Everything I Learned, I Learned in Kindergarten

SERMON: “Everything I Learned, I Learned in Kindergarten”
Matthew 20:20-28
May 8, 2011 Mother’s Day Dr. Dennis Ginoza

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
Remember Michaelangelo? This is what his mother said to him:
“Michael, why can’t you draw on the walls like the
other children? Do you know how hard it is to get
the stuff off the ceiling?”

John Wilmont says, “Before I got married, I had six theories
about brining up children; now I have six children
and no theories.” HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

You heard the Jewish proverb: “God couldn’t be everywhere
so he made mothers.” God is Good! All the time!

My mother was a gentle soul and she was wise.
She lived in a borrowed house,
we had no hot water,
she never learned to drive a car,
we didn’t have a television,
she washed our clothes by hand,
and hung them on the line.

My mother raised six children, three boys and three girls.
My dad wanted to buy a house, but my mom
said, “Daddy, we need to educate our children. If we buy a house
and the house burns down, we have nothing.” (I think that she said).
When our son Jeremy and his wife Melanie were visiting with
my mother three years ago, she told him, “I am satisfied. All my
children went to college.” Last November, the day
after Thanksgiving, she died at the age of 95.

The book of Proverbs, chapter 3: verses 13-14, 16:
Happy are those who find wisdom, …her revenue
is better than gold. …Long life is her right hand, in her
left hand are riches and honor.”

When I was a little boy, what I see today, she was dropping little
pebbles in the pond. When you drop pebbles in a pond,
the whipples move from the center all the way to the
edges. She would say: “Dennis , cod liver oil is good for
you.” Every day after school we had a tea spoon of cod liver
oil. She would say, “Dennis, be humble, humble, humble.”
I learned from her that , honesty, humility,
and sincerity are true virtues.

Oliver Wendell Holmes says: “The real religion of the world comes
from women much more than from men—from mothers
most of all—who carry the key of our souls in their
bosoms.”

I want to hold before you the image of a pond. What I have
learned is that throughout our lives, different people
will drop little pebbles into our pond. They are for us,
insights, learnings, and forces that shape us.

When I came to this church in 1994, one of the first questions that
I was asked was: “Dennis, tell me, do you believe in the
Resurrection?” (Appaprently there are some pastors that
don’t believe in the Resurrection.) My answer: “Of course!”
Furthermore, I can tell you, “Of course, without a doubt.”

Without the Resurrection, you would not be here, I would not
be here, and the Church would not be here.
If the resurrection never happened, everything would have ended
and the disciples would have gone back to fishing. In the ancient world,
in the first century, there was a document that was circulating.
It is found in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, Ch. 15. Let me
make reference to it. “…Jesus was
raised on the third day in accordance to the scriptures,
and he appeared to Cephas, then to the 12. Then he
appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters at one
time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last
of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For
I am least of the apostles.” I Corinthians 15:4-8

If there is one greater evidence of
the risen Christ, it is the changed lives.
Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!

Jesus dropped many pebbles in the pond, in our consciousness.
Jesus said the kingdom of God is in the midst of you,
it is right here, but it is not yet.
He taught us that unless we become like a child, we
cannot enter the kingdom of God.
He taught us, the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed,
it is the smallest of seeds but it grows into a tree and
becomes a tree where birds will nest.
The words that we speak,
every action that we take,
every thought we have,
they are like little pebbles dropped in the pond.

I have entitled my sermon today:
EVERYTHING I LEARNED I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN.
Actually I never went to kindergarten.
I skipped kindergarten and went straight to first grade.

Robert Fulghum puts it this way: “Everything I Really Need to Know,
I Learned in Kindergarten.”
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don’t hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life—learn some and think some and draw and paint
and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic,
hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder.
Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down
and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why,
but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the
Styrofoam cup—they all die. So do we.
And then remember the Dick and Jane books and the first word you
learned – LOOK.
Everything you need to know is in there somewhere.
The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation, ecology and politics
and equality and sane living.
take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms
and apply it to your family life or your work, or government or your world
and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would
be if we all – the whole world – had cookies and milk about 3 o’clock in
the afternoon and lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments
had a basic policy to always put things back where they
found them and to clean up their own mess.
And it is still true, no matter how old you
are – when you go out into the world, it is best
to hold hands and stick together.

Are there any children here? Let me put it this way, if you have a child in you,
say hold up your hand. Let us make some rain drops. (With one finger, two
fingers, three and four and five: clapping really loud). As we make rain
drops, may they fall upon us as blessings of God. RAINDROPS!

Charles Dickens said: “It is the best of times, it is the worst of times.”
The trouble with the world is we’re not quite there yet.
Our egos still get in the way.
We all want to be first,
We want the best seat in the house.
Abraham Lincoln said there are two boys. “I have three pieces of
candy, and each boy wants two.”

When Jesus lived on this earth, the twelve disciples walked with him
for three years. They heard him teach, they saw him
feed 5,000 with five loaves and two fish; the saw him
heal Bartimaeus, the man who was born blind. They saw him
raise Lazarus from the grave (and Lazarus was already dead for four days.
But there were some things they didn’t understand at first.

In the book of Matthew, the disciples James and John wanted to be
first. So their mother came to Jesus and asked, “Will you
declare one son will sit at your right and the other
one will sit at your left? Their self-importance got in their way.
James and John thought they were better than the other disciples.
The last week Jesus was here, he wrapped a towel around his waist,
got down on his knees and washed the disciples’ feet.
He taught them humility. He taught them—the most important
thing you can do is serve others.

One day Mahatma Ghandi got on the train. As he got on, he lost
a shoe. As the train was now moving, he quickly took off
the other shoe, and threw it out. His friend asked him, “Why
did you do that:” Ghandi said, “Whoever finds the shoe will
now have a pair.”

One day at Harvard University, a young rich student, came to campus. He was
unloading his car to take to the dorm. He saw a white haired man
in the parking lot and said, “Hey you there, take these boxes to my
room!” The man didn’t say anything, picked up the boxes and took
them to the room in the dorm. Several days later, at the assembly for
the new students, this spoiled young student sunk low in his seat. That man
with the white hair was now dressed in his suit welcoming the
new class of freshmen to Harvard University. He was the president.
Later the president came across that student and said, “I want to
remember, the most important thing you can do in this life is serve others.”


Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
When we fully understand the essence of God, we will see the things of God.


When Sylvia and I were in Tampa, Florida to visit some friends, we also went
there for baseball
(and yes, we saw four games -- in Bradenton, Sarasota, Kissimmee,
Tampa), and every morning I went
for a walk. On the wall in the guest was an Irish blessing.
I thought it was appropriate. I leave this with you.

May the road rise to greet you,
May the wind be always on your back,
May the sun shine warm on your face,
May the rain fall soft on your field,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.