right card), I get a yellow bit of paper with a strange wild scribble in the middle. That looks like a cross between a wombat and a tyrannosaurus. That’s a drawing of… me, is it? Okay, she might be better at portraits than I gave her credit for. But for Father’s Day, do you really want to be reminded that you’re a large and hairy dinosaur? Do you really think the truth will set you free?
That’s just the cards. The presents are going to get worse, too. I promise you, they are going to get worse. My fault – I’ve been spoiled; my wife is one of the best present-buyers ever. Girls know about buying presents, because they listen and remember. If us guys think they only have brilliant memories for grudges, keep this in mind – they store plenty of good information, and they’re better at it than we are.
But my wife won’t be doing the buying. Gracie will be. And then the other two kids will when they get old enough. So presents like really good obscure books and CDs, and underpants and socks (I actually LIKE getting socks and underpants! A sock should only have one hole, and undies should only have three. Mine end up with enough holes to keep a squid comfy) – they’ll start to disappear. And be replaced by pretty strange stuff that Grace has seen in a shop and thought “Daddy would love that”. Probably in pink, too.
But… but… I’ll love it. It’s something that I really look forward to. And when Benny and Maggie get started, I’ll get more strange things. I asked my dad; what the strangest Father’s Day present that I got him? Apparently I made him a pottery ashtray. Shame he hadn’t had a smoke in ten years…
You see, part of the charm of kiddies and their presents is that they give us something that they see as great. They haven’t tried to calculate what will appeal to us the best. They’re better than that. They give us their heart. And we wouldn’t have them any other way.
Grace is bringing me a present. She knows that whatever she brings for me is going to make me smile. She wants to please me. She loves me, and she loves telling me.
Grace isn’t getting me a present because I need a present. She’s not giving me a present in the hope of making me love her more. She’s giving me her heart.
I wonder what we’d give God if we could give Him a Father’s Day present. What would we give? I’m not talking about money – I want to get that straight. But I am talking about what we bring before our Father in heaven. If you could give God a Father’s Day present… why am I asking a bunch of blokes about giving presents, anyway? We’re terrible at presents! Shops love us guys at Christmas time – because we panic, and when we panic we bleed money. One Christmas I had no idea what to buy my wife. I went into one store with my hands raised and said “HELP! I’m a stupid male!” And I was in a panic because I knew Fiona had dropped a couple of really big hints…
So – guys – here’s Fiona’s guide to present-buying. It starts with “listen”. She listens to what I say I want, even if I wasn’t actually asking. And she’ll drop hints near certain days, and she’ll let me know it if I’m not listening. So she should…
Has God dropped hints? What does God say that He wants? The Book of Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament, and it’s about bringing God the wrong present. I’m going to make a really strong suggestion. Before you get to Father’s Day, read Malachi. It’s a really short book. Four chapters. Two-and-a-half pages. Read it.
But what is the right present? Not the easiest question! What do you get the man who has everything? What do you bring the One who not only has everything but has made everything? It makes it pretty hard to know where to start.
Paul picks up on how ridiculous this notion is, and he collects a line from the Book of Job: “Who has given a gift to Him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through Him and to Him are all things. (Rom 11:34) So what can we give our Lord and Master?
God provided an answer through the Old Testament; sacrifices. But even then, the sacrifices were really a demonstration of a state of heart. Whether a man was truly thankful or repentant was how God saw how acceptable the sacrifice was. Look at Cain and Abel, and the tragic consequences. I did a really quick survey last night on the word sacrifice, and what came up, over and over again, was… well, you pick up the theme.
1 Sam 15:22 – Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice.
Ps 40:6 – You do not delight in sacrifice and offering…
Ps 51:16-17 – Were I to give a burnt offering, thou wouldst not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, God, thou wilt not despise.
Hs 6:6 – I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Jesus picks up this quote and hurls it at the Pharisees twice in Matthew. Go and learn what this means; “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.”
As he so often does, it’s Paul again who gives us the answer – what a good present for our Heavenly Father is… I appeal to you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1 – right after he’d noted the silliness of trying to offer God a gift.
Is it adequate? No – it’s like a present that Grace buys and hand-wraps. It’ll never look anything like a DJ’s catalogue, but it’s all that she has, and it’s all she can do, and my heart sings.
Is it adequate? No - but, really, it’s all we have, and it’s what God wants. And it makes His heart sing, because finally – finally – we start to do the thing we were created to do. To worship.
We’re not giving ourselves to God because He needs us to. We can’t calculate a way to please Him so we can sneak into His good books – there was only ever one way that could be done, and Jesus did that. We never could, and we must never think that we can.
But - We do it because we love Him.
So this Father’s Day, as we think about what to get for our dads – or as we get given things… look at the heart behind the present. And take the time to talk to our Heavenly Father about Father’s Day.
It goes like this. Gracie is getting older. As she’s getting older, she’s able to make some choices and some guesses as to what makes a good present. She’s able to make cards all by herself. So now, instead of either a really funny card or a really poignant card (and my wife is brilliant at finding exactly the right card), I get a yellow bit of paper with a strange wild scribble in the middle. That looks like a cross between a wombat and a tyrannosaurus. That’s a drawing of… me, is it? Okay, she might be better at portraits than I gave her credit for. But for Father’s Day, do you really want to be reminded that you’re a large and hairy dinosaur? Do you really think the truth will set you free?
