August, 1999

The Shunammite woman was a woman of faith. I believe that she loved God and was a faithful servant of God and faithful wife to her home. She was a Proverbs 31 kind of woman. As the great man of God, Elisha, would circuit ride through his area of ministry this woman of faith would open her household to him and allow him a place to stay and refresh as he ministered to those in the area. As she grew in the Lord, God found a way that she could serve His cause. The opportunity availed itself because she was willing and able to provide for the Lord. She chose to do something for God with no strings attached. This was the mark of a faithful woman.

Elisha would spend time at the home of the Shunammite woman and her family. The family observed this prophet in preparation for ministry and realized that he needed a place that was separate from the other quarters so that he could have some privacy and be able to refresh and renew himself. So the wife suggested that they build an extra room upstairs for Elisha. This room was not anything real lavish but was made to suit the purposes that a holy man of God would need so that he could do his ministry. It came furnished and was a sacrifice to the Lord. Elisha wanted to bless her and her family for their giving.

And so Elisha enquired and wanted to know if he could speak on behalf of her to the king or the commander of the army. She had family in the area and must have had quite an inheritance so there really was no need to speak on her behalf. So in the staff meeting with Gehazi Elisha gets the suggestion that she has no children. And now the blessing is this: “This time next year you will hold a child in your arms.”

The Shunammit woman is taken by surprise. “Don’t play games with me!” is essentially how she responded. For a young woman like her to not have a son and to face the liklihood that her elder husband would die before her was a future of unknowns. A widow’s social security was a son and family that could care for her. She did become pregnant and about a the same time a year later she gave birth to a strapping son.

Her son grows up and one day as a teenager is out in the field working when he suffers from what seems to be heatstroke. His father has a servant carry him up to his mother and the child dies in her arms. She lays him in Elisha’s room on his bed and closes the door.

As she leaves she is questioned about going to see Elisha. It’s not time for New Moon festivals that the Israelites celebrated or the Sabbath. Why go now and bother the man of God on his day off? Because he’s the only one that can help. She realized that everything would be alright. She just needed to see her pastor.

Elisha sees her from a distance and has Gehazi run out and find out what the problem is. Surely there is something more than a social visit during the busy harvest time. She would only tell Gehazi that everything was alright. But when she arrived at Elisha she falls to his feet in distress. “Did I ask you for a son? Did I not tell you not to raise my hopes?”

Elisha then sends Gehazi off to where the boy is. “Talk to noone, just go. There is no time to spare.”

Gehazi arrives to the son and lays his staff on him. The boy remains dead on the couch. He meets up with Elisha who is already on his way and informs him of what has happened.

Elisha arrives and closes the door on the woman and Gehazi. He prayed and then he laid himself on top of the boy: Mouth to mouth, hands to hands, eyes to eyes. He then walked back and forth in the room, praying the whole time. Once again he stretches himself on the boy. The boy awakens and sneezes seven times and opens his eyes.

Elisha presents the son to his mother. I’ll bet the tears flowed to be able to see her son alive. To see the blessing that God had given her once again. Now he is alive.

And this morning I believe that there is a greater tragedy than a woman who has lost a son. I believe that this morning there are many of you here who have sons and daughters who are lost in sin. They are dead to Christ. Ephesians tells us in chapter two that those who follow the ways of the world and not the ways of Christ are dead in their transgressions and sins. They are in danger of an eternity out of the presence of God.

Today I believe that the Word of the Lord wants to encourage the moms and dads and the grandmas and grandpas. I believe that today God wants us as a church body to rally around those who have sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters who are not serving God.. I believe that today God wants to see this group of Christians raise up a chorus of intercessory prayer on behalf of the lost in our families.

I believe that today can be a new day of faith for many of us who have congregated here.

A young man went off to college and when he opened his suitcase he found two strings laying on top of his clothes. He wondered what they were as he observed those two thin pieces of cloth. And then he realized what they were: his mama’s apron strings.

When our children leave home and go out into a cold world we must understand that the raising of them has been completed. They are no longer under our care. We must understand that they will make mistakes, errors of judgement, and foolish decisions. As parents we do our best to raise them then we put them into God’s hands. We are done.

Please hear me out: I will never see my children become all that God wants them to be if I do not allow them to make mistakes. They will never learn from life what they need to learn if dad is bailing them out of one dumb mistake after another. Some of the best learning comes from the school of hard-knocks. It doesn’t mean we aren’t there to help pick them up and help guide them through a difficult time but it does mean that we must find our wisdom from God and sometimes let them learn. Give them room to err.

Sometimes we need to let our kids crash and burn and then go and lift them up.

My concern this morning is for those sons and daughters who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their life. My concern is for parents who feel helpless when trying to be a witness to their kids. My conern is that as a church sometimes we can actually make people feel isolated because their kids are not Christians.

One of the statements that has bothered me for years is this notion that if my children are not serving God then it is because I have failed as a parent. Scripture does say that if “you raise up a child in the way he should go when he is old he will not depart from it.” This verse is in reference to a child’s personality not his salvation. As parents we mold our son and daughter’s personality. We are to give them direction and even a mission for their lives. This we do in Godly fear.

If this were true then God failed as a “parent” because Adam and Eve failed.

Let’s face the truth: every home since Adam and Eve has been dysfunctional in some way. We build our homes as sanctuaries for our children but they will never be perfect homes. We attempt to create a security fence around our habitat in order to protect but it will never be 100% fool-proof.

I have met too many distraught parents who are living lives of guilt because they feel as though they are failures because their kids have failed.

I have seen too many parents who are on the verge of giving up hope for their kids’ salvation because they seem to see a hopeless situation.

