tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post2872572928687081512..comments2024-03-27T15:47:46.091-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: Trivializing the SignificantPastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-43625033577150666672011-08-24T11:56:13.982-05:002011-08-24T11:56:13.982-05:00A couple things I did like about the children'...A couple things I did like about the children's sermons at my former RC parish -- before the kids left the sanctuary to meet with their teacher, the priest would bless them and they would make the Sign of the Cross together -- a practice that is so rarely seen in the Lutheran church today it is really sad. One of the children would also carry an candle representing the Light of Christ to connect to the Word they were about to hear.<br /><br />Kids really do appreciate what symbols can teach them.<br /><br /><br />ChristineAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-26117794052824319102011-08-21T13:37:20.982-05:002011-08-21T13:37:20.982-05:00Today our guest Pastor (LCMS) preached with his te...Today our guest Pastor (LCMS) preached with his text Jesus walking on the Sea and Peter before the Sanhedrin. He noted the difference between the Peter whose doubt caused him to sink into the water and the confident Peter who defended his faith before the authorities. On the way out I asked him, ”Why is it that we Lutherans are never told what made the difference in Peter from a doubter to a confident confessor?” He was confused. “What do you mean?” he asked. I said, “Something must have made a difference, or was it jus the time he spent with our Lord?” “It was the Resurrection,” the Pastor finally said. “Wrong!” I responded. He was shocked. “Well what else could it have been?” “The Holy Spirit, Whom the Apostles received on Easter Sunday,” was my response. I don’t know what the Lectionary has appointed as readings for today, so maybe the real important problem is that he preached on the wrong texts.<br /><br />Most Lutheran pastors would have given the same response. I suspect that one reason for that is that they all learned that “water and the Word” are the agents in Baptism, not “water and the Spirit” as our Lord taught.<br /><br />The two most important things about Baptism are that in it we become new creatures who have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us (“a washing of regeneration in the Holy Ghost” does not really say that), and that we are transferred from the kingdom of the Devil into the Kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit is hardly mentioned in the Confessions and the Catechism in connection with Baptism. You have to get to the sections on Infant Baptism before indwelling of the Holy Spirit is mentioned. As to the Kingdom, we hear even less. So we trivialize Baptism right from the start, before anyone else even gets their hands on it. But God still accomplishes what He wills in it.<br /><br />Peace and Joy!<br />George A. MarquartAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-17502237495156793872011-08-21T12:11:39.490-05:002011-08-21T12:11:39.490-05:00Dear Pastor Peters, two quotes from Dr. Willimon i...Dear Pastor Peters, two quotes from Dr. Willimon in as many days? Careful now, someone might think you're a closet Methodist! <br /><br />Seriously though, I appreciate his writing, and have enjoyed his occasional interviews on the White Horse Inn. My favorite thought from him is when he asks his homiletics students if Christ must die on the cross in order for their sermons to work.Rev. Allen Bergstrazernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-76251176043238491412011-08-21T11:43:46.328-05:002011-08-21T11:43:46.328-05:00Or better yet, get rid of the so-called "Chil...Or better yet, get rid of the so-called "Children's Sermon" altogether. There is no rubrical authorization for it in the first place. Its nothing but a Kodak moment that dwells on the cuteness of children. Even most children don't like it, and few kids will complain it if is abolished. A good Sunday School teacher can do a much better job at reaching children at their appropriate age level than a thousand cutesy Children's Sermons ever could. The so-called "Children's Sermon" needs to be consigned to the garbage bin, and put in the same place with liturgical dancers, puppet shows, clowns, balloons, and polka masses. Get rid of it.BrotherBorisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-72759914506962821162011-08-21T08:23:08.472-05:002011-08-21T08:23:08.472-05:00Many LCMS parishes have used the
"children...Many LCMS parishes have used the<br />"children's sermon" as an opportunity<br />to give their Director of Christian<br />Education more visibility to their<br />members and to help justify their<br />employment. In one parish the DCE<br />was asked to stop giving the children<br />sermon because they were so<br />embarrassing to everyone. Another<br />DCE was really into object lessons<br />with props and eventually the goal<br />was to make everyone laugh.<br /><br />When pastors give the kids sermon<br />they usually play to the adults<br />and use it as an intro to the <br />regular sermon. Some pastors have<br />actually asked the adults questions<br />and forgotten about the children.<br /><br />The best solution to this bad<br />situation came from Thomas Long<br />or William Willimon: Read a Bible<br />story to the children without any<br />commentary. Just read a story<br />from the Bible and let the children<br />listen without any comments.<br />It would be called a Children's<br />Lesson and not a Kid's Sermon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-37847421632508336072011-08-21T07:51:43.384-05:002011-08-21T07:51:43.384-05:00Yeah,that even do that in Roman parishes! Who'...Yeah,that even do that in Roman parishes! Who'da thunk!<br /><br />The kids are dismissed at the "Liturgy of the Word" (once called the Mass of the Catechumens) and brought back after hearing the readings explained at a level they can understand. Which is not really all that bad, come to think of it.<br /><br />ChristineAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-31634337397634458852011-08-21T06:59:09.239-05:002011-08-21T06:59:09.239-05:00Perhaps a first (baby) step might be to do away wi...Perhaps a first (baby) step might be to do away with "childrens' message." I've never understood the point of that or of dismissing children for kidz church.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09350908137437557142noreply@blogger.com