“Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God: His majesty, His mighty hand, His outstretched arm; the signs he performed and the things He did in the heart of Egypt, both to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his whole county; what He did to the Egyptian army, to it’s horses and chariots, how He overwhelmed therewith the waters of the Red Sea as they were pursuing you, and how the Lord brought lasting ruin on them. It was not your children who saw what He did for you in the wilderness until you arrived at this place, wand what He did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened it’s mouth right in the middle of all Israel and stalled them up with their households, they tents and every living thing that belonged to them.” (Deuteronomy 11:2-6 NIV)
We read of this text and recall how Moses was addressing the terminal generation; the original exodusers of Egypt and the rejecters of the Promised Land. They had seen great things and their firsthand experience of God’s great power and majesty would die along with them if they did not intentionally create time and space to entrust their stories to their children.
This extended season of coronavirus has been a strange one. We’ve been home or mostly home for months now, with few exceptions and interactions with others. My heart goes out to our fifteen year old daughter, recently relocated and just beginning to find friends in a new high school before CoVid erupted and squelched any hopes of a normal social life. She’s spent almost all her time at home with mom and dad and sometimes it feels like a terrible waste. But just recently, we’ve started telling our stories. They aren’t new or even things she hasn’t heard before, but with the world gone quiet all around her, she’s really listening. We are slowly transferring some of the balance in God our accounts into her ledger.
I hate to point it out, but so many of my acquaintances have lost fathers and mothers this year. I don’t know that they are all coronavirus related, but I can think of at least ten friends or parishioners that have had parents pass away since March. I can’t help but wonder, did their surviving children know their stories? Had Mom and Dad successfully shared their spiritual family history?
Quarantine affords us a unique opportunity to connect as families like never before. We suddenly have all this time together without much in the way of calendar appointments or social commitments. We can play games or watch netflix or scroll on our phones til our fingers fall off, or we can tell our stories. We can share how God has moved in our lifetime. The truth is, our children may very well need the momentum that only generational faith can afford. If we fail to do this, we’ll pass away and our kids will start from scratch. It can be done, but we can do better than that.
“But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done.” (Deuteronomy 11:7 NIV)
Lord, help us recognize this opportunity to share our faith with a captive audience. Give us the courage to shut off the tv and put down the phone. Help our children listen with their whole hearts as we share the stories of Your faithfulness. May we successfully transfer some of the account balance we’ve accrued. Amen.