The lectionary readings for this sermon can be found here.
As I’ve been reading and preparing for our service today, I’ve also been thinking about the congregational meeting to follow when we’ll talk and vote on moving my call from part time to full time. I have been doing a lot of thinking about services and the life of the congregation and how to hold and guide us over the next twelve months or so. And one of the things I’ve been considering is the whole question of growth. Because we are a mixed bag of ages and stages, so how do we grow together?
Conventional wisdom would say that is needed for Isaiah and Cayden, for Jayden and Olivia can’t be the same as for Stew, or Mary, for James, Beth and Filipo – there can’t be a one size fits all, can there? Well, possibly not, although I haven’t entirely given up on that yet…and this morning’s reading has provided me with some interesting food for thought on this matter.
Now, it’s probably helpful to set the scene for what Jesus is saying here, because otherwise his comment about the children in the marketplace can seem a bit random. Earlier in this chapter, Matthew tells us that John the Baptist, who is now in prison, sent his disciples to Jesus to ask him, ‘are you the one?’ And Jesus gave his reply and then went on to praise John and to ask the crowds what they had hoped to find when they went out to the wilderness to see John.
That’s where our passage begins, with Jesus’ observation that however the invitation is presented – soberly and sombrely from John or joyfully and creatively from Jesus – there will be rejection.
John’s version of the invitation begins with a call to repent. Jesus’ invitation is more like, Come and eat and drink with me. They do sound like invitations to completely different things, don’t they?
But in both cases it’s an invitation to receive grace.
Receive a gift from God – you may have to empty your hands of whatever you are carrying in order to receive something, so the call to repentance. You may need to have some awareness of just how hungry you are, how deeply you are longing for welcome, acceptance, belonging – maybe not at the top of your awareness, but just underneath the surface.
And once you have a sense of that – of wanting to let go of those burdens and being ready to; of wanting to open yourself up to be known and loved for yourself and being willing to – then however it is presented to you, the invitation resonates inside you like a bell.
I wonder which version of that invitation speaks to you most today? How open are you to God’s offer of grace in this moment, and what are the ways in which you routinely resist, avoid or refuse the gift of life? Because the gift of life is in itself an invitation to grow, and wisdom, Jesus says, is vindicated – is validated, is revealed – by action.
Which is to say, what happens next matters. What you do with the offer of grace, how you receive it and share it and live into it is how you – and we – grow.
And that’s exciting, I think, because in the middle section of our passage, Jesus gives thanks for God’s wisdom which doesn’t match the forms and norms of human wisdom standards.
He says, “I’m delighted that you have hidden the treasures of insight from those who consider themselves wise and intelligent, and instead have revealed them to the childlike ones.” Which means, in effect, the more we think we know, the more deluded we are. Growing in knowledge isn’t the same as growing in wisdom. But instead, the more we have the childlike quality of being open to wonder, the more we let our childlike curiosity lead us, the more eager we are to discover and explore new ideas and experiences – like children – the easier it will be for us to grow together.
Jesus follows his delight at the hiding of wisdom from the grasp of the intellect by a very ‘gospel according to John-like’ kind of saying. The Father and Son’s intimate knowing of one another is also the way that wisdom is revealed by action.
The Christian faith is not a religion. It is not a set of beliefs and rituals. It’s not about shared opinions or values or even a shared world view.
The Christian faith is in fact a relationship.
Through Christ, we are invited into a relationship with God, and with each other and the whole of creation. That is why this wisdom is found by those who enter into the relationship wholly, in body, mind, heart and soul. It’s found by those who are willing to be yoked with Christ and keep in step with him.
It’s found by those who are willing to bear the same burden which is to bear witness to the light. To be the light. To recognise the light in the other – in the stranger, the orphan and widow, the prisoner, the whoever. And when you become truly wise, you recognise that light in everything.
It’s not just in some of us. It’s in all of us. It’s not just in us, as in human beings. It’s in all things.
The heavens declare God’s glory and so do the fish and the birds and the dogs and the trees. For those who have open, curious, wonder-full eyes to see, everything is shining with God’s love.
And I think that means there is every chance that we can find a way to grow together. If we can learn to be wise, if we can learn to be the childlike ones, then we will learn from each other and with each other. So, going forward, I’m proposing an approach to learning and growing together that is modelled on this wisdom.
For example: When a child is curious, nothing is left out and every sense and method of exploration is employed to discover as much as possible. I know childhood is a distant memory for most of us, and we only have a few children to help us remember what it’s like to be so wise.
So some weeks, as part of the service, we’ll start practicing being curious. We’ll have a space to form and ask questions to make it an interactive experience. We’ll have a regular monthly breakfast service where we’ll practice sharing and listening. We’ll have regular services which give an opportunity for a creative, reflective response in worship, helping us to practice expressing faith in different ways. And we’ll see what we learn, celebrating whatever brings life, adjusting whatever doesn’t serve to keep us in step with the Spirit. I know that’s quite a change from business as usual. It’s taken a while for us to move to this point, but my sense is that the time is now.
Let’s see what the spirit is saying to the church. Let’s see if we can walk in step with the Christ. Let’s see where this path leads. I’m excited, I hope you are too.
