What can you give to the person who has everything? Countless individuals are asking themselves that question as they weigh their options for purchasing a Father’s Day present.

I have been on both sides of that question, so I can appreciate it.

As a child, I did not quite understand my dad’s observation that he did not need anything for Father’s Day—or Christmas or his birthday— so he received gifts anyway. As a parent, I can honestly tell my children that I do not need anything for those special days, and yet I receive gifts anyway.

Do you think our heavenly Father needs anything? Do you think we can give God something that he does not already have? After all, the Creator of all things is the owner of all things.

Scripture itemizes God’s inventory. “ ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty” (Haggai 2:8). “I am God, your God. . . . Every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:7-10). “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1).

And yet, the Creator and owner of all things can receive something that he does not already possess. It is also the only thing we can truly give God. Martin Luther explains: “We cannot give God anything but praise and thanks, for everything else we receive from Him, be it grace, words, works, Gospel, faith, and all things” (What Luther Says, Vol. 3, pp. 1,545-1,546).

What Christians can give God is their worship. But not even that is the product of human imagination or effort. The Bible teaches that “it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13).

Worship is God’s will for people, but it is not something God naturally receives from people. He generates that in their hearts and lives through the gospel.

In this issue, you can read about worship trends in our synod and receive some insights about our new hymnal. The content of those articles illustrates the freedoms Christians have in worshiping the Lord and their usage of the rich heritage of worship forms and practices handed down from Christians of the past.

Equipped with freedom and resources, we—along with Christians throughout the world—worship the Lord in our time and place. That collective worship is an impressive scene.

One of our hymns paints this picture: “As over continent and island each dawn leads to another day, the voice of prayer is never silent, nor do the praises die away” (Christian Worship 795:3).

There is continuous, nonstop worship of the Lord when Christians agree with the assessment of the psalm writer: “It is good to praise the LORD . . . proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night” (Psalm 92:1-2).

How fitting it is to give the Lord unending praise and worship. After all, “his compassions never fail. They are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22-23). And his promise is that “the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night” (Psalm 121:6).

So what can we give the Father who does not need anything? Worship. Give the gift of worship this Father’s Day and every day.

James Pope | FIC Editor

Author: James Pope
Volume 113, Number 06
Issue: June 2026