Good morning! I am Tim Roberts the
pastor here at Sunrise Church and I am so happy that you are here worshiping our
Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ with us this morning. Last week, I was away at
our Annual Conference at Lake Junaluska, but as great as it is to be able to
worship with some two thousand United Methodist clergy and laypersons from
across Western North Carolina, my heart was here, with you.
I want to take just a moment to thank
Tim Bralley for leading you in worship last Sunday. It is such a joy to know
that I can get away from time-to-time and know that I don't need to worry about
how the worship service will go. So thank you, Tim.
This
morning, we are continuing to look at the various components of our Vision
Statement. This statement was prayerfully conceived by you during the God Into Focus session last fall. Our
Vision Statement serves to navigate us as we progress forward in following our
mission to Share the Love of Jesus so All Become His Followers.
So, here is this week's focus of our
Vision: Love and Nurture Children & Youth. Please read it aloud with me:
Jesus has a special place in his heart for children. Sunrise will love
children and ensure that they know Jesus and his love for them.
[PRAYER]
In 1847, Horace Bushnell, reputedly the
father of Christian Education, wrote almost as the thesis of his book, Christian Nurture, "That the child
is to grow up a Christian, and never know himself [or herself] as being
otherwise."
In essence, Bushnell set out to change
the paradigm of the day in which people believed that children grow up in in
sin only to be saved as the reached maturity. Bushnell, on the other hand,
asserted that children are quite capable of growing up knowing and loving God
all their lives.
I know that my own life closely mirrors
that supposition, although I am quite sure that my parents may have had their
doubts from time-to-time. I sometimes find it rather ironic when parents come
to me about how their children behave. I am not so sure that I am the right one
to talk to about that because I was rather rambunctious as a child - even in
church.
As you may remember, my father was also
a pastor, and being so, you would think that I knew how to behave in church.
But that wasn't always the case. When I was a child, I would often get bored in
church and in order to satisfy my boredom, I would start playing like some of
my favorite television characters. I remember one Sunday morning, when I was
about five or so, my dad was preaching when I slipped into my character of Matt
Dillon, from Gunsmoke. My father
began making a point by pointing his finger, which I took then took him as a
villain, ready for a shootout. So I cocked my head and squinted at my dad.
Knowing I was up to no good, he looked down at me from the pulpit and pointed
his finger at me while he sternly said, "Tim, you better behave
yourself." That's may have been what he said, but what I heard was,
"Draw!" to which I quickly drew my gun and yelled "POW!"
Friends, I can tell you with all
certainty, that was not the only time I yelled that day, and I definitely
learned that dad was not playing Gunsmoke.
My dad was serious about church and about
proper behavior in church. Yet I know he loved me, even though I would try him
and his patience on a regular basis.
With that in mind, I invite you to look
at a passage of scripture where there was some disagreement about the proper
etiquette when being in Jesus' presence.
Matthew 19.13-15
13 Some children were brought to Jesus so he could
lay his hands on them and pray for them. The disciples told them not to bother
him. 14 But Jesus said, "Let the children come to
me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these." 15 And he put his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left.
You know, the disciples thought they
were doing the right thing. They thought that Jesus was a very busy man and
needed to focus on making sure people heard God's word, that the sick were
healed, the hungry fed, the sinful forgiven, the lame to walk... Surely Jesus
could not be bothered by the nonsensical shenanigans of these children. So they
thought that Jesus would want them to shoo them away so he could get down to
the business at hand.
Jesus though had a different point of
view, so he turned the tables on them and scolded them for interfering with the children wanting to come near him.
Then he reminded them all that it is children
who has God's heart.
But why? Why is it that children are so
special to God? They don't have the cognitive ability to understand and debate
the varied theologies and doctrines. They are not yet capable to serve on
committees or oversee budgets. They haven't even yet developed a mature faith.
So why do they hold such a special place in his heart?
I believe those are the reasons why. Children
are the ones who are most vulnerable and susceptible to outside influences.
They believe and trust almost everything - even those things that contradict
their own beliefs.
Years ago, Willard Scott told
of when Senator Chic Hecht of Nevada was running for re-election. At every speech and campaign appearance, his
two little daughters helped hand out business cards and campaign paraphernalia
to the crowds. Everyone treated them
very nicely because they were Senator Hecht’s daughters. When anyone asked little Lori Hecht for her
name, she always answered, “I’m Senator Hecht’s daughter.” When Mrs. Hecht heard this, she became
concerned. She didn’t want Lori thinking
that her only identity was the Senator’s daughter. She took Lori aside and said, “Whenever
someone asks your name, you are Lori...not Senator Hecht’s daughter!” A little while later, a passing reporter
remarked to Lori, “Hey, you’re Senator Hecht’s daughter!” At this, tears welled up in little Lori’s
eyes as she replied, “I thought I was, but Mommy just told me I’m not!”
Yes, children will believe anything - even when the world tells them that God does
not love them.
Okay church, what are we going to do
about that?!
