“Don’t bother Grandpa; he’s reading the paper.”
“Let Aunt Sara rest; she’s tired.”
We often say such words to children when we feel that they are bothering others. We make statements like these because we want to teach children to respect others and their personal
belongings. And indeed teaching children to respect the privacy of others is vital for a child’s well-being and the well-being of others. Setting boundaries for children is good parenting and caretaking. In today’s lesson the disciples may have felt that they were setting healthy limitations and respecting Jesus by stopping the parents from bringing their children to Jesus. We don’t believe that they were being mean to the parents, nor did they dislike children. They knew Jesus was tired and busy, so they felt that he should not be bothered. Boy were they wrong! Jesus’ response, “Let the children come to me; do not stop them” (Mark 10:14), tells us a great deal about Jesus’ character. Jesus is saying that he’s never too busy for any child placed in his path.[i]
You see, Jesus and his disciples had been traveling around Galilee, teaching his followers about God’s love. They had been to Capernaum, and now they went to a part of Judea across the Jordan River. Lots of people had come along with him—in fact, it was a whole big crowd! While he was teaching, some people came up. These people wanted Jesus to bless their children. But the disciples didn’t like that! They didn’t want anyone bothering Jesus, so the disciples tried to keep the people away from Jesus.
But this made Jesus mad, and he let them know it. “Don’t push these children away. Don’t you ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in God’s realm. Pay attention to this: Unless you accept God’s realm the way a child would, you’ll never get in.” Then Jesus gathered up the children in his arms and blessed them.[ii]
Jesus gathered the children…all of the children. You see, in the time of Mark’s gospel, the people of Palestine were under the rule of the Romans. They were living in an occupied nation, and times were really tough. Many people had to leave their homes and travel great distances to find work. Sometimes children were left to take care of themselves. So it’s likely that at least some of the children being brought to Jesus were hungry or were wearing worn or tattered clothing. Maybe one of them had a runny nose or a cough.[iii] But Jesus gathered them all—the dirty children, the smelly children, the ones with the runny noses, the ones with the tattered clothes. Jesus gathered the rich children in their neatly washed clothes and fixed hair, the children who were limping or hurt, and the children who were lost. Jesus gathered them all into his arms.
Marian Wright Edelman, the founder of the Children’s Defense fund said, “When Jesus Christ asked little children to come to him, he didn’t say only rich children, or white children, or children with two-parent families or children who didn’t have a mental of physical handicap. He said, “Let all children come unto me.” Jesus didn’t spend time trying to determine which children were deserving of the fullest measure of God’s love. Jesus instead used the children as an example of the presence of God’s kingdom. His actions are a reminder that we are to receive the Kingdom of God WHENEVER it approaches in the form a child[iv], no matter how lowly, poor, or different that child might be.
The Kingdom of god often shows up on our doorstep or in our midst and we must embrace the kingdom in whatever form it is revealed. Most often, the kingdom is revealed through children. Sometimes, it is in the clean, well dressed, well behaved children who come to worship, who sing in our choirs, and who attend our nursery. But sometimes, the kingdom appears in more humble form. It appears in the form of children who are dirty, hungry, and lonely. Children who are made fun of. Children who cry themselves to sleep. Children who need a little more love, a little more attention and a little more grace.
How often we pray for the life of this congregation…for an increase of membership—for more children, more families more youth. We ask why there is only one boy in the youth group, why there aren’t more kids coming forward to be a part of the wonderful things that we do here, or why we aren’t growing as a church. And yet, there have been those who have asked that we work harder to get certain families as members because of their potential financial contribution to the church. There are those who have asked why we would spend $1000 a year to participate in a VBS program that doesn’t get us new members, and if it did they wouldn’t be able to increase the bank account here at Court street anyway so why would we spend so much money and energy? Why do we work so hard to provide activities and trips and opportunities for children and youth whose parent’s may not contribute to the church budget in a way we deem “enough”?
