 | The New England Church PulpitNew England Congregational Church UCC |
"PASSING ON THE FAITH" | Mark 10.17-27 | October 12, 2003 |
We are about the business of making a difference to that one. And to do that we must realize that church is not a spectator sport. When we baptize a baby we make a commitment to be an active force in that child’s life, pledging our unconditional love, pledging to provide opportunities for that child to grow in faith and mature to be a loving person. Good stewards are those who pass on the faith by providing quality programs for those making the transition from childhood to adulthood, a most critical time in their lives.
When we start talking about church budgets it’s too easy to play the numbers game; we want to know how many starfish we’re going to rescue to see what difference it will make. It is particularly true when it comes to youth programs: do we have enough kids to warrant the money we’re spending? I’ve never heard that question asked of the chancel choir, even when we had only 15 choir members. Can we put a monetary value on making a difference in one person’s life? Look at each person in the eye and say to yourself: it makes a difference to that one! When asked how many kids are involved in our youth program, the best answer is “all of them.” You just don’t see them all at the same time.
So what is the purpose of a youth ministry? To insure a church for the future? I think that’s the wrong perspective; youth are the church of today. Predominately it is to save our youth, but not from some eternal perdition. We are committed to saving our youth from themselves, from apathy, from society that would relegate them to a number and a label. What’s at stake here is for young persons to have a purpose. That purpose is usually found within relationships, with themselves, their God, and those around them. So the best thing we can do theologically is help each person know who they are and provide opportunities for them to learn how to relate to others in the context of a spiritual environment.
Mark tells the story of Jesus’s conversation with the rich man and we learn at the beginning that it isn’t in keeping the ten commandments that makes the difference; it is something radically different. It is something that requires us to give up our love of all things that would replace God’s call for justice and love, where everyone finds relationship within the unconditional love of God’s world. This man went away very sad because he had many things he would have to give up for the sake of some unknown future.
This year one of our youth, Eric Roesner, organized a Punk rock concert to raise money for youth in hospitals in Iraq, youth who are the last and the least. With the help of the rest of the group we hosted some 80 youth and raised close to $400. It was so successful that people are clamoring for another one ASAP. One could argue that the number 80 and $400 are small by comparison to the enormity of the situation in Iraq. But it makes a difference to each hospitalized young person in Iraq. Sure we could have sent $400 from our budget to the Iraq hospital directly, but in so doing we would have undermined the experience 80 kids had to develop another dimension to their faith. The numbers take a back seat to the impact this has on youth who are learning to function in a world that is at war, where on the other side of the globe people their own age are being killed and wounded daily. To raise money for Iraqi youth, who have been labeled as the enemy by society, raises a consciousness in caring and unconditional love that cannot be learned except by experience.
Then there are the youth of our group who are participating in PeaceJam who meet with Nobel Prize Laureates for Peace under the sponsorship of the Kellogg Corporation. They will be traveling to MI again Nov 1 to report on their efforts to promote peace and human rights this past summer. This is not an easy thing in today’s society that says if you advocate peace you are unpatriotic and do not support the troops. It takes a lot of fortitude and a safe environment to talk about and act upon the gut-wrenching struggles that confront our youth today. What difference does it make? It’s too early to tell. But what difference will it make toward world peace if we don’t invest in such opportunities?
Faith is caught more than it is taught. Faith is found in experience more than in information. Faith is found in story rather than theology. In a few weeks our youth will be participating in Thanksgiving Retreat held at the Golden Valley Retreat center in Iowa. Each person will bring their favorite recipe, and then they all go shopping on Saturday morning to buy what is needed. Everyone works in the kitchen together to prepare their own food and then they sit down to eat it together. This is true communion. The communion comes not from the food around the table alone, but from the bond that is created between the youth as they work together in the kitchen. Then at night they go into the unspoilt prairie to stroll through the tall grass and gaze into the night sky and explore the wonder of their purpose in this vast creation.
