Sow-Sow Living: The Word and the World - Mark 4:1-20

Sow-Sow Living: The Word and the World

Mark 4:1-20

Introduction:  "...Of making many books there is no end,.." (Eccl. 12:12). A lot of ink has been put to paper discussing the mission of the church. Why are we here? What does the Lord expect us to do? It is great to come together for worship and fellowship as we do on Sunday mornings. Times of more intimate fellowship and learning as in Sunday School or small groups are also good and encouraging. Is that the heart of it? Those are certainly good and necessary things, and we’ll enjoy being together forever and more fully in God’s presence one day. But what are we called to do now that we won’t be able to do in heaven? We are called to "Sow-Sow Living." I am not saying we are called to mediocrity! Rather, we're called to share the Good News, the Gospel of God’s amazing grace, with the people we come in contact with! Remember Mark 1:14,15, after John the Baptist was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee,

“…preaching the gospel of God,  ¹⁵ and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel..."

That in a nutshell, from our post-resurrection perspective, is our mission: calling people to repentance and faith, and urging them to follow the Lord Jesus.

       Jesus was a master teacher, and a part of what He did was use stories from everyday life to communicate truth.  It is striking that Jesus taught the multitudes, He interacted with the religious leaders, but even though His words were backed up by the signs he did, relatively few believed.  Remember, the Gospels were written years after the cross and the resurrection. The writers are telling us not only what happened then and there, but also selecting and adapting material to encourage and equip their readers (including us!).  Remember Mark is presenting his gospel to believers who are suffering for their faith.  He is offering hope by answering three questions: 1) Who is Jesus? 2) Why did He come? 3) What does it mean to follow Him?  Here Jesus uses a parable to tell his followers what they will need to do.  Rather than spending our time in the details of the parable, we might do more of that on Wednesday night, I’d like to focus on the “Maine* Idea.”

       Warren Wiersbe said “…when it comes to sowing the seed of God's Word we are not instructed to find fertile ground... We are only instructed to sow the seed as well as to nurture and water those that take root in good ground…” Wiersbe is suggesting that since we don’t know the condition of the ground, we should faithfully “sow the seed” of the Word widely, knowing that in some it will take root and multiply. That points us to…

The Maine* Idea: God’s Word is Truth. We don’t judge the Word, the Word judges us! How we respond reveals the condition of our heart.

I. The Purpose of Parables: They were intended to sift the wheat from the chaff… (11,12; cf. Isa 6:9,10). His sheep hear His voice. Others will not believe.

⁹ And he said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."  ¹⁰ And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.  ¹¹ And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables,  ¹² so that "they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven."

       I want to start in the middle of the passage, between the parable and the explanation Jesus gives where Jesus talks about “why” He taught in parables. The problematic part of the passage is especially verse 12, and the phrases introduced by “so that” and “lest” (highlighted above). On a first reading, the passage seems to call for understanding (by those with “ears to hear”) when He speaks the parable (v.9), and then say that the secret of the kingdom was opened to the twelve, but that the parables were spoken to hide the truth from others. That can’t be it… can it?  For background, let’s look at Isaiah 55:9-11… 

⁹ "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.  ¹⁰ "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth, And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;  ¹¹ So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

God is Sovereign. His Word will go out, and it will accomplish His purpose. Now, in the light of that passage, consider the verses from chapter 6 of Isaiah that Jesus is quoting. The scene is right after Isaiah’s vision of the Temple and the throne of God, surrounded by the Seraphim worshipping the Lord, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts…” One of the angels takes a coal from the altar and touches Isaiah’s lips as he is commissioned to bring God’s message to the people. What would that message be? We read in Isaiah 6:8-10…

⁸ And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."  ⁹ And he said, "Go, and say to this people: "'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.'  ¹⁰ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed."

That is unexpected! Notice a couple of things. The prophet just a couple of verses earlier felt, unworthy, his sinfulness laid bare before the holy God of the universe (6:5). However, once he had experienced cleansing and been assured of forgiveness (6:6,7) he responds immediately with readiness to do the will of His Sovereign King. Who will go? “Here am I, send me!” He is ready to do God’s bidding even before God tells him exactly what that would be! That is faith. I remember when I first got saved I wanted to be available to God. But I did pray, “Lord, send me anywhere, but not to Africa please, not to the foreign mission field, and ideally within a 50-mile radius of home!  I had a lot to learn about trusting God! “Trust and obey, there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey!” Isaiah was ready, “I’ll go where you want me to go dear Lord, I’ll be what you want me to be!” But notice the predicted results of Isaiah’s preaching: hardened hearts,

