10:30 Dismissal
“ He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble, like this child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”—Matthew 18: 2-5.
One of my favorite parts of the 10:30 service at St. Mark’s is at the end at the back of the church, when several young children come and help me with the dismissal. They are usually sweet girls, but there is an occasional brave boy. On rare occasions, they even walk down the aisle hand in hand with me to arrive at the back of the church.
There are so many words I would like to say to them. I want them to learn to love being part of a church community worshiping together. I want them to know they are the future of the world and Christ’s church. I want them to see this place is open to them for the rest of their lives. I want them to know this is a safe place. I want them to know this is where they will find a community worshiping a loving God. I want them to know what they can learn from this worshiping community at Saint Mark’s. This can be the very gift they inherit to pass on to their children and grandchildren, as my mother and grandparents did for me. I want them to learn what Jesus said when the disciples asked him who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus pulled a child out of the crowd and said the greatest in the kingdom of heaven are people like these.
Frederick Buechner writes about our children: “Children live with their hands open more than with their fists clenched. They are people who,…, are so relatively unburdened by preconceptions that if somebody says there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, they are perfectly willing to go take a look for themselves. Children aren’t necessarily better than other people. Like the child in “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” they are just apt to be better at telling the difference between a phony and the real
thing” 1.
Therefore, I must be so careful about what I say and always try to speak the truth. Of course, there is no way to tell these amazing children all this. But what I can do is simply love them for those brief moments at the back of the church, before they go home, and let them know this is a place of love.
1Frederick Buechner in Beyond Words.
Joanna Seibert joannaseibert.com