HOW MUCH MORE?(A Father’s Day Sermon)11:00 AM Worship Service | Sunday, June 15, 2025 Luke 11: 11-13 (11) If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? (12) Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? (13) If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Introduction I will begin by saying that we have some great fathers at Antioch-Lithonia. I am not just saying this because it is Father’s Day. This is the truth - It is not fake news. You have heard the negative expressions: “deadbeat dad,” “do-nothing dad,” or “absentee father.” If we are not careful, we will think these phrases apply to all fathers. Not so at Antioch! For the most part, those descriptions do not apply here. We have a passel of “do-right dads,” and we honor them today. The honor is well-deserved. These men take Proverbs 17:6, Ephesians 6:4, and 1st Timothy 5:8 very seriously. They not only take care of their own families, but they undergird all of the ministries, auxiliaries, and programs of Antioch-Lithonia. We are blessed to have such great dutiful men in our congregation. I repeat: The honor is well deserved. Secondly, I am compelled to mention my biological father, William Bradford Ward, Sr. If I can become one-tenth the man he was, I would consider myself a great success. He was part of the first four-year graduating class of Alabama A & M. He left with five dollars in his pocket and did not return to his home in Abbeville until he graduated. During the summers, he helped construct some of the buildings that still stand on the campus today. He was a World War II veteran who was injured in combat. After being drafted after college, he quickly attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. His tour of duty was so exemplary that he was formally asked to make a career of the military. He respectfully declined and returned to Abbeville to take care of his parents and to teach school. He attained the thirty-third degree of Masonry. (This degree is the highest and most coveted degree of the Scottish Rite system of degrees and is by invitation only. It is the Nobel Prize of Masonry.) It was attained during the same consistory session that included a young civil rights attorney, Thurgood Marshall, who would win the Brown Versus the Board of Education case and who would later become a Supreme Court justice. My father was the chairman of the deacon board and a school principal for many years. It is still a mystery to me and others how he acquired so much knowledge, in a segregated society, where Blacks were not allowed to use public libraries, and there were no internet, Google, and other search engines. I am sure I am not alone; many of you also have the greatest admiration for your biological or adoptive father. Now, let’s get to the meat of the sermon. I remember as child when they came out with the “new math,” which is now the “old math,” or the “forgotten math.” Not only was there an equal sign, but there were “greater than” and “less than” signs. These were called inequality signs. Jesus used an inequality, in this Scripture, to express how great God’s love is toward us. He stated the attributes of a great human father, and then stated that God’s love is so much greater. (Make sure you read the end notes.) He used a rhetorical question: How much more? Exposition 1. Bread - Not A Stone. (A Father Provides For His Children.) (A Father Is Mature - Does Not Play Juvenile Tricks.) 2. A Fish - Not A Serpent (Eel). (A Father Will Not Give His Children What Is Forbidden.) (A Father Will Not Give His Children That Which Is Useless.) 3. An Egg - Not A Scorpion. (A Father Does Not Give His Children Dangerous Things.) (A Father Protects His Children.) Closing Thoughts No matter how old we get, we are still God’s children. There is a sense of peace in knowing that our heavenly Father will always be there to protect us and to provide for us. Give God Glory! Give God All The Glory! Related Scripture Matthew 7:9 End Notes: 1. The little, round, limestones on the seashore were exactly the shape and color of little loaves (muffins) of bread. Sometimes school boys would substitute these stones in their school mates’ lunch baskets. It was a common school boy prank. A good father would not do that. 2. This serpent is an eel. According to the Jewish food laws, which were still in effect at that time, an eel could not be eaten. Eels were considered unclean, because they did not have fins or scales. Please read Leviticus 11:12. 3. The scorpion is a dangerous little animal. Its sting can be very painful and even fatal. When the scorpion is at rest, its claws and tail are folded in, and it will look like an egg. They even have the same color as eggs. Everyone who gathered eggs would be careful, because scorpions would frequently hide in the henhouses. Just as we watch out for snakes, they watched out for scorpions. Copyright © 2025 by James C. Ward All Rights Reserved
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