When
Someone Is Thirsty....Offer Them Something To Drink
Kurt, age 18, preached this sermon on Youth Sunday (November 20, 2005) at St. Luke's Parish in Darien, CT. He is a college freshman this year. Thank-you,
Kurt, for sharing your sermon.
Ezekiel 34: 11-129, 20-24
Psalm 100
Ephesians 1: 15-23
Matthew 25: 31-46
When I was first asked to do the sermon on
youth Sunday, I was very nervous and hesitant. However, when Ian gave me the
date of the sermon I realized something very important. Youth Sunday is on the
last Sunday before Thanksgiving Day, and Ian must have chosen me to lead
everyone in prayer for the annual Thanksgiving Day football game against the
Darien Blue Wave’s rival New
Canaan.
Today I am up here speaking on behalf of St. Luke’s Youth Group. Every Sunday I
feel very blessed to be able to go to youth group with my friends. Youth group,
or EYC as all the kids call it, is a place open to all kids, whether you attend
church at St. Luke’s or not. Sunday evenings at EYC tend to be very enjoyable,
whether it’s watching Ian bust out his dance moves in a silly costume on the
Sunday before Halloween or just eating pizza and relaxing while watching a
movie. No matter what the occasion is, youth group on Sunday evenings is always
fun-filled.
My parents are two people that I have always admired. They have also encouraged
me and helped me to see how EYC is a very fun and insightful place to be every
Sunday evening. They have always reminded me of when and where youth group will
be meeting each week. Ever since I was a kid and didn’t want to come to church,
my parents always brought me and told me how important it was to be there every
week. Now that I am a little older, I have realized the importance of it and
now find myself not only coming to church every Sunday, but wanting to come
each week. Sunday’s are a time when I can thank God for all he has given me and
pray for all the people in my life that mean so much to me, especially my
parents. Each week at church, I love listening to the reading’s because they
give me reason for what I believe in.
The gospel today talks about how Jesus separated the people into two groups,
those who cared for each other and those who ignored one another when someone
were in need. Jesus says to the caring people that they fed him when he was
hungry, gave him something to drink when he was thirsty, welcomed him when he
was a stranger, and gave him clothing when he was naked, and because of that,
he is welcoming them into his fathers kingdom. Those who did not feed him when
he was hungry, welcome him when he was a stranger, and so on, will be sent to
the underworld. When Jesus says this, I can’t help but think about a teacher
who is one of these caring people. This math teacher is a person who never
gives up on anyone. As he said at parent’s night, he is the best at what he
does. But not only is he the best, but he wants everyone in the class to be the
best that they can be, he helps everyone in the class to learn and excel. He
has a keen sense to spot anyone who is confused, and has a willingness to
explain every single detail possible until that student understands the problem
and is no longer confused. My teacher is a once in a lifetime teacher, I can
remember the first test I ever took in his class last year. The day before a
test is always a review day for us and we spend the period reviewing what might
be on the test the next day, however, he did something that no other teacher
has ever did before. At the end of class before we were able to leave, he
looked each of us students in the eye and asked us if we were ready for this
test, and would not let us leave until we understood what we were confused
about earlier. As you can see, this teacher is one of those caring people who
offered Jesus a glass of water when he was thirsty.
In the same way I try to be as this teacher is every summer. The youth group is
able to go out to the Navajo land reservation in the west every year for a
servant project mission trip. During this trip we teach a bible school to the
local Navajo kids in the morning, and do work projects every afternoon. These
work projects vary from digging and planting a garden for the town, painting a
house, or even installing a brand new kitchen. I feel the best part of the trip
is teaching the bible school in the morning. Each morning we get to pick up the
Navajo kids from their house and bring them back to bible school. Every house
we go to, the kids come running out the door with huge smiles and jump into the
cars. Every day at bible school, there is always more than one youth with a
Navajo child on their shoulders. Working with the kids every year is the
highlight of each summer.
One of the most moving moments of this past year’s trip happened during our
work project at a local Navajo’s house. We were re-shingling, painting, and
tiling this Navajo’s house and the parents had some hyper kids. The youngest
boy was a very mischievous little boy and he would constantly run around and
throw our tools around the yard, and basically make our job harder than what it
originally was. The worst came on the second day of the project when he hid
behind a fence and jumped out hitting one of the youth in a tender spot. After
this event happened, we decided to sit down with the boy and let him know that
we weren’t making our job any easier, and that he was being a little too rowdy.
However, this talk showed great surprise, after we finished talking with the
boy he seemed a little upset, but what really surprised us was his willingness
to want to HELP us retile, re-shingle, and paint his families house the next
day. The little talk we had proved to be very helpful and even got us some more
help doing our project every afternoon for the rest of the week. This is a way
that I try and give back to Jesus. This is one of the ways I have tried being
like my math teacher and offering a person, or kid, something to drink when
they are thirsty.
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