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:

Craig J. Sefa

Just Your Boy

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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?

Heaven's Whisper

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Heaven’s Whisper
Let the Children Come - Part 3
Sunday, August 21, 2022
1 Samuel 3:1-21

Then the Lord came and stood there, calling just as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”

Samuel said, “Speak. Your servant is listening.”

1 Samuel 3:10 (CEB)

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

Craig J. Sefa

Heaven's Whisper

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According to the religious hierarchies of the day, the people who should have heard God's voice in this story were Eli and his sons.  They were the authorities, the ultimate insiders by birth and by vocation.  But they were not the ones God chose.

 Instead, God chose Samuel.  A child.  A boy on the periphery, one whose capacity for openness and wonder was dulled, perhaps, but still recoverable.  A child who wasn't bound by the political interests of his elders.  A child who could tolerate an unfamiliar voice and an uncomfortable message — a message that would upend the very institution he knew best.

Debie Thomas, journeywithjesus.net (Lectionary Essays)

The historian Josephus writes that Samuel was likely around 12 years old when he heard God’s call, and as we might imagine, he was extremely confused.  He had been raised in the home of a priest and knew all of the inner workings of the religious system, but he also had a front row seat to the scandals and brokenness even within the priest’s own family.

The system was so broken, in fact, that the writer says in verse 1 that the word of the Lord was rare in those days.  How tragic, that this 12 year old boy whose mother dedicated his life to the service of God and who quite literally grew up in the church, would not recognize God’s voice and in fact would find himself quite surprised to hear a word from God at all. 

And yet if we consider our own lives, especially among those who have spent most of our lives in church, I wonder if we should not be so surprised after all.  I’ve met people who sat in churches for 80 years who had never heard of Jacob (Abraham’s grandson and the father of the 12 tribes of Israel).  Biblical illiteracy is as common in the church if not more-so than in the culture at large.  We take our identity as God’s people for granted to the point that we no longer actively listen for God’s voice.  It’s almost as if God has already said all there is to say.  We believe the Bible, even if we don’t read it or actually know what it says.  What more do we need?

What if what we need is the open heart, the discerning ear, and the humble yet courageous voice of a child to remind us that God is not finished talking yet?  And maybe, just maybe, God’s word is not as rare as we may think in our world today.  Maybe it is simply being heard by those who choose to ignore it, or those who don’t recognize it, or even worse, those who know it and speak it while we ignore them because they are too young, or too different, too radical, or too unexpected a person to carry the message of God to those of us who think we know better.

A Mother's Heart

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A Mother’s Heart
Let the Children Come - Part 2
Sunday, August 14, 2022
Exodus 1:8-2:10

“When you are helping the Hebrew women give birth and you see the baby being born, if it’s a boy, kill him. But if it’s a girl, you can let her live.” Now the two midwives respected God so they didn’t obey the Egyptian king’s order. Instead, they let the baby boys live.

 Exodus 1:16-17 (CEB)

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

Craig J. Sefa

A Mother's Heart

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For the Jew, the Exodus out of slavery in Egypt is the single most defining event in their historic identity as God’s people.  We typically associate the Exodus story with images of God’s power and strength.  We see Moses in the face of Charlton Heston standing over the Red Sea with his staff raised as the waters rise into great protective walls at his command. 

In all the demonstrations of God’s mighty power throughout the Exodus story, I wonder if we miss something very important about the way it all began. 

Just as God’s redemption of the world through Christ did not begin with the power of the resurrection, but with Jesus taking on the weakness of humanity and surrendering himself to death, even death on a cross, so in the same way the Exodus story of deliverance does not begin with Moses’ strength over Pharoah, but with the revolutionary compassion of four unsuspecting women, two Hebrew midwives, a Hebrew mother, and an Egyptian princess with a mother’s heart.

Without Moses, there is no Exodus and without these four women, there is no Moses.  Isn’t it just like God to begin the work of salvation not in a show of power and glory, but in the quiet faithfulness and love of a mother’s heart, not only for her own children, but for every child, no matter the cost.

