A Word about the Greatest Parent

Today we will continue in a series of sermons from the Book of Hebrews that I am calling the Greatest of All Time. In this episode, we will see that Jesus is the Greatest Parent.

When I was a child, my oldest sister suffered from a rare condition called scleroderma, and she was homebound for several years before she passed away. So, on most Sundays, my dad would take my middle sister and me to church, and my mom and my oldest sister would stay home. This was decades before streaming services on social media was possible, and my mom and oldest sister watched the television broadcast of our town’s First Baptist Church.

One year on Mother’s Day, my Sunday School teacher led us through making imitation carnation boutonnieres. Some were red, and some were pink, and others, like mine, were white. It turned out pretty well, and I proudly pinned it on before going to join my dad and my sister for our worship service. Of course, I wore it home, because I wanted to display my work to my mother.

To my surprise and chagrin, my mother was horrified when she saw me wearing my imitation white carnation. What she knew, but what none of the rest of us knew that day, was that in the community where we lived, wearing a white carnation on Mother’s Day meant that your mother was deceased! Because she usually stayed home with my oldest sister, she didn’t want anyone getting the wrong idea! Of course, I loved my mother, and I certainly didn’t want to upset her! I had great parents, and I am still grateful to this day for God allowing me to be their son. 

It is also true, however, that no parent is perfect, and some are not good parents at all. I distinctly remember my first Father’s Day as a pastor, because I was told that very morning that a foster child would be present in church, whose father had physically abused, which is why that child was taken from the home. Ours is a world without perfect parents.

The same is true for parents in the Bible. Name any parent in the Bible, and they would have flaws, and some would have no strengths at all. Who, then, is the Greatest Parent? Our Lord and Our God, of course! Let’s begin by reading Hebrews 12:5-11:

And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: My son, do not take the Lord's discipline lightly or lose heart when you are reproved by him, for the Lord disciplines the one he loves and punishes every son he receives. Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline-which all receive -then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had human fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn't we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but he does it for our benefit, so that we can share his holiness. No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 

Our Lord Understands How To Be A Father:

We know that every man is not a father, but the writer of Hebrews tells us that God is our Father. He tells us that God deals with us as His children, and we know that we are His children because He disciplines us. In God’s economy, every father corrects and guides their children into the proper ways of life.

Of course, Hebrews is not the only place in the Bible that we see God being presented as a father:

• In Psalm 103:13 we see God compared to a father who has compassion on his children. 
• Isaiah 64:8 says that God is our Father, and that He molds our lives the way a potter molds clay. 
• In the Baptism of Jesus, we hear God call out from heaven, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
• When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, His model prayer began with “Our Father . . .”
• In John 14:7-11, we read,

“If you know Me, you will also know My Father. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.” “Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that’s enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time without your knowing Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on My own. The Father who lives in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.”

So, it is clear that God is a Father, and that He is Our Father, and because that, we know that God understands fathers. If that was all God knew, it would be wonderful, but God knows even more.  Let’s read Luke 13:31-35:

At that time some Pharisees came and told Him, “Go, get out of here! Herod wants to kill You!” He said to them, “Go tell that fox, ‘Look! I’m driving out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will complete My work.’ Yet I must travel today, tomorrow, and the next day, because it is not possible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem! Jerusalem, Jerusalem! She who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See, your house is abandoned to you. And I tell you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘He who comes in the name of the Lord is the blessed One’!”

Our Lord Understands How To Be A Mother:

Before you declare me a “woke” heretic, I simply want to point you to the words of Jesus Himself. He compared Himself to a hen, and a hen is the mother of her chicks.  So how can God act as a mother, as well as being God the Father? The answer is found in the perfect completeness of God. The Bible tells us that God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnibenevolent.

In Luke 1:37, the angel Gabriel told Mary that, “nothing is impossible with God.”

2 Corinthians 9:8 tells us,

And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work.

Colossians 2:9-10 says, 

For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ, and you have been filled by Him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

We also know from other Scriptures that the tabernacle and the temple were earthly analogies of the Heavenly Temple. Therefore, the fact that we, as a species, are both male and female, indicates that both male characteristics and female characteristics are present in God. To illustrate that, all we must do is consider the Creation story.

God created Adam as a male, but God knew that Adam was incomplete. Adam needed someone else to make him complete. I don’t believe that God showed Adam all the animals of the world in the hopes that he would find a suitable companion. I believe He showed Adam all the animals so that Adam would realize that none of them would do. That’s when God created Eve.

So how did God do? Based on the reaction of Adam, He hit the nail right on the head, as we would expect God to do. When Adam saw Eve he proclaimed, “Bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh,” which is an ancient Hebrew phrase which means, “Wow!”

Most men claim not to understand women, but it is obvious that God does. He got the design of women correct, right from the beginning. To me, that indicates that God understands both men and women equally, and that He embedded elements of Himself in both genders of our race.

Notice what Jesus wanted to do in this scenario. I think a male reaction would have been, “I have stood all I can stand, and I can’t stands no more,” and He would have taken action to avenge all the dead prophets. Instead, He wanted to take a different action, and instead of being an avenger, His instinct was to be a protector, by offering up Himself as a shield. I think this is the natural reaction of a mother.

