The High Gospel Calling for Parents – Deuteronomy 6

Good morning church! Hope you all are doing well. Just wanted to welcome all who have joined us today in-person and also friends who have joined us online. 

We are doubly excited today as we get to dedicate baby Levi and encourage Pradeep and Olayinka to steward this wonderful calling to raise Levi in the ways of the Lord. That will happen a little later but just wanted to say that it’s our joy to journey with them as a church family. 

But before we get there, it’s important that we spend the next few moments anchoring ourselves in God’s Word. After all, everything that we do is a response to God’s Word. Most of you know that our usual pattern is to preach through books of the Bible – chapter by chapter like our current series from 1st Corinthians. 

But every now and then we do standalone sermons especially if it coincides with an occasion like a dedication service which we have today. It gives us an opportunity to care for church biblically through some of those subjects like the subject of parenting that we will cover today. 

And I’m aware that among us we’ve got a mixed audience. There are some who are parents right now, and there are some who aren’t parents but I still believe that this passage will be encouraging and helpful for all because even if you’re not a parent, you definitely know someone who is and you’ll be able to encourage them with what you’ve learnt today. 

What is the goal of parenting? What would you say is the main purpose for parenting? 

Most would say that the goal is to make their children independent, well educated, well behaved people of society who will one day be in a position to repeat the whole cycle again with their children. That’s what most people would agree is their purpose for parenting. And so they spend all of their energies trying to fulfill this purpose for their children. 

But what if we were to ask God what was his purpose in making us parents, what would he say? His answer from Deuteronomy 6 would be quite different from what we normally expect. In fact all of those goals don’t feature anywhere in the passage. Now it’s not to say that those things are bad in itself, but that’s not God’s primary purpose. That’s not why God calls us to be parents to our children. God’s calling for us is far higher than we even think or imagine. 

What is God’s high calling for parents? 

Deuteronomy 6:1-2 

[1] “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. 

The high calling is to fear God and to teach that to your kids. And this “fear” is not dreading God but one of reverence out of great honor and esteem for Him. Because we know of God’s supreme authority and because we know that He’s Holy, we approach Him with honor and esteem. 

Well how do we go about fearing God and calling our children to do the same? Deut 6 gives us 3 steps. 

1. Trust (v4-6) 

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

The first step tells us to personally trust God ourselves before we get to teaching our kids. We are challenged to look inside our own hearts before we get to looking at the hearts of our children. 

Look with me at v4. This verse is often known as the Shema which in Hebrew means “hear”. For a Jew, this is one of the most important verses which says “The Lord our God, the Lord is one”. 

He is not to be treated as one among many gods. He is the One True God. He is making a claim for exclusivity. It’s not Yahweh + other gods. God is telling us “You either chose me as Lord or you don’t.”

And that’s the same sentiment in v5 – the familiar verse which tells us to love God with all our heart, all our soul and all our might. Notice it doesn’t say love your God with a part of your heart, with a part of your soul and with a part of your might. He’s demanding all of our devotion or none of it. He’s demanding all of our surrender or none of it. He’s demanding all of our love or none of it. He’s demanding all of our trust or none of it. 

For many of us who have been around church and heard this verse time and time again, we sometimes miss out on its impact because we assume that we know what it means for us. But I want us all to ask ourselves these questions to evaluate our love for God:

Can I honestly say that I love God more than any relationship in my life? Can I honestly say that I love God more than my spouse and kids? Can I say that I love God more than my friends? Can I say that I love God more than making more money? Can I say that I love God more than my job? Can I say that I love God more than my comfort? Can I truly say that I love God more than receiving approval from my peers? Can I truly say that I love God more than the pleasures that I enjoy when no one’s watching? 

And all of these questions get to heart of it. When the Bible says “love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your might”, it means that our affections for God should be unparalleled. We should not be making room in our hearts for competing affections. And this is challenging and convicting for all of us because we’re coming face to face with the competing gods in our hearts. 

