Proper 7 (A) – The Enormous Responsibility, Opportunity, and Joy of Parenthood
Proper 7 (A) – The Enormous Responsibility, Opportunity, and Joy of Parenthood
Today is Father's Day, and because we deviated from the assigned propers on Mother's Day, I felt it would only be fair to do the same on the day set aside on the secular calendar to celebrate dads.
I offer this sermon to the glory of God and dedicate it to our four children: Kathy (married and living in Ketchikan, Alaska), Debbie (taking care of St. Paul's little people around the corner), Martha, and David (right now sitting on their pea combines working harvest).
Side note: That was where we were in 1981.
but to illustrate that all too quickly there comes the time when our children want to go their own way.
Pray God help us all celebrate our families while we are together. Each age is special—from "Mr. Campbell, you are the father of a baby girl," to endless high adventures and story times, to the parade of little paddles, pets, and friends. (The hamster that sampled all my photography paper boxes.)
My hat goes off to my wife Margaret, who, at one stage in our child-rearing, had the responsibility of getting our four children to church by 9:05... in Minnesota... in the winter.
Four pairs of leggings, four jackets, four hats, four scarves, eight mittens, and eight overshoes—all while dressed in their Sunday best. She also had to get the car started when it was ten below and drive five miles.
"Insanity is an inherited disease... you get it from your children!"
I guess the enormous responsibility of raising children did not truly hit me until one day when our three-year-old son was "helping" me in the shop.
When I picked up my hammer, he picked up his hammer.
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed he was holding that hammer exactly the way I was holding mine, and, to the best of his ability, he was swinging it exactly the way I was swinging mine.
In the most subtle way, we parents are all teachers—with no spring break or summer vacation. For better or worse, whenever we are together with our children, we are teaching.
Ask yourselves how much time you spend with your children versus how much time they spend watching television. Who has the upper hand? If the values presented on television are contrary to our own, we have our work cut out for us.
Most of you know my dad died when I was sixteen years old. He only made it through the sixth grade before leaving school to help his mother keep the family afloat financially.
He taught me a great deal... and in some ways, he is still teaching me.
Some of his lessons:
• "How about your shoes? They're part of your uniform."
• "Be honest. I won't know how to help you if I don't know the whole story."
• "Stay out as late as you want... as long as you can give an honest day's work the next day."
My dad and I had the same name (that's why they called me Sonny). Whenever someone asked, "Are you Ernie Campbell's kid?" and I answered, "Yes," many would respond:
"Kid, you're lucky."
One of our favorite times together was spent playing catch. When I finally graduated to a hardball and baseball glove, I had aspirations of becoming a pitcher.
What I had was blinding speed... and absolutely no control.
I can't tell you how much time my dad spent retrieving my many wayward pitches.
There is an enormous cost in parenting.
Life, like my wild pitches, doesn't always come right down the middle.
There is a lot of chasing after in raising children.
Examples:
• Our son David, at three years old, getting lost in Evanston. When the police found him and returned him to us, he referred to one officer as "my policeman" for the rest of the summer.
• David's multiple facial injuries near his eyes.
• His dislocated shoulder after jumping out of a tree while pretending to be Batman.
• One of our daughters' two separate $3,000 trips to the orthodontist.
What do they say? Today you can figure on spending $95,000 to see one child through college.
So much more now in 2026.
It takes patience... a great deal of patience.
We often wondered if our children would ever realize why it was important for us to know where they were whenever they were away from home.
Check in! Save us a phone call!
Two weeks ago Margaret and I had been away for a couple of days. We had promised our children we would call with our estimated arrival time, but circumstances prevented us from doing so.
When we walked through the door we were greeted by two worried children. Dave had already spoken with the State Police.
For a few minutes, we became the students.
We could not have agreed more with the lesson we had spent years trying to teach our own children.
Children give our lives meaning and purpose.
They provide us with the opportunity to give.
My dad used to say,
"Well, you can't buy shoes for the baby sitting here!"
Then he would get out of his chair and go to work.
In God's plan we are privileged to become co-creators with our Heavenly Father.
It is an awesome responsibility—but one with life-giving rewards.
I was amused when I read today's Gospel in light of the sentiment generated by the commercial approach to Father's Day.
Jesus lays it on the line.
If you are going to be one of His disciples, you will experience strong resistance.
He becomes very specific:
Brother will deliver up brother, fathers their children, and children will rise against their parents.
Why?
Because as disciples of Jesus we stand for truth, freedom, justice, and love—and all of these require us to change our selfish ways.
If we love Christ, there will be resistance.
But then Jesus says,
"Hang in there."
If you do, you will be saved.
You will discover the joy of being freed from selfishness.
So, no matter what the resistance...
Don't be afraid.
Parenting is one of the many ways God has given us to learn love.
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