Seen and Heard

Seen and Heard
August 11, 2024
Back to School Sunday

Matthew 18:1-5, 19:13-15

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Then he called a little child over to sit among the disciples,  and said, “I assure you that if you don’t turn your lives around and become like this little child, you will definitely not enter the kingdom of heaven.  Those who humble themselves like this little child will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

Matthew 18:1-5 (CEB)

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Jesus teaches that to enter the Kingdom of God, we must become like a little child.  Ironically in our culture, like the culture of Jesus’ day, children are often dismissed or ignored.  They are to be taught, but we rarely learn from them.  They are expected to listen and to respect adults, but adults so often refuse to listen to and respect children in turn.  Children, our culture says, are to be “seen and not heard”. 

This also sadly applies to our own “inner child” who may have a lot more to teach us than we realize.  No matter how much responsibility, stress or even trauma we have built up, our inner child is always with us and is often wounded.  Here are a few ways to know if your inner child is hurting:

• Hypersensitive to emotions, constructive criticism, and negative situations.

• You’re a chronic people pleaser

• You seek heavy validation through achievement

• Your sense of worth is tied to your work or productivity

• You feel numb or avoidant of your feelings

• You avoid conflict like the plague

• You find it difficult to set and stick to healthy boundaries in relationships

So how can we begin to nurture and care for our inner child so that we can get back to that child-like spirit that Jesus invites us to? 

Here are a few ways to start:

• Acknowledge and validate memories from your childhood, even the painful ones.

• Listen closely and pay close attention, especially when dealing with tough emotions and which emotions you tend to most gravitate toward.

• Reconnect with your sense of joy, remembering what it felt like to be a child and maybe even picking up a favorite childhood hobby again.

• Be silly, use your imagination, let go of having to have everything under control.  Have fun.  Play.

• Be curious and excited.  Allow yourself to be amazed by the beauty and joy of life.

• Be fearless.  Take risks.  Try new things and don’t be afraid of failure. 

• Live in the present moment and fully experience the depth of your feelings.

What is God trying to teach you right now through children in your life?

… through the younger generation in general?

… through your own inner child?

We spend our whole childhood wanting to grow up  faster.
But we spend our whole adult life, wanting to go back to the simplicity of being a kid again.

anonymous

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Source Material from:

• 20+ Inner Child Activities to Heal and Feel Alive

• 6 Important Life Lessons We Can Learn From Children

Just Your Boy

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Just Your Boy
Let the Children Come - Part 4
Sunday, August 28, 2022
1 Samuel 16:1-23, 1 Timothy 4:12

Then Samuel asked Jesse, “Is that all of your boys?”

“There is still the youngest one,” Jesse answered, “but he’s out keeping the sheep.”

“Send for him,” Samuel told Jesse, “because we can’t proceed until he gets here.”

 1 Samuel 16:11 (CEB)

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

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Though he didn’t become king until around the age of 30, David was most likely between 8 and 15 when Samuel first called him in from the fields and anointed him as Saul’s successor to the throne of Israel.  He was quite literally “just a boy”.  He was so young and insignificant, in fact, that his father didn’t even see the point in bringing him along when Samuel invited his family to the sacrifice.  While his father and older brothers were going through the ritual purification to be cleansed before God for worship, young David was out in the fields with the sheep composing psalms of praise. 

How appropriate that God would use Samuel, himself called as a child, to anoint another child king over all Israel.  We know the stories of David’s heroism, how he defeated Goliath and the Philistine army with just a sling and a stone, and how he united the tribes of Israel and strengthened the whole nation with its most expansive borders ever from Dan to Beersheba.  We know how he spent so much of his life on the run from King Saul who sought to kill him because he was a threat to his own dynasty, despite God’s clear ruling that Saul’s family would no longer reign in Israel due to his own sin.  And we see David at his lowest point, committing adultery and murder to attain what he couldn’t have.  We read and sing his psalms of praise and lament, of joy and of repentance.  Yet despite all his accomplishments and all his mistakes, in the end only one thing mattered… He was just God’s beloved child singing praises in the field.

