They Will Help Us See

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

July 13, 2014

They Will Help Us See

Isaiah 55:10-13

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

and do not return there 

until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,

giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

It shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose

and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out in joy,

and be led back in peace;

the mountains and the hills before you

shall burst into song,

and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;

instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;

and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,

for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Have you ever heard mountains break out in song?

Have you ever heard the sound of trees clapping?  

Have you ever heard the pop of a bud

bursting out of the ground

sprouting into the daylight?

Have you ever heard the parched earth

sighing with relief as it drinks up the rain?

Ask most adults questions like these

and responses will range from,

“No, of course not,”

to a look that suggests that

the questions are ridiculous and

the questioner even more ridiculous for asking them.

But ask these questions of a child

and they’ll probably say,

“Oh yes, yes, I’ve heard these sounds.”

And then they’ll quickly follow up

and tell you they’ve even heard

the giggles of leaves tickled by the wind

on a warm summer evening.

Children have such a sense of wonder,

and such a sense of imagination as well.

Why do we lose our sense of wonder?

Why do we lose our sense of imagination

as we age?

We see less,

we hear less of the wonder all around us.

We look at trees and see…trees;

We look at mountains and see…mountains.

How do we know the mountains don’t sing out

and the trees don’t clap their hands

in glorious response to their Creator?

How do we know that the leaves don’t giggle

as they are tickled by a summer breeze?

How do know the light sent from a far distant star

that we see in the night sky

didn’t hum a tune to God

as it traveled billions of miles

and billions of years to reach our eyes. 

Children can open our eyes to seeing things

we might otherwise miss.

Children can open our eyes to seeing things

we once might have seen,

but which we haven’t seen for years.

Children can open our ears.

Children can open our hearts.

Children can open our minds.

Watch a group of 3 or 4 year-olds at play

in our Early Learning Center.

Do they argue about race?

Religion?

National borders?

Politics? Ideology?

Of course not!

They play – together.

They get along;

They share,

they smile, they laugh.

Oh yes, from time to time two may quarrel,

fighting over who gets to play with the truck,

or swing on the swing,

but they forgive and forget

and go back to playing with one another

with such quickness that surely

God must burst out in joyful song

even as he wonders why

we lose that ability as we age.

Our youngest children here in this church

open our eyes and minds and hearts

in so many ways.

For me, it’s the questions they ask,

the responses they give to my questions.

For all of us, it’s often through

the songs they sing,

songs they learn with Mrs. Panell and Mrs. Saylor,

and songs they learn during Vacation Bible School.

Our Middle Schoolers just returned from

another wonderful trip to Massanetta Springs.

I was there when they departed on a Tuesday morning

with boundless energy and enthusiasm.

But it was the energy and enthusiasm

they came back with,

when they returned 4 days later

that I found so wonderful,

that they had found their time at Massanetta

so much fun,

so  exciting,

so inspiring.

Two years ago they learned about Stop Hunger Now

and helped us all to see that as a mission ministry

we could and should do,

all of us together.

How will they open our eyes this year?

How will they show us new ways to serve?

Our High Schoolers are getting ready

to leave for Montreat,

our denomination’s largest retreat center

down in the beautiful mountains of

western North Carolina.

They’ll spend a week there with others from

Presbyterian churches throughout the country.

They’ll worship together, learn together,

share lives  and faith together.

And they too will come back energized, excited,

ready to share with us,

ready to teach us,

ready to help us to see in new ways.

These same young folks were here this past week

as teachers and helpers for our Vacation Bible School.

It was our High Schoolers who led the drama class

that told each day’s Bible story to the children.

They organized the class, they set it up,

they assigned roles,

and taught 90 children each day,

taught them faithfully, eagerly and joyfully.

Churches of every denomination have,

for the past decade, been filled with conversation,

often worried conversation,

about how to keep young people involved,

how to keep them from walking away,

especially as polls and other studies

show more and more

simply walking away from churches of all kinds.

A recent issue of our denominational magazine

Presbyterians Today was devoted entirely

to youth ministry.

The magazine wasn’t filled with stories of woe and worry;

it was an issue filled with example after example

of young people actively involved in their churches,

excited,

committed to following Christ.

The magazine’s editor wrote

that for all the talk about having

rock services led by cool young pastors,

what the most successful churches have found is that

young people just want to be part

“of a “multigenerational community,

that welcomes them for who they are,

talks openly about real-life matters

and spiritual questions,

wants a personal relationship with them,

is open to change while rooted in a

very old and shared story,

and, most important,

empowers them to put their faith into action

through service and justice.”

(P. Heery)

They’ve also made clear, these young people,

what they don’t want,

what will cause them to walk out the door

and never come back:

Conflict, argument,

politics within the church,

closed minds,

resistance to change,

hypocrisy.

Our young people can open our eyes

and help us to see,

see God’s world with a fresh perspective

encouraging us to work together for justice,

for grace, for compassion.

Ann Weems, in her wonderful book

“Reaching for Rainbows”

calls us to celebrate our faith

with the joy and energy of children,

young and old together

celebrating this church of Jesus Christ

where we gather “to touch the world,

working and serving together

as we love the world to wholeness.”

Our young people can help us celebrate

help us to see reasons for celebration,

help us to have lively celebrations,

all of us together trusting God,

alive with the Spirit,

as we follow Jesus.

It is the children,

the young people of this church,

who can open our eyes,

help us to see in new ways,

open our ears

and help us to hear in new ways,

even to hear,

“the mountains and the hills …bursting in song,

the trees of the field clapping their hands.”

And perhaps even leaves giggling

as they’re tickled by a soft summer breeze.

AMEN