What about biblical literacy in our youth program? Is it ignored? By no means. But one has to understand that the youth of today in the postmodern world understand themselves in terms of narrative not correct belief or theology. And we have a heck of a good story in our Christian scriptures. We don’t have answers to all of life’s big questions. What we can offer is a safe place to ask the questions and struggle with the fact that there are no answers. One of the best gifts we can give our youth is a place to ask: If God is so great, where was God on 9/11? Why do have wars? If God is love, why do we kill people in God’s name? I’m pleased to tell you that our youth are able to struggle with these issues and more in the context of a safe, steady, faith-oriented environment that doesn’t demand easy answers. It’s a place to play hard, to learn by experiencing, to ask the hard questions and struggle with the fact that there are few answers. God is in the Process more than in the answers; God is in the playing on stick horses more than in the knowledge that is acquired. There are several articles in the current issue of The Christian Century (October 4, 2003) that feature experts in youth ministry across the country who are saying this is what is needed in youth programming in today’s churches. Aren’t you glad we already have it?
How many kids engaged in these things would make the investment worth while? 10? 5? 1? I will tell you that there are between 40 - 50 kids that go through the doors of Chestnut House each week for the various programs, some who identify with our church and others who have no church home. It’s what’s happening inside that changes the way you enter into life and care for yourself and others that is critical. How do you put a dollar value on that?
Stewardship is about providing opportunities for God’s world to find its fullest expression and the people of the world to know that they are valued, important, and loved for who they are, as they are, and challenged to become fully themselves by making good choices in the context of faith. And for each person who finds faith to enjoy life amid the struggles and the turmoil, we can say it makes a difference to that one. We must continue to invest in passing on this faith. Amen.
–Gary L. McCann
PASTORAL PRAYER
Eternal Spirit, source of all that is excellent in life, palate of all the inspiring colors of the autumn and palate of all the sweet tastes of ripened fruit this season of the year, be to us the bounty of all that is pure, deep within the eternal spirit of our soul.
As we gather here to renew ourselves, widen our vision to include within the scope of our being all that you would have us embrace. May we not limit your divine inspiration by our prejudices and preconceived notions. Remind us of our roots and the homes we came from, remind us of the better aspects of the civilizations out of which we have come, of causes once defeated, now victorious, for which others shed their blood. Remind us that we are not entirely our own, that what we have and who we are has come from generation upon generation, and that we must make our contribution to society for generations to come.
Visit us in our fears, for in fear we are paralyzed, in fear we lash out against others, in fear we make false judgments against others. Our fear prompts our panic and in our panic we think we will be safe by eradicating those external things that threaten us. But fear is inside, and we pray you to walk calmly with us and inspire us to saner, wiser minds and spirits in these days of angst and war and economic stress. Remind us that we are people of faith and we live by faith, not by sight.
Be to those in need today all that is required for their well-being. Be present with those grieving, those ill, those lonely, those afraid. Be with those whose lives are devastated by the wars that continue around our world. We pray that your eternal peace will find its way into the center of these conflicts.
Renew us today that we may continue to be all that we can be for peace and justice. In the name of the Christ, Amen.
Mark 10
As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“You know the commandments,” Jesus responded: “do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not defraud.”
“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” Jesus said. “Go sell everything you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. Then follow me.”
At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
From Sufi writer Rumi:
A certain young man was asking around, “I need to find a wise person. I have a problem.”
A bystander said, “There’s no one with intelligence in our town except that man over there playing with the children, the one riding the stick-horse. He has keen, fiery insight and vast dignity like the night sky, but he conceals it in the madness of child’s play”
The young seeker approached the man with the children, “Death Father, you have become as a child, tell me a secret.”
“Go away. This is not a day for secrets, “ said the wise man.
The man asked him: “Why this playing that you do?”
The sheikh play-galloped over to the man. “I must speak quickly. I can’t hold this one still for long. Whoops. Don’t let him kick you. This is a wild one.”
“The knowing I have,” he said, “wants to enjoy itself. I am a plantation of sugarcane and at the same time I’m eating the sweetness. Knowledge that is acquired is not like this. Those who have it, worry if audiences like it or not. It’s a bait for popularity.”
“Chew quietly your sweet sugarcane God-Love, and stay playfully childish. Your face will turn rosy with illumination like the redbud flowers.” (The Essential Rumi, Chapter 4, pp.44-46).
| Copyright © 2003 by Gary L. McCann. All rights reserved. |