Rev. Reed Lee Pedersen's
Recently Augustana Lutheran Church had their Vacation Bible School week. Our theme was, “God’s Good Creation”. The kids learned stories from the Bible that highlighted God’s Creation while pairing each day with an animal that also highlights the theme for that day. To a pessimistic eye VBS can be seen as not useful. Many (or sometimes only a few) people put a lot of time, effort, and money in to make a VBS week go smoothly. We may not get the number of kids that other churches get or that our specific church used to get. What’s the pay off? Do non-members start coming to church now because their kids had fun making crafts and singing songs? Most likely not. So what is the point? I do not wish to make all of these points in the name of pessimism. I bring this up because these are thoughts that I have had too. People brought their small children to Jesus so that he could lay his hands on them to bless them. But the followers told the people to stop bringing their children to him. Jesus saw what happened. He did not like his followers telling the children not to come. So he said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because God’s kingdom belongs to people who are like these little children. The truth is, you must accept God’s kingdom like a little child accepts things, or you will never enter it.” - Mark 10:13-15 (easy-to-read version) While the pessimistic point of view may have points, what it fails to notice is that it has become like the disciples in this story from Mark. They belittle the children and do not see their full purpose. They are seen as a nuisance to our Lord and Savior, but Jesus assures them that they have it all wrong. “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them…” VBS is a time where we attempt to teach about Jesus, the bible, the church, and a lot of other aspects of a life of faith on a level the kids can understand. VBS is the one time where our church attempts to properly propel the faith of our youth without seeing them as someone who can hopefully keep the church going in 20 years. This may seem like a simple statement to you, but it is one I have really learned to come to grips with. VBS is important because it actually engages our youth today. They do not feel the guilt brought on by not attending church more frequently like I know many occasional church goers feel. They do not pick up on the social cues which can make others feel unwelcome in the house of God which I know people can encounter sometimes. They learn about God, play, eat snacks, make crafts, sing their hearts out, and dance. I do not know about you, but if that is how we are supposed to welcome in God’s Kingdom then count me in! Points to Ponder:
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AuthorPastor Reed is a first call pastor at Augustana Lutheran Church in Andover, Illinois. Archives
July 2019
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