Happy Father’s Day?

by Stephen Slack,
Chaplain

Dad was gone and it started to sink in a few weeks after the funeral.  It was the summer of 2017 and I was cleaning dad’s workbench.  Again, I WAS CLEANING DAD’S WORKBENCH.  This struck me because I rarely used dad’s workbench and I had never seen it clean!  Even though dad, like me, was far from perfect, there are still questions I would like to ask him and I will always miss his dry sense of humor for sure.  Dad and mom stayed together, believed in God, and they were there for my sister, brother and me.

However, we are right to be concerned about an increasingly fatherless America.  The National Center for Fathering (www.fathers.com) provides a reality check:

  • Children in father-absent homes are about four times more likely to be poor.

  • Fatherless children are at a dramatically greater risk of drug and alcohol abuse.

  • Children of single-parent homes are more than twice as likely to commit suicide.

  • 71% of high school dropouts are fatherless.

  • A study of 109 juvenile offenders indicates family structure significantly predicts delinquency.

What is Father’s Day like for you?  Maybe you are enjoying your dad today or the day is a bitter memory pill you cannot swallow…still.  I have officiated quite a few funerals and there are only a few that truly stand out.  There were 2-3 situations where adult children sat across from me, preparing for the funeral, and they simply said, “There’s nothing good to say about him.  Please don’t say anything good about him.”  As Father’s Day weekend arrives, maybe you feel some of those emotions.

Buried in the pages of the Old Testament, a hidden gem, is a biblical narrative for Father’s Day.  A true story we should know and remember!

“Saul’s son Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth, who was crippled as a child. He was five years old when the report came from Jezreel that Saul and Jonathan had been killed in battle. When the child’s nurse heard the news, she picked him up and fled. But as she hurried away, she dropped him, and he became crippled.” 

(2 Samuel 4:4)

Now this isn’t quite a Father’s Day Hallmark Card, right?  Mephibosheth is a weird name, father is dead, grandfather is dead and a little boy is broken (It gets better!).  This is a critical time in the history of God’s people.  King Saul is leaving the throne and King David is about to become the new king.  The people chose Saul, God chose David.  During these first chapters of 2 Samuel, conflict, killing, betrayal, power struggles, and choosing sides, take place as David ascends to the throne.  A young boy becomes a helpless victim.  While clearly not perfect, David continues Jesus’ ancestry and lives as “a man after God’s own heart.”

Now, David is king and the Bible gives us the rest of this beautiful story…

One day David asked, “Is anyone in Saul’s family still alive—anyone to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” He summoned a man named Ziba, who had been one of Saul’s servants. “Are you Ziba?” the king asked.

“Yes sir, I am,” Ziba replied.

The king then asked him, “Is anyone still alive from Saul’s family? If so, I want to show God’s kindness to them.”

Ziba replied, “Yes, one of Jonathan’s sons is still alive. He is crippled in both feet.”

“Where is he?” the king asked.

“In Lo-debar,” Ziba told him, “at the home of Makir son of Ammiel.”

So David sent for him and brought him from Makir’s home. His name was Mephibosheth; he was Jonathan’s son and Saul’s grandson. When he came to David, he bowed low to the ground in deep respect. David said, “Greetings, Mephibosheth.”

Mephibosheth replied, “I am your servant.”

 “Don’t be afraid!” David said. “I intend to show kindness to you because of my promise to your father, Jonathan. I will give you all the property that once belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will eat here with me at the king’s table!”

Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica. From then on, all the members of Ziba’s household were Mephibosheth’s servants. And Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both feet, lived in Jerusalem and ate regularly at the king’s table. 

(2 Samuel 9:1-7, 12-13)

This is one of God’s Father’s Day stories and celebrations.  He still adopts children dropped and damaged by sin and trouble and welcomes them into His family seating them through Christ at His table for all of eternity.  We are all crippled yet this is what God does, this is who He is.  The hope and loving embrace of The Father!

Maybe Father’s Day is a good day for you.  Your dad was a decent dad, present, persevering and you will enjoy spending time with him or remembering him.  Be thankful to God and embrace God The Father even more in becoming ALL God desires you to be!

Maybe you dread Father’s Day every year.  You struggle with memories and struggle to forgive fearing you will never be the father or parent God desires.  Turn to God and embrace the True Father who desires to adopt us all!  He is the way!  Dr. Michelle Canfield with the National Center for Fathering says, “I long for the day when healing and wholeness become top priorities for everyone, especially fathers.” 

We should not be surprised then, when an older King David writes a Psalm – a song of praise and worship to God saying,

“Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—this is God, whose dwelling is holy.  God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.” 

(Psalm 68:5-6a)

Or Cece Winan’s beautiful song of praise and worship to God this Father’s Day,

“You are the way when there seems to be no way.  We trust in You God You have the final say!”
“Move the unmovable, break the unbreakable, God we believe, God we believe for it!”
“From the impossible, we’ll see a miracle, God we believe, God we believe for it!”

Happy Father’s Day, believing God for it!