Seizing the Moments

Moments with Children

Proverbs 22:6/ Mark 10:13-16

 

Opening Words: We believe in an omnipresent God. In other words, we believe God is universal. He has the ability to be in all places, all the time. He is not limited to the sanctuary of this church, He is everywhere. There has never been a time when you were orphaned by God, He has always been with you. That divine truth is part of the Good News. I am in the middle of a seven part sermon series that celebrates God’s omnipresence. I have called this sermon series Seizing the Moments. May God give you ears to hear this morning’s Gospel lesson, Mark 10:13-16. On the Children’s Sabbath I have called this morning’s message Moments with Children.

 

Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

 

Mark 10:13-16 13People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." 16And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

 

I love the story of Owen Wister, who was an old college friend of Theodore Roosevelt. One day he visited TR at the White House. Roosevelt's daughter, Alice kept running in and out of the room until Wister finally asked if there wasn't something Roosevelt could do to control her. "Well," said the President, "I can do one of two things. I can be President of the United States or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both." Let me state the obvious. Dealing with the children in your life is not always easy. However, we would also do about anything for the young in our lives. Studies tell us 90% of parents said they would do it again.

 

I want to be completely crystal clear this morning. This message is not about the challenges of being a parent. This message is about the challenges of being a child. Let me ask you this question. How many people here would like to be a child again? Wait a few minutes and consider what you are about top say. Being a child again doesn’t just mean a return to your youth. It means being young again in our world. There is a good chance the world that you were raised in is completely different from the world they are inheriting. Consider these well reported studies with me.

 

Schoolteachers were asked in 1940 to describe the top seven disciplinary problems they faced in the classroom. The problems: 1. Talking 2. chewing gum 3. making noise 4. running in the halls 5. wearing improper clothing 6. not putting waste paper in the waste paper basket.

 

In the 1980s, educators were asked the same question by college researchers. Here are the top seven disciplinary problems that modern-day teachers must put up with: 1. Rape 2. Robbery 3. Assault 4. Burglary 5. Arson 6. Bombing 7. murder

 

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University reported that 30 years ago, the greatest fears of grade school children were: 1) Animals, 2) Being in a dark room, 3) High places, 4) Strangers, 5) Loud noises. Today, kids are afraid of the following: 1) Divorce, 2) Nuclear war, 3) Cancer, 4) Pollution, 5) Being mugged.

 

So let me ask you the question again. How many people here would like to be a child again?

This is our annual Children’s Sabbath and on this day we do more then give third graders Bibles. That is important but that is not enough. The giving of a Bible is just a small piece to a much bigger puzzle. The Children’s Sabbath is a time to recommit ourselves to the young people in our congregation. The world that they are inheriting is not always pretty. Their world is a challenging world so we must do our best to prepare them for a complex future. The best way to prepare them for the future is to adopt Proverbs 22:6 as our own. Do you remember what the text said? Solomon said, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Those words are wise! They are as true today as they were in Solomon time. So what are the ways that we train our children today so it will benefit them in the future?

 

This morning I want to talk about three lessons we must teach our children that will benefit them for a lifetime. I hope everyone here listens to these words because they are not just written for parents. They are written for everyone who has children in their lives. So it does not matter if you are a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, neighbor, friend or church member. These words are for you. What we all want is the best for the children in our lives. So if you are ready to train the children in your life the way they should go say, “Amen!”

 

Respect Yourself

Train a child to respect themselves and it will benefit them for a lifetime. Don’t tell them they are the center of the universe. Don’t tell them the sun rises and sets on them. Tell them that they are a child of God. They are so important they Christ, the son of God, died for them. Romans 8:16 says, “The spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.“ Have you ever forgotten that you are a child of God? There are both benefits and responsibilities when you are a child of God.

 

Last week I was in Leawood, Kansas. I was in the “Jay Hawk” state for a continuing education event at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection. Do you know the story of that church. It was began by a man by the name of Adam Hamilton. He started his church in a funeral home because it was the only building that would rent to him on a Sunday morning. That church began with four people but today there is over 15,000 members. They average about 9,000 in worship every weekend. When I walked into the church it was like walking into a mall. My first reaction to the church was “WOW!“ About a half hour later I began to grow a little insecure. Except for the fact that Adam Hamilton is smarter, more gifted and better looking, we are just alike. From a church growth stand point everything that church does is perfect. He did there what I am unable to do here. The truth is by the end of the afternoon, I was tired, a little homesick and depressed. I walked up to the Starbucks , next to the bookstore in the narthex, to order a cup of coffee. When I got there some remarkable happened. The young woman be hide the counter the looked at me and said, “How are you doing today Russ? Are you having a good time?” When she said my name it shocked me. Later, I realized she knew my name because of my name tag. When she said my name I became a somebody. I wasn’t just a face in the crowd. I was a somebody who mattered.

