Growing in Faith: The Right Attitude
September 8, 2024 Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church
Matthew 18:1-5
“Growing in Faith: The Right Attitude”
Douglas T. King
I know we are gathered together this September morning still in the season of late summer/early autumn. I think I can smell the charcoal heating up as our ushers are preparing a summer fare barbecue for us. Pass the brats and the Ted Drewes. But I am going to ask you to suspend that reality and join me for a moment in a different season.
Imagine a late December evening, the night is dark, the weather is brisk, and there might even be the hint of a snow flurry or two. Our Catholic friends are beginning their midnight mass on Christmas Eve. The introit is a solemn Gregorian Chant “Puer natus est nobis,” in English, “for a child has been born for us.” We recognize these words from the ninth chapter of Isaiah but very likely it is most familiar to us in that remarkable chorus in Handel’s Messiah, “for unto us a child is born.” One scholar refers to this as “a climax in the structure of the oratorio. The recitation of the prophecy has been building up to this moment, the messiah’s birth and the prospect of deliverance, of salvation.” (Bullard, p. 41)
When we hear that chorus, “for unto us a child is born,” and when our Catholic friends hear, “puer natus est nobis,” we are one and all filled with hope and expectation. Our savior is arriving in our midst. It is an essential element of advent, God’s arrival and our preparation for it. But it is not limited to advent. God is arriving in our midst on each new day. And how we are present for that arrival is a question for each new day.
Today is the start of a three-week sermon series on Growing. Throughout this program year the image of growth will be a theme in our life together. Today we are starting the year by considering the mindset by which we are open to growth.
Those first words of the introit at midnight mass just may be the key to our ability to being open to growing. Thomas Moore notes that Puer, the Latin word for child, was used by Carl Jung “to name the spirit of youth that is an essential part of us all…Puer is not simply literal young age, but an attitude of youthfulness that may be full of spirit, ambition, high destiny, and a forgetfulness of mortality. It is a spirit that brings new life.” (Moore, p. 29)
I say we add a corollary to “for unto us a child is born,” “puer natus est nobis.” How about “a child is born within us?” By the way, if you are curious about the Latin, I asked my friend Landen in the choir who happens to be a bit of a Latin scholar. He said it would be, “Puer natus intra nos.”
In our text from Matthew this morning we heard Jesus’ response to the disciples’ question, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Unlike this text in the gospel of Mark, where the disciples are clearly competing to be the greatest, in Matthew this question comes as an open inquiry about how best to be in the right relationship with God. We just heard the NRSV translation of Jesus’ response. David Bentley Hart translates it as this, “…I tell you unless you turn back and become as children, you most certainly may not enter the Kingdom of the heavens. He therefore who will make himself small as this child, this one is the greater in the Kingdom of the heavens…” (Hart, p. 35)
It is helpful to remember the place of children in Jesus’ era. These were not the days of children being the center of attention. In old school parlance, children were to be seen and not heard. In other words, children were expected to be a humble presence in all that they did. If we are seeking the kingdom of heaven, seeking to be in right relationship with the divine, Jesus is calling us to humility. We cannot learn, we cannot grow, if we think we already know all there is to know.
For those of us who have put in four or more decades on this planet we run the risk of middle-aged myopia. We believe we have seen more than enough of life to have a full grasp on how things really are. Medical myopia, otherwise known as nearsightedness or short-sightedness, caused by the shape of the eyeball or the curve of the cornea, demonstrates itself in adequate vision to what is close at hand but anything in the distance is blurry. Middle-aged myopia is when a person believes that their personal experience up to this point has taught them everything there is to know and anything they have yet to experience, that is beyond them, has nothing to teach them. As learned and experienced as any of us may be this is not the pathway to the kingdom of heaven, not the pathway to growth.
If we wish to grow we have to allow ourselves to realize that we need to grow. If we wish to grow and mature in our faith we need to understand that there is no finish line in our learning about who we are; who God is; and the nature of our relationship with God.
