Let the Children Come

SUMMARY

In this sermon, Karl Ihfe highlights Broadway church's long-standing partnership with the Children's Home of Lubbock, whose mission is "manifesting Christ through excellence in childcare." He shares sobering statistics about Lubbock County being the fourth highest for child abuse in Texas, with 783 confirmed victims last year, emphasizing that these aren't just numbers but children created in God's image who need healing and hope.

Karl connects this ministry to Jesus's teaching in Mark 10, where He was "indignant" when disciples tried to prevent children from approaching Him. Jesus taught that the kingdom belongs to children and that welcoming a child in His name is welcoming Jesus Himself. Karl reminds the congregation that caring for vulnerable children isn't a side project but reflects the heart of God, who describes Himself in Psalm 68:5 as "a father to the fatherless." The sermon concludes with a call to radical generosity toward their $40,000 goal to support safety initiatives at the Children's Home.

TRANSCRIPTION:

Well, we are excited to get to celebrate alongside the Children's Home of Lubbock, another incredible year of service to our community, to so many friends. We're so glad that you two are with us here today. We are excited to get to think some together about why the work at the Children's home really matters. And then we're going to get a chance to be really generous to our friends at the Children's home. Our goal this year is $40,000.

We'd love to raise $40,000. That's going to make a huge impact here on the South Plains with so many families that are hurting. When I came here, Lynn Harms was the director at that time. But I remember first time hearing the motto or the mission statement of the Children's home and that's manifesting Christ through excellence in childcare. Now I've had that memorized since the first time I heard it.

I don't know why. It just found a place in my heart. When Kaley and I were considering moving out here with our family back in 2013, one of the main reasons we came out here was because of the this kind of work, because of Broadway's heart for children, for adopting and fostering kiddos, for stepping into hard situations and hard complicated circumstances and saying we want to bring some help and to get to partner with like minded friends like Rudy and his team at the Children's Home. We're so thankful to get to be a part of that because we believe it's at the heart of God's ministry in this world. Some of you may have seen the statistics and living out here in West Texas, there are a lot of great things.

One of the things that isn't so great is we're the fourth highest county for child abuse. Last year what we found was 783 confirmed victims of child abuse and neglect. Over 6,000 cases were investigated last year out in our county. Now just to kind of put that in perspective, that's just a little under 10 over every thousand children in the state of Texas. The average county is 7 and we're almost at 10.

We've got some issues, we need some help. And so we're so thankful to have Rudy and his team standing on the front lines helping families and especially children. Because those Numbers aren't just statistics. Those are names and faces. Those are stories of children who were created in the image of God, of families created in God's image who need hope and healing and restoration.

So today's not a day just to come alongside and Celebrate the Children's Home, although it certainly is that. But it's this reminder that the work is earth urgent and the need is great. And we want to do our part to help out. You know, back in the 50s, men and women here at Broadway got together to talk some about how can we minister to the hurting families and children in our community. Folks like Norville and Helen Young, Fred and Roma Pinkston, Lawrence Green, Ida Collins.

There's too many to name. But they began dreaming of a place where vulnerable children and families could find find a place for healing. And that dream turned into the Children's Home of Lubbock. And then folks like John and Vera White and Floyd and Pat Stumbo came to make that dream and helped turn that dream into a reality. And for the last seven decades, that work has been faithfully stewarded not only through Floyd and his directing and John and his as well, but also with Lynn and Jimmy and most recently now, Rudy taking on those reins.

And they have partnered with countless men and women who have served children to carry out this good work and expanding the services that are available to our community, just to give us a sense for how deep this work is woven into our community. If you have ever served at the Children's Home, either as a volunteer or a staff person or a house parent, maybe one of their counselors or supervisors, if you've been the director or chair the board or you've been on the board, would you just stand for just a moment? Just so we can see the number of folks who have served at the Children's Home for the Children Home, with the Children Home now, just take a look around our church. How many? Absolutely.

You may be seated. Thank you.

That's just a glimpse of the heart of this church for serving in this important way. In fact, what we've learned, if you check out their website, you'll discover that over 7,000 children and their families have been served in the last seven decades. You heard Rudy referred just this year, 168 children have been served. They're doing incredible, incredible work. One of the reasons, as I said, that Kayla and I came out here was to get to partner with a church like this, because we hadn't encountered a church that took the Apostle James Word so seriously as Broadway does.

That religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this to care for orphans, to care for the widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. When we first moved out here, I visited with Lynn and I've since had this Conversation with every CEO director of the Children's Home. I've said our prayer. It's kind of that prayer that my professors taught us when I was getting my therapy training. He said, carl, your goal is to work yourself out of a job.

And so I would tell Lynn and Jimmy and now Rudy, we're praying that you'll work yourself out of a job. Not because we don't think you're really great at what you do, but our hope is that the work that the Children's Home is doing now isn't needed anymore, that families are no longer experiencing the trauma and the hurt and the pain of generations passed down, that our kids wake up in safe places. But until that day, what we've committed is to stand in partnership with the Children's Home to say, we'll stand with you, alongside you, we'll work with you and support you as best we can so that every child has an opportunity to be in a safe, helpful, hope filled and healing place. This morning, I want to look at a couple of passages that just remind us, and I hope will cement in our hearts how important this work is to us. And the first one will be the passage that Gloria read for us just a moment ago.

Mark, chapter 10, if you have your Bible, I invite you to turn there. And as you're doing so, just let me set the scene because chapter 10 opens up with this really interesting conversation Jesus is having with some of the Pharisees who ask him about marriage. In fact, they say, is it okay to divorce a man to divorce his wife? This question that's kind of hanging out there, and I love Jesus response, He says, well, what did Moses command you? They replied, well, Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.

Jesus said, well, it was because of your hearts they were hard that Moses wrote this law. But at the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. And for this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife. And the two will become one flesh. So they're no longer two, but one.

Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate. The simple question that's kind of tossed out is actually a question that had been chased around a lot in Jesus day. And Jesus gives a very strong and makes a very strong case for marriage, saying, if God is the one doing the joining, you better think real hard before you start undoing what God is doing. The only reason divorce was even in the conversation, Jesus says the only reason that Moses allowed that was because your hearts were hard. I love how NT Wright sums up this, this passage.

He, he wrote these words in his commentary. He said Israel is Israel in Moses day was not able to fulfill the Creator's intention and they needed laws that would reflect that second best reality. Hard heartedness, the inability to have one's heart in tune with God's best intention and plan. It thwarted God's longing that Israel should be his prototype of renewed humanity. The problem was not with the ideal nor with the law, but with the people.

Israel was, when it all came down to it, just like everybody else, hard hearted, eager to take the precious gift of genuine humanness and exploit it or abuse it. See in Jesus day there was this raging debate about what was a possible reason and a scriptural reason for divorce. And Jesus makes it pretty simple. He says, well the reason we're having this conversation in the first place is hard hearts, hard heartedness. Marriage matters to God because people matter to God and the reason we see it dissolve in the world around us is hard heartedness.

God created people in his image and he wants them to flourish. And so when Jesus is asked the same question over in Matthew 19, we get this similar answer. But his disciples, we actually hear what they say and this is their response to Jesus word. They say, well if this is the situation between a husband and wife, it's better not to marry. I mean Jesus, if this is the bar, I mean how could anybody do this?

And I love Jesus response. He doesn't go, it's not that tough, just follow me. And here's what he says. Not everyone can accept this word but only those to whom it's been given. Another way of saying that, at least in my house growing up was if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.

There's some requirements to yoking your life together with someone else. And if you're not willing to make this kind of commitment, then it's probably not for you. It's only for those who will count the cost, who will do the hard things. And if you can't, he says, well then marriage may not be for you. It's got some requirements that not everybody's willing to pay.

You see, it's on the heels of this teaching now that we get the passage that Gloria read for us just a moment ago about children. You see, we find here parents are bringing their kids to Jesus to be blessed and the disciples shooing them away. And it doesn't sit well with Jesus. So once again he raises the bar. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant he said to them, let the little children come to me and don't hinder them.

For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly, I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. And he took the children in his arms and he placed his hands on them and he blessed them. See, Jesus says, as it turns out, how we treat children says a lot about how we understand and what we know about the kingdom.

