Sermon (on May 3rd, one week after the Confirmation/Baptism of 9 youth at United Church in Meadowood)
Julia (Antonyshyn) gave us food for thought:
"We, the youth, we have the chance to stand up and be that change, to build a sustainable and relevant united church IF… if we accept the fact that we are the church of today… not just tomorrow."
Listening to Julia, I clearly hear the difference between “Those youth, you know, they’re really the future of our church” and “Our youth, they are really the present of our church.” Can you notice the difference?. How sad if we think that the youth don’t matter, ‘yet.’ Affirming our young people as the present of our church is to see, to acknowledge, that their time is now, their influence is ongoing.
How we see our youth, and how they perceive themselves makes a whole different reality. How we see – our perceptions – and how we speak – our choice of words – can create either new possibilities or deprive the Spirit of its powerful influence on our lives as a community. Our growth and sustainability is totally dependent upon our reception and acceptance of the Spirit’s power over us. We love our children and youth, and we care for them, but really, are we ready to take the journey with them to be fully empowered disciples of Christ? Do we trust them with the teachings of the Gospel? Do we see them as being equipped to serve? Do we support their challenge of the social norms that perpetuate divisions, suspicions and injustices? Do we see our youth as being equals in Christ with their own call and focus, or as junior, ornamental, members of our faith?
I originally came from the other side of the world where the churches are very hierarchical in every aspect. Korea has hundreds of mega-churches with 500, 1000, 5000, 10,000 people in attendance on any given Sunday morning. Imagine that among that tremendous number of church members, only one voice really matters. The lead pastor. You can think of the pyramid of power - the lead pastor on the top, with increasing numbers of assistant pastors, deacons, ushers, and group leaders serving their lead pastor’s leadership and needs. The church elders are mostly men. Many faithful, intelligent, and highly equipped female students in the theological schools are shown a separate path from their male counterparts, as many denominations have no policy for ordaining women. The few denominations that do ordain women make sure that it is a very hard path, discouraging them from seeking a ministry behind the pulpit. Why? Churches in Korea don’t give high church positions to women. That’s just how it is - it’s one of the main reasons I left. That being said, there are some things that these churches do really well.
In spite of the rigid system of male-dominated hierarchy, these very conservative churches do everything they can to raise children and youth in ‘discipleship’. In other words, they see their youth as disciples of Christ who have the same capacity as adults to share the Gospel and live it out. In a very affirmative way, in every message they hear, children and especially youth grow up with the belief that they are ‘equipped’ to serve the community – of their church and of the world. Their participation in church life is, in general, voluntary, vibrant, youthful, joyful, musical, creative. The only expectation shown toward them by the church is to be “youthful” in every way they act out their expression of faith: Making mistakes, learning and growing, risking and challenging. All these attributes that are often attached to youth are just what youth are supposed to be, in the church! They are never expected to be like ‘adults’ - solemn, disciplined, quiet. They don’t live in an undesignated place - the unsettled, insecure, ambiguous, transitional stage of “in-between” - in between the children’s world and the adult’s world. That space exists, but they are given the space and permission that they are allowed to just be “youth” or “youthful”, in the church! They are, in every sense, affirmed to be in the place where they should be - the youth’s stage. In the church, they shout for joy, sing, play in bands, run, go outside in pairs or in groups to have some fun together or to have a simple meal together at the snack bar. They “gather” themselves. They “assemble” themselves. They are an “assembly”! They self-manage their team and create their own definition of who they are.
Some of the youth may conform to their church’s bad examples: hierarchy, patriarchy, but still they have developed their own identity, their own discipleship. And some of them , even in the more oppressive churches, have learned how the Holy Spirit changes everything - they learn that they need to fight for the Kingdom of God even if their society and their church muzzle the prophetic voices and try to hold back the changes that God wills. We should never forget that Korean democracy was only established thanks to the students’ dedication in protest and a passionate desire for change.
I grew up in my Korean culture in a particular way; I grew up with the messages of what I was not allowed (as a girl). However I also grew up with the best that Korean churches could offer in educating their young people. Young people were always given room to exercise their own autonomy. All of these memories, these gifts of trust and vision that I received as a girl, influence how I see the youth of Meadowwood church. I see them as part of today, vibrant, active, gifted, joyful, loving to learn the teachings that expand their visions – how they can see the world and how they can advance the Kingdom of God “by their own behaviour.”
In today’s Gospel reading Jesus says, “I am the real vine, and you are the branches.” Just as we all are, youth are the branches. One important thing to note is that in faith and in our understanding of discipleship, they are the branches that are attached to the true vine - Jesus - not attached to us - they are branches, not twigs. In faith, we must understand that Jesus seeks out our young people for a relationship that is intimate and organic and important. Faith is not just another extracurricular activity, something you can check off like the criteria for a Scouting badge. Faith demands all of your life to be changed and re-prioritized. In legal status, youth are considered to be the dependent children of ours, but in the status of faith, in fellowship with the community and the Holy Spirit, in the discipleship they have to exercise “hands-on” intervention and authority in the world, they are equal to us, in every power, in knowledge, and in the Spirit. God gives them all they need. God provides them with what they ask for. If we humbly ask God to help us to be conscientious, I hope we can ask of God, even if we are not formally bound by hierarchy, whether we are free of ageism. We are called to be the church of today - not the church of the past, or the church held in reserve for the future..
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