Last week we learned that the Gospel is all that matters. I hope we all left here with that thought embedded in our hearts so that everything in our lives will revolve around the Gospel. Well today we’re going to go a step further with that thought as we think about the message we send to our children.
If you look at your copy of our church covenant that each new member gets, you will find the statement, “We engage to religiously educate our children.” Let me clarify something. This is not saying that we will educate our children in religion. It says we will religiously educate. You see, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want what the world calls religion. When we do something religiously, it doesn’t have to have anything to do with God.
The cults religiously meet to denounce God and lead people astray. I come to church each week religiously, not to get “religion” but to honor and glorify God. So when we say we will religiously educate our children, it means that we will consistently do our best to lead our children down the right path. Last Sunday’s child dedication ceremony of little Mina was Michael and Melissa saying they will do their best to lead Mina down the right path. So you can see already that this message has a lot more to say than simply educating our children. With that said, I ask, “What Example Do You Set For Your Children’s Faith?”
Children are famous for ignoring what adults say, but they don’t ignore what adults do and they don’t mind being bluntly honest. A Sunday School teacher was telling her class the story of the Good Samaritan, in which a man was beaten, robbed and left for dead. She described the situation in vivid details so her students would catch the drama. Then she asked the class, “If you saw a person lying on the roadside all wounded and bleeding, what would you do?” A little girl broke the hushed silence when she said, “I think I would throw up.”
READ Mark 10:13-16. This is a simple little story that many know by heart. But let’s look closely at this passage.
because there are four (4) groups of people in this passage that I want you to notice:
1. The parents (probably the Mothers) We don’t know for sure that it was the mothers that brought the children, but studies of the culture of that time lean in that direction.
- They have heard of Jesus’ ministry. Some had possibly seen how Jesus had touched people and healed them and removed their pain. It’s possible that these parents had brought their children to Jesus to heal them even though it doesn’t say so.
- Perhaps they thought that if Jesus would touch them, their children would experience a transference of power and become like Him.
- Maybe they simply saw how good and kind he was and wanted to place a role model before their children.
Keep in mind that the parents would have been aware of Jesus’ lack of popularity with the scribes, Pharisees, Priests and religious rulers but despite that, there was definitely something special in Jesus that they wanted their children to experience.
There is a story of an Indian man born into an Indian family that still followed the culture and ways of the old Indian tribe. He became a Christian. His family had disowned him. Occasionally he would sneak back home and secretly visit his mother. During one of these visits she recounted how while carrying her son, she had been regularly visited by a missionary. The missionary had given her a copy of one of the gospels. She had read the gospel and although she had no desire to become a Christian she did hope that this unborn child would grow up to be like Jesus.
Could there have been something about Jesus that made these mothers in our passage yearn for their children to be in His presence? Was there something they hoped would rub off on them in order that they might be like Him? We don’t know for sure what was going through their minds but, nonetheless, this is the first group that we notice in this passage.
How do you feel about your children’s faith? Do you go out of your way to see that they meet Jesus, that they learn about Him, that they hear His word and His teachings? Do your children see you as a person of faith?
The Second Group of People: The Disciples
• There is an old hymn that goes “The stern disciples drove them back and bade them depart”.
• All I can envision when I read this is a bunch of grumpy old men who thought that children should be seen and not heard. What is sad is there are people just like this in churches today. Maybe some of you are here right now.
You might be thinking, what can I learn from a child? They should be seeking advice from me. Let me tell you a little secret. I watch our children and youth just to see how they respond to the adults. That tells me a whole lot about how each of you feels toward the children and youth. They are my meter, so to speak. Children see right through people. And the best part is that they openly share what you think is hidden. Makes you stop and think, doesn’t it?
But we have to stop for a moment. We are judging the disciples based upon an action. We have them all painted as the mean people in the story – not necessarily based on the truth. Jesus was a very busy man, in high demand. He was constantly surrounded by people. Somebody always wanted something from him. Hmmm, that sounds familiar. But few people wanted to put back into Jesus’ life.
In all fairness to the disciples, it’s possible that they were protecting Jesus and that the motive behind their action was driven by love and compassion for their Master.
Some of that goes on in church today. Not that I am in any way the master, but I have heard our deacons say to encourage people to wait for another time besides Sunday morning right before the service to lay out a church business item for the pastor. They have said to me, “I decided to wait to bring this to you because I wanted your focus to be on the worship service.” I can appreciate that. So, in a way, the deacons are acting a little like the disciples acted toward not wanting Jesus to be burdened with what they considered to be menial tasks.
I guess what I am leading up to is that we shouldn’t judge our motives by the way we verbalize our responses. What we say and what we mean and what we do don’t always line up, but they could if we took time to think before we say and before we do.
The next thing I want you to notice in this passage is Jesus.
• Even the most hard-heart is softened by a child or by the kindness shown to a child. In this story we see and can feel the tenderness of Jesus. Did you notice, He didn’t even scold the disciples; he simply invited the children to come. His invitation taught a lesson to the disciples, to the parents and hopefully to us.
In order to have real faith we need to be pure and accepting, we need to become as Children.
• We’ll worry about things and a child will say “It’ll be ok because I asked God to help us”. And with a childlike faith, that child sincerely believes that.
The purity of the motives of a child can teach US something. And this should teach us something. When I become too important or too busy in the eyes of the children and youth for them to give me a hug, then I am doing something wrong. And that brings us to:
The fourth, the Children.
• Children teach us so many lessons even when their understanding and their interpretation is not always correct, which causes me to question, “Is their interpretation of us, their problem or ours?” There has always been the tendency to expect children to act like us. Do we really want that? In our lives we live contradictions and then we try to cover them up with, “I am the adult” or “Do as I say and not as I do.” What does that do to our children in this education process?
