The Good News is... care & protection for the vulnerable

Today on the blog, we have two messages that were shared this past Sunday for Highlands first "Children's Chapel." It was a special time for our young people to help lead and to celebrate the gifts of our growing intergenerational community.

The first was the Message for All Ages. Together, the young people (ages 9-18) read Matthew 19:13-15 as a skit, and then we all sat down for this conversation.

I have a question? Can I ask you all a question? 

Have you ever been left out of something you really wanted to be included in? Maybe left out of a game or a group project or maybe a party?... 

Yeah? How did getting left out make you feel?... 

Sad. Hurt. So-so. Depressed.

Have you ever seen someone else get left out of something? Maybe it was a friend? Or maybe it was someone you didn’t know? 

Yes? How did it feel to see someone else get left out?... 

Sad. Mad. Frustrated. Angry.

Yeah? Sometimes that can hurt just as much as being left out yourself.

In today’s story, Jesus friends, John and Judas, want to keep the kids away from Jesus. We don’t know exactly why. Maybe they thought he was too important? Maybe they thought the kids didn’t belong? 

But Jesus was like, bro—stop! They are literally the people I’ve been telling you belong in the Kingdom of God! 

Recently, I got left out of an event that I really wanted to attend, and it made me so sad! I’d travelled from very far away, but the hosts told me there wasn’t enough room. 

What do you think I did next?... 

Well, first, I talked to my friend who had been let in. And this friend helped me look for help. 

And guess what! Someone did help me! I still didn’t get into the event, but I was able to attend another smaller one. And afterwards, it felt like that was what God had wanted for me all along. 

And I was happy! I was also really grateful to my friend who helped me. 

It can be really hurtful to be left out of something. And often it can be hard to ask for help. We like to do things ourselves. It can feel embarrassing. But we all need help throughout our lives—and we should give help whenever we can.  

Jesus helps us remember that the people who are being left out are the exact people he wants to be included. And just like my friend, Jesus shows us how we can help include other people who are being left out. 

Sounds like good news to me. How about you?...

After this Message for All Ages, Rev. Delaney preached this sermon: "Praygrounds and the gifts of intergenerational community."

Several months ago, I asked this congregation to look around and ask, " Who was missing at Highlands? Who are we not reaching? I asked you to write your answer on a little sticky note, along with one or two ideas for how we could change it." 

We had just read a story where Jesus attends a feast, and while there, he notices his disciples fighting over the best seats, the seats with the most honor. Seeing this, Jesus starts to teach everyone gathered how best to host a feast. 

He tells the group gathered that when they throw a banquet, they should not invite their rich neighbors or their close friends and family, but instead invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 

It’s one of those moments he is definitely throwing some subtle shade at his host and his poorly behaved disciples.

Jesus often says surprising things. Not just to shock us, but to show us just how ingrained our worldly expectations are… 

Expectations like "we should seek to have the most powerful, influential guests at our table." Or "we should always seek to look honorable, powerful, or influential ourselves."

One way Jesus does this again and again is to undermine the social hierarchies of his day… 

Hierarchies that assume the supremacy of men over women. 

Those who are native born over immigrants.

Jews over Gentiles. 

Religious elites over the regular people. 

The able-bodied over the disabled. 

The rich over the poor. 

Does any of this sound familiar to us today?  

In today’s story, Jesus is once again undermining the assumptions of his disciples. He’s undermining the subtle, unconscious belief that children are less important than adults. In our skit [reading of Matthew 19:13-15], we focused on one boy and his mother,  but in the original story,  it was a crowd of children that the disciples tried to send away before Jesus stepped in. 

What might seem like a cute story to us today—aww, Jesus is so sweet and patient with young people—was a powerful statement about what his ministry was all about. 

Throughout his teachings, Jesus emphasized the last, the least, and the lost. Those who were at the very bottom of the social hierarchy. The people who were low in the pecking order. 

This is good news! For all those who wish to live in a peaceful, equitable, just society. 

But this emphasis was not entirely “new.”

Jesus teachings were grounded in the teachings of the Hebrew scriptures.  Teachings like today’s passage from the book of Deuteronomy, which mandates care for the immigrants, widows, and orphans. In a culture where family and land determined your resources, protection, and place in society, these three groups were among the most vulnerable in the ancient Near East.

