23 September Mark 9:30-37

23 September 2012 ---  Mark 9:30-37  --   JustActing

We’ve all seen those sentimental pictures of Jesus holding a sweet little child in his arms or welcoming several of them to his lap. But this comforting image should not blind us to the hard, unsentimental lesson in today’s Gospel. Children had such low status in Jesus’ time that he used them to symbolize “the least of these.” Here as elsewhere, then, Jesus was telling his followers to attend to the needs of their most powerless and vulnerable neighbors– those people who may have little value in human eyes but are precious in God’s sight.

Nowadays, most people instinctively respond to little children, but older children and teens from poor families receive much less sympathy, especially if their clothing and behavior conflict with middle-class norms. And yet these children too are precious in God’s sight. And they are terribly vulnerable, given the harsh penalties that can be inflicted on disadvantaged youngsters who get involved with drugs or gangs.

Is it possible that today’s Gospel might be calling us to care about children like these? Might we be called to join the current efforts in this community to shrink the achievement gap in our schools between white students and students of color, or to address the racial disparities in our justice system? Might we be called at least to volunteer with Schools of Hope, helping some eight-year-olds learn to read while there’s still time for them to catch up with their peers? or to befriend a troubled teen who needs another caring, responsible adult in his or her life?