Not only are fathers and mothers to love their children, but also each child is to live in an atmosphere of love. That is why Paul says, “Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church.” Wives, on the other hand, are to love their husbands and to be in submission to them. No matter how much a parent may love a child there is a great blight if he does not love the mother. The same is conversely true. Young people will sometimes say to me, “My father and my mother quarrel all the time.” Dear mothers and fa thers, do we really love one another as Christ intended? This is not merely a sentimental romantic attachment. That is naturally involved in the marriage vows and relationship. Sometimes we get the impression that all the problems of the home are because parents do not live a righteous life. This is not true. There are a good many respectable people who have never understood real love. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church that love is kind, love doesn’t compile statistics on another’s errors. Love tries to find a way to be constructive, bears all things, believes the good and doesn’t gloat over the evil. Love lasts forever because it is focalized in our Lord. A minister once confessed to me, “You know, my wife died just a few months ago. I’m deeply troubled and convicted. She had a complete mental breakdown and died in an institution. When I went to call on her in the psychopathic ward of the hospital, I handed her a glass of orange juice. She looked at me and threw it in my face. She said, ‘You’re my problem. You’ve been the great big I am. You’ve wanted everything you saw for your self. You’ve been the leader. You’ve never loved other people and you’ve never loved me. I’ve been patient and have borne it. Now I’m broken. I know I’m mentally gone. I know I’ll never get well. That’s because I don’t want to get well. I want to go home with Jesus Christ. He’ll love me even if you didn’t. If you hand me a glass of orange juice or Water again I’ll throw it in your face. I want to teach you the 12
Chapter Eight T he L ord gave very specific instruc tions to the Jewish people concern ing their responsibilities as parents. In Deuteronomy, the sixth chapter, we read, “Hear, 0 Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” What a tightly knit group this suggests in a fellow ship which engenders faith and love. It was about 5:30 one particular day when I came home between work and heading out to a banquet on the other side of Minneapolis. I had only about a half an horn: to get dressed and freshen up. Just as I was entering the back door, my little fellow said, “Say, father, would you be willing to fix my bike chain right now?” I wondered to myself, “Who has time for bike chains?” My boy continued, “You know it’s been broken for two days. Tomorrow is Saturday and I sure need it.” “Let’s have a look, son.” I got off my pastoral garb and put on some old duds. We went up to the hardware store for a couple of links. But when we got home we found out somebody had made a mistake and had given us two different sizes. So we went back for the right ones. When I had finished, I had him take a spin around the block just to make sure it worked. My reward was his words, “Oh father, I’m so glad you took the time to fix my bike chain. I sure think you’re swell!” When I got to the banquet they were having the dessert. The man who was in charge thought he was going to have to make the speech! I told him I had a little emergency; a broken bike chain. “You didn’t have to come on a bicycle, did you?” he asked unbelievingly.
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