Dear Friends in Christ at Peace Grue,
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.
Isaiah 11:6
God uses children to help us be the church! Long ago the prophet Isaiah wrote a poem describing God’s future kingdom (Isaiah 11:1-10), a new heaven and a new earth unlike any nation ever seen. God’s nation will be a place where the nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp (Egyptian Cobra) and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s (snake’s) den. God’s reign will bring “the calf and the lion together, and a little child shall lead them.” God loves little ones! God uses little ones! It’s true.
God loves little ones so much God became one. “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2). God comes to us where we are, Word in flesh, God with us, revealing himself to us as a child. And there is more…
When this child became a man, he invited people to a place where Isaiah’s little ones are welcome-a realm where to receive a child is to receive him. One day, after a walk, Jesus asked his disciples what they were arguing about along the way. They remained silent because the had been quarreling about which of them would achieve the best places of honor. It was then that Jesus took a little child in his arms, placed the child in the midst of them, and said, “Whoever welcome one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes not me but the one who sent me (Mark 9:37).
God loves little ones! God uses little ones to show us a community where we don’t have to put on airs. A topsy-turvy community where the first are last and the lowest is the greatest, and a little child is the way to God. It is a place colonized by those we often see as distractions; the ones who live in our neighborhood and squirm in our pews. These are the ones who can lead us and help us be the church as we gather them up and put them in our midst.
A quick survey of the Bible reveals children have always had a central role in witnessing to God’s activity in the world. Example of Bible stories in which ordinary children ministered to others includes Miriam and Pharaoh’s daughter (Ex. 2:5-10), Naaman’s servant girl (2 Kings 5), the boy who shared his lunch (John 6:1-14), and the parable of the two sons (Matt. 21:28-31).
Children remind us of truths adults sometimes forget: People are often attracted to church for sociological reasons. They come because they want to be with their friends. Ordinary acts of kindness and hospitality are used by God for profound purposes. The church is a place to experience joy, meaning and community. Worship involves trust, curiosity, spontaneity, generosity, and enthusiasm.
After over a year with no minimal contact with little ones, Rally Sunday is our opportunity to celebrate the little ones in our midst remembering that Sunday School:
- Provides wonderful opportunities for evangelism
- Nurtures personal relationships
- Connects biblical and theological insights to life
- Ministers to the entire family
- Offers valuable training for discipleship.
By now, you’ve probably gotten the point-God loves little ones. God uses little ones. Many this year be filled with God’s grace and goodness and God’s little ones,
Pastor Dan