Sermon Tone Analysis

Happy Father’s Day!

I feel really weird saying that, because as a father, I am wishing myself a Happy Father’s Day.

Father’s Day was started in 1909, supposedly.

Sonora Smart Dodd was sitting in church one Mother’s Day, listening to the sermon, when she wondered why there wasn’t a Father’s Day.

She reflected on her own father who was a Civil War veteran and who raised his six children after their mother died in childbirth.

In honor of him, she approached the local religious leaders and June 19th, 1910, the first Father’s Day was celebrated.

In 1924, President Coolidge gave his support to the observation of Father’s Day.

In 1966, Lyndon Johnson issued a proclamation about Father’s Day.

Finally, in 1972, Richard Nixon signed legislation, making this a national holiday.

It’s important to note that Father’s Day was started as a religious holiday.

And most of its history was celebrated as a religious holiday.

Recently it has become secularized.

But, that secularization does not negate the importance of celebrating fathers and urging fathers to live up to the standard the God calls them to.

On Mother’s Day, we discussed endurance.

We spoke on how God is a God of endurance.

Therefore, mother’s should be people of endurance.

Normally, on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, I like to take an attribute of God and call mothers and fathers to live that attribute so that their kids can see God in them.

Today, I’m not going to do that.

Today, I’m going to talk about journalism.

You say, what does journalism have to do with fatherhood?

Just have patience.

I talk with many people who say that they do not trust the media these days.

It seems like no reporter or news anchor has integrity.

Lies are thrown around.

We get on social media, and everyone is sharing everything from any website, without taking the time to research the truth of what is shared.

In that, we are joining this age of non-integrity.

We are complicit in the lies.

Several years ago, the Trust Project was formed, To amplify journalism’s commitment to transparency, accuracy, inclusion and fairness so that the public can make informed news choices.

They compiled a list of eight trust indicator to help a reader decide whether a news story is trustworthy.

By doing this, they are also calling on news sources to have more integrity.

Their eight trust indicators are: Is the Journalist an expert?

Is the purpose of the story clear?

Can we find and access the sources?

Does the journalist use local knowledge?

Does the story bring in many kinds of people?

Does the news organization allow readers to participate?

Can we tell the process used to make the story?

And does the journalist or news organization explain their ownership and standards?

It is a fascinating organization and an encouraging concept: calling journalists and news organizations to integrity in what they say, but also calling readers to have integrity in what they say, by passing on correct ideas.

Paul calls Titus to this same standard of integrity through what he says and through what he does.

Integrity.

It’s amazing how often we look for integrity in others, but refuse to see our lack of integrity in ourselves.

Integrity is important in a Christian leader.

Integrity is essential in fathers.

However, integrity is not an attribute of God.

Wait, what?

No where in Scripture is God described as having integrity.

Why is that so?

Integrity is the faithful support of a standard of values.

Those values could be values of a profession, such as journalistic integrity.

Those values could be values of a community.

These standards are outside of someone, and the one with integrity faithfully lives according to those values.

God does not have a standard of values outside of himself that he has to live by.

He is holiness.

He is goodness.

He is love.

He defines all those values for us.

He is the standard of values.

He calls us to integrity to live faithfully to his standard of values.

Fathers, today we will be building a small mission statement for fatherhood.

The first point is: I will be a Person of integrity, faithfully supporting God’s standard of values.

Main point: One half say one half.

There are four words that are paired in Scripture with having integrity, which will help us build the mission statement.

Righteousness

The first word is righteousness.

Integrity is a faithful support of God’s standard of values.

Righteousness is doing the right thing, in the context of this verse, it is doing the right thing in a way that is loyal to the community.

David was writing this Psalm because a man named Cush, from the tribe of Benjamin, was his enemy and was moving against him like a lion.

David says that he deserves vindication because he has faithfully supported God’s standard of values and that he has lived the right way in his community.

Cush had no reason to act against him.

How does this translate for fatherhood?

If a father is seeking to support God’s standard, he will do what is right by his community, specifically his family.

He starts off by showing to his family that he is a passionate follower of Jesus Christ.

Unless he pursues righteousness through Jesus, he will not be able to be a man of integrity.

This man acknowledges that he is a sinner and that he needs to be saved through Jesus Christ.

He acknowledges that he needs Jesus’ help every day.

And he acknowledges that his family needs Jesus everyday.

Doing right by his family is leading himself and his family to Jesus intentionally every day.

A man who pursues righteousness, seeking to do what is right by his family, will show his loyalty to them.

I love the him: Abide with Me:

Abide with me: fast falls the eventide;

The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide:

When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,

Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

God is the God who is with us.

He never leaves us or forsakes us.

In the same way, the father should show God to his family.

He will show his wife that she is the most important priority to him under God.

He will do right by her, living with her in an understanding way, as Peter writes in 1 Peter 3.

He will over her and live self-sacrificially with her, as Christ did for us the Church, as Paul writes in Ephesians 5.

He will show his children that they are the most important thing to him, under his wife and God.

He will provide what they need physically and emotionally, knowing that whoever does not provide for their family, is worse than a non-believer, knowing that a Father is not supposed to exasperate his children, but to train them up in the Lord.

Fathers, does your family say that you do right by them, showing your loyalty to them?

Or do they complain that you are loyal to other things over them, whether it is the farm, or your work, or your friends, or your parents or siblings?

What is the main point: I will be a man of integrity, faithfully supporting God’s standard of values.

Now, you few rows here, when I say, what is the sub-point one, you will say: I will do what is right by my family.

Uprightness

The next word that is paired with integrity is uprightness.

The word speaks of a straight path.

It is tied to honesty.