DADDY'S HANDS

DADDY’S HANDS

ROMANS 8: 14-18

 

Intro:

                As I have stated before, I really don’t like country music.  I generally find it to be winy, annoying, and so predictable to be humorous.  As proof of my assertion, I offer you a sampling of the top 100 worse country song titles of all time.

1.       Drop Kick Me, Jesus, Through the Goalposts of Life

2.        Her Teeth Were Stained, But Her Heart Was Pure

3.        I Would Have Writ You A Letter, But I Couldn't Spell Yuc

4.        I Been Roped And Thrown By Jesus In The Holy Ghost Corral

5.      I Fell In A Pile Of You And Got Love All Over Me

I think you get the point, but there are a few country songs that are able to rise above their genre, and bring positive thoughts and powerful emotions to the table.  Garth Brooks “THE DANCE”, which had the ability to provoke tears from the driest eye.  George Jone’s “HE STOPPED LOVING HER TODAY”, which is considered by many to be the greatest country song of all time.  And in my mind, no discussion of country music is complete without making mention of Ray Steven’s classic hit, “THE MISSISSIPPI SQUIRREL.”  

            However, in all seriousness, there is a country song which some of you might have heard.  It was released in 1987, and was written and performed by Holly Dunn.  The title of the song was: “DADDY’S HANDS.”  It rose as high as number 7 on the country charts, and has been voted as one of the 500 best country songs of all time.  Mrs. Dunn, who retired from music in 2003 to continue as a painter, was born in 1957 in Texas.  She was the daughter of a minister, and the song is a tribute to her father. 

            Today we take time to honor and recognize our Fathers.  For those of you who pick up a bulletin, you have doubtlessly read the article which I wrote for this week.  In the article, I mention the fact that we certainly honor our fathers and mothers in different ways.  For mom we want to make everything just right, whereas for Dad, we sometimes all but forget about the day.  We want to make sure to say thanks to all who serve in this important capacity and speaking as a father for a moment, I want to ask all of you to pray for us.  I want to ask you to pray as we lead, serve, provide, protect, and hopefully set an example worth following.

            The problem that every minister in counters on a day such as this, is that there are always one or two in the congregation who didn’t have men who took their responsibilities serious, and were less than stellar in the Dad department.  The good news for all of us today, is that for those who have become a child of the Living God, you have a father who is beyond reproach.  You have a father who stands before the family, and provides an example that is always worth emulating.

            One of the things that I love about the Holly Dunn song is the perspective with which she performs the song.  She is looking back, and from her new point of view, she sees many things about her father that hadn’t been visible up to that point, and in the end concludes that above all, Daddy’s hands were filled with love.

            This morning, using this song, I want to share with you some experiences that I have had as a father, as well as some of my childhood with my own father.  However, more than anything, I want to help you to see that the same traits which Mrs. Dunn noticed in her father’s hands, they can also be seen in our Heavenly Father.  I would invite you to join us, and let’s take a closer look at “DADDY’S HANDS.”

 

I.             DADDY’S HANDS ARE SOFT AND KIND

 

“Daddy’s hands were soft and kind when I was crying.”  When I hear these words, I automatically think about my Katie when she was little.  I’ve told you all before, but when we had Katie, we were working with the church in Newberry.  The congregation there didn’t have a great deal of funds, and thus the minister didn’t make a great deal of money.  Therefore, the church was nice enough to allow Katie to stay with me during the day.  Laney went back to work as a school teacher when Katie was 10-weeks-old. 

I was blessed to be there to watch her grow.  I changed diapers, fixed bottles, wiped her nose, played dolls, watched Dora, fixed juices, swung, rocked, walked, and listened.  But, the most important job which Daddy had to do was punish that which dared to hurt my baby.  Katie was one of those kids who would climb anything.  Frequently her injuries were a result of climbing something, and then falling off. 

 Regardless of where the booboo came from however, the cure was always the same.  Katie would come to me, and show me where it hurt.  After I kissed and made it better, she would tell me to spank whatever it was that caused the pain.  If she had fallen from a chair, I would have to go to the chair, spank it, all while saying: “Bad, Bad, chair! You don’t hurt my Katie anymore! NO! No! No!” 

Before any spanking of the offending object, there was always a time of comfort.  I look back on it now, and I see so many moments of back patting, tear drying, head rubbing, and it will occasionally make me think I might have done something right.  The beauty, at least from my point of view, was that when she was hurt, Katie knew that Daddy’s hands were there to help, and provide kindness and care.

What about you and me today?  When hurt comes calling, who do you run to?  Where do you hide?  Whose hands do you seek when life knocks you down, and just will not seem to let up? 

As I’ve grown older, I have come to understand that “softe and kind” hands are important when life sends you spinning out of control.  In the book of Psalms, we see again and again where David would experience times of pain and anguish in his life, and each and every time, he would turn to his heavenly Father.  The reason for his turning to God is very simple.  David looked to God because he knew that his kindness was available at any time. 

