Children and Jesus

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD

Chapel of our Lord, Episcopal Church Center

April 5, 2019

Lections for Harriet Starr Cannon

May the words of my mouth the meditation of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer. Amen.

My husband, Reade, and I have two children. As you might imagine, our children have a number of children’s bibles and story books about God, faith, and Jesus. My husband is a Mechanical Engineer who works on jet engines, so there are also a lot of books about science, math and airplanes. We are a balanced household.

And of course there are lots of important life and faith lessons to be learned from the math and science books. Of the particularly Jesus and God focused books, my favorite by far is Desmond Tutu’s Storybook Bible. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend getting a copy for any little people in your life. The illustrations are by artists from all over the world, and the joy that is evident in any of Archbishop Tutu’s writing and speaking emanates from the Bible stories as well. One cannot help but love God and the stories even more after reading them.

I thought of this book in particular, because its cover is an illustration of today’s Gospel. It is a story of the little children gathering with Jesus. And just as you might imagine they are in his lap and on his knee. They are clearly joyful and comfortable in his presence. Jesus is happy. You can almost hear the laughter. No two children look the same, so pretty much any child could find themselves in the picture. They could easily imagine themselves sitting with Jesus or excitedly talking with him.

It seems notable that there are no adults visible in the picture. It is just kids with Jesus. They are safe. They are happy. In fact it is probably a bit of a novelty for them to have such an important grown up paying attention to them. You know the Victorian adage, “Children should be seen and not heard.” I think that was even more true in Jesus’ time. Children were on the margins. They were property, valuable because of their potential labor, but not valued or respected by society as full persons.

But things are different with Jesus. Jesus sees them as beloved children of God who have value. And there is our first lesson from today’s reading. If we are called to be like those children, and like Harriet Starr Cannon whom we remember today, then we are being called not to sell ourselves short. We are called to believe in our own value and dignity, even if or when those around us do not. We are called to see ourselves as Jesus does - as a beloved child of God who is worthy of respect, and worthy of finding joy in life.

Yes, I realize it is still Lent, but that does not mean that life needs to be devoid of joy. If we are meant to be like the little children then we cannot help but be joyful. Really. If you don’t believe me, try it. Next time you are hanging out with some important little person in your life. Try to maintain a dour mood for as long as you can. I find it nearly impossible. How can you stay sad or frustrated when that little person’s face lights up when you walk into the room or when they come running to meet you, stumbling over their words because they are so excited to see you and show you what they have just been doing?

Children are really good at finding the joy in life. I think that is the other invitation for us in today’s Gospel. I think part of that comes from the fact that they are fully present in the moment. It might be worth noting that in the illustration of the story none of the children are walking around staring at their smartphones. None of them are furiously typing on keyboards. Neither are they attempting to write on papyrus or to draw in the dirt. They are focused on Jesus. They recognize what matters most in the moment. They are willing to put aside their tasks and their games to be fully present with Jesus.

Hmm. I don’t know about you, but that is a reminder I could use on a regular basis. It is one of the things I love about my new routine of life here at the Church Center. There are daily opportunities, even in the middle of the day, like we are doing right now. Opportunities to pause, to recalibrate, to be reminded where are priorities are. Yes, there are tasks to do, and they are important. AND, we will do those tasks better, we will have more joy in our hearts if we take time to reconnect with our Lord and with our companions on the way.

So if  we put our Lord at the center, if we remember that we are called to be faithful and trusting, like the children, like Harriet, then things will be different. We are called to put our trust in Jesus, to believe we are safe there and that doing so will enable us to be of service to God and to the world. And we are called to be on the lookout for opportunities in which we can deepen our connections to God and to each other. When we find those moments, we are called to be fully present and to seek out the joy. It is there. Always. Thanks be to God. AMEN.