How to Honor Dad

Little boy was asked how to describe Father's Day and he thought for a minute and said well, Father's Day is a lot like Mother's Day Except you don't have to spend as much on the gift You ever notice how fathers often get the short end of the stick when it comes to Father's Day you notice that Even in church We come to Mother's Day You've ever noticed how many Mother's Day Sermons are devoted to how wonderful mom is And how many Father's Day Sermons are devoted to what a miserable failure dad is You ever notice that We preach hard about how they could be better fathers and should be better fathers and they work too much and don't spend enough time with the kids and All of that and I've preached my share of Father's Day messages like that We tend to honor mom and beat up on dad when it comes to Father's Day and Mother's Day And I've probably done my share of that in Father's Day messages And I suppose for those of us who are pastors part of the reason for that is is It kind of looks self-serving to get up here and say honor dad honor dad. I mean, I am a dad, you know But I'm gonna take the risk this morning My three girls are all grown and gone. They will not hear this message. Although I'm asking you to send them CDs I'm just kidding So I'm gonna take the risk this morning. I want to preach this morning on how to honor dad and As our text for the morning, we're going to look at Ephesians chapters five and six the few verses in chapter five The few verses in chapter six and as we look at what Paul says about husbands and fathers And how to honor them in Ephesians We will see that Paul instructs both wives and children about how to honor dad. What does he say? About how to honor dad both to wives and To children how do you honor dad? Well first of all, let's look at what he says to the wives the honor of a wife is described in chapter five and so let's begin with verse 22 where Paul basically says the first way to honor your husband as the father of your children and the leader of your home is to recognize him Recognize him look at what he says in verse 22 wives Submit to your husbands as to the Lord for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church his body of which he is the savior now as the church Submits to Christ so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything Recognize him what I mean by that is as a wife in order to honor your husband You should recognize him as the leader of your home as having a god-given position of responsibility and leadership in your home Now I know that doesn't go across well in the day in which we live But the fact is god has placed The husband the the father in the home as a figure of authority His authority in the home Now that authority is not supposed to be a domineering dictator type authority The very fact that the likeness or the the model of this kind of authority is Jesus Christ and his leadership of the church Shows that this is a spiritual authority. It's spiritual in nature by that I don't mean just in spiritual matters like bringing your family to church and so forth That's important for a dad The nature the the atmosphere the context of this leadership. It's spiritual in nature It is also a loving leadership If we were to read on in verse 25 Husbands this is your responsibility. Love your wives just as Christ Love the church and gave himself up for her. What does leadership look like in the home? It's a loving leadership the word for love there meaning one who sacrifices himself for the good of another person One who gives sacrificially because the other person is more important that kind of leadership is easy to be submissive to Every woman would love to be submissive to that kind of loving spiritual leadership in the home And what Paul is saying is that a wife must submit herself to her husband Recognizing this god-given place of authority now. I am very much aware of how the world and our culture today Misrepresent that whole concept of headship and submission What sociologists and psychologists typically say today about that kind of thing is well, you know You can't really that's an old book it comes out of a archaic culture that was demeaning and degrading to women And that kind of thinking is really represented in some nations even today that see women as inferior to men So we really can't take that you know for our enlightened age and advanced culture That's the way our society sees this today And I think what has happened is they have totally misunderstood what Paul is teaching here Submission does not mean you put your wife in inner place and Headship the leadership of a husband does not mean she's she's gonna be putting her place I read about a guy in Germany who Had an unusual approach to keeping his wife in line is the way he put it putting her in her place He used an old air raid siren And He would blow that thing and headed on the top of his house until finally neighbors complained in the police came and confiscated it And when the police confiscated it here's what he said he said my wife never this was reported on CNN by the way My wife never lets me get a word in edgeways So I crank up the siren and let it rip for a few minutes It works every time afterwards. It's real quiet at our house I'm not suggesting that you know it's a 220 volt air raid siren That he let just rip for a while and courses wife quieted down You know what his wife said about him when the police talked to her She said my husband is a stubborn mule so I have to get loud That's like