I Want To Live: A Vision for Our Children

We had been home about 3 days when the fog began to lift just enough for me to realize that there had been a fog in the first place. No one quite described for me the full emotional and physical exhaustion of giving birth. It was evening when we were putting Alisabeth down to sleep at the ripe old age of 5 days, when I realized I had failed greatly. When Steve and I had dreamed and visioned what having a baby would be like, we shared that we both wanted to put our sweet children to sleep with prayers each night. And I had failed – for 5 straight nights, I had fallen asleep without teaching Alisabeth how to say prayers. I began to boo-hooed my great failings to Steve, who let me go for just a little bit, before very calmly informing me that he and Alisabeth had been saying prayers after I fell asleep for the last five nights. The vision for a faith-filled child grounded in prayer from the beginning had been ours, and not just mine. The vision of raising a child is not a singular and private vision, but a shared a communal vision. Hold that thought.

Today, we continue our series on Music and God Sightings. All of the songs in this series were requested by the congregation. We have reflected on Amazing Grace and One Day. Last Sunday, Jamie called us to be desperate for God as we sang the song, Breathe. Today, we look at the song, ‘I want to live’ written and sung by John Denver, musical great of the seventies. In addition to his popularity for the song, ‘Country Roads, take me home’, John Denver firmly believed that his celebrity was given to him for a purpose. He had a platform to inspire change and affect the world. John Denver wrote this song in 1977 as an anthem for the Hunger Project. The story goes that he was moved by the plight of the hungry – particularly children. He imagined this anthem as cry of each new child as they were born. He dreamed that every child – whether born in Aleppo or New York, Baghdad or Paris, Portland or Capetown would be born in a world of enough – enough food, enough care, enough peace.

Denver was moved by the tragedies of his day, many of which continue. He wanted something different that the world he saw around him. Like the Kenyan-born Somali poet Warsan Shire who recently wrote in the poem, “Home”: “No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark. You have to understand, that no one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land. no one burns their palms, under trains, beneath carriages; no one spends days and nights in the stomach of a truck feeding on newspaper unless the miles travelled means something more than journey.” The prophet Isaiah spoke a vision of different world to a people who understood the heartache of no longer having a home. The prophet Isaiah proclaimed a peace-able kingdom, God’s kingdom in a land who could not imagine how there would ever be peace (sound familiar?). The vision that God gave Isaiah was so radical and unbelievable that even prey and predator would exist well together – lion and lamb will peace-fully co-exist. For us to get the full impact, maybe we need to imagine the donkey and elephant thriving together or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resolved with equity or even peace among family members. This vision that God gave Isaiah was for God’s kingdom, God’s way, God’s will to come on earth as it is in heaven. It is what you and I pray for each and every time we pray the Lord’s prayer.

This is a vision for our collective children. This is God’s vision of the kingdom of God here on earth. It is a vision for grown children, alongside those who are still growing. It is a dream for all – those who are currently raising children and those who are not, those who speak baby and child speak and those who can’t quite understand the mumble-jumble. Those who are long past the age of staying up waiting for children to fall asleep or come home and those who cannot imagine that this stage will ever end!! The days are long, but the years are short.

This vision for our littlest ones is lifelong. God invites us to change our lives to live out this vision. Jesus instructs the disciples who have gathered with him and are journeying from town to town, to not hide their lights under a bushel. But rather show everyone the brilliance of God’s light within them.

How do we live that out?
With infants who will have caring families and healthy food that encourages growth and development. With young children to engage their environments in safe places, learn their alphabets and numbers alongside their faith. With school age children who love to come to Sunday School, Children’s Worship, and Wednesday Night Fun to see friends, read the stories of the Bible, and discover that God loves them, just like their families do, in fact, even more!
With youth who learn their gifts for acting and teaching during vacation bible school and service and empathy with mission trips. With young adults who venture to college, university, and jobs with the connection of community who love them, pray for them, and seek God’s most abundant blessings in their lives, even when it is away from West Grove.
With adults who can grow in faith and service, knowledge and compassion, love and joy in a community that needs couples and singles, introverts and extroverts, doers and thinkers.
With older adults who find purpose and meaning in their retirement years.

Living out the peaceable kingdom, finding the vision that called John Denver to write this song, seeking God’s kingdom is a life-long journey, a journey that begins at the baptismal font. This morning, as we turn towards the baptismal font and prepare for the baptism of Brooke Allison this morning, we come to remember that we seek the Kingdom of God here on earth for her and for each little one who has been brought for baptism and who will be brought for baptism. We remember that in baptism, God has called each of us beloved children of God and calls us to a way of living that together we usher in the kingdom of God.
When I was not able to carry forth my part of the vision of teaching our children to pray, the ‘we’ became more important than the ‘me.’ It was together that Steve and I were committed to teaching Alisabeth (and subsequently Felicity, and Peter) to say bedtime prayers. It is together that we, the church, will commit in a few moments to lead lives that are worthy of imitation for Brooke. It is together, that we, the church bring our gifts and talents, resources and treasures to become Sunday School teachers and nursery volunteers, youth leaders and trustees, mission workers and advocates so that all children will know the God’s kingdom here on earth. This is a vision for all to live, for all to thrive, for all to know God’s kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.

This is the gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, thanks be to God, Amen.

Old Testament Lessons: Isaiah 11:1-9
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
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.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

*Gospel Lesson: Luke 8:1-2, 16-18
Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

“No one after lighting a lamp hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light. Then pay attention to how you listen; for to those who have, more will be given; and from those who do not have, even what they seem to have will be taken away.”

Meditations For Your Week
Sunday, August 21~ Saturday, August 27

Sunday: “His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;” Isaiah 11: 3-4a. God’s way invites each of us to reflect righteousness and equity. Where is God calling you to offer equity to the ‘underdogs’?

Monday: “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. For a cautious and aware individual, this vision is unsettling, even upsetting. For God, this vision sees beyond limitations into transformation. Where do you see glimpses of transformation?

Tuesday: “They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Isaiah 11:9. God’s vision for the world is restoration. Pray for God to mold your heart to see God’s vision.

Wednesday: “Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out.” Luke 8:1-2. There were always others doing the work of ministry with Jesus: disciples, apostles, and those who lives were changed. How will you join in Jesus’ work of ministry?

Thursday: “‘No one after lighting a lamp hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light.” Luke 8: 16. Your light is no different. It is easier to not engage, sometimes. However, where is God calling you to shine your light?

Friday: “For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light.” Luke 8: 17. If your life was completely disclosed, where would you be uncomfortable? Ask God’s way for those things.

Saturday: “Then pay attention to how you listen; for to those who have, more will be given; and from those who do not have, even what they seem to have will be taken away.” Luke 8: 18. Prayerfully consider God’s call to listen well and care for God’s people.