“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4)

Thank God for our parents. Without them we wouldn’t be here. It pleased God to continue his work of creation by giving you life through a mom and a dad. God continues to care, provide, and protect us through the parents he gives us. This is at least God’s design and intention for the family, to see one another as gift and to share life together in love. 

This is the heart of the Fourth Commandment where God instructs children to honor their father and mother. In his Small Catechism, Luther explains rather than despising and angering our parents, children should honor, serve, obey, love and cherish them. To see our parents as a gift from God causes hearts to cherish and love them. Love can’t help but bear the fruit of willful service and obedience. Looking at one another through the lens of a God-given gift makes all the difference.

There is no “Commandment” for parents though, is there? Yes, there are several places in Scripture where parents are instructed in how to raise and treat their children. Although the particular guidelines may differ, the lens perscription is still the same; see your children as a gift from God. When parents see their child as a gift from the hand of God, they see their role in a whole new light. Dads and moms become a portrait to their children of their heavenly Father, mirroring God’s gracious love, his sacrificial care, tireless provision, and tender guidance and protection. This is the hands-on way of raising children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

The thing about parents is that they are sinners too. I’ve never met a parent who doesn’t have regrets, or who hasn’t wished they could do some things over. Parents need forgiveness too just like children. This is perhaps the most profound way a parent can teach their children the faith, when a parent is on the receiving end of God’s forgiving grace.

God loves to give gifts. He gave his most precious gift, his very own Son, to die for the sins of the world, and “the world” includes parents. God has given parents the gift of a family to love and to care for. Sharing life together in Christ makes all the difference.

“I the Lord will be your Father, Savior, Comforter, and Brother. Go, My children; I will keep you and give you peace.” (Go, My Children, with My Blessing” 922 st.4)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

 – Pastor Darrin Sheek