Sermon for Sunday October 8th - First reflections
“The Faith of a Child”
Sunday is “Children’s Sabbath” and the sermon will wrap around what it is our church is doing for and with children. Appropriate to the occasion we are participating in 4 baptisms. We will look at what baptism means and why we do it and we will think some about the development of our faith and what was going on in the text when Jesus said, “Suffer the little children and forbid them not for to such belongs the Kingdom of God.”
Jerome Berryman has become one of the experts on “interactive learning” and Christian Education for children. He tells us, “When a person has an experience of God there is a desire both to re-experience it and to tell it to others. But how do we communicate the experience with the invisible? We compose a story, and through that story we relive the experience as well as communicate it to others. Some people have concluded that children do not experience existential questions. This is more than an error in fact. Undervaluing this existential experience of children can be very destructive for their spiritual growth. The faith of a child must be respected.”
There is the story of Sunday school teacher who asked the children before she dismissed them to go to church, “And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?” Annie replied, “Because people are sleeping.”
In our church, when it comes to Christian Education for children, we are not sleeping. We have built an environment for learning the faith and for sharing the faith in exciting ways.
Do you remember something that you learned in
Church School that has stayed with you? How has your faith evolved?
If you have thoughts, please leave a comment with this post. For personal thoughts write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. I look forward to your ideas.
- Charles
I remember learning the stories of the Bible as a little kid. In that time I loved being read to and I was building a library in my mind of imagery and a sense of who Jesus was and the place he lived. The more stories I learned the more I had a sense for him and I could relate to him. I guess I always pictured Jesus carrying around lambs and talking to kids because those were the images I saw. What a life, what a job, where do I sign up? I accepted what I was told and had a decent understanding of what Bible times were all about…or so I thought.
My house of cards began to tumble down in during my late 20’s as I began to take more adult classes in the church. During this time simple truths began to be replaced with new stories that reflected the complexities of our faith, how the Bible was actually established and little notions called interpretation and perspective. All of the sudden my simplistic view of the Bible, Jesus and the stories I had learned as a youth began to vanish. I must say it was a really very troubling time for me. I was often heard saying things like; “What do you mean in that book Jesus walked from this town to that town and in another he went somewhere else and in another, the story never took place at all. Where did this book come from, who wrote and proofed this thing?”
My initial discomfort with complex truths eventually gave way to a perspective that makes me appreciate the “diversity” of Bible teachings and how no single writer holds the truth about Jesus, only God does. It is as if the Bible came together under divine inspiration to purposefully be complex; to make us think about our actions and beliefs, forcing discourse, dialog and discussion among the believers. Through this experience (which is ongoing) I have gained a stronger appreciation for Bible stories and what they teach us at different ages. It also makes me thankful I am part of a church that does not portray our doctrine as black and white. At no time in history has our faith been an easy one and noting worth believing in would crumble in the presence of a thoughtful mind.
I often think about this as I read my daughter the very simple stories portrayed in her Bible. I understand that what she is getting is not necessarily the “whole story” but the “essence” of the story. In time she to will be challenged with a more complex view of the world but I am confident she will be rooted in the “essence” of who Jesus was and that will carry her through.
Rob
Last week in the 2 year old class I was teaching the kids the story of Moses. We made a basket for Moses out of paper plates and glued a paper baby Moses to our “basket.” My son has taken baby Moses with him everywhere this week (he had to go on our walk with us even this morning around the block.) Then I chatted with Chris Webber whose son Robbie has a baby Moses as well and she said that he also has had to take baby Moses with him in the car everywhere. When they came to church on Monday, Robbie was upset because baby Moses had to stay in the car. Who says 2 year olds can’t understand?