You know, it's easy to introduce
children to Jesus. They possess a natural tendency to want to be with him
because they are drawn to him by his love. Like moths to a light, they flutter
around him when they are allowed. They, just like the rest of us, long to be
loved and know they're not alone.
Allow me to ask you a couple of
questions.
How many came to church as a child?
[Have
them raise their hands]
Okay, look around at the hands that are
raised.
Now, how many started coming as an
adult?
[Have
them raise their hands]
Look around again. Do you notice the
difference?
Those not brought up in church as a
child are less likely to come as an adult
A verse from Proverbs attest to the
importance of our vision to love and nurture children and youth as it says
this:
Proverbs 22.6
Train
children in the way they should go; when they grow old, they won't depart from
it.
Now, I know some of you may be saying,
"But my children are already grown" or "I don't even have
children," "So how does any of this apply to me?" Friends,
simply put, we each have the role and responsibility to help train and raise the
children with who we are entrusted - the children now part of Sunrise Church
and the countless ones who will be. Even if your child-rearing days have long
passed, or have never come, you are still a role model.
There's an old adage of which I am sure
you have heard before that goes like this: "It takes a village to raise a
child." For us though, I believe it should be stated this way, "It
takes the whole community of faith to raise a follower of Jesus"
As I stated earlier, I grew up in a
Christian home, but the influence of my parents had its limits too. I needed
others to help form my faith and understanding of God and morality.
I credit part of my upbringing to Jack
Michael, who was a member of my home church, but also my Scoutmaster in Boy
Scouts. Jack is one that helped teach me respect and humility. I remember this
one incidence when our troop and one other troop were traveling out to the
Grand Canyon. We were all loaded on an old converted school bus, now emblazed
with the name Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church. The trip out to Arizona
took several days and as you can imagine, a couple of dozen boys can come up
with all kinds of activities to do to pass the time. Somewhere along Interstate
40 in northern Texas, someone came up with the idea that it would be fun to moon
the cars behind us. After a couple of others had done so, it was my turn. I
proceeded to the back of the bus and waited for the signal from the others
After just a couple of moments, one of the other boys, excitedly screamed
"Now! Now!" to which I then proceeded to "make my lunar
appearance." We were all giggling until I heard an unmistakable and quite
unsettling sound from the car behind. I had just mooned a Texas State Trooper!
- and one who evidently did not share in our revelry. Slowly the bus pulled to
the side of the highway, our leaders, who were in the front of the bus,
oblivious to the reason of being pulled over. As the door of the bus swung
open, a large man who looked like he just left the Marine Corp stepped on the
bus and began to scan our faces through his mirrored sunglasses. Then his gaze
set on me (how he recognized me is still a mystery) and pointed at me as he
barked, "You! Out of the bus, right now!" Wishing that I had something
in my stomach to throw up, I started to get off the bus. That's when Jack
Michael stepped up and told me to sit back down and he exited the bus. Now Jack
was a short man, but he puffed out his chest and somehow "looked
down" on the trooper who towered over him. I am not sure exactly about the
content in their dialogue, but somehow I figure Jack convinced the officer that
all I was doing was preparing to use the porta-john that sat at the rear
door.
Jack never scolded me or told my
parents about the incident. He knew that the incident itself was enough to teach
me a valuable lesson. So I learned the meaning of grace that day. But of
course, you know that grace doesn't necessarily negate the consequences. There
are still repercussions for our actions. Guess who got to clean that porta-john
for the rest of the trip.
It takes the whole community of faith
to raise a follower of Jesus. If we are going to be successful in this
endeavor, then we may need to change our understanding of children's ministries
and youth ministries. I believe that one of the first things of which we need
to reorient our thinking is that we are not called to minister to our children
and youth [REPEAT]. No, we are called to be in ministry with them. By being in ministry with them, they begin to see
themselves as important participants in God's unfolding story of love.
Not too long ago, one of our children
here at Sunrise asked to help serve communion. Afterwards, she came up to me
and thanked me for allowing her to help and then said something I think I will
remember for quite some time. She looked directly at my and said, "You
know, I feel like I was meant to do that."
A few years ago, my oldest daughter,
Katie, served on our Annual Conference's Council of Youth Ministries. For her
work and dedication, she was given a t-shirt. Not that that was all that
significant, but the shirt did have a message imprinted on it that I still find
rather profound. It said, "The good we do today will ripple for
eternity." So it will.
In closing, I would like to highlight
just a few things that illustrate how we are living out this vision to love and
nurture children and youth here at Sunrise.
-
Julie Beane - taking on role as SS teacher
-
Justi Cernak - taking on role as SS Coordinator
-
Leigh Anne Shore - Stepped down as Spiritual Growth Coordinator to take on Kid's Club leader.
-
David Hubble - Eagle Scout project. Fixing up our playground
-
Youth Mission Trip - July 14-20. Hurricane Sandy recovery
-
VBS - Claire Salmond leading this and still many opportunities for you to serve
[PRAYER]
BENEDICTION
Children are not the Church of tomorrow
- they are Today's Church
No comments:
Post a Comment