The Rev. Peter A. Olsen
Sermon 9/22/24
Pentecost 18
Mark 9:30-37
“The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.”
“I don’t know what he meant by that,” said Peter as the disciples walked with Jesus into Capernaum, the home of Simon Peter. “But I’m pretty sure,” he continued, “it means the kingdom Jesus keeps talking about is drawing near. And that means we need to start thinking about organizing the new administration.” Just then Anna, the little daughter of Simon Peter’s neighbor in Capernaum, comes running out of her house.
“Peter! Hey, Peter!” she cries. She holds up a little make shift boat she has just built. “Can you help me with this boat? I can’t make it float.” Ignoring her, Peter and the rest of the disciples file into the house, but before they can shut the door, Anna slips in. Peter continues, “Now I think Jesus made it pretty clear that he views me as the chief among us, his ‘Rock,’ so to speak. So let’s talk about how the rest of you all fit in.”
“Peeeeeter,” says Anna in a loud, insistent voice. “I need your help with my boat!”
“Just a minute there Rocky!” shouts James over Anna’s pleas for attention. “I’m not so sure Jesus means to put you in charge of us. “Yeh” adds John, “Remember how Jesus called you a stumbling block and an agent of the devil? You are always shooting off your big fat mouth and saying dumb things. What Jesus needs is a couple of steady, solid, reliable men to stand at his right and left hand.”
“Ha!” sneers Andrew. “I hear you guys already applied for that job and got turned down.”
“Peter! Peter! Peter!” shouts Anna.
“Be quiet little girl,” snaps Peter. “Grownups are talking!”
Just then, Jesus walks into the room and right past the quarreling disciples. “Anna!” he calls out to her. “How good to see you again! What have you been up to?”
“I made a boat!” Anna replies, holding it up for Jesus to see. “But I can’t get it to float. Can you help me?”
Peter is just about to shush Anna again and send her outside, but Jesus sits down, takes her on his lap, and examines her boat. “This is a great boat, Anna. I think it will sail just fine if we adjust the keel just a little bit.” Taking the boat, Jesus makes some adjustments. Then he gives it back to Anna. “Now I think it will sail right as rain,” he says. Then Jesus turns to the disciples, “By the way, guys, what was that lively discussion you were having on the way in?” A long, awkward silence follows. The disciples are all looking down at their feet trying to avoid Jesus’ gaze. Then Anna blurts out, “Oh they were just arguing over who was the greatest!”
“Really?” says Jesus. Turning to the disciples he says, “I hope you are watching, because I am about to show you what greatness is.” Jesus gets up, takes Anna by the hand and says, “Come on Anna, let’s take a walk down to the shore and take this boat of yours on its maiden voyage!”
Now, I don’t know if it really went down like that. But here is what I do know. Jesus prioritized children. His disciples ought to have known that. Remember how they once turned away a group of mothers bringing their children to Jesus? “Please, ladies! Jesus is a busy man. He has desperately sick people to heal, important teaching to do and many places to go.” But Jesus said, “don’t turn away the children. The reign of God was made for such as these.” Think of that. Where would Jesus be if he were to visit any one of our churches? Up in the sanctuary doing church with the adults? Or down in the nursery and Sunday school with children? When we exclude children from worship, do we inadvertently exclude Jesus as well? Think about it.
And while you’re thinking about that, think about this. Jesus doesn’t have much to say on the topic of hell. In fact, he hardly mentions it at all. So when Jesus does talk about hell, it’s probably a good idea to perk up and pay attention. Jesus makes it clear that children are precious in the sight of God. They are to be cared for, protected and nurtured. And, in Jesus’ view, the worst thing you can do is to harm, neglect or traumatize a child. Better lose a hand or a foot than put a stumbling block in front of Jesus’ little ones. “Mess with my children,” says Jesus, “and there will be hell to pay.” Hold that thought while you are thinking about this.
According to available data, approximately one in five children worldwide are affected by armed conflicts, with estimates suggesting that around 40% of civilian casualties are children. Some 148 million children in the world — about 1 in 5 — are chronically malnourished. And we are not talking only about the so-called developing world here. Nearly 14 million children in the United States faced hunger in 2023. According to the USDA, one in every five children, in this wealthiest nation in the world, is unsure where they will get their next meal. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, 1.2 million children in the United States are homeless on any given night. However, the Coalition gets its information from schools. So when you consider that there is no accounting for children under 6 who are not in school, that number is probably much greater. Violent crime is particularly unkind to little ones. Children and teens are more likely than the rest of us to die by gun violence. This world does not prioritize children and it is not a safe or friendly place for children.
