Children's Sermon on loving God more than Things

Geoffrey Piper's Children/Youth Sermon for September 8th, 2013

One of the first words a little child ever speaks is usually something like:

“Ma ma…  Mama.” A very small child knows that his or her life is always better when Mommy is nearby to feed him, to tickle her, to help, to kiss the places that get hurt, to change the stinky dipes.

When our youngest child, Katie was a little toddler, she didn’t care whether Mommy or Daddy came to be at her side. We’d hear her voice calling from the other room, “MommyDaddyMommyDaddy MommyDaddy.” Either one of us would suffice to help her feel better, to help her solve her challenge, or to pick her up and give her a hug.

Maybe this is part of what Jesus means when he says that we need to become like little children if we want to have a real Spiritual life. God wants us to call on Him naturally, frequently, and easily! Once we learn to trust that God will care for us, then we can share in God’s good work by giving to others. Jesus says that it is right and natural to depend on God for help, and to ask for God to keep us company. It should be natural for us to ask God to help us solve our problems, and to share our love with God and with everyone around us. Even with people who bother us.

But most of us steer off course as we grow up.

By the time most children approach the age of 2, we have another favorite word:  “MINE! MINE!” We start thinking that life should always be “me first!”

Jesus is always reminding us that the best life is always God first.  He always tries to warn his listeners about the trouble they will have if they are too much attached to the stuff of this world…

He tells us that material things… money, clothes, cars, houses, or electronic stuff can distract us from what really matters.

He tells us that other people--even our own family members—can sometimes distract us from what really matters.

As we grow older, we sometimes try to be the center of attention, and to get our own way. We often criticize others, or say mean things to them or about them to make ourselves feel more important. Jesus warns us that thinking of ourselves as the most important thing in life will always lead to unhappiness.

Here’s an example. You know what Jesus says is the most important thing in life? (Pause; wait for answers)  To love God….       and to love each other.

Imagine that you walk into a room to hug someone that your love, and to tell them that you love them. And when you come near to them and call their name:

·      they have their headphones on so they can’t hear you;

·      and they won’t take their hands off their laptop computer;

·      and they have made a fortress around themselves with a jewelry boxes, refrigerators, 

          sports equipment, and cabinets of clothes;

·      and they keep staring at their own reflection in a mirror.

That’s a little bit what it’s like for God when He wants to get our attention, and tell us that He loves us, and invite us to work with him to make the world better. He needs us to disconnect from everything that distracts us. God needs us to stop trying to grab and hold everything for ourselves, like the two-year old shouting, “mine!”

Someone has written, "Grasping at things can only yield one of two results: Either the thing you are grasping at disappears, or you yourself disappear. It is only a matter of which occurs first."

Here is one more illustration that shows the problem of being too attached to the things we want, because we think that they will make our lives good.

In the South of India, people used to catch monkeys in a very clever way. Actually they let monkeys catch themselves. What they did is to cut a small hole in a coconut, just large enough for a monkey to put its hand in. Next, they fastened the coconut to a tree, and put something sweet inside the hole. The monkey smells the sweet treat, squeezes its hand into the coconut, grabs the sweet and .... finds that the fist does not fit through the hole. The problem for the monkey is that the last thing he will think of is to let go of the sweet. So instead of escaping to freedom, the monkey holds itself prisoner. Nothing could be easier for the human being who comes and catches it.

So as we start this new year of Sunday School, and youth group, and get reminded about God’s love for us at Church, this is one thing Jesus wants us all to remember.

Loving God is more important than trying to grasp and hold anything for ourselves. The best life we can possibly have is with the simple trust that we had as little children. If we can call on God, and know that God loves us and will provide everything we need, Jesus promises us a life that is better than we can dream of. Let’s trust him, and believe that he tells us the truth.