Message to the Anglican Youths & Parents (Colossians 3: 1-11 & Luke 12: 13-21)

We celebrate our youth day each year on every last Sunday of July. However, at St. Margaret’s Church, Seria we celebrate it on the first Sunday of August. Below is my sermon preached at St. Margaret's Church, Seria to the young people and parents. I guess the message is also applicable to all young people and parents in the Anglican Diocese. If your parents have no access to this blog, you may copy & print it and give it to them to read.

My message for today is based on the Epistle and Gospel readings for Trinity 9, and I hope as you reflect upon these two texts it will speak to you, whether you are young people or parents of young children. Many of us know the importance of young people in our church. The problem is that may of us older adults have forgotten what it was like to be young people, and as we become older we
find it difficult to tolerate the behaviours of youth. So very often we say to them, “When we were at your age, we didn’t behave badly like you.” I cannot speak for most of you, but I can say that when I was young I behaved just like any of these young people. The only difference is that we didn’t have the gadgets that many young people have today. I know there is a great temptation among us older folks to make these young people behave like ourselves: something – I believe - we should not do. But we can do something noble for them, while allowing them to enjoy their youthful years.

I have met many young people in churches that I have visited, and have found that many of them have great desire to make an impact in this world with their Christian belief. Many young Christians really want to serve God, they want to make a difference and do something that is constructive and leave a lasting impression upon this world. The problem is that many of us older people don’t encourage them or trust them enough. Some of us may even feel that the young people in church are a nuisance.

I am glad that our PCC Chairman, on two occasions, has spoken to me about doing something to get young people joining our Church. I have the same desire too but this is not something that we can do on our own. We need the support of every member to see this happening. We need the support of parents.

I feel sad to hear some parents telling their children they should not think about serving God now. They tell their children that they have more important goals to achieve right now – they should study hard, get degrees, top honours, aim for good careers. They should only think about serving God when they are older. Some people have said to me that they would only give their services to the church after they retire.

I cannot understand why people think that they should keep the best years of their life to themselves and serve God when they are no longer needed anywhere. What many parents have forgotten is this: children who are not brought up knowing and loving Jesus - when they get high
educations or get good jobs - will not be interested in God and his work. I have a few cases of parents complaining about their sons and daughters - that they are no longer the persons they used
to know when they were young: they no longer follow the ways of the Lord, they are no longer interested in the church, or that they have forgotten traditions that they have been brought up.

What we parents don’t usually take into account as the young people leave homes to study in secular colleges and universities and start mixing with their peers, is that something can happen to their Christian life. In their effort to fulfill what we want them to become they will find that they no
longer have the desire for Christian service. Then, they begin a cycle of backsliding or else they get brainwashed and mixed up with people with liberal thinking. Worse still - he or she may meet someone of the opposite sex who is of different religion and without you knowing it – they abandon their Christian faith and convert to another religion.

We parents who have studied in Mission Schools easily forget what the Church has done for us. I want to remind you that you are what you are now because of the influence of the church in your lives when you were young. I also studied in a mission school during my early years. Today our children do not have such benefits because they have no access to religious knowledge in schools. So it is up to the church to see to it that children and young people are brought up to know
Jesus. And we are doing our best to prepare young people for a life of service to God. We take upon ourselves to educate young people and strive to teach them biblical principles and pray that God would so touch their lives that they will give themselves to serve him. But sad to say many parents don’t think in the same manner.

What I am saying is that young people need to be in that right relationship with God in order for them to discern the will of God, and know the direction that they should take later on. If we want our children to become successful in life – we must not only teach them how to make money. We must also teach them to be honest, faithful, caring and God-fearing people. We have heard in our gospel reading a story about rich man who was also called a fool. He was a fool because he did not take into consideration of what was to come – he forgot about death. After he became rich he said to himself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' And Jesus concluded, "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." And I am sure none of us would like to see our children becoming “rich fools” in their later years.

There are determining factors that need to be established in anyone’s life if they are going to
become followers of Jesus. We need to teach our young people certain basic principles or truth about God and about themselves:

First, young people must know God personally. If they want to make a difference and an impact upon this world we have to guide them to put their trust and faith in God who created this world and know him in an intimate way. In John 15: 5 Jesus says, "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing.”