Jesus says, our job isn't to hinder kids. It's to actually help them discover, to engage their creative and their imagination, to discover all that the kingdom has. Because Jesus says the kingdom's available to these children. I mean, what's keeping them away from Jesus? Well, it's hard hearts only this time it's his disciples, right?

These children and these pesky parents just keep bringing their kids. We got a schedule. We got things to do, man. Get out of here. He doesn't have time for this.

And Jesus, it doesn't go well.

It's interesting to me that he wasn't just mildly irritating, right? The word. Gloria and I talked about this just this morning. Indignant. Now, that's not a word we often use in our world today.

You know, when someone says, how are you feeling? I'm feeling indignant, right. It's just not one of those words. But just to kind of again, set it into context. Do you remember the story when James and John pulled Jesus aside and they say, hey, Jesus, when your kingdom comes, could we be on your right and your left?

Is that cool? And when the disciples found out about that conversation, do you remember what they were feeling? Same word. Or maybe you remember the story. It's actually a little bit later on in Mark's gospel, but where Jesus is at Bethany and he's sitting at Simon the leper's house, and this woman comes in with this jar of perfume and she breaks it and pours the fume all over Jesus feet.

And the people around, right? In Mark's version, all the people around, including some of the disciples, were really indignant, right? This money could have been used for the poor. This money could have been same feeling. So Jesus isn't just kind of like, come on, guys, let the kids come, it's cool.

No, no, no. He's not just annoyed. Why? Because it breaks the heart of God when he sees his children being pushed aside. So he tells his disciples, let the children come.

Come, let them come. Don't hinder them. For the kingdom of God belongs to them. You see, the Disciples saw these children and their pesky parents as a distraction. Jesus sees them as treasures, as an example of what the kingdom looks like.

He took them in his arms and he placed his hands on them, and he and he blessed them. This is the heart of our Savior. When children are ignored, he notices. When they're rejected, he intervenes. When they're hurting, he holds them close.

You see, when Broadway stepped up in 1954 to start the Children's Home of Lubbock, they were simply fulfilling this call by Jesus to let the children come. Let them come. But that's not all Jesus says to them, right? He says, let the children come. And then he says, watch them.

Notice them. Truly, I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it. There's something powerful, something significant about the way a child receives that. Jesus says, if we don't understand this, we're gonna end up locking ourselves out and missing out on the incredible things God is doing. In Matthew chapter 18, the same teaching shows up once again, only this time it's in the context of the disciples arguing about who is the greatest, who's the most important.

How does Jesus resolve this argument? He brings a little child, and he places that child among them. And he says this. Truly, I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you'll never enter the kingdom. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. You see, children teach us an incredible lesson about trust and wonder. They teach us something about how to depend on God and not ourselves. So to welcome a child and to treat them with love and joy and dignity and honor and respect, it's bigger than just being nice. Jesus says it's the same as treating him that way.

So to welcome a child, especially a vulnerable child, is to welcome Christ himself. That's why we remain committed to to partnering with the Children's Home of Lubbock is because we recognize that every time a hurting child is supported, every time a house parent listens and gives of their time and their love and their energy to help a child, every time stability is provided to a hurting family, Jesus is being welcomed live and in the flesh. The gospel in the flesh. As Rudy and his team would say, Christ is being made manifest.

Psalm 68 gives us a beautiful picture description of how God sees himself. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows is God in his holy dwelling. It's who God is caring for vulnerable children isn't a side project. It's at the core. It's at his heart.

And when God's people share in that love, when we defend the vulnerable and stand in the gap and create places of safety and belonging, we too are following the example of our Father. That's why in 1952, when these conversations were taking place, the elders at the time went to a woman named Ida Collins and said, hey, could we have 35, 40 acres or so of land out just outside of town that we could build this home? We could minister to these kids. And Ida's response was no, because it's not enough. Let me give you 200 acres.

What? Why? Because this isn't just radical generosity. This is the heart of God overflowing in the life of a woman who understood the depth and the need and the willingness to say, how could I not? The prophet Isaiah describes the coming Messiah like this.

He said, a bruised reed he will not break and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.

