Rev. Mark Derby Ready, Set, Go May 10, 2015

Rev. Mark Derby Ready, Set, Go May 10, 2015 Perhaps you noticed that the title of the message this morning is "Ready, Set, Go". We're in a sermon series theme called "As You Go". The strategic planning initiative is "GO". Actually, one of the reasons I'm here this morning is because I'm consulting with your leadership here in helping to lead them through this strategic planning process which is really about the race that we're running as Christians. It's about having a sense of focus for a future that God desires for Bel Air United Methodist Church, hence the focus this morning. You will notice in the passage that was read from Corinthians that the Apostle Paul is focusing on a race, and he is talking about how he trains himself. I kind of like that passage because in the King James it says "I buffet my body daily". A lot depends on how you pronounce that word. Nevertheless, he is focusing on a race, and he makes it sound like it is the race of just an individual. This morning, I would like to change that image a little bit. We're going to talk about a relay race. In 2003, John Mayer, American singer and songwriter, wrote a song called "Daughters"; it eventually got a Grammy award. It tells the story of a man who can't seem to understand the woman who he is falling in love with. While she seems interested in him at times, it seems she is unable to receive or return his love so he is mystified. At first he figures it must have something to do with him, but then he comes to realize that it has more to do with the other man in her life, her father, and his failure to be the person she needed him to be when she was growing up. It seems that at a critical moment in this young girl's life her father walked out on her. That experience still haunted her years later, sabotaging her ability to love and to be loved. So Mayer reminds fathers and mothers to consider the impact of their decisions on the children who look up to them. Later in the song he broadens his message to include more than just mothers and fathers. He is reminding us that we are all in this thing together; we all a play a part in the development of children and young people around us. What he says is "what you and I do matters and how we live marks the lives of those who follow us for better or for worse". He includes with the thoughts "let's be good to the children in our lives". It's certainly not a Christian song, but it's a Biblical truth. It's a truth that we acknowledge every time we baptize children. Parents make commitments to pass on the faith, and all of us commit ourselves to nurture the child and the family, and to share our faith with them, to pray for them. We're saying we're all in this together. So, this morning, I would like for you to think with me about how we as Christians can help all our children to develop an abiding faith that will provide a foundation for their lives and a future for Christ s church, and enable them to love God and to love others even as they know themselves to be loved. It's vital! 1

In Corinthians 1:13, the Apostle Paul says three things abide: faith, hope, and love. These three abide. How do we pass on an abiding faith to the generation that follows us? How do we pass on an abiding faith to our children? I've heard it said many times that the Christian faith is only one generation away from extinction. David Wilkerson puts it this way: "God doesn't have any grandchildren". If we don't pass on our faith to the next generation, then the church quickly moves toward extinction. So, passing on our faith to the next generation is critical to the church and its future. As we focus on "passing on an abiding faith", I want to move the analogy from us individually running a race to a relay race. How many of you were or are runners? Wow, not many. I was a runner in high school. I ran a half mile, 50 pounds ago. Now I get on the treadmill and they have the programs on the treadmill. The one I usually do is "fat burn", and it makes me run actually which is good; you don't just walk. So think about a relay race. With a relay race, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th runners are affected by the performance of the runners before them. So each runner sets the pace for the next runner. The same thing happens as we pass on our faith from one generation to the next; each of us looks to the preceding generation to see how the race is run. Each generation brings to the one that follows either a head start or a handicap. So the question is: what kind of pace are you and I setting for the generation that is watching us and waiting for us to pass the baton? Is the quality of your faith giving them a head start or a handicap? Perhaps, make no mistake about this, children are watching you and me. Whether you are a parent or not, children in this church, children in the neighborhood, children in your extended family are watching. They may not look like they are watching, but they are watching to see how you work, how you worship, how you treat people, how you spend your time and money, etc. One of the things that we're focusing on in this strategic planning process are the values, the vision and the mission of Bel Air United Methodist Church. I gave the leaders some homework, and part of it was to determine what the operating values of Bel Air Church are; not the things we ought to be, the things that we are. I suggested to them that one of the things that they should look at is the church calendar -- how they are investing their time. Not only that but also look at the church budget because how you spend your time and money says a lot about what you value. So, that is part of what they are doing right now. Our kids are watching, and they want to see how we spend our time and our money. What they are really looking for is "authenticity". They're not looking for perfection because they know you're human. They know that you and I make mistakes; what they are looking for is a faith that is sincere that's real and personal to you and to me. Survey after survey reveals that what children and young people are looking for in their church is "authenticity". Do we really love each other? Do we really worship? I have stood in front of congregations for 40 years. Did you hear me singing this morning? They say I bellow. I just say I'm singing enthusiastically. I love to sing, and I love music. I love to sing because it is one of the ways that I really connect to God - just lifting up my voice. Now, if you heard me sing you know I don't have a solo voice. I can 2

