Three Great Loves: Love of Children

The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not wide spread.

Hannah prayed so hard for a child, saying that when the child was born he would be dedicated to the temple. A child was born to her and she named him Samuel, which means “God has heard.” She later sent Samuel to Eli, the chief priest.

Today we heard the heart-warming story of the call of Samuel. A sleepy child bothers the old man because the child thinks he heard the man calling him, but it’s not the man, it’s God. It took three times for old Eli to figure it out, since the word of God was rare. Eli wasn’t used to it.

Eli loved his routine. He said the prayers, visited the sick and elderly, and did worship each and every Saturday. He was comfortable. He would one day pass his business off to his two sons. It would be a nice family ministry. Eli keeps getting woken up by Samuel until perceives it is God calling the boy. He instructs the boy “If he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’”

Samuel does just that and he hears God say that Eli’s house is coming to an end. Eli’s sons were blaspheming God, and Samuel will be the new path.

I felt called to be a priest since I was little. I would play mass. I would read the Bible and ask questions. I was so excited to go to church. We’d go once a week in my Catholic elementary school. Every student would line up and walk across the street each and every Wednesday. I loved our priest Father Bird.

Once when I was in second grade, I was asked to deliver something to the office. I was walking down the hall when I heard my name called. It was crystal clear. But no one was around. It happened twice, and I thought it was someone playing a trick on me. When I got to the office, I must have looked spooked. Father Bird asked what was wrong. When I told him, he told me the story of Samuel.

The next time I heard it, he told me to say, “Here I am, Lord.”

So that’s what I’ve been saying ever since. I thank Father Bird for that. I’m grateful for it, yet I’m not a priest. I’m not Catholic anymore. My call took me somewhere else. I don’t think Father Bird would be too happy about that. My grandpa isn’t. He once said, “I wish you’d come back to the church.”

“Grandpa, I work for the church.”

“Not the right one,” he said.

Eli helps Samuel find his call. And in finding Samuel’s call, Eli finds the end of his. In helping others with their call, we might find the end of ours. Do not be afraid. God has a bigger plan in mind.

The story ends in a good place. All of Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. The story starts, “The word of the Lord was rare in those days, visions were not widespread.” And it moves to “And the word of Samuel came to all of Israel.” What a change!

When I hear many older pastors talk, I get a little envious. Those retiring remember the days when the budgets were easy to meet, they had so many people to do so much work of the church. Back in the 1950s and well into the 1980s, churches experienced a boom. Then sometimes in the 1980s, the decline started.

Some of us remember a time when there were a ton of different ministries. We had a massive women’s circle that had over 100 women in it. It was so big, it had to be broken down into various women’s circles. Now we have the still wonderful ladies’ Lenten luncheon and women’s tea as the last vestiges of this ministry.

My call isn’t to pastor a vital church. My call is to revitalize. My call is different from the heyday of the 1950s to the 1980s style of church. Not everyone automatically goes to church now. Many in my generation approach religion with a fair bit of skepticism.

Growing up, I saw all the abuses of the church. We read the headlines, we saw Tammy Faye Baker and the 2001 Spotlight break open. The televangelists constantly asking for money. This continues today as I just saw how another TV pastor asking for $54 million to buy his 4th private jet. Listen, I’ll settle for a Tesla. Or even just a surplus budget and vital ministries y’all are excited about. No jet needed! You can achieve any goal if you set it low enough.

Children see through that stuff. Kids are pretty innocent and they see things as they are. It’s why they always ask uncomfortable questions. Upon meeting our new neighbors in seminary, the neighbors’ 9-year-old daughter asked her mom about me, “Why does he have all that hair in his nose.”

She was at the right angle I guess. My kids ask all sorts of uncomfortable questions. I love them. They cut through the games we adults play. We go out of our way to be polite and not state the obvious. I love kids precisely because they name uncomfortable truths. They see what we do.

Sam’s bulletin cover takes so many elements of our church. And on Q&A Sunday he wanted me to ask, “If God is God and Jesus is God and Jesus is God’s son, is God a child of God?” That’s a pretty astute understanding of the mystery of the Trinity.

So many kids find how we do church boring. So many are yearning for a place to ask the big questions: Does my life have worth and meaning? Who am I and what is my purpose? Is this all there is? Yet the church is silent on these. You know what people aren’t asking? “how can I purchase a jet for that pastor I see on TV?”

The church is here to serve. If you’re looking to BE served, you’re in the wrong place. That’d be a restaurant. Here you are to serve. As church consultant Mike Piazza says, “Church is where you take off your bib and put on your apron.” We are here to serve, not to be served. We are here to love on these kids that we have been gifted with. We are here to add our wisdom and experience to their lives.

We are here to help them find their calling in life and in helping others with their call, we might find the end of ours. Do not be afraid. God has a bigger plan in mind.

It’s what happened to Eli. His sons were about the private jets, the respect and the honor and they got greedy. God shut them off for they were never nor would they ever be about God’s mission in the world. Samuel would be. And Eli had the wisdom to say, “It is the Lord: let God do what seems good.”

Church, what if we’re what’s causing the word of God to be rare in these days? Are we so invested in our rituals and traditions that we might prevent others from hearing their calling? That we might be preventing God’s beloved community from coming?

It starts with the children. Let us follow their lead. Give them a place to grow and thrive. To listen to their questions. To hear what they have to say and how they see the world.

We are here to serve the next generation. Even if they won’t go to church. Even if they don’t memorize the bible. Even if they keep pointing out uncomfortable facts. We exist to bless them. We are here to teach them one thing: if they don’t memorize a single bible verse, a single doctrine, a single figure from church history they should know one thing: That they are beloved children of God. That they were welcomed, loved, and served by a group of people calling themselves the Church of Jesus Christ.  So be a mentor, invite someone younger than you, even someone still in school for their ideas with a committee you’re on, or just ask what movies they are watching or reading or listening to. Take interest in their lives and just be present to them. Amazing things can happen just starting there.

Our youth are amazing! I am so in awe of them. We have a great bunch of children here. Let us serve them, train them up in the way they should go, and love love love them! Our future depends on it. For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen.

 

 

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