 

On this Children’s Sabbath I have one simple request for you. Learn the name of one child in this church and call them by name next week. When you know a child’s name you are more then identifying them. You are telling them they are worth knowing. You are saying that they are important. If you want to teach a child to respect themselves then you must respect them. Why don’t you start by learning their names. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”

 

Respect Others

Train a child to respect others and it will benefit our world during the days of their life. Perhaps, you have seen the bumper sticker: God Don’t make Junk! There is some divine wisdom in that bumper sticker. God made each one of us so we are just they way that God intended. The sad truth is we live in a time when we are becoming less tolerate of other people. We live in times when we have less respect fore others people. If you want to train a child in a way that will benefit him or her for a lifetime then teach them to respect others.

 

Several weeks ago South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson grabbed the headlines when he yelled out, “YOU LIE!” during the Presidents health care address to Congress. That was a big crisis on 24/7 news. They wanted to know how such a thing could happen. Have we gotten to the point in American history when we don’t even respect the office of the President. I didn’t understand the uproar. The President is no different from everyone else. We have less respect for other people now in any other time in American history. You can see it in every level of society.

 

Last week was a busy week. When I got back from the Church of the Resurrection late Friday night. I came to the Fall Festival on Saturday. I preached last Sunday morning at my former church the Hathaway United Methodist Church in Garfield Heights. Going to the Church of the Resurrection and Hathaway in the same week was really something. If the Church of the Resurrection does everything right then Hathaway does everything wrong. They truth is they are going in the wrong direction. When I left that congregation sixteen years ago they were averaging a little over one hundred. Last week there was twenty seven. I looked for all the people I had welcomed into that parish during my time but they were basically all gone. We created a wonderful group pf young adults but they had left the church years ago. I asked one of the people why they left and he gave me the painful answer.

 

In that congregation there was a young woman by the name of Cheryl. She was wonderful but at birth they discovered she had Downs Syndrome. She worked at the local grocery store and loved to talk to all the customers. On Sundays Cheryl loved to talked to all of her friends. Everyone loved Cheryl and understood her story. Everyone but a woman by the name of Edith. She ran the kitchen at the church with an iron fist. Edith had raised a few dollars for the church budget through the years by cooking dinners. For that reason she claimed ownership of the kitchen and felt a little more important then everyone else. One day during one of those all important fund raising dinners Cheryl walked into the kitchen to help. Edith looked at her and said now famous words, “That retard isn’t going to work in my kitchen.” You know what happened. Those ugly words got back to Cheryl’s parents and their friends. The young people who I had worked so hard to bring into the church for years left in unison. And do you know what? I really don’t blame them. Who wants to go to a church where everyone isn’t respected?

 

Train the church in your life to respect others. The bumper sticker isn’t wrong! God don’t make junk. You are just the way that God wants you to be and so is everyone else. Have you learned to respect everyone? And all of God’s people said, “Amen!” Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.

 

Respect Jesus

Train a child to respect Jesus and it will benefit them for eternity. Let us look at the Gospel lesson together. We find ourselves in the tenth chapter of Mark. What is key for us this morning is the thirteenth verse. It says, “People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them.” I love this version of the story because it says that people were bringing children to Jesus. It wasn’t just mothers. It wasn’t just fathers. It doesn’t say grandparents. It says people. Mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfather, aunt and uncles, friends and fellow synagogue members brought the children to Jesus. Because everyone in every corner of that community people knew that Jesus was special and they wanted the children in their lives to benefit from being with Jesus. It is as true today as it was two thousand years ago.

I love the story of the young woman who went to h

er counselor with a simple question, “How old does my son have to be before I begin to teach him the faith?” In response the counselor asked, “How old is your son?” The young woman answered, “two.” The counselor said, “Hurry home. You are three years too late!” The counselor was right it is never too soon to start teaching the faith to the young. However, it is also never too late. Teach a young person about the faith to late is better then not teaching the faith to them at all.

 

Spiritually speaking, we live in dangerous times. Our children have an opportunity of getting involved in many good things. Just think about all those good things! They can get involved in music and join the high school marching band and they will make some wonderful friends. They can take dance lessons and gain confidence. They can join the FH and learn all about responsibility. There are countless baseball, soccer, baseball and hockey leagues where they can learn about team work. All those organizations are fine and they will teach them some valuable lessons that will aid them for life. However, none of them will teach them about Jesus, our only hope of salvation. Train a child to respect Jesus and it will benefit them for eternity. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!” If you teach a child to respect Jesus then the other two, self respect and respect for others, will naturally happen.

 

The founder of the great Methodist movement was John Wesley. The single greatest influence on his life was his mother, Susannah. She and her husband, Samuel, had nineteen children. Those children were home schooled and introduced in the Christian faith. I do not have any facts to prove this next statement but one of her favorite Bible verses must have been Proverbs 22:6, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” She was an excellent parent and set the standard high.

 

If you want to tell the children in your life that you love them then don’t just send them to a concert or buy them golf clubs. Instead, teach them three things that will aid them everyday of their lives. First, teach them to respect themselves. They are children of God! Second, teach them to respect others. God doesn’t make junk. Third, teach them to respect Jesus, their only hope of salvation. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”