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Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger,
but bring them up in the discipline and
instruction of the Lord.
Ephesians 6:4
Ephesians 6:4
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From the Lutheran Witness (http://www.lcms.org/pages/wPage.asp?ContentID=557&IssueID=34 )
In our culture today a growing number of families are without a “father figure” in the home. If having an adult male to look up to is as vital to a boy’s maturation as I believe it is, doesn’t this place single moms in an impossible situation?
The fact that God’s Word draws so much attention to widows and the fatherless emphasizes God’s special concern when a male role model is absent. In doing so, God’s Word prohibits us from pretending single moms don’t have more pressure, stress, and responsibility. They do! They do double duty by shouldering the responsibilities of both mother and father!
Where, then, might there be help in providing a male role model? Here are some suggestions:
- Extended family. Don’t underestimate the influence of grandfathers, uncles, and older cousins in partially filling the void. My father filled just such a role for two nephews whose father died when they were both under age six.
- Congregation family. Following God’s Word to care for the fatherless, individual members of the Christian community can step in. Often, we are willing, but we don’t know how to volunteer with-out causing offense. Many men in the congregation would be flattered to find themselves asked to be a child’s male role model. Ask.
- Neighborhood family. How would any single mom manage her multiple responsibilities without friends and neighbors? Neighbors can become fictive kin; not really related, but just as close as if they were. Good male role models can be found there.
- Community family. Many communities are already sensitive to the developmental needs of children. “Big Brother” and “Big Sister” programs are designed to help the nontraditional family, and male role models can be found in Boy Scouts, 4-H Clubs, Junior Achievement organizations, and other community-based groups.
Don’t overlook the fact that boys often find their own male role models: a teacher, a coach, a pastor, a scout leader—even a good friend. But at the same time, be careful. We live in a fallen world where predators are lurking. Expect organizations to complete background checks on their employees and volunteers. – John W. Oberdeck
The key term to keep in mind is family, whether extended, congregation, neighborhood, or community. Make family as large as it needs to be for your child.
(From The Lutheran Witness – http://www.lcms.org/pages/wPage.asp?ContentID=556&IssueID=34 )
Are fathers really all that important? Is there a unique contribution that fathers provide for their children, particularly for their sons? Is there something missing in a boy’s life when a father isn’t present?
Our contemporary culture struggles to answer these questions for several reasons, but the most obvious reason single-parent households, usuallyis because there are so many headed by mothers who are working very hard to do the best they can for the children they love. To point out that something’s still missing in spite of their best efforts seems thoughtless, if not cruel.
Nevertheless, if we look at the questions from the perspective of our heavenly Father, as He’s revealed Himself to us in His Word, we can affirm the influence of dads without heaping guilt on overworked moms. The Old Testament in particular has a lot to say about this subject; but it comes from a different cultural setting with different home-life expectations. Women raising children alone were not at all uncommon in ancient Israel either. In fact, the situation receives comment throughout the Old Testament.
God Cares for the Fatherless
Unlike today, when there may be many reasons why a boy’s father isn’t available, in ancient Israel there was generally one reason, the child was an orphan. The significant role provided by the father in the home was most deeply felt by its absence. That is why we find the word fatherless 42 times in the Old Testament ESV translation.
There were three circumstances that put a person at risk in ancient Israel: to be an alien (sojourner), to be fatherless, or to be a widow; and each receives special attention from the Lord. God Himself promises that He will execute justice for the fatherless and the widow (Deut. 10:18). God makes sure that the fatherless aren’t scorned or excluded from the worship life of the community (Deut. 16:14). They are granted the right to glean the harvest fields and to receive a portion of the tithe (Deut. 24:20; 26:12).
Over and over again, not only in the Law but also in the Prophets, God warns His people not to mistreat or cheat the fatherless (Ex. 22:22; Jer. 22:3). To mistreat the fatherless and the widow is to demonstrate the worst forms of evil (Ps. 94:6; Mal. 3:5) but to care for the fatherless and the widow is a sign of righteousness (Job 29:12). No greater curse do we find in the Psalms than this: “May his children be fatherless” (109:9)—and that’s not merely wishing the death of the enemy, but for the desolation of his children, too. According to Scripture, to be without a father is serious business.
How serious? To be fatherless is so serious that the community around the fatherless has a responsibility to be “father” for the fatherless! In today’s world, like the Old Testament, fatherlessness can bring with it severe economic disadvantages. Statistics tell us that the greatest predictor of poverty in the United States is single-parent families. Yet, there is a type of poverty more serious than not having one’s physical and material needs met as one might want. There are genuine spiritual needs. There are deep relationship needs, too. I believe these needs are different for a boy than they are for a girl, and it has to do with a boy’s relationship with his father.
