Church of Our Fathers

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Father's Day, Sunday the 19th of June, 2022, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.]

Family, there was a time, fairly soon after his conversion, when Paul was in Jerusalem, speaking in the synagogue and sharing the Gospel message everywhere he could.  He had brought along some Gentile believers and even took them into the temple.

All of this infuriated the Jews, who grabbed him and threw him and the others out of the temple.  They would likely have killed him had the commander of the local Roman garrison not intervened and taken Paul into “protective custody”.

As they were about to enter the garrison barracks, Paul asked if he could address the mob.  Being granted permission, Paul turned to the crowd and let them know exactly who he was, including a retelling of his conversion.

Please listen and follow along to the Apostle Paul’s words as recorded by the Apostle Luke in chapter 22 of his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, verses 6 through 21, and I’ll be reading this from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

6 “Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. 7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ 8 So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’

9 “And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me. 10 So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.’ 11 And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus.

12 “Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there, 13 came to me; and he stood and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that same hour I looked up at him. 14 Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. 15 For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’

17 “Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance 18 and saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’ 19 So I said, ‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You. 20 And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ 21 Then He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.’”

--Acts 22:6-21 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for choosing us to know Your Son, the Just One, and to better understand Your will for mankind.  Thank You for sending Your faithful servants to help us see the truth.  And thank You for our earthly fathers who mean so much to us.  Forgive us, please Father, when we have trouble leaving our past behind.  Forgive us when we worry about what others may think of us, or do to us.  Please help us remember that we have a job to do while we still walk this earth.  Help us to be better witnesses to Your Son Jesus.  Remind us that we have the power of Your own Holy Spirit living within us.  And Father, please protect us from Satan and from those who carry out his divisive, evil works.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Clear the scales from our eyes so that we can see the path You have laid before us.  Show us where we are to go and what we are to do in our service to You and Your Christ.  This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Bill Cosby once told of what he saw as the difference between Mother's Day and Father's Day:

"Mother's Day is a much bigger deal because Mothers are more organized.  Mothers say to their children:  ‘Now here is a list of what I want.  Go get the money from your father and you surprise me on Mother's Day.  You do that for me.’

"For Father’s Day I give each of my five kids $20 so that they can go out and buy me a present — a total of $100.  They go to the store and buy two packages of underwear, each of which costs $5 and contains three shorts.  They tear them open and each kid wraps up one pair, the sixth pair going to the Salvation Army.  Therefore, on Father’s Day I am walking around with new underwear and my kids are walking around with $90 worth of my change in their pockets."

Mother’s Day is a bigger deal than Father’s Day, mainly because mothers are a bigger deal than fathers.  Almost any man can father a child, if there are no biological problems preventing it, and some men have fathered many children.  Sadly, though, not all of those men stay in their children’s lives.  Some pass on to the next life, and some simply walk away from their paternal responsibilities.  And that’s when mothers become far more important, and a much bigger deal to the child.

Fortunately, there are fathers who are also Dads to their children, and there are even men who are Dads to children they did not father.  And it’s really our Dads that we celebrate this day, and wish them all a Happy Father’s Day!

Paul was truly a remarkable speaker.  Even when just repeating a past event, the words he used were powerful, painting a clear and distinct image.  When he spoke of the light that blinded him on the roadway, he referred to the “glory” of the light, that shone from heaven.  He made sure to let the mob know that the man who came to him in Damascus to restore his sight was a “devout man according to the law”, an unimpeachable witness, with a good reputation among the Jews there.  He noted that he was chosen to know Jesus, the Just One, to hear His voice, to be His witness to all men.  He even described his fear that his reputation would cause him problems, so Jesus promised to send him far away, to witness to the Gentiles.

But most pertinent for us today, Paul reported that Ananias used the phrase, “the God of our fathers” when referring to our Father God.  The God of our fathers is a very Jewish expression, one Paul’s audience would have been quite familiar with.  It refers back to the covenants God made with His chosen people, through Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.  It also conveys a sense of the past devotion and obedience to God held by their ancestors, perhaps ignoring all the times of disobedience and idolatry.

The God of our fathers…  our Father God.  While we still see God as our heavenly Father, we may not view Him in the same light as did our earthly fathers, our ancestors.  

