Tell the Next Generation (Psalm 78:1-8)

¹ My people, hear my teaching;
listen to the words of my mouth.
² I will open my mouth with a parable;
I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
³ things we have heard and known,
things our ancestors have told us.
⁴ We will not hide them from their descendants;
we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
his power, and the wonders he has done.
⁵ He decreed statutes for Jacob
and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
to teach their children,
⁶ so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.
⁷ Then they would put their trust in God
and would not forget his deeds
but would keep his commands.
⁸ They would not be like their ancestors—
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
whose spirits were not faithful to him.

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What struck me in these verses today is the emphasis on passing along the faith to the next generation.  The psalm is a voiced commitment to make sure that the next generation knows the deeds of the Lord and so puts their trust in Him, unlike some of their ancestors.

This is an appropriate meditation for this week as our new school year gets underway.  Yesterday was the first day for the school year for St. John’s Lutheran School.   Our school is very much on my mind and in my prayers as we seek to carry on our mission during this strange and unusual times.  This is certainly the most unique beginning of any school year that I’ve known, with none of the students except the preschool on campus!  But whether in person or by distance learning, we are seeking to do what this psalm celebrates, to pass on the faith to the next generation.

But I’m also thinking about the parents of these children.  It has been shown time and again that the most effective teachers of the faith to children are in fact their parents.  I mean to take nothing away from the value of the work that we do in providing a Christian school and children’s ministry.  But it has been shown, and I have seen it time and again in my ministry that these are not nearly as effective as the intentional involvement of the parents in the discipleship of their children.  The greatest predictor of whether children will indeed carry on the faith into adulthood is the priority which their parents place on cultivating their children’s faith.

So I am praying for our school, our staff and all of our teachers and aides.  But I am also praying for all the Christian parents of our St. John’s family, that they would be effective teachers of the faith, by word and deed, and so pass on the faith to the next generation.

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