Rev. David Holwick ZJ
First Baptist Church Child Dedication Sunday
Ledgewood, New Jersey
November 8, 2015
Mark 10:13-16
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I. Do kids matter?
A. Grandkids remind you how much work they are.
1) Celeste drove up to Albany this week so she could baby-sit
Weston for one day.
2) We'll see how long this lasts...
B. They are expensive, too.
1) China enforced a one-child policy to limit their population
growth.
2) They calculate it gave them 400 million less mouths to feed.
3) But it created a dilemma - there will not be enough workers
to support all the elderly.
a) 4 grandparents and 2 parents have to be supported by
one grandchild.
b) That is a lot of pressure!
C. Imagine the world without kids.
1) One movie has done this: 2006's "Children of Men."
It is a science fiction thriller of the near future, when
twenty years of infertility have left the world on the
brink of collapse.
Civil wars have broken out and only England still has a
functioning government.
Because no children are born, no one has any hope in a
future.
Clive Owen meets one woman who is pregnant, and tries to
rescue her.
She gives birth, and as they walk through a dramatic war
scene with the baby, both sides stop shooting.
The author of the book the movie was based on, created it
as a Christian fable. [1]
Human life is important. Every one of us matters.
We don't come into this world fully mature.
We have to be nurtured, taught and loved.
II. Jesus liked kids.
A. He never had any of his own, but they flocked to him.
1) Kids led the praise on Palm Sunday.
a) This irritated many of the religious adults, but not
Jesus.
2) Parents brought children to Jesus to be blessed.
a) The disciples weren't thrilled about this - they saw
them as a nuisance.
b) Jesus shooed the disciples away and prayed for the kids.
1> There are many examples in the Old Testament of
parents laying hands in prayer on their child,
but it is rare for another adult to do so.
2> Jesus was going outside the normal boundaries here.
c) What is more, Jesus says God's Kingdom belongs to
children.
1> Even adults must receive the Kingdom like a child.
B. There are different ideas about what Jesus means by this.
1) Jesus does not elaborate on what these qualities are.
a) It must be a general quality of all children.
b) Jesus leaves it up to us to figure out.
2) Some look to the innate qualities of children.
Pastor Ray Stedman points to the following:
a) Children are uncomplicated.
1> They go right to the heart of things.
2> You take a little child into your arms, and he
looks at you and sweetly says, "Your breath
smells really bad."
3> A childlike spirit captures this basic directness.
b) Children are teachable.
1> They want to learn and are ready to be led.
2> Kids recognize their need for help and instruction.
3> They are easily molded.
c) Children are by nature obedient.
1> Some parents may disagree right away, but
2> They respond to what they are taught.
3> They want to be trained, and want to be led.
4> A Christian should respond the same way to Jesus. [2]
d) Other interpreters point to the innocence of children.
1> There is a purity about their attitudes and thoughts.
2> Christians should strive to be more like this.
III. A big problem - the Bible does not idealize kids.
A. "Child-like" faith can be turned into "childish" faith.
1) One pastor calls it the "Peter Pan" approach. [3]
2) It sounds nice, but to him it is not true.
a) Why would he think this way?
B. Children are not perfect, but rotten.
1) They lie, they steal, they can be short-tempered and mean.
a) In short, they behave just like their parents.
b) Children are natural-born sinners just like all humans.
2) Many verses in the Bible reflect this.
a) Psalm 51:5 - David says, "Surely I was sinful from
the time I was born."
b) Proverbs 22:15 - "Folly is bound up in the heart of
a child."
c) Proverbs 29:15 - "A child left to himself disgraces
his mother."
C. It is not their perfection but their powerlessness.
1) In many of the instances where Jesus points to children,
it is when adults are arguing about power.
2) Turn to Mark 9:33.
a) The disciples were having a heated discussion about
which of them was the greatest.
b) What does Jesus do? He puts a little kid among them.
c) "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in
my name welcomes me..." 9:37
3) Matthew's version adds an important detail. Matt 18:3
a) He tells them that unless they change and become like
little children, they won't enter the Kingdom.
b) Then he says, whoever HUMBLES himself like this child
is the greatest in the Kingdom.
c) This is what we need to learn from children - we have
to recognize our weakness, our dependence on God.
1> When we are appropriately little, we are more open
to God.
2> Notice what follows the story of the blessing of
the children - the Rich Young Ruler.
A> He depended on his wealth and power, not on God.
B> Children know they must entrust themselves to
someone more powerful than they are.
4) So do Christians - we entrust ourselves to God's care.
a) We cannot earn our way into heaven.
b) We must entrust ourselves to Jesus to bring us there.
IV. Let your children come to Jesus. 10:14
A. Bring them up in the faith.
1) Don't force religion on them, but give them a foundation.
a) Personal story of a friend of Celeste's at work:
She was brought up staunchly Catholic, but decided to
let her kids make their own decision about faith.
She found out the results when her teenage daughter was
invited to a Christian concert by a friend.
The daughter came home and said, "Mom you wouldn't
believe it.
These people talked about Jesus like he was real!"
The mother was mortified.
b) A vacuum teaches them nothing.
c) Don't just give them Bible stories, but show them how
faith should be lived in everyday life.
2) Key Christian virtues every parent should pass on.
a) Morality - following God's rules for life.
b) Compassion - be concerned about other people.
c) Hope - no matter how tough life gets, God has good
things for us.
d) Faith - trust in God to save us, and see us through.
B. You can teach your kids.
1) Read the Bible and pray with them.
a) There are many excellent children's Bibles, often in
cartoon form.
b) You may learn as much as they do!
2) Take them to church.
a) Let them go up to Children's Church and enroll them
in Sunday School.
b) When they are 8 years old, make them sit through my
sermons.
1> And not just when your kid has been bad!
3) Involve them in service.
a) I enjoy watching kids serve at the Dover Soup Kitchen,
and yesterday's Senior Citizen Thanksgiving Dinner.
b) Teach your kids that Christianity is more than beliefs,
it is service.
V. The one thing we can't give them is salvation.
A. Only Jesus can give them that.
1) Emphasize their need for salvation, and God's grace to them.
2) Salvation cannot be inherited from parents.
a) They must make their own decision. John 1:12-13
"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his
name, he gave the right to become children of God--
children born not of natural descent, nor of human
decision or a husband's will, but born of God."
b) This is why we dedicate children instead of baptizing
them.
1> They must come to a personal relationship with God.
2> And so do their parents.... and grandparents.
B. Don't expect the church or youth group to do your work.
1) In Deuteronomy 6, Moses tells the Jews to make their faith
part of everyday life.
a) This is why it is good to pray before meals, before
trips, and on special occasions.
b) Make Christmas and Easter opportunities to talk about
the events that shaped our faith, and what they mean.
2) Be proactive about your faith.
a) YOU talk to your kids about Jesus.
b) YOU ask them if they want to accept him as their Savior.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
1. Wikipedia, “Children of Men’” <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Men>.
The article notes that much of the Christian imagery was stripped from
the movie version.
2. Rev. Ray C. Stedman, “The Plight of the Over Privileged,” March 16, 1975,
Peninsula Bible Church of Palo Alto, California; <http://www.pbc.org/>;
Kerux sermon #5250.
3. Rev. Mark Brouwer, “Straight Talk With Jesus About Children ,”
Bridgewood Church (Christian Reformed) of Savage, Minnesota.
Kerux Sermon #22409
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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