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Mark 10:13-16

Pentecost 20, October 6, 2024

Holy Trinity Cathedral

 

“What about Children?”

 

In Mark 10:14, Jesus says, “let the little children come to me”.  So where are they?  They are, for the most part, not involved in the Church.  There are some good reasons for this, which I think we need to understand before we address the challenge before us.  As followers of Jesus, our call is to make known the love of God to all people, especially to those who are vulnerable.  To reach out is to understand the needs of those who are least, and to make room for them in community.  Together we enter the kingdom.

 

The world has changed radically in our lifetimes. Before your mind goes fondly back to the good old days, when the Sunday Schools were full, consider the following facts.  British Columbia now has around five and a half million people.  The population growth in the past year alone was over 3%.  Immigration accounts for 98% of population growth in our country, which means most of the over 66,000 people expected to move here by the end of this year. Right now, 20.5 % of residents in our province are 19 years old or younger. But- and here’s the big but- very few babies are being born to Canadian citizens.  In fact, BC has the lowest birthrate in the country, at 1 child per mother.  It’s a good thing that the first-generation children of immigrants are filling our schools to compensate.  The faces of those that play in our parks come from many countries and ethnic backgrounds.  Instead of Anglican churches baptising and retaining large families of European heritage through historical association, the neighbourhood now has a very different demographic.  Some new families have found their way to the doors of Holy Trinity Cathedral.  How are we to embrace and bless in Jesus’ name? 

 

We look to what Jesus did.  Remember that he was a young teacher with no children of his own.  He was travelling around the countryside with his disciples, who were young men.  Some of them may have been married and left their wives and children to follow him.  They were concentrating on the real business of mission: the coming kingdom of God.  The disciples had witnessed to healings and miracles, listened to parables, encountered opposition from the religious authorities.  And all the while, Jesus tries to help them understand God’s loving action.  When they get confused, he uses examples to show them the way.  So when the men get grumpy about people dragging their tots up to sit on Jesus’ knee for a blessing, he sets them right.

 

Children in Jesus’ day, like many children still around our world, had no status.  They had no rights, no voice, no societal protections.  Many died young through disease and malnutrition, or accidents from the work they were set to at an early age.  If they were born free to Jewish or Roman citizens, they were considered property of their father.  If they were born to slaves, they were the property of their mother’s master.  So they were the least of the least.  When Jesus says, “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will not enter it”, he is not referring to the innocence of youth.  He is pointing out that children are powerless, without status.  And those who want to enter into the kingdom of heaven cannot rely on status or wealth or birthright in order to gain a place.  Such human structures mean nothing to a God who sees all of humanity as his children.  If Jesus welcomes all children with open arms, then how can the Church segregate or give preference?

 

In the early Church families were often baptized together, old and young, and participated in communities of faith.  The parents and grandparents taught their young ones in the way of following Christ, and to this day there are multi-generational families involved in parishes.  But the institution of the Church has at times enacted policies and taught doctrines that have hindered rather than helped teach new generations of Christians.  We all know family members and friends who have turned away from the hurts received by discriminatory practices and authorities with limited pastoral compassion.  The Church is more than a structure, after all- it is a community made up of very fallible human beings.  You in the pews are the ones, as well as the leaders, strive to live out every day what we gather to practice on Sundays.  And although we who have remained in the Church seek to be good examples of Christian values, we don’t always succeed.  Have you noticed that individuals can remember so clearly an occasion that something offended or wounded them?  These sins cut deeply, sometimes severing a person’s relationship with the Church, if not with God.  We keep forgetting that the Church is made up of broken people who are called to listen, forgive, and try again.  If we come expecting peace and brotherly love every week, we get disappointed. So along the way some people have given up, some find the Church irrelevant, and others have set different priorities for Sunday morning.  But there are many who simply do not know about Jesus.

 

Here is the opportunity!  There are children around us in our wider neighbourhood.  They have families that have questions and struggles and longings to be part of a supportive community.  Some have come from countries where Christianity is a faith that is followed.  More have come from parts of the world where the good news of Jesus is not widely known.  Immigrants come with experiences of hardship and oppression to a country where it is not easy to make connections and opportunities.  They come with faith and gifts to share if we can value and raise them up.  Jesus has blessed children.  There are ways to allow children to come and bless us with their presence.

 

As a parish, we do not have unlimited resources or people power.  That doesn’t stop us exploring what we can do in making Christian community safe and accessible to younger members.  Families will come once, but they will only return if it feels like a place where they will be respected for who they are and their children are supported.  And already having Christian education opportunities certainly doesn’t prevent us from discussing what welcome and fellowship looks like for a generation of new disciples, especially younger ones.  If Sunday School during the main service doesn’t work any longer, what other ways can we teach and explore our faith together?

 

We do need to deal with unrealistic expectations.  Parents are not stay-at-home moms or fathers who are necessarily available for weekend jobs.  And even if we speak English together, we have to give grace and room for accents and learning on all sides.  Similarly, I suggest we pay attention to how young people want to be involved rather than slotting them into a role.  We are not, for instance, going to put them on display in the service as readers or greeters just so we can show how inclusive we are.   Having younger members truly present may mean squeaks during the prayers and icing on the floor of the hall.   It will take some conversations about boundaries and behaviour and negotiated permission for those who are not parents to perhaps give gentle reminders.  But I believe that if we have a commitment to be family together even when things get messy, Jesus can help us.  After all, growing the Church is not going to come not from miraculous late pregnancies like Abraham’s wife, or immaculate conception like Mary.  If we want children, it’s going to happen when we follow Jesus’  lead to welcome the least as the most important in the kingdom.  Amen