Sermon Notes — June 15, 2025
John 14:8-20
June 15, 2025
Rev. Terry Carty
Good Good Father
Today is known as Trinity Sunday. The Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All God, all the time.
John 16:12-15 To be read by preacher:
Disciple John remembers that Jesus told them this. Listen for the work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
12 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. Jesus tells them: 15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
Today we pause to acknowledge and reflect on the nature of God who is the Maker of all creation – the Father of all creation. This is God whose very essence and intention for humanity is born into our world as his only begotten Son, Jesus. And, last but certainly not least, God whose Spirit lives today as Jesus promised in you and me.
Last week Pastor Craig celebrated the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit makes it impossible to forget the love of Jesus Christ.
Also today, being Father’s Day, we have a new opportunity to reflect on God’s love as we consider the things we appreciate about fathers. Some of us have been fortunate to have loving fathers who made our lives the best they could. These may have been biological father, stepfather, adoptive father, or spiritual father. If we were extremely fortunate, we may have had more than one father figure in our lives.
I was one of those extremely fortunate ones. I had a biological father, a stepfather, a father figure, and a heavenly father. You would think that with all these fathers in my life that I would have been the perfect father to my own children. I wasn’t perfect. But as I acknowledged on Mother’s Day this year, I am still learning.
I once thought that my Dad (whose DNA runs rampant through me) was not such a good father. He was a father after his father’s model of parenting. “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” He was the one who my mother referred to as “your father will deal with this when he gets home.” He definitely believed in corporal punishment.
Throughout much of my life we disagreed on discipline, ethics, politics, inclusiveness and acts of kindness. It was only late in his life, after he had open heart surgery, that he seemed to change. My sister and I joked that the surgeon had connected a loose wire in his heart. He became more generous and less judgmental. Most noticeably, he then insisted on a hug (totally out of his former character) and telling his children that he loved them EVERY TIME we were together.
With time, I have realized how much of him lives in me. He was an engineer with an analytical mind. He taught me how to solve problems and fix things. He taught me how to see things that others sometime miss. He taught me a work ethic that I can’t seem to get past. He taught me responsibility and patriotism.
My other father figures taught me things that I immediately recognized and was able to put to use in my life. From them I learned generosity, not as much from my meager income, but from my time, interest and energy. I learned how to see and appreciate people. I learned how to truly help people in need. And I learned how to lead by walking along side others.
I was truly fortunate to have had good fathers.
God, the Father of Jesus, is a GOOD, GOOD father. God has plenty of experience in fatherhood because he created every human being who ever lived. Craig Goff’s quote is “You will never look into the face of someone God does not love.”
With Jesus it was very personal. God, HIS Father, conceived a baby born in humble beginnings. God, HIS Father, was proud of Jesus and filled him with the fullness of God’s Spirit to show to the world.
God was an active, daily communicating, spiritually directing father. God even said, “This is my Son with whom I am well pleased!” This echoes pretty much the same thing the Creator God gladly said about each day of creation of the world.
And God chose Joseph to be earthly father to Jesus. We know little about Joseph’s character other than what we read in the first two chapters of Matthew. The first two chapters of the Gospel of Luke tell us about the faithfulness of the parents. Joseph may not have written a book, preached a sermon, or ruled a nation – but he raised the Savior of the world. He raised Jesus in a religious home. Joseph modeled righteousness, compassion, obedience, courage, and a humble spirit. Joseph was God’s own choice because he was filled with the attributes of God.
I believe that the fathers in my life have had many of the attributes of God the Father. God’s love, especially as acknowledged by Jesus in the Gospels, is the model for every parent. His love does not give up, feels responsibility, and is generous and boundless.
The life of Jesus shows us the true nature of God that helps explain what the Old Testament was not clear about. God loves us with the love of the perfect parent – yes, both mother and father. God loves us completely.
And God’s own image is seen completely in the Holy Trinity: God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is working in us to shape our hearts to love like God loves.
As you admire the best of fathers this day, set your mind on the highest ideals of fatherhood in your own life. May we open ourselves fully to let God shape us in the Good Good Father’s image.