a great marriage, doesn't it Well, headship and submission is not putting your wife in her place. That's not what it is at all It does not mean the wife is your slave does not mean your wife is your slave Doesn't mean that you crack the whip and give all the orders and she heeds your every command That's not what headship and submission is it does not mean that your wife is silent that she sits meekly in the corner with Hands folded nodding and approval of everything you say doesn't mean that You know first Timothy three says one of the ways to look at this headship in the home For a pastor he must be a good manager one of the qualifications must be a good manager of his home He said and the word managers a very interesting concept It means to to to rule to oversee to manage the home Anybody who's done any kind of management realizes that if you're a good manager you take into account what people say You listen to those who are Under you and responsible to you if you're a good manager You don't just run over people you listen to people And so being a good manager includes even in the home Listening to your wife asking for what she thinks taking her advice Into consideration headship and submission does not mean silence on the part of the wife Nor does it mean that your wife is inferior to you And ladies it doesn't mean in any any Any sense that you are inferior to your husband Uh Paul will say in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 He uses another example of this kind of headship and submission in a home and he says The father is the head of Christ Christ is the head of the man the man is the head of the woman So headship and submission in a home flows just like it does and the Trinity is what Paul is saying so this headship and submission is Is an equality really there is an equality of personhood The son is no less of a person than the father is the son is no less God than the father is they are equal in person They are different in their function And the son is willingly submissive to the father's leadership to carry out the plan of salvation Placed himself under the father's command and under the father's leadership So submission doesn't mean you're unequal You are equal as persons and you're also equal spiritually Peter will say in 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 7 to the husband's Husbands dwell with your wives according to knowledge or live with them in an understanding way Giving honor to your wife as the weaker vessel and as heirs together of the grace of life he says Heirs together of the gracious gift of eternal life you are fellow heirs on the same plane equals spiritually So you're equal as far as personhood is concerned you're equal as far as spirituality is concerned or spiritual growth or access to the father or ability to understand scripture They're the submission is a functional submission of being willing to recognize God given leadership in the home is given to the husband God will haunt hold him responsible for the direction of that home And you are responsible to be a helper to him And to help him in his leadership of the home that's what submission is all about and it's defined as being submissive to your husband like the church is To the leadership of Jesus Christ so Recognize him ladies To honor your husband recognize him as the God given leader in the home But secondly Paul will also say respect him Look down at verse 33 Respect him verse 33 says However each one of you speaking about the husbands each one of you must also Love his wife as he loves himself and the wife must respect her husband To sum up everything he has said about The home he categorizes it into these two things A husband will be doing what's best for his wife if he loves her Sacrificially a wife will be doing what's best for her husband if she respects him Now I like the way Peter says this in first Peter chapter 3 and verse 6 and I'm going to use the ESV here Which says as Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him lord Kind of like that. I've thought about making this my life verse Oh Lord John sounds pretty good doesn't it? I like that. I like the ring of that but I haven't convinced genie of it yet Actually the word lord it's translated that way in the King James in the ESV in the new american standard the NIV uses the word master The idea behind the word lord it could be used in two ways in New Testament times it could mean the Lord God Deity and that's not the way Peter's using it. It could also be a term of respect sometimes it was used in the New Testament of Adress like sir It was a term of respect and that's the way Peter's using the word and that's what Paul means by respect the way you speak to about Of your husband the way you treat him should be respectful Could I just get real practical here? Could I just suggest a few ways that you can respect your husband Don't downgrade him in public When you're in a public setting one of the most disrespectful things you can do is to talk down about your husband Don't downgrade him in public Secondly, don't ridicule him in the home When it's just the two of you don't ridicule him that's disrespectful Thirdly don't speak evil of him When you're in a private setting with other women or other people Don't speak evil of him Proverbs 31 has something to say about that speaking good of him Don't disrespect him in that way. Don't don't pick and nag at him and I'm not going to describe what that is Ask your husband what it is he'll know Respect him respect him and