Spiritual Growth
Spiritual growth takes place as the Holy Spirit works through the Word to bring faith, and then strengthens faith through the Sacraments. When I was a child, like St. Paul (1 Cor. 13:11) I thought like a child, and phrases like “Word and Sacrament” seemed vague and abstract. I couldn’t wrap my head around what they really meant. I needed to see what those words meant in action. Because I had the gift of a faithful Christian father, I had the example that I required. I needed someone to show me what it means to be a man of God and a man of faith.
So what’s missing, especially for a boy, when dad’s not around? To answer that question, and in so doing to affirm the importance of a father in a boy’s life, I began to think about what I would have not seen, heard, or observed if I had grown up fatherless. What would I have missed?
Tales of an Absent Model
The first thing I would have missed is my earliest memory of sitting on my dad’s lap in church during the sermon, with his big arms around me and me playing with his thumbs. I wouldn’t have seen both my parents going to Communion (this was long before the time when small children were welcome at the rail), and then when they returned, kneeling in the pew in a prayer of thanksgiving. Had I been fatherless, I wouldn’t have observed that a man of God is humble before the Almighty.
Had I been fatherless, I would never have had my father as my seventh-grade Sunday School teacher, nor watched him study the Bible on Saturday night, preparing as well as his farming and management skills permitted so that he could engage bored, disinterested early adolescents. I wouldn’t have noticed that a man of God does not give up, but persists in trusting the Word and its power.
Had I been fatherless, he wouldn’t have been present for me to test myself against when we were harvesting the crop, racing down the rows to see who was fastest (it wasn’t me). I never would have overheard him speak to my mother as we were washing up for lunch those words that to this day continue to motivate and inspire me: “There’s a boy after my own heart.” After hearing those words, there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for my dad. If I had been fatherless, I wouldn’t have learned that a man of God is slow to anger, slow to criticize, but quick to praise and encourage those he loves.
Had I been fatherless, I would not have been in that neighboring church on a hot Sunday morning for the adult Baptism and confirmation of one of my dad’s co-workers, a woman with whom he had shared the account of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection at the right time in her life so that the Holy Spirit, working through the Word, brought her to faith—a woman whose earthly life wouldn’t be that much longer due to cancer but whose eternal life of faith was just beginning. If I had been fatherless, I wouldn’t have had that example of a man of God sharing his faith in witness to Jesus Christ.
Had I been fatherless, I would not decades later have overheard my dad in conversation with the president of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, following the service at which I was installed as an assistant professor. “You must be proud of your son”; to which my father replied, “We are proud of all our children.” Even in my late thirties, had I been fatherless, I wouldn’t have been reminded as a father myself that a man of God loves all ofhis children to the best of his ability, prays for them, and thanks God when those children trust in Jesus.
Comparing Our Stories
I recognize that each of those qualities I absorbed by watching my father—regularity with humility in worship, persistence in the face of discouragement in teaching God’s Word, judicious use of encouragement as motivator and reward, willingness freely to share Jesus with others, and showing no favoritism but appreciating each son or daughter for who they are—could very well have been modeled for me by my mother, and in many ways they were. But it wouldn’t have been the same. I was a boy. I wanted to be a man. A man needed to show me.
Are you a father? Do you hope to be? Who has shown you? For whom are you the model? The great thing about this father-son relationship is that it doesn’t have to be a biological father in order for it to work; not in God’s economy. He’s modeled it Himself for us, first by taking the title “Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15) and then becoming our true Father by adopting us as His sons (Gal. 4:5). We have been loved by our heavenly Father through Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, and through faith given us by the Holy Spirit, we are called His brothers (Heb. 2:11).
I realize that these passages are not to be interpreted in a gendered way—all believing men and women are “sons of God” through faith in Christ Jesus, and we are all as much sisters as we are brothers in Christ. Yet, the point I want to make is simply this: a boy as a child needs someone to look up to, and to want to be like, to have as a model of what it means to be a Christian man. Though no Christian man would think himself worthy to assume such a role, for Christ’s sake each Christian man is capable of modeling what it means to confess sins, be forgiven, and live for Jesus Christ. That’s really all that’s needed. That much I think we can do. - John W. Oberdeck
Women More Likely Than Men to Pray, Believe in God
Women are more likely to profess belief in a God, pray and attend religious services than men, according to a new analysis of survey data. Ahead of Women’s History Month in March, the Pew Research Center offered new insight on sex and religiosity
Tue, Mar. 03, 2009 Posted: 01:52 PM EST
Women are more likely to profess belief in a God, pray and attend religious services than men, according to a new analysis of survey data.
