The Greatest Ministry at Christ Church

Readings for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B – Track 1 – Proper 20)

Proverbs 31:10-31
Psalm 1
James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a
Mark 9:30-37

This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on Sunday September 22, 2024.

May the words of my mouth and the music of all our hearts be pleasing to you, O Lord, our strength and our freedom. Amen.

Last Sunday, I invited you all to ask yourself, “What is one thing that spoke to you from the service? What word or phrase or image plucked the strings of your heart?” I invite you to continue asking yourself this question every Sunday after worship and I encourage you to share that one thing with others. After the 10:30 service last Sunday, I was speaking with a young mother and her child in Lewis Hall and another parishioner approached us and shared the one thing that spoke to him in the service, which he had written down on a piece of paper. For him, the one thing that stood out was “The cry of a small baby—the life of the church—the new life that epitomizes the growth of my church. Any mild annoyance at the brief interruption is far overshadowed by the glory of the new life in our congregation.” The mother and I were both deeply moved by these words and I’m ever grateful for the parishioner who shared them with us. His words echo the message of today’s Gospel in which Jesus takes a little child in his arms and says to his disciples, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me [also] but the one who sent me.” It’s hard to imagine a better Gospel for us today when we welcome Mason Christopher Bozzoli into the Body of Christ through the sacrament of holy baptism; Mason, whose middle name “Christopher” means “Christ bearer.” By welcoming Mason, we are welcoming Christ into our midst. It’s also hard to imagine a better Gospel for us today because today is the week before we resume our Joy Mass family service at 9:30 AM in the chapel, a service open to children of all ages from 2 to 42 to 102. The Gospel today is inviting you all to Joy Mass where you can welcome a child and welcome the child within you and thus welcome Christ. This invitation to Joy Mass is for everybody except perhaps the choir members who usually have rehearsal at the same time, so this is the one day I cannot be accused of “preaching to the choir.” However, I certainly appreciate some of the choir members who have participated in Joy Mass as storytellers and helpers on occasion.

When I hear the story of the disciples arguing with each other about who is the greatest among them and then quickly growing silent when Jesus asks them what they’re arguing about, I cannot help but chuckle at them and think, “There go those bumbling disciples again, completely missing the point.” And yet, I also must admit that this Gospel convicts me and the Episcopal Church of which I am a part…  

I began working in the Episcopal Church 17 years ago as a youth minister at St. John’s in La Verne and then Church of Our Saviour in San Gabriel and then St. Alban’s in Albany; and then after getting ordained, I worked as the Director of Youth Ministries for five Episcopal churches in Marin County for six years. In conversations with other clergy and church leaders, it was clear to me that, even though I may have had a PhD, I was definitely not “the greatest” since I was a lowly youth minister, and children’s and youth ministry have generally been given short shrift in the Episcopal Church. There are a lot of prestigious roles and positions in the worldwide Episcopal Church: cathedral dean positions, cardinal rector positions, bishoprics; and it’s not uncommon for clergy and church leaders to discuss and even argue about which position is the greatest, which one pays the most, which one offers the most power and influence, which church has the highest average Sunday attendance, etc. I can guarantee that there is no children’s or youth minister position that is part of that conversation.

And yet if Jesus was invited into that conversation, he would cut through all of that and remind us of what truly matters by holding a child in his arms and saying, “If you want to know who is the greatest from God’s perspective, if you want to know who is the most prestigious from heaven’s perspective, then look at the one who welcomes a child, because that simple act has eternal ramifications far greater than anything you can imagine on this earth. If you want treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, go and ahead pursue those prestigious roles. But if you want treasures in heaven, learn how to welcome a child.” Our Collect today urges us not to be anxious in pursuing earthly things, but rather to focus on things heavenly.

Last year, when we launched the Joy Mass, there were some days when we had 2 kids and some when we had almost 20, but in general, the attendance was not very high. Halfway through the year, I met with the team and invited us to face the reality that perhaps there really wasn’t a need for Joy Mass since we weren’t getting sufficient buy-in from families. I suggested that we discontinue Joy Mass after Easter. But then, as I was compiling a video of pictures from Joy Mass to send to the Episcopal Community Services who gave us a grant for the ministry, I was flooded with all these faces of smiling children who had all felt welcome. And I was reminded that Jesus did not say, “Whoever welcomes forty children each Sunday in my name welcomes me.” He said, “Whoever welcomes one child welcomes me.” And if Joy Mass serves one child, then from God’s perspective, it’s a massive success. If even one child feels welcome and then fed by the worship like a tree planted by streams of water, then we have succeeded. So, if you want to be part of what Jesus (according to today’s Gospel) would consider the greatest ministry at Christ Church, you may want to consider being a part of the Joy Mass.

Final Blessing inspired by the original Hebrew of Psalm 1

May you be like a tree planted by streams of water, receiving constant nourishment from God’s love and bearing fruit in season. Amen.

V’hayah k’etz shatul al-palgey-mayim asher piryo yiten b’ito