then I would also say don't undermine his relationship with the children It's amazing how many parents do this How many how many parents undermine the relationship of one or the other with the children trying to curry the favor of the children trying to be the favorite parent or whatever And undermining the respect for your husband and their father don't do that. That's disrespectful Sarah gives a good example of Of referring to him in respectful terms as sir And that's just a respectful speech speech about him So when Paul says respect him Respect your husband He's talking about the way you speak of him the way you speak about him the way you treat him should be with respect Honor dad honor your husband as your children's father And set the example for them by showing him respect and then thirdly to you wives this morning. I would say the way to honor your husband Is to refresh him To refresh him What I mean for that by that is to provide the kind of home That is a source of refreshment and enjoyment for him You know you've often maybe heard the expression if mama ain't happy ain't nobody happy you you heard that There's a lot of truth to that God has built us so that the mother with her nurturing instinct Her nesting instinct Provides the kind of atmosphere in the home that is either joyful pleasant peaceful or chaotic disrespectful And a place where the husband hates to come home to Really that kind of tone in the home is set by the wife and mother What kind of tone do you set? You say wait a second. I work just as hard as he does and I need a place like that to come home to This is father's day Okay, we'll get back to you mothers okay this is father's day we're doing with the fathers What kind of home atmosphere do you provide for your husband? Is it a place that he longs to come home to wants to come home to looks forward? You know again God has made us differently God has shaped us differently as men and women Women do have a nurturing instinct a nesting instinct to make a home a Place of comfort and enjoyment for the and you know how men see a home men see a home as a refuge a castle Not to be a king in rule of everybody, but a refuge a place to shelter from from all the Problems and difficulties of life That's how a man sees his home if he cannot come home to a nest that his wife has prepared for him If he cannot come home to a place that is enjoyable and he looks forward to Then you're not respecting him and you're not refreshing him like you should you say okay, John I need some Bible on that before I'll give you that okay. I'll give you some all right That's it's not here in Ephesians 5, but there are a couple of verses that do talk about this nurturing home making instinct that God has placed and and commanded for a wife to have here's a couple of them Titus chapter 2 verses 4 and 5 it'll be on the screen for you This is God telling older women what to teach younger women in the church How to how to train them and modeled them and he says Then they the older women can teach or urge the younger women to love their husbands By the way, let me stop right there the word love is not the same word that's used for a husband loving his wife Said different word in the original language the word for the husband loving his wife is that self Sacrificial giving of himself for the good of another It's a love of commitment for the the good and welfare of my wife This is a different word which has to do with a nurturing family kind of love A love that prepares and equips and helps and shows that kind of nurturing Tendency toward a husband to love their husbands and children Have that home making nurturing nest building kind of home and then to be self-controlled and pure Notice the next phrase to be busy at home To be kind to be subject to their husband so that none will malign the word of God now This doesn't rule out a woman working outside the home. That's not Paul's point The point is that completely fulfill that God given nurturing aspect that he's built into your heart and provide a home that is refreshing and and a place of comfort for your husband place of Of retreat a place of peace for him I Think probably the the passage that describes this best is that infamous passage in proverbs 31 In proverbs 31 the the passage begins in verse 10 by saying who can find a virtuous woman her price is far above rubies And then this is the next thing he says about that virtuous godly woman says her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value She brings him good not harm all the days of her life. Okay now how does she do that? Well the rest of the chapter deals with her home making Capacities and responsibilities in providing the kind of home that her husband can safely feel secure in and trust in her about So it's all about that nurturing home making Responsibility that a wife has to provide to provide that place for her husband to come home to That's what proverbs 31 is talking about and yes, it includes ministering to the children as well But there's a tendency to date of minimize to equate the roles and they're not equal in in Bible terms as far as responsibilities are concerned A husband has one set of responsibilities a wife has another set of responsibilities And yes, I always encourage Men to help with housework, especially if your wife works outside the home split some of those things Men do the vacuum and help with the dishes stuff. There's nothing wrong with that But women provide for your husband a home that makes him feel secure That he can