April 24 - Lesson: Matthew 19.13-15

Sermon Title: Come Unto Me!

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INTRODUCTION:

Dr. Jon Allen tells this story about a misbehaving five-year old (1)

A friend of mine was determined that his children behave in church. He and his wife always brought books and handwork to keep them busy. My friends wanted worship to be a positive experience for their children, but they had to learn to be quiet.

One Sunday their five-year-old boy just would not behave. He constantly talked and squirmed. The final straw came when his mother handed him a crayon, and he threw it across the auditorium.

His dad picked him up and tossed him across his shoulder and headed up the aisle. The father had his eyes fixed on the back doors, and the little fellow looked at the congregation over his father's shoulder. It was an obvious disturbance, and every eye followed them.

Just as they reached the doors in the back of the auditorium, the little fellow called in a loud, clear voice that everyone could hear, "Pray for me."

  1. You cannot but help be impressed with the wisdom and insight of this five-year old.

  2. But this is the way of all children, that is until we adults get a hold of them and attempt to turn them into clones of ourselves.

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MAIN BODY:

  1. There are a number of ways that we have used to portray our children.

    1. Children must be valued as our most priceless possession. (2)

Kahlil Gibran The Prophet, Chapter 4 "On Children"

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of Children."
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go
    swift and far.
 Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

      1. Or to put in the words of a little girl.

As the ushers passed the offering plate, a young child being taken to church for the first time watched the proceedings with intense interest.

As the ushers approached her pew, the little girl said to her father, "Remember, Dad, you don't have to pay for me. I'm under five."

      1. She is not a possession, but possessed with wisdom and insight.

    1. Children are not casual guests in our home. They have been loaned to us temporarily for the purpose of loving them and instilling a foundation of values on which their future lives will be built. (3)

  1. Where did I come from? (4)

You didn't suddenly spring into existence the moment you were born.

You were happy in Heavenly Father's presence, but He knew that you needed more in order to progress. You did not have a physical body like you do now, and you needed a chance to gain experience on your own--away from His presence, but with the ability to communicate with Him and receive help. So He sent you to Earth, hoping that you would return to Him and receive everything He has to offer you.

Before you were born, you lived with your Heavenly Father as one of His beloved spirit children. You knew and loved Him, and He knew and loved you.

Although you have forgotten your life before you were born, your Heavenly Father has not. He knows you and loves you. He wants you to come to know and love Him, too.

  1. You lived before being born (5)

Before you were born, your spirit lived with God. This pre-mortal life is sometimes referred to as the preexistence. In this setting, you had the opportunity to grow, mature, and learn many eternal truths from our Heavenly Father. Yet you yearned to be more like Him.

Like any loving parent, God wants His children to progress. Heavenly Father understood that you could only progress to a certain point without the experience of mortality. He knew that you needed to:

  1. Receive a physical body.

  2. Gain experience from overcoming trials and temptations.

  3. Learn to walk by faith.

  4. Learn to choose between good and evil.

So your Heavenly Father instituted His plan to help you reach your divine potential.

      1. Children can help us to understand how important a relationship is supposed to be.

Often, as we know, it is the children who suffer most, and when they speak, they sometimes do so with eloquence. "Mommy," Julie Baines remembers her nine-year-old son calling to her one evening as she sat bent over her word processor in the corner of the family room, "If you had a dog, and you really loved this dog, and you worked real hard to earn the money to buy him the fanciest dog house and the best dog food, don't you think it would be better if once in a while you played with that dog?" (6)

      1. You see he is not speaking about a dog, but himself.

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    1. Who can argue that our children are a gift from God? As Christians, we are bound to raising them to be productive, Christian adults. It is not a duty to be taken lightly and, as the quotes above demonstrate, is possibly the most difficult job you will ever face.

      1. We give imperfect gifts.

Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:9-11, NRSVA)

      1. God give the perfect gifts.

Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change, (James 1:17, NRSVA).

      1. Rather than being a gift, our children can give us greater gifts.

      2. We can be given the gift of seeing the best.

A small boy said to his father, "Hey, Dad, watch!" He then threw the ball into the air and swung the bat fiercely, only to miss. (7)

"Wait, Dad, watch this one," he said. And for the second time he swung and missed.

"Here's the one, Dad!" he called out, but the result was the same.

Suddenly, the boy called out: "Three strikes - and out," he yelled. "Gee, Dad, aren't I a great pitcher?"

    1. "Children are our most important resource." (8)  

I (that is the writer of this article) picked up a book about child welfare practice today that started with this interesting assertion. It was simply presented as a given, with no further justification or explanation. That is not surprising since I have heard it so many times that it is nearly a cliché.

