Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman.” So he called her. When she came to him, he said, “Take your son.” She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground; then she took her son and left.
2 Kings 4:8-37 (NRSVA)
I’d like to make an understatement…children make life interesting! A couple had been married for 45 years, had raised a brood of 11 children, and was blessed with 22 grandchildren. When asked the secret for staying together all that time, the wife replied, many years ago we made a promise to each other: the first one to pack up and leave has to take all the kids." [1]
In addition, another understatement is that children have needs! One further understatement – it is not an easy task for adults to provide everything children need, even though it is our responsibility to see to those needs.
Today we are addressing the needs of children in our church and community; that is to say that, in so doing, we are addressing the future health and witness of our church. Children are indeed our future.
It is recorded in the Book of Numbers (chapter 32) that when Moses and the nation of Israel prepared to take possession of the Promised Land, one of the tribes said they would go with Moses, but wanted to leave their women and children on the protected side of the river. Moses agreed, but strongly-warned them if they didn’t participate wholeheartedly their sin would find them out. That’s an Old Testament principle we usually phrase something like, you can run, but you can’t hide…what goes around, comes around!
[A mother] was taking a shower when her little girl came into the bathroom and wrapped herself in toilet paper. Although she made a mess, she looked adorable; so mom ran for the camera and took a few shots. They came out so well that she had copies made and included one with each of their Christmas cards.
Days later, a relative called about the picture, laughing hysterically and suggesting the mom take a closer look. Puzzled, she stared at the photo and was shocked to discover that in addition to her little girl’s image, she had captured her own reflection in the bathroom mirror – wearing nothing but a camera![2]
Whoops! Merry Christmas! Be sure your sin will find you out!
The account of the Shunammite woman informs us of one the Bible calls a “great woman”. She lived with her husband in Shunem, a very important little town in a strategic area for commerce and military strength…a place very near Nazareth, where Jesus would be born many years later.
The story is pretty straightforward; the central issue is that the woman and her husband are childless. Although today some couples choose to not have children, in those days it was seen as a sign of punishment from God.
Elisha, God’s prophet, is treated very well by this woman and he announces to her God’s gift of a child to them in the near future. The child is born, and there is joy all around. Several years later the child dies from an apparent stroke. The mother pleads to the prophet, who comes and raises the child from the dead. In returning him to her he utters the phrase that is our challenge today: take your son!
Take your son! It’s easy to read that sentence, take your son, and just simply see it as the hand-over of the live boy to the grateful mother. But, it’s more than that. Elisha is entrusting the restored life of that son to the care of the woman who would share responsibility for his destiny. When Elisha said here, take back your son, he also was telling us what to do with our children and their future.
THE FIRST THING HE WAS SAYING:
TAKE BACK YOUR LEGACY
A legacy is what you leave your children. Legacy is always handed-down…never the other way around. It has nothing to do with the money governed by your will, or the land you grant to your children. Your legacy is dependent on what you DO today; it is certainly not dependent upon what your grandfather did during the depression.
The Shunammite mother had cared for the son to this point; Elisha said, here – your responsibility is not over; take back your son; build a legacy.
Our church has a history, a long one! A lot of good has been done in the name of Jesus in this place of ministry! However, our legacy to our children and their children is not dependent upon someone else’s past accomplishments; our legacy to them is going to be a reflection of the courage, integrity and faithfulness WE exhibit to God right now.
What kind of legacy will we be handing-down to the next generation of this church? For those of us responsible for the ministry and well-being of Bethany United Methodist Church (which is every member) it is not a matter of how well we began, or what good thing we did in the middle – it is all a matter of how we finish.
Elisha handed over the boy to the Shunammite woman and said, take your son. I say to us, take back your legacy…don’t depend on what we have done in the past, or the middle…don’t think too much about days gone by, or even today’s tough times…just remember that there is a present daylight to work, and a time right now to create a legacy that will finish well.
Taking back our legacy means we will not sit idly by and watch the next generation wander around like lost sheep…it means we will DO SOMETHING about it! My Part is our statement that even though it costs us dearly, even sacrificially, we are going to minister to the children of our church and community because our legacy is at risk…and we are going to take it back! Take back your legacy.
THE SECOND THING HE WAS SAYING:
TAKE BACK YOUR RESPONSIBILITY
In Deuteronomy we read how the Lord told Israel to remember to live according to God’s ways, and to teach all of that to their children and grandchildren and their grandchildren’s grandchildren:
Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-8 (NRSVA)
That passage of Scripture was considered so sacred, so vitally-important to the development of family and society that, even today Jewish people recite those five verses called the She’ma multiple times every day as a declaration of their responsibility to the next generation.
When Elisha told the Shunammite woman to take back her son, he was telling her (and us) to invest herself in that boy. What is it that makes for an investment in a child’s life? Here are a few issues:
• Prayer – that’s number one on the list because it is the most important! And done well, it is the hardest!
• Instruction – a child needs to know God’s Word more than how to handle Microsoft or PlayStation™. Technology will pass away (about 3 days after the warrantee expires)…but God’s Word never passes away. The children and youth of our community need to know God’s Word…it’s our responsibility.