safely trust in you that he can sense no harm But it's a place of refuge in retreat for him. That's one way you can honor Your husband the honor of a wife is to recognize his god-given position of authority Submit yourself to that leadership respect him and refresh him But Paul goes on to talk about children as well and how children can honor dad how children Should respond to their father Not only is it the role of a wife to honor a husband But particularly the role this morning on father's day of a child to honor his or her father. What does Paul say about that? In chapter six He talks about it in the first four verses and the first thing he's going to say we're going to look at verse one and verse four The first thing he's going to say to children is respond obediently Respond obediently now look at verse one Children obey your parents in the Lord For this is right There is a whole lot in that short verse And I want to take a few moments to try to unpack some of what that verse means First of all the meaning of obedience. What does what does Paul mean when he says obey obey your parents in the Lord I want to do two things here this morning. I want to speak to children Because this passage is addressed to you Of whatever age and I also want to speak to parents Because children will not learn these principles unless their parents teach them in fact in verse four The parent is given the responsibility fathers do not exasperate your children instead bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord It's the responsibility of fathers primarily in this passage because he is the leader of the home God will hold him responsible Obviously mom may spend more time may even do more training in discipline, but the father is held responsible by God For the training and instruction of the home and and the word training there is discipline The discipline of a child the word instruction is what we normally think of as verbal warning and encouragement and affirmation So there's both discipline and verbal training here Okay, what does it mean to be obedient? When when Paul says children obey your parents in the Lord The word is a very interesting word the word that Paul uses and is translated in our English versions Obey it's a word which literally is a compound word made up of two words the verb to hear and the preposition under to hear under is the literal meaning of the word Paul uses we translated obey and We kind of miss a little bit of the real force of the meaning it means to hear under It means to listen to as an authority It's exactly what the word means That children are to listen to their parents as authority I want to make this extremely clear today because our culture is so opposed to this and Many children are being raised today in homes that are so opposite of this What the Bible is saying is that God has given parents particularly the responsibility of the father here God has given parents the authority to train and discipline children Please understand Too many parents today seem either powerless or unwilling To train children to set clear limits as to what behavior is expected in the home And what character you're trying to build So many parents today because of all the pop psychology we've we've been bived from our culture So many parents today are afraid of doing the wrong thing and somehow harming their children and so they do nothing and end up harming them worse Let's let's make sure this is very clear children are not equal authorities in the home Children are not little adults who must be consulted to obtain their permission before any action is taken That is so anti-biblical That is not the way the home is supposed to run The parents are the authority figure in the home given that responsibility by God Children are not little adults whose permission must be asked They are children Who must learn obedience character respect So please especially young parents don't ask little Johnny You want to go to bed now You're the parent for crying out loud you don't need his advice on that issue You you set the rules for the home You know how much sleep Johnny needs Johnny doesn't know how much he needs I'm talking about early on young children you set the tone you make the expectation Children are not equals in the home. They are not little adults. They're children who need guidance and training Don't ask little Susie. Don't you want to eat some of your suffer this evening For crying out loud be a parent being adult You put the expectation on what needs to be done at mealtimes You say John you were an awful parent weren't you Well my kids probably thought so when they were little or when they were 15 but they don't now They don't now I have six grandchildren once still in the oven, but six grandchildren I guarantee you my girls don't feel neglected now or too oppressed or like they grew up hard The biblical principle is children listen under You are under authority you are to listen and one of the ways That you respect and honor your dad is to understand what is meant by obedience The meaning of obedience dads don't bail out here Don't bail out here Make sure that you teach you train you form the expectations For your children in your home. That's the meaning of obedience I also want us to look at what Paul says about the reasons for obedience. Why why is this so important? What are the reasons for obedience? Two of them in verse one children obey or listen under your parents as an authority in the Lord for this is right First of all, he says in the