“…‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’  ¹⁰ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes…”

Why such hard language? Well the first five chapters of Isaiah were an indictment against Judah and Jerusalem for their unbelief and unfaithfulness to the covenant. The nation, and subsequent generations would learn through the painful experience of the exile that God is holy, that He is a jealous God, that He requires the faithfulness of His people. Isaiah would preach, exposing the unbelief of the nation. There are also hints in the early chapters, and especially later in the book, of a future restoration from the exile. Jesus applies this passage to his preaching ministry before the Jews of His day. Why?  It was God’s plan to work through the hard hearts of the leaders and the incomplete messianic expectations of the people, to accomplish His purpose.  The rejection of His message would lead to the His being rejected and to the cross, and the cross would lead to his exaltation and the accomplishment of His purposes. Isaiah asked, “How long O Lord?” Paul answers that question for the nation of His day and beyond: “…a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fulness of the gentiles comes in…” (Rom 11:25b).

       God’s Word, and specifically Jesus’ teaching in parables, will sift the wheat from the chaff, it will separate the sheep from the Goats. Jesus said “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me…” God’s Word is Truth. We don’t judge the Word, the Word judges us! How we respond reveals the condition of our heart.

II. Prepare your heart to receive the Word: the issue is the condition of the soil, not the delivery of the seed… With this parable, as with all of the parables, it is probably good to first turn the parable on ourselves and be sensitive to the conviction it might bring. One writer said, “I know the hard heart.  I know the shallow heart. I know the selfish heart. I am working on the humble heart- With God’s help.” Can you relate? I can.

       Jeremiah 4:3 says, “Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns.” Those are commands, imperatives. Hosea uses similar language when he says in 10:12 “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.” Jesus may have had these passages, along with others, in mind as He told the story of the Sower and the soils. Two of the four “soils” are mentioned, the packed hard ground that the seed falls on and fails to take root, soon to be carried away by the birds (the devil).  And also the risk of sowing among thorns (cares) which could grow up and choke out the new life.   It makes sense to ask ourselves if we are consciously preparing our heart to receive the Word. 

       Let me ask you a couple of questions. 1) What is Sunday morning like in your house?  If you are single, are you up early on Sunday morning, taking some time to pray and prepare your heart for worship? Do you come expecting to hear from God?  If you are married, or have children at home, is it a happy, expectant time, looking forward as a family not to the afternoon plans, but to being with God’s people and worshipping Him together? What is Sunday morning like for you?  The second question is: What is Monday morning like in your house?  Everyday is important to God, and it should be to us!

        The attitude that describes a heart prepared to receive the seed, the Word of God, is described in Colossians 3:16… “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” There is intentionality that implies preparation, a longing to receive and submit to the truth of God’s Word.  It may be that if you come to church and listen with openness and expectation, and at the end feel, “I just didn’t hear God’s word!” that the fault is poor preaching.  Sometimes the problem might be that we failed to prepare our heart, we didn’t come listening, longing for the Word of Life.  The attitude God blesses, that expresses fertile soil, waiting for the truth, is found in the opening on the Book of Psalms, in the first verses of Psalm 1,

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;  ² but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night…”

These verses affirm the attitude of an authentic Christ follower: seeking and submitting to the truth of God’s Word.  That is good soil, it produces fruit. It gives life and it multiplies. That’s God’s desire for us. His Word is Truth. We don’t judge the Word, the Word judges us! How we respond reveals the condition of our heart.

III. Persevere! Keep obediently sowing the Word of Life knowing that some will respond (v.8;20)! It may be that this is the primary emphasis of Jesus in this context as He spoke this parable. Remember, He had just chosen the twelve that He might “…send them out to preach…” (3:14) and soon, after more teaching and miracles, He would soon do exactly that (6:7). Not all the sowing would be successful, in fact, in the parable, three out of four of the seeds fall on inadequately prepared soil and don’t bear lasting fruit. Could that reflect the truth Jesus expresses when He says,

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  ¹⁴ For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few…” (Mt 7:13,14).

