RISE UP AND SHINE
FOR OUR CHILDREN’S SAKE
DR. JIM DIXON
SEPTEMBER 8, 1991
MATTHEW 18:5; MARK 10:13-16
Montrose Elementary School was the name of the grade school I attended when I was growing up in Southern California. I remember the old wooden school desks we used to sit at. I remember the ink wells in the right-hand corner of the desks. I remember air raid drills. Sirens would go off, and we were all told to get under those school desks. The idea was that if there was a thermonuclear war and bombs fell on the greater Los Angeles area, somehow that would help . . . to get under those school desks. Of course, it was a time in America’s history when we were much afraid of external aggression, much afraid of nuclear attack, very much afraid of communism and communistic aggression in the Soviet Union.
In recent days and weeks and months, incredibly, miraculously, we have seen the significant fall of communism in Russia and in the Middle East. Though Russia still has 27,000 nuclear warheads, it does not seem as likely today that Russia would fire those weapons on our soil. Yet, the truth is that the greatest danger to America has never been external threat. The greatest danger to America has never been external aggression. The greatest danger to our children is within. The greatest danger to our nation is within. The Roman Empire fell from within. The children of the Roman Empire were corrupted from within.
On the NBC Today show this week, it was stated that all across America, families are becoming outwardly mobile. They’re leaving the inner cities, they’re moving to the suburbs, and they’re doing this for their children’s sake—because they’re afraid of the drugs, and the crime, and the gangs, and the violence, and the immorality of the inner city. They want to save their kids. But the suburbs cannot save our kids. They might keep them alive, but they will not give them a purpose for living.
The truth is that there is plenty of crime, plenty of violence, plenty of drugs, plenty of immorality in the suburbs. Families are fractured across America in the suburbs and in the inner cities. There’s a lot of kids growing up in tragic home environments. There’s kids growing up in homes where mom has been married two or three times and she’s now living with a live-in boyfriend. He doesn’t care about the kids unless he wants a beer from the refrigerator. He doesn’t talk to them unless he wants them to do something for him. Kids all across America are growing up in homes where dads are so career focused—and sometimes moms too—that they have basically abandoned their children in a preoccupation with self.
The FBI tells us that juvenile delinquency is a massive problem in the United States of America. The FBI tells us that two out of every three cases of arson and two out of every three cases of burglary are committed by teenagers. The FBI tells us that one out of every three cases of larceny is committed by teenagers. The FBI tells us that out of the hundreds of thousands of juvenile delinquents across the United States of America, less than 1% have ever been to Sunday school. Less than 1%.
We live in changing times. We live in a country where fewer and fewer children are going to Sunday school. Fewer and fewer children are going to church. A smaller percentage of America’s children believe in Jesus Christ. More of America’s teenagers are running away from home. More of them are abusing alcohol. More of them are playing with premarital sex.
I know there’s a lot of good in this world, and I know there’s a lot of good in America. But we are living in the midst of significant social decay. There’s hope. If you look at history, if you look at biblical history, there have always been times of darkness. Pharaoh was throwing Hebrew babies in the Nile when Moses was born. Israel’s finest youth were being carried off into exile to serve pagan kingdoms in Daniel’s day. Herod was murdering male children when the Son of God came into the world. It’s always been hard for kids, but there’s hope.
I want to suggest this morning that the hope for our kids is really not government funding, as helpful as that sometimes can be. The hope for our children is not public education. Thank God for public education, even though it is somewhat tainted by secular humanism. The hope for our children is not the family— because the family in America is so fractured that it’s part of the problem rather than being part of the solution.
The hope for the children of this nation is Jesus Christ. The hope for the children of this nation is the people of Christ and the church of Christ. The message that God has for us this morning is this: the church of Jesus Christ must rise up and shine for our children’s sake.
Tony Campolo is professor of sociology at Eastern University. He’s a skilled writer, a gifted speaker, and a committed Christian. One occasion years ago, he was away at a conference, and his wife Connie was home with the two children. It was 10:30 PM and Connie was in the kitchen. Suddenly, she heard a knock at the door. She was startled. She was a little bit afraid. She looked through the window, and she was surprised to see a nine-year-old boy. He looked panicked. She opened the door, and this nine-year-old boy was crying. He said, “My dad is beating up my mom. Help me.”