And that’s why personal trust needs to be accompanied with daily repentance. If we need to daily exhibit trust in the God of the Bible, it needs to be accompanied by daily repentance where we confess all the people and the things which are competing for that place in our hearts which is only reserved for God. 

First step in fearing God and parenting our kids is to demonstrate how we personally Trust God first. It’s humbling to realize that kids are likely to do what they see us do rather than what they hear us tell them to do. We can’t jump this first step. 

Second step is to

2. Teach (v7-9) 

[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.

V7 tells us to diligently teach our children God’s Word and His commands. What’s interesting is that the word which is used in the Hebrew for diligent actually is translated as “pierce”. As parents we’re called to pierce the hearts of children with the truths of God’s Word. It’s not just doing it for the sake of doing it but with the intention of getting God’s Word into the hearts of our children. Have we ever thought about teaching our kids in this way? 

And then it goes on to say how spiritual conversations need to be the focus and the norm for everyday conversations with your children. It’s not a one-time activity. In fact in v7 it almost seems like an obsession where the parents are intentional in bringing up these conversations during every point of the day. Everything seems to circle back to God’s Word. 

V8 and 9 talk about how there’s not only regular daily spiritual conversations but there are visual reminders placed all around the house to point people back to the God of the Bible. God’s Word is not put up for decorative purposes in the home, but to spur the family back to God time and time again. 

So what we can see here is that spiritual conversations with your kids can’t be limited to Sunday School only. Although we greatly value all that the Sunday School teachers do to bring the Gospel to the children in a way that makes it accessible to them each week, yet spiritual conversations with our children can’t be outsourced to Sunday School. As parents we are called to own that responsibility for our children. 

I think it’s a good pause point to ask ourselves – what’s taking center stage in our conversation with our family and children? Is it studies? Is it politics? Is it sports? Or is it movies? Where do spiritual conversations feature in our everyday family conversations? 

And so we Trust God ourselves, we Teach and then the third step is to

3. Testify (v20-25) 

When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ [21] then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. [22] And the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. [23] And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. [24] And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. [25] And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.

These verses give us a very different perspective to parenting right? When our children ask us “Dad / Mom – why do we have so many spiritual conversations at home? Why do we have these verses put up everywhere? Why do we not join our neighbors when they participate in idol worship?” Our response shouldn’t be a short one liner saying “Because we’re Christian”. 

That’s a God given opportunity to testify to God’s grace and rescue in your lives. Those are precious discipling moments which God has ordained not to put you in a spot, not to make you think of the smartest theological answer but to simply testify to your own grace story. 

V21 – Talk about how you were a slave to sin & Satan and what life was like as a slave apart from God. 

V22 – Talk about how God had mercy on you and how He sent His one and only Son Jesus to rescue you through His amazing work on the cross. 

V23 – Talk about His resurrection and your trust in Him which totally changed your life forever. As someone who experienced freedom from your slavery to sin, Satan and death – now we owe our lives to our Savior forever. All of our life choices need to reflect obedience to our Savior and that’s why we do what we do. It’s not blind rule keeping. It’s not keeping traditions. It’s obedience as a response to amazing grace! 

Just an encouragement to some of us who might read this passage and think “I missed the whole point of parenting. I wish I knew this earlier but I know I can’t turn back time” – God is sovereign and gracious. You should know that it’s not too late even now. Ask God for grace to help you Trust, Teach and Testify to your children. 

Some others might think – this 3 step process seems overwhelming looking at the high calling for parents. Just want you to know that God wouldn’t have called you to the role, without giving you the grace to fulfill it. Grace is available in plenty at Jesus’ feet. Run to Him and you’ll find all the help you need to be able to fulfill this high Gospel calling. 

Oftentimes when we talk about people being called to ministry, we automatically associate it with pastoral, mercy or evangelistic ministry and these are wonderful callings for sure. But in the light of what we’ve read and heard in Deut 6, parenting is a high gospel call to ministry. It’s not ordinary or insignificant in God’s eyes. God has called and equipped parents to fulfill a purpose of modeling what it means to fear God and they do it by 3 steps:

Trust, Teach and Testify.