Lord So we we are to obey our parents because it is spiritual Now when he says obey your parents in the Lord He's not saying just obey them if they are in the Lord that's not what he says he a lot of a lot of people have gained from this verse or taken from this verse that if my parents are not Christians I'm not responsible to obey them That's not what he's saying He's saying obey them as if you were obeying the Lord That's the intent of the verse here obey them in the Lord means that you being in the Lord you obey them as an obedience to Christ as an example as a outflow of the Your obedience to Christ your obedience to the Lord you obey your parents your parent is the authority figure that God has placed in your home You reflect your obedience to your parent or reflect your obedience to God by obeying your parent So it's it's spiritual. That's reason number one second reason is It's right Paul says it there in verse one he says obey your parents in the Lord for this is right What does he mean by that? He means it is right in the sense of how God designed the home to work It fits with God's natural plan and design and law for the home. It's right It's kind of like God's law that he's built into the universe If the earth stops spinning on its axis as God designed it to do we are in trouble If somehow gravity stops happening like God built into this universe by his law his natural law and as he overseas and superintendents that If gravity were to stop we're in trouble Because creation has gotten out from under God's design That's the sense in which Paul says it is right in the sense that it is fitting in God's design God has laws for this universe. He created the universe. He built those laws into this universe And all of them are held together by God's providential work according to Colossians 1 But God has also built some laws into other structures that he's created the home being one And it is right. It is right. It fits God's design his structure for the home to children for children to be under the authority of their parents So it's spiritual and it's right Those are the reasons for obedience third. I want to say something about the promptness of obedience Children need to be taught Obedience This is part and parcel of the word itself It's not just my thinking it's part and parcel of the word itself Delayed obedience is not obedience at all Now When a child obeys according to his or her own timetable the child is in the position of authority If Johnny is going to obey you, but it's going to be tomorrow He's the one that's in authority now. He's the one setting the agenda Prompt obedience is what obedience means the late obedience is not obedience at all It is important parents of young children. Please listen. It is important for you to develop obedience in your children to train as part of the training and instruction that Paul says is that the Responsibility of a parent it's important that they learn to respond Immediately to obey immediately You take a five-year-old child running toward the street if they do not understand Because you know a car is coming if they do not understand to respond immediately to stop I mean I can tell you stories Break your heart You Immediate obedience prompt obedience or it's not really obedience at all That will be important to a child as they learn later how to develop character themselves how they respond to an employer How they respond to law enforcement officers How they respond to other officials over them So please young parents I urge you put everything you have in the building prompt obedience in the early years Be strict on that work hard on that establish patterns and habits of obedience so that as they grow older and you loosen up a little bit They have learned because it's ingrained in their character To obey promptly otherwise it's really not obedience at all One other thing I want to say about obedience That is biblical I believe in its content is the biblical view of obedience the Bible's view of obedience and disobedience God takes this very seriously There are a couple of passages that really put into context how God views a child's disobedience to parents One of them is Romans chapter 1 Where Paul is describing a society that has gone so far in sin that God has finally taken his hand off and said okay You wanted it that way I remove my restraint Go on go on You're beyond what I choose to do to restrain you God has given them up given them over he says and notice a description of that society in Romans 1 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness evil greed and depravity They are full of envy murder strife deceit and malice that's pretty rotten lift Isn't it he goes on to say they're gossip slanderers God haters Insolent arrogant and boastful they invent ways of doing evil now notice the next race They disobey their parents They have no understanding no fidelity no love no mercy and there's no qualification with that one like you know That's really not as bad as the others kind of stuck that one in here You know, but it's really no no it is in a list of horrible signs of a decadent culture And disobedience to parents is right in the list Paul does the same thing in 2nd Timothy 3 when he's describing the the increasing wickedness in the last days He says but mark this there will be terrible times in the last days and I notice this description this list People will be lovers of themselves lovers of money boastful proud abusive disobedient parents Ungrateful unholy when you realize the