Jahaziel–June, 20, 2012 Sermon

By Pastor Greg

A number of years ago Harry Chapin wrote a song entitled “Cats in the Cradle”. It tells the story of a new father.

“A child arrived just the other day,
He came to the world in the usual way.
But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay.
He learned to walk while I was away.
And he was talking 'fore I knew it, and as he grew,
He'd say, "I'm gonna be like you, dad.
You know I'm gonna be like you."

The chorus went on to say,

“And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.

"When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when,

But we'll get together then.

You know we'll have a good time then."

Eventually, as the song comes to a close, this father, who never had time for his son, finds out that the son now has no time for the father. And the song hauntingly laments,

“And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me,
He'd grown up just like me.
My boy was just like me.

When we talk about Father’s Day, most of us want to talk about the warm-fuzzy attributes of our fathers. We thank our dads for showing us how to face a problem, how to find joy in life, or how to find the career we have been looking for. But there are the other things we learn from our fathers, like stubbornness, a sharp and hurtful tongue, or the inability to say I Love You. In other words, it’s one thing to be known as the Son of Encouragement but something entirely different to be known as the Son of Thunder.

As Jesus was calling out the Twelve who would be His Apostles, notice what He has to say about James and John. ¹⁴ Then He appointed twelve of them and called them His apostles. They were to accompany Him, and He would send them out to preach, ¹⁵ giving them authority to cast out demons. ¹⁶ These are the twelve He chose: Simon (whom he named Peter), ¹⁷ James and John (the sons of Zebedee, but Jesus nicknamed them “Sons of Thunder”). (Mark 3:14-17) He called the sons of Zebedee “Sons of Thunder”. And they certainly lived up to their reputation. In Mark 9:38, ³⁸ John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone using Your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group.” (Like, hey dude, this is our ministry!). Or in Mark chapter 10, ³⁷ They replied, “When You sit on Your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to You, one on Your right and the other on Your left.” (Jesus, we’d like the two corner offices). And look what they say in Luke 9 when some people reject Jesus. ⁵⁴ When James and John saw this, they said to Jesus, “Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?” (Luke 9:54) I honestly believe these two were called “Sons of Thunder” because here is an example of the apple not falling far from the tree. Apparently the thundering temper and the assertiveness of Zebedee could be seen in both James and John.

When I look at this brief snapshot of James and John, I see two men who were possessive, controlling, and who thought they had Jesus all figured out. They knew what they knew, they knew others didn’t know, and they knew that they were right. I imagine the same could have been said about Zebedee.

Let’s contrast this with the story of a man named Jahaziel. He was such a man of noble character that even the King listened when he spoke (Read 2 Chronicles 20:1-19). It is significant that the whole assembly listened to the godly counsel of this man. And the fact that they did indicates that he was a man who could be trusted. Here was a man who was respected within the community. Here was a man whose word could be trusted. His reputation preceded him.

Did you happen to notice how the Chronicler traces Jahaziel’s heritage? He indicates that Jahaziel’s father was Zechariah. Well, Zechariah just happened to be one of the Levites Jehoshaphat sent out into the land to teach people the Laws of God (2 Chronicles 17:7). Jahaziel actually came from a long line of musicians who served at the Temple. They were part of the Praise Team. And I believe we are told these things for an important reason. Jahaziel’s character was formed by the godly influence of the men in his life. Contrast that with the character inherited by James and John.

I believe a father has a responsibility to pass along godliness to his children; that they understand what good and noble character looks like. I also believe that if a father will smother his child with affection, encouragement, and his blessing, he will fill his child with something no one else can. But if a father starves his child of these things when they are young, they will spend a lifetime looking for them in ways too horrible to imagine.

I’ll never forget the first time I heard the song “Cats in the Cradle”. I was spending the night at my cousin’s house. As the song came to a close, my cousin was unusually sober.  It seemed to me that he had a hole in his heart that had never been filled.

I doubt most fathers understand how deeply they impact their children. Most fathers simply raise their children the way they were raised. And if your father passed godliness and his blessing on to you (that he made you feel valued and important to him), that is a good thing. But I find too many fathers who speak the same hurtful and cruel words they heard as a child. I see too many fathers ignore their children; fathers who fail to impress godliness and holiness and righteousness upon little hearts. And if you starve your children of your blessing, you will create an empty hole in their life that they will never fill even into adult hood. And regret will fill your heart one day when you realize they’ve grown up just like you.