"I would like to be able to say that I questioned the assertion the first time I heard it but unfortunately I did not. It sounded right so I took it for granted that it was right. For some reason I don't understand, the concept struck me as very odd when I read it today. Instead of glossing over the assertion and getting to the real content of the book, I was stuck. I could not get past the idea that children are a resource and especially the notion that they are our most important resource.

"We certainly have a lot of resources both natural and manufactured, need many of them, and highly value some. That definitely leads to asking which resource is most important. My sticking point is that I do not think that children are at the top of the list of important resources. Perhaps clean air and fresh water are worthy of consideration for places in the top five or so but not children.

"This got me to wondering what reasoning process lead to children being classified as a resource. A resource is something used or consumed by someone else. Even if the focus is the community or society, a resource is something available to be used or consumed by individuals or groups within the community or society. From that perspective, can people be resources?--I think not.

"A person may have skills or knowledge that are available to others. A person may provide services that others may use. A person may produce products that others value and consume. People are individually and collectively associated with resources as providers and consumers, either directly or indirectly but are not, themselves, resources. It follows that, along with not being our most important resource, children are no more a resource than you or I. Children are not resources. They are people to the same extent and in exactly the same way we are. To argue otherwise is to diminish, depersonalize, and devalue children."

      1. In an article titled Career Profiles: Human Resources Manager (9)

A Day in the Life

Human resources managers handle personnel decisions, including hiring, position assignment, and compensation. Their decisions are subject to some oversight, but company executives recognize their experience and skill in assessing personnel and rely heavily on their recommendations. Although physical resources-capital, building, equipment-are important, most companies realize that the quality and quantity of their output is directly related to the quality and commitment of their personnel. Human resources professionals allocate this scarce resource, making sure that appropriate matches are made between support staff and producers, between assistants and managers, and between coworkers to enhance productivity, support the company''s business strategy and long-term goals, and provide a satisfying work experience for employees.

XXX

A grandfather was digging potatoes along with his grandson.

After several hours of hard work, the little fellow looked up into his grandfather's face and asked, "Why did you bury all these things in here?"

      1. This is a wonderful resource of questions that helps us to understnad what we are about and why we do it.

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  1. What would Jesus say, or what did Jesus say about children, especially from the reading this morning?

    1. Look at the dynamics!

    2. Look at the results!

13Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray.

The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them;

      1. They did not understand.

      2. They saw children in different terms than did Jesus.

      3. The saw children in terms of:

        1. Possessions

        2. On loan.

        3. Gifts.

        4. Resources.

      4. At this stage they were too young to be profitable.

      5. They were only interested in adults and what the adults could contribute to the swelling and distribution of the Kingdom.

14but Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs."

15And he laid his hands on them and went on his way, (Matthew 19:13-15, NRSVA).

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CONCLUSION

  1. Children learn what they observe. (10)

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn and be judgmental.
If children live with hostility, they learn to be angry and fight.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to be shy and withdrawn.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with tolerance, they learn to be patient.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with praise, they learn to appreciate.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with acceptance and friendship, they learn to find love in the world.

The Reverend Mary Birgelaitis tells the story of a three-year-old and a five-year-old who were playing on the floor while the adults finished their dinner. Lisa, the five-year-old, opened her new toy nurse's kit and finally convinced her brother to be her patient. She took the little stethoscope from the bag and placed it on her brother's chest. Listening intently - as good nurses do - she suddenly announced: "I hear somebody walking around in there." The adults smiled knowingly, but little Ryan, the three-year-old, matter-of-factly answered: "Why, that must be Jesus."

  1. What will a child be with Jesus inside?

    1. They will be what God intended that we all ought to be.

    2. We are children of the heavenly father representing his gracious love and mercy.

Amen!

1. Executive Speechwriters Newsletter

2. James C. Dobson

3. James C. Dobson

4. Retrieved from: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) http://www.mormon.org/learn/0,8672,1122-1,00.html

5. Retrieved from: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) http://www.mormon.org/learn/0,8672,1122-1,00.html

6. As quoted by Robert Wuthnow, "Maladies of the Middle Class," Princeton Seminary Bulletin 13 (1992): 291.

7. As told by Hal Brady, Dallas, Texas, 12 January 1992.

8. Retrieved from: http://www.leadershipvillage.com/Library/Children%20-%20Our%20Most%20Important%20Resource.php. This site is a division of The Leadership Village Community. Graphics and site consultation for The Leadership Village Community sites are provided by Leadership In PR.

9. The Princeton Review retrieved from http://www.princetonreview.com/cte/profiles/dayInLife.asp?careerID=78

10. Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World Copyright © 1992 by Edythe Draper Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Wheaton, Illinois All Rights Reserved

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