context of those statements In describing a culture that God has finally removed his restraint from it's gone so far in sin And a description of the increasing wickedness of the last days before Jesus returns And you see one of the characteristics is disobedience one of the characteristics of the culture is disobedience to parents It's pretty serious stuff God takes this seriously so children Very important for us to understand How do we honor dad What Paul says is you obey your parents you listen under as an authority But there's a second way and that is you respect openly you respect openly versus 2 and 3 talk about this open respect Honor your father and mother that's a quote from the 10 commandments by the way Like like my version yours may have quotation marks around that And then he Paul breaks in and says which is the first commandment with a promise And then he gives the rest of the verse the promise in verse 3 that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth the idea of course In Old Testament times God's covenant with Israel was very material in nature If they obeyed his covenant they got rain when they needed it They got good crops fruitful land and they would live long in the land There were very physical manifestations of God's covenant with Israel You can't translate exactly the same thing over to the church But the idea here is if you are obedient to parents that carries the blessing or the promise of God's blessing on your life It's a promise of God's blessing on your life To honor your parents now I Want to talk a little bit about what it means to honor Dad what it means for a child to respect dad Two things that that involves it involves respectful demeanor Respectful demeanor. I'm talking here about expressions the look of the eyes The facial expression Respect means that your demeanor must be respectful You say where in the world do you get that out of the Bible? Well, let's look Proverbs 30 once you look at these verses on the screen and notice notice very carefully the directness of these verses There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers those who are pure in their own eyes And yet are not cleansed of their filth now notice these next words Those whose eyes are ever so haughty whose glances are so disdainful Hmm keep that in mind then he gets down to verse 17 and he says the eye that mocks a father Recognize not the tongue The eye that mocks a father that scorns an aged mother will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley will be eaten by the vultures You say oh that's gross and it is It's a very graphic and powerful way of communicating God's judgment comes to those who do not respect their parents And what he's talking about here notice is the demeanor the respectful demeanor God takes this seriously this is not my thinking God takes this very seriously parents You must we must train our children that no insulin insulin even disrespectful glances will be permissible So when a parent Expect something of a child Parents you need to make sure that you are training your children and enforcing this There will be no rolling of the eyes No raising the eyebrows no shrugging of the shoulders No None of that That is disrespectful demeanor and God takes that seriously from what proverbs 30 says Um Second is disrespectful words disrespectful words Proverbs chapter 30 again if we could go back through those verses and stick another one in that we didn't read Notice the words on this occasion There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers They are pure in their own eyes yet are not cleansed of their filth They're those who whose eyes are ever so hotty whose glances are so disdainful now notice verse 14 Those whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are set with knives To devour the poor from the earth and the needy from a man among mankind now notice in this case in the context Still talking about disrespect to parents. He says there is a way of disrespecting your parents, which is like Sharp teeth Jaws that are like knives cutting sharp disrespectful words I am convinced the Bible teaches us that children must be taught early the difference between a proper exchange And there should be I believe in every family of proper exchange between parent and child I think a child should have a chance to defend himself or herself if something has been misunderstood I don't think children should be squashed under the authority of their parents That comes under verse four when he says fathers don't exasperate your children Don't create bitterness in them There is a way to rightly do instruction and training without creating bitterness without creating a dictator type atmosphere And I realized there are probably some of you sitting here this morning that have been hurt by oppressive parents And you're you're kind of shrugging your shoulder at what we're talking about this morning Please understand I'm not talking about that kind of dictator abusive type relationship A child should be able to have proper exchange, but there's a difference between that and disrespectful talk What my parents used to call backtalk or sass There's a big difference big difference Parents please parents of young children teach your children early That disrespectful speech will not be tolerated in your home Um When genie and I were raising our three girls we made our shared mistakes believe me We did We we decided early on we would we would use different forms of punishment for different offenses We didn't spank