“Who Do You Follow?”
Deuteronomy 6:1-9
Rev. G. Scott Turnbrook; Northwood United Church; June 18, 2017
Father’s Day…what to do? On the Sunday falling on Father’s Day, we gather (I suspect) with a diverse array of emotions in our hearts. The hopes and dreams and expectations of what a father should be and how they may have fallen short ~ or how they might not have measured up is with some. Some of us, like myself, lost their fathers quite suddenly ~ or lost their fathers at far too young an age ~ and didn’t have the chance to say the things they wish they could have in this life. Others, perhaps, have regrets about the kind of father they received in this life ~ or, perhaps, the kind of father they regret that they were. And still others have sadness about unfulfilled wishes around this identity. I find the church’s approach interesting to these pastoral considerations. Quite often, for those previously named reasons, I have noticed churches completely avoid the topic of father’s day and no mention is made of it. This on the one hand, makes sense. However, on the other hand, I know of many men who do their very best to offer love, guidance and leadership in their families, and in their various communities. And I believe that their contributions are critical for our world. You will notice that I suggested broadening the scope and for us to name this Sunday: ‘Fathering Sunday’. I follow the wisdom of the United Kingdom in this suggestion who take time to acknowledge and support the positive contributions of men ~ some of whom are fathers ~ but acknowledging that all men, whether they are biological fathers, have a significant role to play in creating and fostering healthy and thriving families and communities. Scripture speaks about us being created “in the image of God” and how we were specifically created “male and female”. My belief is that, just like women, men have an essential role to be occupied in the world. We are the ‘Mars’ to women’s ‘Venus’ and our families, our communities, and our societies need the gifts, the wisdom and the leadership of men so very much. So…let us explore ‘Fathering Sunday’ and consider the gifts and call to be offered and received.
At the outset, I think we have an interesting problem. Men have been given some very mixed messages about fathering. There are some very conflicting images that have showed up over the last few generations. We know how profoundly shaped we are by media and television shows. Perhaps you remember moral pillars ~ father figures like Ward Cleaver from the “Leave it to Beaver” TV show - that squeaky clean ‘saint’ of a father, giving sound moral advice to his trouble making son, the Beaver. Or, Charles Inglas from “The Little House on the Prarie” – that hard working, pioneer father, husband who is close to perfect. Or perhaps you remember Howard Cunningham from “Happy Days” – that virtuous father who all the young adults could come to with their dilemmas in life. These men were pillars of virtue, fathers beyond reproach and ones which men would look up to, but knew they would never achieve such levels of moral perfection. Things started to shift in the 70’s when we met Mike Brady from “The Brady Bunch”, but even he was the model of a perfect father as he and his second wife, ever so patiently, sought to blend their two families. We remember these characters, yet their character traits seemed almost unattainable. And then things completely flipped. In the more recent while, we have had the introduction of a whole new era of fathers that completely miss the mark. In the 90’s “Married … with Children” introduced the world to Al Bundy – a vulgar personality, who played the role of the jerk in the family. At the same time the world became captivated with digital animation when we met Homer Simpson from “The Simpsons” who openly abuses his children, gets drunk, is slothful and becomes the prototype of stupidity. The new millennium brought more troubling role-models for fathers. Tony Soprano of “The Sopranos” glamorized a violent and sexually promiscuous man. And, I think what this has left us with, is a profound sense of confusion of the role of men in our society. How they should act; how they should lead; and how they should be received. So where are we now? I was intrigued when I ran across this Facebook post a few weeks ago. The appeal is from a group of young adults ~ early 20’s ~ looking for a “Generic Father figure” to run their backyard bbq. In the ad, they are looking for a “bbq dad” who would grill the meat while talking about dad things like lawnmowers, building your own deck, and Jimmy Buffet. The ad writes “none of us are prepared to fill the role of “BBQ Dad”. Our world is in need of men to be dads, to be role models, to offer their love, their guidance.