Shiphrah and Puah knew all to well the cost for defying Pharoah.  If caught saving the lives of male Hebrew babies against Pharoah’s orders, they certainly would have been killed.  But their compassion for the children was greater than their fear of death.

Moses’ mother knew the consequences for allowing a baby boy to live, and yet she not only gave her son a chance at life by floating him down the river, she boldly followed and manipulated the circumstances so that she would not only get to raise her beloved Moses, but that he would also have the full protection and privilege of a member of the royal household.

And Pharoah’s daughter knew full well her father’s hatred of the Hebrew slaves, and yet her compassion for this child floating in the river was greater than the murderous racism of her extremely powerful family.  The daughter of Pharoah came to love this foreign child as her own.

It is not the power of an eternal king or authoritarian judge or even an overprotective father that saves, but the mother heart of a God who loves her children no matter the cost.

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…

Treasures in Heaven

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Treasures in Heaven
Burning Questions: Week 5
Sunday, July 31, 2022
Luke 12:13-34, Matthew 6:24

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be loyal to the one and have contempt for the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

 Matthew 6:24 (CEB)

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

Craig J. Sefa

Treasures in Heaven

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John Wesley’s Three Rules
for Faithful Stewardship of Money

 (excerpts from “Use of Money”, a sermon by John Wesley)

I. “Gain all you can.”  We ought to gain all we can gain, without buying gold too dear, without paying more for it than it is worth. But this it is certain we ought not to do; we ought not to gain money at the expense of life, nor (which is in effect the same thing) at the expense of our health… We are, Secondly, to gain all we can without hurting our mind any more than our body... We are. Thirdly, to gain all we can without hurting our neighbour… Gain all you can, by common sense, by using in your business all the understanding which God has given you.

II. “Save all you can.”  Having gained all you can, by honest wisdom and unwearied diligence, the second rule of Christian prudence is," Save all you can."… Do not waste any part of so precious a talent merely in gratifying the desires of the flesh; in procuring the pleasures of sense of whatever kind… or in gratifying the desire of the eye... Lay out nothing to gratify the pride of life, to gain the admiration or praise of others.

III.  “Give all you can.”  But let not anyone imagine that one has done anything, barely by going thus far, by "gaining and saving all he can," if one were to stop here. All this is nothing, if one go not forward, if one does not point all this at a farther end. Nor, indeed, can anyone properly be said to save anything, if one only lays it up. You may as well throw your money into the sea, as bury it in the earth…  If, therefore, you would indeed "make yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness," add the Third rule to the two preceding. Having, First, gained all you can, and, Secondly saved all you can, Then "give all you can."… As you yourself are not your own, but God’s, such is, likewise, all that you enjoy. Such is your soul and your body, not your own, but God's. And so is your substance in particular. And God has told you, in the most clear and express terms, how you are to employ it for him, in such a manner, that it may be all an holy sacrifice, acceptable through Christ Jesus. 

No more sloth! Whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it with your might! No more waste! Cut off every expense which fashion, caprice, or flesh and blood demand! No more covetousness! But employ whatever God has entrusted you with, in doing good, all possible good, in every possible kind and degree to the household of faith, to all people! This is no small part of "the wisdom of the just." Give all ye have, as well as all ye are, a spiritual sacrifice to Him who withheld not from you his Son, his only Son: So "laying up in store for yourselves a good foundation against the time to come, that ye may attain eternal life!"

Questions for Self-Examination:

• How am I guarding against greed instead of obsessing over fairness?

• How does my awareness of my own mortality affect my relationship with money? 

• What makes me feel secure or insecure.

• In what ways do I acknowledge that even my hard-earned, well-earned, self-earned wealth comes from God and belongs to God. 

• How am I prioritizing my connection with others over personal gain

• How often do I dialog with God about my financial resources instead of relying solely on my own planning?