       When it comes to sowing the seed of God's Word we are not instructed to find fertile ground before we sow the seed. Why?  Man's heart is the soil, and we cannot know the inner condition of man's heart, God alone knows that. We sow the seed, and then we nurture and water those that take root in good ground. That is the process of “making disciples” that the Great Commission refers to (Matt 28:18-20).  When I say that we are called to “Sow-Sow Living,” I don’t mean that we are called to mediocrity! We are called to be ready always, with gentleness and respect, to give a reason for the hope that is in us. We are called to keep sowing! William Carey, the father of the modern missionary movement, arrived in India in 1793 with a burden to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who had never heard His name. For seven years he proclaimed the gospel message faithfully week after week, month after month, with not a single native of India converted to Christ. Through years of struggle and doubt, Carey was often discouraged but never defeated. To his sisters back home in England he wrote:

“I feel as a farmer does about his crop: sometimes I think the seed is springing, and thus I hope; a little blasts all, and my hopes are gone like a cloud. They were only weeds which appeared; or if a little corn sprung up, it quickly dies, being either chocked with weeds, or parched up by the sun of persecution. Yet I still hope in God, and will go forth in his strength, and make mention of his righteousness, even of his only.”

Do you feel discouraged? Keep sowing! Be sensitive to opportunities to guide the conversations in your day to day life to spiritual things. And listen for clues that the “soil” is receptive!  It also means that we “sow” broadly, not knowing the condition of the heart. Think about the visitors and the seasonal workers that we encounter day to day, at the Y or at Hannaford, walking downtown or at the events on the Common. Share invitation cards, give a tract or a pamphlet. Remember, God’s Word is Truth. We don’t judge the Word, the Word judges us! How we respond reveals the condition of our heart.

IV. Pray for hearts to be prepared to receive the Word of Life.  I don’t want to go beyond the intention of the parable, but could it be that some of the “pre-evangelism” work that we have been talking about is something that God might use to prepare the hearts of the people in our sphere of influence to receive the Word at the proper time?  Most foundational is the importance of prayer.

       We’ve been emphasizing the idea that we can naturally focus on the field that is statistically most responsive: 95% of those who believe and eventually are connected with the church come primarily through the witness or invitation of someone they know. The preacher might give a gospel invitation to which they respond, but the ground has been prepared through an ongoing relationship, the seed has been sown, and even watered, and God gives life, He causes the growth. We’ve talked about praying for those 8-15 people in your close sphere of influence on a daily basis. Could it be, that God who works through prayers would graciously “break up the fallow ground” so that the seed of the Word would take root?

What is God saying to me in this passage? God’s Word is Truth. We don’t judge the Word, the Word judges us! How we respond reveals the condition of our heart.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? It seems to me that this parable invites two primary areas of application. The first is, like the original hearers of Jesus, we should ask “what kind of soil best represents my heart?” Do we “…long for the pure milk of the Word that we might grow from it…”? The psalms open with the description of the righteous man, who “…delights in the Law of the Lord, and in His Law he meditates day and night…” Do we delight in God’s Word? Are we hungry for it? Or are we more interested in being entertained?

       Secondly, are we committed to “Sow-Sow Living,” sharing the Word with those who so desperately need to hear? Be encouraged, some will respond!     AMEN.

The Family of God - Mark 3:31-35

The Family of God

Mark 3:31-35

Introduction: We had a great time visiting our family in NJ… The 50^th anniversary celebration for Mary Ann’s sister and her husband was kind of a “family reunion” for Mary Ann’s side… It was a little awkward seeing relatives my age and even younger, and not recognizing them and thinking, “They have really aged!” And then I look in the mirror and think who is that old guy! We stayed for the week with our daughter and family, and, as always, it was hard to say good-bye. The night before we left Mary Ann told our granddaughter, age 4½, that we would be leaving early the next morning. She gave Mary Ann a big hug and said sadly. “But WHY do you have to go?” (It was so touching when we prayed with her that night, she wanted to pray for us, and prayed that we would have a safe trip back to Maine!). Those good-byes are hard! Even so, what did we say on our return? “It is good to be home!” We are part of a family here as well.  The sermon title today is “The Family of God.” God has designed the church, the local community of faith that gathers together for worship, Bible study, prayer, and fellowship. We encourage and equip each other for reaching our world with the Gospel. God would use us to bring those in our “sphere of influence” into His forever family. [Remember: 95% of those who believe come to faith primarily through an existing relationship.] That is God’s plan. As I think you heard last week, “There is no plan ‘b’”!  In today’s passage, we see Jesus’ “birth family” come to see him, and we hear Jesus teach about “The Family of God.”