Turning to this morning’s text, we meet Moses. He was the god-father to generations of Hebrew people, and his leadership continues to reverberate through the faith of the Jewish people who revere him as a foundational spiritual leader to this day. Moses led them out of Egypt towards the promised land; he followed God’s guidance in the wilderness days to get food and water; he received God’s law on behalf of the people and offered them a way to find right relationship with God. In this morning’s text, we find ourselves in the beginnings of a 6 chapter ‘sermon’ Moses gives to his people following the recitation of the 10 commandments. In the nine verse lection before us, he focusses on the first two commandments: namely we shall have no other gods before our God. We shall not fashion for ourselves idols or bow down and worship the idols of others. What we receive is one of the central teachings of Jewish law – the Shema, which Jesus will later quote as being the central point upon which all the laws and the prophets rest. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might”. What is interesting in the text is the designation of God’s identity. There were, of course, many other gods vying for the Israelites attention at the time. And in the shema, it designates God as supreme over all others. It does not just say ‘our God is the Lord’. The Hebrew reads ‘yhwh ‘ehad’ which means the Lord is one, the Lord is the Lord alone. God is over and above all that which is and ever shall be; God is what makes all life possible; God is our alpha and our omega; God is at the beginning of our existence through the journey into the beyond. I wonder how we might receive this today? How might we be challenged by these words? I wonder what (small g) gods we fashion today in an attempt to give life depth and meaning? What (small g) gods we create to take away the pains and struggles of life? The addictions we allow to rule our lives; the dysfunctions that we allow to overcome our living; our consumeristic drive for more. All these things which drive us further and further away from the source of life, and peace, and the abundant joy of the journey.
What really speaks to us specifically this morning, on Fathering Sunday, as we ponder the call to leadership are the words that follow the Shema: 6Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. 8Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, 9and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates”. Did you hear the challenging verbs in the text? This is a truly profound and awesome challenge offered to those who are truly listening to these words. ‘Keep’ the words that we just heard; ‘recite’ them to your children, ‘talk’ about them – at home, and when you are away; ‘bind’ them on your hand, ‘fix’ them upon your forehead, ‘write’ them on your doorposts. The text does not merely call the listeners to a way of righteous living, of putting God as the essence of our living; the text calls us to express this reality to others as we live. By keeping these words, by reciting them, by talking about them, by binding them, by fixing them and by writing them. That is how we live out the truth of God’s centrality in our lives. I wonder what living that out would look like? Jesus, of course, would later pick these words of the Shema up in his central teaching. When being questioned about by a scribe about the greatest of the commandments, Jesus answers, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mk 12, Mt 22, Lk 10). The extension of placing God as the centre of our being becomes articulated in how we live and love and serve in the world. Most know that this central articulation of the Christian faith reverberates in the other world religions. The Jewish Talmud commands “what is hateful to you, do not do to your fellowman. This is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary”. The Buddha teaches “hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful”. Islam teaches “no one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself”.
So how does this actually look? Certainly it looks like a father ‘being’ there for his kids in the myriad of forms that this occurs. But it can be expressed in so many other ways. It looks like those who step up to teach Sunday school and lead youth group; it looks like the cubs and scouts leaders, like the hockey and soccer coaches; it is the person who actually take the time to speak with our kids and teens at church – or in the shopping mall – or wherever we are community. It looks like people who actually ‘show up’ and share their wisdom, their love, their kindness, and in humility – know that they are receiving so much more from the exchange than they have ever given.
I was at the movies with the kids a few weeks ago watching Marvel comics new film: “The Guardians of the Galaxy”. I’ll give you a spoiler alert now, if you plan to see the movie. Throughout the film, there is a battle between the central character Star Lord and his father, Ego. You know someone’s going to be an evil character when they are named “Ego”. At the end of the movie, the son battles and defeats the father. What follows is a sad moment for Star Lord. And then, something very powerful happens: Star Lord’s pseudo-father figure, Quill, comforts him saying “He may have been your father, but he was never your daddy”. For me, it was a powerful reminder of moving beyond the biological identify of ‘father’ to the identity of ‘daddy’ that calls one to love, wisdom and compassion. It is found in the call to live out Moses’ message to the Israelites: “hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength”. It is that extension of how we live our lives with God as the cornerstone ~ when we love our neighbours as ourselves. So, on this day may we celebrate the role of men in our lives and our communities, encouraging them and supporting them. And may they be empowered to offer their gifts of life, wisdom, love and joy as together we place God at the centre of all that we do and all that we are.
Amen.