May 11, 2025 Faith Begins at home: The Family Makeover | Deuteronomy 6

Today we will reflect on Deuteronomy 6, The Family Makeover. In Deuteronomy, we hear the law given in Leviticus and Exodus repeated a second time. Moses is teaching the people of Israel the importance of observing the laws God has given them in order to shape them into God’s people. Moses is teaching the adults so that they can teach their children and grandchildren to love and serve the Lord. Twice Moses says, “Hear Israel,” and twice he mentions “so that,” to emphasize his teaching that this is important so the children, grandchildren, and the generations to come will know & fear the Lord and live long faithful lives in the Promised Land. 

Transcript

The Family Makeover

Deuteronomy 6

Deuteronomy means “repetition of the law,” or “second law.” Our passage happens near the end of Moses’ life as he prepares Israel to enter the Promised Land. Moses keeps repeating the commands and laws that God has given Israel in order to shape them into his people so they can represent him to the nations. Moses has guided the people for the past 40 years in the wilderness and knows both their parents and now this new generation of Israel. He sees that the children can be just as stubborn, self-centered, rebellious, and forgetful of God as their parents were. It’s because of their stubbornness, fear, and lack of trust when they refused to enter the Promised Land, that they had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years until they died. Now it’s only their children and grandchildren who are preparing to enter the Promised Land. 

We all want our families to be strong in our faith and trust in God, and yet the reality is that we’re not all that different from the Israelites. We don’t always make Jesus the center and foundation of our homes; we get focused on other things, many of them really good, but often give them more priority than we give God. Last week we were challenged to begin our home makeover by choosing with Joshua, “as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” decision. This morning we’re turning to the “repetition of the law” to see what that looks like. 

The Israelites don’t have memories of the Red Sea, and Mount Sinai, and the giving of the Ten Commandments. Moses gives them a strong reminder that they’re responsible for the next generations to know the Lord and his commands and decrees. Moses strongly emphasizes obedience to the “commands, decrees, and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” Moses gives them a long-term vision for their families, “so that your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God,” and “so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.” When you make the decision to be an “as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord,” family, and make this the foundation of your family, to live according to the laws and commands of the Lord, it will impact and shape your family: who you are, your values, priorities, and loves.” 

The Jews, like many cultures, think in terms of generations and hundreds of years. Moses mentions that God is the God of their ancestors, but also looks forward to their children and their children after them. Decisions and choices you make today impact not only yourself, but generations down the road. Do you ever think of what you want your children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren to look and be like, of what values and priorities will shape their lives? If you want them to serve and love the Lord, it begins with you choosing obedience to the Lord’s ways. I think of how my grandparents immigrated to Canada after WW II so that that their children and their children’s children would be able to have a better life. I know from some of the stories you’ve shared with me, that this is part of your stories too. Part of the immigration story was the desire to quickly build churches and Christian schools to center their lives on Jesus, and growing our faith as an everyday faith. 

Moses calls out twice, “Hear, O Israel.” The first time he calls them to obedience to the Lord so that it will go well for them. In the second “Hear O Israel,” Moses gives us what is called the Shema, “The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” 5 times Moses uses the word you or your; our family makeovers begin with you and your commitment to carefully obey the law of the Lord, to keep the commands of Jesus. 

Obedience is rooted in the love of God, “Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and strength.” This is the greatest commandment; Jesus uses this verse to summarize the first half of the Ten Commandments which Moses had repeated to them in the previous chapter. This is what God wanted from Israel, what God wants from us, a genuine love that flows through our whole life, a love freely given and expressed in our daily lives, leading to a blessed life for all those who commit themselves to obeying God. Jesus picks up on this when he tells his followers, “If you love me, you will keep my commands.” 

The Law was given to Israel as a gift at Mount Sinai right after God freed them from slavery to Egypt and her gods. Jesus’ commands keep us free from falling into slavery to the gods of our day. When we live in obedience to God’s laws and decrees, we find freedom. A question we might ask ourselves is, “What would our family and friends say we love with all our heart, soul, and strength?” Remember, what you love is what your children will learn to love.  

Our family makeover begins with you and your commitment to carefully obey the will and commands of God, if you don’t, why would you expect the next generations to? How do we begin to pass our faith on to our children and grandchildren and all the children and youth of our church family? As mentioned last week, it begins with you, with loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, and strength. You can’t pass on what you don’t have. Then you have to model it out in your own life, being an example for them, walking the talk all the time, not just on Sundays. It’s helpful to see how this love is to be cultivated. The people of Israel are told to keep the words in their heart; to be continually mindful of them. 

But it’s not always easy to live this way. The Search Institute discovered that 48% of churches youth see their mom as very religious, 23% of them see their dad as very religious, 28% of them have talked with their mom about faith, while 13% of them have talked with their dad about faith. My prayer is that our statistics in Bethel are better than this, but it does show us that faith walk and talk isn’t happening nearly as often as it could or should. When we look at some of the reasons faith talking isn’t happening as often in our homes is partly because of how churches and family worship have changed over the past 75 years. 

Shortly after WW II, churches began separating the family by age with children leaving part way through the service for Sunday School, hiring youth pastors that focused on youth worship and faith formation and slowly parents began to expect the church to train up their children in the faith. the problem is that churches enabled this by creating ministries that were church focused instead of coming alongside the homes and equipping them to be the centers of faith formation, where, “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up,” are the normal part of our family life. They’re to do this practically, by reciting them at home and away, that means everywhere! They’re to do this when they rose and lay down, all day long. They’re to bind them physically on their hands and fix them on their foreheads. They’re to write them on their doorposts and on their gates. The Israelites are to literally submerge their whole family in God. God doesn’t teach us to drop our children off at church and expect the church to teach them the faith, or for the church to not engage the parents and grandparents and extended family to join with them in raising our children in the faith.

Moses calls the people to “Fear the Lord, your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. do not follow other gods.” Just like in Moses’ time, there are plenty of gods enticing us to follow them and they will give us our heart’s desires, but then only give us an illusion of what we think we want. When tragedy comes, they abandon us in our brokenness and hurt because their promises are all empty air. My brother and sister-in-law lost a son to SIDS. Do you rally think any of the gods of today, whether they’re pleasure, wealth, beauty, sports, or work could have comforted them? No! It was only faith in God that carried them through, faith learned from our parents and grandparents who lived through hard times and shared how knowing that through Jesus’ death and resurrection, one day they’ll be reunited again with their son. 

Parents and grandparents are the primary ones responsible for raising the family in the faith. Faith formation begins at home, but is strongly supported by the church. Church is responsible for coming alongside the parents, equipping them, encouraging them, being part of your extended family as mentors, friends, and non-bio family. What simple, practical steps can you take to love and serve God everywhere, in everything, all the time?