       A note about the context. Remember back in Mark 3:21 we read, “And when His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, ‘He has lost His senses.’” Your translation may say “His family” instead of “His own people.” That translation is really an interpretation based on today’s passage.  I don’t think we can make that jump. Read Mary’s prayer, and the faith and understanding it expresses in the early part of Luke’s gospel. She believed! She didn’t know the details of how this story would unfold, but there could be no question that she knew that Jesus was the Christ. His younger [half] brothers were another story, they didn’t “believe” it seems until after the resurrection (John 7:5; cf. Acts 1:14).  Even so, I don’t think we can jump from v.21 to v.31 and assume this was a “family intervention.” All we can say for certain is that it was a family visit. And Jesus uses the occasion to teach his disciples, and us, about the family of God.

The Maine* Idea: Trusting and obeying God shows that by God’s grace we have been born into His “forever family.”

I. A wrong assumption: Christianity isn’t a birthright! Our relationship with God is not inherited from our birthparents, but is attained through the new birth (31,32). It has been rightly said that “God has no grandchildren, only children!” Take a look at our passage in Mark 3:31…

³¹ And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him.  ³² And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you." 

        We have different realities and ideas about “family” relationships among us. I was talking with someone this week who expressed his thankfulness that his children and grandchildren are all right here in the Boothbay region. Others are spread out… Paul and Miriam B. don’t exactly live around the corner… Nor does Dan C. Jr. and Mika… For now the Roberts have everyone close by… the Becks have to take trips to California and New Jersey… the Conn’s kids are spread out from California to Kuala Lumpur!  You get the idea! A few of your families go back a long way right here on the peninsula. It was very common in the biblical world for extended families to stay for generations in the same town.  Not surprising since God gave the land to the tribes of Israel as an inheritance, and it was passed down from generation to generation. Families were big, and they were close.

      “Family” was important to life in Israel…  and family is an integral aspect of God’s design for humans… Much of the teaching in the Bible points to our responsibility to respect God’s design for the family: husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church; wives are to respect and follow the leadership of their husband in the Lord, parents are to protect and teach their children the way of the Lord. Children are to honor their mother and father.  I am giving that background to make the point that this visit from Jesus “family” would not have been unexpected… It’s what families do! We don’t know how long it had been since they had been together, and the twenty-mile trip from Nazareth to Capernaum would not have been a big obstacle—they were family after all.

       It is also true that God had chosen the Jews to have a special place in His program – and that God still has a future plan for Israel (the extended family of Abraham!): a blindness in part has come upon Israel until the fullness of the gentiles comes in.  What does that word “until” imply? There will be a future turning of Israel to Messiah Jesus. At the same time, John the Baptist warned the leaders not to presume that their lineage guarantees their standing with God…

 ^“And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham…” (Matthew 3:9).

The Jews could not presume on there physical descent from Abraham to put them in good standing with God. They needed to believe! The same is true in our context. Our church has a long history—208 years? Some of you have a long history in this local body—generations. But our physical birth into a believing family doesn’t guarantee our eternity. We must be born again, personally trusting in Christ alone for our salvation. That new birth makes us a part of the family of God!

       In speaking to the importance of our spiritual family in the Lord, the local church, we should not assume that the Lord is implying that we should not value the family that we were born into or in which we grew up. Even at the end of His life, Jesus made sure His mother was cared for… As he hung on the cross, He spoke to the beloved disciple and to Mary his mother, “Behold your son …behold your mother” (John 19:26,27). Clearly family is important to the Lord, so much so that when he gave the ten commandments, one of them was the suggestion that we “put up with our parents” right? No, it was the commandment to honor our father and mother!  We have an enlightening scene that is recorded only in Luke’s Gospel, when Jesus was twelve years old. The family had traveled to Jerusalem for Passover which was their custom. As the caravan of the extended family packed up to return to Nazareth we pick up the story in Luke 2:43-49…

…And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it,  ⁴⁴ but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances,  ⁴⁵ and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him.  ⁴⁶ After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.  ⁴⁷ And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.  ⁴⁸ And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress."  ⁴⁹ And he said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house? … ⁵¹…and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

Jesus was not disrespecting his earthly family. But he realized that His relationship with His Heavenly Father had to be His top priority. Please don’t misunderstand what I am saying. God created the family. He used family relationships like husband and wife, like parents and children, to illustrate His love and care for the church. He talks about how a believing spouse can “sanctify” their unbelieving mate… They have a live-in missionary after all! If God so highly values families what is Jesus saying here?

       As important as “family” is, when you are “born again” you become part of something even more important: a spiritual family, you join the “forever family” of God…  Some need to make a choice when they believe in Jesus. In certain cultures, and in certain places, to identify yourself as a Christ follower may mean being rejected and disowned by your family. Jesus says you become part of another family when you believe…

Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel,  ³⁰ who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life…” (Mark 10:29,30).

