Gifts For Our Children - Oct. 27, 2013

Gifts for Our Children

Psalm 78:1-8, 2 Timothy 1:1-7

Grace Presbyterian Church

October 27, 2013

Rev. Dr. Richard E. Miller

Introduction It has been said that “A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. Only that the world was better because I was important in the life of a child.” [Forest E. Witcraft - 1894-1967]

I believe that influencing a child’s life in a positive manner is one of the most important and rewarding things we can do. Why? Because we are passing on to future generations our ethics, our morals, our civility and our faith. And years from now, long after we’ve left this earth, it matters not if they remember your name - only that their life was enhanced because of your presence and influence in their lives.

Special Meaning this Morning This timeless truth has a special meaning for each of us this morning as we promised to help Curt and Leann teach Carter about Jesus so that he will grow up to embrace Jesus as his Lord and Savior. However, all year long, all of us can be important in the life of a child or youth whether we are parents, siblings, grandparents, teachers, or friends.

Israelites and the Honey Cakes  Passing on their faith to future generations was considered essential by the Israelites. They did everything they could think of to make sure that the teachings of their ancestors were passed on to their children and to the generations that would come after them. One way they did this was to have each law of the Torah imprinted on honey cakes. Each day, the children were given honey cakes. When the children could recite the law, they could eat their cake. Thus learning had happy and tasty rewards.

On the Farm  As a boy of ten years of age, I worked on the farm of my Uncle Everett and Aunt Ida up in Iowa. Every evening, before I could eat my supper, I had to recite at least one Bible verse. Believe you me, when you are famished, memorizing a Bible verse can be done very quickly! My favorite was John 11:35, “Jesus wept.”

Psalm 78 The importance of passing on the decrees of God to our children is found In our Psalm for this morning: The psalmist wrote: “we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. (God) established a decree in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children; that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and rise up and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep their commandments.”

The psalmist gave four reasons for teaching the children - (1) that the next generation might know the laws; (2) that they then could tell the laws to their children; (3) that all children might set their hope in God and (4) that they would never forget the works of God, but rather keep God’s commandments.

Our reason for teaching our children and youth is the same - so that our children, and their children, and the generations to follow might all set their hope in God and be followers of Christ. The importance of doing this cannot be overstated since the Church of Jesus Christ is always just one generation away from extinction.

In our New Testament reading this morning, Paul says to Timothy, I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. Three generations.

In my own life, I have twenty-three direct ancestors, including my father, coming down in thirteen straight generations to me who were ordained ministers of the Gospel. That’s 500 years of passing on from one generation to the next the Good News of Christ until it reached me.

As we educate our children in the faith and equip them for the work of ministry, what shall we give to them?

Gift of Time Let us first of all give our children the gift of time. The older we become, the more quickly time seems to pass. And many are the parents who wished they could go back and spend more time with their children when they were growing up. So let us take time to play with them, listen to them, and to pray with them. It is said that your child will hold your hand for only a little while, but will hold your heart for a lifetime.

The story is told of the great missionary, Francis Xavier.  He arrived home from a long trip, went to his room to rest and gave strict orders that under no circumstances was he to be disturbed.  However, before long he came back out of his room and said, “If it is a child who needs me, please awaken me.”

Gift of Amazement  Second, I suggest we give our children the gift of amazement. Being amazed is more and more difficult to experience. I recall vividly when I was with a group of about thirty students in the Student Union in college filled with amazement that we could see people moving and talking on this little screen called television. Today’s children are not amazed at television. After all, they grew up in the world of computers, iPhones, skype, smart phones, texting, blogs, iPads, linkedin, myspace, lap tops, flickr, email, twitter, and facebook. They even know to “unfriend” people.

As a result, it takes a lot to amaze our children these days. Yet we must find ways to share and show our children the great and majestic things God has created and be lifted up by the five A’s of our faith - amaze, astonish, astound, awe and adore.

Help them be amazed at the great stories of the Bible. We do that by reading them to and with our children.

Help them be astonished at being loved unconditionally by God. We do that by loving them unconditionally ourselves.

Help them be astounded at being able to be born again in the Spirit. 

Help them be awed at God’s unmerited love and grace.