As you look at your own life, your highs and lows, what matters most to you?  What matters most to God?

Like A Child

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Like a Child
Let the Children Come - Part 1
Sunday, August 7, 2022
Mark 10:13-15, Matthew 18:1-5

Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom. What’s more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it’s the same as receiving me.

 Matthew 18:5 (The Message)

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Can I be honest?

I didn’t really like being a child. I’m not sure I was ever really good at it.

Even in my earliest memories I hated kids games, I hated the silliness, I hated arts and crafts projects., especially ones that involved paint, glue, and worst of all, glitter! I hated having to run outside, especially in the heat. And most of all I hated having to dress up as a clown for a circus themed Vacation Bible School at a church that wasn’t even my own. The only saving grace was that at that church nobody knew who I was.

Most of the time I would much rather sit down with an adult over a game of chess or read a book in my room by myself than hang out with other kids.

So if I’m really being honest, today’s teaching from Jesus is tough for me.

No one can enter the kingdom of God unless they become like a little child?

What!?!?

I have spent my whole life trying to be seen as an adult. Even as a younger or almost middle aged adult, it seems some people will always treat me like a child. The last thing I want is to actually be like a child again. I never even liked it the first time around.

There is one part of childhood, however, that I cling to dearly, and hope I never outgrow. It’s the need to question everything, to keep exploring and to get lost in wonder and amazement. It’s the hunger for learning and the thirst for wisdom and understanding. The one thing I loved about being a child is the one thing so many children seem to hate… school. I love learning so much I keep finding new ways to stay in school. I just finished my Doctorate Degree from Duke and I’m still wondering what other educational opportunities I can find to keep exploring, learning, growing, and becoming more of who God created me to be.

I find it interesting that when people say you should have the “faith of a child”, what they often mean is, “Don’t question, just accept what we tell you. Don’t doubt, just believe,” or as I was taught more explicitly, “be seen and not heard.” As a child you don’t have an opinion, at least not one that matters to anyone. Funny that as an adult, and even as a well educated pastor, I find that to most people my opinions still don’t matter much, no matter how well informed.

Those who say that having childlike faith means not asking questions or expressing doubts or opinions clearly haven’t been around a lot of children. One of my favorite things about my 8 year old daughter is the questions she asks. In fairness, she asks a lot of silly questions too. She’s a lot better at being a kid than I ever was. But she is also wise beyond her years and she asks the kinds of questions so many adults are afraid to ask. Questions about who God is and about the nature of humanity and why people do the things they do. Questions about the differences between people and the ways people believe and disagree on so many issues. She asks the kinds of questions that quite frankly would make us all better human beings, less angry and judgmental and more empathetic and understanding, if we would only be open enough to ask and bold enough to hear someone else’s answer.

I can’t help but wonder, and hope, that this is at least part of what Jesus means when he says we must become like children.

Never stop being curious. Don’t lose your sense of wonder. Keep exploring. Keep asking questions. Keep learning. Keep growing. The mysteries of God’s love are endless so if you ever think you know enough, remember… you are still just a child. Have a teachable spirit. You can never know it all. Dive deep into the mysteries of the universe, the mysteries of life, the mysteries of the human mind and soul, the mysteries of grace, and the mystery of the Eternal One.

Maybe I missed the point. Maybe I am just supposed to be silent, obedient, have no opinions or thoughts of my own, and be seen and not heard the way children are so often treated in this world.

But I really hope not. I hope with all my heart that Jesus is inviting us to childlike wonder, to joy, to eyes and hearts wide open to beauty, to mystery, and to love.

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With the service this week being geared toward children, we did not have a formal sermon to share. Feel free to enjoy a video of the full Back to School Worship Experience below…