Because. When the kingdom of God approaches, we must accept the kingdom in whatever form it takes. Our prayers may not always get the answers we are looking for. We might always get the most affluent and financially contributive new members, but if that is seriously all we are looking for, we are missing the point. God doesn’t ask us to embrace the kingdom in the form WE find most acceptable or most worthy. God asks us to embrace the kingdom in the form in which it is given…even if that form is vastly different from anything we desired or expected.
I want to share a story with you today. It’s a story about unexpected answers to prayers. It’s a story about embracing the kingdom in the form in which it is given…
A Blessing from Above.[v]
Once upon a time, there lived a mother kangaroo who had an empty
pouch. Every night before she went to sleep, she prayed
that someday her pouch would be filled with a baby to love and hold
and care for.
One day, Momma-Roo went for a walk. Along the way,
She saw a pair of butterflies fluttering about in a field of flowers. She
Later came upon a mother duck leading her ducklings to a pond. Next
She spied a mama and papa squirrel gathering acorns for their family.
She looked forward to the day when she could share such wonderful
sights and activities with a baby of her own. Momma-Roo was getting
tired. She decided to rest underneath the branches of a beautiful willow
tree. When she looked up she saw a bluebird nest stuffed full of baby
bluebird eggs.
One by one, the eggs began to hatch. The baby bluebirds stretched their
wings and cried for food. The nest was getting very crowded. Just as the
last littlest bluebird cracked open his shell and stepped into this world…
One of this brothers stretched his wings for the first time.
Before the littlest one knew what was happening, he was bumped from
the nest and falling down, down, down down.
Straight into Momma-Roo’s pouch! The baby bluebird peeked
out from the pouch and gazed up at Momma-Roo. “Hello, Mommy” he
chirped. The mother bluebird looked down and saw her littlest one. She
knew her nest was not big enough for all her chicks. It made her happy to
see her baby in such a warm cuddly place.
“Hello. Little One” said Momma—Roo. Then she hugged
her blessing from above. “At Last! My very own baby!” she cried joyfully.
“I will cherish you and love you forever!” On their way back home,
Momma-Roo and Little One frolicked through the field of flowers. They
stopped for a sip of water at the pond. They shared grass and berries with
each other. They were so happy!
Now, every night before they fall asleep, Momma-Roo and Little One thank God for all their blessings…but especially for each other.
The End.
See? Momma Roo knew just what she wanted—a baby kangaroo in her pouch—someone to love and care for. A baby roo that would do all the kangarooey things that a baby roo would do. Some one to hop with, to carry in her pouch, to do all those kangarooey things that kangaroos doo. But what Momma Roo got, was a little baby bird.
Momma Roo couldn’t measure the worth of her new baby based on his kangarooeyness, but rather on the relationship between them. Momma Roo decided that her precious little one was worth the sacrifices their special relationship would involve. Her little one was worth the sacrifices of kangarooeyness. It was worth the effort it would take to raise a baby bird in a kangaroo world. And instead of complaining about how the baby bird wasn’t kangarooey enough, or couldn’t contribute to her world in a proper kangaroooey way, she instead thanked God every day for the relationship they shared and for the wonderful things they could do together.
Each time a child appears in our church, we are in the same position as Momma Roo. Instead of worrying if that child is Court-Streety enough for us, we must instead thank God for the relationship we can build and the wonderful things we can accomplish together. And if we do that, if we act like Momma Roo, we realize that ALL children are worth the effort. They are worth the time and effort to put together VBS, they are worth all the activities we provide, they are worth a vibrant and functioning family ministry program right here in our NEIGHBORHOOD. ALL children are worth it.
And once we realize that, we can thank God for all of our blessings…especially for each other.
Amen.
[i] http://www.ilivebig.com/downloads/910Leader.pdf
[ii] http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-publications/data/childrens-sabbath-lesson-plans-christian-2009.pdf
[iii] IBID.
[iv] James Fowler, Let the Reader Understand. 173.
[v] Patti Henderson. A Blessing from Above, Little Golden Books, 1999.