carry a tune, it might be a little flat sometimes but I can pretty much carry a tune. I have looked out at congregations and their heads were down, they don't even have their hymnals open. I'm thinking that hurts my heart. I wonder how God feels about it when the congregation is lifting up their voices, but the people are disengaged. I honestly don't get that. One of the nice things about being a retired Pastor is that I can say what I think, and Barry didn't pay me to say that to you. I'm not criticizing you. I'm observing that we need to be "authentic" in our worship. We need to be "authentic" so that we are engaged. We're not the passive audience watching somebody else perform. I think that if we do worship surveys one of the things that we should ask each person is: how did I worship today? Not how did the preacher perform? Was the sermon any good? It's did I fully engage in glorifying God and was my heart and my mind fixed on the Lord Jesus? All to Jesus I surrender. Do you have those moments in worship? That is "authentic worship". Kids are looking for that. Do we want to really know God and follow God every day, not just Sundays but every day? Many churches are struggling with different styles of worship, and you have five different worship services with each with slightly different styles. I'm going to say to you that's not nearly as important as the fact that people worshipping in them are singing the songs like they really believe them, and the "hipness" of the teachers and the leaders is not as important as their humble, honest, caring spirit. Kids want to see the real thing. Kids need to see and hear real faith in their parents and in the lives of other significant adults because those who run before set the pace for those who follow. Now just as important as setting a good pace, successfully passing the baton is also critical in a relay race. Do you remember the Olympics in 2004, the Women s 4 by 100 Relay? That was a while back. The US team was favored to win the gold medal. At the previous games in Sydney, Marion Jones had won four gold medals, so they were favored to win. They were off to a really strong start when Jones took the baton for the second lap (second leg of the race). She gained ground as she ran her 100 yards. Then, as she approached the zone where they pass the baton, Lauryn Williams began running and got ready to take the baton. Marion Jones thrust it forward while Lauryn Williams reached back, but they missed each other s hands. They tried that three times and, finally, on the fourth time, they connected - but they were outside of the baton passing zone so they were disqualified. Everyone knew that they were the fastest team on the track the night before. They had the fastest, qualifying time but, when they couldn't complete the handoff, the race was over. I think there is a lesson here for us. As important as it is for the previous generation to set the pace by living out their faith authentically, at a certain point, a handoff must be made in which the next generation receives the "baton of faith" and begins to run with it. That handoff isn't as easy as it looks. It isn't as automatic as the 4 by 100 team demonstrated. It's the result of thousands and thousands of practice runs and handoffs. 3