Children know they have things yet to learn. Children are curious. Children are susceptible to awe and wonder. Children have enthusiasm. Children have nimble imaginations.
I always think that we are engaged in somewhat of an absurd undertaking. Somehow, we have the audacity to believe we can have some extensive understanding of who God is. Somehow we believe we have the capacity to comprehend the boundless creator of the universe who exists beyond all space and time.
If we do not approach this audacious endeavor with humility, curiosity, awe, enthusiasm, wonder, and imagination we are kidding ourselves. We need, “Puer natus intra nos.” We need to allow a child to be born within us. Thomas Moore argues that when we allow a youthful, puer spirit to dwell within us we are invited into a “renaissance of possibility.” (Moore, p. 31) We cannot grow in our faith if we do not consider the potential for there to be more ways to understand our God than we currently do so. We cannot grow in who we are if we do not consider the potential for us to understand ourselves in more ways than we currently do so.
But if we do invite a puer spirit within us who knows in what ways we may grow? Who knows how the Spirit may move in our midst? Who knows where God will lead us?
During this program year we will be weaving the theme of growth throughout much of what we do. Growth will be an element of our liturgical seasons and our stewardship campaign, our understanding of discipleship, and in other ways. Someone has generously donated two lovely lemon trees that will soon be growing in pots in the inner courtyard garden beside Anne and David’s offices. We will be enjoying their growth throughout this year as we seek to grow ourselves in our faith and in our life together.
Keep an eye out for their arrival and their growth. Keep an eye out for new possibilities and new life. Keep an eye out for seeing God and ourselves in new ways.
Let us enter into this program year with humility, curiosity, enthusiasm, imagination, awe, and wonder. “Puer natus intra nos.” May a child be born within us.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Bullard, Roger A, Messiah: The Gospel According to Handel’s Oratorio, Eerdmans Publishing, New York, 1993.
Hart, David Bentley, The New Testament, Yale University Press,
New Haven, 2017.
Moore, Thomas, Original Self, HarperCollins, New York, 2001.
Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church
Matthew 18:1-5
“Growing in Faith: The Right Attitude”
Douglas T. King
I know we are gathered together this September morning still in the season of late summer/early autumn. I think I can smell the charcoal heating up as our ushers are preparing a summer fare barbecue for us. Pass the brats and the Ted Drewes. But I am going to ask you to suspend that reality and join me for a moment in a different season.
Imagine a late December evening, the night is dark, the weather is brisk, and there might even be the hint of a snow flurry or two. Our Catholic friends are beginning their midnight mass on Christmas Eve. The introit is a solemn Gregorian Chant “Puer natus est nobis,” in English, “for a child has been born for us.” We recognize these words from the ninth chapter of Isaiah but very likely it is most familiar to us in that remarkable chorus in Handel’s Messiah, “for unto us a child is born.” One scholar refers to this as “a climax in the structure of the oratorio. The recitation of the prophecy has been building up to this moment, the messiah’s birth and the prospect of deliverance, of salvation.” (Bullard, p. 41)
When we hear that chorus, “for unto us a child is born,” and when our Catholic friends hear, “puer natus est nobis,” we are one and all filled with hope and expectation. Our savior is arriving in our midst. It is an essential element of advent, God’s arrival and our preparation for it. But it is not limited to advent. God is arriving in our midst on each new day. And how we are present for that arrival is a question for each new day.
Today is the start of a three-week sermon series on Growing. Throughout this program year the image of growth will be a theme in our life together. Today we are starting the year by considering the mindset by which we are open to growth.
Those first words of the introit at midnight mass just may be the key to our ability to being open to growing. Thomas Moore notes that Puer, the Latin word for child, was used by Carl Jung “to name the spirit of youth that is an essential part of us all…Puer is not simply literal young age, but an attitude of youthfulness that may be full of spirit, ambition, high destiny, and a forgetfulness of mortality. It is a spirit that brings new life.” (Moore, p. 29)
I say we add a corollary to “for unto us a child is born,” “puer natus est nobis.” How about “a child is born within us?” By the way, if you are curious about the Latin, I asked my friend Landen in the choir who happens to be a bit of a Latin scholar. He said it would be, “Puer natus intra nos.”