Matthew saw that and he heard that. And as he followed Jesus around, he began to see that Jesus is the one who heals. The bruised Jesus is the one who protects the smoldering Jesus is the one who breathes new life into those who need it and feel they have nothing left. You see, every child that comes to the Children's Home hurt and scared and confused, is a bruised reed in a smoldering wick. And Rudy and his team follow in the way of Jesus and they will not break it and they will not snuff it out.

Instead, they're going to come alongside and, and support and love and care for in the last 70 plus years, they've been doing that work where no child is broken and no flame is extinguished and Jesus gently welcomes and he heals and he restores.

So this morning, as we look back on the incredible relationship that Broadway and the Children's Home have had together, and all of the amazing people that have spent their time and their lives serving out at the home, Whether it's house parents or staff or counselors or supervisors or workers or volunteers, these people weren't just building buildings.

They built hope. They were building safety. They helped form faith in young people and young families who are trying to struggle with how do we take our next step? How do we break from the generations of trauma that we've been experienced? How do we find a new life?

On the Children's Home website, one of the statements that kind of jumped out at me as we were looking through their history. It says the past is but prologue to an even more exciting future. I love that statement. I love what it means that the story isn't finished. God is still writing.

As we heard Rudy say earlier to these families, your story's not over. There's another chapter yet to be written. Come and write that chapter with us. There are hundreds of children in Lubbock today who need the love of Jesus expressed through this kind of work and hope. So what do we do, church?

What can we do? Well, in the coming months, you're going to hear a lot more specifics about some ways that Rudy and I and our teams are dreaming up how we can continue to deepen our relationship. But we're going to support and this morning we're going to give. And again, church, I'm going to challenge this. Can we be radically generous for these kids who need help and hope and healing?

Because every child touched by this ministry is a child that Jesus welcomes. Every wound healed is a testimony of God's compassion in the world and every life restored. It's an echo of the gospel lived out in real life.

Disciples once tried to keep children away from Jesus, and his response was, let the children come, church. That's my prayer for us that. That will be our words to the world around. If children are hurting and they need blessing, let them come and we'll do our best. We're going to partner with our friends at the children's home.

We're going to make a difference.

I'm going to offer a prayer here in just a moment over this offering. And when I'm done, you're going to have a chance to give. And the ways to give are similar to how we just gave for our weekly giving. That's. You can give it online, you can write a check, you can give cash.

We got some envelopes over here by our. By each exit, there's a giving box and you can put your gift in there, seal it up, and we'll get that. Every penny that's given today for the children home is going directly to Rudy and his team. One of the efforts that they are focusing on this next year is safety. It's not just that the campus would be safe, but that their Internet connection to the world out would be safe.

That walking around their campus at night, there would be some lights and it would be safe. I mean, this, this emphasis on safety. Every dollar that we give is going to help out create a safe environment for children who are most vulnerable and most needing in our community. Again, I invite you to dig deep. Let's be radically generous.

Let me offer a word of prayer for this gift and. And then Gary and the team are gonna come and lead us in song. If you have any questions. You wanna know more about the incredible work that's happening at the children home. Rudy's up here.

Gloria's up here. We have several around, as you saw already, who know some of the work that is happening. We'd love to tell you more and find ways to get you involved. Let's pray together.

Oh, God, you are the father to the fatherless. Would you teach us to love as you love? Would you give us your tenderness for every bruised reed and your patience for every smoldering wick? God, would you bless the children's home of Lubbock? Would you bless every child they serve?

Would you strengthen the hands that care for them? God, would you shape us into the likeness of your son Jesus, who said, let the children come, God. Now we are offering our resources in a special offering for the home. God, we're asking that every gift given today would be a shield of safety around the kids who need your protection. God, would you use these funds to create safe spaces, safe access to technology, safe grounds to walk on, safe homes for the young men and women who are stepping into adulthood through their supervised independent living program?

God, would you multiply what we give to you this morning beyond what we can even ask or imagine?

God, may we be radically generous this morning. And through your grace and the generosity of your people, God, would you multiply it? May every dollar bring a child closer to the healing and hope and love of you. Jesus, thank you for the ways that you have shown us by your example how to love. Help us to be courageous in following that same example.

We pray in the strong name of Jesus.