The Path to a Godly Legacy: Father's Day 2021 - Deuteronomy 6:4-9

 

The Path to a Godly Legacy

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

        Fathers’ Day—I like the summary of one little boy explaining the day to his friend: “It’s just like Mother’s Day, only you don’t spend as much for the present!” It is a day for remembering and appreciating fathers, and also for encouraging men to embrace the role that God has given them. It is a relationship that for better or for worse impacts the lives of children. We are thankful for the young father's in our church who are dedicated to leading their families and training their children in the way of the Lord. We are thankful for the legacy of past generations that have impacted the lives of many of you. For some who did not have a father who was present and involved in their lives (or for those who feel they failed at it) it may be a day of mixed emotions.

There's a Spanish story of a father and son who had become estranged. The son ran away, and the father set off to find him. He searched for months to no avail. Finally, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in a Madrid newspaper. The ad read: “Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father.” On Saturday 800 Pacos showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers.

What is it about fathers that makes that relationship so impactful on us? Of all our human relationships, it is “fatherhood” that God has especially used to express His own relationship with His people: He is our Father, we are His children. In some sense, in our relationship with our fathers we can get a glimpse of the kind of relationship God wants to have with us. I know that is convicting, because we all fall far short.  But one thing we can do is embrace the calling to point our children to God our Father, the One who is always trustworthy, who never disappoints, who never makes mistakes, and always loves perfectly. 

One startling bit of research conducted by the Christian Business Men's Committee found… When the father is an active believer, there is about a seventy-five percent likelihood that the children will also become active believers… (K. Meyering, Discipleship, 49:41).

       I haven’t been able to get that complete article, but there is no denying that a father with a heart for God will impact his family!  It’s been said that “a child is unlikely to find a Father in God, unless he finds something of God in his father.” I’ve decided to take a break from Jonah for a week, and to go back to look at a key Old Testament passage, Dt 6:4-9, the context containing what Jesus called the “greatest commandment,” what scholars have called the declaration of faith of Judaism. This passage is considered so fundamental to the Jews that it is read at the beginning of every synagogue service, and recited by pious Jews daily. The truth it expresses should be as dear to our hearts. As Moses was preparing the nation for life in the land without him there to lead them, He reminded them of the foundational importance of knowing and loving God and of men teaching their families about Him.  What a great blessing it is to have the liberty to worship God openly, and devote ourselves to passing our faith on to the next generation.  There is only one true God, He has revealed himself in history and in the Bible, and He is worthy of our worship and our whole-hearted love. Jesus said, "He who has seen me, has seen the Father.” We want to know Jesus. We want our families to know Him as well. We’ll see here that those objectives go together…

The BIG Idea: We need to teach our children the truth, and show by example the reality of our faith.

I. The Prerequisite to a Godly Legacy: Knowing and loving the God who is (6:4,5).        It’s a simple fact that you cannot impart what you do not possess. In a context where he writes about teaching our children, Moses talks here about knowing and loving God (4,5). This is referred to as the “Shema,” the first word in the Hebrew text of verse 4,

⁴ "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  ⁵ You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”  

       First of all, we see the absolute necessity of a personal commitment to God, a clear cut, exclusive commitment to the Lord, Yahweh, as our God (v.4).  I am convinced that many traditional translations of this verse miss what the writer intended to emphasize. The Hebrew construction leaves a little ambiguity as to the translation, but the context should clarify what the writer meant. Chapters 4-11 of Deuteronomy are an affirmation of the Lord’s exclusive claim to Israel’s devotion and love.  He alone is God!  The NIV and ESV note in the margin, as a possible translation: “Hear O Israel, Yahweh is our God, Yahweh alone!” That makes the most sense to me in this context.

       First, the command is to “Hear!” “Listen well to what I am about to say!” It’s like the preacher who says “If you take one thing away from the sermon today let it be this!”  He is putting an exclamation point at the beginning of the sentence and saying “Whatever you do, don’t miss what I am about to say! THIS is the big idea!” LISTEN…

 “The LORD, [Yahweh] is our God, Yahweh alone.”

This verse is not a statement about God in his “Tri-unity” (that is certainly taught elsewhere in the Bible, and so we worship one God: Father, Son, and Spirit!). This is a call to exclusivity. He is saying that despite the false gods the Israelites would see worshipped by the pagans in the promised land, only Yahweh is the true God. The God of their fathers, the God who brought them out of Egypt, He alone is God, and only He is to be worshipped.  As Moses was writing, the nation was poised on the plains of Moab. As they prepared to enter the Land, without Moses to lead them, the new generation needed to know that it was not Ra of Egypt, not Baal of the Canaanites nor Marduk of the Babylonians, nor any other pagan deity, but only the Lord, Yahweh, the One who alone is God, the One who spoke to Moses out of the burning bush and who brought their parents out of Egypt, He alone is God, and He alone was to be worshipped. 