In our text from Matthew this morning we heard Jesus’ response to the disciples’ question, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Unlike this text in the gospel of Mark, where the disciples are clearly competing to be the greatest, in Matthew this question comes as an open inquiry about how best to be in the right relationship with God. We just heard the NRSV translation of Jesus’ response. David Bentley Hart translates it as this, “…I tell you unless you turn back and become as children, you most certainly may not enter the Kingdom of the heavens. He therefore who will make himself small as this child, this one is the greater in the Kingdom of the heavens…” (Hart, p. 35)
It is helpful to remember the place of children in Jesus’ era. These were not the days of children being the center of attention. In old school parlance, children were to be seen and not heard. In other words, children were expected to be a humble presence in all that they did. If we are seeking the kingdom of heaven, seeking to be in right relationship with the divine, Jesus is calling us to humility. We cannot learn, we cannot grow, if we think we already know all there is to know.
For those of us who have put in four or more decades on this planet we run the risk of middle-aged myopia. We believe we have seen more than enough of life to have a full grasp on how things really are. Medical myopia, otherwise known as nearsightedness or short-sightedness, caused by the shape of the eyeball or the curve of the cornea, demonstrates itself in adequate vision to what is close at hand but anything in the distance is blurry. Middle-aged myopia is when a person believes that their personal experience up to this point has taught them everything there is to know and anything they have yet to experience, that is beyond them, has nothing to teach them. As learned and experienced as any of us may be this is not the pathway to the kingdom of heaven, not the pathway to growth.
If we wish to grow we have to allow ourselves to realize that we need to grow. If we wish to grow and mature in our faith we need to understand that there is no finish line in our learning about who we are; who God is; and the nature of our relationship with God.
Children know they have things yet to learn. Children are curious. Children are susceptible to awe and wonder. Children have enthusiasm. Children have nimble imaginations.
I always think that we are engaged in somewhat of an absurd undertaking. Somehow, we have the audacity to believe we can have some extensive understanding of who God is. Somehow we believe we have the capacity to comprehend the boundless creator of the universe who exists beyond all space and time.
If we do not approach this audacious endeavor with humility, curiosity, awe, enthusiasm, wonder, and imagination we are kidding ourselves. We need, “Puer natus intra nos.” We need to allow a child to be born within us. Thomas Moore argues that when we allow a youthful, puer spirit to dwell within us we are invited into a “renaissance of possibility.” (Moore, p. 31) We cannot grow in our faith if we do not consider the potential for there to be more ways to understand our God than we currently do so. We cannot grow in who we are if we do not consider the potential for us to understand ourselves in more ways than we currently do so.
But if we do invite a puer spirit within us who knows in what ways we may grow? Who knows how the Spirit may move in our midst? Who knows where God will lead us?
During this program year we will be weaving the theme of growth throughout much of what we do. Growth will be an element of our liturgical seasons and our stewardship campaign, our understanding of discipleship, and in other ways. Someone has generously donated two lovely lemon trees that will soon be growing in pots in the inner courtyard garden beside Anne and David’s offices. We will be enjoying their growth throughout this year as we seek to grow ourselves in our faith and in our life together.
Keep an eye out for their arrival and their growth. Keep an eye out for new possibilities and new life. Keep an eye out for seeing God and ourselves in new ways.
Let us enter into this program year with humility, curiosity, enthusiasm, imagination, awe, and wonder. “Puer natus intra nos.” May a child be born within us.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Bullard, Roger A, Messiah: The Gospel According to Handel’s Oratorio, Eerdmans Publishing, New York, 1993.
Hart, David Bentley, The New Testament, Yale University Press,
New Haven, 2017.
Moore, Thomas, Original Self, HarperCollins, New York, 2001.
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