Ahead of Women’s History Month in March, the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life offered new insight on sex and religiosity based on a previous survey.
After gleaning over its 2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, the Pew Forum found that women are more religious than men on a variety of measures.
When it comes to women, 86 percent are affiliated with a religion, 77 percent have absolutely certain belief in a God or a universal spirit, 63 percent say religion is very important in their lives and 44 percent attend worship services at least weekly, according to survey results.
The proportion of men who claimed such religious behavior and beliefs was lower. Compared to women, only 79 percent of men are affiliated with a religion, 65 percent have absolutely certain belief in a God or a universal spirit, 49 percent say religion is very important in their lives and 34 percent attend worship services at least weekly.
Women were also more likely than men to have absolutely certain belief in a personal God, 58 to 45 percent.
The biggest difference in religious behaviors between men and women was their prayer habits. Sixty-six percent of women say they pray at least daily, leading men by 17 percentage points.
What accounts for this difference?
In a 2002 commentary for Gallup Poll, George H. Gallup Jr. suggested that women traditionally have tended to spend more time then men in raising children and thereby also spent more time overseeing their church activities. In the past, women usually tend to have more flexible schedules than men, permitting them the time for more involvement with the church, Gallup wrote.
Other factors, according to Gallup, that might explain why women are more religious than men included their tendency to be more open in sharing personal problems, be more relational and have more of an empirical rather than a rational basis for faith.
The Pew Forum Religious Landscape Survey, released in February 2008, also revealed that men were more likely than women to switch religious affiliation, 45 to 42 percent. Moreover, men are twice as likely to say they are atheist or agnostic compared to women, 5.5 to 2.6 percent.
Women are more likely than men to be affiliated with nearly every major Christian group, from Protestantism to Catholicism. But the situation was reversed when it came to non-Christian religions, including Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, which more men than women are affiliated with.
Elena Garcia
Christian Post Reporter
**
What does this mean for Remember the Sabbath Day?
There are multiple numberings of the ten commandments out there. Sacramental churches seem more likely to use the split of the coveting commands into two commandments see (The Ten Commandments). Many non-sacramental mainline churchs divide the first command of no other gods into two, including “You shall not make for yourself an idol” and combining the coveting commands. I have come to appreciate the Jewish or Talmudic numbering which would move away from the strict term of commandments toward more the full meaning of Torah as teachings because they begin with “I am the Lord, Your God, who saved you out of slavery in Egypt.”
This is Gospel, God’s actions for our sake, and to a Lutheran it is the exact opposite of Law/Commandment. But it is the right place to start. Along with this picture of our relationship with God I like the translation of the recent God’s Word translation. Here is my own combination of all the above that I often use to meditate on “The Ten.”
I am the Lord your God who saved you from slavery (therefore)
Never have any other gods
Never misuse the name of the Lord your God
Always remember the sabbath day by keeping it holy
Always honor your father and your mother
Never murder
Never commit adultery
Never steal
Never lie about your neighbor
Never covet anything that is your neighbors.
(I believe the always and never make God’s intentions clear and also leave no wiggle room in our assessment of ourselves)
By: Martin Luther
So if you call God your Father, live your time as temporary residents on earth in fear. He is the God who judges all people by what they have done, and he doesn’t play favorites. 1 Peter 1:17
God wants us serve our neighbor while we live here on earth. If a Christian is a sincere believer, he has all of God’s treasures and is God’s child. The rest of his life on earth is merely a pilgrimage. God allows him to live in this body and walk on this earth so that he can help other people and bring them to heaven. Therefore, we must use all things on earth in no other way than as a guest who travels across the country and comes to an inn. He spends the night there and takes only food and lodging from the innkeeper. He doesn’t claim that the innkeeper’s property now belongs to him.
This is how we must deal with material possessions, as if they did not belong to us. We should enjoy only as much as is necessary for us to maintain the body and use the rest to help our neighbors. Similarly, the Christian life is like being an overnight guest. For “we don’t have a permanent city here on earth” (Hebrews 13:14), but we must go to our Father in heaven.
-from Luthers Works v 30, page 35
It is a insightful and challenging picture of our possessions. We are to have only what we need, not more. That goes contrary to the honest assessment of most of our lives. The idea is that what we have left over from what we need is what we are to bless our neighbor with. Isn’t that the real meaning of the word blessings? That which we can give away to serve our neighbor, those things that by which we bless others.
