This morning I am feeling the pressure. You may be feeling it too.
It’s music appreciation Sunday and Father’s Day. I was torn, so much pressure. So, because it’s Father’s Day this morning I want to talk about MEN and “manly stuff.” I asked my wife & she said it was okay! Oh yes, can’t you just smell the testosterone?
Men have it tough. They have always had it tough. We have hard role models to live up to. We have the John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Gen. Patton kind of rugged heroes to live up to. We are not going to have men who like to cry all the time be our role models. Our father’s fixed things. They didn’t go to Sears & Roebucks every spring to buy a new lawn mower- they fixed the one they had. They did their own oil changes and filed spark plugs. They banged the oil heater and the furnace and replaced belts on the appliances. They said things like, “They don’t build ‘em like they used to.” “We can get one more year out that thing.”
They took their lunch pail and coffee in the morning and disappeared for the better part of the day. When they returned, they didn’t want to play with the kids, or talk about their day. They just wanted a little peace and quiet, and to be able to watch the whole 7 minutes of sports coverage on the news, just after the 5 minutes dedicated to the weather.
This new generation of fathers has it tough. Many more of them, than ever before were raised in single parent homes. Most of them were raised by their mothers and enjoyed the pleasure of their father’s company on custody days. It was up to the boys of single parent households to ask themselves- when I grow up—what kind of father do I want to be? Do I want to be the sensitive type who is involved in everything, cries in front of my children and shares with them feelings and fears? Do I want to be aloof and strict—a disciplinarian? Or will I be a combination of both.
It is hard for a generation of fathers who have grown up with absentee fathers. Also, it is hard for the new generation of fathers because the mothers have different expectations. I always grew up believing I would be like every other father I had seen on television or the movies, who waited expectantly in the waiting room with a handful of cigars, ready to be distributed the moment the nurse came in and gave me the news, that after 20 hours of grueling labor, my child was born. I would then light up a cigar with all the other soon-to-be dads, kiss my wife, baby, and reward my efforts while releasing the pressure of it all by playing a round of golf…
So, imagine how surprised I was to learn that I was going to be a coach—in the delivery room! I was going to be a coach, in an event that I have never have participated in before—the stakes here are pretty high. This isn’t T-ball.
Fathers of the new generation are expected to be active, present, good listeners, + engaged in the process of raising children—in addition to all of the other expectations placed on us from outside pressures…..
Men had it tough in Jesus’ time too. They went to school when they were young, then they learned a trade and got married. They had to support their families. Often the family would be multi-generational. They had to take in their mother-in-law when she became a widow, or marry their brother’s sister, if their brother should happen to die. It was the law. Yes, the daily grind.
How tough was it for Jesus? When are going to get married? Find a nice girl? Settle down.
There is the story of his miraculous birth. Because of this little boy, the family has to flee for their lives. As a young boy, Jesus possessed all the divine qualities of God. It is hard enough for us human creatures to go through puberty—imagine how difficult it would be for an 11 or 12 yr old boy to restrain from using his divine gifts.
Teenage Jesus must have been feeling the pull and the pressure….
It is hard enough for any of us living up to the legacy of our fathers—but imagine how difficult it must have been 4 Jesus growing up. His father was God! Did Mary hold Jesus to a higher standard than his siblings? “You know I expect a lot more from you—you are the son of the Living God.” Jesus couldn’t really say to his mother, “C’mon mom, I’m not perfect.” And how mad could the Jesus get with his mother, she was the perfect mom.
When and how old was Jesus when he began to feel the weight of the world pressing down on his shoulders. No doubt he struggled with his identity, the same way that all of us as humans of Lebanon struggle with trying to figure out who we are, and what our place in the world is.
So much pressure with Jesus. He was fulfilling prophecy. My Guidance Counselor just wanted me to consider going to college. Jesus’ Guidance Counselor knows that this young man would save the world…..
Jesus knew pressure as an adult as well. As soon as the clouds parted and God’s voice boomed that Jesus was God’s beloved son—there was pressure. He goes out into the desert and is tempted by Satan- serious pressure. When he comes back the crowds grow greater and greater. He has to constantly escape the crowds.
Then there is the mounting pressure of those who oppose him. That pressure grows greater with the day. His time is running out. He has all of these things to do, all of this wisdom to impart and the apostles seem to be pretty dense. Jesus has to train these apostles in the way of the new Kingdom and his time is running out! He has the pressure of a trial. The pressure of being beaten, mocked, spat upon. Then he has the pressure of seeing the mallet and those nails—those brutally piercing nails! He feels the pressure on the cross doesn’t he? He is literally carrying the weight of the world on his back.
We have pressure to! I don’t want to minimize the pressure that we men have. Oh yes, men feel the pressure. And women experience pressures too. We are not alone in this world with all of this pressure.
I invite you to give your pressure over to the man who knew the pressure. Give that weight on your back over to Jesus. He knew the weight of the world was on his back. Give those pressures over to Jesus. Commit yourself to him.
