Unto Us a Child is Born
On Monday evening, February 21st at 9:45 p.m., God broke into in our life in a new way with the birth of a granddaughter, born to Sarah and Trevor Boudreau. She will be known as Katherine Joan and carry the name of her maternal great, great grandmother Katherine Bearman and her great grandmother Joan McElroy.
Into Katherine Joan, God has breathed the breath of life. She is, as every child is, one of a kind. She is a unique creation of God. She is made in the image of God. Through her God blesses our world.
As a baby, she has begun to fulfill her high calling as a child of God. Through her, God is inviting us to experience the joy of loving, loving those who are helpless. Left alone, she would die. Katherine is that helpless.
As a baby, less than 24 hours old, all of her senses are at work taking in information about the world around her. At this stage, it seems that all she does is nurse, poop, pee and cry. Yet, she is learning from us and we are starting to learn from her.
She has started her journey of faith. Can she trust us to care for her? Can she trust we will help her grow in body, in wisdom and in faith? While Sarah and Trevor may have a lead responsibility in caring for Katherine, they do not have sole responsibility. She has been born into the world as a citizen of the world. She has also been born into the church. Collectively we all have a responsibility to look after her. Collectively we have a responsibility to care for every child born into the world.
It seems to me that all too often we are like the priests and the Levites in Jesus parable of the Good Samaritan. We pass by on the other side of the road when it comes to caring for many of the children born into our world.
We allow children and their parents to live in poverty while celebrities and heads of companies are granted multimillion dollars salaries. We look for ways to cut expenses in education while building bigger prisons knowing that those who most often come into conflict with the law have poor social skills and education. We worry about declining membership and participation in the life of the church but seldom ask what kind of role models we are as a follower of Jesus Christ. We seldom ask: "What do we need to do to fulfill Jesus’ commandment to make disciples in the 21st century?" It is easier to place that responsibility on someone else.
Holding Katherine Joan, I am aware my time with her will be limited. In time, the breath of life, God gave to me will return to God. Over time our roles in life will change. In time I will need to be held by Katherine or by a child who is not of my generation. It is the way in which God has designed the universe. We receive and give and receive.
Unto us a child has been given. This week God has given our world thousands of children. It is my prayer we will receive each child as a gift and that we will live up to our high calling as a servant of God to help each and every child grow in body, wisdom and in faith.