I have seen too many moms and dads who are wondering what to do.

Let’s begin with the basics: Salvation comes from God.

Salvation does not come from mom and dad or grandma or grandpa. Salvation comes from God because Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, was tempted in every way that man is tempted but did not sin, was found guilty and nailed to a cross for the sins of the world, was miraculously raised from the dead, and ascended to the right hand of the Father.

The salvation that I as a parent have is not something that is passed on to my kids like an inheritance. The salvation that I have is not something that is given to my children because of good behavior. The salvation that I have is not something that automatically makes my kids Christians.

John 1:12-13 says this: Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

God’s gift is given by his grace. People choose to accept this great gift.

I am so bothered when I see individuals who want to blame their parents for their problems. They seem to feel that it was mom and dad’s fault that life was so rough. They never got a fair shake in life. They never got that opportunity to go places or have their college education paid for.

Big deal! Quit blaming mom and dad and get a little motivated. So what if someone’s parents were alcoholics or drug users. What matters is what a person is doing for Christ now. The past is something that God can heal and work miracles through.

The question begs to be answered: What about Jesus Christ?

There is not a parent here who would not give their life for their children.

After an ugly forest fire in the US Northwest park rangers moved in to survey the damage. As they hiked up a particular trail they came upon the charred remains of a bird as its body sat in a grotesque upright position. As a ranger pushed the ashes aside out from underneath three small chicks scurried unscathed by the inferno that had raged above.

If you could you would gather your children into your arms as the fires of hell in our world lap at the lives of your children. You would gather them and cover them with your own life in order to preserve theirs.

What can you do? What can be done in a realistic way? What can this shining light on a hill do to light the path of that wayward son who desperately needs to come home from the darkness?

First of all: Pray.

Pray like we have never prayed before. James 5:16 is very familiar to us:

Therefore confess your sins to each otherand pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

How can we pray like we have never prayed before?

It begins with confession. Confess, at the very least, your lack of faith. Perhaps there’s a disagreement between you and your child or grandchild. Perhaps you need to apologize and ask forgiveness. Maybe you need to forgive your son or daughter. Confess this to the Lord and then go on to confessing to your child. Share your shortcomings.

Confess any unforgiven sin to God. Come clean with such issues as pride. Be willing to humble yourself before God.

Share your heart with others. Bring your requests to other brothers and sisters. I know of a group of young parents who fast and pray on a regular basis for their children.

It sounds radical but so is sin. Share your burden with a friend. Pray with someone else and pray together believing.

Pray that God will put another Christian in that lost child’s life.

Trust me. It has happened. I was that Christian that a mom prayed would be working with her son when he started a new job. Part way through third shift in the dock factory he confessed his amazement. Mike’s mom had praying that he would get a job with a Christian co-worker. It can happen.

Live a life of holiness. Walk with God diligently and humbly. Love your neighbor as yourself. Loving God and your neighbor go hand in hand.

Church, join together in raising up a chorus with the moms and dads here whose children and grandchildren are lost. Raise up a mighty prayer that shakes the throne of heaven. Take a hold of the dads and hold up their arms of prayers. Comfort the moms who are earnestly praying. Lift up our brothers and sisters.

Secondly, we need to reach.

Reach out to that neighbor next door or the clerk at the store or the co-worker. That person may be someone’s daughter or grandson. Just as you are praying for a Christian to be witnessing to your child so there may be a mom somewhere praying that you might show up on their son’s doorstep.

Thirdly, we need to have faith.

A faith that believes that God listens, God cares, and God will answer.

Ravi Zacharias wrote in his book Deliver Us From Evil about having dinner with with a man who seemed a bit tense during the encounter. After eating he asked to talk with Ravi alone. It was there that the mystery unfolded. His son had died in a tragic car accident while in college. Sometime later this grieving father while driving decided to listen to some of his son’s taped music. Partway through the tape his son’s voice cut through the air. He shared how he had been to a rally that featured Ravi and had decided to give his heart to the Lord. What an answer to the prayers of a mom and dad.

God hears. And He answers.

I’m not interested in praying to a God who is too busy for me. I am not interested in praying to a God that is not real. I am not interested in praying to a God who isn’t there.

But he is there and he is not silent.

A faith that drove the Shunammite woman to the man of God. A faith that spans the centuries from her miracle to ours that is about to happen.

A faith that sees God’s unmistakable hand at work. A faith that believes that he is still in the miracle business.

Not only must we pray for our children and grandchildren and not only must we reach out them and reach out to the children and grandchildren in our community but thirdly WE MUST LIFT-UP.

Pray, witness, but also help pick them up.

Begin by forgiving the hurts that perhaps they have done to you. Those vicious words or even deeds that cut to the heart. Ask God to help you to forgive your children for the hurts that they may have done to you.

Forgive yourself. Maybe as a parent you have felt like such a failure because your child has chosen not to serve the Lord. Maybe as a parent you did do the wrong things. You can’t change the past but you can forgive. Let it go. Let God take your failures and make something good happen.

Give of yourself. Be there to help them when they need you and when you are able. Pick them up.

Lift them up. Encourage them.

Love them.

My mind goes back to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. As the 100 meter dash began the runner from Great Britain suddenly stumbled to the track. He had blown out his knee. As he laid there in aggravating pain his father jumped out of the stands and ran to his side. He then helped lift him up and walked with him to the finish line.

What a testimony to us as parents. When our child fails, be there to pick him up. When our daughter hurts us be there to pick her up. And when they finally come home, be there to help them to the finish line.

They may be far from home yet always close to the heart. My heart, your heart, God’s heart.