Deuteronomy repeatedly reminded the Israelites that “you were once slaves in Egypt.”  It is a reminder that they, too, once stood on the lowest rung of society—vulnerable to the whims and abuses of others. 

Rather than letting that memory harden them with resentment or callousness, they were told to let it shape their compassion. The memory of their own oppression was meant to move them to care for the vulnerable among them. 

In today’s story, Jesus uplifts children—first and foremost because children are people.

Secondly, Jesus uplifts children because the kingdom of God belongs to the least of these. And children are vulnerable to the impacts of adults' decisions at all times. 

Unlike some forms of vulnerability created by social inequality, children’s dependence isn’t something we can eliminate. We can empower kids in many ways, but they will still need others to care for them—to make sure they are fed, clothed, cared for when they're sick, protected, and educated. 

But there is something else happening in this story that is important for us as an intergenerational community. By uplifting children, Jesus reminds us that at one point, we were all children—dependent on the protection and care of others.

And most of us have experienced that kind of dependence again as adults: during illness or injury, as we age, during difficult financial seasons, or when life simply overwhelms us and we need someone else to help carry the load.

Jesus says that the Kingdom of God belongs to the children. And he also tells us to have childlike faith. In doing so, he invites his adult, young adult, and teen followers to learn from their example—to be humble, kind, and curious, to ask for and accept help, and to hold onto that deep instinct children have for fairness.

But this story also reminds us how much we need one another across generations. Those children needed their parents to bring them to greet this travelling rabbi. 

Young people need elders who know their names and care about their lives. They need to learn from the wisdom that is seasoned with experience. Older adults need the curiosity, energy, and joy that young people bring. And they need to learn from their fresh perspectives and questions. And both families and single people need a village of support in every season of life. And at our best, we, as the church, create the space for these authentic relationships to grow. 

When I asked you all to reflect on who was missing at Highlands, there were many answers, but overwhelmingly, the most common response was young people and young families. 

Saying this out loud can bring up different feelings. We might feel embarrassed, as if Highlands has been doing something wrong, or anxious, like we’re not good enough, or maybe even a little annoyed, like I don’t really want to have to change for anyone. I think all are, in their own way, valid. 

But we don’t need to get stuck there. 

Instead, we can approach this shared awareness with curiosity—wondering why this is the case, [we're certainly not the only church facing this situation] and remaining open to exploring, experimenting, and even playing with new ways of being church. I believe that right now, Highlands can truly serve people from 0 to 100 years old.

The first project to grow out of this discernment is our new prayground!

A prayground is a space intentionally designed for kids where they can playfully engage in worship in a way that works for their brains and bodies. Right now, it’s designed especially for young kids, but anyone can use it. 

Early in my time here, I created the small prayground we had in the back of the sanctuary. For a number of reasons, it wasn’t working well for families, so I brought a proposal to the Session to help us find a better solution. That proposal included gathering feedback from parents about what might work best for their kids and beginning to think about seating, materials, and how the space could better support families during worship.

Think of what you see today as phase one: relocating the prayground. This location was chosen based on my observations from the past year of how people use the sanctuary, along with the feedback I received. Things may still evolve over time, but for now, this is the location we’re committed to trying.

We’re now moving into phase two: shaping the space itself. Over the coming weeks, we’ll continue working to equip this area so that it becomes a place that is warm, welcoming, and worshipful for children and caregivers. And we’ll need your help—ideas, creativity, and perhaps even a few willing hands—to make it what it can be.

Now, there are two rules in the Prayground—

1. Be Curious… What does it look like to be curious?

   
   

2. Be Kind… Can you guys help me? What does it look like to be kind?

Now here is the surprising thing: these rules are not just for the prayground. Those rules are for everyone, whether you are sitting in the cool mushroom chairs or not. 

In our story today, Jesus says, “Let the little children come.” Creating space for them here is one small but faithful way we can answer that call, and continue growing into the kind of intergenerational community we believe God is calling us to be.

In closing, I want to offer these words of Blessing over our Prayground—

Holy God, we thank you for the reminder that the kingdom of God belongs to the littlest among us. May this space serve as a living reminder of this truth. We pray that it may be a blessing to this whole congregation, helping us grow into a more childlike faith—one marked by curiosity, creativity, kindness, and wonder. May it help us to greet our own inner child. Finally,  we give thanks for the children, teens, and young adults among us, who are already showing us the way. 

And all God’s people said, amen! 

Rev. Delaney originally preached this sermon on 3.15.26.