“Roots and Wings”

Ephesians 3:14-21 and 2 Timothy 1:1-7

September 10, 2006

St. Paul UMC, Little Rock

Rev. John A. Fleming

If you have ever been a part of the following scene or one like it, then the chances are pretty good that you will never forget it. Let me paint the scene using words. Inside the house is a quiet and almost empty bedroom. Last spring’s prom pictures sit on one of the bedside tables. A dried flower hangs on a bulletin board over the desk. This is the desk where many homework assignments have been completed. The computer that used to sit on the desk is no longer there.

Outside the house, on the driveway, is a fully packed car. There isn’t a square inch available for anything else. The trunk and the backseat are full of clothes and books, the computer, a small television and a compact disc player. What was in the room is now in the car. The one who used to live in the room is now in the car. The one who used to live in the room is about to drive the car to college. Are you with me?

Believe it or not, both the parent and the child re stunned by the moment. The child never thought that the moment would get to her the way it is getting to her. The parents have been dreading this day since they brought her home from the hospital. Both cannot help but to wonder what happened to the childhood. Both want to know who fast forwarded the years.

The parents cannot help but to think “Why just yesterday I put her in the car and made my way to the child care center” “Just yesterday she was in her first dance recital. Just yesterday she was turning cartwheels in the den. Just yesterday she was eating Play Dough. Just yesterday he was eating mud. Just yesterday he was on his first ball team. Now look at her. She is so tall. She is so pretty. Look at him. He is filled out. He is handsome. Our child is grown!”

The child, of course, is equally stunned. The road ahead looks lonely and long. There is so much that is unknown. She probably won’t know anyone at the University. There is safety in these walls. There is protection in these halls. There is security at home! The cries for independence and being treated like an adult aren’t cried today. Instead, this thought is thought, “Just say the word, Dad, and I will stay home. Just ask me, mother, and I won’t leave.”

Let me put a personal touch in here. There was no separation anxiety for me when I went to college. I still lived minutes from my mama. My trouble happened when I went to Dallas, to Southern Methodist University, to seminary. Susie and I were together, but without any promises made. I moved to Dallas without knowing a soul. My roommate was from India. My first week of classes were awful. I was pretty sure that I could not do seminary, that I wasn’t smart enough to succeed and so I called home several times that week If my dad had given me even an inkling of an idea to come home, I’d left my stuff in Dallas and driven home immediately! If he had done that, I wouldn’t be here this morning.

My dad knew better and the parents in the scenario knew better, too. They know that love releases the loved. They know that the training is over. They know that the last bell has rung. They know that the class has been dismissed. They know that the lessons have been taught. They know that the application has started. So both the child and her parents hesitate at the car. There is time for a word of advice, but the time for new truths is no more. There is no time to instill new values. There is no time for more foundations. There is only time for a word to be shared. That word is remember. As in, “Remember who loves you. Remember what matters. Remember what is right and what is wrong. Remember.”

Not all of us have been a part of that scene. Many of us have. Some of us have been a part of it as early as this year.

How about another scene? Let me invite you to be a part of another scene. This one is a baptismal scene. A young mother and a brand new father make their way to the altar of the church. Their equally brand new baby is in one of their arms (most babies are carried to the altar in their mother’s arms). Sitting in the pews with cameras ready is the extended family. The one to be baptized is wearing a beautiful dress. If she is like Julie Ann, she is wearing the same dress her sister wore. If she is like Julie Ann, she is wearing the same dress her more wore some thirty-five years ago. There is a ritual. Words are recited. Promises are made. A beginning is begun. A beginning that jumps forward to the day when the child leaves for college and ties these stories together.

Now the question worth considering this morning is this one. As parents bring their children for baptism and as we make promises to help them raise their children, what is the very best thing we can do for our children?

I think the answer can be found in the scripture lessons we read this morning. Both lessons come from the pen of the Apostle, Paul. Both, at their very core, are concerned about encouragement. The first is written to a church. The second is written to a young pastor. The words that we read from Ephesians are in the middle of a prayer Paul prays. There are introductory words to the prayer, of course, but the heart of the prayer asks for three things.