We are part of a new family, a spiritual family, when we put our trust in Jesus.  Family is important, it is God’s design. But, even more important is trusting and obeying God. It shows that by God’s grace we have been born into His “forever family.”

II. In Christ, we belong to God’s “Forever Family” (33-35).

³³ And he answered them, "Who are my mother and my brothers?"  ³⁴ And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!  ³⁵ Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother."

       A key question: “Who are my mother and brothers?” Typical of His rabbinical style Jesus seizes the opportunity to teach His followers on the occasion of His family’s visit.  Also, typical for a first century rabbi, he introduces His teaching with a question designed to engage the attention of His listeners. Remember the context: first century Judaism. Family was foundational. Jesus intentionally is using a shocking “question” to make a point about the new spiritual reality that He was calling His followers to embrace. “My mother and brothers are here? Who are my mother and brothers?” Jesus is not denying His family, but he intentionally uses a surprising question to rivet the attention of those around Him.  Sometimes we can use language that can hurt or offend unintentionally. Most of you know that our daughter is adopted (if you have not met her, the fact that she is Asian might give that away!). Through the years we’ve had people ask, “Do you know anything about her real parents?” I l know there is no malice in that question, but a better term would be “birth parents.” We are her real parents. If you have trusted Christ you’ve been both born (John 3:3-5) and adopted (Gal 4:5,6) into God’s “forever family.” God is really our Father. We are really brothers and sisters. In fact, it is eternal, and that is about as real as it gets.  Jesus said that He must come before our biological family…

³⁴ "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.  ³⁵ For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.  ³⁶ And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.  ³⁷ Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me… (Matthew 10:34-37).

How did your family react when you first believed? If they were believers they surely rejoiced. But if they were not, they might have thought you were losing your mind, or had been lured into a cult! If you came from an orthodox Jewish family or an Islamic family they might have even disowned you. In some contexts in Iran or Afganistan or Pakistan it could be much worse. In that same context Jesus says that to follow Him we must be willing to take up our cross. We Americans don’t quite get that in the same way as believers in some other parts of the world.

       A Shocking statement: Here is my family! As precious are our family ties are to us, they don’t take priority over our commitment to God and His family (our spiritual family). Jesus clearly loved his family. We see that in the care He takes for Mary even as He hangs on the cross. But now He looks at those sitting around him, his followers, and He calls them His family.  Do you think about church that way?  Do you come here not to sit among strangers (or even acquaintances and friends!) but to be with your family?  

       A Vital Truth: Obedience to God rather than physical relationship is the mark of family relationship. Look back at verse 35, “Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother." Obedience demonstrates we are in his family.  Charles Spurgeon said,   “I will ever maintain that by grace we are saved, and not by ourselves; but equally must I testify, that where the grace of God is, it will produce fitting deeds.” Isn’t that exactly what Paul wrote in Ephesian 2:8-10?

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,  ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

We can’t boast, because “…of Him we are in Christ Jesus…” (I Cor 1:30a). It is all grace—God’s unmerited favor. But God didn’t immediately take us into His presence… He left us in the world… He saved us on purpose, for a purpose. “Obedience” demonstrates our faith, it is an aspect of the “good works” for which we were created. And it is a visible testimony to the world that God has done a work in us, and we belong to Him. John wrote, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments…” (I John 5:2).

What is God saying to me in this passage? God designed the family. It is a key aspect of His plan for humans, it’s is something we are right to cherish. But don’t miss what Jesus is saying here: Trusting and obeying God shows that by God’s grace we have been born into His “forever family.”

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Remember the old song, “Trust and obey, there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” That is what we were created for, and it tells the world we are His. You may not have an extended “biological family” that is very present and active in your life. It may simply be geography, it may be that they haven’t yet believed and so a certain “distance” has developed. If you know Christ, you are already part of God’s family. You are surrounded by brothers and sisters. Let’s live like the family we are: caring, loving, forgiving, fellowshipping, united in our love for our Father, choosing to love one another. What does that look like?

       One thing we can do is choose to be together… In the early church, they broke bread from house to house, taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart. Hospitality is a great way to get to know one another better, to share in each other’s lives. We can also meet together, prioritizing times like Sunday School, or through the summer joining in our “Church on the Go” meetings (on Wednesday nights at 6:30).  These are great opportunities to come together for singing and fellowship, the Word and prayer. The format may vary a little week to week, but the important thing is that we come together for “family time,” and together spend time with Father. And remember the 12-year-old Jesus in the temple… we too need to be obediently engaged in the “family business,” bringing the Gospel of Christ to the people around us! What a privilege it is to pray that God would open the hearts of our family and friends, and by His kindness lead them to repentance and faith!  It may be that God would use you to reach them!            AMEN.

