What in the world's
going on?

This morning it is a joy to preach to the choir. We do not need to spend time explaining why we are here. We do not need to justify the importance of ministry with children and youths. We do not need to proof-text our gathering other than to embrace the invitation of Jesus, “Let the little children come to me, do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

All preliminaries aside, let us get right to the point: What in the world is going on when we cannot find enough money to extend Head Start, when there is not enough money to provide health insurance for the children of the poorest of the poor, when we cannot afford to feed children who are starving, when we cannot lift families out of poverty, and yet we have found $119 billion over the past two years to start a war, execute a war, and might I suggest, botch a war?

A pox on both your houses, Democrats and Republicans!

There is enough money to send tanks to the desert that clog up with sand, enough money to pay guards who humiliate detainees and to pay for the digital cameras to provide us with 1,500 photographs that bring shame to America — what were they thinking? — enough money to bomb wedding parties in Afghanistan and probably Iraq, but not enough money to care for our own children.

It simply underscores what we know to be so tragically true, that our society does not love its children. And we, in our ministries with children, in the literal care and feeding of children, we know the impact of this neglect.

We know the statistics. In Illinois 15% of our children live in poverty; another 18% more are on the brink. In the city of Chicago 23% of children under the age of 18 are poverty-stricken.

It is not evenly distributed across races, of course. In the state 35% of African-American children live under the poverty level, 20% of the Latino children. Statewide 11% of our children are without health insurance — 11%.

And as far as education, 10% of our young people drop out of school. In Chicago it is a 24% drop-out rate. A subsistence standard of living, health services, a minimal education — is that too much for which to ask? Is that too much to expect of a civilized society? Is that an extravagance in this world? Is it a privilege not to be hungry?  Is it a matter of good fortune to have a doctor care for you? Is it a benefit of social position to be able to read? 

No, it is a right. And when we deprive our children of such rights we are participating in evil. We are consorting with the Devil. When we say that it is tolerable that 10% of our children go uneducated, we are tithing our children to the Devil. When we accept that 11% of our children have no health care and 15% of our children live below the poverty level we are tithing and offering a love gift to the evil forces of this world.

Do you remember the baptismal vows we have in our United Methodist ritual?  “On behalf of the whole church, I ask you: Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin? Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?” Our baptism in the name of Jesus Christ insists that we resist evil in the form of poverty, of hunger, of ignorance, of governmental neglect.

That is why we are here this morning. That is why this choir can sing with a single voice, a united voice, a united voice for children. Let us be so proud of one another. We are in the faithful business of resisting evil.

Marcy-Newberry, for over 120 years resisting the powers of evil that an urban culture can inflict upon people. There is an historian at the University of Illinois - Chicago who has chronicled the ways in which Marcy-Newberry has had a more significant impact on the neighborhood immediately southwest of the Loop than Hull House.  And now Marcy-Newberry is in several locations throughout the west side of the city, trying valiantly to keep up with the rapid changes in the areas that it serves.

Methodist Youth Services, what a struggle to minister to the hardest population of all: the teenagers whom our society has thrown away. That is whom we house, whom we feed, whom we educate, whom we try to track down when they run away, the throw-away children of America.

ChildServ, routinely Laura Dean and I would meet when I was on the Conference Staff to try to spawn new ministries, especially in the form of after-school programs. We actually had a little money back then to initiate ministries. How much could we do with how little in order to reach how many?

Rosecrance, my nine years on the Rockford District made me a lover of the Rosecrance enterprise, again a hard, hard ministry with young people who have given their lives to drugs. They need every advantage we can give them, and they are desperately desirous for our love, God’s love. You already have the greatest banquet. May God bless your new building project. John Anderson, one of your co-chairs, is an old fraternity brother of mine. He is a rich man; I know some stories about him that might help transfer some of that wealth to you!

Do you hear, it choir? We have a mighty song to sing. Our first verse is a song of protest, singing our condemnation of the powers and principalities that write off as a loss 10% to 15 % of our children and youths, America’s tithe to the Devil. Our second verse is a lullaby.  We cradle the tender ones who need to feel the embrace of the Lord who calls them to come to him. Our third verse is a brave charge to one another: take courage and do not weary in doing the good works of the Lord. And our fourth verse is one of faith. It is God who has brought us this far, it is God who will mock the choices of our bankrupt culture, and it is God who will bring victory out of our efforts, victory not to us, but victory to the children, victory in the form of food and shelter, victory in the form of a nurse and a doctor, victory in the form of a teacher, a book, a tablet of paper, a pencil,   victory in the form of a Savior who loves them so convincingly that they see him through us.

So, choir, let us sing lustily, as John Wesley insists. That is a good thing. And let us sing all the verses loudly and confidently. God is with us. Thanks be to God. Amen.

The Rev. Philip Blackwell
Senior Pastor
First UMC at the Chicago Temple
June 12, 2004
United Voices for Children Breakfast
Northern Illinois Annual Conference

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