Dear friends in Christ, grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

I grew up in a simpler time in America. We didn’t know the political leanings of our neighbors, much less our parents. Civil discourse was always based on compromise and every word spoken was measured by its kindness and fairness. As for family disagreements, no struggle lasted longer than a half hour episode of “Father Knows Best.”  Though there was still the lament in every household between fathers and son, “No, you can’t use the car—but please feel free to use the lawnmower.” Beginning in 1949, for five years on the radio, followed by 6 years on television, “Father Know Best,”  Jim Anderson Sr. played by Robert Young was the the wise family man who every father across America aspired to be.

But times have changed. Men today are now responsible for more of the childcare and household than in years past.  It’s no longer a “Father Knows Best” World, in fact we may often wonder, whether some fathers even have a clue. And that’s too bad because fathers have an important role to play in the lives of their families.

The Apostle Paul understood this. In his Letter to the Church at Corinth, Paul offered a poignant insight into the Christian home.  He wrote, “For though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers.”  He dared to add, “Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Be imitators of me.” In the ancient world as today, women often played the important role of nurturer, teacher and mentor in the faith while men shied away.  But my friends, if the “Father Knows Best” world of the 50’s and 60’ has changed, then fathers should be prepared to change with it.

Herbert Edward Parker authored a wonderful poem that captures the spiritual role that fathers can play in this changing world, he wrote:

“To get his good night kiss he stood beside my chair one night,
And raised an eager face to me, a face with love alight.
As I gathered in my arms the son God gave to me,
I thanked the lad for being good, and hoped he’d always be.

His little arms crept around my neck, and then I heard him say,
Four simple words I shan’t forget, four words that made me pray.
They turned a mirror on my soul, on secrets no one knew.
They startled me. I hear them yet. He said, ‘I’ll be like you.’”

My father died 12 years ago this past week, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t think about him every day, and I wonder whether, “I’ve become like him.” Spiritual fathers stay with us all our lives.  We remember their words and ways when we face our own trials. So this morning, I would like to share with you a Father’s Day message inspired by St. Paul’s Letter to the Church in Corinth.  Three Words for the Father Who Knows Best, “Show love, Be Interested and Tell the Story.”

Fathers are often skipped over on the journey from Mother’s Day to the Fourth of July.  As one little boy, observed, “Father Day is just like Mother’s Day, only you don’t spend as much on the present.”  I know that was certainly true in our Father Knows Best home.  Perhaps it was that perceived warmth and security.  Fathers were to appear so strong that they didn’t need gifts.  I am reminded of the little second grader who was asked to write about her personal hero.  Her father was flattered to find out that she had chosen him.  “Why did you pick me?” he asked her later.  She replied honestly, “Because I couldn’t spell Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

All men like to be viewed as strong. Surprisingly, my father was awarded the Bronze Star medal for heroic service in January 1944, in World War II, but he never told his children what brave deed he performed. Instead, he wanted to be remembered for being loving and affectionate.   St. Paul encouraged the Christian community to show gentle intimacy. “Greet one another with a holy kiss.”  No, this is not intended to be ritualized hand shake and fist bump.  Paul truly meant that we are to show gentleness, kindness and affection to one another through our smallest gestures- even fathers.

Second, be interested in your children’s growth…including their religious growth. Encourage them, cheer them on, console them when they lose. Fathers are often present for their sons and daughters’ sports activities. They volunteer to be coaches and referees. Indeed, they play an important role in the love and excitement for the sport.  Unfortunately, fathers often overlook the importance of showing that same interest in their child’s spiritual growth. They naively believe that their son or daughter will acquire religious values without assisting them. How can you teach a child the necessity of making a choice in their faith if you haven’t found it necessary to make a choice yourself?  If you want your children to place God in the center of their lives, to have lasting Christian standards, then worship is not a question of forcing something on them, but it is about offering them an opportunity, and of availing yourself to that same privilege.

Finally, as spiritual fathers you need to tell the story… and it all begins with the story of our God who so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.  Every blessing you offer a son or daughter is a promise of a brighter future. It is a word that God is preparing them for something wonderful. But there is another reason for telling them God’s story as well. As spiritual mentors, you are there to help your children find their own niche, and discover who they are, and why they’ve been made.  Often as parents we make the mistake of trying to get our children to become what we want them to be, instead of allowing them to become what God made them to be.  We try to force our children into becoming something God never equipped them for.  We need to tell them instead that God made them special unto themselves.

My friends, your children need to hear and grow into that assurance, so you need to tell God’s story. They need to hear of a loving Father who created all possibilities, of the Son who graciously offered himself for each one of us on the cross, and of the fellowship of the Holy Spirit that continues to seek out the world’s possibilities moving in their lives. That is the good news a Father Who Knows Best should share with his family.  Your responsibility as a spiritual father is to help them see for themselves who they really are and to help them prepare for a glorious future.  It is the gift of hope and confidence which will allow them to say one day, “I’ll be like you.”

In her collection of memories, “Family–The Ties that Bind . . . And Gag!”  the late humorist and syndicated columnist Erma Bombeck wrote, “One morning my father didn’t get up and go to work. He went to the hospital and died the next day. I hadn’t thought that much about him before. He was just someone who left and came home and seemed glad to see everyone at night. He opened the jar of pickles when no one else could. He was the only one in the house who wasn’t afraid to go into the basement by himself. He cut himself shaving, but no one kissed it or got excited about it. It was understood that when it rained, he got the car and brought it around to the door. When anyone was sick, he went out to get the prescription filled. He took lots of pictures … but he was never in them. Whenever I played house, the mother doll had a lot to do. I never knew what to do with the daddy doll, so I had him say, “I’m going off to work now” and threw him under the bed. The funeral was in our living room and a lot of people came and brought all kinds of good food and cakes. We had never had so much company before. I went to my room and felt under the bed for the daddy doll. When I found him, I dusted him off and put him on my bed. He never did anything. I didn’t know his leaving would hurt so much.”

It is said, a father is the one who holds your hand when you are to cross the road, teaches you how to face the world in adversities, encourages you to believe in your abilities and is always there, by your side, when your world is all dark and dismal.  But I would add a father is one knows when to Show Love, Be Interested and Tell God’s story.  These are truly the gifts of a Father Who Knows Best.  Amen.

 May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.