4 Oct - Let The Children Come To Me

Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12; Mark 10:2-16

What are the roots, the building blocks of your faith? In reading through the rich treasure of readings for last Sunday, the final part of the Gospel lesson caught my attention. Jesus has finished a long discussion with the Pharisees and his disciples about marriage and divorce. People are bringing children to him, so that he can touch them. The disciples object and speak sternly to them. Angered by their response, Jesus says to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.” Then he gathers the children up in his arms and blesses them. “Let the little children come to me. . .” Those words evoked a strong childhood memory of hearing those words, probably in a Sunday School class As a small child, surrounded by a world where grownups were the important people and could do all kinds of things that I couldn’t, those words assured me. Children were valued. Children had a place in the world. Those words gave me an image of Jesus as someone who loved and welcomed children. It wasn’t much of a leap to figure out that, if Jesus welcomed children, he welcomed lots of other people as well.

As I have reflected on the memory of that childhood experience of the phrase from the Gospel of Mark, I am struck by how important such experiences are. They take root in us and thrive. They form a foundation for our faith, as we continue on in our journey into adulthood and old age. In my ministry as a hospice I spend a lot of time with people with dementia and with people who are so weak that they cannot communicate very well, if at all. When I read Scripture to them, especially the King James version of the 23rd Psalm, often they will respond. People who are confused and can barely put together a coherent sentence, will say along with me, “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. . .” I have a similar experience when I say the Lord’s Prayer with these people. From somewhere deep within, those people call up their earliest experiences, the deep roots of their faith.

The roots come from other sources besides early religious training and other formal education. The building blocks of our faith come from all kinds of experience: experiences in our families, in the community where we grew up, in our travels. We learn by observing others. We learn from our own actions, by taking risks and succeeding, by taking risks and failing.

I invite you to reflect on your own life, your own experiences—especially ones from your childhood. Try to identify the deep roots of your faith.

Peace,

Deacon Sue