Imagine if we lived this way, first how much we would bless, and how much less we would HAVE to have. Serving our neighbors is no less than releasing what God has given us in excess, certainly possessions are part of this but put that in the context of His love shown through Jesus Christ. We ALWAYS have excess of love. Love with action and gift is a powerful sign of God’s work in this world.
- Pastor Shawn
This was a question that a member of the church I serve asked about the Small Catechism, so I asked the translators of the most recent of Fortress publishings “The Book of Concord”:
Dear Dr. Wengert,
(intro excerpted)
Small Catechism, Close of the Commandments, Luther says – “God promises grace and every good thing to all those who keep these commandments”
I was wondering why Luther would use ‘grace’ here especially in a small catechism where every word counts. I suspect you can see the difficulty of linking grace to keeping commandments and before I let you know how I responded I would like to know how you would respond– to what on the surface appeared to be a contradiction of “grace only” for my member.
In His Service,
Pastor Shawn
Dear Pastor,
First, the “grace” spoken of here is connected directly to the commandments of God (not the promises of salvation) and to the notion that commandments are not without benefits and rewards. The “grace and every good thing” spoken of here has to do with this world, as in the fourth commandment where there is a specific promise (“that it may go well with you”), which Luther interprets in the Large Catechism. This has to do with the grace and blessings in this life that, in fact, follow the keeping of commandments.
Second, an “ought” never implies a “can.” Of course grace and blessing are promised (Deuteronomy: “Do this and you shall live”), but, as Luther always says, the commandments do not give us the power to fulfill them. The commandments are fulfilled only by faith, which is the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word (third article). Thus, speaking of the first article of the creed in the Large Catechism, Luther says, “This article ought to humble and terrify us all if we believed it.” Similarly, fulfilling the commandments gives grace and blessing! So, how are you doing? The facts are that, because of sin, the commandments do not and cannot give what God promises. Instead, they only work wrath and show sin. That is why the commandments come first in the catechisms of Luther and then the Creed (God’s grace in Christ, especially in the second article).
Third, do not imagine that Luther uses the word “grace” in exactly the same way in every instance. By 1529, the word generally means for him simply “God’s favor” or “God’s mercy.” Thus, his use of the word “Grace” here is simply a paraphrase of the biblical text that he is explaining. It is not the same as “saving grace” or some such thing.
Finally, Luther does say that God promises such grace, but he ties it directly to “those who love and trust him,” that is, fulfill the first commandment (which is actually to fulfill all the commandments), a fulfillment that occurs not in our works at all but precisely in the work of the Holy Spirit, who makes us believers (third article). Then, any works flow from that very faith (trust).
Yours in Christ,
T J Wengert
A star alerted three astronomers of the birth of a king (Matthew 2). It was spectacular enough that they began a journey to Jerusalem (and eventually Bethlehem) to seek out a newborn king. After stopping where they expected to find the king then instead found the star-told king in a simple house with a small child in the small town of Bethlehem. A star lead them to the king.
What kind of star are you?
Are you a protostar? A protostar is a star that is just getting it’s beginnings wrapped in a cloudy nebula. You may have just learned about Jesus and perhaps you like what you know so far but the picture isn’t altogether clear yet. You are still gathering stories and testimonies and knowledge about Jesus like a protostar gathers dust and gases before it begins to shine like a star. A protostar might ask someone to learn along with them to share their journey but the light they shine does not lead yet.
Hopefully you are not like a black hole which is represents the death of a star in an event that creates such a gravity field that even light cannot escape from it. A black hole only takes in (light, matter, everything), it doesn’t give out light. A black hole would not guide wisemen, it would hide any path from them. A picture of sin and selfishness, a black hole takes but doesn’t give, it destroys and does not share.
A pulsar is a rapidly spinning, dying star that sends out radio waves at regular intervals. These radio waves once tricked scientists into thinking that the radio waves were from extra-tesrrestrial intelligent life. A pulsar acts as if it is alive when in fact it is rapidly dying. A star that acts like it is alive and doing the right thing will not lead anyone to the king. It’s actions will lead people only to discover that the power behind their life is the desire to hide the truth from others. Acting good is different from God making you good so that you can be a guide.
