How the TCC Cares for its Children: She Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah 1 John 4:13-18

Transcription

1 My brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray. God of our loving bodies, hearts, minds, and spirits, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts always be acceptable in Your sight. Our strength and our redeemer, Amen. You might know that 2017 is the 500 th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation. Who knows what happened on October 31, 1517? (Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the Wittenburg Castle Church doors). That simple document was actually a series of questions and propositions for debate for the church that seemed to serve itself rather than the people. But Luther also said that God s word should be available to everyone in their own native language and translated the Bible into German, and soon the persons who began to believe in the protests against the Catholic Church were called Protestants. Over the next 100 years, Europe s peace crafted along the lines of Renaissance thought and might began to shift to the lines of those who held to tradition of the Roman Catholic Church and those who wanted change. New edicts from kings and princes demanded loyalty to one faith or the other, and people were made Sermon Series Fall 2017 Townsend Congregational Church, MA Page 1

2 to recite statements or confessions to prove belief. It is estimated that nearly 30% of Germany s population died as armies repeatedly burned cities robbing them of all resources. Now you re wondering earlier than usual, what does this have to do with TCC loving our Children? Hang with me. It will all make sense in a minute. We are a church with roots from these creedal reformers, folks like John Calvin who read the Bible in a way that said God had already chosen who could go to heaven, and there was nothing you could do to get on the list. But you could do all kinds of stuff to get OFF the list. It was a framework that literally asked the faithful to fear God, because it was a fearful time; if you were going to get killed in the Thirty Years War anyway, at least try and save your soul in the interim. So when we read Bible passages like that one today, it magnifies how far we have come from our Calvinist roots. We don t fear that we are Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, the most famous sermon from the most famous Congregational Preacher, Jonathan Edwards. And Sermon Series Fall 2017 Townsend Congregational Church, MA Page 2

3 we certainly don t ask folks to repeat confessions and creeds upon penalty of being thrown out of TCC. In fact, we embrace a journey that recognizes that We do not seek God as much as God seeks us. What do we say just after we announce Good Morning Townsend Congregational Church! That s right. No matter who you are or where you are on your faith journey, you are welcome here. Our commitment to that matters. Because we have these amazing little ones in our church with whom we are entrusted, and they are at a point where they wonder about everything. So we give them a place to feel safe, we talked about that in our first week of this series. We give them methods of learning through books, activities, and experiences, and we try and keep them out of trouble as best we can, we talked about that last week. But it is the context, the reference from which we establish safety and learning, that may matter most. For the first 450 years of the Reformation, fear dominated faith, and while that s effective for a while, it s simply not possible to sustain positive outcomes based on negative emotions. And we began to talk about how love wins. Sermon Series Fall 2017 Townsend Congregational Church, MA Page 3

4 How God s actions throughout the Bible are based on love. Think about it: Ten Commandments are given and broken all the time, but God invites us back anyway. That s love. We get a new commandment to love our neighbor as Christ loved us. And it s hard. But Christ says we are stronger together than apart, and wherever we gather God is here. That s love. So let s not forget about the Ten Commandments, they are still important and core to our Godly living. But let s start with one and see how we can do with that. And in an age where it s not possible to remember 10 things very easily, we can teach our distracted kids to just do this one thing. Love. Woody Allen s quote about parenting being just showing up most of the time is quite true. Kids want to be heard, and TCC values them in this way. We talk not at them but with them, hearing about joys and concerns, and we involve them in the liturgical rhythms of singing, prayer time, and ritual such as inviting the Light of Christ, and even turning over the entire service to them twice a year to teach the importance of faith expression for all ages. We build some communal events around the kids like our easter egg hunt, live nativity, and movie nights. Sermon Series Fall 2017 Townsend Congregational Church, MA Page 4

5 TCC loves our children by giving them an ear toward understanding, not immediately responding, to what is on their minds. This is perhaps the most loving thing TCC can do, is affirm a child s self-worth, because as kids begin to explore the world a solid self-concept will develop into good behavioral health and positive choices. TCC, in this way, helps strengthen the bonds that parents already provide. And we re supporting that love in the community through our grant partnership in what is known as the Townsend Youth Outreach, supporting our community partners NM Cares and the North Middlesex Regional School District in extending social-emotional learning resources through better programs at an early age. But ultimately, TCC is gathered because we follow a God who makes a difference to a child wondering about the world, and our God who loves everyone made in her image. Because God is a Father who protects, but a Mother who creates, a Friend in Jesus who walks with us. This is the God of love who reveals stories and truths that we can trust to take into ourselves so that we, too, can show that the way of the world is not through dynamics Sermon Series Fall 2017 Townsend Congregational Church, MA Page 5

6 of power but cooperation. A world not of colleagues but friends. The TCC love we teach says peace over war, and instruction over confrontation. Finally, we model that love for our kids will never again depend on what we believe but how we live out what God has meant for our lives. The denominational and ecumenical walls are falling away, and it makes us all show the kids that it is the heart of God that matters. When we spend time together with kids at community dinners, ecumenical hymn sings and having fun at events like Six Flags last Monday, we teach them that there are no Protestants or Catholics, no creeds and confessions that divide, only the love of Christ that unites. And so perhaps the greatest lesson of love we can leave our children with is this: in a world in which it seems there is ever-increasing dangers, there is yet no fear. Because God is love, and teaches us to spread love. Let us remember the words of the Letter from John, the author of the Gospel of Love: There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. So may we cast our nets into the world, so that fear is no more. Sermon Series Fall 2017 Townsend Congregational Church, MA Page 6

7 I ll leave you with this final thought: love at TCC is beyond just putting up with others. It s about the patient love and understanding that God gave us first. We love our children by teaching them that tolerance for one another is not enough. But acceptance of faults, foibles, shortcomings, and distresses can change the game for good. Remember, words create worlds, and the world of God s love is big enough for remembering that we are all a little short on perfection. And so we can love because we were loved first. So let s pay it forward. Lovingly. Thanks be to God, Amen. Sermon Series Fall 2017 Townsend Congregational Church, MA Page 7