Sermon: June 20th, Fathers' Day, Delivered at McMichaels UMC.
When I got the scripture readings from Pastor Ed, I thought I should speak on the New Testament reading of the demon-possessed man. This was quite familiar to me since, about 2 years ago, I had this part to play in one of the Lenten series we did. I threw myself into the role and realized how tormented this man named Legion must have been. He found himself doing things that he truly did not want to do. He would have himself tied up to keep from hurting others, but wound up breaking the chains and ropes. When Jesus stood before him, this wild man bowed before Christ. He wanted help. He wanted to be free from these awful, haunting demons.
In doing research on the demon-possessed man, I found that there are only two or three references to demons in the entire Old Testament but many, many stories or verses about demons in the New Testament. I read one commentary where it was thought that maybe there were so many demons active in the New Testament time because of Christ being here on earth. It was Satan’s way of trying to stop Jesus before He really got started. Satan would constantly throw up these demonic hurtles to knock Jesus off balance.
Then, I got to thinking about my life and how there have been many, many times when I found myself doing things I really didn’t want to do. I still do some. I still smoke. This is a demon I have been fighting against for some time now. I keep trying to quit, but something comes up that causes a little stress, and I go to the cigarette to calm down. It probably doesn’t really even work, but in my mind it does, so I light one up and then another, and on and on.
And, just like the commentary said about the number of demons in the New
Testament times when Christ was so near, I find those demons become so much more active in our lives, the closer we get to Christ. Today, demons are much more subtle, they are sneaky, they plant these little thoughts or give us a gentle nudge in the wrong direction, and because it’s not a big thing, we are greatly tempted to go along. And that just leads to bigger turns in the wrong direction until getting back becomes harder and harder.
When Christ was here on earth, demons were highly active and very open about their attacks. They had to be. The Almighty One was here to cast them out. It was war. They needed to be strong and often came in great numbers. But none proved a match for Christ. There were some who were greater than the disciples and would not be cast out even after Jesus gave his chosen twelve the power to heal and cast out demons.
But with the ascension of Jesus, the demons could relax a bit. We are an easier mark for them now. The only way we can overcome the demons of our world is through faith, trust and belief in our Lord. We are easier to sidetrack now that Jesus is no longer here on earth to do the work for us. But the more we try to reach out to the Lord and the stronger we become in our belief, the more active these demons become. We must remain aware. We must continually struggle against the false teachings of others and the temptations that are put in front of us every day. We must stay strong and keep on our path to follow the Lord.
Then there was the scripture in Psalm 42.
Psalm 42:3 (GW)
My tears are my food day and night.
Psalm 42:5 (GW)
Why are you discouraged, my soul?
Why are you so restless?
Psalm 42:6 (GW)
My soul is discouraged.
Psalm 42:9 (GW)
I will ask God, my rock,
"Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk around in mourning
while the enemy oppresses me?"
Psalm 42:10 (GW)
With a shattering blow to my bones,
my enemies taunt me.
They ask me all day long, "Where is your God?"
Man, was that depressing. This is father’s day and this is the scripture I have to talk about. A man possessed by demons and David sitting around wondering why God has abandoned him. Now, I know as fathers, we sometimes feel like we are possessed by demons and we can certainly have our days of feeling discouraged when we deal with our children. We have our days of wondering if we are doing the right things and we have days when we know we are doing everything wrong.
But, in both these stories there is a good outcome. For the demon-possessed man, Christ casts out the demons and the man feels whole for the first time in his life. He is cleansed and knows that Christ has forgiven him. And David, well David always bounced back. At the end of this passage, David says:
Psalm 42:11 (GW)
Why are you discouraged, my soul?
Why are you so restless?
Put your hope in God,
because I will still praise him.
He is my savior and my God.
So, both these stories tell us of hope. When I was putting together our last retreat weekend, I came across a skit that talked about hope. It defined hope this way: Hope is the feeling I have that the feeling I have won’t last. Let me repeat that. Hope is the feeling I have that the feeling I have won’t last. And that is what every father here needs to remember every day. Despite all the demons and all the discouragement, there is always the feeling that God will prevail and we will get past this time. This feeling won’t last. We know there is hope.
There’s a song that we need to think about whenever we get in these slumps. It’s a song that asks God to send 10,000 angels down to help us fathers through these storms. Oh yeah, and it will help mothers, sisters, brothers and sons and daughters and everyone else too. It goes like this:
I know you’re hurting,
I can see it in your eyes.
There’s nothing I can say or do
To ease your heart or mind.
But there’s someone you can talk to
He’ll come and ease your pain.
He knows your every thought and prayer
Just call upon His name.
He understands the broken heart
The suffering of the soul,
And in this crazy stormy night,
Yes God is in control.
So let Him take this cross for you,
Your burdens He’ll make light.
And to the top of Calvary’s hill
Your fears’ will be released tonight.
May He send 10,000 Angels strong.
To comfort you and guide you through this storm.
May He send 10,000 Angels Strong.
To strengthen you and guide you through this storm.
This is how we can get through. We just ask God to send 10,000 angels down to help us. That is our hope. Sorry for the tears, but this is a song that Keely and I heard about a year ago and adopted it as sort of a theme song for our two sons serving in Iraq. The song holds a lot of meaning for us. Now I’d like you to hear the whole song directly from an angel I know.
Michele to sing.
We are all children of God and while we celebrate our earthly fathers today, let’s take just a moment or two to remember and celebrate our Heavenly father too.
Please join me in the closing hymn #130, God will Take Care of You. And may He take care of you by sending 10,000 angels. If Edgar, Emma and Bob would come forward again to lead in this song.
My wish for all of you is that you will be able to remember to ask God to take care of you and ask Him to send 10,000 angels to you every time you need them. Ask for them today and tomorrow and all the days of your life as often and as many times as you need. For our God is a God of love and understanding who aches to help us all through this life so that we can join him in His heavenly kingdom when our time here is over. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Take time now to greet all your friends and neighbors in Christian love.
