“Grace Church Pool Rules”
Scripture Reading: Psalm 4:8, I Timothy 2, Joel 2, Matthew 11:28, Deuteronomy 4, II Corinthians 12
Sermon Transcript for July 30, 2006
By Pastor Bob Coleman
Well, this morning was a challenge, a good challenge! I thought, “I’ll be more like a child”. But I didn’t dress and I couldn’t put on a T-shirt. I guess I could have done that. But with the altar being covered over by the fiesta emblems and such like this and with the food being laid here as an offering from our children, I thought, “I’m going to use the sermon; I wanted to put it in someplace.” I went on vacation or actually family visitation over Memorial Weekend and attended another church. And the pastor did something that day that I thought was very creative, unique, and would get the point across in a very straight-forward manner. Because, you see, the thing about children is you have to take the very core of our Christian faith, the deep values, the deep teachings, and bring them out in very simple, straight-forward teaching form. John Wesley would take his sermons and present them to his seven year old. And if she didn’t understand, she was to stop him so he could change the language a bit and be able to communicate so that if she could understand almost anyone else could understand. That doesn’t mean that we simplify to the point where we are in a situation of making it so low, but we do have the foundations built for us upon which we grow then. And the challenge for us as adults that are left here in this room is that we are to continue to grow as children of God understanding the simple, straight-forward foundations, but knowing that we are to grow more deeply in the study of God’s Word and the meaning of God’s teaching for us.
So in an effort to do this for us today, I want to use what are called the “pool rules” for church. Now someone was trying to get me a life preserver because I thought the big round kind would work. This is not going to work. This is not going to be a very good life preserver. It might be fun in the pool for a little one but it wouldn’t be much of a life preserver for anybody else. So in place of that I have goggles today which I tried to put on last night and it gave me such a headache I’m not putting them on today. And the third piece is to have a lifeguard whistle. So, beginning with the first rule for today, the pool rules are the ones that you will see in a pool most anyplace.
And the first rule is: 1. (blows whistle) Do not run in church. Don’t run on the deck at the pool; don’t run in church. Now we were saying that to the children so that they wouldn’t run and fall down and hurt themselves. But this is more important than just physical running. It means we are to slow down when we come to church. Some of us leave pretty active, furious lives almost in our daily schedules hurrying from one thing to another. What I want to offer you is that when you come to church, it should be a place where you can slow down and have peace and relax. For example in Psalm 4:8, “In peace I will lie down and sleep for you alone Lord make me dwell in safety.” You need to feel safe when you come to church. And you also need to feel as if it s a place where you can slow down in a spiritual way. Psalm 23 which is very well known as the Shepard psalm but written and paraphrased by Eugene Peters goes like this, “God, my Shepard, I don’t need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows. You find me quiet pools to drink from. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction. Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I’m not afraid when you walk at my side. Your trusted shepherd’s crook makes me feel secure. You served me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies and you revived my drooping head. My cup brims with blessings. Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. And I’m back home in the house of God for the rest of my life.”
That’s the kind of feeling we hope you will feel and experience when you come here and you go to anyplace that is a place where we worship God--to be at peace, to have that quietness, to have delight in the law of the Lord. In I Timothy, Chapter 2 Paul tells us, “I urge you first of all that requests, prayers, intercessions, thanksgiving be made for everyone, for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful, quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and it pleases our Savior” When God puts grace in our hearts, he also puts gladness. So the gift of peace we hope you will take with you and it will sustain you in your daily life because many of us have to go back out into that frantic world. The peace of Christ we offer to go with you. When you come to church, slow down. Enjoy getting to know Jesus and others—brothers and sisters in Christ. Be at peace. We live too much in a fast-paced world. Please come here to rest and recuperate.
Rule #2: (blows whistle) Don’t swim alone. That’s true in the pool! It means when you come here you don’t take the course of being a Christian by yourself. No one should be a solo Christian. I’ve heard that said before, “Oh, I don’t need church and I don’t need people. I can go out and worship God out in the open country.” Well, indeed, I like to go and worship there too. But, also, God calls us to be together and to assemble together. In Joel, Chapter 2 it says, “Blow the trumpet in Zion. Declare a holy fast. Call a sacred assembly.” Remember, where two or three are gathered together in His name then we trust that Jesus is there also. Moving on in Joel, “Gather the people, consecrate the assembly, bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast, let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber.” We are to come together; we don’t do this life in a solo way. It is good that we come together as often as possible to worship God for we truly do need each other. So don’t try to be a Christian on your own. Don’t try to carry all of your burdens by yourself. We are here in this pool together and we’ll keep swimming together.
Rule #3: (blows whistle) No pushing allowed in the church. Now, that’s safe to say for a pool, you know, you can fall and hurt yourself. No pushing physically and also no pushing spiritually. The first shall be last, the last shall be first. We’re all going to get there sometime in some way. Someone could get hurt spiritually if you come pushing and shoving into the church. No shoving in this place for we practice gentleness and knowing that we are brothers and sisters in Christ. No cutting in line, everyone in their own way in there own time. Jesus said in Matthew 11, Verse 28 and following, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” If you come here feeling as if you need to shove someone out of the way to gain a position, that’s not the way God wishes for us to get together. And that is why the next rule goes with it.
