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Sermon Preacher at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Granite Springs by the the Reverend Matthew Mead
October 4, 2009
The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 22, Year B (RCL): Genesis 2:18-24; Psalm 8; Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12; Mark 10:2-16


My grandfather, Sam Hoxsie, died last week. I was at his funeral this past Friday. I am very sad that my grandfather died. He was a lobsterman who worked outside everyday, either in his boat at sea or at home building and repaired lobster pots. I remember one summer when I was a child my family visited my grandparents. When we drove up the driveway there is front of us was a brand new lobster boat, which he built himself by hand. It was one of the most impressive things I have ever seen: he built his own lobster boat. He also built his house. Think about that for a second.

The last few years of his life were hard: for him and for all of his family. Life is so unfair sometimes. His body, which had been so great, began to diminish. His mind, right up to the end, was as it had always been. But this big strong man spent his last few months in a wheelchair, breathing through an oxygen mask, barely able to stay awake for more than an hour at a time. He was barely able to move from room to room in the house that he had built with his own hands.

In a very real sense, he was as much like a small child as anything else. He was completely reliant on those around him for everything, even using the bathroom. It is surreal to think of the similarities between my son Nicholas, who is not even five months old, and my grandfather.

When I hear today’s Gospel I think of children, but I also think of all those people who are, for whatever reason, as helpless as children. The passage today is often references when Christians defend the practice of baptizing infants. I think that is a good thing. The practice of denying baptism to infants seems to me to be the beginning of a very slippery slope. If someone won’t baptize a child because she can’t articulate her faith, or if someone won’t give communion to a child who is baptized because he can’t explain how Christ is present in the bread and wine, then what happens when you encounter my grandfather who can barely move or speak or even stay awake.

Children are welcome, not only to be baptized, but to participate as full members of the Body of Christ. That is why my son Liam, who is baptized, eats the same Eucharistic Bread and drinks from the same Cup as I do, just like his mom does.

But we do not stop at children. There are people who are not here with us today because they are unable to be here because they are sick. Of course we pray for them – and if there is someone who is not being prayed for and you want us to pray for her, please let me know. But I think that praying for other Christians is only part of what we are called to do: Jesus didn’t just pray for the children, he took them in his arms and blessed them.

Because of that, I believe very strongly that those people who cannot be with us on Sunday should still partake of the presence of Christ. Its easy for the priest to visit someone with Communion and it often means the difference between someone knowing that they have been blessed by Jesus himself or someone feeling as if they have been pushed away by uncaring disciples.

I knew my grandfather was sick and I visited him and spoke to him as often as I could before he died. But I don’t know everyone else who is sick, even in this congregation. Please let others know if you or a family member or another parishioner is sick or in the hospital so that we can pray for that person and visit that person. And let me know too so that I can visit and bring Holy Communion.

Note for all sermons: The text published here and what was actually preached from the pulpit may vary considerably. Think of this version as the published draft.