June 15, 2003

Second Sunday of Pentecost

Romans 8:12-17

“Who’s Your Daddy?”

     My mother is a great cook, but I do remember a few times when dinner didn’t exactly turn out the way she planned.  She made stuffed peppers one time that were so nasty even the dog wouldn’t eat them.  Not that us kids were all that thrilled with stuffed peppers in the first place, mind you.  It never mattered whether or not we liked what Mom cooked, we had no choice but to eat it (after all, there were all those starving children in Africa to worry about).  We had to clean our plates even if it meant chocking something down with big gulps of milk.  I put away a lot of lima beans that way.  Dad, however, ate everything.  He felt he had to set an example for the family.  We’d watch him eat disgusting things like liver without batting an eye.  I think he even got half-way through that infamous stuffed pepper before giving up.  We looked up to Dad, but sometimes we had to wonder if his taste buds worked right.  He’d stir together whatever was on his plate and then gulp it down.  When we went, “Eeeeww“, he’d say, “What’s the matter? - it’s all going to the same place anyway!”  And we’d say, “Sure, Dad, but it has to pass over your tongue first!”

     Dad’s are supposed to set good examples for their kids.  Unfortunately, not all father’s do.  During my seminary education I worked at a UCC home for troubled children, Hoffman Home for Youth.  One of the kids there wouldn’t pray the Lord’s Prayer during worship and the chaplain asked him why.  He said, “I can’t pray ’Our Father’ because my father abuses me.” 

     I learned something from this boy - fathers and mothers don’t just set parental examples for their children, for better or worse, they also influence a child’s understanding of God.  Maybe that’s why my father has often told me, “The most important job you will ever have is raising your children.”

     He might be right, but our influence also goes beyond our immediate families.  By the things we say and do or fail to say or do, we show others what faith in God means to us.  By our actions, or lack thereof, we give others an impression of what a child of God is like, what the family of God is like and thus, what God is like. 

     In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 17, verse 2, Jesus says this, “It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble.”  The example we set for little ones, for children, for the people in our lives matters.  It matters what sort of fathers and mothers we are.  It matters what sort of spouses and children and sisters and brothers we are.  It matters what sort of neighbors we are.  Do we cause others to grow in healthy ways, to walk with God, to run with the Spirit or do we cause them to stumble and fall?

     There are always people stumbling and falling because of the selfish, hurtful actions of others.  It is especially sad when little ones stumble.  We see a lot of this in the press these days as scandals of child abuse fill the headlines - mayors, teachers, members of the clergy, even parents are among the offenders.  It is deplorable.  It is devastating.  It leaves permanent emotional scars.  How can an abused child ever form a healthy image of a Father in heaven?  God help those who cause little ones to stumble.  God help the children.

     God’s help is there for us, whether someone has hurt us or whether we have caused others to stumble.  God’s help is there for us if someone has distorted or twisted our understanding of God or if we have been the ones who have not honored God’s name.  God’s help is there for us because God unconditionally loves us, always offers forgiveness and a guiding Spirit.

     The Apostle Paul says something quite remarkable in today’s lesson from the book of Romans.  In the eighth chapter, verses 14 through 16:

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.  For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption.  When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirits that we are children of God.”

In other words, the Holy Spirit brings us into a special relationship with God, a family relationship, a trust relationship so close, so personal that we may even use the name “Daddy” for God.  “Daddy” is what the Hebrew word, “Abba” means. 

     God is not to be feared.  God is a good Daddy, one that loves his children completely, unconditionally.  God is a Daddy we can confess our sins to and know he will still love us, even forgive us.  God is a Daddy who will guide and encourage and strengthen us even when life knocks us down.  God gives us a good example to follow and an example to give to the people who look up to us. 

     Have you heard the phrase, “Who’s your daddy?”  It’s popular with young people these days and if you are a young person you may have heard it at school or if you are an older person you may have heard it on TV.  What you might not know is that it originated as a hateful taunt, a slam on children from broken homes.  It comes from the street, from our broken society where many children don’t know who their fathers are.  “Who’s your daddy?” forces a question some children cannot answer.

     I used the phrase as a sermon title today because I think maybe we should do something about this.  Maybe we should give them a good answer to use.  Maybe we should tell them who our Daddy is and that he is their Daddy, too.  We should tell them about Abba, Father, the Heavenly Father that Jesus has shown us. 

     Our Heavenly Father loves all of us unconditionally.  His Spirit bears witness with our spirits.  We are his children now and forever.  He forgives us and supports us.  He sends us the Savior.  That’s who our Daddy is.