Sermon Archive

It was the bulbous-nosed, raspy-voiced satiric comedian W.C. Fields who some 65 years ago exclaimed, “Anyone who hates children and dogs can’t be all bad!”

I’m sad to say that in the culture of Jesus’s time there were many who thought that way! You see, for the most part dogs weren’t kept around the house as pets. Almost all roamed loose, scavenging for food both inside and outside the town, often in packs, and most people considered them nothing but “unclean curs.”

As for children, well, I’m glad to say that they were held in far higher regard than dogs, but still, on the ladder of human status, they were assigned the bottom rung. Most adults thought of them as sort of “non-persons,” as among those expected to stay hidden and out of social sight.

So that was what most people in Jesus’s day thought of children and dogs, but what did Jesus himself think? Well, as for dogs, Jesus certainly didn’t hate them, but I don’t know how warm his attitude toward them really was. For on a couple of occasions he referred to them rather unflatteringly (Matthew 7:6; Mark 7:27; Luke 16:21).

But as for children, there’s no mistaking at all how Jesus felt! For what comes across quite clearly in this morning’s Second Lesson is that Jesus went far beyond just tolerating children to actually loving them! And more than that, he understood that this way of relating to children in love was not just an ornament to his ministry but was instead quite a central illustration of it.

You see, Jesus’s ministry was precisely about humbly welcoming ones such as these—the powerless, the vulnerable, the weak, those whom most considered a nuisance. Jesus’s ministry was all about bringing these “least” inside the circle of love, and not at all about keeping them outside.

Now, the disciples spent so much time with Jesus that you’d think his attitude of humility and inclusiveness would have rubbed off on them. But in today’s Second Lesson, to the consternation of all those assembled there in that home in the town of Capernaum, Jesus has to chide his prideful disciples, who have just been spending the whole time on their way there arguing—arguing over who amongst them is the best and greatest!

Jesus has to scold them, saying, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then, to illustrate his point, Jesus takes a little child belonging to that household—now whether it’s a boy or a girl is not made clear in the text, but I myself think the child is probably a girl, the better to make Jesus’s point—anyway, as I said, Jesus takes a little child and puts her among them. Then, holding her tenderly and lovingly in his arms, he says to the disciples, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

Through this enacted parable of his, Jesus is demonstrating ever so clearly to those following him: first, that in God’s community, the status assigned to us by society will be reversed—the humble will be exalted, and the proud will be brought low; and second, Jesus is demonstrating ever so clearly that the way we welcome the youngest and least among us is a good measure of the quality of discipleship that we’re offering to Jesus and to God. For just as Jesus came to serve the powerless and those who have no capacity at all to repay kindness, so we, his disciples, are expected to serve these same.

So, our Lesson teaches us that if this community of Jesus’s followers wants truly to welcome Jesus—and God—fully into our midst, then this community must also be one that welcomes children fully into our midst.

And if we are to welcome children fully into our midst, then we must start right here in this sanctuary by welcoming them fully into the Sunday service of worship that is so central to our life together.

All of us have been part of the celebration of many baptisms. And you know that when we celebrate the sacrament of baptism for children we certainly do not conclude that ceremony by saying anything like, “Now that you’ve been baptized and are part of the family of Christ, please come back again, oh, say in another ten or twelve years. Thank you very much! Amen.”

No, we don’t say anything like that at the end of our baptismal celebrations. Quite the contrary! As part of that sacrament, we grown-ups take a vow to help encourage, guide, and nurture these children toward their own profession of faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And, as for me, I believe that helping children to participate meaningfully in worship is the principal means available to us who are not the parents for helping to guide and nurture these children.

The book God, Kids, and Us, by Janet Marshall Eibner and Susan Graham Walker (Toronto: Anglican Book Centre, 1996) offers us a modern parable that strikes me as being very much like one of Jesus’s own. This parable is entitled, “Peter and Penny Go Swimming” (excerpted from pp. 59–60). But of course it’s really about children, and churches, and the worship of God. Please listen!

“Not long after Peter and Penny were born, their parents began to take them to the local swimming pool every weekend. Penny and Peter’s parents were very enthusiastic swimmers and they really hoped their children would also love swimming.

“Of course, Peter and Penny were not allowed to go into the swimming pool itself, since they were cared for in a little room right next to the pool. Sometimes they cried because they wanted to stay with their parents. But crying in the swimming pool was not allowed because it might disturb the other adult swimmers. Besides, Penny and Peter were too young to fully understand swimming.

“As Peter and Penny grew older, they were first allowed to go to another room just down the hall from the pool. There they heard stories from the Swimmer’s Manual, colored pictures of people swimming, and listened to water music. Next, they went to a big room full of children. Here they began to get really serious about swimming. They could stick their bare feet in a wading pool. They would go to classes with children their age and learn more about swimming. Their teachers were very wonderful and dedicated people who loved to swim, but didn’t get to do it anymore since they spent time with the children.

“By the time Penny and Peter were teenagers, they knew the Swimmer’s Manual in great detail and knew all of the pool rules by heart. They understood the properties of water, the muscles used in swimming, and the various swimming strokes. They had studied the lives of the great swimmers in the past and their teachers who had lived all over the world.

“On very special occasions, Peter and Penny had been allowed to go to the pool with their parents as long as they didn’t splash too much and disturb the other swimmers or bother the lifeguards.