So, Our God understands Fathers, and He understands Mothers. He also understands children. Let’s continue with Proverbs 3:11-12, which is quoted for us in Hebrews 12:

Do not despise the Lord’s instruction, my son, and do not loathe His discipline; for the Lord disciplines the one He loves, just as a father, the son he delights in. 

Our Lord Understands How To Be A Child:

This passage from Proverbs shows that God understands children. After all, Jesus was a child Himself. He was raised by Mary and Joseph, and He was raised with half-brothers and half-sisters. According to Luke 2:40,

The boy grew up and became strong, filled with wisdom, and God’s grace was on Him.

Luke 2:52 also says,

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people.

Even before His incarnation, God understood that children need discipline, and that they need to be shaped and molded into becoming mature human beings. God provided for this by giving children both fathers and mothers, so that they could grow and mature with both a male influence and a female influence in their lives.

Biblical fatherhood is defined less by tips and techniques and more by the qualities of a man, as he, himself, was molded by God His Father. A Biblical father is a man who leads with integrity, loves sacrificially, teaches diligently, disciplines wisely, protects faithfully, encourages consistently, prays earnestly, and reflects the heart of God to his children.

Biblical motherhood is also less about what a mother does, than it is about who she is, again, as shaped by God. A Biblical mother is a woman of faith, wisdom, strength, compassion, and sacrificial love who shapes her children through Godly character and steadfast devotion.

What about children? Do they have any responsibilities in this matter? Of course they do. The Ten Commandments tell them, and all of us as God’s children, to honor our fathers and mothers, which brings with it the promise that our days may be long upon the earth. Proverbs and Hebrews both tell children to listen to their parents’ teaching and to accept their discipline. Finally, in 1st Timothy and Proverbs, children are instructed to care for their families and to be a blessing to them, like how Joseph saved his family from starvation after he became the prime minister of Egypt.

God understands fathers, and mothers, and children. What then does that mean for us today? Now, let’s consider Luke 18:15-17:

People were bringing infants to him so that he might touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. Jesus, however, invited them: “Let the little children come to me, and don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Our Lord Understands How To Help Parents And Children:

From our review of the Scriptures above, it is clear to us that God understands what it means to be a parent and to be a child. How does that help us? In this way: God’s understanding is not just academic facts and insights. No! God uses His understanding in practical ways, to bless us, to guide us, and to help us.

When we come to God as a child, we have the assurance that He knows the challenges we face. It has never been easy to be a parent, but it has never been harder to be a parent than it is today, in the culture of the 21st Century. 

Likewise, it has never been harder to be a child, because our culture pushes children to both grow-up in mannerisms or interests too early, while at the same time delaying true maturity. How many times have I heard someone say, “Adulting is hard.” It certainly is, and our culture pushes children to want the privileges of being adults without accepting the responsibilities thereunto. God understands all these pressures

When we come to God as a child, we also have the assurance that He knows the solutions to the challenges we face. James reminds us that if we lack wisdom, God is eager to impart His wisdom to us. He has done that through the Scriptures, and we have been advised many times to read, to study, to obey, and to put into practice God’s Word. This is the best course of wisdom for us all, but from time-to-time we are confronted with situations that seem to defy Biblical description. What do we do then? We come to God like a child!

Romans 8:26-27 tells us that, when we have no idea what to do, God does,

In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

When we come to God as a child, we have the assurance that He will help us live with the challenges we face. God is our greatest resource for life’s challenges, but sometimes no practical solutions exist on earth for them. This fact can make life tough, but God’s grace, peace, and mercy that He brings to us as He walks alongside us not only makes those situations bearable, but they can also help us thrive in them.

When we come to God as a child, we have the assurance that He is trustworthy to watch over our children when they leave us. He is with them in the car the first time they drive away on their own after they get their full license. He is with them in their dorm room at college or in their barracks room if they are in the military. He is with them when they take an out-of-town job, and also when they leave the narrow way and take their own, errant, path. When we can’t be with our children, we can know that God will be and that we can trust Him.

So, then, what is the greatest source of help for fathers today? Our Lord, the Greatest Parent!

So, then, what is the greatest source of help for mothers today? Our Lord, the Greatest Parent!

So, then, what is the greatest source of help for children today? Our Lord, the Greatest Parent!

Conclusion:

I started this message by saying how grateful I am for God giving me two wonderful parents. My best friend in high school was not so fortunate. His mother had developed an addiction to prescription medicines, and his dad decided he could not take it anymore. He left his family and moved in with his girlfriend. My friend was left without a father or a mother, and with an out-of-control younger brother. What was my friend to do? When I met him, he was doing the best he could in a very difficult situation.

My Sunday School teacher learned about this situation, and he reached out to my friend. My friend’s dad took the family car, his mother’s license had been revoked, and my friend was too young to drive. My Sunday School teacher made sure my friend had a ride to church. He also shared Christ with my friend, and he became a mentor to him. He was not, and could not be a substitute father, but he introduced my friend to the Greatest Parent, and that made all the difference in my friend’s life.

Psalm 68:5-6 say that God is “a father of the fatherless, and a champion of widows,” and that He “provides homes for those who are deserted.”  I saw God do that in my friend’s life, and I know today, He is still doing it for those who come to Him like the child of God that they are.

Every blesing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt