Sermon for June 29, 2008

“Calling All The Children Home” Matthew 10: 40-42 Rev. Shannon Mang

Calling All the Children Home

words & music by John McCutcheon

"John, Mary Claire, Lulu, Jeanie

Kevin, Jeff, Patty, Nancy, Rob"

Shadows growing longer, light is growing dim

Supper's on the table everybody come in

Been playing at the river and I'm tired to the bone

She's calling all the children home

CHORUS:

Home to the table and the big, black pot

Everybody's got enough, 'though we ain't got a lot

No one is forgotten, no one is alone

When she's calling all the children home

Are we calling all the children home?? And just who might these children be??

In North American, white- anglo- saxon-Protestant culture, the unspoken social rules about carrying our family’s and community’s reputations with us is not nearly as strong as it was in Jesus’ day, unlike some of the diverse cultures who are part of our communities. There are still very strong kinship ties within the Asian, Indo, African, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern communities. But, in WSAP Canadian culture those kinship ties are still functioning, albeit subtly.

Our subtle kinship ties are still alive and well in the church. We have a church “culture” and a “language” that makes it much easier for people who grew up in the church to feel at home here. Where else in your life do you chat with your friends in a “narthex” or have your babies taken care of in a “babyfold”? Church is pretty much the only place where you are going to hear an organ played (unless you are a fan of “organ Thursdays” on CBC Radio One).

The research that was done through the United Church’s Emerging Spirit campaign in the last few years has helped bring to light a number of the ways that congregations make it more or less difficult to connect for people who are looking for a place to have their spiritual needs met. The target group for the research was Canadians in the 30-45-year-old age range since this is the most significant age group who is missing from our churches. How we, the churches present ourselves and how willing we are to look addressing the needs of new people coming through our doors is what the first level of “Living the Welcome” is all about. “Living the Welcome” is the national church’s training process to help congregations do a more effective job with initial welcoming and newcomer follow-up – and it is what the “welcoming Team” has diligently been working on these past few months so come Sept. you can expect a few changes in the way that we say hello here at St. Andrew’s. There are second and third levels that help congregations go deeper into assessing their role and place in their communities.

Subtle rules of kinship are also at work on the side of those who come through our doors to check out what we’re all about here, too. We have learned from the Emerging Spirit research that if 30-45-year old, non-church going Canadians were to take the enormous step of coming to church and checking us out because they are feeling a need to feed their spirits, they’d be more interested in church communities who look and act in a way that resembles them. They are looking for a community that is both ethnically and age-diverse. They work, learn and play in environments where there is a wide range of ethnic backgrounds and most work places are age diverse, so they tend to feel more comfortable in communities that reflect that diversity. Seeing different ethnic groups and an age range indicates a community that welcomes and celebrates diversity.

Affirming congregations who have gone through a process of learning how to become a safe and welcoming place for people of all sexual orientations and who are gender-diverse are very attractive to the Emerging Spirit age demographic, because 30-45-year-olds in the general population do not expect churches to be welcoming of gays, lesbians, bi-sexuals, transgendered, and inter-sexed people. Most are really surprised and impressed when they learn that a congregation has made an effort to change its culture to be welcoming of people with a variety of sexual orientations and who are differently-gendered. They also know intuitively that, if a congregation has done the work to become consciously welcoming of this group of people then they have also done the work to be REALLY inclusive and welcoming of ALL people.

Ultimately- is that not our calling?? …To become radically inclusive of all God’s children?? In Baptism, we become members of the Body of Christ—the church. And, in Baptism we take on Christ. Just like the early disciples took the presence of Christ into the world as his envoys- we too take Christ with us into our work places and into our friend’s homes and into our neighbourhoods. We are called to do more than be an inclusive community within these doors… we are called to invite all of God’s children to be a part of the family. Since all of humanity is made in God’s image… that means that every human person deserves an invitation to be a part of the family. If they are already part of a faith family that is Buddhist or Muslim or that practices Native Spirituality, we celebrate that, and the Christian family is stronger for getting to really know our neighbours of different faiths. So we’re not in the business of trying convert God’s kids away from their faith families… but most of God’s kids in our communities do not know the blessings that come with being a part of an active faith family. We are called to let our allegiances be known both in our actions and our words. If we have a good thing going here inside the walls of this building, then it is up to us to share this good thing with those who are thirsty for spiritual nourishment.

Are you squirming yet?? In most United Churches we tend to start squirming as soon as the subject comes around to ACTUALLY saying something about our beliefs to friends and neighbours and family members because it conjures up images of ringing strangers’ door bells and asking uncomfortable questions about the state of one’s soul. I’m not asking you become someone you are not and to do things and say things that are not authentic. But…I am inviting you to take up a challenge… If we are baptised members of Christ’s Body, and if we are getting something good out of being a part of this family of faith then it is our calling to invite God’s kids to come and be a part of this good thing. It is our calling to enlarge the family… not because members of our own families or our neighbours or the friends we hang out with NEED to have religion shoved down their throats. All who know you have already experienced the presence of Christ by knowing you. My challenge to you is to take that presence of Christ that is already a gift to them and to put it into words in the form of an invitation. Listen for an opportunity in conversations to say something that relates to your beliefs or your life in this family of faith… say it out loud in the conversation instead of couching it in vague language. You will be surprised how thirsty your friends and neighbours and children and grand-children are to have authentic conversation about matters of the spirit. And- if your feel the urge, extend the invitation to a friend or neighbour or child or grand-child – asking them to come to church with you one Sunday, or to a Pathways Friday, to see what it is that you are talking about.

So- at least once this summer, allow your own spirituality to enter a conversation with someone whom you have not yet shared that part of your life, or, invite them to church. You are already carrying the presence of Christ with you through your baptism. Claim and own Christ’s presence and share it. There are a lot of very thirsty souls right in your own sphere of influence. Don’t be afraid to share the cup of Good News with those who are thirsty!!

Here is how John McCutcheon’s song ends…

Home to the table, home to the feast

Where the last are first and the greatest are the least

Where the rich will envy what the poor have got

Everybody's got enough, 'though we ain't got a lot

No one is forgotten, no one is alone

When we're calling all the children home

Gathered 'round the table and the big, black pot

Everybody's got enough, 'though we ain't got a lot

No one is forgotten, no one is alone

From the sacks in Soweto to the ice of Nome

From Baghdad City to the streets of Rome

When we're calling all the children home

"Moishe, Isabelle, Sipho, Kim

Mohammed, Mikael, Red Hawk, Tim"