Let the children come

September 28, 2016 students around the country shared their faith in the national “See you at the pole” (SYATP) event. This is a time for students, teachers and faculty, parents, siblings, and community members to gather around the school flag pole as the students lead a time of prayer for their school, their country, and themselves.

               This year I was able to attend the event at Grandview School. It was a humid and foggy morning, and we stood in a circle while students took turns reading passages of Scripture from the Psalms. Then the students led an accupella “Amazing Grace”, and then we prayed together, a prayer that one of the students had written, which lifted up our turning from God, and asked his forgiveness on our schools, families, nation, and world. After this a student asked if there was a pastor there who would like to say something…so of course I did! And Dave Blevins, pastor at Telford Grace Brethren Church, also gave thanks for the students and the freedoms on which we stand.

               Then I went to work. And this year’s SYATP was over. But not really.

(Patty Broyles, Reagan Haney, and Carla Weems pray at the pole. Photo courtesy of Melanie Barnett. Minor photo used with permission of Tara Haney.)

               This picture is of a Kindergarten student who got to school after the 7:40AM SYATP was over. Let’s be honest, most of our schools, even most of us, would have been sympathetic with her for sure, but we would have said something like, “I’m sorry you missed it, honey. You can come back next year”.

               Thankfully that is not what happened September 28 at Grandview. Coach Carla Weems and Patty Broyles took time out of their morning, and let this student, Ragan Haney, pray at the pole.

               Maybe that’s what Jesus meant when he said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children” (Matthew 19:14 NLT).

                  We usually talk of these verses in terms of the innocence of children, the trusting nature of children, and the reality that in the culture in which Jesus lived, children were not high on the social standing ladder. This makes sense, then, for the disciples to try to send them away. They are probably running down the dirt road after them, yelling “Jesus, Jesus”, kicking up dust all over the place, and maybe even (hold your breath)…wanting Jesus to play a game with them! And it was these children’s parents (Matthew 19:13) who had brought them to Jesus to be blessed. The nerve of these parents, right?

              So the disciples told them to go home. Get lost. Be seen and not heard. Be quiet. This is important adult stuff here. Come back next year. But Jesus said, “Let them come to me!”

               Sometimes we are just too busy. I know you all have important adult stuff to do today and important adult decisions to make today. But I pray that God would show us the more important opportunities to stop and encourage, love, and pray with these children that are in our lives.

               Maybe Carla and Patty heard Jesus say, “Don’t you dare tell her to go away…you let her come to Me!”

And thankfully they did.

And I pray that we will also.

God bless you Reagan, Carla, and Patty. And thank you for all being used by God to remind me of this today.

Hikers on the Path

On Labor Day my wife, our youngest son, and I went hiking up to Rock Creek Falls. We had never been there before, and we weren’t prepared for it. The hike was much steeper and a little longer than I had thought. We weren’t dressed for it. We didn’t have the right things with us. One bottle of water per person on a 90 degree day on a 4 mile hike wasn’t enough. And, with the exception of Anthony, we weren’t physically capable. It had been many years (and a few pounds ago) since I had really been hiking with Heather. It used to be something that I did frequently. I have always enjoyed being in nature, and in particular being around water. Nowadays I enjoy the ocean water while I am sitting in a beach chair, so a trip to a waterfall sounded like a great idea.

               When we arrived at Rock Creek the first person we talked to about the falls told us that it was a “level 4” hike, only about a mile or so, but definitely not an easy little walk. It seemed like she looked the three of us up and down and came to the hiker-superior-knowledge-estimation that there was no way we were gonna be able to make it to the waterfall, this was going to be too hard for us.

               Along the path we met many other people. Some of them just nodded to us in passing, but most of them spoke to us.

               “It’s still a long way to the falls”.

               “It gets even steeper”.

               “It’s harder as you get further up”.

               “You don’t have a chance. You might as well turn around. There’s no way you can make it”. Well, actually nobody said those words exactly, but they might as well have.

               We did meet a mother of three who was hiking this trail with her children. She was probably a little more in shape and a little more prepared than we were. She offered us some water, and gave us some crackers, which Heather, Anthony, and I shared together sitting on a log at the base of the falls.

               Yes, we did make it.

               As we got a little closer to the waterfall we passed a man with a Eurpoean accent who simply said “not far now”.

               Then a couple we talked to told us “it’s worth it when you get there”. As sweat was dripping off of me a woman said, “it’s so much cooler there, the temperature feels great.”

               My point is that we passed a lot of people on the path to the falls, most were discouraging in their comments to us. Maybe they were having a bad day. Maybe they were as hot and sweaty and tired as I was. Maybe they didn’t have any words of hope to share with a weary traveler who was just trying to get up the mountain that they were coming down off of.

               You’re going to meet a lot of people during your lifetime. Many of them you won’t ever even see again. So there is a tendency to think that perhaps these meetings are inconsequential, but I don’t think so. I believe that every person you come into contact with is created in the image of the same God who created you. I believe that every person you speak to deserves to know the love of Jesus because He died on a cross for their sins just like he did yours. I believe that our faith should be visible in some tangible and evident ways to most everyone we meet, especially when we can offer some words of hope.

               We are all walking this path together. Not the path to Rock Creek Falls, but this path of life. We are going to pass a lot of people that are hot and tired and sweaty and unprepared for the mountain they are climbing. I know we don’t have all the answers, but maybe we can offer a word of encouragement and a pack of crackers. That might be all they need to keep on climbing.