Lily Springer - Dedication

Psalm 78:1-7

Psalm 78:1–7 ESV

1 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! 2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, 3 things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. 4 We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. 5 He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, 6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, 7 so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;

Once upon a time, a man found an eagle’s egg and placed it under a brooding hen. The eaglet hatched with the chickens and grew to be like them. He clucked and cackled, scratched the earth for worms, flapped his wings, and managed to a fly few feet in the air.

Years passed. One day, the eagle, now grown old, saw a magnificent bird above him in the sky. It glided in graceful majesty against the powerful wind, with scarcely a movement of its golden wings.

Spellbound, the eagle asked, “Who’s that?”

“That’s the king of the birds, the eagle,” said his neighbor. “He belongs to the sky. We belong to earth – we’re chickens.”

So, the eagle lived as a chicken for that’s what he thought he was.

There is a famous quote that goes something like this ‘we are the stories that we tell ourselves.’

Stories are powerful, stories shape our identity. And knowing who we are is essential for knowing how we are to live in this world.

It would have been nigh on impossible to get to the venue today if I wasn’t absolutely sure about my starting location. In the same way; knowing our identity, knowing our story is essential to navigating a course through life, reaching our desired destination.

Lily will grow up knowing that she has roots in two countries on opposite sides of the globe, with a rich cultural heritage and two parents who share a strong faith in Christ. You, as her family will help her to see her connectedness to others, that she is a unique part in a broader picture. That her personal story is part of a much greater story, a meta narrative.

And it’s this big story that I want to talk about this afternoon. Because the bigger a story is, the more comprehensive and complete it is, the more power it has to inform and shape our lives. We see how our story fits within it, we see our place in a much bigger narrative.

Like the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis - he saw that his own story; even his darkest trials at the hands of his brothers and being unjustly imprisoned made sense within God’s greater story of redemption. That God had purposes even in those difficult moments, that Joseph couldn’t see at the time:

Genesis 50:20 ESV

20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

And so educating Lily about the greatest story of all, God’s story, is the best way to help her make sense of the world and her place in it.

“The best education is education in the best things.” - C.H. Spurgeon

In ancient Israel, children were taught the scriptures from an early age. In a time before the printing press some of these kids knew it so well, they could actually recite large chunks of the Old Testament just from memory, that’s how immersed they were in the things of God.

They knew who they were supposed to be, they knew their life purpose in light of what they knew about God. They knew what was good and what was bad, what was true and what was false by reference to God’s story - His word.

New Living Translation Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. - John 17:17

The most powerful stories aren’t just big, they’re true. Feeding Lily’s mind on the truth from an early age will give her the tools to reason, to discern and to make good decisions in a world of so much confusion.

Psalm 119:105 ESV

105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

As parents, your own personal stories of how God has moved in your lives are Lily’s inheritance, these incredible testimonies are part of her heritage and part of her journey with God. Treasure your testimony, share it with her.

The best and most powerful stories aren’t just the best because they’re great or because they’re true, but because they’re beautiful.

Many have said that the story of the gospel can be summed up in four words; creation, fall, redemption, restoration.

“God the Father has reconciled his created but fallen world through the death of his Son, and renews it into a Kingdom of God by His Spirit.” - Herman Bavinck

This great story, the gospel, is beautiful. It’s God’s story and is ultimately a love story. A story of His faithfulness and goodness towards us, even though we were undeserving. It’s what we call grace; of mankind receiving from God what we didn’t deserve, what we could never earn in and through Jesus Christ, and in Him alone. This story isn’t just for new Christians, it’s not something we only talk about on Sundays, it’s not just for adults, it’s for all!

“We need to hear the Gospel every day, because we forget it every day.” - Martin Luther

By the grace of God may you be encouraged and strengthened in your roles as Lily’s parents, as you teach her this wonderful story of God‘S grace, may you also encounter afresh His goodness, His loving kindness and His Peace which surpasses understanding.