First, Paul prays that God will strengthen the Ephesian Christians with His Spirit. This is not brute strength. This is a glorious inner strength. Paul’s hope here is that we will open the doors of our hearts wide so that Christ will dwell there.

We know people, don’t we, who have such strength? No matter what happens, they are as steady as a rock. I am amazed at people who have such strength. I don’t have what they have and so I wonder, “Where did you get this strength? How do you obtain it? Is there a web site I can visit to download it?” Some people will portray this strength outside, but inside they are a basket case. Inside they are hurting. The first petition of Paul’s prayer is that the Ephesians will have this strength. It is my prayer for you, too. It is my hope for you so that no matter what happens, you will know that God is with you, that God’s strength is inside you, that God is near you.

Second, Paul prays that the Ephesians will be rooted and grounded in love. That is the answer to my question. What is the very best thing we can give our children? We can give them roots, we can ground them in love.

I remember a slogan of a bank where I was once a customer. The bank was in Camden, Arkansas. It was a local bank. They were not a big bank like Bank of America or Regions Bank. They were a small outfit. I banked with them because several of our church members worked there. This bank had a billboard posted as you entered town whose words still ring in my heart. On the billboard was a picture of a thriving tree. It’s leaves were green. It’s branches were wide, and its roots were exposed. Under the tree were these words: Other banks grow branches, we grow roots! We grow roots. Wow! What a message! It is a message for us.

We want Kyndal Jewel Peel to have roots. We want her to know about love. We want this for all of our children and so that is one of the main reasons we begin a new way of doing Sunday School today. Gone are the learning techniques of my day. No longer will you find a teacher sitting in a circle with children. Today we find our children studying one biblical lesson for five weeks and experiencing that lesson in five different ways. One week, they will be a part of a story time. Another week the lesson is taught using a news program format. A third week, a movie is the venue. A fourth week, it’s music, and a fifth week it is using arts and crafts. What are we giving our children in Sunday School these days? We are giving them roots. We are giving them a place to turn to for all life’s questions. We are grounding them. We are helping them. It is something we must not take lightly.

Turn now to Paul’s second letter to Timothy. Paul reminds Timothy of something that has been growing in him for some time. It is his faith. It is a faith that first lived in his grandmother, Lois. It was a faith that was taught to Lois’ daughter, Eunice. It was a faith, writes Paul, “....that lives in you.” I would have liked to have grown up in that house. My guess is that in that house a grandmother and then a mother taught their grandson and their son about what to believe and why to believe. In that house, God was talked about, prayers were shared, scriptures were quoted.

Can I ask you when the last time was when you talked to your children or anyone for that matter about matters of faith? Faith must be taught; trust must be on the curriculum. Rarely is faith caught. Faith was taught in Timothy’s house and because it was, when there was trouble, (For young Timothy there was trouble. Paul recalled his tears) there was something to lean on. What was it? For Timothy, it was his faith. It was his belief that God is always there. It was his belief that no matter what happened, God and Timothy, together, could handle it. Timothy just needed reminding of that. Paul encourages his young friend to rekindle the gift of God (and that is faith) that is inside him. He encourages him to blow of his faith’s embers, to bring it back to a roaring fire and a real passion.

Now back to Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians. His third petition is that the Ephesians will be able to experience the great dimensions of God’s love for them. Paul encourages, “Reach out and experience its breadth. Test its limits. Plumb its depths. Rise to the heights! Live full lives.” You cannot exhaust the love of God. The greatest celebration happens and God is there. The worst thing happens and God is there.

Listen to my question again. What is the greatest thing we can give our children? My answer is we can give them roots; we can ground them in love. We can teach them about trusting the One who is trustworthy. We can teach them about an abiding faith. And when the lessons are learned, when the classes are over, we must give our children wings to soar to the heights.

I dread the day when Annie Grace stands in front of her car shifting it into gear, on her way to college. I don’t look forward to the day when Julie will do the same. Now I hold fast to the knowledge that they are not ready. It is my job. It is your job. It is our job to give these gifts to my kids and to Kyndal and to every child and every teenager in our church. We give them roots and wings. Let us pray.