Sermon April 22, 2012
Psalm 103: 15-17
1 John 3: 1-3
Every week I ask the children what they want to sing. I have taught them a few of my favorites: “This Little Light of Mine.” “Rejoice in our God Always.” “This Is the Day That Our God Has Made.” But every week, without fail, they turn to that old classic: “Jesus loves me . . . this I know . . . for the Bible tells me so.”
They have it memorized! They are very proud of their memorization skills. I am proud of their memorization skills! In two languages! Because we sing “Jesus Loves Me” in sign language, as well as in English. “Little ones to him belong,” we sing together every Tuesday. “We are weak, but he is strong.” You know how it goes, right? “Yes, Jesus loves me . . . yes, Jesus loves me . . . yes, Jesus loves me . . . the Bible tells me so . . .”
The Bible really does tell us so, of course. Right here in the 19th chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew. “Then little children were being brought to him,” the gospel says, “in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray.” Which is exactly what Jesus did, once he had given his disciples a true “come to Jesus” lesson for speaking sternly against those who had brought the children to him.
Now we are enlightened twenty-first century Presbyterians. We might easily look down our noses at those clueless first century disciples who refuse to “suffer the little children,” as that passage is interpreted in the King James Version of the Bible. They just didn’t get it, we might find ourselves mockingly lamenting. We, of course, know that “Jesus loves the little children,” don’t we? “All the little children of the world.”
But if you look at this passage in context, there is a bit more to the story. The blessing of the children in Matthew’s Gospel comes right in the middle of the three chapters that describe what happens between the Transfiguration and the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. Meaning that Jesus is literally halfway down the road to the Passover Festival when the children come to him. Halfway down the road to the Temple where he will clash with the religious authorities who will ultimately condemn him. Halfway down the road to his Last Supper with his disciples. Halfway down the road to the worst form of betrayal we can possibly imagine.
You could forgive him, perhaps, for being a little distracted, couldn’t you? By all rights he has a lot on his mind. And the disciples do, too, even though they haven’t quite caught on to what “Holy Week” will really be all about in the week that follows this chance encounter with children. What they do know is that Jesus is on a mission, and the children are a distraction. Or so they think. (And let’s just be honest. Don’t we fall into the same trap sometimes? Don’t we? Be honest . . . )
The good news, of course, is that Jesus does not follow the lead of his disciples. Instead, he takes the lead. Right here, in the pivot point of his journey to Jerusalem, Jesus makes the children his highest priority. He lays his hands upon them, as he has been asked to do. He prays for them, as he has been asked to do. And then he takes it one step further by declaring them to be the very ones who inherit the kingdom of God.
If the experience of Jesus in this passage of Matthew’s Gospel is anything like what I experience on Tuesday mornings with the children of the Madison Square Child Development Center, you can bet that Jesus is far more blessed by them on his journey to Jerusalem than they are by him. I would go so far as to suggest that it is this blessing of the children that sustains him through the cross just as much as anything else that comes before or after. Those kids are just plain worth it. They are worth everything.
What the disciples discover at this crossroads on the journey to Jerusalem is that the children are not a distraction from the mission. The children are the mission, itself!
We at Madison Square have discovered the same thing at this “crossroads” time for discerning the ongoing mission for this congregation. In the Focus Groups that have been meeting and reporting to your Transition Team about the deepest values and commitments for Madison Square in the future, ministry with children and youth has emerged as a top priority. The children are the mission, itself.
This is good news for those who approach us now, as the twenty-first century disciples of Jesus, with children of their own wanting to know Jesus the way we know him here at Madison Square.
Laura Waldrum, for example, whose story you just heard in our Moment for Mission this morning. Her twins are some of the most enthusiastic participants in our Tuesday morning singing.
And Ben and Rebecca Baker, for example, who are always on the lookout for children who need the nurturing, embracing, empowering community that Madison Square knows uniquely how to provide.
And Gina Acree, for example, whose daughter MacKenzie is the spitting image of who I was at that age. And oh, how I pray for her to weather the teenage girl years to come better than I did . . . and for this community to be there for her when those years are hard.
And all those parents who come here with their children seeking a church where their families will be received as 100% “normal” and affirmed in the grace of God. And they are! Integrally woven into the fabric of this church . . . at “home” in every way a family can be “at home” here at Madison Square.
And of course we cannot forget the parents of Evy-Lou Bowhay-Carnes and Nathan Chapman, whom we have baptized together into the Body of Christ in the months since I joined you on the journey. We laid hands on them and prayed for them in our sacrament of infant baptism, just as Jesus did with those other children so many centuries ago. We made covenant promises to them that God’s grace and love are available to them before they even know how to ask for it. When others are asking for it on their behalf. Just like they did with Jesus.
We made a pretty big commitment to those children, as I emphasized over and over again last Sunday. And if we are going to make this commitment real, if we are going to make this emerging mission with children and youth real, we need to keep putting our money where our mouth is and our talent where our treasure is.
In the past year Doerte Weber-Seale, Gina Acree, Gin Courtney, and Susan Shaw-Meadow have worked tirelessly to stabilize and shore up this vital ministry with children and youth in the midst of what was, to put it bluntly, a time of pretty great turmoil. Jane Armstrong has been a beautiful and tender guide for our acolytes as they lead us in worship, and John Sawyer has lent his creative gifts for fun craft projects with the kids. Last year Ellie Holmes made a huge contribution, and many others have pitched in to help keep things going for our fabulous kids. We have great reason to shout “alleluia!” for this ministry here at Madison Square.
But these faithful volunteers cannot do it alone, just as the Board of the Child Development Center cannot do it alone. Our children still need your help, now more than ever. If you have one Sunday morning to spare in a month, maybe you could help out next door during Children’s Church. Or if you are only available for a limited time, Vacation Bible School is just around the corner. Or if you really just “aren’t good with kids” (and let’s face it, some of us just aren’t) ask Doerte or Susan how you can help in other ways, behind the scenes, perhaps. Because our ministry with children and youth belongs to all of us and not just some of us.
This is, after all, why Presbyterians recognize infant baptism in the first place. Because every one of us is, in the end, an infant in the arms of God. Utterly dependent on God’s grace. Desperate for a touch and a prayer no matter what stumbling blocks those other disciples might put in our way. Eager to rest in the arms of a love that will not ever let us go. Our children show us who we really are in the eyes of God. That is why they inherit the kingdom of God.
And so we say, as Jesus did, “Let the children come. Let them come! See what manner of love our God has given unto us . . . that we should all be called children of God!
“For that is who we are.”
Alleluia! Amen.
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