at the drop of a hat we did spank our children for certain violations, but we didn't do that all the time And there were times when we saw that this is not an act of defiance or disobedience This is just childish irresponsibility left their bike out in the rain whatever they just need to be taught Instructed about those things and expected to do differently and help to learn but Spankings were reserved for three offenses In our home and you've got to you've got to come to some non-negotiable in your home What you want to train your children to be and do And those three offenses were if they total I if they stole something or if they used any disrespectful speech or glances Tortoise as parents And I would not tolerate that with genie genie would not tolerate that with me Because we thought three important character qualities for our children to learn they've got to learn this or they will not function in society Respect for others property respect for truth and integrity and respect for authority If they don't get those three you failed as a parent So those are the three that we thought okay, this is what they'll be spanked for And we didn't just know if they were running around or something grab them up and start whacking away We didn't spank for everything, but we said there are three offenses. This is serious This is the highest level offense you can have in our family and one of them was if you rolled your eyes or you disrespectfully spoke to a parent That's just not to be allowed Now I take that seriously because God takes it seriously. Proverbs 30 bears that out Parents teach your children to be respectful respectful They're gonna hear a heavy dose through the media today of disrespect It's cool today to have that sharp clever comment that puts a person in their place even a parent You don't have to watch much TV to realize that television pictures particularly dads as buffoons And an incredible imbeciles when it comes to knowing anything And that's cool for a child to talk back to a parent watch a sitcom every once in a while you'll you'll see that So they're gonna get a heavy dose of that parents you have got to train them you've got to teach them what it means to have respect I have heard preschoolers call their parents turkeys I've heard preschoolers say to their mom and dad give me a break And I've also seen the parents and the and the other family members laugh and chuckle and it's oh little Johnny in the cute You're raising a monster is what you're doing because Disrespect is subtly taking root and it will grow bigger and bigger is that child gets older and you know who's gonna pay for it If you don't teach them when they're age two and three and four they're kindergarten teacher. That's who pays for it I've heard many of teachers say you wouldn't believe The response of some of the kids in my class. I try to tell them something and the kid just instantly looks back at me I'm not gonna do that Where do they learn that? They were never taught at home The importance of respectful demeanor and respectful words So I am speaking both to parents and to children here this morning children Respect Your dad 1993 Workers made a remarkable discovery in the baseball hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York as they were doing some renovation Tucked away under a display case was an old photograph of a baseball player who had not been inducted in the baseball hall of fame In fact, he'd never played pro baseball He had a bat on his shoulder and he had a uniform that had sinclair oil across it But there was a handwritten note stapled to that picture that had been slipped under a display case And here's what that handwritten note Said You were never too tired to play ball on your days off you helped build a little league field You always came to watch me play You were a hall of fame to head I wish I could share this moment with you your son Peter Now some young man had on his tour through the baseball hall of fame Taking the time ahead of time to make up that little honor This dad had already been enshrined in his heart And he wanted to make sure that somehow some way he got into baseball hall of fame That could have been said about my dad My dad worked for the railroads six days a week back in the day six days a week 12 hours a day And on Sunday went in two hours a day to make sure things were running okay And then to meet us here at church But on Sunday afternoon he would get out in the front yard I was the pitcher he was the catcher He was the quarterback. I was a ride receiver Every Sunday afternoon we'd play ball in the front yard My dad only had a few hours a week when he wasn't working He went to work before we got up in the morning he got home six or seven o'clock in the evening right Jan But he had time for us didn't he? There were lots of things in life he never was able to do But he was a hall of fame dad And you can be a hall of fame dad too wives children I beg of you today give your husband and father the best father's day gift ever honor honor him Let's pray Father, thank you for godly dads Although they weren't perfect they loved us They disciplined trained affirmed encouraged sheltered taught Thank you for our dads Today Lord make us mindful of even when they made mistakes they deserve honor And I pray that you would help us to honor our fathers And as wives to honor husbands In the way god says Thank you that you are our father the perfect father We honor worship and adore you because of who you are In Jesus name we pray Amen