The
Call to Care: Children and Youth
A
Sermon by Brent J. Eelman
March
5, 2006
Abington
Presbyterian Church
Matthew
18:1-5
At
that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ 2He called a
child, whom he put among them, 3and said, ‘Truly I
tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never
enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Whoever becomes humble like
this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5Whoever
welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.*
W.C. Fields never had a good word about his hometown, Philadelphia. It is rumored that he wanted his tombstone to read: “At least it isn’t Philadelphia.” He also said: “Children should neither be seen nor heard from -- ever again.” He was wrong. He was wrong about Philadelphia. Anyone can tell you what a grand city this is. He was wrong about children. Jesus said so.
Jesus wanted children to be seen and heard. We know the story about the disciples trying to keep children away from him, he responded: “Let them come to me,” and then he added the zinger: “They are most like the kingdom of heaven.” When his disciples were arguing about who was the greatest. Jesus placed a child in their midst and said “This child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Children were not held in high esteem in his day. They were seen as property, with no rights, no control over their future. They were powerless and totally dependent…. Such is the kingdom of heaven. You must become like a child: literally “born again”. Born again means giving up all claims to power, authority and influence….
I sometimes fear that we are more like W.C. Fields than Jesus. We want to have children involved in the life of the church. We want an active youth program, but we quite frankly would rather not see or hear them, (except when they sing in the choir). Today, as we continue our examination of ministry here at Abington Presbyterian Church, I want to look at our ministry to children and youth… and then the challenges that we have.
I
Our ministry to children and youth is nothing short of awesome. It is not perfect. There are many areas that we need to improve and fix, but what is happening here is good. Let me just list a few things: We have a graded choir system here. My previous church was much larger than APC, but we didn’t have graded choirs, even though we tried. Three choirs for children and youth. Our youth choir shows up here every Sunday morning at 8:30! That is awesome! There are over 50 young adults in that choir when they are all present. I do not know of a Presbyterian church in the country that can say that the youth choir leads worship every Sunday. Through music, they learn about the history of the church and the great bible stories. They not only come to worship, they lead in worship.
We have a complete Sunday school program for all ages. Once again, not perfect, but it takes a lot of people to make it happen. My second year here I thought it would be nice to buy the Sunday School teachers a large candy bar. I thought that I might need to purchase a dozen. I had to buy over fifty! Today I would have to purchase over seventy five! In 1959, John Magill recognized the need for a quality preschool in this community and so 45 years ago we became a leader in pre-school education.
As I listened to Ellen this morning, I found myself asking the question: “How many of us would be willing to spend time with homeless people, and pray with them?” Such is the kingdom of heaven.
II
Jesus challenged his disciples when he placed a child in their midst.
He challenges us today with the children placed in our midst. Let
me try and articulate the challenges:
We need to listen to children and youth. Listening means more than hearing. It means engaging them in conversation about the world in which we live, the challenges of growing up, the temptations of modern culture. We need to listen and that means listening to their music, (That is a challenge for some!) and the hopes, dreams and despair that is in the lyrics. First and foremost: Children should be heard and that means listening. I am not saying that they are always right. They dearly need our judgment and wisdom, but they will not hear us unless they believe that we are listening to them.
We need children in our presence. Jesus placed the child among them because he knew that they needed children in their presence. Children bring and give in worship and in other contexts. On Wednesday evening we celebrated the Lord ’s Supper in the parish hall. There were over 125 people of all ages, eating, singing, praying together. It was a little chaotic, but it was also filled with energy: with a spirit that is often missing in our lives. We as adults need children in our presence and welcome their spontaneity and impertinence. One of the circumstances that I rue is the separation between the generations in our culture. It is not deliberate, but it hurts our common life. Right now a visitor will comment that the first service is for families with children and the second is for adults.
We need to create a safe place for children. This is a world that abuses children in many ways. Abington Presbyterian Church needs to be a safe place for them: safe for them to explore their faith, fears and doubts without recrimination; safe for them to be present without teasing and bullying by others; safe for them physically. I mentioned last week in the congregational meeting that the floor in the basement of the Parish Hall building is rotted and covered by plywood. The electrical system and HVAC are old and unreliable. Our challenge in the coming years is to assure them that these things are dealt with.
Children should neither be seen nor heard. If that is true, we have forgotten the teachings of Jesus about the Kingdom of heaven. We will have no idea what heaven is. Just as Jesus placed a child in the midst of his disciples and challenged them, God has placed children and youth in our midst and challenges us to minister to them in the spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen.
*The
New Revised Standard Version Bible, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers)
1989.
Abington Presbyterian Church, Abington, Pennsylvania, www.apcusa.org