Christian Education Sunday                                                              June 10, 2007

 

“Pass the Baton”

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

 

            4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  7 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.  8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

 

In the year 2004 in Athens, Greece, the four members of the USA women’s 4x100 relay team prepared to race for Olympic gold.  The 4x100 race was short and intense - just one lap around the track.  It would all be over in about 45 seconds.  Each runner only ran 100 meters and then passed the baton to the next runner.  The USA women had won gold four out of the last five Olympics and they were favored to win it again.  They had the fastest runners, the most experience, and they were the current holders of the world record.  All they had to do was pass the baton well and they were a shoo-in to win gold.

 

The gun sounded and the race began.  The first runner raced out to the lead as expected.  She handed the baton to runner number two - no problem.  Number two runner increased the lead even more.  But as she got ready to pass the baton to number three, number three put her hand out a little too late; number two let go a little too soon - and the baton dropped harmlessly to the track.  The race was over.  Not only did the USA women fail to finish first; they failed to even finish.  They found out the hard way how important it is to pass the baton.  Pass it well – and you win.  Mess it up – and you lose.  The stakes are high!  There are no second chances. 

 

Today is Christian Education Sunday, a day when we ponder passing the baton with high stakes hanging in the balance.  I’m not talking about the Olympics anymore; now I’m talking about parents passing God’s Word along to their children.  You thought the stakes were high in the race for the Olympic gold medal?  There is even more at stake behind your own front door.  For guidance on passing the baton in your home, we look today to a section of God’s Word in Deuteronomy.  Listen to what Moses told the Israelites about passing the baton in verses 4-6. (read v.4-6)

 

  1. Before you can pass it, you must possess it.

 

Please raise your hand if you have ever passed the baton in a relay race at some point.  From the junior high level all the way up to the Olympic level, there have probably been millions of relay racers who have passed the baton to their teammate.  There has never been even one relay racer to pass a baton they didn’t have.  Before you can pass the baton, you must possess the baton.  The same is true with the Word.  Before you can pass the Word on, you must possess the Word yourself.  That’s why Moses started by saying, “These commands are to be upon YOUR hearts.”

 

And what were those commands?  Love the LORD with all your heart – not in a half-hearted way, but sincerely.  Love the LORD with all your soul – not with hesitation, but immediately.  Love the LORD with all your strength – by engaging every part of your being at full capacity.  So here’s another way to say the command, “Love the LORD with all your heart, soul and strength.”  “Love the LORD with all sincerity, with immediacy and by engaging every part of you at full capacity.”  Simple to understand but not simple to keep.

 

When we see what God commands us to do, we are confronted with our sin.  We’ve approached the Word with a “take-it-or-leave-it” kind of attitude.  We haven’t loved God with all our hearts.  When the Word says something we don’t like, we explore loopholes in a how-can-I-get-out-of-this attitude before we listen and obey.  We haven’t loved God with all our souls.  And who would ever think they have engaged every part of their body and mind at full capacity for the Lord?  Who’d ever suggest they could love the Lord with all their strength?  We fail to keep God’s command.  At this rate, we will never hold the baton.  How can we pass it on?

 

If we are depending on our record of loving God, that is how things stay.  We never hold the baton.  We never pass it on.  And that is why we need Jesus.  We’re depending on His record, not ours.  Jesus loved the LORD sincerely, with all his heart, never half-hearted.  Jesus loved the LORD immediately, with all his soul, never hesitating.  Jesus loved the LORD with all his strength, engaging every part of his body and mind at full capacity to love the LORD his entire life.  We could never do that.  But Jesus did that in our stead.  His perfect life counts for our account.  That’s the baton, trusting that Jesus lived perfectly but that you get credit for it.  A perfect record with no sin - that’s the baton Jesus gives us!  And once we have it, we’re ready to pass it. 