The Man and His Mission Mark 3:20-30

The Man and His Mission 
(or, "Forget the Duck, Remember the Cross!")

Mark 3:20-30

Introduction: A little later in His ministry Jesus will seize a teachable moment and pose a question to His disciples: “Who do people say that I am?” (Mark 8:27). That question is at the heart of this passage, and at the heart of Mark’s Gospel. We’ve been listening to Mark, as he tells the story of Jesus, answer three questions: 1) Who is Jesus? (the Christological question); 2) Why did He come? (the soteriological question); and 3) What does it mean to follow Him? (the “discipleship” question). In this passage, he’ll touch on all three questions. The first question is addressed initially. Is Jesus Lord, liar, or lunatic (or something worse)? C.S. Lewis famously addressed that question in Mere Christianity…

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. . .  Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God. (Mere Christianity, 55-56)

He is God the Son, fully man, and fully God. Jesus himself also addresses the second question: Why did He come? He came to build a church that would assault the gates of hell -  He came to bind the “strongman” and set free those he held captive… The issue is sin… Jesus came to do for us what we could not do for ourselves… “…all sins will be forgiven the children of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter…” We often minimize the gravity of our situation. Fallen humans are lost, spiritually dead, blind to the truth, unable to understand the things of the Spirit of God. Aside from that things are great! But God’s grace is greater than all our sin.  The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

         Satan is a liar, and the father of lies. So many times, the enemy would whisper lies in the ears of the sons and daughters of Adam… “God knows the truth about you… He could never forgive YOUR sins… He could never love someone like YOU…” THAT is a lie. Jesus said “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” God showed us His love, He spared not the Son but delivered Him up for us all. God’s grace is greater than our sins. Praise the Lord! And that is…

The Maine* Idea:  Jesus came to rescue us from sin and from Satan, and in so doing He revealed Himself to be the Son of God.

I. Misunderstood by His own: His family and friends did not at once recognize who He was and what He had come to do (20,21).

²⁰ Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat.  ²¹ And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, "He is out of his mind." 

       There are a couple of details in the translation here that I am still wrestling with. Did Jesus “go home” or “enter a house”? Did His family hear and come out to “seize him” or was it his friends, or “His own people”?  Let’s look at the second issue first. The ESV translates “…his family heard it…”  Based on the context, it could be referring to his family (3:20a, 31f.), but that is really more of an interpretation than a translation. The phrase is more literally translated by the NASB and NKJV, “…his own people…” It could be referring to people from the town who knew him, or to his relatives, or even to some of the “fringe” disciples who were following Him.  We know from John’s gospel that Jesus’ half-brothers did not initially believe (John 7:3-5). Surely Mary, his mother, knew beyond question His identity (cf. Luke 1:31ff). This is probably more akin to what we’ll see in Mark 6:1-4, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country…” Notice the context, the crowds were getting so big, the ministry so pressing, that “they could not even eat bread…”  Were some getting worried that this was getting out of hand, maybe even concerned for Jesus’ well-being?

       The fact that some want to “seize” him sounds like an intervention!  The word is used in positive contexts in Mark of Jesus “taking” the hand of people He was about to heal. It is also used in a negative sense of arresting John and then Jesus (6:17; 12:12).  Whatever the intention, they did not understand, as of yet, who He is and what He came to do. Ministering to the multitudes in Galilee was part of God’s plan.  We’ve been talking about evangelism quite a bit lately. I would urge you to not be discouraged if your friends and family just don’t seem to understand when the subject shifts to spiritual things.  Some of those closest to Jesus didn’t immediately understand and believe either!

       We’ve been emphasizing this year reaching out to the people around us, the people we interact with on a day-to-day basis: family, relatives, co-workers, classmates, neighbors… God has guided both your life and theirs purposefully, and you are His ambassador right where you are. Do you ever feel misunderstood by your oikos, the people in your sphere of influence? Get over it! Jesus was misunderstood, don’t be surprised if you are! Keep loving, keep praying, and be ready to share your faith, to give a reason for the hope that you have in Jesus. And keep inviting! Statistics tell us that 95% of the people who visit church and eventually come to faith were initially invited by someone they know!  We know the truth, and it is Good News: Jesus came to rescue us from sin and from Satan, and in so doing He revealed Himself to be the Son of God.

