Devotional—Submitted by Patti Maguire
By Pastor Kerri Nelson
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall
grow out of his roots. The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the
spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. His delight shall be
in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or
decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the
poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike
the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he
shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his
waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. The wolf shall live
with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and
the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play
over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on
the adder's den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters
cover the sea. Isaiah 11:1-9
“And a little child shall lead them…”
Whenever we worship at Covenant we need several people to
participate in leadership roles. When we distribute Holy Communion at
our last service we need at least five people to join the two pastors.
We always try to include young people in those roles. So, this past
Sunday, we had two adults distributing bread and four kids distributing
the wine and collecting the little glasses.
I loved it.
Standing next to me was Theresa whom I’ve known since she was a baby.
She was wearing her T-shirt that said, “Brunettes are the New Blondes”
– and she was clearly and confidently saying, “The blood of Christ,
shed for you.” to every person who came forward. There was a bit of
confusion at the very beginning around just who was going to do what –
and another junior high student, Taylor, came up out of the
congregation to the altar area to find out whether or not she was
needed.
I loved that too – to see a young person take ownership of
worship, to understand what was needed and show up to serve. It was
just great!
I have long since known that babies seem to be among God’s
greatest evangelists. I don’t know how many people belong to our church
that wouldn’t be there had they not had a child…and then the sense that
they needed to raise that child in relationship with the church.
Congregations that do what is best for children flourish.
Congregations that are willing to make the adjustments in style and
strategies for passing on the content of the faith in such a way that
connects with kids tend to connect with everybody. But congregations
that isolate kids, that don’t involve them in public ways, that don’t
offer the support and encouragement that kids need, suffer…and ought to.
There are good reasons why Jesus lifted up children in front of
the disciples and challenged them with the notion that anyone who
accepts such little ones is in line with God’s will. There are good
reasons why Jesus warned against anyone who caused such little ones to
sin, or who hurt or abused them, or isolated and marginalized them.
Congregations that take raising and caring for children seriously
tend to take all matters of ministry seriously. And congregations that
give children lip service while making every decision in the best
interests of the 55 year olds that pay the bills often wonder why they
keep getting older and grayer and smaller and closer to death.
A little child shall lead them.
Let us pray: Gracious Lord, you give us the wonderful gift of
children who teach us, in so many ways, what matters in life and what
is possible in life. Keep our hearts and minds open to what our young
people are saying. Help us read between the lines of their needs and
help us celebrate their presence in our common life. In Jesus’ name.
Amen.
(Permission is granted to use these devotions any time, in any way you wish, with no need to attribute anything to Kerri.)
"Empowered by Christ's love, Gloria Dei reaches out as an inclusive, welcoming church through worship and social action."