Dad, the Family
Shepherd: Fathers’ Day 2014
Deuteronomy
6:1-9
Introduction: I like the answer of the little
boy who was asked about the meaning of “fathers’ day.” He said, “It’s just like
mothers’ day, except you don’t spend as much on the present.” I decided to break from our Acts series this
week to look at what I view as one of the foundational passages for the family,
and especially for fathers. The passage,
called the “Shema” (so-called after the first word in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear!”)
is so foundational to the Hebrew Bible that pious Jews to this day recite the
paragraph, in Hebrew, daily. The title
for the message today is one that I have used previously, “Dad, the Family Shepherd.” There are many parallels between the
role of a Pastor, (which actually means “shepherd”) and the calling of fathers
as they lead their families. Shepherds know
the sheep, they feed the sheep, they protect the sheep and they lead
the sheep. In our church we believe the Bible teaches that God has called the pastor
along with the other elders to share in that kind of ministry in the church.
(We’ll actually look at that in a couple of weeks when we begin Acts 6 and the
choosing of the first “deacons”). From
a certain perspective God has delegated that same authority and responsibility
to fathers: they know their families, and are to provide for them and also protect
and lead them.
The passage we’ll look at this
morning in Deuteronomy shows the necessity of teaching the next generation and
leading them to the Word that gives life. Remember, it’s been well said that God
has no grandchildren, only children. Remembering
the context, that is exactly what Moses is doing in Deuteronomy. The generation
that left Egypt as adults in the Exodus had died in the wilderness. Moses is
calling this new generation to embrace a personal faith in the God of their
fathers. And that is true of every generation. They need to be led to their own
authentic faith in Jesus, and faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word
of Christ. One writer noted the
inevitable decline that will occur if we fail to do that: “To our forefathers,
our faith was an experience. To our fathers, our faith was an inheritance.
To us, our faith is a convenience. To our children, our faith is a nuisance.”
To avoid that kind of downward spiral it is essential to do all we can to lead
the next generation to authentic, personal, faith in Jesus. We’ve been talking
quite a bit about our mission the last couple of years. It starts at home.
The Creator has
established certain principles for being an effective and godly parent – we’ll
see several reflected in this text. To be sure, none of us have fulfilled our
calling as men perfectly. Honestly I know that I could have made many better
choices, especially with my time. I am blessed by the many positive examples
that I see in our church. All of us still
have a role to fulfill in impacting the next generation for Christ, and we can all
hear the Word and determine to be the positive influence God intends us to be
starting today. His mercies are new
every morning. Great is His faithfulness!
The Big Idea is pretty simple (well,
simple to say, that is, not so simple to live out!): Nothing can impact a family more powerfully than the teaching and
example of a godly father: one who is in the Word and who is walking with the
Lord.
I. The Goal
of a godly Father: Impacting our Children for Eternity (1-3).
"Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the
rules that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in
the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that you may fear the LORD your
God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his
commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your
days may be long. 3 Hear
therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you,
and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has
promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.”
God had spoken. Listening
and carefully obeying the Word God had spoken through Moses would give the
Israelites the abundant life of blessing in the Land which had been promised by
God. Obedience to God’s revealed Word
was the means to his blessing – the way to discover and experience God’s best
for his chosen people.
The underlying presupposition is
that men are expected to be students of the Word. And that makes sense since we cannot impart
what we do not possess. We need to be in the Word if we are going to teach
the Word. There is a tremendous ignorance of the Bible today. Have you ever watched “Jeopardy!”? Brilliant people
– often ignorant of basic Bible facts. There was a report of a New England
teacher who quizzed a group of college bound juniors and seniors on the Bible.
The quiz preceded a class on “Bible as Literature” he planned to teach at
Newton High School in Massachusetts.
Some of the answers he received: “Sodom and Gomorrah were lovers.” “Jezebel was
Ahab’s donkey.” The Four horsemen
appeared “on the Acropolis.” The New Testament gospels were written by Matthew,
Mark, LUTHER, and John. “Eve was created from an apple.” Jesus was baptized by
Moses. A student in the top 5% of his
class won the prize though when asked “What was Golgatha?” He replied,
“Golgatha was the name of the giant who slew the apostle David.” The lack of
Bible reading and ignorance of what the Bible teaches is endemic in our society. When we consider that the God who is, the
creator of the universe and only Savior of humans, has spoken, and so few are
listening, it could be discouraging. But
before we are too hard on unbelievers, we should be sure to look in the mirror
and ask how much time we actually spend in the Word. We believe it to be
God’s word, yet how easy it is to allow other activities to squeeze out time in
the Word!
Jesus said “I am
come that they might have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly.” We can experience God’s
best for us as well, abundant life, life with meaning. Believing God and obeying him are tied
together in the Bible. I think the ESV
translation gets the sense of John 3:35,36 and illustrates this truth:
“The Father loves
the Son and has given all things into his hand.
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life;
whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God
remains on him” (John 3:35,36a; see also John 10:27,28).