II. Hated by the rulers: The leaders were so blinded by hate, they could not distinguish the work of God from the work of the devil (22).

²² And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "by the prince of demons he casts out the demons."  

       Those bringing this terrible accusation against Jesus had “come down” from Jerusalem. (Jerusalem was south of Galilee, but for the Jews, even though it is built on a modest hill, you always “go up” to Jerusalem, and come down from it!). By the way, remember from the Fourth Gospel Jesus’ words in the upper room,

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.  ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you…” (John 15:18-19).

There may be… no, there will be, a cost to following Him. Later He will state it explicitly, “…take up your cross and follow me…” John said in his first letter, “Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you…” (I John 3:13).  A great illustration of this is the story of the man born blind in John 9. He is miraculously healed by Jesus. The leaders investigate, they question the man, then they question his parents, then they question the man again. The miracle could not be denied, yet the leaders would not believe. Finally, the healed man is teaching the leaders, “Here is an amazing thing, you don’t know where he came from, yet He opened my eyes!” (9:30). The one who had been blind, sees. The leaders who thought they could see, are shown to be blind!

       Do you experience some “pushback” when you share your testimony or seek to present the gospel? Remember I Peter 4:12…

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.”

Don’t be surprised. And don’t take it personally! Keep praying for opportunities to share – keep laser focused on those 8 to 15 people that God has strategically placed in your close sphere of influence… Pray for them, love them, and with gentleness and respect look for opportunities to give a reason for the hope that is in you! After all, Jesus came to rescue us from sin and from Satan, and in so doing He revealed Himself to be the Son of God.

III. Yet, He “so loved the world”: Jesus warned that it was irrational—even nonsensical—to imagine Satan fighting against Himself! In fact, Jesus had come to plunder the house of the evil one, setting captives free (23-30)!  He starts with…

      A logical defense: A kingdom divided cannot stand (23-26)!

²³ And he called them to him and said to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan?  ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  ²⁵ And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.  ²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 

       We’ll get more into discussing “parables” in a few weeks in Mark 4, here the word has the sense of an analogy, or an illustration and not the sense of a full-blown parable like the Sower (Mark 4) or the Good Samaritan (Luke 10). Jesus is using a logical argument to refute the charge of the leaders. It was foolish to say that by the devil’s power Jesus was casting out demons—that would mean Satan was fighting against himself!

·        The Kingdom of God is overwhelming the domain of Satan (27)!

²⁷ But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house. 

       Jesus is contrasting the illogical argument that He was empowered by the devil. The word “but” that begins v.27 is a strong adversative, “on the contrary…” Not only was Jesus not in league with the enemy, but He had broken into his house in coming into this fallen world, and He had bound the “strong man,” because He, Jesus, is the STRONGER man. And His ministry of casting out demons and healing the sick and preaching the good news was an all-out assault on the gates of hell! 

·        Jesus came to offer forgiveness to all who will believe (28-30).

²⁸ "Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter,  ²⁹ but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"-  ³⁰ for they had said, "He has an unclean spirit."

       Let’s start with the positive in v.28, “…all sins will be forgiven the children of man…” He is saying God’s grace is bigger than your sin.  One of the common issues in counselling is people struggling with the burden of past sin. There is a story that illustrates how sin can enslave us and forgiveness can set us free…

…A little boy visiting his grandparents is given his first slingshot. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. As he came back to Grandma's back yard, he spied her pet duck. On an impulse he took aim and let fly. The stone hit, and the duck fell dead [Reminds me of my first experience with a Red Rider BB gun!].

The boy panicked. Desperately he hid the dead duck in the woodpile, only to look up and see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch that day, Grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the dishes." But Sally said, "Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today. Didn't you, Johnny?" And she whispered to him, "Remember the duck!” So Johnny did the dishes.

Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing. Grandma said, "I'm sorry, but I need Sally to help make supper." Sally smiled and said, "That's all taken care of. Johnny wants to do it." Again she whispered, "Remember the duck." Johnny stayed while Sally went fishing. After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's, finally he couldn't stand it. He confessed to Grandma that he'd killed the duck. "I know, Johnny," she said, giving him a hug. "I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. I just wondered how long you would let Sally make a slave of you (Richard Hoefler, Will Daylight Come?).

Satan loves to whisper to us, “remember the duck!” (or whatever it might have been in your case!).  Satan loves to make a slave of us. We should respond, “Remember the cross!” Think of H. Spafford’s hymn, “It is well with my soul…”

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought,

my sin, not in part, but the whole,

was nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Oh my soul!