Help them be filled with adoration

Gift of Security  Third, let us give our children the gift of physical and emotional security. Children need to know they are secure and safe in their homes and in their schools. They need to have strong safe arms hugging and encircling them in love. They need to experience the security they can have with God. And that Jesus is with them every day of their lives.

Gift of Self-Esteem  Next let us give them the gift of self-esteem by reminding them, each and every day, that they are made in God’s image, and that they are very, very precious. Find ways to commend and build them up every chance we get. We must never belittle them or put them down, for this is not the way of Christ. Let us always listen fully to what they are saying, and take their small person concerns seriously.

Gift of Prayer  Fifth, let us give our children the gift of prayer. Not only can you have regular times of prayer with and for your children you can introduce popcorn prayers. What are they? They are one word prayers for things we see everyday. See a flower - “Thank you God.” Hear a bird sing - “That’s beautiful, God.”

I remember a youth group I took to Wheeling, West Virginia on a Mission Trip. One afternoon we took the children to Oglesby Park. I’m walking with a small boy hanging on to each of my hands. We came upon a huge rock, the size of a room in our house. The one little boy looked at the rock and then asked, “Who made that rock?” I replied, “Why God made that rock.” The little boy then shouted, “Hurray for God!”

Gift of Faith  Finally, let us give the children of our lives the gift of faith. We do this not only through Church School and Confirmation Classes, but at home as well. Most families pray before they eat, and most have their children give a bedtime prayer. But more than this is needed at home. We are to tell them about Jesus. We are to tell them how much God loves them by showing them love. We are to teach them about God’s forgiveness by forgiving them and others. We are to teach them Christian caring by showing compassion for others. Regular family devotions is very important. This is a time each day when everyone joins in reading or listening to the Bible, discussing what it said, and having prayers for each other. 

I read the story of a minister who was giving a children’s sermon. He asked, “How many of you have family devotions each night?” One little girl immediately raised her hand enthusiastically. The minister, quite pleased, said, “That’s wonderful, Nancy, that you and your family have family devotions each night.” Nancy looked back at the minister quite puzzled and said, “Oh, I thought you asked how many of us had family commotions each night.”

Do your family commotions outnumber your family devotions? If so, make a concerted effort to turn that around so that you can give your family the gift of faith.

Final Thoughts  As we leave here this morning, let us do so with a fuller idea of what it means to pass on the joys and wonders of Christ to our children and youth. Let us go forth determined to give our children the gifts of time, amazement, security, self-esteem and faith. And let us go forth thanking God for the precious children of our church and our lives. I leave you with this thought: “When children of God look into the Word of God and see the son of God, they are changed by the Spirit of God into the Image of God for the glory of God.”  Amen.

Psalm 78:1-8 NRSV

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our ancestors have told us. We will not hide them from their children; we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a decree in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children; that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and rise up and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their ancestors, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

2 Timothy 1:1-7 NRSV

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

 I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grand I mother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

Thus it has been rightly said that “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.” [Iroquois Nation Maxim]

Ephesians   In Ephesians, Paul says that the work of sharing the good news of Christ is to be done by apostles who attract, prophets who prepare, evangelists who enthrall, pastors who preach, and teachers who share. All are important, but this morning our focus is upon all who pass their faith on to youth and children. Why should we go to all the trouble of doing this? Paul spells it out quite clearly.  We teach (1) in order to equip the saints for the work of ministry and (2) in order to build up the body of Christ.  To equip someone means to prepare them to successfully handle whatever challenges the future might throw at them. To equip a back packer with supplies and knowledge enables the person to survive in the forest. To equip ministers with three years of seminary training enables them to teach and preach the Gospel. To equip our children and youth to be faithful disciples enables them to be a blessing to all of society. Paul says that we are to be equipped so that we are no longer tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine. Jesus said to his twelve disciples,"See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” [Matthew 10:16] To be equipped spiritually means that we interact with the world wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

In addition to equipping our youth for ministry, our teaching also builds up the church, the body of Christ. Spiritual growth is difficult to measure. It’s easy to give a test to determine how many Bible facts we know. And we can measure with equal ease our knowledge of theology. But to measure where we are in our walk with God is more difficult. The main thing is for us to keep walking with God and learning to trust him more and more each year.