       Well – that is no problem for us, right?  I mean we don’t see idols or false gods that we might be tempted to worship—do we? D.L. Moody said over a century ago, “You don’t have to go to heathen lands to find idols, America is full of them.  Whatever you love more than God is your idol.” Remember, the context: Moses is speaking of the foundation of the faith that we are to pass on to the next generation. Are we making it clear that the one true God, our Creator and Savior, is the one and only thing that we worship? Does He alone sit on the throne of our hearts? As Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me more than these?” Our God rightly demands our wholehearted allegiance.

       The call here is for an authentic commitment to know Him intimately and to love Him passionately. Look at verse 5, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”  (6:5).  Notice the repetition “…all …all …all…” The writer is saying in the most emphatic way possible that we need to love God wholeheartedly. That is the heart of the Christian life, knowing and loving Him. In fact, when Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, He pointed to this verse (Mark 12:30). That kind of Commitment will be evident in how we live. 

       Augustine said, “Love God, then do as you please…” His point is well taken: if we really love him, we’ll want to live a life that is pleasing to him.  Our kids will see that there is something real in our relationship with God.  Yes, a child is not likely to find a Father in God, unless he finds something of God in his father. We need to teach our children the truth about God, and we need to show by our example the reality of our faith.  I’ll ask it again: Are we making it clear that the one true God, our Creator and Savior, is the one and only thing that we worship? Not your car, not your job, not your bank account, not your house? Is it clear that God alone sits on the throne of our lives? Yahweh is our God, Yahweh alone!

       True dedication is loving Him, the one true God, whole heartedly (v.5). “You shall love the LORD your God with all…” (see Mt 22:34-40).  Jesus said, the greatest commandment is to love God wholeheartedly (and the second, is to love our neighbor as ourselves). It’s pretty simple to say: love God, love people.  Easy to say, but, once we have decided to follow Jesus, we spend the rest of our lives growing and learning about what that really means to make those commands the “prime directive” of our lives. Before we can lead our children to God, we need to dedicate ourselves to Him. Jesus called this the greatest commandment!   We need to teach our children the truth, and show by example the reality of our faith. So, the prerequisite is loving God, next…

II. The Process to attain a Godly Heritage: Receive the Word, and Teach it diligently by word and example (6:6-9).“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.” 

          Receive the Word. Verse 6 says “These words… shall be on your heart…” In order to teach the Word by example and through our words, we need to know it!  George Washington said “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.” That’s true of nations, it is also true of families.  Psalm 1, the righteous man “…delights in the Law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night…”  Paul told the Colossians, “Let the Word of Christ dwell richly within you…” (Col 3:16).  He told the Thessalonians, “…you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God…” (1 Th 2:13). Joshua 1:8 says we are to “mediate day and night” on God’s word.  Does all of that sound radical?  Maybe, but Christianity is a call to radical trust in Christ. That is normal, healthy, biblical faith. Does it sound maybe too “religious”?  It’s not about religion, it’s about a relationship with God that is real and alive.  We should long for Abba’s voice! We are called to radical commitment, and that means for us God’s Word is not a suggestion, it is not one way to live, it is not an option, it is TRUTH, and the only way we can live and experience the life God wants for us and for our family.

          Teach the Word. A godly father will teach God’s Word diligently and consistently, “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (v.7). NB. The repetition is affirming that always, at every opportunity we need to look for occasions to affirm God’s truth. It’s not just Sunday School, this is true “home schooling” at its best: “…impress them upon you children…”! (NIV).  We shouldn’t be surprised by the ignorance of the Word in the world, but we should be surprised by the lack of interest in the Word in the church.  I heard the story of a boy who was not paying attention to his teacher. She then asked Him, “Give me a definition of two words: ignorance and apathy.” He replied with growl “I don’t know and I don’t care!” We should care! We should teach the Word, but we should also…

          Live the Word. According to vv. 8-9, a godly father is distinguished by being centered on the Word. “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Proverbs 6:20-23 expresses this same idea,

“My son, observe the commandment of your father And do not forsake the teaching of your mother;  ²¹ Bind them continually on your heart; Tie them around your neck.  ²² When you walk about, they will guide you; When you sleep, they will watch over you; And when you awake, they will talk to you.  ²³ For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; And reproofs for discipline are the way of life…”