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” (Rom 8:1)! I have occasionally spoken with people through the years who worried whether or not they had committed the unpardonable sin. Have you ever worried if God could really forgive you? Dr. R.C. Sproul suggests,

“Worrying about [whether one has committed the unforgiveable sin] is one of the clearest evidences [that the troubled person has] not committed this sin, for those who commit it are so hardened in their hearts that they do not care that they commit it…” (R.C. Sproul, Mark).

In the context, the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit referred to these leaders, who saw Jesus’ acts of power and rather than recognizing God working in Him they attributed the miracles to the devil. They were determined in their unbelief. Blasphemers against the Holy Spirit, like Pharaoh of old, are hardened in their hearts, they won’t be concerned about sin or about offending the Holy One. “God demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us…” (Rom 5:8). That is good news!

What is God saying to me in this passage? Jesus came to rescue us from sin and from Satan, and in so doing He revealed Himself to be the Son of God.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? If we recognize who Jesus is, we can rejoice in why He came: to bind the strong man, to set captives free, to make a way for fallen humans to be reconciled to Holy God. Have you trusted Him…? If we have decided to follow Him, we shouldn’t be surprised by the misunderstanding and the “push back” we encounter. Remember the world is in rebellion against the King, so don’t take it personally! Our calling is to speak the truth in love, and with gentleness and respect, to give a reason for the hope that is in us. This week our town will be out in masse, and visitors will also be flooding in for the Windjammer events. Let’s be alert to opportunities—take a handful of invitation cards, and look for openings to give them out to people at the parade and other events this week. We’ve embraced the motto, “A Light-house of God’s Grace and Truth.” Let’s determine to shine brightly! God is still on the throne, Jesus is building His church, and He would use us to bring the Word of Life to the people we encounter this week.                           AMEN.

Fathers' Day 2017: The Path to a Godly Legacy Deuteronomy 6:4-9

The Path to a Godly Legacy

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

        Fathers’ Day—I like the summary of one little boy: “It’s just like Mother’s Day, only your 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. 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 painful day.

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 used to express His 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, never makes mistakes, and always loves perfectly. 

One startling bit of research conducted by the Christian Business Men's Committee found the following: When the father is an active believer, there is about a seventy-five percent likelihood that the children will also become active believers. But if only the mother is a believer, this likelihood is dramatically reduced to fifteen percent (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!  I decided to go back to a key Old Testament passage, Dt 6:4-9, 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. The truth should be as dear to our hearts. As Moses was preparing the nation for life in the land, He reminded them of the foundational importance of knowing and loving God and of teaching our 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 wholehearted love. As we seek to know Him we are called to lead our families to Him as well.

The Maine* 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).

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.”

       It’s a simple fact that you cannot impart what you do not possess. Moses writes here about knowing and loving God (4,5).  

       An exclusive commitment to the one 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 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 in this context.

       First, the first word, “Hear!” “Listen well to what I am about to say!” It’s like the preacher who ways “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!” 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).  Rather 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, 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, 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 God who is, the One who spoke to Moses out of the burning bush and who brought their fathers and mothers out of Egypt, only He 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? Is it He alone who sits on the throne of our hearts? As Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me more than these?”

       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. 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.  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. 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? Is it clear that He 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.

II. The Process to attain a Godly Heritage: Receive the Word, and Teach it diligently by word and example (6:6-9).  

⁶ 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.

            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, “…when 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 that is normal, healthy Christianity. Does it sound maybe too “religious”?  It’s not about religion, it’s about a relationship that is real and alive.  Longing for the truth, longing for the voice of Abba, should stir our hearts! 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 (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.  Herb told us 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!

          Live the Word. According to vv. 8-9, a godly father is distinguished by being centered on the Word.  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.  Far more important is 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.  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. In contrast, the study indicated that children watch television approximately 54 hours per week (CT, 3/23/1979).

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

Josh McDowell has been trying to find out what dads are doing in Christian families, and the news isn't good. In his book The Dad Difference, McDowell reveals that there seems to be a parenting gap. These statistics are from McDowell's book: The average teen in our churches spends only 2 minutes a day in meaningful dialogue with his dad. 25% of these teens say they have never had a meaningful conversation with their father--a talk centered on the teens' interests.

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!  

       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 take God at His word. [One of the greatest gifts we can give our children is to love their mother].

       We live in troubled times to be sure, but we needn’t despair.  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.  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!   This is a message for families, and for the church family!    Amen.