Sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship
Sabbath, January 14, 2012
Text: Deuteronomy 6:1-12, 24-25.
Recently, we were sitting around in the
kitchen talking. My kids were going on at great length about their
political views. I was sitting there mostly listening, thinking, My
what smart kids. They agree with me!
Why is it that frequently, young people
who regard themselves as Independents, have Independent parents, kids
who think and argue Republican views have Republican parents and
Democrats have parents who vote Democrat? It's not universal, of
course. We are not locked in to the political views of our parents,
but commonly political perspectives run in families. Parental
influence is powerful.
Last Sunday I went for a hike with a
young friend. We stopped for lunch at a dramatic overlook at the top
of a cliff. He began peeling an orange. He tossed the first piece of
peeling over the edge. I reacted in horror. “I have a trash bag,”
I said. “Let me have your peelings.”
He was as surprised by my reaction as I
was at his act of tossing orange peelings off the cliff. He was
willing for me to pack out his peelings, but he didn't get it. Orange
peelings are organic. We were out in the middle of nowhere. We
couldn't see the bottom of the cliff. What was the harm in tossing
orange peelings. Maybe a bird would build a nest with it.
“No.” I said. “Birds won't use it
to build a nest. And it won't rot. At least not very fast. Out here,
orange peelings are litter. There are trails down in the valley that
might take people to the base of the cliff. The rule is: pack it in.
pack it out.”
His littering made sense, given his
family history. Not an environmentalist among them. No one to
champion “leave no trace.” No one to articulate the idea of our
responsibilities as stewards of creation. No one to help him
understand the importance of packing everything out.
The Bible directs us to teach our
children. It is a weighty responsibility. And the reality is, whether
we are aware or not, we are teaching them. So we might as well pay
attention to what we are doing.
Deuteronomy 6.
These are the
commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you
to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,
so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the
LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and
commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.
Hear, O Israel,
and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you
may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as
the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.
Hear, O Israel:
The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
These commandments
that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on
your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk
along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as
symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on
the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness."
Moses says: I am teaching you these
things so you will fear God and so your lives will go well. And you
are to teach them to your children so they will fear God and their
lives will go well.
Repeatedly throughout the Bible, the
importance of passing on the wisdom of God shows up.
God said about
Abraham: For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children
and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what
is right and just. " Genesis 18:19.
There were
"schools" of the prophets, groups of men under the
authority or at least influence of the leading prophet at the time.
(E.g. at Ramah, 1 Samuel 19:18; Bethel, 2 Kings 2:3; Jericho, 2 Kings
2:5; and Gilgal, 2 Kings 4:38.)
Jesus told his
followers: You are the light of the world (Matthew 5). It's not
enough to “be in the light.” We are to shine.
In Matthew 28,
Jesus said, “Go into all the world and teach them everything I have
commanded you.”
In Acts, just
before he returned to heaven, Jesus told his disciples, “You are my
witnesses, both in this neighborhood and to the entire world.” Acts
1:8.
In your sermon suggestions, one of the
questions you asked me to address was What are we here for? What is
our purpose in life.
According to Moses, one great purpose
for parents and communities is to transmit wisdom. Human babies are
not born with most of what they need to know to live good lives. They
must be taught. That is our job.
My mother was afraid of water. She
couldn't swim. She hated riding in small boats. She had nearly
drowned as a kid and the mere thought of being in water over her head
terrified her. But she determined not to pass that on to her kids. So
as soon as we were old enough, she enrolled us in swimming classes
through the “Y.” When we headed off to summer camp, instead of
warning us about the dangers of drowning, she encouraged us to take
every swimming class we could. All six of us kids learned to swim.
All six of us qualified as life guards. Because Mother was determined
to pass on wisdom instead of fear, competence instead of disability.
The Bible urges us to be deliberate
about passing on wisdom, especially the particular wisdom that is
ours as Christians.
Much of what we teach our children is
the same as would be taught by a Hindu or Muslim or Buddhist parent.
Do good. Tell the truth. Be nice. Show respect. Be compassionate.
In addition to these universal moral
ideals, we have a special story to tell. It is the Bible story. The
story of a God who loves us so much he would rather die than live
without us. A story that offers a unique understanding of the
reconciliation of justice and mercy. A story with a special vision of
the potential of humans to spend eternity with God. The Bible story
is the unique treasure of the church.
