June 15, 2014 (Sunday)
When I first started preaching 66 years ago, I found preaching about the home and family pretty easy. Here’s how it went: the mother in the home was responsible for all the stuff done to keep the home fires burning and the father was to get out and make the money necessary to sustain the family.
For various reasons, too many of them to mention here, as time went by, the culture changed and the family as an institution has been breaking down. It’s not as easy to preach on roles within the family as it used to be, yet some things remain the same: The wife needs love and the husband needs respect. These are not only sound psychological principles but they are principles found in the Holy Scriptures. Whether most people realize it or not, they long for stability in their homes. The very existence of “Mothers Day” and “Fathers Day” is testimony to that fact.
Having recently become a great grandfather, I think back over those years when we married and raised a family, and I can see many ways in which I could and should have been a better husband and father. But the fact is that I probably did the best I could, most of the time. My children still acknowledge me as the guy to be remembered on Fathers Day, and I’m thankful for that. I’m thankful for all the members of my family, and hope they all know how deeply I love every one of them.
So, Viva el dia de los padres! (Long live Fathers Day). It is evidence that we still believe in the family, the very first institution created by God (Genesis taught it and Jesus confirmed it).
We had Mothers Day a long time before we had Fathers Day, but, hey, we dads take what we can get. Like the greeting card I heard about: “Congratulations, Dad. Any friend of Mom’s is a friend of mine!”