In Search of the World's Greatest Dad

 

In Search of the World’s Greatest Dad

A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Randy K. Hammer, June 20, 2021

Ephesians 6:1-4 GNT; reading from Family Ministry: A Comprehensive Guide

 I am the world’s greatest dad.  Many years ago, I received a coffee mug attesting that fact 😊.  The real fact is, today probably thousands of dads across the land were given a coffee mug or a tee shirt proclaiming them to be the world’s greatest dad.  So, the world is full of greatest dads.

But what about the “perfect dad.”  That’s a different adjective altogether isn’t it?  If we were to go in search of the perfect dad, what might we find?

For instance, if we searched the scriptures for the perfect dad, who would stand out, head and shoulders above all the rest?  What about Father Abraham, the father of the Judaic, Christian, and Muslim faiths?  Maybe Abraham could serve as the example of the perfect dad.  NOT!  When we consider the life of Abraham, we find that he could lie royally on occasion, as when he told the Egyptians that Sarah, his beautiful wife, was actually his sister so that his own life would be spared (Genesis 12).  And in his least stellar moment, Abraham was willing to sacrifice – stab and then burn as an offering – his son Isaac, because he was convinced in his own mind that was what God wanted him to do (Genesis 22).  Now, the traditional interpretation of that story is that God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as a way to test Abraham and the firmness of his faith.  But I have never accepted that interpretation.  An alternate interpretation is that Abraham may have thought in his own mind that sacrificing his son was what God required of him, as child sacrifice was a common practice in the ancient world, a practice that the Hebrews fell into on occasion and that was later condemned by the Hebrew prophets.  Of course, as the story goes, God stopped Abraham from killing his son in the nick of time.  But the point being, in my book Father Abraham doesn’t qualify as the perfect dad by a long shot.

What about Abraham’s son, Isaac, whom he came close to sacrificing?  Again, we find human flaws that would disqualify Isaac.  He played favorites to one of his twin sons. Isaac blessed one son over the other (Genesis 28).  And the sibling rivalry got so bad between the boys that they were ready to kill each other.  To save his own hide, Jacob left home and was estranged from his brother Esau for years. So Isaac’s skills as a father were lacking.

Well, what about King David, one of the most admired men in Israel’s history?  Could he be seen as the perfect dad?  Well, absolutely not!  When we read the story of David and his family, we find that David had one of the most dysfunctional families known to man.  David allowed his children to get away with murder – literally.  And incest.  And rape.

In fact, we can scan the Bible from beginning to end and probably not find an example of one perfect dad.  The dad that probably comes closest to the ideal is the father of the prodigal son, but I’m sure he had his faults too.  And, after all, the Prodigal’s father is a character in a fictional story Jesus told to make some theological points. 

Well, what about tv dads?  For instance, one of the most popular tv dads of all time, Andy Taylor of the Andy Griffith Show?  Might Andy Taylor be an example of a perfect dad?  Again, a resounding No!  Sheriff Andy Taylor was known to stretch the truth or flat out lie on more than one occasion.  And several episodes focus upon Andy’s weakness as a father and how he proved to be wrong when young Opie was right.  So even tv Andy wasn’t the perfect dad.

Perhaps such is enough to illustrate the point that there is no perfect dad – at any time or anywhere.  All dads – all parents and grandparents – are human, flawed and make mistakes.  There have been occasions when I have had to apologize to my children and grandchildren for being wrong.  And on more than one occasion I have added, “If I could go back to when you were young, I would do things much differently.  I made mistakes.  But that’s what parents do – they make mistakes.  And you will make mistakes with your children too.  That’s just the way it is.”

Well, the perfect dad may not exist.  But there still are a lot of great dads – great parents and great grandparents - out there, nonetheless.  As Diana Garland points out in her work, Family Ministry: A Comprehensive Guide, there are a lot of great dads who are juggling a host of responsibilities in order to provide, nurture, support, teach, encourage, affirm, and love their children. 

So, what makes for a great dad?   Things like being a hard worker, being loving and compassionate, a willingness to sacrifice for their family, putting family first, being playful and having a sense of humor, and the willingness to admit it when they are wrong and ask for forgiveness.

But great dads also realize that their children are not perfect either and they will make mistakes too. And as the biblical writer reminds us, parents have to be careful to not be overbearing and expect too much of their children.  Such requires parental patience, compassion, and understanding.

This past week, I ran across a true, warm and fuzzy story for Father’s Day that I thought I would share with you.  Will, a seven-year-old boy, was playing with his younger brother when he hit his head. His dad, Nate, took him to the hospital to get the bump checked out, just to be safe. But a CT scan found that what had appeared to be just a goose-egg bump on the outside of his head was in fact a serious head injury; Will had suffered a skull fracture and his brain was bleeding. The doctors said the boy had mere hours to live unless he got emergency brain surgery.

Will understood that the surgery was necessary, but he was also terrified; and he was concerned about having to get his head shaved. Nate assured his son that it would be okay, and to prove it he shaved his head, too.

Will, who is now fully recovered, said, “Seeing my dad’s bald head made me laugh and also feel a lot better about my head. Now my dad’s teaching me how to skateboard and it’s so fun. He is my hero!”  Well, that’s the type of things great dads do.¹

So today, as we are remembering dads on this Father’s Day, we also bear in mind that the perfect dad is like a unicorn; it doesn’t exist.  But we love our dads anyway. And those of us who are dads and granddads realize and confess we are not perfect. But on the other hand, there are still a lot of great dads in the world.  One does not have to be perfect to be great.  Most dads’ good qualities far outweigh the weaknesses and mistakes.  And so, today we celebrate great dads, even though they sometimes fail and make mistakes, but who work hard, sacrifice, love, nurture, try their best, and learn from their failures and mistakes and strive to do better in the future.  Amen.

¹Reader’s Digest Online, adapted.