• Correction – children left to themselves are worse than sheep. Sheep only wander and get hurt; but directionless, correction-less, aimless children develop into the kind of self-destructive persons we see in the headlines.
• Time – a survey was taken with children and youth about what they wanted most from their parents. In each list the overwhelming selections included things that did not cost a cent…flying a kite, feeding the ducks with Dad, playing catch, fishing. You don’t have to be rich or a rocket scientist to just spend time with kids.
Incidentally, these are the things, prayer, instruction, correction and time…that God invests in His children…the Bible tells us the Spirit of God prays for us, Jesus is ever-interceding. God instructs and corrects us, and He promises to never leave or forsake us…He spends whatever time with us we desire.
My Part is our hope of gaining a youth leader who will help guide us in building a youth and children’s ministry that will point us in the direction of fulfilling our responsibility to the children and youth of our church and community. Take back our legacy and our responsibility, and then…
THE THIRD THING HE WAS SAYING
TAKE BACK YOUR JOY
I get mixed reactions whenever I talk to members of our church, concerning the state of things. That is normal, because people have different opinions and perspective. As such, I fully expect a wide variety of opinions about this issue of hiring a youth minister. I think they fall into about four general categories, however. After the sermon is over we will have these feelings and attitudes floating around:
• ANESTHETIZED – “Hey that was a good/rotten sermon, what’s for lunch?” I pray you will not have this non-reaction. Hate me or love me – don’t ignore this!
• ANGERED – “Just who does he think he is…telling us to hire someone when we can’t even afford (fill in the blank) ? I really pray you won’t have this, but it’s better than the first.
• ALARMED – “Is our church gonna die if we don’t get a youth program going?” Alarm is only as good as the hour if it just creates despair…you will forget it soon just to get rid of the bad mood.
• ALERTED – “Let’s roll up our sleeves now…we’ve got some rows to work for God’s kingdom here!”
I think you know which reaction I’m hunting here! Did you notice something about those four responses? Three of those four responses ended in more questions; only the last one ended in a resolve to DO SOMETHING to bless God’s kingdom.
Elisha gave the child back to his mother’s arms, and, the Scripture says she took him! Her arms had to be ready to receive that child; her heart had to be ready to care for him, nurture him and make a man out of him.
We are the Shunammite to some children in this community. Are we ready to receive…if not, the Lord will never send more people our way.
We have a choice…we can be ready or we can simply mourn over a future that will include a burial plot for youth ministry. We can add to the throwaway list children in a world that has developed a disposable mentality. If you’re done with something, just throw it out…including the children!
Elizabeth worked for another church some time ago. It was a tough office situation. She often thought she would just like to quit (our mortgage-holder convinced her she still needed to work!).
There was a young boy always hanging around that church office. He was not yet in his twenties and mentally-challenged. His parents had long since discarded any responsibility towards him. Elizabeth befriended the boy and sadly thought of him as “that throwaway child”. That boy latched on to Mrs. Preacher like burr seeds on cotton pants. He couldn’t do enough for her. His kindness and sweet helpfulness were the light spots in her difficult job. He was her joy in that place.
Taking back the joy is a matter of moving away from self-serving, and towards sacrificial service of others. It is always amazing to watch somebody when they fall in love. It happened to me when I came here. I was looking at my own hurt, feeling sorry for myself, vowing to just do my job and let the system rock on. Then you happened; you got under my skin like Elizabeth’s throwaway child. You loved me and now I can’t help myself. I started serving, and the next thing my joy came back. Isn’t that what you want?
WHAT SHALL WE DO?
I am going to ask you to set every objection you may have at this point (about hiring a youth minister) to the side right now, and just consider the Lord’s word to us. In ancient Samaria all the strength and resources were gone. The Arameans had besieged the city for years. People were even resorting to cannibalism; in some cases eating their own children to survive.
Outside the gates there were four Jewish-Samaritan lepers. These outcasts couldn’t come inside the gates for protection because of their contagious leprosy, and they couldn’t leave because of the Aramean enemies.
They were between the worst of rock and hard places. They finally made a decision:
They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die? If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.” 2 Kings 7:3b-4 (NIV)
The lepers outside the city gates knew their time was limited. They chose to do something different. In the morning they marched right into the enemy camp, and God did a miracle – the Arameans had left in the middle of the previous night. They left behind all their best foods and goods. The lepers had a ball!
God is always looking for a handful of lepers to face their need of Him and a miracle – to act on that need, and to tell others where they got the bread.
Our choices are no different. We can sit here and wallow in self-pity and wish for the good old days…or we can get desperate…desperate for God who wants us at the foot of the cross, reconciled, together and hot for Him!
Let’s be lepers! Let’s leap into the middle of what God wants to do for the children of this church and community. Let’s put ourselves on the line for someone else…the children and youth of our church and community!
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ENDNOTES
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1] CybersaltDigest.com Issue # 3026
2] Crosswalk.com humor
