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COMMUNION MEDITASLON John M. Buchanan
SEPTEMBER 10, 1972 Bethany Presbyterian Church.
MATT cw 19:13-15 Lafayette, Ind.

Michel Quoist, a French priest, begins his excellent little volume of prayers with a
chapter entitled "If We Knew Haw to Listen to God": the first entry is based on that vig.
nette in the Gospels when Jesus invited little children to come to him over the protesta-
tions of the disciples. Quaist calls it “I Like Youngsters”. “God says: I like young-
sters. I want peaple to be like them. I don't Tike old people unless they ave still
children." I'm going to read it to you later in its entireity: for now it points us
to the significance of what wkst «o are doing today by including our children in what his-
torically has been an adult experience - the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

Children played a rather prominent role in the ministry of Jesus. He used their
games as illustration of a point he was making on more than one occassion. In a dramatic
demonstration, he brought a child into the middle of a crowd of adults one time, and
advised that people need to become like children if they are interested in God's Kingdom.
And, of course, he rebuked the disciples when they tried to kcep children away from him.
At least part of what we are saying this morning, in this special communion service, is
that the Church of Jesus Christ has been, over the years, just a little bit like the
disciples in its policies regarding children and the sacrament. I would hope we might be
able to think that through together, and in the process learn a little bit about what
Jesus meant when he used childlikeness as a model for his disciples. I would hope that
we might rethink our own attitudes about the sacrament, and that our experience at the
Lord's Table this morning might be fresh and new and good.

Now, how did it happen that children were excluded from the Sacrament of Communion
in the first place? As usual, it's a long story,but if you will forgive the superficial
handling of history I think we can cover it quickly.

In the first place, children were not excluded. The carliest form of the sacrament
was the low feast, a common meal shared by the believers in one of their homes. hole
families participated: children were there. By the third century Infant Baptism was the
norm,and the baptism of a child signified his belonging to the church. There was no
confirmation, and the sacrament of Communion was part of the worship experience of all

church members.

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Then the Dark Ages and the simple Tow feast became the Mass. In 1215 the Church of
Rome called the Lateran Council. At that Counci] the venerable doctrine of Transulestan-
tiation was set forth, which held that the bread and wine were literally changed into the
real flesh and blood of Christ during the Mass. And at this point a rather interesting
problem emerged. If you're now handling the flesh and blood of Jesus, and not just bread
and wine, it becomes suddenly important how they are handled. You certainiy don't want
it to be done clumsily: none ought to be spilled. And so small children were excluded
for very practical reasons ~ reasons I appreciate having had the opportunity of wiping
up a two year old and high chair after dinner.

Three centuries later the Reformers inherited all of that, plus the Dark Ages
legacy of ignorance. No one understood the sacrament: no one was required to understand
much of anything about the church except the clergy. The Roformers came down hard at this
point. The laity needed to read the scriptures in the vernacular: the people needed to
know what was happening in worsnip - and they did. And so it became very logical to
extend the time between baptism and communion a little more, to interject instruction itn
Bible and theology, and to make confirmation the prerequisite for communion.

That's basically where wc are today. And here ends the history Tesson. Until
recently the United Presbyterian Church said two things about children and communion
two things that were not very consistant. First, in Infant Baptism wo affirmed that
children are members of the Church: that God's grace is freely given to all: that the
child of a believer is an adopted child of God and that the church puts its seal of
belonging on the child in Baptism. At the same time, however,the Church said that this
young member could not participate im communion until he reached the age of discretion -
that decision being left to the Session ~ and that a communicant or Confirmation Class
would be offered at that time,

The Church never said that Baptized children weren't members ~ only that they
couldn't commune. until they confirmed personally those affirmations made on their behalf
at the time of baptism. But, in fact, confirmation became the act of joining the Church
and the pay-off became the right to eat the bread and drink the wine instead of sitting

glumly staring into space. One writer said it well: "At the very moment when the Church

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was most clearly showing forth its gratitude and praise for the love and unity bestowed
upon it by God in Jesus Christ, the children were excluded." (Ralph Sundquist, dr.
Power to Permit, P. 29)

Well, now we're changed. In May of 1971 the General Assembly altered our Constitu-
tion granting local Sessions the power to permit families under their care to include
baptized children in the Sacrament.In April of this year, the Session of this Church
agreed that the new policy would henceforth decide whether or not their children should
commune. And that the new policy should be celebrated by a special observance - which we
are doing today. Hereafter children will be welcome to commune, with the careful and
thoughtful consent of their parents.

And 1, for onc, see it as the Final coming together of two very important statements:
one from the Presbyterian Book of Order: “The Holy Table is none other than Christ's
Table. He invited those who put their trust in him to share in the feast which he has
prepared." The other from the heart of our Lord: "Let the children come to me: for to
such belongs the Kingdom of Heaven.”