 

  1. It is something YOU must do.

 

Passing the baton to those we love is not something we can afford to delegate.  It is something that YOU must do.  (read v.6-7)

 

It can be scary to know YOU are the one to pass the baton.  An Olympic relay racer might get nervous and afraid.  That job is not for the faint of heart.  Somebody who was unsure of themselves might say, “The stakes are too high; the spotlight is too bright.  There’s a good chance I will mess this up.  Let someone else do it.”

 

I know it can be scary to think, “How can I make sure I do not mess up my child’s Christian education?  How can I love the LORD enough to pass the baton as he wants?”  You know the stakes are high and you know better than anyone else how sinful you are and you are afraid you’ll drop it.  But trust in Jesus for strength.  You’re trusting in him to possess the baton; trust also to pass the baton. 

 

Jesus renews and grows our faith to love the LORD more and more all the time.  We’ll never love him with all our heart – but we will love him with more of our heart than we did yesterday.  We’ll never love him immediately with all of our soul – but we will love him with less hesitation than we did yesterday.  We’ll never love him with all of our strength – but we will engage more of ourselves to love him than we did yesterday.  We’ll never pass the baton perfectly to our kids – but we will pass it better than we did last year.  Don’t be afraid – take up Christ’s call to pass the baton to your kids.  If you need help getting started, let me know.

 

  1. It is an ongoing priority.

 

Passing the baton is important.  It is an ongoing priority; not just a “one and done” kind of thing.  Listen to the ongoing priority as Moses describes it in verses 7-9.  (read v.7-9)

 

To pass it is to leave an impression.  The word “impress” has the idea of “sharply impress” connected to it.  This is to be a deep, sharp, penetrating thing.  It is not to be something light and on the surface.  In order to leave a deep impression, pass the baton often.  Talk to your kids about the Sunday service on the way home.  Ask them to recall one thought from the sermon.  Challenge one another to remember the two Scripture readings for the day.  Think about a hymn that was sung and what those words mean.  Pray at bedtime.  Read Bible stories.  Pass the baton like that and you will leave a deep impression on your kids.  What’s more, you will prepare your kids to leave a deep impression upon their kids – and the wonderful cycle will continue on.

 

Here’s an example of the amazing blessings that can come from passing the baton.  I know of a man who grew up on a farm in rural Wisconsin.  His parents died when he was in 8th grade, and so he dropped out of school to run the farm with his 16-year old brother and take care of his younger siblings.  When he was a little older, he married a young lady from the area.  The two of them decided it was important to attend church regularly, so that is what they did.  When their children were old enough, they sent them to Sunday School.  They also decided to send them to the Lutheran Elementary School connected with their church.  They prayed with their kids before meals and bedtimes.  There was plenty of work to be done, but their priorities were set.  And that was the way they raised their children.  They passed the baton.

 

Now, is that anything monumental?  Is that anything extremely difficult to do?  Was there anything in there that would make CNN Headline News?  No.  But this quiet, off-to-the-side, almost unnoticeable decision that this married couple made to pass the baton year after year has had some tremendous results.  I can tell you the results because those two parents are my Grandpa and sainted Grandma Seeger.  They had six children, and each of their six children had at least four children of their own.  As of right now, when you count up all of the children, grandchildren and in-laws, that one extended family has enjoyed 19 Lutheran teachers, 3 pastors (one of whom is me), 3 building chairmen and 3 church presidents.  And who but the LORD could count all of the collective hours teaching Sunday School, all of the collective hours spent in prayer at the bedsides of children, all of the collective hours memorizing Scripture or giving a friendly hello to a stranger or listening to a friend in need or reaching out to the unchurched or singing in the church choir?  Now when you think of that - that’s monumental.  And that’s just today – who knows what those stats will be in 20 years!  The numbers will have grown even more. 

 

And it’s all because two humble, loving, normal people decided to pass the baton.

 

You pass the baton too.  Pass it often.  Pass it well.  Who knows – maybe in 100 years you’ll have some great-great-great grandson you’ve never met in some pulpit somewhere, preaching to his church, reflecting upon how thankful and lucky he is that you decided to pass the baton – now.  Amen.