A Calling To Fulfill

There were two young boys who used to get in trouble quite often. Whenever something went wrong in the neighborhood, or in school, they were usually to blame. Their parents did not know what to do with them. They heard there was a preacher in town that had been successful in disciplining children. The preacher agreed but decided he didn’t want to see the boys at the same time. So he started with Tim, the younger son. The pastor sat Tim down across from a huge, impressive desk. For about 5 minutes, they just sat and stared at each other. Finally, the pastor pointed his finger at Tim and asked, “Where is God?” Tim looked under the desk, in the corners of the room, out the window, but said nothing.

Again, this time in a louder voice, the pastor asked, “Where is God?” Tim looked around again, mouth hanging open, wide-eyed, but said nothing.

A third time, in a louder, firmer voice, the pastor leaned across his desk and put his finger almost to Tim’s nose and asked, “Where is God?”

Tim screamed and bolted from the room panicking and ran all the way home. Finding his brother, he dragged him up to their bedroom and said, “We are in BIG trouble.” His brother asked, “What do you mean, BIG trouble?” Tim stammered and replied, “we are in big trouble this time, dude, God is missing and they think we did it.”

It’s so easy for us to think that kids just get in trouble or that they’re a bother.

One could easily feel like he/she have exhausted every possibility, particularly for a troubled kid and give up.

Some have determined that somebody else’s child is not their responsibility.

African proverb—it takes a village to raise a child.

Children are sacred gifts of God and we as the people of God have a spiritual and moral responsibility to care, protect, and advocate for all children.

UNICEF has phrased this spiritual and moral principle with clarity:

“The lives and the growth of children should not have to depend of the vagaries of adult society, on whether a country is at war or peace, on whether a particular party is in power, on whether the economy has been well managed or bungled, on whether debts have been paid or rescheduled, on whether commodity prices have fallen or risen, or any trough or crest in the endless and inevitable adulations of political or economic life in the modern nation state.”

The world’s treatment of children is ethically unjust.

As a people of God, we are called to sound the trumpet as we lead the way in building and being the Blessed Community where all children can live out their God-given potential.

Look at our own “land of the free.”

In our wealthy nation today, one in six children live in poverty while the rich get richer and millionaires reap tax breaks they don't need.
In our powerful nation, we still resort to guns and violence rather than the power of non-violence to solve problems in our homes, neighborhoods and among nations.
In our nation, founded on the truth that all people have the right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, rampant racial and economic disparities in access to quality health care and education combined with zero tolerance laws that criminalize children at younger and younger ages put Black boys born in 2001 at a one in three and Latino boys born the same year at a one in six lifetime risk of being incarcerated.

An America where each day many children die of injuries from abuse and neglect.

An America whose capital city starts schools with a weapon check.

An America where there are greater tax benefits for breeding horses than for raising children.

An America where one in every four youngsters you see is living in some form of hell. (excerpts from different works by Unicef)

We look in our own backyards.

In the Chicago land area a dismaying trend comes to light.

Children are planning their own funerals: Not out of curious play, they simply don’t believe they will reach adulthood.

As we cast our eyes across the world.

Many children born do not have a chance. Some will never live long enough to even walk because of disease and malnutrition. Some know nothing but war.

Our call to not only be concerned but to act, (to respond) extends well beyond sheer ethics—it the right thing to do.

It is a call to Biblical justice.

Jesus made special provisions for the care of children.

In Mark 10:13... "And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them."

But when Jesus saw it---he was much displeased and said, "let the little children come to me and forbid them not: for to such of these the kingdom of God belongs. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed.”

Mark 9:36-37... “And he took a child and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, “whosoever shall receive one of these children in my name receives me and whoever receives me receives not me but him that sent me.”"

Same chapter vs. 42: “And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck and he were cast into the sea.”

Biblical justice…

Jesus took the time to minister to children to protect children. ---To make a place for children.

Later, when Jesus is looking out over the city of Jerusalem, he says, “…How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling.” (Matthew 23:37)

There was an unwritten rule in Eastern culture that children were non-persons who should remain invisible when important things were happening. They were invisible, and the women who cared for them were not well regarded. In a series of teachings, Jesus attempted to "suspend the rules" and make children important.

Evidence of these unwritten rules prevail today: "I move that we suspend the rules…permanently.”

A nation is judged by the way she treats the poor, the least the last, especially her children.

The people of God are judged righteous by the way we treat the poor, the least, the last, especially, all of God’s children.

Children are the most vulnerable, the most defenseless of our brothers and sisters.

The poor are not just those who are economically disadvantaged.

The poor are all those who weep and bleed under oppression.

I don’t know whether you realize this, but there are over two thousand verses of Scripture that call upon us to stand up for the poor, to feed the poor, to bring justice to the poor.

Two thousand verses that really direct us to concern ourselves with the poor.

The word “righteousness” in the Scripture is a Greek word, which could better be translated “justice.”

“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice"

That’s what Jesus said because we gain our lives (meaning we are fulfilled) by giving our lives away to the poor, the oppressed; Being a voice for those who have no voice.

Some people actually think that being religious, being Christian, being spiritual is getting ready for the next world, and they have missed the message of Christ.

Jesus didn’t come here to get us ready for the next world; he came into this world to transform us into people through whom he could do his work in this world.

To be a faithful in our witness is not just to believe in Christ but also to allow Christ to invade you, to penetrate your being, to saturate your life until you begin to think like God.

That’s a strange thing to say, but being a Christian is having this mind in us as the Scripture say that was also in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

That means that the things that outraged Jesus, should outrage us. It means we are as upset by the things that are going wrong in this world as Jesus himself was and is.

All of us must ask:

What is God requiring of me that will save a child’s life?
What can I do to make a difference in a child’s life?
In what ways can I advocate for the rights of children?

So much depends on our willingness to answer the call…

Brothers and Sisters, we can begin right here at home…

We need not go far to find that “there is no room in the inn for the world’s children.”

Our inns stare us in the face everyday if we only have eyes to see and ear to hear.

Members of Gary UMC church listens to the cries of the poor and the needy. Mission and outreach is deeply embedded into the DNA of our worship, study and witness. We regularly seek out and provide opportunities for members to live out their discipleship in tangible ways. Members are transformed through their financial gifts and opportunities for hands on mission.

Let us continue to ask:

How can our local churches be better sanctuaries for children and have full inclusion of children in the life of the church?
How can minister in a holistic way with parents and families with young children?
Where are children hurting?
Who’s hungry?
Where are there issues of inferior education?
Who’s addressing violence in our communities?

We must address systemic change that perpetuates injustices toward children. To do this we have to become a part of something larger. What organizations, churches or agencies we need to be partnering with to address oppressive policies and structures?

In closing, I have this short story:

"Dad can I have a glass of water please?”
“No, go to sleep.”
“Dad, I’m thirsty, can I have a glass of water please?”
“No, go to sleep.”
“Dad, I’m really thirsty. Can you get me a glass of water please?”
“No, and if you ask once more I’ll spank you.”
(Silence...)
“Dad, when you come in to spank me, can you bring a glass of water please?”

Children can be very challenging and demanding---may we learn from them as we lead the way in building and being the Blessed Community where all children can live out their God-given potential.

Amen! To God be the glory!