Last Sunday morning, in the
midst of getting ready for the Sunday morning Eucharist, I went out to the big
front doors to make sure that they were unlocked so that the early birds coming
for the service were able to get in. When I open the door I spotted a little
fellow out on the sidewalk. He couldn’t have been more than a couple of years
old (or so I thought). He was there chatting with one of the clergy who was
here for the service. It was in this moment that I realized that he was not
wearing pants and that I had not seen him before. I went over to him and asked
him his name. He mumbled something that I could not understand. I noticed that
there was a medical alert necklace around the little boy’s neck and so I could
my wife, who kindly brought the boy a pair of pants and I went to the kitchen
and got him a cookie to munch on. Realizing that he could be seriously lost and ill,
I decided to call the police.
In the meantime the same priest
outside came across the babysitter who was of course frantic and worried about
the little boy. The parents had gone to get groceries and had left the little
boy in the sitter’s care. In a flash, he had gone from playing with a computer
tablet to disappearing and the search was on. There was much relief and even a
smile as the police constable arrived took his notes and went on his way again.
Everyone was thankful that the little boy was back where he needed to be again.
I share this moment of
ministry with you for a simple reason. Children, whether we realize it or not,
are amazing teachers and terrific mirrors. They show us who we truly are and they
can teach us how to be servants if we will let them. They will in their own
ways reflect our attitudes and repeat all the things we say and do, without too
much thought on their part. I think that is why Jesus took a child and put that
child amongst his self seeking, me first disciples and challenged them to think
not of themselves but of the one who needs to be cared for and to actively seek
out those in need as if it were Jesus himself (Mark 9.30-37).
The 12 had been disagreeing
with each other on the road as to who was going to fulfil what role when Jesus
got to Jerusalem and wiped out the Romans and the religious authorities – when he
returned the kingdom of great King David to the people of Israel. This in the
face of the fact that Jesus had told them he was going to face persecution,
suffering and death and after three days rise again from the day. They missed
it. They didn’t get it. They were more worried about themselves and the places
they would occupy in a kingdom that was not going to come than in hearing that
it was that was going to happen.
So Jesus takes a little child,
who has no money, no status in human society, no power to wield nor titles to
hold or to confer. He shows them that power and authority is not something to
be held and sought for the individual person. Rather such things are given by
God to men and women who are going to serve in the building up of the kingdom,
the world that is come. Power and authority, blessing and prestige are there
for those who will serve the naked, the sick, the lost, and those who are
imprisoned. Grace and mercy will be given to those who show it and to those who
will proclaim release and jubilee to those who desire it.
We need to remember that Jesus
comes to each of us and to all of us because we too have forgotten who he is
and who we are. He comes to each and to all to help us discover not only who he
is and thus who we are in him and for him. He comes that we might discover our
own Galillees that we would effectively reach out with all that we have been
given: power, authority, gifts, grace, love and so much more. All that is asked
of us is that we offer three simple things: our actions, our prayers and our
suffering. This is our common priesthood. It is what each of us needs to do and
it is what all of us can hold in common. We do so for the sake of the One who
did these things for us and for the rescue of those who will follow after us
into the kingdom, those both great and those like a little boy on the sidewalk.
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