So how do we pass on the baton of an abiding faith to the next generation? In Deuteronomy 6:4-9, the other passage you heard this morning, Moses instructs us on how to pass on our faith. Listen to those verses again: "Here O Israel (here O Bel Air United Methodist Church) the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength". That is "authentic faith". These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts, impress them on your children, talk with them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up, tie them as symbols on your hands, bind them on your foreheads, write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. These verses remind us that teaching is both formal and informal, at home and at church. Some of it takes place when you intentionally sit down with children or teens and look at God's word together. Sometimes it takes place as you are walking through life and are having casual conversations, responding to situations or talking over challenges and difficulties. You can't rush the process; it goes on for years and years and years as the result of a thousand bedtime prayers, a thousand questions about God, faith, and heaven, the Bible, and a thousand trips back and forth to pick up and drop off your kids. My wife and I had an amazing moment about a month ago. Our oldest granddaughter, who is 9 years old, was at our home for the evening and was having supper with us. My son is married to a woman who is Roman Catholic, and they worship in the Catholic Church - that's just sort of incidental information. They usually pray a prayer at dinner, "God is great, and God is good, and we thank Him for our food". How many of you know that one? They say "by his hand we all be fed" (or something like that). So, she does that because she said she wanted to pray, but then she starts into this other prayer where she is thanking God for Grandma and Grandpa, and for her siblings, her parents, and prays for the world. The prayer was about 5 minutes long, and, at the end, she said "I prayed a Grandpa prayer". I was touched because, while she doesn't normally do that, she can do that because she has heard someone praying something other than a rote kind of prayer. We talked about it. It was very meaningful. A thousand bedtime prayers, a thousand questions about faith and heaven and the Bible, and a thousand trips back and forth to the church to pick up and drop off kids. The good news is that unlike an Olympic race, there is no specified zone in which the handoff has to take place. For some it happens early in life. Our oldest son, the one who is the father of this oldest granddaughter, became a born-again Christian when he was 5 years old. He went to a Good Friday Service, came home and, while he was talking with his mother, he was crying; he said "why did Jesus have to die?". She shared the Gospel with him, and he became a person of faith at the age of 5. My youngest son has known the Gospel, and he is fairly faithful and growing in 4

that again. My middle son we call the "wanderer". We play Scrabble with each other on line. I'm Rev. Derby, and my middle son is Prodigal Derby; my youngest son gave him that name. He is 34 years old, and he still hasn't taken hold of the baton. It is funny because if I asked him to share the path of salvation, how does someone come to saving faith in Christ, he can tell you; but he just doesn't embrace it. He's 34. Thank God that there is no limited baton passing zone. I think that there are often many attempts to pass on the faith and sometimes people don't take hold of it or sometimes they drop it. That's ok. Whenever the pass happens, you have to know it will be the result of 1,000 hours of practice and years and years of walking the tract of life with your children. There will be times when you wonder if it is worth all the effort. How many of you have been Sunday School teachers? You know what I'm talking about. You have done the lesson plan and they're just kind of bouncing around and don't seem to be too engaged, or if you're a youth group leader, you are talking and they are doing something on their phone and you think they are totally disengaged. They tell me they're not. You think, is this worth all the effort? Preschoolers are climbing the walls, teenagers look like they are half asleep or on their phone, and you wonder. Parents, how many nights do you read a Bible story to your kids, or pray with them as you tuck them into bed and there are no remarkable insights, no deep conversation? It may feel like you are just going through the motions; that's exactly what you are doing. You are going through the motions so that, when it is time for the handoff to actually take place, those motions come naturally. You and your child are learning to talk about spiritual things. I became a committed Christian when I was in college. For a while, I was a little bit angry with the Methodist church I grew up in. I was there every Sunday. My mother was the Sunday School Superintendent and the Mission Secretary; my father was Sunday School Treasurer. I was there yet I really didn't come to faith until I was in college. I thought they were really deficient in the way they passed on the faith to me, but I realized later when I did come to faith I had all the pieces. It was like a puzzle; I just hadn't put it together yet. I had the pieces. My family had been faithful over a period of time. They had devotions, I had good Sunday school and youth group leaders. I just didn't take hold of the baton, but, when I did, all those pieces were in place. 5