Which Injustice?

Since coming to Valley View, I’ve been asking a question. The broader UMC is very focused on a specific question of injustice, but it is not the topic here that makes people cry out like the Israelites to God for justice and mercy. But in asking this question, I have had the opportunity to see what people here value. I don’t think the answer will come as a surprise to any of you, but it’s children. People here in Valley View want the world to be better for the children. To be safe. To be joyful. To be innocent. To be more like childhood as they remember it.

So how is it that we as a church help keep children safe? To, as the old song says, teach our children well? It seems so easy to turn it back on the parents and say that it is their sole responsibility to care for their children. To teach them to pray, right from wrong, the value of a dollar, what a hard day’s work means, about life, love, and happiness. And to some extent, any who are parents do shoulder a bulk of the burden, except… as United Methodists we talk about baptism being initiation into a new family. The church family. The body of Christ.

All of us in the church, as part of this body, have an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children. Sometimes it’s through very fundamental things. You saw I was hungry and gave me food. You saw I was thirsty and gave me water. I was naked and you clothed me. The least of these isn’t just about children. It’s not. However, they are the most likely to tell you when they’re hungry, tired, thirsty, or ill. Adults are not always willing to let their vulnerability or needs show, but that’s a different thought for a different article.

Other times the help given is much more substantial. Things like the school kits put together by UMCOR which help children go to school. Or even the children’s homes all over the world which provide a safe, caring place for children to grow up. But we don’t have to look far to find those who would benefit from experiencing God’s love through us.

The study I heard quoted in my youth said that it took 7 adults in a child’s life to make a difference. A more modern study cuts down that number, but increases the quality requirement of the relationship. Sometimes it really does only take a little bit of caring. To listen for five minutes. But how much more meaningful and impactful are the relationships in which people put in the time? To show up regularly.

Serving with children and youth is not a call that fits with everyone’s gifts and graces. But everyone knows how to pray. How to treat people with kindness. As we do our back to school activities and get back to having children’s church and youth time, I hope you’ll join me in praying for the children. The ones in this church family, the ones without any family, all the children. Jesus didn’t tell us we all had to suffer the little children, but when we have opportunities to treat them (and the adults we know too!) as precious children of God… well, that’s when God helps us build God’s kingdom here on earth. And as it so often is, that is the answer to all the injustice in the world.