Pastor Koay Kheng Hin
18 & 19 June 2022
Today is Father’s Day, a special day set aside for us to remember our fathers. Special because it allows us to remember fathers in our midst.
When we think of our fathers we all have different emotions and feelings because we have all had different experiences and perceptions of our relationship with our fathers.
I have titled the message today “THE RELATIONAL FATHER” to emphasize that, at the end of the day, the one thing that really matters is the interaction between fathers and their children is the condition of their RELATIONSHIP!
The sermon text for today is Malachi 4: 4-6 and I read it.
Malachi 4:4-6
4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel.
5 “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”
These verses are set within the book of Malachi, the last prophetic book of the Old Testament. The book of Malachi was most likely written in the year 430 B.C.
Although the Jews had been allowed to return from exile and rebuild the temple under Nehemiah and Ezra, there was a general apathy towards God and his commandments. The Jews had generally been disobedient in offering blemished sacrifices to the Lord, engaging in intermarriage, and not fulfilling their obligations of tithing and withholding their offerings.
The prophet Malachi addressed these issues; urging them to return to the Lord, Malachi 3:7, “Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty”.
The prophet ends the book with these three concluding verses. In verse 4 he urges the Jews to remember the Mosaic covenant and to return to the Lord in obedience.
Even as they are called to look back to the Mosaic covenant, they are, at the same time, called to look forward to the coming of Christ Jesus, heralded by John the Baptist (verse 5).
These are fitting concluding verses of the last book of the Old Testament in that it prepares the Jews for the expectation of the coming of the Messiah four hundred years in the future. However, the main verse for the sermon today is verse 6.
It is insightful that the prophet, in choosing to mention the blessings that accompany the coming of the Messiah, makes mention of the blessing of a loving compassionate relationship between fathers and their children.
Firstly, the hearts of the fathers will be turned to their children. For the father, the greatest expression of his relationship with his children is that of love. In turning his heart to his children, his children’s welfare will be his priority, and he looks upon them with favour.
He protects and provides. He cares for and nurtures them. He desires to grow in a relational bond with them. When his children do well, he rejoices with them. When his children go through difficulties, he is there to help them. The heart of the father is turned to his children!
Secondly, the hearts of the children will be turned to their fathers. In their early years, the child will be obedient to their fathers. As they grow to adulthood, they will remember the sacrifices that their fathers have made for them.
In their later years, they will care for their fathers when their fathers grow old. The welfare of their fathers will be uppermost in their minds. They will always show respect and honour their father right to the end of their lives. Such is the children turning their hearts to their fathers!
Thirdly, in the context of verses 4 & 5, verse 6 is grounded on the Person and Work of Jesus Christ.
In the turning of hearts, in the expression and exhibiting of love, it is all drawn from the source of love, God Himself. It is needful for the father to draw closer to God in communion and devotion so that God can turn his heart to his children.
The same goes for the children. In relating with their fathers, they are to draw their love from Jesus Christ himself. John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
From the Old Testament, the picture of the father figure is best exemplified by Deuteronomy 1:31, “…There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”
The Israelites had journeyed for forty years in the desert. They are now in the East of Jordan in the territory of Moab. Moses is in the final months of his life. Deuteronomy is a record of his farewell addresses. He reminds the Israelites of the care and concern of God for them, of his protection and provision. Most importantly, he uses the father-son analogy in the relationship of God with them. The use of the father-son analogy demonstrates the depth of a father’s love.
From the New Testament, the best illustration we can draw from the Bible is the parable of the lost son recorded in Luke chapter 15 verses 11 to 32.
There are three characters in this story told by Jesus. The father, the younger son and the older son.
The whole story begins with the younger son asking the father to give him his share of the inheritance. According to Jewish law, that would be 1/3 of the estate while the older brother would have received a double portion, that is 2/3 of the share of the estate.
It was legally not wrong for the younger son to make the request, but from a relational point of view, it would have been a gross show of disrespect and dishonouring of the father, a lack of love for the father.
The father indeed divided his property and gave the younger son his share. The younger son went off and in due time he squandered his wealth in wild living. He spends everything and then a severe famine struck the whole country and he became poor. He had to become a hired help to feed the pigs, an unclean animal according to Jewish law. He had reached rock bottom. He came to his senses. He repented of his sins. Realizing the error of his ways and his sins, he remembered the goodness of his father.
Luke 15: 20 records that he got up and returned to his father, “So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”
To fathers, as you grow in your communion with God, may you grow in forgiveness and grace and grow to value your children even as you continually protect and provide for them.
To children, may you appreciate your fathers, remembering their sacrifices and their heart for you above all else. Finally, may we all as fathers draw that love and compassion for our children from God himself who is our Father. Amen!
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