I Don’t Even Like Kids!
Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,
September … no, not that great musical hit by the band Earth, Wind & Fire … but the month.
September … it’s a month where all of our youth, teachers, and administrators find themselves back at school and already in their regular routine.
September … it’s the month where we traditionally kick off our brand new Christian Education year with Rally Day. On Rally day, we have a dedication of our teachers, give Bibles to 3rd graders and catechisms to our 7th graders, and enjoy an amazing Root Beer and Brat luncheon that helps our National Youth Gathering Youth with their trip.
One of the most common verses used for the starting of a new Christian Education year, especially applied to Sunday School and Confirmation, is Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Here’s what it says:
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
As I said, we usually apply this to parents as the reason why they need to bring their kids to Sunday School and Confirmation classes. But something was brought to my attention that I hadn’t picked up on till I was at the National Youth Worker’s Conference in New Orleans back in July.
Notice how the passage starts. “Hear, O Israel.” Israel … not “Hear, O pastor”; not “Hear, O Sunday School teacher”; not “Hear, O Confirmation teacher”; not “Hear, O parents”; not “Hear, O grandparents.” No … Moses says “Hear, O Israel.”
Who is Israel? It’s not the nation state in the Mideast that we know today. No, to Moses, to the reader of this passage … Israel equals the people; Israel equals God’s chosen people. So what is Moses saying? He’s saying that this passage is for everyone. It’s not just for the pastor, the Sunday School teacher, the Confirmation teacher, the parents or grandparents. It means everyone!!!
And to re-iterate this point, when Moses says: “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise”, Moses is not talking to only one select person. In the Hebrew, the “You” that starts this passage is a third person pronoun, meaning … “you all” or “all ya’ll”. Again, this is not directed to just one person, to parents, grandparents, but to every single one of us. Each of us is to be involved in the teaching of our youth, the teaching of our young adults, college students, new parents, and older adults.
When listening to the DCE (Director of Christian Education) explain this passage, she applied it to one of the Seven Practices of Healthy Youth Ministry. The practice??? Supportive Adults. In other words, the privilege of teaching our youth, with supporting our youth belongs to every adult.
You may be asking yourself though … How can I help? I can’t teach? I don’t even like kids!
That’s fine! You don’t have to like kids to be a supportive adult. And no, this is not where I’m going to ask you to just write a check and help out monetarily. Maybe you’re good at making a killer dessert. Maybe you have a favorite recipe that is easy to make in large quantities.
If you happen to like kids, or even love them … maybe there is a special skill you can teach them. Maybe you can help out one night a quarter with one of our youth groups. Maybe you can …. (you fill in the blank).
September … the month we tend to put so much pressure on our over-tired and over-stretched parents to raise their child up in the faith. The old proverb says that “it takes a village to raise a child.” Hear, O Salem Lutheran … what is it that God has blessed you with that can be used to not only the raising up of a child, but of others around us?
I challenge you … think about this, pray about this … and then come and talk with me and tell me how you can be a support adult to our youth, to our congregation.
In Christ,
Pastor Mike
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