Parents, please don’t be content to make your children only to become successful businessmen and government officials. You have to teach them to love and fear God. If you don’t,
then you are going to produce leaders, businessmen and officials who may become corrupt and untrustworthy because they neither believe nor fear God. Jesus is telling us that our children are going to be useless, totally ineffective and unproductive if they don’t have him in their lives. Time and time again we hear of rich and powerful people being arrested or fired because of corrupt practices or misusing their power. These are gifted people but because they don’t have God in their lives – they misused their gifts.

Secondly, young people have to learn that everything belongs to God. This is what our gospel lesson is teaching us this morning. There is also a lesson in Mark 10: 17-22, where we read about a rich young man who stopped Jesus and asked what good thing he must do to get eternal life. Jesus told him to obey the Commandments, but the young man said he had done all that since he was a boy. Then Jesus told him to sell all his possessions and give everything to the poor, and then come
and follow Jesus. The young man went away sad because he was rich.

If our young people want to live a life that is committed to God, then God must have all of them. God requires that they give their all to him. It does not mean that you give away every single cent you have to the church or to charity. What it means is: if you want to be a disciple of Jesus then it will require obedience from start to finish. Jesus in Matthew 16:24 says, “If anyone desires to come after me let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me”. If you want to follow the Lord wholeheartedly, self-denial must take place; meaning that the “me” and the “I” in my life must go and be replaced with God’s desires. It means that our attitudes, goals and ambitions must be surrendered to God and directed outward. When all of you are surrendered to God you will still study and work hard like anybody else. But the difference is your goals and ambitions are not planned around you. You will not be just thinking, “What benefit will I get from this?” You will not be thinking like the rich fool, who said, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." Instead, you will be thinking, “How can I make use of what I have to make an impact for God that will make a difference and last for eternity? What can I contribute to the community and nation?”

Finally, young people need to know God’s purpose for them in life. It is wise to have goals, aims and ambitions in life. This helped us to remember who we are, what we are about and where we were going. But God wants your ambitions and goals to be in line with his so that he can give you certain responsibility. That is what Colossians 3: 1 reminds us just now: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things”.

While we pursue success in this world, it is wise to keep our focus on Jesus. I am not taking about being religious. Jesus talks a great deal about loving and worshiping God, and about giving ourselves to love and to serve others. You must have a burden for something that is outside yourself. You must have the desire to see good thing happening in your community, your church, your country, and even in this world. You cannot be a young person with no vision and no mission. You cannot live in this world without a sense of purpose, a goal and aim in life. You cannot just drift through life, or settle down to a life of comfort and ease with no a burden for something. That is not what we want our young people to become.

Having said that, I also have something to say to the church. If the church is to grow, it must have interests and concern for young people. It must be a conducive enough for the young people to worship God and to take certain responsibilities. The church must be able to support programs and activities that can build up our young people. Providing facilities is one thing, but young people need more than that. Young people should be able to join us older ones, in a ministry where they don’t feel that we are over-pressuring them to be like us. It means that we need to have patience and love when dealing with young people.

I am not just talking about it: I am showing you the way by taking up the position as the ADYC
Chaplain. If I (the priest of this church, who is already in his 50s) still have the hearts to serve the young people of the Diocese and if our Chairman (who is in his 80s) has said that he wants more young people in Church, I cannot see why the congregation don’t desire it; and why the young people cannot be convinced about our commitment. I am telling you, young people that if I am serious about youth ministry, but I also expect you to be serious about it also. I expect you to look beyond yourself and beyond today. I expect you not to just think about making money or aiming for some high position and becoming rich one day. I expect you to make yourself useful to God and to the community.

And it is not enough that the Church should have the interest in bring up godly young people: parents must also desire to see their children to love God and fear him. Parents must support the activities of the church as far as ministry to the youth is concerned. But most important of all, young
people themselves must know that God delights to work with them, and he wants them to know and love him. Young people must also recognize God’s authority over their lives, and that he wants them to live a life that has purpose and meaning, with a sense of directions. In short, God wants you to be rich in his eyes.