To do right by our children and the
world, we need to teach them both the universal ethics shared by all
religions AND the unique story that is our special treasure.
In teaching the Bible, we have two
assignments. We want to give our children a familiarity with the
stories. The Creation and Noah. Abraham and Isaac. David and Saul and
Goliath. Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Jesus and Peter,
James and John. Paul and the garish images of Revelation.
Second, we want to teach our children a
wise approach to interpreting the Bible. We ought to teach them to
use the Bible as a tool for enriching life. (The Bible is a powerful
tool and can be misused as an instrument of evil.)
So, following the message of the Bible
itself, we teach the Bible – the stories and words of the book, and
a wise, good approach to interpreting it.
This far, I'm repeating the essence of
what I said last week. As a church, as parents, as grandparents, we
ought to deliberately expose our children to the Bible. Bible
stories. Videos. Memory verses. Bible story books. The focus here is
words. Words matter. Words are important. Let's make sure our kids
are thoroughly exposed to the words of the Bible, and our own words
of interpretation.
So to you who work in the children's
departments: Thank you. From me and from God. To you who read your
children Bible stories at night: Thank you.
Now let's go beyond words. Beyond the
words of the Bible. Beyond our words of instruction. What we say
matters. Who we are and what we do matters even more. No matter how
loudly we shout, our actions will always speak more loudly than our
words.
If you have ambition for your children,
the first, most important, most influential step you can take to help
them achieve that dream is to move yourself in the direction you want
your children to go.
Do you want your children to be
respectful. Practice showing respect TO THEM!!!!!
Do you want your children to be
generous, examine your own habits. Do the needs of your family
(including the needs of your kids) consume all your resources?
Do you want your children to be
spiritual? How much time and energy do you put into the cultivation
of your own spiritual life? Is going to church sufficient? Are you
spending some time in devotional reading or in praying or in
meditation?
Do you want your children to study? How
much serious reading or study have you done over the last year?
I don't ask the questions to scold.
It's just that every parent I know dreams of good character for their
children. We dream that our kids will grow up and do great things for
God and humanity. We lay the foundation for that greatness by
embracing in our own lives habits that support greatness.
I sometimes hear college kids talking
about their dreams when it comes to their own children – children
that, as far as these students are concerned, are way off in the
future. These students dream that their children will be great—good,
smart, strong, wise, a blessing to society.
How do we get there? How do we help our
children live out these grand dreams? We work to create patterns in
our own lives that will support goodness.
When I pray for children in
baby-dedication services, one element I nearly always include goes
something like this: “Lord, help these parents to live in such a
way that their kids can safely copy them.” Because our kids will
copy us. They will copy even elements in our lives they don't
observe. The subtle influence of our secret lives will impact our
kids.
So pursue holiness. Pursue sweetness
and kindness. Pursue health. Pursue wise financial management. Pursue
education. Shape the culture that will shape your kids.
This is a challenge for us as a church.
We must provide good Sabbath Schools for our children. Let me be very
blunt: Sabbath School for adults is not as important as Sabbath
School for kids. Some of you who are sitting in adult Sabbath School
need trade off. A year in adult Sabbath School, then a year in
children's Sabbath School.
Secondly, we are called to make our
life together safe for children to copy. Build quality friendships in
the church. Do things together with someone outside of worship. Work
together. Play together. Eat together.
Church is a potent agency for enhancing
the well-being of kids. The world is better when we do our job well.
Our kids are more likely to go to college. More likely to marry
successfully. More likely to do well financially. More likely to do
well health wise.
The final step in teaching our children
is to trust them. Give them freedom.
Teaching is not the same as sculpting.
Our children are not blocks of marble or granite that we can chisel into
whatever shape we wish. They are free. We can make sure they know
what we know. We can require them to know what we value and what we
believe. But ultimately what they believe and value will be chosen by
them, not us.
Knowing this, wisdom dictates we give
them freedom before they demand it.
The final exam for the teaching by
parents and church comes when we let go. You can't put off the final
forever. So don't try to.
To return to the call of Moses:
These commandments
that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on
your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk
along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as
symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on
the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Do this. Then trust God and your kids.
Let them run the church. Encourage them as they run the world. They
will do at least as well as we have. Cheer them on.
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