Dr. Ron Sumners
June 5, 2005
July 23, 1995
This verse of Scripture reflects the ancient building code of the Hebrew people. A parapet, or low wall about 3 1/2 feet high, was built around the roof as a fixed part of every Jewish house. It was a practical safety measure like the smoke alarms that are required today. Its purpose was to prevent people from falling from the roof into the street. The law was given so that a homeowner is not guilty of an accidental death. Most all Hebrew houses had outside steps that led to the roof. Most domestic work was done on the flat rooftops. Grain was ground into meal there; cooking and weaving was done on the rooftop. It was like our decks or patios; a place to work, relax, and enjoy the family.
All of life is exposed to potential danger - work and play. Here was an example of an early safety measure to protect life and property. It is probably the forerunner of modern safety laws and liability insurance.
But this was more than a legal provision. It was a daily witness to the kind of attitude God expects from His people. We are never to be thoughtless or careless where another person's welfare is at stake. The very first chapters of Genesis teach us that we are to be our "Brother's Keeper.” The whole 22nd chapter of Deuteronomy is a statement of the law of simple kindness. Warm and thoughtful kindness is one of the fruits of a life that has been yielded to God. It is a part of Christian character. Joy, which is the expression of Christianity, and selfishness cannot go together.
Jesus expressed a similar attitude when He said, "Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” (Matthew 7:12) To truly love God means to love your neighbor in a caring way.
"Build a wall around your roof so that those who work or visit there will not fall off."
If a Hebrew house needed a Parapet about it for safety, so do our homes - of a different kind and for a different reason.
THE HOME TODAY NEEDS THE WALL OF PARENTAL EXAMPLE.
The church cannot and MUST NOT assume the entire responsibility for the religious education of your children. Even if you child attends both services on Sunday and Wednesday, that's only 5 hours a week out of 168 hours. Who do you think has the greater influence on your child, your home or the church? The example of your life will teach more positive religion or negative religion than the church can ever equal. And if what is taught here is not supported at home, then our efforts, as far as truly affecting the life of your child, are like trying to catch the wind!
The Bible lays the responsibility for teaching the child about God squarely on the shoulders of the parent. We teach love for God by word and by example. It is not a matter of teaching concepts or doctrine. It is letting your children see Christ in you!
The child learns what love is all about by being loved. The cleansing and renewing grace of forgiveness is learned by being forgiven. Paul urged parents not to provoke their children to wrath. This may be done by untimely or arbitrary demands. Sometimes our children don't know what to expect from us or what is expected of them. We often expect the child to demonstrate skills and a maturity level beyond his or her ability. We sometimes alienate our children by responding on our own bad temper or mood and treating a minor infraction of the rules as if it were a serious crime. Are the rules at your house dictated by what kind of mood you're in or is there a constant standard that the children can rely on? So many times, we treat those we love the most with less dignity and understanding than we do strangers we meet on the street. To love God is to love others; even your children, and part of love is graciousness and tolerance.
It is so easy for a parent to push on to his child the unfulfilled hopes and ambitions in his own life. How many little boys are playing football before they have learned the parts of speech because daddy wants him to be the star he never was? How many little girls are pushed into cheerleading and dance recitals and beauty contests because it's mom's ego that needs the boost? "Agape" love, the Jesus kind, is to love a person as he is. This kind of love has tremendous transforming power about it! Sure, it's okay to play football, and cheerlead, and dance and enter beauty contests. But, parent, if that is a basis for your love for your child, they will know it and they will get the message ... Mom and dad love me because ... not Mom and Dad Love Me!
Children know what the parent truly loves. Many people love their money much more than they love God. You can tell this by what they do with their money. The time you give to the things of God compared to the time you give other matters defines how important God is to you. Time given to God is not limited to the time you spend in church. It is a whole way of life that acknowledges His sovereignty at your house.