It would be a serious misinterpretation of what we are doing te regard it as a
loosening of Presbyterian Discipline. It is not that at alt. It does not mean that the
Lord's Table may be approached flippantly, causally or thoughticssly.

It assumes that spiritual growth happens early in life: that it happens tnrough
experience more than simply telling a child what occurs in cammunion: that it happens
in the unique family relationship - that parents an the best teachers and that we have a
ministry with our own children that. can be delegated to no one else,

And it assumes that Jesus was quite serious when he suggested that all of us need
to become like children in his Kingdom. Herein lies the deeper personal significance of
what we do today, for we are invited to come to these tables this morning - all of us -
as children, Not childishly, but honestly ~ in a way that relates to Jesus’ own
obvious Tove for that special quality of humanity that all of us lose when life forces
us to "grow up."

In the best seller “I'm QO. = You're O.%," a very helpful book, Dr. Thomas A. Harris

proposes that ail of us have three ways of relating todhers. All of us have a child

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a natural, open, free spirit. All of us have an adult - through which we transact our
business. And all of us have a Parent ~ a rigid, sometimes moralistic disciplinarian.
Harris suggests that there is constant conflict in most of us between our parent and our
child: that for most of us, our child has been branded "Not OK", and we have tearned to
repress all the joy and laughter and openness and love that we were born with.

Tiustrations are better than thecry at this point. The Child in us wants to be
open to love and affection. The Parent says “hold it in: don't show it."

The Child in us wants to trust. The Parent says "You have to look out for other
people."

The Child in us want to showt for Joy, cry in grief, laugh and sing. The Parent
Says, “This isn't the place for that kind of thing."

The Child in us looks at a bird on wing and wonders and enjoys. The Parent says
"stop wasting time - if you're interested in birds, here's a book on ornithology."

At the Table of our Lord, the Child in us want to stand in amazement at the incredible
Tove of a creater God who gives his only son: to shout for joy at the goodness of a God
who forgives us: to embrace a neighbor who is one with me in the love of God. And the
Parent asks "How is the body and blood representative of Christ?" The Parent says:

"Hold it in: don't respond: don't let it happen."

Here, at the table of our Lord Jesus Christ, on this day - our comfortable academic
categorics, our fancy theology, are out of place. Here we come as children - sensing
rather than understanding the love of God for us and our unity in that love,

Here - today - we welcome them - our children: as together we affirm this mysterious
but simple little rite in which Jcsus Christ and we are somehow in touch: in which we
experience something none af us can really explain or understand: namely that we are
loved and accepted by God.

So, let us come - in the spirit of Michel Quoist's meditation: "I Like Youngsters. "

God says: I like youngsters. I want peaple to be like them,

£ don't like oid people untess they are stil] children.

I want only children in my Kingdom: this has been decreed from the beginning of time.

Youngsters - twisted, humped, wrinkled, whitebearded - all kings of youngsters, but

youngsters.
There is no changing it; it has been decided. There is room for no one else,

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I tike little chtidren because my image has not yet been dulled in them.

Thay have not botched my likeness; they are new, pure without a blot, without a smear .
So, when I gently Tean over them, I recognize myself in them.

I Tike them because they are stil] growing, they are stil] improving.

They are on the road, they are on their way.

Gut with grown-ups there is nothing to expect any more.

They will ne longer grow, no longer improve,

They have come to a ful] stop,

It is disastrous - grown-ups thinking they have arrived.

I like youngsters because they ave stil] Struggling, because they are still sinning.

Not because they sin, you understand, but because they know that thay Sin, and they say
SO, and they try not to sin any more.

But I don't like grown-ups. They never harm anyone; they have nothiag to reproach
themselves for,

I can't forgive them; I have nothing ta forgive,

It is a pity, it is indecd A pity, because it is not true,

But above all, I like youngsters because of the bok in their eyes.
In their ayes I can read their age
In my heaven, there will bo only five~ycar-old ayes, for I know of nothing more beautiful
than the pure eyes of a chifd,
It is not surprising, for i live in children, and it is I whe Took out through their eyes.
When pure eyes meet yours, it is I who smile at you threugh the flesh,
But on the other hand, I know of nothing sadder than lifeless eyes in the face of a child.
The windows are open, but the house is ampty.
Two eves are there, but no light.
And, saddened, 1 stand at the door, and wait in the cold and knock, I am eager to get in.
And he, the child is alone,
He gets stout, he hardens, he dries up, he gets cld. Poor old fel tow!

Alteluial Alleluia! Open, all of you, little ot men!

It is I, your God, the Eternal risen from the dead, coming to bring back ta life the
child inyu,

Hurry! Mow ig the time. 1 am ready ta give you again the beautiful face of a child, the
beautiful eyes of a child.

For I Tove youngsters, and I want everyone to be tike them. AMEN