Where Do Fathers Come From?

by Kurt Reinhardt

“Where do fathers come from?” isn’t the question that young children normally put to their parents. But it IS the question behind the question that they often do ask as they stare up from their beds, right when they should be going to sleep.

No, “Where do fathers come from?” is not the question that they normally ask, but it is the question behind the “Where do babies come from?” question. This ultimate question is good to ponder as we give thanks to God for our fathers, and honour them every third Sunday in June.

St. Paul gives us the answer to the question behind the question, when he says that every family in heaven and on earth is named from God the Father (Ephesians 3:15). When he uses the word for “family” from the Greek word for father, he uses a play on words to show us that God the Father is ultimately the One from whom every father is named. God is the Father from whom the source of every family – its father – comes.

All fatherhood flows from God the Father, not only because as God He is the first Father, but also because as the Father of Adam (Luke 3:38), He has truly fathered all fathers who came from him. As the Author of all life, He is the Father of us all. (Malachi 2:10) Fathers are only fathers, then, because God the Father fathered them and fathers through them – as Adam fathered Cain in Eve with the help of the Lord.

Since every earthly father comes from God the Father, He truly is the Father of us all (Malachi 2:10). He not only gives us life through our fathers, but also actively cares for us as He fathers us through them. No, God the Father is not a deadbeat dad – a father in name only who abandons us to life in this world after He begets us. He is ever active to care for us through our earthly fathers, day by day, to set us on our way in the world.

Although the sin of earthly fathers can get in the way of God’s fatherly care and our own sin can get in the way of our receiving that care, God is still the source of all fatherly care received in this world. Every father, then, can look to God to work through them to care for the children that He has given them to raise. Just as they did not give life to their children on their own, they do not have to care for their children on their own. Fathers can count on God the Father who made them to be fathers, to continue to do His fatherly work for their children through them.

While God is our earthly Father according to the flesh, He also becomes our heavenly Father through our baptism into His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Since we broke our relationship with God as our earthly Father when Adam sinned in Eden, God in His mercy reached out through the life, death and resurrection of Christ to restore it through the forgiveness of our sins. Through our Baptism our Father in heaven restored our heavenly relationship with Him. Through the forgiveness that He daily pours out upon us, He continues to repair the disfunction that we bring to our life with Him through sin.

As God the Father is at work through our earthly fathers to father us in the world, He is also at work through our spiritual fathers – our pastors – to father us from heaven, as He gives, sustains and nurtures our heavenly life with Him through them. As they proclaim His word to us, baptize us, absolve us and feed us with His Son’s body and blood, He continually creates, strengthens and restores our heavenly relationship with Him as His own dear children.

We are called by the fourth commandment to honour both our earthly (our dads) and spiritual fathers (our pastors) because God the Father is at work through them to father us for earth and heaven. We do not honour them because of how well or how poorly they perform as fathers, but because of who they represent and who is at work through them. Honouring them and so giving thanks for them on Father’s day is honouring and giving thanks to the Father of us all who fathers us through them.

So where do Father’s come from? The same place that babies come from – our dear Father in heaven – who creates us, redeems us and sanctifies us so that we can be His dear children now and forever. Amen.

Rev. Kurt Reinhardt is a father of 4 and grandfather of 1. He is married to Tammy and has been serving Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kurtzville, Ontario since his ordination in 1999. This makes him the longest serving pastor in her 152-year history. He is a graduate of Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary in St. Catharines. He is also a gifted poet and hymn writer. 

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