We owe a lot to one star in particular. It is our star, the sun. Technically some scientists call it a medium sized, G-class star but I call it a source of warmth, light and life. When we talk about God’s care for us in our truth statement called the creed we say “God continues to take care of us” and “God richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.” A star like our sun would be the kind of light that would lead people to the king, to Jesus. When we care for others when no one else does, when we ask how someone is doing and take the time to listen to the answer, we shine like stars (Philippians 2:15). When our source of light, Jesus Christ, shines through us in acceptance and forgiveness, then others can be guided to the light-giver and see what kind of star they will become through Him.
A child asked me for a cup of cold water, I knew Jesus would want to give one to the child because he said so (Matthew 10:42). So I went to fetch the water for the child. At first I put the water in a plastic bottle but then I thought about the dangers of plastic and I didn’t want any cancerous toxins leaching into his water so I poured that out and put it aside, then I grabbed an old canteen but remembered I read about a connection between aluminum and alzheimers (glad I remembered that) so I poured that out and put it aside, then I saw styrofoam – nope, glass – not good for the road, leather? - what if he doesn’t like drinking from an animal’s skin?, finally I went into the backyard and carved a cup from some soft stone – perfect. Stone cup filled with cold water in hand I went to the door, the child was gone.
Rules, fears, warnings, political correctness, scientific data, we would all be frozen in fear unable to do anything. Strange that we’ve made so many advances we would nearly be carving our cups from stone out of fear. Sounds like a giant step forward, or are we back in the stone age?
No wonder people don’t believe in absolutes anymore because the rules in the world, often supported by science, are constantly changing. This is good for you, now it isn’t any longer. Eat this it’s good for you, no it’s not. This will make you healthy becomes instead “this will make you sick.”
God knows how we are built, from the smallest quantum particle to our human form, God made us. There are some absolutes that God built into this little universe of ours, at least 10. Not absolutes that freeze us in place avoiding this and that but commands that drive us to action. Words like love, pray, rejoice, honor, support, improve, help and encourage become the groundwork of God’s people who respond to the gift of His Son Jesus Christ by living their faith in positive action to their neighbor.
Hear the call – The Ten
INFANT DISCOVERED IN BARN, CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES LAUNCH PROBE
Nazareth Carpenter Being Held On Charges Involving Underage Mother
Bethlehem, Judea – Authorities were today alerted by a concerned citizen who noticed a family living in a barn.
Upon arrival, Family Protective Service personnel, accompanied by police, took into protective care an infant child named Jesus, who had been wrapped in strips of cloth and placed in a feeding trough by his 14-year old mother, Mary of Nazareth.
During the confrontation, a man identified as Joseph, also of Nazareth, attempted to stop the social workers. Joseph, aided by several local shepherds and some unidentified foreigners, tried to forestall efforts to take the child, but were restrained by the police.
The owner of the barn is also being held for questioning. The manager of the Bethlehem Inn faces possible revocation of his license for violating health and safety regulations by allowing people to stay in the stable. Civil authorities are also investigating the zoning violations involved in maintaining livestock in a commercially-zoned district.
The location of the minor child was not released, and the prospect for a quick resolution to this case is doubtful. Asked about when Jesus would be returned to his mother, a Child Protective Service spokesperson said, “The father is middle-aged and the mother definitely underage. We are checking with officials in Nazareth to determine what their legal relationship is.
Joseph has admitted taking Mary from her home in Nazareth because of a census requirement. However, because she was obviously pregnant when they left, investigators are looking into other reasons for their departure.
Joseph is being held without bond on pending charges of kidnapping and child endangerment. Mary was taken to the Bethlehem General Hospital where she is being examined by doctors. Charges may also be filed against her for endangerment. She will also undergo psychiatric evaluation because of her claim that she is a virgin and that the child is from God.
The director of the psychiatric wing said, “I don’t profess to have the right to tell people what to believe, but when their beliefs adversely affect the safety and well-being of others – in this case her child – we must consider her a danger to others. I’m confidant that with the proper therapy regimen we can get her back on her feet.”
A spokesperson for the governor’s office said, “Who knows what was going through their heads? But regardless, their treatment of the child was inexcusable, and the involvement of these others frightening. There is much we don’t know about this case, but for the sake of the child and the public, you can be assured that we will pursue this matter to the end.”
A San Diego man allegedly stabbed a barber who gave him an unacceptable haircut. The man attacked the shop owner as he was closing down and slashed him twice in the face. The motive was that the man was unhappy with a previous haircut, according to authorities. (Source: 10News.com)
/ a man’s vanity leads him to hurt his neighbor because of the temporary look the perpetrator received from a haircut. What has been damaged in this man’s ability to control his anger? What boundaries do not exist when he can hurt someone for a haircut that isn’t even permanent? His actions are the opposite of love your neighbor.
