God Isn't Limited By Age

If you grew up in the church, most likely you started to serve in the place where it seems they start everyone – the chairs. Oh, the foldable chairs. Moving rows of chairs around the sanctuary or other rooms where people gathered, and stacking them when they were no longer needed, was a simple place to start. But we need to realize that God has called us all to more than stacking and moving chairs.

At the time, we may think that’s all we or someone else can handle, but what if that’s not how God sees us?

What if it’s not how God sees kids?

We always think that someday kids will take the next step in serving in the church, even worse, we might be soothing our own fears by saying they aren’t ready yet. We can’t equate maturity with usability, because that kills the RIGHT NOW mindset and leaves us in a loop where children are always the future of the church without declaring they are the future of the church.

We have age restrictions on a lot of things like driving and voting. In 1 Samuel, we see a timetable of when people can answer the call to serve in the Kingdom of God that might not be one we live out.

1 Samuel 3: 2-18
2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the Lord called Samuel.
Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
6 Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
8 A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
11 And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. 12 At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end. 13 For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God,[a] and he failed to restrain them. 14 Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”
15 Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, 16 but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”
Samuel answered, “Here I am.”
17 “What was it he said to you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.”

Calling to Serve Now
God calls Samuel to serve as a boy, and He does so in an interesting way. Samuel is already in the temple helping with simple tasks, and then one night he hears a voice calling him. He thinks it’s Eli, so he goes to him, and Eli tells Samuel it wasn’t him. This happens twice.

Eli is older and has enough spiritual perception to realize God is calling Samuel, and he encourages him to respond and listen. This interaction is a great reminder that God will call kids.

We need to be ready to discern and encourage when kids show interest or express a desire to serve. It’s not something that just falls on the shoulders of leaders serving kids, it takes a village.

Serving is Not Just Being a Missionary

You don’t have to be an overseas missionary to answer the call of God to serve. Kids can answer the call right where they are and with who they are.

God wants to use what you do have. Even if you think it’s only a little bit.

John 6
7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

All these people have traveled far to hear Jesus, and he doesn’t want to send them away hungry. The disciples want Jesus to send them away to get something to eat, but Jesus tells them to feed the crowd – doing this to test them.

They complain there isn’t enough money or resources, and all they have is a boy willing to share his lunch of 5 loaves and 2 fish. It seems like a minuscule amount for many people, but Jesus uses it to serve a larger purpose.

Jesus doesn’t dismiss this boy and his lunch offer, He uses it to show how God uses even the littlest things to do great things. Jesus didn’t dismiss the boy as young and naïve, Jesus took what the boy had, blessed it, and used it to do great work and serve a greater purpose in the Kingdom of God.

Serving as an Application
So, what does this look like for us as a church family as we help kids perceive God's calling in their lives?

Students:

• Where could God be calling you RIGHT NOW?
• Where can you serve with what you have and who you are?
• What areas of your life could you be a boy with 5 loaves and 2 fish and leave an impact in the Kingdom of God/the Church?

Parents / Adults / Leaders:

• Who is the Samuel put in your life RIGHT NOW that you can encourage and offer discernment to?
• Who is the kid that might only have a little to give, but wants to serve?

Imagine a RIGHT NOW church. A church that doesn’t wait for someday, but a church that can stack chairs, offer what they have and who they are, and go beyond.

In society then and maybe now, kids may not be seen as a group who could contribute, but in the Kingdom of God they are vital to the Gospel Light continuing to shine. Because, as Jesus said, “The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them.”