This last Tuesday I baptized Jason and Cathy Cook’s little boy Jack. It was really cute. After I made the sign of the cross on his head and his heart to mark him as a redeemed child of God and poured water on his head in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I held up my hand to give him a blessing and I kid you not that little 6-month-old bugger gave me a high five. It was awesome.
Watching Jason hold his freshly baptized baby boy made me slightly nostalgic for the days when my boys were little. I loved being a father when my boys were little. They used to be so easily impressed by everything I did or said. It was like I was a superhero to them. In their eyes, I was the strongest, fastest, smartest man alive. I don’t remember, but I probably looked at my daddy the same way when I was little. I think most little boys and little girls look at their daddy that way, at least in the beginning. But there comes a time in every father’s life when his children are not so easily impressed anymore. It doesn’t take very long for daddy’s little boy to grow up into man who is stronger, faster, and smarter than he is, and it doesn’t take very long before daddy’s little girl starts to give more attention to those boys who are stronger, faster, and smarter than their daddy is.
As little boys and little girls become young men and women it becomes increasingly difficult for a father to impress his children. That is why today, in celebration of Father’s Day, I thought we would take a few moments to talk about what it means to be an impressive father. Our conversation is going to be guided by Deuteronomy 6:4-9.
The people of Israel have gathered on the far side of the Jordan River. After years of wandering in the wilderness they are finally preparing to take possession of the land the LORD had promised to their forefathers. However, as a consequence of a temper tantrum, Moses will not be crossing the Jordan River with them. Joshua will lead the people of Israel into the promised land and Moses will be, as they say, gathered to his people. Understandably, therefore, our text reads like a father’s farewell speech to his children.
Moses encourages his spiritual children to remain true to the LORD who set them free from slavery and delivered them from death. Though he had likely done this countless times over the last 40 years (I kind of imagine the events Moses observed atop Mt Sinai were told so often that his children knew the details by heart), regardless, one last time this spiritual father impresses upon his spiritual children the importance of the Ten Commandments, which were to direct their lives as God’s people. Moses knew he will not always be there to make such an impression on his children. He knew a new generation of impressive fathers must be raised up. This is what our text from Deuteronomy 6:4-9 seeks to do. In our text, Moses presents us with three simple steps to becoming an impressive father. Step one, the father must meditate, Step two the father must educate. Step three the father must integrate.
The first step to becoming an impressive father is found in verses 4-6. There Moses says, “4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.” The first step to becoming an impressive father is to meditate on the LORD’s commands. In order to meditate on the LORD’s commands, a father must first hear the LORD’s commands. In order to hear the LORD’s commands, the father must be in a place where the LORD’s commands are proclaimed. That’s a polite way of saying we need to go to church and be in bible study, and we need to be in worship and bible study not just as casual observers. This hearing is to be more than a recognition of words. It is not enough to be simply aware of the LORD’s commands. Rather, the LORD’s commands are to be on our hearts, in our souls, and woven into the very fabric of our being. That means we are to spend time wrestling with the deep truths of Scripture; questioning everything we think we know and comparing it to the word of God. We are to seek the Scriptures for truth and pray that God would grant us understanding. The first step in becoming an impressive father requires meditation on the LORD’s commands because before we can be impressive fathers, the Heavenly Father must first make an impression on us.
After the heavenly Father has made His impression on us, we are ready for step two. The second step to becoming an impressive father is found in verse 7. There, fathers are told to take the LORD’s commands upon which they have meditated and “7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” The second thing a father needs to do in order to be an impressive father is he needs to educate his children about the LORD’s commands. As the father sets out to educate his children about the LORD’s commands there are two things that I would like to highlight from this verse. The first thing is about the children themselves. When we hear the word “child” we typically think of a son or a daughter, the immediate offspring of a father or a mother. However, Hebrew is not so limited in its understanding. These children are not just sons and daughters, but they are also grandsons and granddaughters; they are offspring in general, and not just offspring according to blood, but really anyone belonging to the next generation. This means that if a child is under your care be it in the Sunday school classroom, or on the baseball field, or in your backyard, you are to take advantage of the teachable moments the LORD gives you.
