공동체와 양육

Honoring the Next Generation (2 SAM14:1-33)

2012.09.09Rev. Eddie Byun

Honor the next generation through training, time, and touch, because children learn to trust God's love from parents who train them, give them time, and show them affection.

Parents and all believers are called to train the next generation in God's word

Psalm 78 and Deuteronomy 11 show that God commands his people to declare his testimonies and teach his commandments to their children. The primary place for this discipleship is the home, not the church or Sunday school, so parents carry the main responsibility. Yet the command applies to all believers, including single people and married couples without children, who can disciple younger believers and serve in children's and youth ministries. Surround children with Scripture and the truth of God's word so that they are shaped by it, as the speaker's own parents did with the framed verses in their home.

David failed to train Absalom, and Joab's scheme exposes that failure (2 Samuel 14:1-20)

After Amnon's sin and Absalom's revenge, David did nothing to discipline or raise up his children in the ways of the Lord. Joab sends a wise woman from Tekoa to tell a story that moves David to see his own duty. Her plea for mercy for her son becomes a challenge: David grants mercy to a murderer in her case, so why not to his own son Absalom? Joab wanted David to restore his son for the sake of his kingdom and his relationship with God. When parents neglect training, children grow up following the ways of the world, and the world speaks into their lives in their place.

Absalom's hair reveals a heart that values appearance over God (2 Samuel 14:25-27)

The author suddenly describes Absalom's beauty, his hair cut once a year, and his children, and this detail reveals what Absalom valued most. David longed to gaze on the beauty of the Lord, but Absalom gazed on his own reflection. Peer pressure and the values of this world, shown in advertisements that target Korean youth, shape children to measure themselves by outward appearance. God looks at the heart, so we must teach the next generation, especially girls, that true beauty comes from a quiet and gentle spirit that is precious in God's sight.

Honor children with time, because for them love is spelled T-I-M-E (2 Samuel 14:21-24)

David brings Absalom back but tells him to live apart in his own house and never enter his presence, which is the deepest pain of rejection a child can feel. Children, like the speaker's own son with his toe touching his father, need to know that their parents are still with them. Neglecting time with children tells them they are not important, which deepens their fear of being abandoned. Children who study abroad apart from their parents wrestle with this fear, so parents should put family above academic achievement. Parents should call their overseas children and tell them that they love them and miss them.

Honor children with touch and show them the Father who runs to meet them (2 Samuel 14:28-33)

Absalom waits two years in Jerusalem without seeing his father, then sets Joab's barley field on fire to force a meeting. When he asks to be put to death at his father's hand, he reveals the cry of a child longing for his father's touch and attention. David kisses Absalom, but it comes too late, because his heart has hardened and rebellion turns to revenge. Jesus shows the true Father in the parable of the prodigal son, who waits, runs, receives, and forgives. The message the next generation needs is that Jesus loves them, died for them, will never leave them, and that they belong to him forever.

Apply to Life

  • 우리는 다음 세대를 말씀으로 훈련하는 일을 가정과 교회에서 함께 감당합시다.
  • 우리는 자녀들과 함께 보내는 시간을 가장 소중히 여기고 가족과 관계를 학업보다 우선합시다.
  • 우리는 외국에 있는 자녀들에게 전화하여 사랑하고 그리워한다고 말해 줍시다.
  • 우리는 외모보다 마음을 보시는 하나님의 기준으로 다음 세대에게 참된 아름다움을 가르칩시다.
  • 우리는 한국 땅에서 하나님이 우리를 보내신 뜻을 기억하고, 어려운 지역의 아이들에게 복음을 전하는 일에 힘씁시다.

This summary was made automatically from the sermon's captions and may differ from the sermon.

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