That’s just the cards. The presents are going to get worse, too. I promise you, they are going to get worse. My fault – I’ve been spoiled; my wife is one of the best present-buyers ever. Girls know about buying presents, because they listen and remember. If us guys think they only have brilliant memories for grudges, keep this in mind – they store plenty of good information, and they’re better at it than we are.
But my wife won’t be doing the buying. Gracie will be. And then the other two kids will when they get old enough. So presents like really good obscure books and CDs, and underpants and socks (I actually LIKE getting socks and underpants! A sock should only have one hole, and undies should only have three. Mine end up with enough holes to keep a squid comfy) – they’ll start to disappear. And be replaced by pretty strange stuff that Grace has seen in a shop and thought “Daddy would love that”. Probably in pink, too.
But… but… I’ll love it. It’s something that I really look forward to. And when Benny and Maggie get started, I’ll get more strange things. I asked my dad; what the strangest Father’s Day present that I got him? Apparently I made him a pottery ashtray. Shame he hadn’t had a smoke in ten years…
You see, part of the charm of kiddies and their presents is that they give us something that they see as great. They haven’t tried to calculate what will appeal to us the best. They’re better than that. They give us their heart. And we wouldn’t have them any other way.
Grace is bringing me a present. She knows that whatever she brings for me is going to make me smile. She wants to please me. She loves me, and she loves telling me.
Grace isn’t getting me a present because I need a present. She’s not giving me a present in the hope of making me love her more. She’s giving me her heart.
I wonder what we’d give God if we could give Him a Father’s Day present. What would we give? I’m not talking about money – I want to get that straight. But I am talking about what we bring before our Father in heaven. If you could give God a Father’s Day present… why am I asking a bunch of blokes about giving presents, anyway? We’re terrible at presents! Shops love us guys at Christmas time – because we panic, and when we panic we bleed money. One Christmas I had no idea what to buy my wife. I went into one store with my hands raised and said “HELP! I’m a stupid male!” And I was in a panic because I knew Fiona had dropped a couple of really big hints…
So – guys – here’s Fiona’s guide to present-buying. It starts with “listen”. She listens to what I say I want, even if I wasn’t actually asking. And she’ll drop hints near certain days, and she’ll let me know it if I’m not listening. So she should…
Has God dropped hints? What does God say that He wants? The Book of Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament, and it’s about bringing God the wrong present. I’m going to make a really strong suggestion. Before you get to Father’s Day, read Malachi. It’s a really short book. Four chapters. Two-and-a-half pages. Read it.
But what is the right present? Not the easiest question! What do you get the man who has everything? What do you bring the One who not only has everything but has made everything? It makes it pretty hard to know where to start.
Paul picks up on how ridiculous this notion is, and he collects a line from the Book of Job: “Who has given a gift to Him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through Him and to Him are all things. (Rom 11:34) So what can we give our Lord and Master?
God provided an answer through the Old Testament; sacrifices. But even then, the sacrifices were really a demonstration of a state of heart. Whether a man was truly thankful or repentant was how God saw how acceptable the sacrifice was. Look at Cain and Abel, and the tragic consequences. I did a really quick survey last night on the word sacrifice, and what came up, over and over again, was… well, you pick up the theme.
1 Sam 15:22 – Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice.
Ps 40:6 – You do not delight in sacrifice and offering…
Ps 51:16-17 – Were I to give a burnt offering, thou wouldst not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, God, thou wilt not despise.
Hs 6:6 – I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Jesus picks up this quote and hurls it at the Pharisees twice in Matthew. Go and learn what this means; “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.”
As he so often does, it’s Paul again who gives us the answer – what a good present for our Heavenly Father is… I appeal to you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1 – right after he’d noted the silliness of trying to offer God a gift.
Is it adequate? No – it’s like a present that Grace buys and hand-wraps. It’ll never look anything like a DJ’s catalogue, but it’s all that she has, and it’s all she can do, and my heart sings.
Is it adequate? No - but, really, it’s all we have, and it’s what God wants. And it makes His heart sing, because finally – finally – we start to do the thing we were created to do. To worship.
We’re not giving ourselves to God because He needs us to. We can’t calculate a way to please Him so we can sneak into His good books – there was only ever one way that could be done, and Jesus did that. We never could, and we must never think that we can.
But - We do it because we love Him.
So this Father’s Day, as we think about what to get for our dads – or as we get given things… look at the heart behind the present. And take the time to talk to our Heavenly Father about Father’s Day.
Artwork from http://shop4men.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=13&products_id=55&osCsid=a78131efc77e1c1d5fef240bb5c154d7 I won't complain if anybody sends me some.
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1 comment:
I read your father's day message. I liked it. I really like the way you drew a parallel between the heart of the children and what their gifts mean to us fathers, and what God is looking for from us. I like the point about offering up the sincerity of our hearts but the reference to offer our lives as living sacrifices doesn't carry the theme as clearly as some of the other references. I found it side tracked me and I had to stop and go back and work out why you put that in. It does work...if you think about it, but if your communicating to an audience, you want to have scriptures that clearly communicate your point so that they don't get confused.
It's a good little thought provoker. I like your style, I like your humour.
A Suggestion...
My personal style is to give the people some practical steps or actions that they can follow that will help them to appropriate the essence of the message in the following days.
Adam Stevenson
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