January 31, 2015

“And they were beginning to bring children to him, that he might touch them; and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it he was indignant, and said to them, “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of G*d”. Mark 10:13ff

“Our modern evangelism is in peril of collapse at this very point. We often glorify hairbreadth escapes…like mine from the Titanic. (He was never aboard the Titanic) I mean to say that we glorify guilt and belittle the preciousness of innocence. Professor W. M. Clow writes: “There is a feeling that the man or woman with a dark story behind is more piquant and interesting, and that a youth of blameless innocence merging into a life of saintly purity, as the dawn merges into the full day, misses the romance of life, and knows nothing of any high elation of spirit such as he feels who spurs into reckless sin. There seems to be with some the impression that a rake makes the finest saint, that his devotion has a richer and deeper color than that of the unspotted soul…” On a public occasion the late General Booth was stepping from his carriage to enter a well-known public building. As he did so a drunken man staggered stupidly towards him, and in scarcely intelligible accents exclaimed, “Say, General, what are ye going to do with the like O’ me?” The crowd gathered quickly round to hear the General’s answer. The General laid his hand on the drunkard’s shoulder, and replied, “My friend, we can’t do much for you; but we’re after your boy!” F. W. Boreham (1871 – 1959) “For All The Saints”, volume III

Our youth have many, many influences – many more so than when I was a child. I had three channels of television to watch – today our children have hundreds. I had a ball and bat and bike to spend my “down” time – today kids have electronic games, portable devices, and the internet to project them into avenues and experiences I could never have imagined as a child. When I was a child my family walked to church on Sunday morning – today many of the children in our community are on soccer fields, basketball courts, cheerleading events, rugby fields, football fields, and on and on it goes – on a Sunday morning. Or, the children are in bed because they are exhausted from the events of Friday and Saturday – the over scheduling of their “down time”.

Jesus told his disciples not to keep children from his midst – he wanted them to be in his midst, to hear his teachings, to be present in the kingdom of G*d come to earth. I have talked before about the number of my school classmates who were in confirmation class with me. We went to classes together during the week – we attended religious education during the weeknights and on Sunday morning. Today many of our youth who do go to church pass five or six or even twenty churches to go to services and may be in religious education classes with other youth from three or four different schools. If we look at the dwindling numbers of adults who are attending services, maybe we can look to their children to see why the family is not in church. And then, we need to find ways to get these children involved – to give them the opportunity to be in the midst of Jesus and his teachings and his presence.

So, how can we make worship and other church experiences so compelling that our youth will want to be in church on Sunday? Let’s ask them. They can teach us something about what in their lives is missing – at least when it comes to religion. And then, they can help us make their worship experience more compelling – possibly more compelling for all of us. After all, Jesus said that the children around us have something to teach us about being open to the kingdom of G*d. What can our youth teach us?

Pastor Dave