Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:1-7
I
was a model – of tuxedos. My great Aunt
Frannie was a model. Well she was in a traveling dance company similar to the
Ziegfeld follies. My daughter was a
model – well she went to Barbazon modeling school. My mother was a model –
well, my dad’s assistant for his magic act.
Mothers should be the very best of models – a model for their children –
a model of how they should be and who they should be in this life.
What one thing
did your mother model for you – not just teach you but she modeled it as
something you could emulate in your life?
VIDEO: My mother the model (https://youtu.be/9pcHS8iWwe4)
2 Timothy 1:1-7
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the
will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, 2
To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ
Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my
forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly
remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you,
so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I have been
reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois
and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 6
For this
reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through
the laying on of my hands. 7 For God did not give us a spirit of
timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
Verse 6
The gift of God which Timothy had received was the Holy Spirit; which
gave him a particular power to preach and defend the truth. That gift is
represented here, by fire, which must be stirred up and have fresh fuel added
or it will go out. The Greek is anazopureo (an-ad-zo-poor-eh'-o); Literally to
rekindle. (My
winter leaf fire kept burning when stirred)
Apparently Lois,
Timothy's grandmother, was the first one in the family won to Christ; then His
mother, Eunice, was converted. Timothy's father was a Greek (Acts 16:1), so
Eunice had not practiced the orthodox Jewish faith. However, Timothy's mother
and grandmother had seen to it that he was taught the Scriptures (2 Tim 3:15);
and this was great preparation for the hearing of the Gospel. Eventually
Timothy believed what had been taught – Christian Faith and further what had
been modeled – Christian living – service!
Imparting the
scriptures to our children prepares them to receive Christ. My own daughter tells me that when she put
her faith in Christ – she did it because she had never heard that she could. I
would like to say that was a failure of the Sunday School classes she had but I
better take that blame myself for not having made it clear to my own child how
one becomes a Christian. BUT WAIT – It
is not only possible that we had done that, but she was just not ready until
that particular time – and she might not have been ready at that particular
time if she had not already been taught the scriptures by her parents and some
great Sunday school teachers that taught her if she was the only one in her
class like there were 15 in her class.
One is as important as many because the many are simply a bunch of ones
added together.
In the biblical
worldview, the mission of parents is to raise children to follow God. To that
end, God designed the family as the primary unit by which children are cared
for, loved, trained, and empowered.
HERE IS THE
PROBLEM – as a society we have abdicated the role of educating our children to
a challenging education system at best and some have only done a slightly
better job in abdicating the spiritual education of their children to the
church which has good says and bad.
As most
Christian mothers can attest, it is difficult to balance the natural instinct
to protect one's child from harm with the necessity to equip the child for life
as an adult. Mothers are reminded to love their children - to feel affection
for them, to approve of, like, and to have a kind attitude toward them. At the
same time, a mother is to train her children to live godly lives (Psalm 78:5-6 He decreed statutes for Jacob and
established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach
their children, 6 so the next generation would know them, even the children yet
to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Also, to model how they, personally,
can contribute to God's kingdom work (Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not
turn from it. Train = chanak
(khaw-nak'); a primitive root; properly, to narrow (train up---by modeling).
Beyond teaching to modeling
What is the most
important thing a mother should teach her children? That they are loved by her
unconditionally? That God loves them
through the death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and second coming of Jesus
Christ? Obviously number two is of
greatest importance but much of that is taught in the context of the
first. However, any mother can love
their child without sharing Jesus with them – when they are gone, so is that
love. For those mothers who have,
through their love taught their children that God loves them through Jesus;
that is a love that lasts for eternity.
Let
me suggest that there is something equally important. That mother’s teach their children how to
love God in Christ. It is not enough to
present a one sided story of God’s love for us, but must be accompanied with a
real and practical guide – by example of how we love God. The pleasure a child feels toward his or her
mother is not as much when they know they are loved as when they know they are
loving toward their mother.
(How I used to clean the basement – great joy) Likewise, your child’s greatest joy comes not
from knowing they are loved by God but by living a life that shows God their
love for Him.
The church would experience the
next great awakening if this generation of young mothers would rise up and
teach their children (sons and daughters) how to love God daily. Let me show you what can happen in one or two
generations. (Who here is part of the
American Baptist Women’s mission Society?) By 1836, 150 home missionaries were
at work in 14 states, two territories and two provinces. Women wanted to help
with the work of answering God’s call, but The American Baptist Home Mission
Society refused to appoint single women as missionaries. In response, the
Women's Baptist Home Mission Society (WBHMS), based in Chicago, was founded in
1877, and Joanna P. Moore became its first fully commissioned missionary.
Another women’s society, the Woman’s American Baptist Home Mission Society
(WABHMS) was also founded in 1877 in Boston “to extend the kingdom of God among
the women and children of America.” Over
the next century, missionaries expanded American Baptist ministry by: Founding
27 institutions of higher education for Freed People after the Civil War;
Sending an envoy to Washington to work for treaties favorable to Native
Americans; Opening a Baptist Missionary Training School in Chicago; Appointing
missionaries to serve in Michigan, New York, Puerto Rico, Alaska and Arizona;
Ministering among Japanese Americans in internment camps during World War II;
and Leading the way in work with Church World Service to offer new homes to
more than 100,000 refugees since World War II.
The work and names changed over
the years, then in 1972, the societies began carrying out mission as National
Ministries, which if you were here last week, helped found this church and with
international ministries support mission work around the world – which could
not have been accomplished without women often leading the way.
In just two generations the ABW
has grown to a handful of what it used to be? Conversely, if young women will
take a stand and model Christian
living and service, in two generations we can raise up a mighty army for Jesus.
It won’t look like ABW of the past – it will look like new ministries we never
imagined but can be even greater than the work done in the past. Unless soccer practice, dance classes, BBQ’s
and leisure are more important. Don’t hear me wrong – there is nothing wrong
with any of those – in fact I described our children’s upbringing – but only if
they are secondary to modeling Christian living in every aspect of life is
first and foremost.
This is not to
say raising a child right will work every time and you will have perfect God
fearing children – but the bible allows for this: Deut 21:18-21 If a
man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother
and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother
shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town.
They shall say to the elders, "This son of ours is stubborn and
rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard." Then
all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from
among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.
No comments:
Post a Comment