Passing On the Faith

Written by Pastor Ed

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Passing on the Faith

October 16, 2011

First Mennonite, Calgary

 

Scripture:  Deuteronomy 6: 1-9, 20-25; Matthew 19:13-15

 

The children of Israel were a minority group settled now in a foreign land.  We sometimes read the Old Testament, or hear the stories and think that the children of Israel lived all by themselves in Palestine, having moved in to either an empty place, or having driven all the other people out, but the truth is that they were actually probably a minority, living among the native people of the land in settlements, with the native people still occupying much of the land.

That meant that they were surrounded by, or at least neighbours to, a culture different than the one they were aspiring to be.  The neighbours didn’t worship the same God, didn’t follow the same customs of eating or keep the same Sabbath rules. 

They found themselves in much the same situation that many new immigrant groups find themselves in when they settle in a new country, or any minority group faces. And one of the issues that any group like that has to deal with is how to keep the kids, particularly those who are then born in the new setting.  And the more different the minority group is from the surrounding culture, the more it becomes an issue, because the surrounding culture constantly beckons.

And so we find texts throughout the Old Testament that address this issue, one of which we read this morning from Deuteronomy 6, known in Hebrew as the “Shema” after the first word of verse 4 “Hear”.

4 שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהוָ֥ה ׀ אֶחָֽד׃

Hear, O Israel, the Lord is God, the Lord alone.

This comes after a reiteration of the Ten Commandments in chapter 5.  This verse is one of the most important declarations of the Hebrew Bible, and is repeated often in worship.  But there is also a deeper concern in this text that is emphasised in the following verses, namely passing on this faith to the succeeding generations.  “Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.  Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.  Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”  (Deut. 6: 6-9)  Thus the mezuzah that you see on Jewish doorways, or bound on arms which contain a copy of the law.

But these outward symbols served another purpose.  Just like the stones that were set up when the Children of Israel crossed the Jordan that we read about in Joshua 4, these symbols were meant to provoke questions and provide for teaching moments.  “When your children ask…” says the writer, then you can tell them the stories of God’s faithfulness in the past and how God called a people out of slavery.  Then you will have a way of passing on the faith to the next generation and they will know why we do things differently than the people around us.

Even then they knew that if the children began to leave and follow the dominant culture around them, it was only a matter of time, perhaps a generation or two, before the people of God would cease to exist and they would no longer be a people.  The community that I grew up in in northern Indiana was home to a large Old Order Amish population, and this was a major concern for them.  As a group that shunned automobiles for horse and buggy transportation, did not use electricity or have phones in their homes, how can you pass on the faith to the children who are surrounded by a culture that embraces all of those things and more? 

 The importance of passing on the faith to the children is emphasised numerous places throughout the OT, and so it should be no surprise that Jesus welcomed the children when parents brought them.  We aren’t told in any of the Gospels, who all record this incident, why the disciples “spoke sternly” to the parents, but in every case, Jesus is reported as welcoming the children, “Let the children come,” he says. 

Children, as we have stated this morning, are a gift to us from God and thus we take our responsibility for their nurture and care seriously.  And, while we may not often think about it in these terms, we are also a minority, surrounded by a dominant culture that doesn’t always live by the same standards and patterns that we accept as part of our lives as Christians.  The church, as we know it, is also only a generation or two from extinction if we do not pass on our faith to our children and to others around us.  So what does that mean for us?

There are roles, I believe, both for the home and for the church in this task, though the home probably plays the bigger role.  Most of the instructions we noted in the Old Testament are directed at parents and the home as the primary place for instruction.  And while we may sometimes think that schools or the playground have a bigger influence on our kids, all the studies show that the home has actually the biggest influence on the values and beliefs our children embrace. 

“When Woodrow Wilson was president of Princeton University, he spoke these words to a parent’s group:

‘I get many letters from you parents about your children. You want to know why we people up here in Princeton can’t make more out of them and do more for them. Let me tell you the reason we can’t. It may shock you just a little, but I am not trying to be rude. The reason is that they are your sons, reared in your homes, blood of your blood, bone of your bone. They have absorbed the ideals of your homes. You have formed and fashioned them. They are your sons. In those malleable, moldable years of their lives you have forever left your imprint upon them.’” (Tan, #4174, p. 960).

