OCTOBER 9, 2011

Sermon by Pastor MaAn

Children's Sabbath

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Children. Who are considered children? Who is considered a child was a question that came to mind as I prepared for this reflection. For the honest answer was that I really did not know. So, I looked it up. According to the Code of Federal Regulations - Title 20: Employees' Benefits

We consider you to be a child if:

(a) (1) You are under 18 years old; or
(2) You are under 22 years old and you are a student regularly attending school or college or training that is designed to prepare you for a paying job;
(b) You are not married; and
(c) You are not the head of a household.

Code of Federal Regulations - Title 20: Employees' Benefits

But if you are a parent seeking to claim the EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit) with a qualifying child. And the IRS defines a qualifying child in this way:

A qualifying child is a child who meets certain relationship, residency, and age requirements.

So, first a child must meet the relationship test --

To meet the relationship test, the child must be your:

Son, daughter, stepson, stepdaughter, or a descendant of any of them,
Brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them, or
Eligible foster child (a child placed with you by an authorized placement agency, including a child placed by a Indian Tribal Government or Indian Tribal organization authorized to place Indian children).

An adopted child (or a child placed with you for adoption by an authorized placement agency) is treated as a biological child. - IRS

Then, a qualifying child has to meet the residency test --

To meet the residency test, the child must have lived with you in the United States for more than half the tax year. Military personnel stationed outside the United States on extended active duty are considered to live in the United States during that period for EITC purposes.- IRS

In addition, a qualifying child has to meet the age test --

To meet the age test, the child must be under age 19 at the end of the taxable year, or under age 24 at the end of the taxable year and a full–time student during any part of any 5 months during the taxable year, or any age if permanently and totally disabled. (http://www.irs.gov)

Wheh! No wonder I am confused. But gratefully the God we believe in and our ancestors in the faith did not define a child in this way. Consider the following examples:

⁵Then Esau looked at the women and children and asked,

“Who are these people with you?”

“These are the children God has graciously given to me, your servant,”

Jacob replied. - Genesis 33:5 (NLT)

³ Children are a gift from the Lord;
they are a reward from him.
⁴ Children born to a young man
are like arrows in a warrior’s hands.
⁵ How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!

Psalm 127:3-5 (NLT)

For God and for our faith ancestors, children are gifts from the Lord. They are God’s gifts to us. They bring joy, comfort and consolation. In other words, children give us many reasons for living life meaningfully.

As concrete expressions of our gratitude for the gift of children we strive as parents and adults charged with their care to exercise responsible stewardship of and toward them. We make certain that they grow up learning the values we ourselves were taught as we were growing up – the value of love for God nurtured in prayer, worship, holy reading and receiving the sacraments. This is what Joseph Scott’s parents did when they asked for their child to be baptized which we will do today. This is what parents and grandparents in this congregation do when they bring the children to church, Sunday school, receive Holy Communion and take part in church ministries and fellowship activities. We also make sure as responsible stewards of the children God entrusted to our care that they learn the values of loving others by treating them with dignity and respect and showing them compassion as God has been compassionate with us.

We attend to their basic needs as best we can and make sure that those needs are met - within reason. We clothe, feed and shelter them. We make sure they are healthy, secure and safe. We do the best we can to help them become the persons that God want them to be and in the process become productive citizens of our congregation, community, country and the world like Jeff and Eric. They will be received into membership today.

Sadly, however, not all children are cared for the way we care for our own.

Consider the following information: According to the Children’s Defense Fund,

Each day in America as of July 2011—

· 5 children are killed by abuse or neglect.

· 5 children or teens commit suicide.

· 8 children or teens are killed by firearms.

· 32 children or teens die from accidents.

· 80 babies die before their first birthdays.

Each day in America as of July 2011—

· 186 children are arrested for violent offenses.

· 368 children are arrested for drug offenses.

· 1,240 public school students are corporally punished.*

(*Based on calculations per school day (180 days of seven hours each)

· 3,312 high school students drop out.*

(*Based on calculations per school day (180 days of seven hours each)

· 18,493 public school students are suspended.

Each day in America as of July 2011—

· 949 babies are born at low birth weight.

· 1,204 babies are born to teen mothers.

· 4,717 babies are born to unmarried mothers.

· 2,058 children are confirmed as abused or neglected.

· 2,163 babies are born without health insurance.

· 2,573 babies are born into poverty.]

And if we also consider what is happening to children around the world, the picture is very grim, indeed.

show pictures of suffering children here …. One after the other, please

Our observance of Children’s Sabbath today serves to remind all of us of the blessings we have in our children, challenging though they can be at times. And we thank God for every one of them. Children’s Sabbath also reminds us of our responsibility to be stewards not just of our children but of all children everywhere for they too are God’s children. So today give your children extra hugs and thank them for the gift that they are to you. And when you meet children other than your own, especially children who do not talk and look like you or your child, let us reach out to them in love . For yes, like Jesus we are called to love the children of the world. May we do so generously and graciously as we welcome them with open minds, open hearts and open arms. Amen.

Commission and Blessing:

Jesus loved the little children;

As people who profess to believe him and do as he did,

So should we.

Jesus loved all the children of the world;

As people who profess to believe him and do as he did,

So should we.

Go forth no, be doers of the Word

And not hearers only (James 1:22)

May the blessing of God who created, redeemed and sustains all children

be with you as you bless and receive all children in Jesus’ name. Amen.