It is social and moral suicide to bring up a child without love for God, because that means you bring up a child that cannot love others either. We have raised a generation of self-centered teenagers. Because God's love is foreign to them, so is real love, as expressed in love for other people. To love God is to grow spiritually. Just as a child moves from the baby bed to adulthood under the nurture of a caring family, so we must not be content with "baby beet'' religion. We need to grow up into adulthood spiritually as well as physically.
Debate and argument will not persuade our children of the truths we profess. Many of you have fought that battle and bear the emotional scars from it. Parents, are you daily planting the seeds of the Gospel in the life of your child? Now, sometimes the soil is barren even in one you love, sometimes our children will go astray no matter what we do, but have you planted the seed? Have you given God a chance in their lives?
Which is more important for you child: to be stylishly dressed or to be clothed in righteousness? Which is more important: to have cars, and boats, and gadgets, or to learn the treachery of Satan, the value of integrity, and the virtue of unselfishness? Have we put our priorities in the wrong place?
Parents, have you built a parapet of protection by your example?
The home is the place where we can begin to remake our society. If we have fallen into the trap of materialism and the lust for power, the home is the place where we can begin to alleviate these ills. If society has become careless about morality and values, the home is the place where these things can be restored. If the premium we are paying for competition is too high, the home is where we can teach cooperation!
I remember a quote from Homer's Odyssey that has stuck in my mind. "There is nothing mightier or nobler than when man and wife are of one heart and mind in a house." The house today needs the wall of parental example. The parapet around the roof did not curtail activity or movement; it made it possible. The boundaries that existed were for protection, not an enclosure. When you plant faith in Jesus Christ in the heart of a child, you are not limiting his life. You are opening the door to abundant life!
THE HOME TODAY NEEDS THE PROTECTING WALL OF LOYALTY TO CHRIST'S CHURCH. The church exists to provide the community a place where the love of Christ can be experienced. It exists to reflect that love, to proclaim it and share it. It is the center of our activity as a family of Christians. Church is something we do together.
There are some people who think Christianity is a do-it-yourself kit with a private peace of mind. The New Testament knows nothing about a lone behavior. Being a Christian is learning from one another, praying for one another, supporting one another, sharing in the fellowship of the Word.
Our common task as a church is to establish deep roots and firm foundation which enable a person to cope with whatever life brings. Jesus never showed any interest in a religion of "pie in the sky by and by,” or an emotional catharsis every week to desensitize us to the world around us. He did not see the church as a social club to offer a mild anesthesia for a great moral headache. The life he calls us to is one immersed in His love and upheld by His grace. Such a life is not a casual affair, nor the application of some new technique. It is to be rooted and grounded in the Gospel with such depth and such reality that nothing in life or death can shake it!
The church can help provide the home with this wall of protection. A regular, sincere, earnest participation in prayer and Bible study and worship and the caring fellowship of believers will build a parapet about your home and save it from destruction. Your home has more to fear from disloyalty to Christ than it has to fear from an economic depression, or interest rates or liberal theologians. Our homes need the perspective for life which can only be found in a living union with Christ and His church.
THE HOME TODAY NEEDS THE WALL OF RESTORED PURPOSE.
Home is the place where members of a family support and sustain each other in love. Home is the place where members of the family sustain and support the values that endure. Home is the place where members of a family find resources for going out into the world. When God is the center of a home, the members of the family lay the foundations for the future which will not be destroyed.
There is an old motto found inscribed above a fireplace which reads:
"The beauty of the house is order,
The blessing of the house is contentment,
The glory of the house is hospitality,
The crown of the house is Godliness."
In the past such mottos had an honored place in many homes. They had an important influence upon the lives of those who lived there. We have no substitute today to remind us of the purpose of the home. Mottos like that don't fit our Decor.
The dilemma of our age is that we want:
Wages without work,
Rewards without responsibility,
A crown without a cross,
Success without suffering,
Heaven without dying.
We need to re-establish our purpose. Maybe a good motto for all of us to follow would come from the book of Joshua. "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24: 15) Are you building a parapet of protection around you home?
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