A Sermon Delivered
by The Rev. John D. Painter
at Centenary United Methodist Church
Metuchen, New Jersey
June 14, 2009
(Children’s Sunday)

Texts: Matthew 18:1-5; Mark 9:33-37
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”
—Matthew 18:1-5, NRSV

Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”
—Mark 9:33-37, NRSV

Whenever your kids are out of control, you can take comfort from the thought that even God’s omnipotence did not extend to God’s kids. After creating heaven and earth, God created Adam and Eve. And the first thing God said was: “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” Adam replied.
“Don’t eat the forbidden fruit.” God said.
“Forbidden fruit? We got forbidden fruit? Hey, Eve…we got forbidden fruit!”
“No way!”
“Yes, way!”
“Don’t eat that fruit!” said God.
“Why not?”
“Because I am your Father and I said so!” said God, wondering why he hadn’t stopped after making the elephants.

A few minutes later God saw his kids having an apple break and was angry. “Didn’t I tell you not to eat the fruit?” the First Parent asked.

“Uh huh, “ Adam replied.
“Then why did you?”
“I dunno” Eve answered.
“She started it!” Adam said.
“Did not!”
“Did too!”
“DID NOT!!”

Having had it with the two of them, God’s punishment was that Adam and Eve should have children of their own. Thus, the pattern was set and it has never changed. But there is reas-surance in this story. If you have persistently and lovingly tried to give them wisdom and they haven’t taken it, don’t be hard on yourself. If God had trouble handling children, what makes you think it would be a piece of cake for you?

Advice for the day: If you have a lot of tension and you get a headache, do what it says on the aspirin bottle: Take two…and keep away from children.

Well, keeping Jesus away from children was something the disciples tried to do on at least one occasion, only to be told by him, “Let the children come to me, for of such is the king-dom of heaven.” And then when they got to squabbling like children among themselves as to which of them was the greatest, he put a little child among them and said, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

So, it seems pretty clear that Jesus was not into keeping away from children, but welcom-ing them. And I believe he invites us to do the same…which is why this service this morning is such a blessing to us. And why I am so grateful for the ongoing atmosphere of hospitality and welcome to children I have felt for the past nine years in this congregation. I can tell you, it is not typical of every church community.

This morning I wanted to not only thank you for welcoming the children of our commu-nity into our life together, but I wanted to challenge all of us to continue to be welcomers of chil-dren around the world in Jesus name as we are given the grace and the opportunity to do so.

Recently I was reminded of a touching story that I want to share with you.

There are few things in this life more difficult to experience than the loss of one’s child. Some of you, unfortunately, know that unique pain first-hand. Jim Wallis, in Who Speaks for God, tells about a sad and terrifying incident that occurred during the tragic war in Sarajevo not too many years back. A reporter who was covering the violence in the middle of the city saw a little girl fatally shot by a sniper.

The reporter threw down his pad and pencil and rushed to the aid of a man who was now holding the child. He helped them both into his car and sped off to a hospital.

“Hurry, my friend,” the man urged, “my child is still alive.” A moment or two later he pleaded, “Hurry, my friend, my child is still breathing.” A little later he said, “Hurry, my friend, my child is still warm.”

When they got to the hospital, the young girl was gone. “This is a terrible task for me,” the distraught man said to the reporter. “I must go tell her father that his child is dead. He will be heartbroken.”

The reporter was amazed. He looked at the grieving man and said, “I thought she was YOUR child.”

The man replied, “No, but aren’t they all our children?”

The Rev. St eve Goodier, who related that powerful story, responded: “I believe that may be one of the great questions of our age. Aren’t they all our children? It is a question that de-serves a prayerful and serious answer.”

Aren’t they all our children? Those who live under our roof and those who reside with another family? Those to whom we are related as well as those whom we have never known?

Aren’t they all our children? Those on our side of the border as well as those on the other side? Those of our nation no more or less than those of another?

Aren’t they all our children? Those who worship like us and those who worship differ-ently? Those who look like us and those who do not?

Aren’t they all our children? The well-educated and the under-educated? The well-fed and the under-fed? Those who are secure and those who are at risk?

Aren’t they all our children? The highly valued and highly esteemed as well as the casta-ways and the lost?

Aren’t they all our children? Aren’t they all our responsibility? ALL of them? Ours to nurture? Ours to protect? Ours to love?

I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that the survival of our world hinges on the an-swer to that question.

To say they are NOT all our children is to condemn the world to more struggle—family against family, group against group, nation against nation.

Aren’t they all our children? If we say yes, can we ever again pit them against each other? “If we have no peace,” said Mother Teresa, “it is because we have forgotten that we be-long to each other.”

Aren’t they all our children?

There may be no greater question for our generation. And how we answer that question will determine the shape of our world for years to come.
Jesus said, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” My dear friends, let us commit our-selves to welcoming all our children in Jesus’ name.

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PRAYER
Wondrous God, creator of ocean waves and children’s laughter, designer of each sunrise and painter of each sunset, we praise you for this marvelous world of stunning colors, gentle sounds, wondrous smells. We praise you for planting your gift of love deep inside us so that we naturally want to share it with the young. We praise you for Jesus, who blessed and loved chil-dren. Loving God, we thank you for all the children of your world—red and yellow, black and white, they are all precious in your sight. We thank you for the opportunity to share God’s love with our own children, to learn more about Jesus and our faith with them, and to share our gifts and ourselves with the children of a hurting world. Bless all your children as they grow, that the love of Jesus may grow in them as well. Amen.

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