Connie Campolo called the police, and it was discovered that this nine-year-old boy’s dad often beat up his mom. The nine-year-old boy was often locked in the closet. The dad would lock him in the closet whenever he beat up his mom. The boy would just sit in there and hear his mom scream. On this particular night, he had escaped from the closet, made his way out of the house and out into the night. He’d made his way to the Campolo house. Connie Campolo said to him, “Well, how did you happen to come to our house?” And he said, “Well, you know, when I went out of my house, it was just black everywhere. The only house that had a light on was your house. And I just ran. I ran to the light.”
Do you understand that? That’s what the church of Jesus Christ is meant to be. It’s meant to be a light, a light where people can go, moms and dads, single people, adults, and children. A place where people can go—a light in the darkness when they’re in the midst of their hurt, in the midst of the darkness, in the midst of their desperate need. That’s the church.
Jesus Christ said, “I’m the light of the world.” Before He left our world, He said to His people, to the men and women who believed in Him, “You are the light of the world. By My Holy Spirit I’ve come into you, and you are the light of the world.” He says, “Let your light shine.”
We want our church to shine for Christ’s sake, for our children’s sake. We have a dream. It’s from God, and it’s for our children. We have a dream of a building a facility where ministry can better take place. It’s for ministry’s sake, not for bricks and mortar. It’s for kids’ sake. We want a facility where children can come and be loved, and they can hear about the love of Jesus Christ—a place where there’s an excellent curriculum and there’s people, an army of volunteers, who love those kids. There’s adequate space, adequate square footage per child so ministry can take place. We want to provide for all the kids that God has given us, and we want to reach other kids in these desperate times.
We want a youth ministry that’s unparalleled in America. Why not? For Christ’s sake. We feel like we have a great youth staff, but we don’t begin to have, facility-wise, what is needed for dynamic ministry.
Now, you know we’re in the midst of a capital stewardship campaign, and you know the vision that God has set before us. I want to encourage each of you today, as you go out into the narthex, to take a look at the renderings that are on the wall. Take a look at the pictures of the facility that we feel led to build. It’s just bricks and mortar. That’s not important. It’s the ministry that’s important. It’s the ministry that is to take place there.
Some of you have looked at the diagrams on the wall in the narthex, and you’ve been upset. You said it looks extravagant. I hope you understand that these are just architectural renderings. The fountains in the front are just architectural fluff. We’re not planning on fountains. We just want space to serve the Lord. We’re trying to build with good stewardship. We’re not building extravagantly. We’re trying to keep the cost per square foot down. I hope you also understand we’re phasing this. We’re not planning to build everything you see there at once. We wish we could. We’re planning to phase this. This first phase may just be parking lots.
But it’s going to take commitment. It’s really going to take commitment. Our church is going to be challenged—each and every one of us by the Holy Spirit within us. We’re going to be challenged. What’s important to you? What are you living for? When your life is at an end in this world and you stand before the Creator, what was more important than the kingdom of Jesus Christ? For our children’s sake.
Elizabeth Elliot tells a true story of a little girl who was dying of cancer. This little girl believed in Jesus Christ. She loved to say the 23rd Psalm. She would say the first five words of the 23rd Psalm over and over again, “The Lord is my Shepherd. The Lord is my Shepherd.” She had cancer throughout her body. When she would say, “The Lord is my Shepherd,” she would count those words with her right hand. “The. Lord. Is. My . . .” When she came to her thumb, she’d say, “Shepherd.” Whenever she came to the word shepherd, she’d hold her thumb.” She was asked, “Why do you grab your thumb? Why do you hold onto your thumb when you say shepherd?” And she says, “Because the Lord is my shepherd, and I really believe He’s never going to let me go.”
Elizabeth Elliot tells how one morning they came into this girl’s room and she had died right there in the bed. But with her left hand, she was clinging onto her thumb. In her moment of death, she was thinking, “The Lord is my shepherd, and He’ll never let me go.” You see, she didn’t really die. She’ll dwell in the house of the Lord forever. She’s found green pastures and still waters, and the Lord was with her in the valley of the shadow of death.
I don’t know how you feel about your children. I know how Barb and I feel about Drew and Heather. I mean, there’s a lot of dangers in this world and a lot of hopes that we have for them . . . as all parents have for their kids. But nothing’s more important to us than this: that they’ll grow up to love Christ as they already do. Love Christ. Hold on to Him. Never let Him go. And trust always in Him.
We don’t only want this for our kids, we want this for your kids. We want this for all kids. That’s a big part of what Cherry Hills Community Church is all about. We want children rooted in Judeo-Christian values and taught the Word of God. They’re not getting taught it out there in the world. We want them to know that at least some people love them. We want them to experience the love of Jesus Christ and to fall in love with Him too. So, rise up and shine for our children’s sake. Let’s close with a word of prayer.