Sermon: Children at risk

Tafuma Zanamwe

The bible from the beginning emphasizes that children are an important and precious gift from the
Lord with a great role in salvation and should taken care of as such . When our first parents had their
first children , the recognized this important aspect and even from their naming it was clear that
understood the weight of the responsibility; Qayin, acquired/possess: for Eve said: “I have
gotten/acquired (qanah) a man” / “I have the asset/essence of the lord in my hand”

Psalms 127:3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.- 5 Happy is the man
who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their
enemies in the gate.

The words in Genesis resonate with David’s inspiration, An inheritance referred to acquired
assets so when Eve says I have acquired an asset or I possess an asset from the Lord, it says a
lot. You see an inheritance, from a biblical background was not something to take lightly.
What moved Abram from Ur of the Chaldeans to an unknown place was this this promise of
an Heir and many descendants with the blessings that with it. As Abram journeyed with the
Lord he acquired the later, he was blessed with riches and greatness, however, with all the
these blessings he still felt incomplete. Abram says to God in chapter, “what will you give me
seeing that I Go childless, without an heir” When you look at it in the light of Psalms, Abram
seems to be saying, I may have wealth and posessions, but I do not yet have a heritage from
the Lord. I have not yet been rewarded by the Lord.

It was not an easy thing for Sarai to hand over her husband to her maid but the desire for an
heir compelled to take this action. When Naboth is approached by the king in 1 Kings 21: 3
over an inheritance he is willing to die for his inheritance. And the bible records, But Naboth
replied, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors.” This is how
precious and inheritance is and similarly, how our children are.

We have taken insurance policies for our temporal possessions and take extra care for them,
how much have we invested in our children. What sort of environment are our children who
are more precious than all this growing in. We declare that I cannot give my car, phone,
laptop, money or house to just about anyone but do we have the same safeguards for our
children? There is a reason why the world and even church have decided to dedicate a day to
acknowledge and remind us about how much the children at risk and sometimes exposed to
abuse. We will take a few examples of this from the early patriachs in the bible.

Our home sometimes create environments which are not conducive for children to grow in a
comfortable environment, Gen 21: 8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac
was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the
Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that
slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my
son Isaac.” Children born from another mother are not treated fairly and equally. Ishmael
was a product of Sarah’s decision making, yet she utters words so painful, “the slave and her
son”. By this time Ishmael is about 16years old and he hears these words, he now had a
sense of belonging only to be sent away like this. The bible records one of the early case of
divorce and children with single parents.

Sometimes mothers/women sow the seed of division amongst children, yes some were born
out of wedlock, sometimes the same woman displaced their mother, some are relatives with
no one else to take care of. The get thrown out of the house just like that or they live like
squatters in a house where they have sought refuge. Is it not strange that the mother of the
promise is the one who exposes a child she caused to be to homelessness? Abraham went
through a lot of pressure and stress, these are both his children and mother of his child, he
did not agree with the decision until heaven intervened and says let them go. Yes heaven
pays attention to the seemingly small matters in our lives, the unfiltered speech we make
and unreasonable decisions we make.

A rich man like Abraham his son and her mother away with just some food and a skin of
water, it is a tough decision for the man. In earlier verses he had pleaded with God to bless
Ishmael when he thought the promise was through him, now he has to send away his son
with so little. God help us take care of our children even in separation. Monther and son
started off on an unknown journey with tears in their eyes, not knowing where to go and
without shelter. As they travelled, lo and behold the food and water ran out and they are
about to starve to death. When they hit rock bottom the mother leaves the son at a distance,
unable to stand seeing him die. The boy cries and God hears the boy crying. Are the children
who are at risk because of our actions?

It is not only children from different mothers who are at risk even those born to the same
mother and father. The bible records a story of twins born to child of the Promise (Isaac)
from a mother who was married through an answered prayer, Isaac and Jacob. Gen 27:13 His
mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for
me.” He we find a wife plotting to trick the husband and she coaches one of her children on
how to cheat the father. When all was said and done this act sowed discord in the family,
there was separation and Jacob had to live in a foreign with an uncle who was trying to cheat
him, yet he claimed that he was had Jacob’s interests since they are related. Let us be careful
the interaction and contact which our children make with relatives. Children can at risk in our
own homes. Some have been raped by relatives, abused emotionally, verbally and
psychologically. The uncles, aunties, stepmothers, stepfathers, grandparents sometimes do
not protect our children but perpetrate abuse. Yet they claim like Laban that we are relatives.

Children are swindled and disposed of their inheritance by the same relatives and left to beg,
remember how Laban kept changing goal posts. He gave Jacob the wrong wife after seven
years of labour, there was no one to speak up for him. Yet Rebekah had trusted that the
uncle would look out for him. Do we stand up of speak up for those who are disadvantaged
or we are the perpetrators of injustice. As much as possible raise your children by yourself,
instill the right values and plan for the time you will die. There is an increase in cases of
depression, substance abuse and suicides among young people. Because we may not hear
the whole story we blame it on the 2000 generation but sometimes it is due to neglect and
emotional abuse. We have a burden a as families and the church to take of the neglected
amongst, especially amongst our relatives.
When we get to Gen 37: 18 When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in
the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him. 19 “Here comes the dreamer!”
they said. 20 “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our
father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’ Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams! We find a
case of sibling rivalry, the term may sound sweet but it is great evil when children of the
same father fight against each other. We do not hear of Jacob rebuking this behavior and it
grows until they plan to kill Joseph. Eventually they sell him into slavery, in today’s terms
they did human trafficking and child labor. They did not care what he would be exposed to
or how he would be treated. Joseph finds himself in a foreign land and at the mercy of those
who bought him. What a sad story, Unfortunately, these issues are still alive today where the
less fortunate members of the family are sold for gain whether it is favours at work or
money. Yes, deplorable as it is, teenagers expose their siblings to these wild parties where
they are exposed to drugs and sexual abuse. Let us keep track of our children all the time

When Joseph is in Egypt, he worked for Potiphar’s household and was in charge of
everything, but, Potiphar’s wife lusted after him. Jobs are now hard to find, there are vultures
who promise a job in exchange for sexual favors or for a bribe. While we are happy that our
children have graduated and have a job, sometimes they are at risk from their bosses who
lust after them. When seduction fails they resort to false accusations, Lord help us. As a
parent the only safeguard we have is committing our children before the Lord for protection.

We have a God who sees, whose eye does no leave the orphan. Psalms 121: indeed, he who
watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The God who watched over and blessed
Jacob in the face of a dishonest Laban’s continues to watch over the children at risk to this
day. The one who protected and sustained the orphaned Ishmael in the wilderness still
jealously watches over the widows and orphans even today

I would like to pray with someone who says, I have heard about the children at risk and
someone will say I know the children at risk, with the Lord’s help I want to make a difference.
There are some who say, I have caused some children to be at risk or treated badly the
children at risk and want to say Lord forgive me. There are some who are in these situations
and would like to say Lord remember me. If there are any in these categories let us rise and
have a special prayer.