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Our hope in children

Children must be empowered and given space to amaze us (Luke 2.47)

 

Context

Christmastide is nothing if not a rollercoaster. Within just four days, the Church’s calendar throws us from the joy of Jesus’ birth into the barbaric stoning of St Stephen, then through the light of St John the Evangelist into the atrocity inflicted on the Holy Innocents and their families. And then this Sunday, we are suddenly pitched 12 years on, into the remarkable events of a visit to the Temple by Jesus, whose birth and boyhood parallel so much of Samuel’s early life.

Our lectionary offers no better time than Christmastide to reflect on the three strands of celebration, suffering and childhood – our own and others’ – which are woven together into our common human experience.

Last Friday 27 December, on the eve of Holy Innocents Day, UNICEF published a report entitled Children Under Attack, which opens with these words: “By almost every measure, 2024 has been one of the worst years on record for children living in conflict zones in UNICEF’s history. More than one in six children globally now live in areas affected by conflict, forced to face unthinkable violations.”

 

Ideas for sermons or interactive talks

It's an inescapable fact that while we celebrate, others suffer; and while we suffer, others celebrate. Reduced to its starkest elements, the theme is best expressed in the oft-quoted mediaeval Gregorian chant traditionally intoned on New Year’s Eve, Media vita in morte sumus, “In the midst of life we are in death.” There is no human celebration that is not tinged with wistfulness for what might have been, regret for past failures or sorrow for the absence of loved ones. How often, for instance, have we heard someone say, “Oh, Mum would have loved this!” or, “I wish Grandad could have been here!” or “Your sister would have been so proud of you!”?

When these sorts of thoughts come to mind, we are often recalled to the present moment by some antic on the part of a child. Whether the child does something unexpected – and often unintended – to make us laugh, or has a minor catastrophe, or simply utters a new word for the first time, we are immediately brought out of our wistfulness, regret or sorrow by a spontaneous laugh or gasp, or the need to rush to the rescue. The delight of a child can fill us with affection. The grief of a child can make us long to offer comfort. The achievement of a child can inspire us with admiration. The words of a child can make us see something in a new way.

In the Bible, it is the children, Jesus and Samuel, who teach the priests and scholars, and not the other way round. Jesus himself tells his followers, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). This is something we should always be open to, for it is they, and not we, who will face the challenge of building a better world than the one we pass on to them.

In his remarkable 1974 novel Shardik, author Richard Adams writes: “The teaching… is simply that there isn't to be a deserted or unhappy child in the world. In the end, that's the world's only security: children are the future, you see. If there were no unhappy children, then the future would be secure.”

 

Questions for discussion

• When did you last learn something from a child? What was it?
• What does the Church need to learn from children?
• What did Jesus mean when he said we must become like little children?
• How can we empower children and give them space to teach us?

 

Robert Beard is an NHS worker and Church of England priest.

 

 

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Reaching potential

Ben Whitehead is an actor. As a Wallace and Gromit fan, he grew up doing voices, accents and impressions and, when a friend in Bristol, who was working with the producers of the Wallace and Gromit, Curse of the Were-Rabbit film, needed some actors to voice the characters, Whitehead jumped at the chance. Then, following the death of Peter Sallis in 2017, Whitehead was offered the opportunity to voice Wallace in the full-length feature film which was shown on Christmas Day: Vengeance Most Fowl.

In the film Gromit is concerned that Wallace is becoming too dependent on his inventions, especially  when Wallace invents a "smart" gnome that seems to develop a mind of its own. It becomes clear that a vengeful figure from the past is masterminding things and so it falls to Gromit to battle sinister forces and save his master. Otherwise, Wallace may never be able to invent again!

In the temple Jesus engaged with the Jewish scholars and leaders. Through questions and answers he grew and began to reach his potential and to enable them to do the same. This was what God wanted. This was how he was enabled to fulfil his mission in adulthood. He took the opportunity when it presented itself. In the same way Ben Whitehead snatched the opportunity to be in the Were-Rabbit film.

Wallace was at risk of losing his potential. After all, what is the potential of an inventor if it is not to invent. In order to achieve this he needed the help and support of Gromit. In the same way Ben Whitehead needed the help of his friend, and Jesus and the Jewish teachers needed one another.

So, as we face the New Year, let us look for opportunities and, helped and supported by friends, let us seize them.

Of course prayer will help too.

Stuart Wild is a Methodist minister in Lancashire. He is also fond of Wensleydale cheese.

 

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