“At last, Penny and Peter finished swimming school and were allowed to join their parents at the swimming pool itself every weekend. They tried it a few times. But much to the disappointment of their parents, Peter and Penny had lost their interest in swimming itself and wanted to sleep or watch television instead.”

Yes, the right place to learn to swim is in the swimming pool itself. And the right place to learn to worship is in the service of worship. But just as any pool in which children can learn to swim needs a kiddies end as well as an adult end, so a service in which our children can learn to worship needs an opening part in which children can more easily participate.

Our congregation’s Christian Education Committee and Worship Committee spent a lot of time and creative energy thinking about how to restructure the opening part of our worship service in order to make it more “child friendly.” Then the Session carefully reviewed their recommendations and approved a series of adjustments to the service—adjustments that are intended to help children participate more meaningfully in it.

You have experienced those modifications for the first time today. And we hope you yourselves liked it, because we think many grown-ups will also benefit from these changes. Now let me review with you what they are.

The service begins with a Call to Worship. In the past, we’ve used a different Call to Worship almost every Sunday, which requires one to have a level of reading skills beyond that of most children. So beginning today we will be using a more limited repertoire. We’ll help children learn these few Calls to Worship in Sunday School, and we ask that you parents reinforce this learning at home. For instance, if you take home today’s bulletin and read through today’s Call to Worship with your children, you’ll find they’re ready for next week, when we’ll use it again!

After the Call to Worship comes the opening hymn, and we will begin to sing opening hymns that are more accessible to children. Today, for a starter, we used a hymn written explicitly for children. But usually that will not be the case. So we’ll need to work cooperatively with you parents so that you can help prepare your children to participate in these opening hymns. For our part, we’ll provide every family with a copy of the hymnal to take home. You’ll find a stack of them available for parents today at the coffee hour. Also, we’ll send you an e-mail every week telling you what the next opening hymn will be. And since next Sunday’s hymn is a very familiar tune but with words different from those found in our hymnal, I’ve placed a photcopy of that hymn in all the hymnals stacked up at the Coffee Hour. So this is what our staff will be doing for children and parents. Now, what we ask of you parents is that you and your children try to learn the first verse of the opening song before coming to church on Sundays. If your children don’t yet read, perhaps you can teach them the tune and at least part of the first verse. Then, if they’ve learned the tune, they can at least sing “la, la, la” through the rest of the hymn, the way some of our adult congregants already do!

Next in the service comes the Prayer of Confession. A Prayer of Confession has two main sections—first, our mentioning of our sins; and second, our request for God’s forgiveness. To help children with this prayer, each of these two sections will always open with the exact same, easily learned lines. If your children are not able to read the whole prayer with us, at least they can join in on these opening lines from memory:“Merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against You,” that’s the first. And then, “In Your mercy, O God, forgive us. Help us to change our ways and turn toward You.” So, by the Sunday School and parents working together, we can accomplish having the children join us in this way.

Next comes the Assurance of Pardon. This will always close with the very same line, and again we ask that the children memorize this line so that they can chime it out heartily with the rest of us, saying: “In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.” Everyone can learn that line!

And then we will also prepare the children to sing the response that follows the Assurance of Pardon. For that reason, we used this morning one of the songs that a number of our children already learned this summer, in Vacation Bible School. Again, you parents will want to take home your bulletin every week, so that you can help your children learn the responses that are printed there. And to help you get into the swing of things, we’ll also be singing today’s response, “The Lord Is My Light,” for the next several weeks.

You’ll notice that every week while the children are with us in worship, they’ll be joining with us in prayer. And there’s no better way to help children learn to pray than for you parents to pray with your children at home. If you’re not already doing it, you can start out with some simple prayers at mealtime. You can say the prayer for a week or two, and then ask your children if they’d like to say the prayer. There’ll finally come a time when they’ll eagerly say, “Yes.” Bedtime is another good opportunity to encourage prayer. And if you’re not sure what to pray then, you can always begin by teaching your children “The Lord’s Prayer.” Every communion Sunday, the children will be sitting here in worship with us during the time when we say the Lord’s Prayer together, and it will be wonderful for your children if they know that prayer by heart and can join in with the rest of us.

So, it is the hope of your Christian Education Committee, Worship Committee, Session, and staff that these few simple adjustments to the opening part of our service, together with the cooperation of our Sunday School teachers and parents, will help us to provide for our children the kind of “swimming pool” in which they themselves will be able to “swim” as they learn to worship God.

If parents and congregation work together, we can indeed help to make Sunday worship a wonderful experience for children. So I invite us all now to pledge to work together on that process.

Let us stand, and I would also ask whoever can easily come forward with your bulletin in hand to join me in gathering around the baptismal font.

Now, let all of us recite in unison the “Affirmation of Commitment to Children” that’s printed on page 5 of your Order of Service.

“We affirm that all children are a gift of God to the whole of the human community; all children have the right to be children; and all children are not just tomorrow, they are today.

We pray for a church where we take seriously our baptismal vow to nurture all children; where adults and children share alike in ministry.

We pray for a world where all children can find a safe place; where children of all races, genders, creeds and abilities are recognized, valued, nurtured and celebrated; where adults hear the voices of children and speak with them, as well as for them; where all children have the ‘first call’ on the world’s resources and first place in the minds and ears of the world’s adults.

We covenant to turn faith and prayer into action so this vision may be made real.”