October 7 World Communion Sunday. Lessons Children Teach Us. Mark 10:13-16

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1 October 7 World Communion Sunday Lessons Children Teach Us Mark 10:13-16 People, most likely mothers because fathers did not play a huge role in raising children at this time, brought their children to Jesus. It was not unusual to ask a priest or rabbi to bestow a blessing on your child. There was something about Jesus that drew people towards him and today it is moms with their children who wanted to draw near. The disciples did not see the earnestness in the faces of the mothers but instead saw the children as a distraction or perhaps worse and annoyance. Children in that day and age were very much second class citizens. It has only been a few decades since we have moved beyond the idea that children should be seen and not heard, so we can imagine how it was back then. They turned the mothers away. Jesus was not to be bothered. Mark says they spoke sternly to them. You know how that is. The voice is raised, there is a scowl on the face and contempt is laced into every word. I can see the women, tears running down their faces, turn away. All they wanted was a minute of Jesus time when he was done speaking. A blessing, was that too much to ask? It seems so. Jesus sees this and was indignant. Another translation says he grew angry. Jesus was offended to his core that anyone would try to obstruct others from coming to him, especially children. This is a not so gentle reminder to us that whenever we put obstacles in front of people wanting to come and know the love of God, no matter how good the reason as we see it, we are wrong. The more marginalized the individual the less restrictions they should feel. Jesus then invites the children to him; they didn t have to wait until he was free. He made time for them, made them important because he says that the kingdom of God belongs to them. He then doesn t stand with his hands over their heads saying a blessing but takes them into his arms; he could only do this one at a time, and while holding them blesses them. He then sends them on their way. It is a story of incredible love and acceptance. As we celebrate World Communion Sunday it is a reminder of how wide and complete the love of God is. All are welcomed, all are loved, and all can find blessing.

2 There is a phrase that Jesus says that I want us to focus on today. He says, Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will not enter it. We do not think about this, at least most of the time, when we are talking about our faith journey. Jesus is not talking about a childish or simplistic faith but something more. There is, in the way a child interacts with their world, something we lose as we grow older, that we need if we are going to grow in faith and be true citizens of the Kingdom that belongs to those whose faith, remember, is like a child s. When I reflect on how a child interacts with their world there are at least three attributes that come to mind that seem to be requirements for living in God s kingdom. You probably will think of others but here are my three. The first is, Celebrate today. A child is all about living in the moment. I do not want to say or have you think that I believe a child does not anticipate the future or carry with them the fears and concerns of events in the past. Children are wounded by the actions of others and carry it with them, they just like us, want to hang onto the joys and are frustrated when they cannot continue and yes they focus on the future when important things like birthdays or Christmas is close. But for the most part they can teach us how to live into the moment. They put their heart and soul into experiencing the now. We recently walked at rail road bridge park and Sophi saw a caterpillar. Everything stopped as she exclaimed over this find. We have all experienced that intensity if we are around a child. But think about our lives. We are often so worried about tomorrow or still rehashing in our minds something that happened yesterday or last year or last decade that we are not fully present today. We are all guilty of, at times, being in a conversation and not really listening because we were dwelling on other things. We then notice a silence and realize they asked a question and we have no idea what it was. Living fully in the moment is something I think we need to do because then we see people clearly, we listen intently and celebrate what is happening now. Jesus lived in the moment. This is why he was willing to stop everything and take time for the children because he realized how important that moment was. In the big picture it didn t matter. These children would not likely remember the blessing they received. The women would have

3 gotten over their feelings of resentment for being rebuffed by the disciples. But if you live in the moment you realize how important it is. The women needed to be encouraged, the children blessed and the disciples to realize all people count. This is living in the kingdom. This is living like a child. A second thing a child teaches us is to love others without conditions. We have to learn bigotry, intolerance and status. They are not innate. Kids play with each other without asking where they are from, what they believe, how much their parents make and all the rest. They also extend that love to others and don t let our stereotypes get in the way. I am reminded of an incident in my last church. We had a man who was, on occasion homeless. He came to worship and was an active participant in one of our small groups. We were having the children s program that evening. He had asked if he could come and had been told yes. He arrived early so he, as was his custom, fell asleep on a couch in the lounge knowing someone would wake him before the program began. A young girl and her grandmother were walking in. Grandma saw this man and pulled her daughter closer to her saying, Come here dear. There is a homeless man sleeping and we don t want to get too close. The girl looked over and in all innocence said, He isn t homeless. That s Leonard and we visit on Sundays! Grandma was aghast that she knew this man and interacted with him. Her daughter walking behind gave me a thumbs up. She was glad her mother s prejudice did not keep her daughter from seeing Leonard as a person. To be a member of the kingdom is, to my way of things, a call to see people through a child s eyes which means without prejudice or condition but as a person who you can care about and love and can be loved by them in return. Today is World Communion Sunday, a time we celebrate gathering around the table and saying we are all one in Christ. A child shows us how to live that vision. The last thing I want to lift up that a child can teach us today is to share extravagantly. All of us have seen the moments with a toddler will hold onto a toy and not share. It has been my experience that this is the exception instead of the rule. What I see is a willingness to share. They will share toys, snacks and take turns. What is even more amazing is how sometimes this comes spontaneously from the child without any

4 prompting. Just the other day I went with Jenny to pick Sophi from her day care. We always take a snack for her. Without prompting she offered me part of her snack. You cannot refuse such offers because you see the joy in her eyes in giving something she has to another. This joy in giving is not as much a part of our culture. We do something for others because they have done something for us. We help out because we think it is our turn. We are much more into what we want clasping our stuff tightly instead of celebrating what we have and the opportunities to share it with others. To be a member of the kingdom is, to my way of things, a call to share of the gifts we have been given by God generously with others, without pre-conditions. Do you see how all of this was aimed at the disciples who had tried to keep the children away from Jesus? They were not willing to focus on the moment of joy for those moms and kids that a blessing from Jesus would have given them. They were into seeing class structures and women and children were on the bottom of their list. They were Jesus inner circle and they did not want to share their time. Jesus reminded them of what was important by taking one of those children and placing him or her in their midst and saying in effect, Look at this child, really look at them. They, right now are kingdom people. Learn from them before they grow up and lose some of the innocence that being a person of God s kingdom requires. May we recapture some of the innocence of childhood for when we can relate to the world and to our God as a child does to their environment we are not far from the kingdom. acts 16:6-10 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to

5 go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us. When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.