Father's Day

This coming Sunday is Father's Day.  I want to recount for you some thoughts about Father's Day and about Ephesians 1:11, which was part of the text from which Pastor Sauder preached this [past Sunday] morning.

 

Ephesians 1:11-12 says, "In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory."

 

Did you notice the phrase in the middle of that sentence ... the one that says that God "works all things according to the counsel of His will" ?  Rewind to Father's Day 10 years ago.  June 16, 1996.  I had just come to understand that verse about 4 months previous.  No, I don't mean I totally comprehend all that it means.  But I do mean that I came to realize that, indeed, God is behind all things, working his plan and purposes.  A theological term for this is "providence" -- and 10 years ago I had just discovered the historic Baptist confessions of faith (1644/46 and 1677/89 London), and what they taught about this term.  (At that point I was a Baptist.)

 

Pastor Sauder talked about this verse in his sermon, and noted that modern man (and, I'm sure, historic man, too), including most Christians, do not really believe what this verse states.  They don't really believe that God is working all things.  They believe that things happen, not that God works things.  He pointed out that a common response, when disaster strikes, is for the clergy to announce publicly that "God had nothing to do with this." 

 

I recall hearing that this happened in Louisville (in the 1970's, I believe) when a tornado struck.  A prominent Baptist clergyman made such an announcement.  There was a bit of heat generated when a Baptist historian and seminary professor took him to task for the statement later.  I also recall reading words to this effect, spoken by a local Baptist pastor, and reported by the Missouri Baptist state newspaper (then the Word and Way) when a tornado hit Jarrell, Texas in 1997.  I know these well-meaning people are trying to protect God's reputation.  But they are lying about him!  (That is a strong term.  I do not mean to imply they are purposely telling falsehood, but I do mean to imply ... no, to state explicitly ... that they are blatantly speaking wrongly about God.)  Similar thoughts were expressed by the Jewish rabbi, Harold Kushner, in his book When Bad Things Happen to Good People.  God just can't keep a handle on all the bad that is out there waiting to happen.  Don't blame him. 

 

Which brings up the other response that people often have in tragedy, and which is, I guess, the polar opposite of saying God had nothing to do with it.  They blame God.  They are actually closer to the truth than those who say God had nothing to do with it.  The truth, though, is between the two positions.  Those who blame God are right that God had control, and was working the event according to his will.  Read that verse again.  God "works all things according to ... his will."  The problem is the word blame.  God is responsible.  But blame is a pejorative word.  It expresses disapproval, and charges God with an offense of which he is supposedly guilty.  But God is never guilty of doing wrong.  Rather, when God does all things according to the counsel of his will, he is always acting righteously.  Job, when his children were killed by a tornado, did not cite the Devil as the cause of it.  Rather, he said, "The LORD gave; the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD (Job 1:21).  And lest you say that Job was in error, the next verse stipulates that Job did not sin, nor did he charge God in error, in what he said.  Indeed, God was working the events.  He is working for his glory.  And He is working for the good of his people.  Romans 8:28 and following express the same thought.  (Rom 8:28 NKJV) "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."

 

Those who quote this verse as a serendipity thought need to read the following verses.  God working things for the good of his people is said to be consistent with them being counted as sheep for the slaughter, all the day long.  It is not about tinkly laughter and giggles.  It is about a Rock that is under you to keep you from drowning when you are pounded by the raging storms of life, knowing that no matter what the storm, it has been purposed (perhaps in a mysterious way you may never understand) for your good.  Certainly you are permitted to extract yourself from the storm or fire by any means consistent with obedience to God's Word.  But many storms come our way from which we cannot extract ourselves.  And in those trials, we need to hear the words of God to the Apostle Paul: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor 12:9)  God is working all things according to the counsel of his will, and for the good of his people, those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

 

What does this have to do with Father's Day?  That's simple enough.  Ten years ago on Father's Day, I spent Sunday afternoon at the funeral home making funeral arrangements for my son who had been killed on a busy street in Louisville the day before.  Easy?  No way!  But because God had just taught me about his providence -- his rule over every aspect of his creation, for the good of his people -- I had a Rock to sustain me.  Two days later, at Nathan's funeral, we sang about God, who makes a way when there seems to be no way.  We sang of his great faithfulness, which gives strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.  We were exhorted in song to be strong, and take courage, to not fear, nor be afraid, for the Lord walked with us.  We read from Isaiah 40 of the majesty of God, who tenderly cares for his lambs, but who is great and powerful so that the nations are but as dust, or a drop of water before him, and who never grows weary, and whose understanding is unsearchable.

 

Many people get bent out of shape when you start delving into the doctrines related to the providence and sovereignty of God.  Why deal with such things? they ask.  These things are controversial, and so theoretical.  My friends, what you call theoretical is the absolute bedrock of reality, and the only source of true comfort in a storm.  And the reason we teach these Biblical doctrines is: it is hard to learn them when you need them.  You have to learn them before that time for them to be effectively in place when you need them!  And you will need them.  No one is exempt.  Sometime in life, you will have fires that threaten to burn your soul.  Being at the funeral home on Father's Day is a dramatic sort of trial.  But there are trials which are much more difficult, which don't end after a year or two; trials which vex your soul in a much more painful way, but which your brothers and sisters cannot see, and thus are less a comfort than they are when tragic death strikes.  In those times, you need to know that -- even in the midst of the unjustified human oppression (think of Joseph in Genesis) -- God is working all these events for his glory and your good.  (These two purposes are never at odds.)  The time may come when he grants you relief, and a door becomes apparent to escape the trial.  But until then, you need to operate in the hope of knowing that God works all things according to the counsel of his will ... and that will is for your highest good.  It makes all the difference.