Dear Rose Park,
13 Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. 14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19: 13-14)
Let the little children come. This past Sunday we did something a bit different. Instead of celebrating the Lord’s Supper after hearing from God’s Word, we approached the Table as a precursor to hearing from scripture. As a result, this allowed our children to participate in communion with the rest of the congregation instead of receiving communion during children’s ministry in the basement. This prompted me to remind you that in the Reformed Church in America, we embody let the little children come when it comes to our two sacraments: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Many of us who grew up in the church are very familiar with infant baptism, but it wasn’t until 1988 that our denomination extended the invitation to any baptized person (regardless of age) to the Lord’s Supper. Pulling directly from the RCA website we read:
In 1988, the General Synod encouraged boards of elders in RCA churches to include baptized children in the celebration of communion (1988 Minutes of General Synod, p. 385). Because this sacrament is such an important part of our faith, we consider how we might include our children in the Lord’s Supper. Adults don’t need a complete understanding of the covenant and grace to partake in the Lord’s Supper. Neither do our children. It is beyond understanding. The sacrament is a mystery in which the bread and wine are visible signs of God’s invisible grace.
Now consider the above passage from the Gospel of Matthew; it wasn’t the ‘bad guys’ that wanted to keep the children from Jesus, it was His own disciples. It was the ones closest to Jesus that rebuked the little children and attempted to keep them from Him. Furthermore, I don’t imagine Jesus letting the children come to Him out of pity as if He was exhausted and said, “fine I guess they come sit next to me.” No. With gladness in His heart, He invites the children to sit with Him, tells His disciples to not hinder them from ever approaching Him again, and then reminds the disciples that the Kingdom of heaven belongs to these little ones.
Jesus said, “let the little children come.” This doesn’t mean we treat communion as chicken nuggets and french fries in the backseat of the car. We can still show respect and revere the sacrifice that Christ made. Ultimately, regardless of our age we can still gather in remembrance, communion, and hope. This is all to say, consider this an invitation from Christ to each and every one of us. The next time I approach the table, I’ll extend that invitation to any and all baptized members echoing the words of Jesus: “let the little children come.”
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark
Photo by Charlein Gracia on Unsplash