Country singer Rodney Atkins sings a song called, “Watching You”
Drivin’ through town just my boy and me with a Happy Meal in his booster seat, knowin’ that he couldn’t have the toy ‘til his nuggets were gone. A green traffic light turned straight to red; I hit my brakes and mumbled under my breath. His fries went a flyin’, and his orange drink covered his lap. Well, then my four year old said a four letter word - it started with “S” and I was concerned, so I said, “Son, now where’d you learn to talk like that?”
He said, "I’ve been watching you, dad ain’t that cool? I’m your buckaroo, I wanna be like you. And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are. We got cowboy boots and camo pants; yeah, we’re just alike, hey, ain’t we dad? I want to do everything you do. So I’ve been watching you."
We got back home and I went to the barn. I bowed my head and I prayed real hard , said, “Lord, please help me help my stupid self.” Just this side of bedtime later that night turnin’ on my son’s Scooby-Doo nightlight. He crawled out of bed and he got down on his knees. He closed his little eyes, folded his little hands, spoke to God like he was talkin’ to a friend. And I said, “Son, now where’d you learn to pray like that?”
He said, "I’ve been watching you, dad ain’t that cool? I’m your buckaroo, I want to be like you. And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are. We like fixin’ things and holding momma’s hand, yeah, we’re just alike, hey, ain’t we dad? I want to do everything you do; so I’ve been watching you"
Billy Currington sings a similar - but very different -song called “Walk a Little Straighter.”
I remember looking up to look up to him And I remember most the time He wasn't there. I'd be waiting at the door when he got home at night; He'd pass me by to go to pass out in his chair and I'd say, “Walk a little straighter daddy you're swaying side to side. You're footsteps make me dizzy and no matter how I try I keep tripping and stumbling. If you'd look down here you'd see . Walk a little straighter daddy; you're leading me.”
He stumbled in the gym on graduation day and I couldn't help but feel so ashamed. and I wasn't surprised a bit when he didn't stay. He stumbled out before they called my name. “Walk a little straighter daddy; you're swaying side to side. It's not just me who's watching; you've caught everybody's eye. And you're tripping and stumbling and even though I've turned 18, walk a little straighter daddy; you're still leading me.
I want to talk about family today, and what it’s like to be a child of earthly parents, and then what it’s like to be a child of God.
Ever since my dad’s death, I have felt very strongly my sense of place in the history of my family.
Martin Weber – He left Pennsylvania when God spoke to him while he sat on a tractor and said, “Move to Alabama and start a ministry.” So he did. He not only farmed successfully, but he started a prison ministry called “We Care” which is still thriving today. One of men he helped showed up at Weber gatherings for decades – he was like an extended part of our family. In the 1960s and 1970s, in the midst of a racially charged southern climate, grandpa was the first white man to preach in an all-black church in Mobile, Alabama; one of the ex-prisoners who benefited from his ministry was the first black man to set foot in an all-white church in Mobile. So I was watching him, and it was cool.
But my Grandpa wasn’t perfect. He “swayed”. Not everyone liked him. He could be hard to work with, and he could be stubborn, and he was very capable of saying things to people that were harsh.
My Dad, Leon, son of Martin, farmed with Grandpa and did construction work, then helped Grandpa in prison ministry, ran a home for juevenile delinquent girls for a while, then moved to Ohio and taught in a Bible college most of the rest of his life while still farming on the side. He was a counselor, a traveling preacher…. Last Christmas my mom was telling me stories of how she and Dad attended a racially integrated church for a while in Alabama, and they would be followed to church… So I was watching him, and it was cool.
But my Dad wasn’t perfect. He did some swayin’ too.
Now here I am – Anthony, only son of Leon to pass the last name of Weber on, the oldest grandson of Martin to pass the last name of Weber on … And there is AJ, and Braden, and Vincent…. If they have kids, they will pass on the Weber name… It makes me think of the characters in the classical stories where people are introduced by their family history.
