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April 27, 2008

“Covenant With Children” 1 Peter 3:13-22 ; John 14:15-21 April 27, 2008 Rev. Cheryl T. Magrini

        In the children’s Dr. Seuss book, Are You My Mother?, the main character is a little bird who hatches while his mother is away. You can now get the book in Spanish, Eres tu mi mama? as well as in other languages. You can also watch an animated version on YOUTUBE, which I confess I did. Quite a new day from when I was a little girl and I watched the mailbox for my Dr. Seuss book. In the story, the mother bird is off gathering food to prepare for the big hatching day. The little baby hatches and not finding its mother in the nest, the little bird goes off in search of its mother. The little bird asks a hen, a dog, a cow, and my favorite – a steam shovel if each one might be his mother. The answer he gets every time is, of course – no! I am not your mother. As you can imagine with Dr. Seuss there is always a happy ending. The little bird finally ends up back with his mother.

        Growing up I felt like the little bird looking for its mother. Only I was looking for my godmother. My sister’s godparents were close friends of my parents. Every anniversary of her baptism day they arrived with a gift and it seemed like the package got bigger every year as she got older. I continued to ask all my relative and friends of my parents, are you my godmother? Are you my godfather? The answer was always – no.

        Twenty-one years ago as of this year, my mother wrote to the small Methodist church in the farming town of Aitkin, Minnesota. She requested all the church documents for our family. All the expected documents arrived except one. By now you probably know what was missing. A baptismal certificate for me. Of course no one was my godparent because I had not been baptized. So here in a northwest suburban United Methodist church, being three months pregnant with our second child, I was baptized. And oh, did I have godparents – sponsors as we now call them. The entire twelve members of the adult hand bell choir that I play with stood up as my sponsors. I was baptized! I received the most beautiful card from my new sponsors. I felt loved, cared for, and part of the church in a new way.

        What a joy it is to have three baptisms this Sunday. Earlier in the week I met with the three couples bringing their babies to the church for baptism this Sunday. Little Jonah Tomaw promptly fell asleep once I started talking in my droning voice. With the parents, as I do with all parents, I talked about how the vows are made of the parents own faith. I talked about the meaning of the sacramental action of the water and the marking of the oil in the sign of the cross. I shared about the gift of God’s grace in baptism. The Epistle reading tells us that in baptism we also participate in the resurrection of Christ.

        Then we came to the congregational response parts. You, the congregation make a covenant to “surround these children with a community of love and forgiveness, that they may grow in his service to others. We will pray for them that they may be true disciples who walk in the way that leads to life.”

        Each child who is baptized, today or any day, will be surrounded with love and forgiveness. Each child will be prayed for as he or she grows in discipleship. The infant is initiated into the faith community in baptism. What words of comfort to parents! They are not alone in this journey of raising a child in the life of faith. There are brothers and sisters in Christ who are there not only to support the parents, but to actively play a part in that child’s faith journey.

        Later in the liturgy the congregation says, “We welcome you in Christian love!” Then the congregation renews its covenant of their own vows in the life of faith. The congregation promises their prayers, their presence in the life of the faith community, gifts and services – for the church and for the upholding of all that was promised.

        Would it not be heaven on earth if all children would be so loved as Jonah and all children who are baptized?

        We can make a difference in the lives of children for their better well-being, whether near or far. In the book Three Cups of Tea, which follows Greg Mortenson, a mountain climber turner school builder, as he builds schools for girls in the most remote and dangerous parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan when boys’ schools are turned into military madrassas. I recently hear him speak, along with Rev. Rand and member Brandy Isaac. There is no doubt that he will go to any lengths to build schools for girls. He says that to educate a boy is to educate an individual. But to educate a girl is to educate a village.

        A woman who is a regular at the Monday noon Bible study I teach, shared her story with me as I talked about Chicago Temple’s emphasis on child abuse awareness week. She began with the Scripture of John 14:18, “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.” Her story is one of love that rests in the love of Jesus and the blessing of God. To give a brief account of her story, she began volunteering with the organization called Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children in Cook County – CASA. This is an organization that advocates for the rights of abused of neglected children.

        Three other Scripture passages guided her through this journey. First is Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.” Second is John 10:10 that says “My sheep hear my voice and they follow me.” And last, John 15:14, “You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you…this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.”

        She said that in her life God was preparing her for what she so lovingly calls, “her girls.” Growing up on the Westside of Chicago her neighbor raised foster children and she had great admiration for all that this neighbor did for the children. With no children and her husband dying suddenly, that same summer at the Vacation Bible School at her church there began to come three girls who needed help. They were fending for themselves the best they could with no father and a mother on drugs.

        All during this time she had still been volunteering at the Court Appointed Special Advocates Program. Finally, the Department of Children and Family Services became involved with the three girls at the church. One girl was age 14 and the twins age 13. Without previous intention, she decidedly quickly to take one of the twins and later she also took in the 14 year old when she was 16 and living on the street. She raised the girls by herself. The 16 year old grew up and graduated from Purdue University in Indiana in 2007. She calls her girls “Survivors.”

        This special woman closed her story to me saying: This is how one person can make a difference. This is how the church community can make a difference as it shares the Gospel, love and encourages one another, supports one another and shares with one another . We may never know the end results of the seeds we plant when we obey God’s voice. John 14:21: “They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who move me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

        Right here at home at Chicago Temple, in this building we are now in the third year of our Tutoring Center. You will be hearing from Carol Van Dyke, a tutor and member of this church, in a few minutes. What can I say except that attendance for this class on Wednesdays for this year and last year has been 100%. We have organizations like the Field Museum, Science and Industry Museum, Silk Road Theater Project, The Chicago Architectural Foundation, Columbia’s University’s School of Dance and other reputable non-profit organizations who repeatedly come here to work with the Tutoring Center children at no cost. Yet as we all know, there are always costs to a program. There is an envelope in your bulletin and should you decide to give your donation will go towards paying the bus costs of bringing the children from the school to the church. Most importantly, I want you to know what a difference this reading program is making not only in their test scores, but in their life experiences by coming to the Loop in the heart of the city. They are building relationships with their tutors who give freely of their time to be here. Thank God for the children who are now 7th graders and are all bigger than I am. 50% of the tutors are from the Chicago Temple and 50% are from the surrounding Loop who would otherwise not have a reason to come into our building. Some are beginning to ask more about the church and faith. I thank God for the tutors who serve from deep in their hearts. I close with this poem entitled, “Deep in the Human Heart,” from the book Gift of Cultures, written by Bill Wallace from New Zealand.

Deep in the Human Heart

Deep in the human heart

The fire of justice burns;

a vision of a world renewed

through radical concern.

As Christians we are called to set

the captives free,

to overthrow the evil pow’rs

and end hypocrisy.

This is our task today

to build a world of peace;

a world of justice, freedom, truth,

where kindness will increase;

a world from hunger free;

a world where people share,

where ev’ry person is of worth

and no one lives in fear.

We take the step of faith,

and leave the past behind

and move into the future’s world

with open heart and mind.

By grace we work with Christ,

as one community,

to bring new hope and fuller life

to all humanity.