Sermon at Lethbridge Mennonite Church - December 23, 2007
Title: Lead by a child
Scripture: Matthew 1: 18-25
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- Oh the possibilities!
- Of a fresh piece of paper...., a large piece of dimensional lumber....., an unseeded but freshly tilled plot of earth....., a recipe book in hand while standing next to a full fridge and a well stocked pantry.....
- Starting afresh.
- The possibility of making something new, from scratch.
- Making something wonderful.
- Not wanting to repeat the same mistakes all over again.
- Getting it right. Maybe the first time or even now this: the 22nd time.....
- There is hope in the new.
- And maybe this time this new venture will develop into something truly wonderful.
- Maybe it will turn out right.
- And the mistakes be minimal at the worst.
- The worn saying associated with new beginnings says it best: “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”
- And so if the possibility of newness gladdens our hearts and gives us hope, it is not very surprising that God sent us a wonderful gift in the form of a baby.
- A baby!
- How new is that?
- Very.
- How much potential?
- Lots.
- Thinking about Jesus’ parable of the wicked tenants I wonder whether God thought to himself: “I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.”
- ....But why did God start off with a child?
- Why didn’t God send a fully grown human like he did with the prophets?
- Why did he form someone so young , and send someone so vulnerably innocent as his messenger? Why did he subject his son to the development of childhood?
- The answer perhaps is found in two gospel accounts which refer to little children.
-Jesus held children in high esteem.
- In the one account people were bringing little children to Jesus so that he might bless them.
- The disciples were quite indignant about this. Why should Jesus waste his time with little kids when there were so many needy adults who needed his attention?
- And so they sent them away.
- When Jesus caught on what the disciples were thinking and doing he reprimanded them saying:
"Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." (Lk. 18:17 and Mk. 10:15)
- There is something about beginning from a child’s stance that is significant.
- Is it the innocence?
- Is it the blank slate?
- Is it the potential and hope which each child represents?...
- In the other gospel account about children the disciples had been arguing among themselves as to which of them was the greatest.
- Hearing the vein of their conversation Jesus first said:
"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." (Mk. 9: 35-37}
- Children have a way of getting behind our defences.
- Maybe it is because we big people don’t have to fear them. .....(much)
- Maybe it is because it is easier for us to sense some of their innate goodness.
- We have much to learn from children and from the stance of children....
- Being not only a father but (more importantly) being a friend of children, has taught me much about my past – because in my interactions and observations of them, I can relive episodes of similar things which had happened to me and perhaps can now see those events in a new light.
- Vicariously it is like living childhood over again – but from a safer perspective.
- Children have also taught me about the potential of the future ...for within them I can sense much potential.
- Sadly ...limitations seemingly come with age.
- Children have also taught me about being vulnerable: crying when it hurts, being afraid when things get scary and taking pleasure in joyful situations (especially this last point).
- No wonder that those who approach the manger are portrayed as having come across something which captivated them.
- There was so much there in the symbol of that little babe wrapped in swaddling cloths.
- He was the blank slate upon which the rest of human history would be written.
- For the manger visitors his newness and the power with which it was announced made that day the first day of the rest of their lives.
- As it can also be for us whenever we meet Jesus.....
- Christmas is a time for Christmas specials on TV.
- A lot of these we have seen before: It’s a Wonderful life, A Christmas Carol and so forth.
- In the spirit of such re-runs I would like to share a story which Ruth B.B. shared as part of the first Sunday after Christmas potluck service which took place in 2004.
- READ THE STORY
- Getting out of the storm.....
- Of the two gospel accounts of the birth of Jesus it is only in today’s that the storm which Jesus’ surrogate Dad (Joseph) finds himself in gets mentioned.
- He likely wanted to start off his married life with a blank slate but here the woman (or girl) he was betrothed to was pregnant.
- That would not do. Rather than raise a ruckus he decided to end their engagement quietly and then to move on to start anew.
- That made sense.
- But God’s messenger told Joseph in a dream that the slate on which he was invited to draw had been started by God himself and that the image that was on that slate was one that had been foretold to be of vital importance to all of humankind.
- Maybe at face value it didn’t make sense to him.
- Why would God want to be born to him and Mary?
- Why would God want to be like us?
- To quote the farmer: “That’s ridiculous!”
- Wisely (even though he could not understand it all) Joseph could sense that he was to be a part of a great masterpiece and he accepted the slate which had been started by the master’s hand.
- So do we find ourselves.
- The body of Christ, his church, has been in existence for nearly two millennia.
- We are not given a blank sheet upon which to write,
- we are not given clear answers to all of our doubts. Some things just might seem ridiculous.
- but just the same, we are invited to join into the workings of that larger body which grew out of that tiny vulnerable babe.
- We are given opportunity to make our own contribution, but more importantly we (like Joseph) are invited to become a part of the scene.
- In Isaiah’s vision of the future he saw it all so clearly: “...and a little child shall lead them.” Is. 11:6.
- The manger beckons:
- Let us lay down all of our presumptions and “can’ts” and exclamations of “ridiculous!”
- Let us become like children.
- Bold enough to cast aside our inhibitions,
so that captivated by the wonder of the one lying in the manger,
we might draw nigh.
- Amen.