Mark 1:4-11

 I heard one of the best rules for fathers this week. I was so surprised. Serge Enni happened to say that his father had never hit him. His father punished him by making him do pushups. Frankly, I wish I had heard that idea about 25 years ago. I think it would have changed the way I did fathering.

 It made me wonder what other secrets we have among us for being a good father. Who remembers something about your father that you really appreciated and helped you grow up well? ……

 There are so many variations on being a father. There are no classes for the job and yet raising a child in the way they should go is more important than the tasks for your employer or the work of your career.

 Jesus had a relationship with God that is pictured in the Bible as Father and Son. While the Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are co-equal, Jesus came to earth in frail and human flesh on a difficult mission to save humanity. God’s audacious plan to turn the earth back to beauty, peace, justice, and fruitfulness rested on his strength and faith.

 We’re going to look at one of those Father Son moments from the Bible today. I hope that it encourages fathers, I hope that it gives you all a new sense of God’s love for you as a Father loves a child.

 I suppose that there is one part of being a father that I didn’t like. I always assumed that when I grew up, I would gain self confidence. I would develop the skills to meet any situation. By the time I had children, I would be strong and invincible and they would come to me with their childish fears and I would calm them.

 I did manage to make myself invincible here and there. I invented an animal called a stoat who stands about as high as your knee with needle sharp teeth and burning eyes. Countless times, I dared the stoat to try anything and through my fatherly powers, the stoat never could.

 The problem was that I was a good father for imaginary animals, but very aware of my limitations in the real world. You know when you have a child, you are promising to have a steady job and good income and stay healthy for 21 years. Mostly, I spent my fathering years feeling like I needed my father.

 In the Gospel of Mark, Mark uses the adverb immediately 42 times. He is not trying to hurry you through the book. It’s a literary device to give you a mental picture of the truth he wants to teach,

 In chapter 1, God is about to announce that a new kingdom has come. God is going to move powerfully to bring creation back to its original state of joy and justice. John the Baptist is the announcer and he introduces Jesus through a baptism in the Jordan River. John Says, “ I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:7-8). John’s words are simple and clear; they focus not on himself but on the one who comes in the Spirit of the Lord and whose ministry will be an picture of the work of God’s Spirit—healing, teaching, exorcising—challenging spiritual, social, economic, and physical brokenness. It all starts with the baptism event. There is a tearing sound as the heavens are ripped apart. This sound happens two times, at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and at the end in Mark 15 when his death is heard in the temple as a ripping sound to manifest that the temple worship is now being moved out into the world.

 Immediately, Mark uses the word immediately. He wants to give a picture of what it feels like at the beginning of this incredible mission to save humanity from destruction. And that picture is the dove and the words, you are my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

 What a beautiful picture. The child has an important work to do. And at the most critical moment, the Father comes and offers love and respect.

 Fathers, I hope you respect however God has created your children. With you I am well pleased. I think its always nice to give kids a choice, be a doctor, be a lawyer, be a pastor. Before we had our first child, I subscribed to the Little Tigers newsletter. It was how to talk with your child as an infant and introduce them to pre mathematical concepts because their brains were maturing faster than their speech. I was going to sing to her. I 'm very well acquainted too with matters mathematical,I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical,
About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot o' news With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse.

 Friends, I see a lot of parents who do not appreciate the incredible giftedness of their child. The world needs a some doctors, some pastors, but God’s plan to set this world right requires a host of professions. And God is hoping you will be the kind of parent who sees the potential of your child and respects it. With you I am well pleased. 

 And fathers are supposed to show the unqualified love that God offers us. Can you imagine how Jesus felt as he went forward to his task of forming the disciples and had the Father’s words in his ears, with you I am well pleased? 

 I’ll share special way that my father loved me that I have tried to pass on. I was leaving for school in Chicago. I had never been away from home. And Dad said to me, if it doesn’t work out, just call and I’ll have a plane ticket to come home and get a fresh start.

 I was lonely in Chicago that first summer. I thought about that ticket. Just knowing that I had that safety plan gave me the energy to keep trying. And when I tried, I succeeded. When our first foster child left home, I went to a jeweler for a sterling silver circle about the size of a quarter. The front was plain, but on the back it said, Always good for one trip home.

 Fathers, you will do some things wrong. Maybe you have done a lot wrong. But God always gives us a new day. If you add respect and love, you will follow in the footsteps of the Heavenly Father. May God bless you.