Kahu's Manao

Keawala‘i Congregational Church
United Church of Christ (USA)

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday, September 20, 2009

The Rev. Kealahou C. Alika

“Called to Welcome and Care”
James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a & Mark 9:30-37

It was something the adult guests recommended that would enhance their stay at a somewhat exclusive resort here on Maui. The management for the resort responded. Over the course of a nine-month period they were able to complete the construction of a series of cabanas around a swimming pool that was designed not so much for swimming as it was for an occasional dip to cool off from the Maui sun.

The cabanas provided guests with a degree of privacy. Each was walled off from the other. There were no canvas canopies. Instead each had a roof with a sky light.

Guests were provided with lounge chairs and side tables. Each cabana also had a high definition flat screen television. Headsets were provided so that whatever sound was being heard was being heard by the viewer in that particular cabana.

The deck area was covered with a kind of slate that made it possible for guests to walk about in the hot sun without worrying about their bare feet. The entire area stood on high ground in a place that had a breathtaking view of the channel between Maui and Läna‘i.

I was invited to offer a blessing on the day that the area was to be opened for the first time to the guests of the resort. As I waited for the resort staff, guests and others to arrive, I noticed signs posted in various places.

A sign at the entrance made it very clear that it was an “adults only” area. No children, youth or young adults under the age of 21 were allowed in the area. It surprised me and I wondered if that restriction would stand up to any legal scrutiny.

“Oh, not to worry,” someone pointed out. “The pool at the other level is a family-friendly pool. There is a place for them to go. This was meant for guests who wanted a relative degree of privacy and quiet.

Needless to say I was surprised. At the risk of sounding judgmental I found myself saying, “It’s a bit odd that we can send our young people off to war but that an area like this is not available to them even if they are guests of the resort.”

It may be that the policy will change if what followed the blessing was any indication of how effective the signs were going to be. When the lei maile was untied to signify that the blessing was completed, one of the guests immediately dove into the very shallow end of the pool. A sign posted nearby listed the following rule: “No diving.”

Whether or not other guests will ignore that rule or the other rules, I don’t know. But the exclusion of children, youth and young adults was troublesome to me.

It is not my intention to make a moral judgment about those who do not want to be bothered with the presence of children in their lives while on vacation. But the episode illustrates what we know to be true and that is that children are always pushed to the margins of our societies. In our day and time and in other places in other times disease, war, the preference for boys over girls, and social hierarchies tended to undermine the value and worth of all children. (“Following the Child-like Path,” Sean Gilbert, Seasons of the Spirit, Congregational Life, Pentecost 2, Wood Lake Publishing, Inc., Kelowna, BC, Canada, 2009, page 43)

It was no different that day when Jesus sat down with the disciples in a house in Capernaum. There’s much that may be said about the disciples inability to understand what Jesus sought to teach them that day.

Jesus pulls the disciples away from others. He tells them again that he will suffer, die, and be resurrected but they did not understand him and they were too afraid to ask him.

As they passed through Galilee and arrived in Capernaum, Jesus became aware that the disciples were engaged in an argument. “What were you arguing about on the way?” he asked them. (Mark 9:33).

For the second time they fall silent. Initially they were afraid to ask Jesus about why he must suffer and die and about what it meant for him to be resurrected. Now they seem ashamed that they had argued with one another about who was the greatest among them.

On the one hand it would seem that the lesson was about exclusion. The writer of Mark makes it clear that Jesus did not want anyone to know what he was saying to the disciples, for he was only teaching them.” (Mark 9:30-31)

But on the other hand it would seem that the lesson was about inclusion. In the midst of the disciples’ argument, Jesus centered his teaching on greatness by including a child.

There is no doubt that the disciples may have initially been puzzled by Jesus’ action. Childhood in Palestinian, as well as Roman, society could be harsh. (Seasons of the Spirit, Congregational Life, Pentecost 2, Wood Lake Publishing Inc. Kelowna, BC, Canada, 2009, page 38)

Children were often the first victims of famine, disease or war. While important to their families, children were treated almost as “non-persons.” (Op. cit.)

Some wonder if Jesus wanted to emphasize the helplessness and dependence of children. Others insist that he sought to emphasize the inclusion of children, those with no power or privilege.

Whatever the case may be Jesus turned everything upside down when he took a child in his arms and declared that to welcome one who is powerless and vulnerable is to welcome him. (Op. cit.) The lesson for the disciples and for us today is clear.

We are called to welcome and care for all children and for all who are powerless and vulnerable. By doing so, we also welcome Jesus.

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