In Psalm 36, we find that David has come upon a time in which he is thankful for the loving kindness which is to be found in the hands of the Lord.  In the context of the passage, David has obtained yet another victory over the Philistine army.  In verse 7, following his acknowledgement of the enemy, and their attempts to tear down the righteous, David has this to say: “How excellent is thy loving kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.”   You see, David understood that times would be hard, enemies would press in close, but God always offers goodness, protection, safety, and kindness.  The victory may have been Israel’s on the battle field, but in all honesty the realization that God is your shelter in times of danger and problem is what really crowns us as champions.

In Psalm 117: 2, we find that this same idea is expressed, but there is a twist.  In Psalm 36, it was sung as a song for military men coming off the field of battle.  Scholars tell us that Psalm 117, the shortest chapter in the book of Psalm and in the whole Bible, was frequently sung around the family circle, and was designed to remind the adults and children alike about the awesome loving kindness of our God.  It isn’t just the man in danger of death who needs comfort, but each of us as we travel along through life.  We all can enjoy the comfort and kindness that comes from calling him “ABBA FATHER.”

It is a wonderful thing to speak of the soft and kind hands of our father, but there is another side to those hands which deserves our acknowledgment as well.

 

II.            DADDY’S HANDS ARE HARD AS STEEL

 

There is an aspect of fatherhood that some seem to believe to be enjoyable for Dad, but in all actuality, it isn’t all that fun.  Is it necessary?  Yes.  Is it enjoyable?  No, absolutely not.  I am speaking of the responsibility of discipline.

Now, I know that there are some of you out there saying, “I don’t leave it up to Dad to discipline, and I take care of it myself if it needs doing.”   Yes, I know that is the way it is designed to be, but how easy is it to tell a child, “You just wait until your father gets home.”   The obvious conclusion that can be drawn from this statement is that upon Dad’s arrival, explosions shall reign, children shall weep, spankings the likes of which have never been seen will be administered, and all the chaos which proceeded the Father’s entrance shall seas forever more.

Please allow me to say from a counseling standpoint, ladies please don’t turn Dad into the terminator.  If discipline is called for, administer it at the time of the offence.  I am blessed to have a wife who understands that I don’t mind “Hulking up” if that’s what is called for, but she also understands the need for the children to see me as something more than a threat of pain and suffering.

However, men, I would admonish you to remember that the head of house falls upon our shoulders.  Step up and discipline if that is what is needed.  In the modern family today we have a bad case of “You Do It-it is.”   We need strong men to stand as the examples they are called to be in scripture.  In Holly Dunn’s song, she looks back and recalls the fact that “Daddy’s hands weren’t always gentle, but I’ve come to understand there was always love in Daddy’s hands.”  My children know and understand that comfort, kindness, and even gentleness can be found in their daddy’s hands, but those hands also contain an element of steel.  I can’t stand disciplining either one of my sweet babies, but if they do something wrong, I will discipline. 

Why?  I do it because I love them.  It is the same reason that “Abba Father” disciplines you and me as Christians. (Romans 8: 15) 

In Hebrews 12: 6, the Hebrew writer informs us: “For whom the Lord loves, chastens.”   The word “chastens” is what we would call discipline today.  We The Bible has just informed us that God disciplines his children for the simplest of all reasons; he loves us.  In the beginning of Mrs. Dunn’s song, she uses the phrase, “I remember Daddy’s hands.”   She is looking back from her new point of view, and now she can see things clearer.

How many of us say at the time, I hate discipline.  How many of you today look back though and say, “Thanks Dad for teaching me right and wrong.”   In Hebrews 12: 11, we are told that no discipline is enjoyable at the moment, but is profitable for the one who learns from it, and experiences growth.  If discipline were fun, we would just keep doing it.  You don’t look at your children and say, “You have acted badly, disappointed me to no end, upset your mother, and most importantly fallen short of what God wants you to be…So here’s $20.00, have a great time, and don’t you do that ever again.”  Instead we discipline in such a way that children learn from it, grow from it, and become stronger people.

 

CONCLUSION:

I pray that you will take the time to give Dad a call, a hug, a card, or maybe a fat juicy stake.  Let him know how much you love and appreciate the hands that helped to mold and shape you into the person you are today. 

If you are here, and your father wasn’t what he should have been, then I would invite you to try mine.  Not Rusty Sr, he is mine, and the only person I share him with is my brother.  Instead I am speaking of my Abba Father.  In the song that we have been talking about all morning, the second and final verse has this to say:

“I remember Daddy’s hands, working till they bled, sacrificing unselfishly just to keep us all fed.” 

I don’t know about you, but I also think of another father who sacrificed unselfishly just to keep us all spiritually fed.  I don’t know about you, but I also think about another set of hands that worked until they bled.  If you are in need of coming to God today, please let it be known.