 (Inserted from <http://bible.org/article/responsibilities-fatherhood-deuteronomy-61-19>)

If we take the instructions of Deuteronomy seriously, then I believe there are a number of things we should take to heart in our homes.  First of all, we need to have our own faith and be comfortable with it.  “Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up.”  In other words, always be ready to take the teachable moment and share your faith and what you believe.  That’s not imposing anything on your children, it’s sharing your faith and where you see God. 

Secondly, there needs to be consistency.  Robert Sloan, Jr., Former President of Baylor University says,

"As parents, we should demonstrate consistency in our lives. It is hard to overestimate the power of linking word and deed. Several biblical texts come to mind here. For example, Jesus tells his disciples that a tree is known by the fruit it bears (Matthew 7:15-20) and that there is a premium on both hearing and doing the word (7:24-27). The little book of James puts it bluntly: true faith produces works (James 2:18-26). Parenting, in this sense, is more a test of the parents’ own character than a test of parenting skills or wisdom. Conversations, actions, reactions, and the stewardship of time are not only the very best commentary on our intentions and goals as parents, but what parents do may very well be the best teaching tool of the gospel. If we want our children to possess virtue, then we must be serious students of our own souls. If we want our children to embrace a way of life that is consistent with the gospel, then we must connect our inner life with God to the way in which we act. If we pray that our children mature to dream dreams worthy of the Kingdom, then we must allow a Kingdom vision to guide our lives. In other words, we must be examples of faithfulness to our children. We must mate our words of parental wisdom with the deeds of our discipleship.  I call it the lunch pail principle: if you plan to be a good parent, then bring your lunch pail, for it is an all-day affair. Children need time—not only quality time, but also a quantity of quality time—from their parents."

Consistency means that our words and actions correspond, and certainly our example makes a huge difference.  Our children pick-up early on what is important to us by our actions.  I recall one grandfather who was lamenting that his grandchildren didn’t come to church very often.  Sports and other activities seemed to be a higher priority.  But he blamed himself.  He said, “When my children were that age, I thought it was ok to let them occasionally do something else on Sunday morning.  What would it hurt to miss church?  I was wrong,” he stated flatly, “because now my children don’t see anything wrong with missing church a whole lot.  My grandchildren may end up not going to church at all, and that’s not what I had in mind.”   His statement in that meeting carried a lot more weight than if I had said it.

It’s not easy being parents, and it’s not easy being different than many of the people around us.  The people of Israel knew it, the Old Order Amish know it, and yet both have been highly successful in passing on their faith from generation to generation. 

And the church also has a role to play, as we pledged this morning.  How we teach and act and interact also plays a part in how our children see our faith.  The church must provide a welcoming, safe place for children.  Nothing will scar the faith of a child so much as to discover that this place is unsafe, something that has happened far too often in the church, some of which we learn about years later.  As Jesus welcomed the children, so we should welcome all children among us.  The church family should be place of acceptance and safety, even if the home is not. 

And we in the church need to also be consistent and set good examples, because the children among us are watching.  I have shared about the fact that I followed a case of misconduct in one congregation I served.  One of the fallouts of that experience for the congregation was that when I held a baptismal class, I soon discovered that the children in the class, who had all been middle school age when it happened, were not at all sure they wanted to embrace a faith and a congregation where such things could occur.  That was an extreme case, but the same is also true on a smaller scale when congregations erupt in conflict or seem inconsistent in their actions.

The church needs to provide a support for parents; background and training in the faith, a clear theology and reasons for why we believe as we do, and support for the difficult decisions that come with parenting.  Unfortunately that church has not always done a good job of those things either.

Today, as Jason and Kathryn have brought Rachel, we have all dedicated ourselves to the task of providing the nurture and support needed to pass on the faith to Rachel, and to all the other children among us.  We don’t know what the future holds for Rachel, or for any of us.  We have no guarantees that our efforts will bear fruit.  But if we believe the words of the Shema – that Yahweh is God, and God alone, then we must do what we can to pass that faith on to our children, and to the generations to come.

May God help us in that task.