In Hands and Hearts

In 1968, before there was a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, when Graham Nash was still with the Hollies, he wrote a song that ended up on a CSNY album. I’ll read you the first four lines. Then I’ll see if Daniel knows the song title. He probably will. He’ll likely know the album title and release date too. If Daniel doesn’t know the answer, we’ll throw it out to the rest of you. If you don’t know it, we’ll see if Brian knows it.

Here we go...

You, who are on the road Must have a code That you can live by And so become yourself Because the past is just a goodbye

. . .

The next line is the song title with an added adverb. “Teach Your Children” well.

I want to talk to you this morning about the code you live by, and that you teach your children well by sharing that code with them.

Sermon Prayer

We share the Christian code that we live by in a number of ways—or at least, we should.

Let’s consider what we might mean by “code.” (1) It could mean some secret message that has been converted into a language so that it is understood only by those who have the key. (2) It could also mean computer code like C+, Java, Python, or HTML. (3) Then again, "code” could be understood as the DNA molecule that contains the individually unique genetic code or instructions that determine our physical characteristics like eye, skin, and hair color, as well as hereditary traits like health.

(4) But code can also be that which we live by, a compass that consistently guides a person to act within their deepest beliefs.

We recite a code every Sunday morning. You may have never considered the Ten Commandments to be a code. So, it could be helpful to think of the Decalogue the way some critics do, as just a bunch of do’s and don'ts's. After all, that would be precisely what this biblical code is: prescribed behavior, IF–THEN statements that determine outcomes, especially in difficult situations.

If the Lord is your God, then you will be delivered from hell to the kingdom of Jesus.

If you do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, then you will not be found guilty before the judge of eternity.

If you honor the Sabbath, the Lord’s Day, then you come to where, as Dr. Nestingen still speaks in my head, “the goods are delivered.” You gather with God’s people around the Word and Sacrament that is promised to keep you in God’s grace.

If you honor your parents, then your chances of living long in the land are greatly enhanced. You’ll get the side meaning if you who can still appreciate Bill Cosby’s old line, “I brought you into this world and I can take you out.”

If you fear and love God so that you do not hurt nor harm your neighbor, but help and support him in every physical need, then you stand a much better chance of living peacefully—not to mention staying out of prison.

You get the idea; the Ten Words are a code you can live by. So can your children. So must your children. And that brings us back to Graham Nash’s song. On this road of life, your children, like you, must have a code they can live by and so, become who God intends them to be, even as they struggle with life, which as Jacob discovered, is simply wrestling with God.

You know this is unlikely at best for your children and grandchildren without our spiritual code. That’s why you’re here this morning. It’s why you brought your kids. It’s why your parents may have brought you. But observing the Third Commandment by coming to worship is not all there is to it. Parents, there is more to do.

We may not even know the things we are doing that are spiritually formative for our kids, but trust that God is in those details. When I was a boy, Mom and Dad took me to St, Luke’s Lutheran Church. I vaguely remember Sunday School, so I don’t think that was a regular deal. But I remember worship like I’m still sitting in the pew there.

But there are six other days to teach your children. And you have to capitalize on those days. You know what each day’s schedule is for your kids: what practice they have to get to, what time they need to be picked up, what sport or other activity it is they’re doing this season.

But we are to proclaim the word to them in season and out of season. That’s what we had in mind when we asked you if you intended to fulfill the baptismal obligations to bring your children to the services of God’s house, and teach them the Catechism, and as they grow, to place in their hands the Holy Scriptures and provide for their instruction in the Christian faith.

Note that there are two things about the Catechism mentioned in the Liturgy of Holy Baptism. One is that you will teach it to them, and the other is that you will bring them to Confirmation classes here. While some of you have done well, many in our membership have broken the Eighth Commandment about their closest neighbor: their child.

The former catechetical promise is what the Deuteronomist meant when he exhorted you to shall teach the Commandments diligently to your children, and talk about them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Allow me to paraphrase. The Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Creed will be so great upon your own hearts, parents, that you teach or place them in the hearts of your children when they’re in your house, and when you’re waiting for their food in the drive-thru on the way to the next thing on the schedule, and when you’re driving to to that practice or game. These are opportunities to teach them well—as you have promised.

One of my fondest memories here at St. Paul’s is of Spencer Newsome drilling the boys on the Ten Commandments as he drove them to school each day and the photo he sent me of Otto’s certificate earned at school for being able to recite them.

There are also day-to-day opportunities to teach your children well at the breakfast and dinner table, doing chores, and so forth.

Then, there are the details I mentioned in which you may not have placed as much stock. This Bible was on the coffee table of my home. It has a zipper around it that no longer works. I asked Mom when I was about eight years old if I could unzip it and read it. That zippered Bible changed my life—and I suspect, changed the course of my life.

The Word of God is profitable for the education of your little ones so unzip your Bibles and put the Word into their hands and hearts early. Mom did that for me with these eight volumes that I consumed as a little boy. She saw me reading her Bible and thought I needed something more childlike than the King James Version. Funny thing is, these are colorful and have pictures and all, but it’s still straight-up King Jimmy.

Our Christian Education Committee provides age-appropriate Bibles to our Sunday School children as they advance through the years. I love a photo Ciji sent me of Sutton Fisher reading her new Bible she received this year from you all. Let their Bibles—with pictures or without, colorful and traditional black—be their primer on the way to more formal schooling. It is beneficial for critique and correction early and late in life. It is fruitful for training in righteousness. It makes one fit for the kingdom.

Have I mentioned how much I enjoy teaching your kids in Confirmation? I love seeing them surprise me with their growth. I love seeing it in their parents too. Here’s an example...

As you may know, the core of what I teach is having your kids discover where the four sections of the Catechism are alluded to in the Bible. Last Wednesday, one of the verses to talk about was Deuteronomy 6:6–7. I alluded to them earlier. Here they are...

Deuteronomy 6:6–7 ESV

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 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.

I asked the class, “What color did you highlight these verses?” Elin Wells said, “Orange.” “Which commandment?” I asked. She said, “Third.”

...and grinned at me.

Why the third commandment? Elin said, because coming to church is to “not despise preaching and his Word, but hold it sacred, and gladly hear and learn it.” It’s where the Word is proclaimed and the Sacraments delivered so it’s I am being taught God’s word there.

Wow!

Then Talia Lord said, “I highlighted it in pink.” I asked which Sacrament. She said “both.” I said, “How.” After having to then pull it out of her with a come-along, she said because the word is proclaimed in the Sacraments. So, by coming to church she hears God’s word of grace at the Lord’s table.

Then Cooper Aldridge said… Well, Cooper is always talking—and most of the time has something pretty deep to add. I’ve noticed that these past five years during children’s chats. Haven’t you? I wonder about that one, and pray for his future. God is in those details too.

You may feel like you aren’t doing a good job of teaching your children well, or if you’re closer to my age, didn’t do a good job. Do not lose heart; do not give up. The Lord is ever-present and attentive to your desires. So, now it may be time to be like the nagging widow and storm the gates of heaven with prayer. Wrestle with God through this latter, long, dark night of parenting. Strive with him that he might answer you about the faith you desire for your children and grandchildren—and moreover, that when the light of eternity breaks, he may find that faith remains in you.