The second thing I want to point out from this verse is the word “impress”. Naturally, my first thought when I read this word made me think of applying pressure to make a mark. But the Hebrew word for impress is the word they use to sharpen a knife or sword. It makes sense that Moses would use this word in connection with the education of a child. Both a blade and a child need to have their dull edge ground down. Just as burs and chips need to be removed from a blade, so also ignorance and error need to be removed from the child. Further, in order for both blade and child to become sharp consistency is key. The blade must be sharpened at the same angle and the child must be instructed with the same truths. Finally, both a blade and a child can lose their edge over time. Therefore, repetition is required. Just as the blade is brought back to the sharpening stone so also the child needs to be brought back to the LORD’s commandments. That is why Moses instructs the father to Talk about them [ the LORD’s commandments] when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” The second step in becoming an impressive father calls upon the father to educate the children that the LORD has placed under his care, but if the father really wants to make an impression, then there is one more step.
The third and final step to becoming an impressive father is found in verses 8-9. Having educated his children in the LORD’s commands, fathers are to take the LORD’s Commands and “8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” The third thing a father needs to do in order to be an impressive father is he needs to integrate the LORD’s commands into his daily life. Speaking poetically, Moses says the father is to tie the LORD’s commands to his hands so that everything the father does with his hands are guided and directed by the LORD. The father is to bind the LORD’s command s to his forehead so that his thoughts and decisions are guided and directed by the LORD. The father is to write the LORD’s command on the door to his own house so that his interactions with his wife and his children are guided and directed by the LORD. The father is to write the LORD’s command on his gate so that his business dealings with the community are guided and directed by the LORD. It is important that the same lessons the father taught his children are the very lessons the father lives by, otherwise the children will learn that the LORD’s commands are nothing more than an academic exercise and have no real-world application. Step two, education, will make an impression on a child, but if you want that impression to be a lasting impression, then you can skip step three. The third and final step to being an impressive father calls upon the father to integrate the LORD’s commands into his daily life.
So, there you have it, Moses’ three steps to becoming an impressive father: meditate, educate, integrate. This is a simple three step process that any father should be able to follow. So, the question is, why don’t we? Well, the reality is these steps may be simple, but they sure aren’t easy, at least not for fathers who are in a constant battle with sin. The truth is, it is not the age of our children that makes it difficult for us to be impressive fathers, it’s our own sin. Sin makes it difficult for the father to meditate on the LORD’s commands; sin would rather the father fill his head with sports stats than bible passages. Sin also makes it difficult for the father to educate his children about the LORD’s commands; sin would rather the father outsource his children’s religious, spiritual, moral education to the internet. Sin finally makes it difficult for the father to integrate the LORD’s commands into his daily life; sin would rather the father confine his faith to Sunday morning like all the other hypocrites do.
Sin makes being an impressive father incredible difficult, in fact, if it weren’t for Jesus, sin would make it impossible. Thankfully, like everyone else the father does have Jesus. The first thing we hear about Jesus after His birth in Bethlehem, is how already at the age of 12 He is meditating on the LORD’s commands. As a full-grown man Jesus made a point to be in the synagogue and He found time to pray because Jesus wanted to have the LORD’s commands on His heart, in His soul, and woven into the fabric of His being. Further, Jesus did not keep the LORD’s commands to Himself. We often focus on the 12 but there were hundreds if not thousands of spiritual children that Jesus educated. He ground down the legalism of the Pharisees and consistently and repeatedly sharpened their faith with the word of truth. Finally, Jesus not only integrated the LORD’s commands into his daily life; He not only tied the LORD’s command to his hands and bound them to his forehead, but Jesus also allowed His hands to be tied with the sins of fathers like you and me; He allowed His head to bear the guilt of our failure to meditate, educate, and integrate the LORD’s commands. Without Jesus it would be impossible to be an impressive father. Thankfully, my fellow fathers, we are not without Jesus. Thankfully being an impressive father isn’t impossible for you and for me, it’s only incredibly difficult.
That is why I am happy there is a day for us to celebrate our fathers. Father’s Day is a good day for all of us to appreciate how difficult it is to be an impressive father. If you have been blessed with such a man in your life, be it your father, grandfather, or some other man who took it upon himself to meditate, educate, and integrate the LORD’s commands into his own life and the lives of others, then I encourage you to take some time today and say a prayer of thanks to the LORD for that man. Pray also that the LORD would give that man the strength he needs to continue in Moses’ three step program for becoming an impressive father. Then take a moment to thank that man for his efforts to meditate, educate and integrate the LORD’s commands, maybe let him know that even though you no longer see him as the strongest, fastest, smartest man alive, he is still an impressive father. Happy Father’s Day. Amen.