Had she lived, today would have been my mother-in-law’s 95th birthday. She died ten years ago earlier this month. I think of her often, not least because there are parts of her that live on in her daughter, my wife.
The part of my mother-in-law for which I am most grateful to see live on in my wife is her faith – a faith I have seen blossom and mature over our 32 years together. And when I see my wife’s faith, I give thanks for her mom, particularly on this day. (I give thanks for her dad, too, who is still living out his faith to this day!)
Your faith is meant to be shared widely, and closely. It needs to start with those closest to you, which for many of you is your children. I’ve been preaching through Acts, and in a recent passage, we saw Timothy come on board with Paul in his second missionary journey. Timothy was half-Jewish, half-Gentile, and he had become a Christian. How?
According to Paul in 2 Timothy 1.5, it was through his family. Paul wrote to Timothy, “I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you” (NLT).
Every congregation’s first line of growth should be organic: churches flourish when parents share their faith with their children.
And those parents should engage in a rite of presentation in which that willingness to share faith is formalized before the Lord. In my tradition, children are presented for baptism under the covenant of grace, in the expectation that parents and church will partner together to lead the child to a place where she or he will one day profess faith in Christ, taking the baptismal vows of his or her parents as his or her own. (In other traditions, a rite of parent-child dedication takes place which, similarly, is hoped to lead to baptism and profession of faith later on.)
Whichever rite is part of your tradition, participating in it is a way of saying to God, to the church, and to the world that you take seriously the responsibility that all followers of Jesus have to fulfill the great commission – starting with your own household.
Perhaps you remember the faith of a family member. Was it that person who shared Jesus with you? And with whom will you share Jesus, so the good news will continue to spread?
Passionately His 