Rule #4: (blows whistle) No rough play. We are called to help one another, to show kindness to the servants, to be servants for each other. In Proverbs 15 it says, “A gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of a fool gushes folly. The eyes of the Lord are everywhere keeping watch on the wicked and the good.” And Paul says in Ephesians, Chapter 4 in the first versus, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle, be patient bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” No pushing, no rough play—when you come to church, it should be a place where you receive love and gentleness and good spirit. Not a sense of competition and domineering. That’s such a sad thing to go to a church where that competition and anger and hostility is lived out. In fact, people tend not to stay in places like that. I want you, and I hope for, and I pray that when you come to Grace Church you don’t feel that sense of competition, but you feel a sense of God’s peace and gentleness with you. Now this next rule may be a little bit of a surprise because after we had 110 children on the average here every day, we had the responsibility for them, we had the joy of that responsibility, but let me also tell you that number five…
Rule #5: (blows whistle) Parents are responsible for their children. That’s true at the pool; it’s true in church in this way. Ultimately parents are responsible. They give physical birth or they adopt them into their homes. They take them into their care to raise them physically, spiritually, emotionally. It is ultimately the parents who are responsible. Sometimes, though, parents see the church as a place where we can take and let the church handle our children and take care of them and then, hopefully, they’ll turn out right. And the church will do what is right. That’s not the way it should be. The church needs to say to the parents, “You are responsible. And we are here committed to help you and to support you and to give you every possible way of being good parents and encouragement and support in what we do and say for you.” It’s not just the physical safety. It’s the spiritual and emotional welfare. You see, the parents are the first order of business in God’s plan. It is the parents that children know best. It is the parents that are going to give them the first line understanding of God’s love or not, the teaching of God’s beliefs in Jesus Christ or not. Parents are responsible for their children’s safety.
In Deuteronomy, Chapter 4 it says, “Teach them, these laws, to your children and to their children after them.” And later on in Chapter 6 you hear the Shema which is foundational to the Abrahamic faith. And you remember it goes like this, “Hear, oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk upon the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. It starts with the home. That’s where the foundation places it. And so we pledge as a church to help every parent possible to be strong first in their own faith. How can you lead children if you don’t know where you are going? How can you teach children belief in Jesus Christ if you don’t know Christ yourself? So a church should always see itself as offering opportunities and a place where parents can come for nurturing and support and encouragement, teaching and guiding and bringing across their own spiritual life and commitment. As well as then being the models for their own children. And we have the great joy of helping them to further guide and teach children at the time that we have them in our midst.
Paul says in Ephesians, Chapter 6, “Children, obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. Remember the first commandment, ‘Honor your father and your mother that it may well go with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Well, that’s always foundational. We will always teach the children to honor their mothers and fathers. But what model and what image are the parent’s showing? What is the church doing to encourage and help parents to grow in their faith? That is our responsibility—is with the parents and the children. Ultimately it is the parents’ responsibility. In II Corinthians, Paul tells us in Chapter 12, “Now I am ready to visit you for the third time and I will not be a burden to you because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents save up for their children.” Is that just money he’s speaking of? It’s saving up in the spiritual realm also. What do we give as gifts to our children? Now this sixth rule for the pool you’re going to say, “Where is he going with this?”
Rule #6: (blows whistle) Use the bathroom, not the pool. Now where does that connect in the church? Here is the way I see it. Unfortunately, as a District Superintendent, I have seen churches being torn apart by people who come and dump their garbage in a church and then move on. I don’t mean your burdens, your roles, your concerns. Please bring them on because that’s the heart of who we are to help pray for you and to pray with you. If you’ve got difficulties, that’s okay. We’ll help carry those burdens and those difficulties. But I’ve seen people tear churches up and then leave to go tear up another church. Don’t bring your garbage and dump it here. But come here in the gentleness of knowing that you need God above all and we will offer to show you where God is and how you can be a part. We don’t disagree; I guess we do. We can disagree on things that are not central to our faith. We can disagree on the color of the carpet but that’s not a central piece of who the church is. What we need to know is what’s the foundational things that hold us together and we all stand together and agree that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. That’s why Paul says continuing in Chapter 4 of Ephesians when he says, as I read earlier, “As a prisoner for the Lord then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient bearing one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit with the bond of peace. There is one body, one spirit, just as you are called to one hope when you were called, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all who is over all and through all and in all. When we stand firmly on that, the other things are not important. Disagreements will happen; debates will take place, but it won’t tear the church apart. And, therefore, we will properly come and know that we are to be God’s people in this place.
Okay, let’s review the rules at Grace United Methodist Church.
- No running – slow down.
- Don’t swim alone at Grace. You can’t be a Christian by yourself.
- No pushing
- No rough playing. We take turns here. And gentleness and servant leadership is the way we work.
- Parents are responsible for their children and Grace desires to help you all the way as parents
- Don’t use the church as a bathroom. Come here for the joy of the Lord. Come here to be lifted up and have unity and the spirit of one Lord, one faith, one baptism.
Now these pool rules are applicable in your life on a daily basis. They are the way we live and operate here at Grace with God’s help. Not perfectly, only God’s perfect, but think about it. It will help you remember the basis of who we are. Let us take a moment for prayer, “Gracious God, sometimes a simple, straightforward way is the best. It reminds us of who we are by your creation and who we are to be by your Spirit. We pray, gracious God, indeed that we can, with your help, be your people not just here at Grace but in our daily walk and in our daily journey. We thank you for the joy of these children and what they have taught us today about keeping young in your life, young in your Spirit and always remind us that we are children in your image. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.”
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