Many times in our Bible we are told to think of God as our Father, for He has adopted us, we believers, into His great family.  Just like a good earthly Dad, He watches over us, providing for our needs, and loving us unconditionally.  Just one example of this can be found in the Apostle John’s 1st letter to the early church, where in chapter 3  verses 1 through 3 he tells us…

1 See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know Him. 2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but He has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He really is. 3 And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as He is pure.

--1 John 3:1-3 (NLT)

Our Bible also tells us to call God “Abba”.  This is a more familiar, more informal term of endearment than “Father”.  It’s closer to what we would say as “Daddy” or “Dad”.  God calls us His children, brothers and sisters of Jesus.  And some day He will make us just like Jesus.

Our Father God… the God of our fathers.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul mentions how he has heard of their faith in the Lord Jesus and their love for all the saints, all believers.  But by the time that Jesus revealed to John what was yet to come, some 30 years later, much had changed within that church in Ephesus.  Most of the members there now were second generation Christians, who still maintained a purity of doctrine and endured in their service to Christ.  But, as the song goes, they’d lost their loving feeling.

Listen to the words Jesus instructed John to write to the church in Ephesus, the loveless church.  This comes from the 2nd chapter of Revelation, from verse 3 to the first part of verse 5…

3 "You have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. 4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen."

--Revelation 2:3-5a (NKJV)

“You have left your first love.”  The church had abandoned that eagerness to please and the depth of devotion that characterizes first love.  Jesus doesn’t fuss at them or tell them what they need to do to please Him.  He just says, “Remember from where you have fallen.  Reflect back on what you, the church, used to be like, what you used to do, how you used to love.”

Family, the church today is not the church of our fathers.  For one thing, it is far more relaxed, in every way.  Our forefathers wore their Sunday finest every worship service.  For some, I’m sure, this was more to show off what they had, but for most it was out of respect for God, to bring Him their finest.  After all, we are to bring to Him of our first fruits.

But everything is more relaxed in other ways, in doctrine and devotion.  And I’m not talking only about Pilgrim Church here, but the church in general, the global church.

The world has crept into the church, bringing its worldly ways along with it.  Things that would never have been allowed in our fathers’ churches, heresies and blasphemies, are now almost commonplace in some areas of our nation.  Our forefathers came to this land and fought and died so that we might enjoy religious freedom, but I worry that we’ve carried that freedom too far, freeing ourselves from the responsibility of the new covenant God made with us through the blood of His Son, freeing ourselves from the cross.

Now I’m not saying we need to get back to wearing our Sunday finest, but we, as the body of Christ, do need to remember what we once were, not so many years ago.  We need to remember what it was like when we were first in love with our Lord.  We need to dig down and find our eagerness to please God and our devotion to serving Jesus.  We need to get back that loving feeling.

Let’s return to the days of the church of our fathers.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for adopting us into Your family, and for being such a good Father to us.  You provide for our needs and Your love has no bounds.  You still love us even when we do wrong and refuse to obey You.  Thank You, Father, for never abandoning us, instead always being there for us.  Father, sometimes we let the world dictate how we should live, even as it impacts our worship and service life.  Sometimes we forget how strongly our forefathers held to good solid Christian morals and ideals, listening instead to those who would tell us that morality changes with the times.  Forgive us, Father, when we adopt the ways of the world.  Forgive us when we brush aside the truth and replace it with worldly wisdom.  Please, loving Father, continue to guide us.  Remind us of what is truly important to You, so that we might better do Your will.  And Father, please help us remain strong, faithful, and true through all that we face in this age.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You know us.  You know Your church.  And You know from where we have fallen.  Thank You, Jesus, for warning us of our failings.  Thank You for reminding us of what we once were.  Please, Lord, help us get back to our roots, to our first love.  Forgive us when we fail to carry out the mission You gave us, either out of fear or a sense of helplessness.  Help us be better witnesses to You and to the truth of God.  Remind us that we have strayed from the foundation of the church You laid.  Show us how we can better serve You, and how to regain our lost love.  And Lord Jesus, please heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us remain trusting and obedient no matter what we go through.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on what this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.