Young people, growing up in the Church.
A priority for whole church
Today is Kolbsheim Sunday, the special day in the year when we celebrate our community and look to the future. As you know, there was a bit of a break with Sunday school and now a dedicated few have recommenced Sunday morning lessons and a crèche for the little ones. Our Churchwardens, Elisabeth and Naveed said in the invitation letter to Kolbsheim “Our work with young people is not confined to Sunday School. Our whole community needs to guide them towards a more caring, sharing and responsible adult world”.
As I thought about what I could say to you to help our thinking about children and young people I suddenly heard in my head the famous verse from Isaiah “For a child has been born to us, a son given to us” (Isaiah 9.6) This is the prophesy of Jesus’ coming. It is hope that is born with the coming of a child. Then I thought about Mary, the pregnant mother of our Lord, who sings her song of praise, of thanksgiving and of hope for justice and peace. Then there was the hope of the shepherds and wise men who came to worship him in wonder and awe. Joseph, Mary, shepherds and wise men gather around in love and hope. It is a story of passion which gets people doing all sorts of things they never dreamt they would or could.
So let love, hope and passion be at the centre of our thoughts which we will share about the nurture of the young.
It is indeed a source of joy and wonder to have children in our family and we can remember that our God, through the incarnation, fully shares with us the blessing of children amongst us. Jesus says:
“Let the children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs” (Mark 10: 14)
Jesus himself was a child. Jesus himself knows about family life and the extended Church family life. He knows what it is like to have responsible loving parents. Jesus, is the Son of God, but Joseph has a very important role to play. Without Joseph’s continual support, parental care and authority Jesus would not have had the upbringing that was essential to his mission; so whether the children and young people are our children or not, we are all responsible for them. Paul says, in his letter to the Ephesians, that the gifts which we have been given within the Church family are to:
“equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ”.
So let responsibilty for each other also be at the centre of our Church family thinking.
Because Jesus has walked amongst us and known, in his flesh, the life experience of humanity and because he gave his life for us, we can be assured of God’s complete and utter commitment and love for us all whatever our age. In the power of the Holy Spirit Jesus is with us now. God has opened up a channel of communication through Jesus. We pray in the power of the Spirit and in union with Christ to the Father. Nothing can be achieved without putting our plans before the Father in prayer. Nothing can be achieved without listening to what God is telling us.
So at the centre of our thinking and planning about the nurturing of the young let there be love, hope, passion, responsibility, and above all prayer.
It is from this prayer that we are given a mission. We read in Acts 13
“While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off”
Sent them off - here we come to the action. Our mission needs to be organised and practical. As Jesus himself said “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it”. So whatever we do has to be do-able, but we can’t do anything worthwhile unless we have a vision, until we know who we are and where we are going. We must have a vision of who our young people are and a vision of what God is calling us to do for their nurture and growth. Perhaps we could work towards a mission plan, or even better, a vision plan concerning the nurture and growth of the young which we can all own, which we can all be excited about. I stress the ALL because any project that we have has to be carried and taken on by all of us, otherwise there is a strong chance that it just won’t work.
We need to review the situation together, we need to choose priorities, we need to plan and then go into action. Then we will have to review again to keep ourselves on track towards our vision. But we need a few pointers, so here are a few which might help:
· We need to be aware that communities of transformed adults, living lives of prayer and service, attract and transform the lives of the young.
· We need to be aware that children have a spirituality and that they long to experience God within their own lives.
· We need to be aware of their desire to recognise God’s presence in their lives and to be empowered to live out their calling within the life and worship of the Church and in the world.
· They should be encouraged, as they grow, to take part and to become leaders themselves before they are 50 ! Leaders of worship; activities or outreach projects.
· We need to recognise that the people here who are called to “do the work or the hands on stuff”’ ( and that may be anyone of you here ) need continual support; they need volunteers, resources, support and prayer, otherwise they will feel spiritually and practically neglected and will simply run out of steam.
· We need to be aware that teaching youngsters can only take place from within a culture. We must meet children where they are rather than try to make them the children we were or encourage them to embrace the culture of a middle aged Church. Let them be who God has created them to be in this day and age.
· We need to open doors to the life that Jesus promised in all its fullness. This can be in a carefully prepared lesson or perhaps just in the way we greet them or it can be in enabling them to pray and worship in a way which is meaningful to them and which develops their creative skills.
· We need to create opportunities so that when God calls them by name, they will hear his voice and know how to respond to it.
Teaching is long term work. The results are slow and sometimes the seeds we sow do not put up shoots straight away and so we will need patience and we will need to entrust the seeds we sow to God, the Lord of the harvest. There will be growth not only amongst the children but amongst the adults as well for we will all learn from each other.
I finish with a quote from Mark Yaconelli - questions that we can ask ourselves as we go along:
“Is the spiritual life we are promoting consistent with the life of Jesus?
Are the fruits of our spiritual exercises and practises we offer children and young people in harmony with the fruits of the Spirit that Paul outlines in Galatians 5.
Is there greater generosity, kindness, patience, love, joy and self discipline as a result of these experiences?
These are the questions that we need to consider in order to help discern what we are doing to accompany them ( young people ) on the way of Jesus”.
Amen
Sermon written by Rev.Christine Bloomfield-Hilaire
Second Sunday before Advent, 15 November 2009
