A Pebble Off the Old Flintstone - June 18, 2017 sermon

          You know, since it is Father’s Day and since I am a father, I would like to take this opportunity to let my family know what I desire on this special day.  Rather than share the entire list in detail, I thought I would condense it down to a manageable size.  At the nearest Lowes, all tools in isle # 4.  At the Ford dealership, stock # B39J – the red one.  And at Best Buy, just look under my name in the gift registry near the service desk.  Oh.  And you better bring the pickup. 

What?  You think that sounds selfish?  I’m just trying to give them a more specific list this year.  Last year I told them to get me a gift we all could get something out of; they bought me a wallet.

          OK.  So, we all laugh and make fun of Father’s Day gifts.  (“Gee mom, do you think dad would like this battery-operated shoe polisher?”)  But in all seriousness, the one thing I desire most from my children is for them to love God with all their heart, soul, and mind.  I would like to see them become more like Jesus every day.  Sure, that’s what I desire.  The only problem is that I see them becoming more like me. Every now and then I catch a glimpse of myself when I am around my daughters, and that’s scary.  They’re a chip off the old block, or, a Pebble off the old Flintstone (which is how Pebbles Flintstone got her name, by the way).
Watch a clip from "The Blessed Event" aired February 22, 1963 
          I know that I am not the only one who desires to see godliness in his children.  Even the Father in Heaven desires this.  God desires this in us today, and He desired it in those who followed Jesus long ago.

          As Jesus spoke to His followers on the hillside, He called these men and women to “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).  Meaning, a follower of Jesus should reflect the holiness of God through the words of their mouth and the deeds of their hands.  In this way, God is glorified.  To a watching world, a Christian becomes a “Chip off the old block.”  Unfortunately, these followers of Jesus had a hard time honoring God.  Their words and deeds did not reflect the holiness of God.  It was difficult to tell them apart from the rest of the world.  For example, James and John spoke harshly about others (Luke 9:54); Peter cut off a soldier’s ear the night Jesus was arrested (John 18:10).  Their light did not shine too brightly.  We see more of the world and less of the Lord in these disciples.

          However, when you read through the Book of Acts, there is something noticeably different in these same disciples.  Their light begins to shine.  They begin to reflect the Lord in their lives.  They start to resemble their Father.  Take Peter, for example.  Rather than denying Jesus, he takes a bold stand for Jesus (Acts 4:19-20).  Even his heart has changed.  And one significant example is seen during a conflict that threatened to divide the Church.

          Tensions were high within the early church because the new Christians didn’t practice the religion in the same way as the older Christians.  You get the idea; some people were upset because these new Christians were doing things differently.  However, in the middle of this tense situation, Peter – hot-headed Peter – stood and addressed the crowd.  But listen to what came out of his mouth.  ⁶ So the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue. ⁷ At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows: “Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe. ⁸ God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. ⁹ He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith. ¹⁰ So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? ¹¹ We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”

¹² Everyone listened quietly as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles (Acts 15:6-12).

There is no doubt that something changed.  You can almost hear Jesus speaking through Peter.  It seems the whole assembly calmed down after Peter spoke (Acts 15:22).  So, what changed?  What did the Father do to change the hearts of the disciples?  He gave them exactly what they needed; He gave them His Spirit (Acts 2:3).  In other words, the Father knew what His children needed to reflect Jesus in their life, so He gave them a portion of Himself.  Only then did these disciples become the “Light of the World.”

If I desire my children to reflect Jesus in their life, it goes without saying that I will need to first reflect Him in mine.  I mean, if I fall short of being like Jesus, can I expect anything less of my children?  An earthly father can teach his children about faith and salvation.  An earthly father can point his children to Jesus.  That much, we can do.  An earthly father can reflect the Lord by way he lives, but only our Heavenly Father can give a child the Holy Spirit.

The point is, if I want my children to become loving, patient, and kind, then I must give them what they need.  I must reflect these things in my own life and trust that God will faithfully do as He has promised; He will give them His Spirit.

           

I sometimes struggle knowing that I need to represent God to my children.  It gets discouraging at times because of my failures.  After all, I am not perfect.  So, I am concerned about my children becoming a chip off of this block.  However, I cannot hide this light out of fear.  I cannot make excuses because their spiritual development is my responsibility.  I must faithfully demonstrate Jesus to my children by the way that I live and through the words of my mouth.  If I do my part, the Father in Heaven will do His. 

Reflecting Jesus in our own life is no guarantee that our children will turn to Jesus, but it certainly can’t hurt.  We father’s must simply live in faith; convinced that He is able to guard what we have entrusted to Him until the day our children accept Him as Lord (see 2 Timothy 1:12).

Our deepest desire is to see Jesus in the lives of our children, and I think God knows this.  Fathers, we need to reflect Jesus in our own life; we need to point our children to Jesus.  If we desire our children to become a chip off the SOLID rock, they’ll need someone to introduce them to Jesus.  And to have our children learn to love God with all their heart, soul, and mind would be the greatest Father’s Day gift indeed.