“Here is Arther Pendragon, son of Uther Pendragon…”
“I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn…”
“I am Anthony, son of Leon, son of Martin.”
Life was somehow understood better in the context of lineage. It was as if knowing where we come from is as important as knowing where we are and where we are going.
For some of us, this placement of our selves in a family line is a blessing. “I’ve been watching you Dad, ain’t that cool.”But even this blessing of a sense of place can be paralyzing or damaging – I can become so overwhelmed by the need to perform up to expectations that I live a life of slavery to reputation. But it can also be very empowering – momentum has been built for me, and I can ride the wave.
For some of us, this is not a blessing at all. Placing ourselves in our family tree makes us want to cut off the branch. This sense of place can be paralyzing or damaging too. I can become so overwhelmed by the dysfunction of my past that I can despair of every rising above. If there is a wave of momentum, it’s just going to pound me to a pulp on the rocks. But it can also be very empowering – the drive to create a new, better legacy for those who come after you can be very motivating if it doesn’t consume us.
But in addition to this sense of place in a story bigger than my own, I also became more aware of why this role of son and father come both responsibilities and privileges.
I carry the Weber name. What I do as a Weber has implications. I can honor or shame the legacy of the Webers who have come before me. When I go back to Alabama, if I go into town and say, “I am Martin Weber’s grandson,” people know who I am. Doors open. There are opportunities that I get only because the reputation of my Grandpa precedes me. That’s the privilege. They know my Grandpa. When I traveled a lot in Mennonite circles, the conversation always reached a point where I was Leon Weber’s son. People looked at me differently when they found that out, because my dad had a good reputation. That’s the privilege.
What I did and what I do will not only reflect on who my Grandpa and Dad were, but will actually continue to make or break their reputations – that’s the responsibility.
At my dad’s funeral, I did not speak. Someone else gave my eulogy.I decided my life would be my eulogy. Because my Dad was who he was, that is meaningful to me, and I know that it was a privilege to have the kind of father whose legacy I want to honor. But I have also realized the responsibility. I bear the image and name and reputation of my father.
As I dad, I have the privilege of having sons. But I can honor or shame the Webers who follow me (I was at an open gym with AJ, and I said to one of the TCCS players, “That was boss!” And AJ said, “Dad, stop.”) That’s the responsibility.
In The Crucible, John Proctor, falsely accuses of witchcraft, is asked to sign a confession to avoid hanging. He doesn’t. Why?
“Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”
Why was this so important?
“I have three children. How may I teach them to walk like men in the world, when I sold my friends.”
One thing I find fascinating about the biblical genealogies is that they pull no punches. Heroes and villains show up, people to admire and people to question. And the Bible doesn’t flinch – in fact, God doesn’t flinch – at where we’ve come from. When we see a key character’s place in history, we see clean and dirty laundry. In biblical genealogies, you get people whose momentum you want to build on….and you get people whose momentum you want to break. You get “I’m your buckaroo” and “Walk a little straighter”
Then we get to the ultimate character in the Bible, and the ultimate lineage: Jesus. Here’s the lineage from Matthew 1:
1A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife,
Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
11and Josiah the father of Jeconiah[a] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13Zerubbabel the father of Abiud,
Abiud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Eliud,
15Eliud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
16and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, so that’s cool.
Rahab was a Canaanite; Ruth was from Moab.
Bathsheba was a Hittite by marriage, and she committed adultery with david, and one of their children was Solomon
Tamar’s origin is unclear, but we do know she seduced her father-in-law by pretending she was a prostitute
Jehoram killed all his brothers to secure his power, and the Bible says he “abandoned God.”
Ahaz offered his son to the god Moloch by burning him alive.
There was a little “swayin’ side to side” in the house and lineage of David.
"You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve," said Aslan. "And that is both honor enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth. Be content.” C.S. Lewis(Prince Caspian)
But Jesus was also the son of God. And there comes a tension point where Jesus has to decide whose family is more important, and he concludes: “I must be about my father’s business.”
