S4 E4 - The Sound of Silence

I came home for lunch expecting to hear my children greet me at the door, but had forgotten they were on a play date. So I sat there eaching lunch in silence, which is very rare. You would think I would enjoy it, but actually, I missed them. Sure our house is chaotic more often than not, but it's where we all belong: together. 

In the same way, children belong together with us in worship. Can they be loud? Yes. Distracting? Sure! But Jesus said "let the little children come to me." You don't want to wait until you're sitting in silence in an empty church with no children before you realize that lesson. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Transcript

What if I told you that God could be seen in the most ordinary things every day? 

What if I told you that every day, ordinary events could teach us extraordinary eternal truths?

Would you believe me? 

 Welcome back to season 4 of the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! My name is BJ Sipe, and I am a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. And I’m excited to share a few moments together with you learning some important lessons from the simplest things. Thanks for tuning in! 

It has been a doozie of a few weeks here in Danville for all kinds of reasons, so thank you for being patient as we are getting caught back up on the podcast here. Our craziness was finally capped off with me getting a sinus infection and having been sick all week, because hey why not? I was feeling significantly better yesterday but then was feeling progressively worse throughout the day today again, so I had some amoxicillin called in and made my way home around lunch time. I figured I would do lunch with the kids, then climb back into bed and finish my work from home for the rest of the day. I pulled into the driveway and as I opened up the garage, I was surprised to see that my wife’s car was not in the garage like it normally is. Then it dawned on me – I completely forgot that Kylie was taking the kids over to a friend’s house to have a play date today. So I walked in the door, and instead of being greeted by the sound of screaming children and loud frantic “DAD’S HOME!” exclamations, I was greeted by the quiet jingle of our tiny little puppy who came trotting over to welcome me home. I set my stuff down, got comfortable, made myself some lunch, and sat down on the couch. It was the strangest thing – as I sat there, it was completely and utterly silent. No music. No show in the background. No kids crying or asking a thousand questions or running loud, noisy toys all across the floor. I almost never have an opportunity to sit in complete silence at this stage in my life. Even at night we have the monitor on our children and you can hear their noise machines to help them sleep through the night. But here I sat all alone in my home, all alone with my thoughts, and absolutely no noise around me. And I’ve got to be honest…for about the first five minutes it was pretty incredible. As I sat there eating my lunch, I got up and walked around the house and looked into the kids’ rooms. I wondered what the house would sound like about right now if everyone was home. Finley would be crying at the top of her lungs for mom because she wanted down from her highchair. Ollie (the dog) would be jumping up and down at the foot of her chair trying to get the food off of her tray table that she hadn’t already pushed into the floor. Ava would be telling us that she couldn’t possibly eat one more bite and start trying to negotiate with us how many more bites she would need to take before she could get down. And Dane…well, who knows with that child – the sky is the limit – but more than likely he would probably be getting into some kind of trouble because he was trying to balance a tray full of food on his head or something. I laughed as I leaned against the door frame of their room in silence, thinking about how chaotic and crazy our house would be if they were home. But you know what…the more I thought about it, the more I missed my family and wished they were home. Is life with three children five and under absolutely crazy sometimes? Oh, you bet. And we are frequently on noise overload in our household. You would assume that I would be dying for my children to stay out as long as possible so I could enjoy the very rare quiet…but I wasn’t. I wanted them there with me, chaos and all. I wanted us to be together where we all belonged. 

In my time spent preaching over the last decade, I have spent many hours engaged in spiritual discussions with other men who held leadership positions at their particular churches across the United States. Often, these conversations have left me feeling encouraged and challenged as I continue to grow in my faith with God. However, I can remember several times when worship was being discussed that I left those conversations feeling saddened and concerned. It is shocking to me how many religious organizations completely separate the children from the adults during collective worship. From the time they walk in till the time they leave, not even a few minutes are spent together between the youth and their parents in some of these places. Whenever I have encountered this, I would always ask why they approached worship that way, and the answers were always the same. I would be told things like, “Children are a distraction to our primary worship service, they are so loud and fidgety,” or, “Parents deserve a break from their kids at least once a week.” One time I was even told, “Worship is a time for quiet, somber reflection – clearly that is no place for children.” These types of attitudes towards children paint a very clear picture in the minds of many: that children are loud, obnoxious, and a distraction to those seeking to honor God – and therefore must be kept away. However, when I look at Scripture, I see a very different attitude from our Lord regarding children. In Mark 10, we read of an account when Jesus own disciples tried to keep the children away from the Lord, thinking they were doing the right thing. The text begins in vv. 13, “People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” After taking them in his arms, he laid his hands on them and blessed them.” The idea that the disciples wanted to keep the children away from Jesus infuriated him, it is one of the few times this term is used of Jesus, and that should tell us something. It should tell us how important it was to Jesus to let the children come to him. Jesus used this as an opportunity to teach those around him – why in the world would they keep the children from him when it is only those who become like children who will become a part of the kingdom of God? So, let’s lay it all out on the table for a minute here: can children be loud? Absolutely. Can they be distracting? Indeed. Can children have really rough days to the point that their mom or dad can hardly focus on their own worship sometimes? For sure. But you know what else children are? Humble. Trusting. Passionate. Full of faith and full of wonder. Have you ever listened to a child belt out their favorite hymn? Or hand you their handwritten “notes” they took during a sermon? Or fold their little hands and press their head against the pew in front of them during a prayer? These are some of the moments I treasure the most, and I would imagine they are some of the Lord’s most treasured moments too. My friends, children belong in worship. Jesus wants them there, and they want to come to him. You don’t want to wait until there are no more children left and you find yourself sitting in silence before you realize that lesson. 

This has been the Set Your Mind Above Podcast, season 4 episode 4 – and I’m so thankful that you decided to tune in today! A new episode is dropped each Friday, so be sure to listen in again next week! Also, if you’re able to, go ahead and like and subscribe to the podcast, as well as share it with someone else – it would help me greatly in trying to reach others. And more than anything, always remember the following: know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.