The Godly Father

June 16, 2019
Pastor Clint Ziemer

Audio of the sermon preached on June 16, 2019, at Cable Community Church, Sherrard, IL

Episode Notes

The Godly Father



Luke 15: 20



The institution of Father’s day is credited to a woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd. She wanted a special day to honor her father, Henry Jackson Smart.

Her father was widowed when his wife died during the birth of their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington State.

As an adult, Sonora realized the sacrifice her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent. In the eyes of this daughter, he was a courageous, selfless, and loving man.

  • In 1910, Sonora Smart Dodd started writing letters in support of a national Father’s Day observance.
  • In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson proposed that Father’s Day be proclaimed as a national day of observance.
  • In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge endorsed the same idea.
  • In 1926, a National Father’s Day Committee was formed in New York City.
  • In 1956, Father’s Day was recognized by a Joint Resolution of Congress.
  • In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June as Father’s Day.
  • In 1972, President Richard Nixon established a permanent national observance of Father’s Day to be held on the third Sunday of June.


In His well known parable about the prodigal, Jesus gives us a great picture of our Heavenly Father’s love.  As we celebrate fatherhood, we would do well to look to our example in heaven as to what a good father is like.


Today we will see that… 

He knows

He cares,  and 

He shows.

  • Body
    1. He knows — The father who is like God always knows where the children are and what they are doing
        1. We wonder how it happened he saw his son while he was still a long way off:
        2. He must have been watching or had someone else watching who told him.
        3. No doubt he knew all the time where his son was. It wouldn’t be hard to know. There were gossips in his day, too.
        4. He would ask every traveler for news.
        5. His father’s heart must have broken.
      1. Our Heavenly Father knows all we do.
        1. He doesn’t need anyone to tell Him. He is omnipotent.
        2. He knows our sins and our needs. Mt. 6:8 — … your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him
        3. If He is sometimes pleased with our victories, He must often be disappointed with our failures.
      2. Every father should take a like interest in his children’s whereabouts and well being
        1. Too many dads will leave that to mother.
        2. Illus.: When he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984, Harmon Killebrew said, “My father taught me and my brother to play ball in the front yard. One day my mother came out and told him we were ruining the lawn. My father told her, ‘We’re raising kids, not grass.’”
        3. Providing for the family by earning a living is not a good excuse for ignoring or neglecting children.


    1. He cares — A godly father has compassion on his children:


      1. He is willing to give like God gives to him:
        1. Jesus used this for an illustration to teach the compassion of God. Mt. 7:11 — If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
        2. Father in story gave to his son even though it was wasted. Lk. 15:12, 13
        3. God knows much of what He gives us won’t be used for His glory but He gives it
      2. God is also willing, even eager to forgive - no matter what:
        1. Illustration: Middle East expert, Ken Bailey writes, —  “For over fifteen years I have been asking people of all walks of life from Morocco to India and from Turkey to the Sudan about the implications of a son’s request for his inheritance while the father is still living. The answer has almost always been emphatically the same.”
          1. …the conversation runs as follows:
          2. “Has anyone ever made such a request in your village?”
          3. “Never!”
          4. “Could anyone ever make such a request?”
          5. “Impossible!”
          6. “If anyone did, what would happen?”
          7. “His father would beat him, of course!”
          8. “Why?”
          9. “This request means – he wants his father to die!”
        2. The prodigal’s father didn’t see someone who had insulted him. He saw his son hungry, filthy, and bare footed. In need.
        3. He saw someone who had done great damage to himself and his future.
        4. This is what is meant by, "he had compassion." It’s what God is like.
        5. Forgiveness works like this, " No matter how many steps we take away from Jesus, it only takes one step to get back, and He comes running”
        6. Psalm 103: 13 — As a father pities his children,  So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
      3. If a father wants to be like God, he must also have compassion on his children.
        1. Willing to give and forgive repeatedly.
        2. Any father who can will give his children whatever they need or even want.
        3. A compassionate father cares more about the needs, suffering of his children than his own.
    1. He Shows — The godly father is not afraid to express his love:


      1. Love demands expressions: We can’t help letting it show if it is genuine:
        1. The father ran to his son, threw his arms around him, kissed him, and forgave.
        2. It was considered undignified in this culture for an older man to run, but dramatic reunions took precedence over dignity.
        3. No expense was too great to express his love.
        4. If you love your children, it means nothing unless you let them know it. Some fathers have trouble with this.
      2. Consider how God demonstrates His love:
        1. Chastises us at times. Heb. 12:6 — For whom the Lord loves He chastens…
        2. He gives us gifts. Jas. 1:17 — Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father…
        3. Sent His Son - the greatest gift — to grant forgiveness.
          I John 4:9 —  In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him
      3. The Christian father also needs to express his feelings. A child should see his father:
        1. Demonstrate affection for his wife and the other children.
        2. Discipline his children in love.
        3. Live a Christian life, support their church.
        4. Pray honestly and earnestly.



  1. Conclusion


    1. Erma Bombeck writes, I received a letter from a single mother who had raised a son who was about to become a dad. Since he had no recollection of his own father, her question to me was "What do I tell him a father does?”
      1. When my dad died in my ninth year, I, too, was raised by my mother, giving rise to the same question, "What do fathers do?" As far as I could observe, they brought around the car when it rained so everyone else could stay dry.
      2. They always took the family pictures, which is why they were never in them. They carved turkeys on Thanksgiving, kept the car gassed up, weren’t afraid to go into the basement, mowed the lawn, and tightened the clothesline to keep it from sagging.
      3. It wasn’t until my husband and I had children that I was able to observe firsthand what a father contributed to a child’s life. What did he do to deserve his children’s respect? He rarely fed them, did anything about their sagging diapers, wiped their noses or fannies, played ball, or bonded with them under the hoods of their cars.
      4. What did he do?
      5. He threw them higher than his head until they were weak from laughter. He cast the deciding vote on the puppy debate. He listened more than he talked. He let them make mistakes. He allowed them to fall from their first two-wheeler without having a heart attack. He read a newspaper while they were trying to parallel park a car for the first time in preparation for their driving test.
      6. If I had to tell someone’s son what a father really does that is important, it would be that he shows up for the job in good times and bad times. He’s a man who is constantly being observed by his children. They learn from him how to handle adversity, anger, disappointment and success.
      7. He won’t laugh at their dreams no matter how impossible they might seem. He will dig out at 1 a.m. when one of his children runs out of gas. He will make unpopular decisions and stand by them. When he is wrong and makes a mistake, he will admit it. He sets the tone for how family members treat one another, members of the opposite sex and people who are different than they are. By example, he can instill a desire to give something back to the community when its needs are greater than theirs.
      8. But mostly, a good father involves himself in his kids’ lives. The more responsibility he has for a child, the harder it is to walk out of his life.
      9. A father has the potential to be a powerful force in the life of a child. Grab it! Maybe you’ll get a greeting card for your efforts. Maybe not. But it’s steady work.
    2. From Jesus’ lesson, today, we know that a Godly father (one like our heavenly father) 
      1. Knows His children
      2. Cares - has compassion for them, and
      3. Show his love - He’s not afraid to express true love.
    3. For those who are working toward being a godly father or know someone who is, let this be our guide,  Not everyone had or has such a father, but we all have the heavenly Father, and his example of love for His children.

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