I am Anthony, son of Leon, son of Martin…but that is not where my ultimate sense of identity is meant to be found. That is not where I find the greatest privilege or the greatest responsibility.
I am Anthony, child of God.
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12)
"'I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,' says the Lord Almighty." (2 Corinthians 6:17-18)
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (1 John 3:1)
I am “a fellow citizen with God’s people and members of God’s household” (Ephesians 2:19).
I, Anthony, am a child of God, and I must be about my Father’s business.There are some tremendous privileges that come with bearing His name.
Eternal life (John 3:15-16, 36; Romans 6:23; 1 John 5:11-13).
Forgiveness of sin (Colossians 1:14; Ephesians 1:7; 4:32).
Reconciliation to God (2 Corinthians 5:18-20; Romans 5:8-11).
Salvation (2 Timothy 2:10; 1 Timothy 1:15; Matthew 1:21).
The grace of God (Ephesians 1:6; 2 Timothy 1:9; 2:1).
The love of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14; Ephesians 3:19).
Deliverance from darkness (Colossians 1:13; Acts 26:18).
The Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13; Galatians 3:14; 4:6).
Access to God in prayer (John 16:23-24; Ephesians 2:18).
Fruitfulness (John 15:4-8; Philippians 1:11; Colossians 1:10).
Spiritual power and strength (Romans 15:13; Ephesians 3:16).
Rescue from God’s future wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9).
Joy (John 15:11; 17:13; 1 Peter 1:8; Philippians 4:4).
Hope (Colossians 1:27; 1 Timothy 1:1; Titus 2:13).
Peace with God (Romans 5:1; Colossians 1:20, Philippians 4:7).
God’s wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:24-25, 30; Ephesians 1:17).
A life and labor that are not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).
So becoming a follower of Christ, and finding my identity in Him, brings with it blessings that can be found in no one else. It is a privilege to be a child of God.
But just like with my earthly father, I bear the image of my Heavenly Father, and I carry the name and reputation of my Heavenly Father. Our Heavenly Father has adopted us into his family. Now, I have a new name. I’m still a Weber, but it is secondary to my primary identification. I am a child of God.
I must be about my Father’s business too. Why? Because God has entrusted the church, and that includes us, with His reputation. I bear the image and the name and the reputation of my Father.
We are “…being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18) such that we have the “fearful responsibility” (2 Corinthians 5:11) of being ”ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us...” (2 Corinthians 5:20)
There is no “swaying” in that image. It is the image of a father without fault. As children of God, we bear the image, the name, the reputation, and the mission of our Heavenly Father.
How is that going for you?
What did people around you learn about Jesus this week by being around one of the children of God? What did your kids learn? What did you co-workers learn? What did your online friends learn? What did other people in this church learn about Jesus as you, and ambassador, made some kind of appeal?
Jesus loves reconciliation or division?
Jesus loves peace or war?
Jesus loves self-control or self-indulgence?
Jesus loves honesty or dishonesty?
Jesus love the respect of image bearers or the humiliation of them?
Jesus loves hiddenness or transparency?
Jesus loves boldness or fear?
Jesus love truth or gossip and lies?
Jesus loves forgiveness or resentment?
Jesus loves soft words that turn away anger or harsh words that provoke?
Jesus loves generosity or selfishness?
Jesus loves repentance or defensiveness?
Jesus loves walking into tension or walking away from tension?
May we have the wisdom, the grace, and the love to pass on the gifts that our Heavenly Father has given us, His children, so that a world in need of a Perfect Father sees Jesus through His word, the Holy Spirit, and his ambassadors, and enters into His family.
THREE QUESTIONS
Does the family legacy you carry feel like a burden or a privilege? How might it influence how you think about God as a father, and the church as a family?
“I must be about my Father’s business.” What do you understand that to mean in your life, with God as your heavenly father?
What did people around you learn about Jesus this week by being around one of the children of God?