These verses were surely intended metaphorically, the idea being to stay in the Word always, to constantly be aware of and reminded of God’s truth.  At some point orthodox Jews began to literally tie phylacteries on the left arm and forehead during daily prayers, and put a mezuzah on the doorpost of their home.  That is fine, if it serves to remind us to allow the Word to dwell richly within us! What is important is to allow the Word to fill and transform our mind (Rom 12:1,2) which will change the way we live, and then ultimately our family will also begin to be changed. Like once I heard from my daughter as a little girl, “Ok Dad, I’ll follow you, you follow God.” By the way, teaching in life, teaching by example, will require time. It will require giving priority to our family…

Charles Francis Adams, the 19th century political figure and diplomat, kept a diary. One day he entered: "Went fishing with my son today--a day wasted." His son, Brook Adams, also kept a diary, which is still in existence. On that same day, Brook Adams made this entry: "Went fishing with my father--the most wonderful day of my life!" The father thought he was wasting his time while fishing with his son, but his son saw it as an investment of time. The only way to tell the difference between wasting and investing is to know one's ultimate purpose in life and to judge accordingly.

Nothing can impact a family more powerfully than the teaching and example of a godly father: one who is in the Word and under the Lordship of Christ. That will take investment, especially time. James Dobson cited a Cornell University study showing that fathers of preschool children on the average spend 37.7 seconds per day in real contact with their youngsters… (CT, 3/23/1979).

It gets better when the kids are older right? Not so much… Josh McDowell…

In his book The Dad Difference… reveals that there seems to be a parenting gap… The average teen in our churches spends only 2 minutes a day in meaningful dialogue with [their] dad. 25% of these teens say they have never had a meaningful conversation with their father--a talk centered on the teens' interests.

Yes, investing in our children requires time.  A touching picture of the confusion today on the role of fathers comes from Erma Bombeck. She paints a portrait of a little girl who loved her dad but wasn't sure what dads do:

One morning my father didn't get up and go to work. He went to the hospital and died the next day. I hadn't thought that much about him before. He was just someone who left and came home and seemed glad to see everyone at night. He opened the jar of pickles when no one else could. He was the only one in the house who wasn't afraid to go into the basement by himself.

He cut himself shaving, but no one kissed it or got excited about it. It was understood when it rained, he got the car and brought it around to the door. When anyone was sick, he went out to get the prescription filled. He took lots of pictures . . . but he was never in them.

Whenever I played house, the mother doll had a lot to do. I never knew what to do with the daddy doll, so I had him say, "I'm going off to work now," and threw him under the bed. The funeral was in our living room and a lot of people came and brought all kinds of good food and cakes. We had never had so much company before. I went to my room and felt under the bed for the daddy doll. When I found him, I dusted him off and put him on my bed. He never did anything. I didn't know his leaving would hurt so much (Family -- The Ties that Bind . . and Gag! (NY: Fawcett Books, 1988, p. 2).

Men, we are all at different points in terms of our impact on our children. There may be some regrets about the past, about where we feel like we fell short. We can’t change the past, but we can strive today to be men of integrity, who model a life shaped by a heart for God and a commitment to His mission. We can still, by word and example, impact the kids in our extended family, and in our church family. Fathers, grandfathers, men, consider how you can encourage the children in our extended church family by your faith and example.

What is God saying to me in this passage?  We need to teach our children the truth about God, and show by our example the reality of our faith.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Make certain of you own commitment to the Lord. Commit yourself to being filled and controlled by God’s Word. We need time in the Word. Someone said it was too bad kids didn’t come with an instruction manual.  Well, we have a guidebook from the Maker! You can’t do this on your own, but with God…! 

       If our rising up and our laying down, if every moment of our life is going to reflect the fact that we believe God, and that we take Him at His word, our children need to see us open the book, they need to hear us read it like we believe it!  They need to see that we live differently because we believe God. Our example will speak even louder than our words. One of the greatest gifts we can give our children is to love their mother.

       We live in troubled times to be sure, the challenges today are great, but we needn’t despair.  You are not alone.  With God in you, with his Word, which is absolute truth, to guide you, with your wives to stand by you and the church to support you, you have what it takes to be the family Shepherd God intends you to be.  Know your kids, and shepherd them: feed them (spiritually as well!), lead them, protect them. Take the responsibility that has been delegated to you by your Maker to lead your family, and to teach by word and by example. 

       Men, some of you may be thinking your parenting days are past, and so are your responsibilities to the next generation. We don’t get off that easy. We are called to come in alongside of the younger men, in our church and in our family, and to be available to mentor, encourage, and offer our support!  God our Father designed the family, let’s walk with Him and trust Him on the way. AMEN.