Notice that in contrast to “believe,” we see “does not obey.” It’s
not enough to know what the Bible says. We take God at His Word, and we do what
He says. Trust and obey, there is no other way! Nate Saint said his life didn’t change until
he came to grips with the fact that “obedience is not a momentary option: it is
a die-cast decision made beforehand…” As James puts it, we are to be “doers of the Word, and not hearers only…”
Deuteronomy 6:2a hints
at the generational impact the Bible can have on our families: “..so that you,
and your son, and your grandson…” Knowing the word, obeying it,
teaching it diligently would be the means of experiencing blessing, and also
for impacting the next generation(s) for Christ.
It is true that a Father’s teaching may
not be appreciated in the short term, but it will have an impact on a child’s
life. Father’s are not always appreciated, especially by children in the
adolescent years. Mark Twain famously said: “When I was a boy of fourteen, my
father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But
when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had
learned in just seven years.” It may take time, but God’s Word will not return
void, it will accomplish the purpose for which it is sent. “Train
up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not depart
from it.” 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.
II. The
Foundation of our mission: Knowing God Intimately and personally (6:4,5).
It’s a simple fact that you cannot impart what you do not possess. Moses
writes here about knowing and loving God: "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.”
An exclusive
commitment to the true God: First of all we see the absolute necessity of a
commitment to God, a clear cut, exclusive commitment to the Lord 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
5-11 of Deuteronomy are an affirmation of the Lord’s exclusive claim to
Israel’s devotion and love. He alone
is God! The NIV notes in the margin, as
a possible translation: “Hear O Israel, Yahweh
is our God, Yahweh alone!” That seems to be the point the writer is making.
First,
the first word, “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!” It’s the “big idea” of the combined speeches
we have in Deuteronomy. Moses emphatically and dramatically calls for
allegiance to the one, true, God…
`dx'(a, Ÿhw"ïhy> WnyheÞl{a/
hw"ïhy> lae_r"f.u,yI [m;Þv.
“Hear O Israel, The
Lord (Yahweh) is our
God, Yahweh alone.”
In the context I am convinced
that this verse is not a statement about God in his “Tri-unity” (that is certainly
taught elsewhere in the Bible). Rather
this is a statement that despite the false gods the Israelites would see
worshipped in the promised land only Yahweh is the true God, the God of
their fathers, 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, they needed to know that it was Ra of Egypt, not
Baal of the Canaanites nor Marduk of the Babylonians, nor any other pagan deity,
but only the Lord, Yahweh, who deserves
their allegiance.
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 is 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? Is it clear that
He alone sits on the throne of our lives?
The call here is for an authentic commitment
to know Him intimately and to love Him passionately. Notice 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 whole heartedly. That is the core of the Christian
life. That kind of commitment will be evident in how we live. Augustine said, “Love God, then do as you
please…” 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, something authentic in our relationship with God. It’s been said that a child is not likely
to find a Father in God, unless he finds something of God in his father. 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 Jesus Christ.
III. The
Means of fulfilling our mission: Teach
the young diligently (6:6-9; cf. 4:9).
“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 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. 8 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.”
Verse 6 begins, “These words… shall be on your heart…” God
has spoken. In order to teach the Word by example and through our words, we
need to know it, personalize it, and internalize it! George Washington said “It is impossible to
rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.” That’s true of nations, it’s
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). John 15:7 Jesus told his disciples, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask
whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Joshua 1:8 says we are to “mediate day and
night” on God’s word. Does all of that
sound radical? Maybe, but that is
normal, healthy Christianity. Does it sound maybe too “religious”? It’s not about religion, it is about a
relationship that is real and alive. 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.
A godly father
will teach God’s Word diligently and consistently (v.7). NB. The repetition is
affirming that always, at every opportunity we need to look for opportunities
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).
Moses
makes it clear in vv. 8-9 that a godly father is filled with the Word and
changed by it. 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 many Jews still put a mezuzah on the
doorpost of their home. Far more
important is the call to allow the Word to 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. The Word is to be taught,
and also lived before our family. “Do as I say and not as I do” just won’t make
it. Rick
Warren wrote this is a devotional:
“…Jesus then says, ‘I showed what You
were like to those You gave me’ (John 17:6). Jesus doesn't say, ‘I
preached. I sermonized. I pontificated. I lectured so the disciples would know
you.’ He says, ‘I showed.’ He led by example [emphasis added].
This is one of the most sobering truths about being a parent. For right
or wrong, for good or bad, whether you like it or not your children's idea of
God is going to be largely determined by the kind of father you are. You
may not like that. I may not like that, but it's the truth” (Rick Warren, Daily Hope, June 17, 2010).
What is God saying to me in this passage? 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. Men, you can
have that kind of an impact on your children, even grandchildren and the
children in the church.
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. We have a guidebook from
the Maker! You can’t do this on your own!
Raising kids in today’s world, if you are doing it on your own, should
scare you to death! But we are not
alone. With God in us, with His
Word, which is absolute truth, to guide us, with our wives to stand by us and
the church to support us, you have what it takes to be the family Shepherd
God intended you to be, in your home and in the church. I am blessed by the
number of men we have that take seriously the responsibility we have to lead
our families, to teach by word and by example.
As you are already doing, may I encourage you to excel still more.
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