Practicing Hospitality With the Little Ones
- davidwperk
- Dec 28, 2023
- 4 min read
Devotional Reflection, Thursday, December 28, 2023
The Feast of the Holy Innocents
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings
AM Psalm 2, 26; Isaiah 49:13-23; Matthew 18:1-14
PM Psalm 19, 126; Isaiah 54:1-13; Mark 10:13-16
Daily Office Gospel, Mark 10:13-16
13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’ 16And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
David’s Reflections
According to Matthew 2, Herod the Great had all infant boys age 2 and under in Bethlehem killed in his quest to eliminate the new-born king of the Jews that the Magi had reported was born King of the Jews. That probably would have meant the deaths of 20 to 30 children. Herod, ever fearful of assassination or of being usurped as king, had ordered the deaths of numerous people, including several of his wives and sons. This feast day commemorates the deaths of those children, whom St. Augustine called martyrs of the gospel.
Today’s Gospel reading actually is the closing episode in a series of stories in Mark having to do with children (9:14-50). In this episode, as in the first, Jesus embraces a child (9:36). In today’s reading, as in the story in chapter 9, Jesus makes a child the model for Christian discipleship. And, then, Jesus embraces the children, lays hands on them and blesses them. Similar blessing stories in Genesis (see Genesis 48-49) make this look like an adoption scene—Jesus includes these children in his family of faith.
Jesus expressed strong feelings of indignation at his disciples for hindering people who were trying to bring their children to him for blessings. The children were powerless in this scene—their families were attempting to bring them and were being prevented by Jesus’ own followers. Jesus became an advocate for the powerless little ones whom his disciples obviously did not value adequately.
On this feast day, we grieve Herod’s insensitivity and hardness, a state of moral decadence that prompted him to purge a village of its little ones. We also grieve the harshness of Jesus’ followers and applaud Jesus’ sensitivity to the powerlessness of the little ones. We also grieve the abuse, neglect, and suffering of children in our own era.
We get a heads up in this passage about our own attitude toward children. They are powerless in our hands. We can be guilty of hindering their spiritual journey by carelessly absenting them from worship and by ignoring their spiritual formation and Christian education. We also can be guilty of depreciating their primal spiritual connection with God. And, we can be guilty of treating them and their parents as a commodity by focusing on reaching young adults to counter the demographics of an aging parish. Better to focus our energies on the demographic in our context and on those we are uniquely gifted to reach.
The church must continue to stand on tiptoe in a vigilant and diligent way to be certain that we have the best people with the best training in places of leadership in children’s ministry. We must continue to stretch ourselves to provide them the very best in Christian formation. We must be certain that they are fully welcome in worship. Dare we risk Jesus’ indignant rebuke for even passively hindering their approach to God in Christ?
Collect of the Day, The fourth Sunday of Advent
Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 212)
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents.
Collect of The Feast of the Holy Innocents
We remember today, O God, the slaughter of the holy innocents of Bethlehem by King Herod. Receive, we pray, into the arms of your mercy all innocent victims; and by your great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish your rule of justice, love, and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
In the Evening
O Lord, support us all the day long, until the shadows lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in thy mercy, grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last. Amen. (BCP, 833)
A Collect for Mission
O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 280)
Comments