Brave Fathers
Matthew 10:24-39
June 19, 2005
First Baptist Church, Wilson, NC
I reserve the right to change my sermon title at any time, even at 11:30 Sunday morning. Therefore, scratch out “Putting Fathers in their Place.” The more I read this scripture from Matthew 10 (which I will read to you soon), the more I hear another word here, and that word is bravery, the bravery of any father -- of anyone -- who dares to follow Christ.
The original hearers of this gospel had a lot to be scared about. Those early followers of Jesus who tried to be in step with Jesus were therefore woefully out of step with the rest of the world. They were pressured to conform. They were persecuted if they did not. So the gospel of Matthew encouraged them to be brave. Listen now, and count the number of times Jesus tells his followers not to be afraid (Read Matthew 10:24-39) É
So how many times did Jesus tell his followers not to be afraid?
Verse 26 “So have no fear of themÉ
Verse 28 “Do not fearÉ
Verse 31 “So do not be afraidÉ
Three times. Now when your daddy had to tell you something three times, you knew you had better do it. Here Jesus is telling us three times not to be afraid, so you know he really means it and we had better pay attention.
It’s a good word to fathers on Father’s Day: do not be afraid. Bible scholar Walter Brueggemann once confessed that the gospel word that most spoke to him as a middle aged father was, “Fear not,” for he had plenty of things to fear. We fathers have a few things that worry us, or sometimes flat out scare us. Here are a few scary examples; listen for which ones scare you:
- In a county of 9-10% unemployment, we fear losing our jobs
- In a nation in which health care is so expensive, we fear losing our insurance, or our health
- In a nation at war, we fear losing our sons and daughters, just as the Edmondson family in Wilson lost their son Philip.
- In a land beset by random violence on the highways and in our neighborhoods, we fear that one night we will get a knock on the door, and bad news.
- In a hectic life working 50, 60, 70 hours a week, we fear losing touch with our families.
- In the midst of our own blunders and struggles, we fear losing touch with our God.
But three times Jesus tells us “fear not.” Do not let your fears keep you from being what I have called you to be. Have courage.
A CALL TO BRAVERY:
In verse 28, Jesus gives us one secret for having courage. The secret to courage is in knowing what not to fear, and knowing what to be scared to death of:
“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;
rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
“Éhim who can destroy both soul and body in hell” is of course none other than God. Most of the time we are scared of everybody but God. But wise and brave fathers know that compared to almighty God there is nothing on earth worth being scared of. Or, as John Newton once wrote:
ÔTwas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved.
ÔThe grace of God is that nothing on earth has ultimate power over us, not peer pressure, not poverty or wealth nor disease or health, not even death has power over us. Only God has ultimate power over us, and praise be that the God that watches over the sparrow is the God who cares even more about you and me. By the grace of God, a father can be brave before anything and anyone, even one who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Jurgen Moltmann was a German Christian who witnessed the failure of the church in Nazi Germany to oppose the persecution and genocide of the Jews. Most German Christians were more scared of Hitler than of God. But Moltmann wrote:
If I deny the truth, if I permit injustice, if I take no notice of the people who are being persecuted, then my family and I will get along the better for it; but the torments of hell begin at the same time, the torments of a broken backbone and unforgivable guilt.
In other words, we should be more scared of God than of Hitler or of anyone else.
Thank God for fathers who teach this to their children. I’ve been reading Blood Done Sign My Name, the story of a preacher’s kid whose daddy was a Methodist pastor in Sanford and in Oxford during the great racial conflicts of the sixties and seventies.
Timothy Tyson remembers when he was a boy in Sanford, when his father, the Reverend Vernon Tyson (of the Greene county Tysons), had invited the president of N.C. A & T College, Dr. Samuel Proctor, to bring the message for Race Relations Day. Vernon Tyson had not reckoned just how negative the reaction of his church would be to a black man preaching in their church in 1964. The church held a protest meeting. Later that night someone called Tyson at home and threatened to blow up his house and get his children. Then there was an emergency meeting of the church board. They told him, “Preacher, you’re tearing this church up!” They pushed a telephone across a desk toward him and told him “One phone call would straighten this whole thing out.” But Pastor Tyson would not budge and would not un-invite the college president. If any of his members scared him, he didn’t let on. He was more scared of God.
In the midst of the heated discussion, Miss Amy Womble began to speak. She was sixty years old, but they called her “Miss Amy” because she had taught most of them in first grade in school. They had no idea what she was going to say. Miss Amy had never spoken about such matters before. Miss Amy said,
I know our pastor, and you know him, too, and he’s not going to tear anything apart. And I don’t suppose Dr. Proctor is going to tear anything apart, either. If there is going to be any tearing done, we’re going to do the tearing apart ourselves.
The people in that room listened to their teacher, and then voted 25 to 14 to let Dr. Proctor come. They finally realized that, as scared as they were of “the race issue,” they needed to be more scared of God, or at least maybe they remembered when they used to be scared of Miss Amy in first grade. To this day, Pastor Tyson’s son Timothy remembers the bravery of his father, because he feared God more than man.
A CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP
All of that is to say that fathers who follow Christ are brave. They teach their children to fear nothing and no one but God. Let me say the same thing another way. Fathers are brave enough to risk the cost of discipleship. They teach their children that sometimes it is worth taking risks.
Fred Rogers was visiting his grandparents and exploring their yard. He discovered an inviting rock wall and began to climb it. No sooner has he started than his mother and grandmother screeched, “Fred, get down from that wall. You might fall and get hurt!” But Fred’s granddad stepped in and said, “Let the boy risk it. How else is he going to learn?” Some things are worth the risk.
That one thing that fathers do: they teach their children when to take risks. And when it comes to following Christ, Christian fathers will tell their children: take the risk, it’s worth it. It’s even worth risking your family. It’s even worth risking your life. In verses 37-39 Christ calls us to risk it all:
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
A godly father will teach his children that there are some times when it is worth risking it all, even life itself, for the sake of following Christ. In the end they will get it all back and more.
You fathers may be thinking, “This is not 1935 in Germany or 1965 in Sanford, this is 2005 in Wilson. Where can I teach courage to my children? What risks can I take for God now?” Let me name a few small ways to teach children the courage to risk following Jesus. If we are faithful in the small risks, then the Lord will send us great risks for Him in due time.
- How about having the courage to risk being a servant leader like Jesus at home? Some fathers come home expecting to be served. But what if when you come home, you take the risk to be a servant to your wife, to your children? What if you took the risk of seeking to take care of them, as Jesus took care of his disciples? Your family will learn from your courage to sacrifice.
- How about having the courage to risk being a servant leader at church? Some fathers come to church expecting to be served. But this week at Vacation Bible School I was moved by the sight of a good number of fathers helping in the care and religious instruction of our children. Together they and the mothers and the friends did so much toward encouraging our children to take the risk of following Jesus.
- How about having the courage to risk being a servant leader with your wife? How does she need your love and help and encouragement, and what adjustments do you need to make in your life to help that happen?
All of the above are calls for small sacrifices, but they require a measure of bravery in their own right. They are not dramatic or history-making; they are everyday and mundane ways of taking up our cross daily. But as I said, through the everyday acts of risk and courage, God gets us ready for greater things.
Fathers who follow Christ are brave. They teach their children to fear nothing and no one but God. Fathers who follow Christ are brave enough to risk the cost of discipleship. They teach their children that sometimes it is worth taking risks. So what are you afraid of? Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soulÉDo not be afraid.
-- Douglas E. Murray
