St. Paul’s United Church Sunday, September 24, 2006

To Welcome A Child – Rev. David Mundy

James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a Mark 9:30-37

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It’s not often that I am in the region of Yonge and Bloor streets in downtown Toronto, but when I am there I try to find a few minutes to leave the hustle and bustle of the “navel of the universe” to experience the tranquillity of a church that is open during the day.

St Paul’s Anglican Church is both cavernous and a good place for prayer. It is also fascinating, with all manner of historical “holy hardware,” as I am inclined to call it. One day I stopped in and found the baptismal font prominently displayed. What a font it is! It is huge and a work of art in itself. One of the staff at that St. Paul’s kindly supplied me with some photographs to share with you.

On the top are a number of figures which include Jesus at the centre. Encircling him are what appear to be disciples and within that circle, a number of children. There is a plaque on this font which dedicates it to a young boy named Stewart Ross who sadly did not see his fourth birthday. We can only imagine the loss experienced by Stewart’s parents at his death and their desire to commemorate his life. Along with the plaque there is an inscription with words from scripture, “suffer the little children to come unto me.” These words are found in the King James Version of the bible, and in three of the gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke. Since we have been reading in Mark in recent weeks, I’ll show you the context for this phrase:

People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, ‘‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’’ And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Mark 10:13-16

This is actually the second story within two chapters of Mark where children figure prominently. The first was our passage this morning. From what we can gather Jesus and the disciples did a lot of walking together and traveling in this manner probably gave them lots of opportunity to talk. We are given some insight into their conversation and discover that – lo and behold – they could be as petty and self-serving as we are! As we heard, they were being what we might call childish, arguing about who will be the greatest. So Jesus sits down with a small child and says “When you welcome a child it is a holy moment. When you welcome a child, you welcome me and you welcome God.”

Obviously the disciples have trouble grasping this because Jesus essentially does the same thing again a few kilometres down the road. But we really shouldn’t be surprised. While children were considered a blessing in those days, it was more because a male child would carry on the family name and children would become adults who could contribute labour to the family enterprise, whatever that might be. The other grim reality was that children often died of mysterious illnesses.

Jesus seems to see children very differently, uniquely. To Jesus children are important, spiritual individuals because of whom they are in the moment. It’s clear that he feels that as adults we can actually learn from them. In these two stories we receive two important messages from Jesus. The first is “welcome a child and you welcome me.” The second is “be like a child and heaven will be close at hand.”

This morning we welcomed a child into the body of Jesus Christ through the sacrament of baptism and we said that she is of great worth; she is precious, both to God and to us. I held Illysa in my arms as I touched her head in Christ’s name, first with the water, and then the oil to claim her as Christ’s forever. While she was physically in my embrace, tucked in the crook of my arm, what I did was actually the representation of your enfolding love as the St. Paul’s congregation and that of Christ, who loves her and knows her by name. Every time we do this we can be aware of the gentle yet powerful miracle this act represents.

What do you think it means to welcome a child? We could say that our perception of children has changed over the past two thousand years but it has actually changed dramatically during my lifetime. When I was a boy I went to church with my parents and it really was for adults – there was no children’s time the way we know it now. It was my responsibility to sit in a pew during worship my head facing forward. If I poked my younger brother there would be swift punishment. If we laughed it could mean the death penalty. I was there to learn the faith, and apparently something stuck! Still, I don’t think those were the “good old days.” There was a sense that children were on the outside of the circle trying to peer in.

During the past forty years we have decided to value children in our midst for who they are, and that worship wouldn’t be much of a party without them. As you know from any family reunion, when it comes time to cut the cake the children appear out of nowhere. We now include them in important rituals such as baptism and communion. And to indicate how much our attitudes have changed, when you were asked about children in church during our recent Needs Assessment, the general feeling was that we needed to see our children more, rather than less.

The psychiatrist Robert Coles has written several books about children including The Moral Life of Children and The Spiritual Life of Children. Part of the appeal of Coles’ books is that he doesn’t view children as miniature adults or adults in training. They have remarkable insights and perceptions of God whether they are Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, or Christian. Coles has interviewed them all and often been deeply moved by their perspectives. A little boy whose sister was killed in a car accident explains his faith simply: "Without Jesus, Sally would be a big heartache to us until the day we die."

It is important to welcome children and help them to feel at home and valued in our midst. Perhaps the greater challenge is for us to become like children. What does it mean to be like a child?

Presumably it doesn’t mean that we won’t clean up our rooms, argue constantly with our siblings, and never turn off a light switch! We aren’t asked to paint an idyllic picture of children, just to acknowledge their gifts.

Children are wonder-full. They have a remarkable ability to take in so much of what is happening in the world around them in a way that is fresh and imaginative. One group of kindergarten children was asked to describe heaven, and this is the answer one of them offered:

In heaven it is like a sunset and sunrise combined. The colours are all around you. It smells like roses and lots of fresh air. It’s like when things are really good and my parents are happy with me.

Children are observant, receptive and aware. During the summer the children joined me at the front where I had placed the communion chalice and the baptismal ewer on the table. A five-year-old looked at the ewer and then glanced around as she asked me, “where are the babies?”

Children are also exuberant. When they sing they can be shameless “hams” and they shout out answers without fear and they speak about Jesus without embarrassment.

Another lesson we learn from children is that they grow. Of course the most obvious growth is physical. Often parents become a little anxious about the timing of their child’s baptism. Why? Because there is a baptism gown which has been used from generation to generation which isn’t going to fit if we don’t get on with things! Children have this relentless tendency to grow out of sneakers and hockey equipment and beds.

They also grow in their relationship with God, moving from the simplest concepts of our Creator and Redeemer and Sustainer into a much more nuanced understanding of their relationship. These days we speak of Christian formation rather than Christian education because we see how their spirits form as they encounter the Spirit of the Living God.

Earlier this year a number of teens and other adults went through preparation to join the church. One carefully planned session was totally hijacked when the teens began asking questions and didn’t stop for an hour and a half. I can’t remember when I had to work so hard to explain the faith as well as my faith, but it was a holy moment.

Do I need to remind you this morning just how blessed we are? Many United Churches have virtually no children, which is a source of great concern both for the present and the future. If you have visited one of those congregations there is a sense that something essential is missing. We can’t take for granted the children who help make this place a Christian family.

Our children are telling us today to be filled with wonder and to be prepared to grow spiritually and to be formed in faith by a willingness to ask questions and engage in dialogue. We don’t need to be childish but we can be childlike, because that’s what Jesus asks of us.

The last word today will come from a little girl who hadn’t reached her tenth birthday when she was interviewed by Robert Coles. It would be tempting to say that she possessed a wisdom beyond her years but it was probably that Coles was willing to truly listen to what her active and deeply spiritual spirit had to offer:

"When you're put here, it's for a reason. The Lord wants you to do something. If you don't know what, then you've got to try hard to find out what. It may take time. You may make mistakes. But if you pray, He'll lead you to your direction. He won't hand you a piece of paper with a map on it, no sir. He'll whisper something, and at first you may not even hear, but if you have trust in Him and you keep turning to Him, it will be all right."

Could a gray-haired theologian say it any better? We can follow Jesus’ direction to welcome children and to be like them too.