Sadly, the church has not always been a safe place for children either. I mean, let’s face it, church isn’t exactly the most child friendly environment. The two most common things a child hears in church are “be quiet” and “sit still.” I can’t tell you how many people I have met over the years who left the church because of the way they were treated as children. We have not always been very helpful to children and young people struggling with tough issues, especially questions about gender identity and sexual orientation. Our traditional teachings on these matters have often led young people to believe that they are morally defective, unclean and unworthy of God’s love. Sometimes, clergy and other church leaders have taken advantage of children’s natural trust and their vulnerability and abused them horribly. How God’s heart must break when God’s church becomes an agent of harm to God’s little ones.
I wonder if you will indulge me in just one more imaginative, biblical, parabolic experiment. Imagine that it is the end of the age. And just as in Jesus’ parable, the Son of Man appears and separates the sheep from the goats, the sheep on his right hand, the goats on his left. At the right hand, we see an ocean of children as far as the eye can see. Some of them have bellies bloated from hunger, some have limbs that have been blown off by weapons of war. Some are scared with the marks of physical abuse and self-harm. Others have wounds you can see only by the sadness in their eyes, wounds that run deep down in the depths of their souls.
On the left had stand Donald Trump, President Biden, Kamala Harris, Vladamir Putin, Xi Jinping and all the other world leaders. All of our political leaders across the whole political spectrum are there. Our bishops and church leaders are there, too. And we discover, much to our distress, so are we. Jesus turns first to the children at his right hand and says, “Come, blessed of my Heavenly Father! For the just and gentle reign of God was made for your healing, comfort and peace. Come. For the messianic banquet is prepared to satisfy your hunger for love and acceptance.” And the children’s faces lighten up and glow with joy and they dash off with whoops of excitement as only children can.
Then, Jesus turns to us. And the world leaders all begin to blame one another for all the military conflicts, trade policies and practices that have destroyed the lives of children. All the politicians begin pointing fingers at each other, blaming each other’s policies for the suffering children have experienced under their watch. And our church leaders begin making excuses for our failure to meet the needs of children, our failure to make room for them in our worship and liturgy and protect them from abuse. And each one of us is saying, “Hey, I had enough to do raising my own kids. Am I responsible for everyone elses’? I’m just one person, you know. Am I supposed to solve all the world’s problems?” That goes on for a while, but not for long because we can all see from Jesus’ expression that he isn’t buying any of this. So we fall into a long, awkward silence.
Then Jesus finally speaks. “Well,” he says, “I suppose you think I am going to tell you to depart into everlasting darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And, like the disciples, we are all looking down at our feet because we’ve been thinking that, Yeh, he’s probably going to say something like that. But Jesus says, “Well, you’re wrong-again. I always said that when the reign of God comes, the last will be first and the first last. But even the last are welcomed. The reign of God and the messianic banquet are for all my children, even my problem children. But here’s the thing folks. If you want to live joyfully, thankfully and obediently under God’s gentle reign of justice and peace, you are going to have to learn what greatness is. Because if you think all the wealth you have accumulated, all the elections you have won, all the letters behind your name, all the important positions you have held, all the great contributions you have made to charitable causes, all the work you have done for the church, all the medals you have earned-if you think any of that counts here and if you expect that it’s going to win you honor or recognition-you’re going to find heaven to be one hell of a place for you. Because none of that matters anymore. And in fact, it never mattered.
Then, Jesus does something remarkable. He puts on an apron, picks up a towel and a bucket of hot soapy water. Then he gives to each of us an apron, a towel and a bucket of hot, soapy water. And says to us, “Well, folks, lets get going. We have a lot of little feet to wash before its our turn to eat.”
So here is the good news. It doesn’t have to be that way. We don’t need to wait till the end of time to invite God’s children to the messianic table. This good earth, as much as we have abused and wasted it, is still able to feed, clothe and shelter every child in every place throughout the world. Resources are not lacking, only space in our hearts. It is just a matter of priorities, isn’t it? When caring for our children becomes more important to us than nation, flag, tribe, political power, social position, accumulation of wealth and everything else that defines greatness, status and importance in our culture, when we learn to love our children the way Jesus loves them and give them the priority Jesus gives them, then we will know the reign of God. It’s that simple. The reign of God is not somewhere out in the distant future. It’s no further away than the nearest child. Amen.