• How did the children interpret the actions of the disciples? I wonder if they thought of them as mean old men to stay away from.
• How do children interpret what we do, particularly concerning the importance of our faith? You see, when we first read the covenant statement about educating our children, we probably focused more on the children learning. Really the focus is not so much in what they are learning as it is in what we are teaching them.
If I took your child or for some of you, a close family member, and got them in a private room and asked them questions about your walk with God, what would I hear? What are you teaching when it comes to your faith? What are you showing others about how seriously you take God’s work?
Do you prepare for Sunday school by reading your lesson on the way to church on Sunday mornings. I attended a church once where the worship leader seldom got to church on time. That person would sometimes be up to 5 minutes late after the service started. Then would walk in, open a song book, and pick songs at random to lead the congregation. How seriously did that person take the work of God?
•Anybody else want to repent for the little value you put on the Lord’s Work or The Lord’s House as it falls into disrepair. What message are we sending to our children when it comes to keeping God’s buildings in repair?
If you Listen to the Children you will see that they will lovingly evaluate us.
A child will let me know when the sermon was too long or boring. The youth won’t hesitate to let you know that the song service is not energetic enough. Our children are honest that way.
“A Sunday School teacher challenged her children to take some time on Sunday afternoon to write a letter to God. They were to bring their letter back the following Sunday. One little boy wrote, “Dear God, we had a good time at church today. Wish you could have been there?” What was that little boy being taught?
“A Sunday School teacher asked her little children, as they were on the way to church service, “And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?”. One bright little girl replied, “Because People are Sleeping”. Don’t think our children and youth don’t see you nodding off. What example do we set in religiously educating our children?
“A little girl became restless as the preacher’s sermon dragged on and on. Finally, she leaned over to her mother and whispered, “Mommy, if we give him money now, will he let us go?”
Children are honest that way.
I’ve told ya’ll before how Casey told me one Sunday, Uncle Jerry, that story you told was too long. (Calling the sermon a story) All you did was blah, blah, blah.
How exciting is our faith? Or maybe I should ask, how excited are you about your faith? I think that deep down inside all believers there is an excitement. I’ll tell you, if you’re really happy some of you had better tell your face.”
I wish we could put a huge mirror across the front of the platform so that you could see the expressions on your faces as you sing songs of victory.
JESUS PAID THE PRICE FOR OUR SIN SO THAT WE MIGHT BE FREE. WE HAVE VICTORY OVER SIN BECAUSE OF WHAT CHRIST HAS DONE FOR US.
Sing “Victory in Jesus.” It’s the truth. Let me remind you, when we promise through the church covenant to religiously educate our children, that is supposed mean to educate them in a positive manner.
Nine year old Joey was asked by his mother what he had learned in Sunday School. Well, Mom, our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to get the Israelites out of Egypt. When he got to the Read Sea, he had his engineers build a pontoon bridge, and all the people walked across safely. He used his walkie-talkie to radio headquarters and call in an air strike. They sent in bombers to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved. “Now Joey, is that REALLY what your teacher taught you?” his mother asked. “Well no, Mom, but if I told it the way the teacher told it, you’d never believe it.”
What are children hearing from us?
• Children are not easily fooled. They can see right through you. What are children hearing when week after week we ask for Sunday School Teachers and Children’s Church workers? We have had to threaten to send letters home with the children because no one wanted to teach them.
What do children hear when we speak of the church and our church family?
* What do children hear when church attendance is optional because we were out too late?
* Do children hear from us concerning how important the church is? Some might say, “It’s the relationship with Jesus, that’s the important thing – After all you don’t have to attend church to be a Christian.” No you don’t, but you DO have to attend church if you want to be a healthy Christian.
Let’s finish this up and move for a moment to Post-Children (adults)
What do the children learn when they hear an adult say, “I don’t do church?” “I get nervous around people.”
• What are our children hearing from us about relationships?
What are they hearing when they hear you talk about unresolved conflict between family members both biological and church family.
What are our children hearing from us about the opposite gender?
Men, the way we speak to, speak of and treat our wives tells our daughters how to feel about themselves and our sons how to treat women.
Women, the way you speak to, speak of and treat your husbands tells your sons how to feel about themselves and your daughters how to treat other people’s sons.
So, you see, we are religiously teaching our children all the time, even when we don’t realize it. But it’s WHAT you are teaching them that matters. We want to be a healthy church within the reach of our community where people can know, love and serve God both here and beyond. This includes our children. How are we going to have healthy children who serve the Lord with all their potential, if we are not healthy examples in the ways that we live out our faith? I get very concerned each time I do a funeral of one of our older church members. These people are the foundation of the church. They are usually those that tithe. They give back to God what He expects of us. And we are losing them. If we don’t set the example for our children in how to treat the church, who will?
Our children are important. Let me close by asking, “What do our Children have to offer us?”
When I ask that question I think about the worship gatherings with the children during VBS. I think about our youth and how they will lead our morning worship next Sunday morning. What do they offer us? Folks, they offer us life!
Have you ever been in a church where there are no children? No noise – silence – No joy. Those are the churches that say “if only the young people and young families would come.” They long for the noise – we have the noise and assorted distractions!! And that’s a blessing. (Hallelujah)
My mother took me to church and she worked hard in the church bringing me up in the faith because she knew its value.
As parents we dressed our children every week, and when they get older we encouraged them to be in Sunday School, Church Service, Youth Events. Some of you do that same and to that I say, “GOOD FOR YOU!”
What’s the reason for being here and going to the effort of bringing our children up in the church? Why should we engage to religiously educate them?
So they will experience the touch of Jesus. DO THEY?
