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Blessed are the crumb makers

by Pr Daron Pratt

Daron has a Soapbox moment!

 
The mother arrives in church. It had been a frazzled morning getting the three kids dressed, clean, in the car and into the church building.

She breathes a sigh of relief as the kids take their places in the seats ready for worship…the crying, fighting, whinging, nagging and endless organising, packing, chasing and refereeing was worth it. she was here… bringing her three kids to Jesus that He might bless them…

She tries to shhh the excited giggles and conversation telling her children to use their inside voices. She tries to ignore the stares and frowns of disapproval, then a little voice says loudly "mum i'm hungry!"… i've got this" you proudly say to yourself as you reach into your overstuffed "Mary Poppins" bag and produce a magical container of crackers. your child eats hungrily as the audience sings "Just as i am" and then the inevitable happens, crumbs fall onto the supposedly sacred pews and the sacred carpet…. the old lady across the way clucks her tongue…the deacon collecting the offering stares and frowns. The mother hears a whisper behind her, "how dare she bring food into the sanctuary and desecrate the building" another says "why can't she feed the children before she gets here."…. "she should take them out"… the mother withers against the barrage and sinks in her seat, hearing the words said and the word implied..

Something inside the woman dies a little as she tries to ignore the frowns, stares, looks of disdain and she does all she can to help her children participate in worship. As they leave the building she wonders to herald is it worth it and will I try and bring the children to church again next week?

A few months later someone asks "where have the families gone and why is our church dying?.

"let the children come to me and do not hinder them."

Church…. the crumbs are worth it, children are worth it…their parents are worth it. Thankyou mums for making the effort each week. We applaud you. Crumbs are sacred as they are a sign that the kingdom of heaven is present in our midst.

We need to always remember that crumbs are more sacred than the carpet, pews and even the building as the crumb bearer is a symbol of the kingdom of heaven. Don't be so precious about your building/carpets and in so doing, turn families away.

Blessed are those who don't focus on crumbs but focus on the children and welcomes them along with their frazzled, tired mother. You just welcomed Jesus.

Please welcome Mums, Mary Poppins bags, snacks and little children. The newer Dyson upright hand vacuums are very efficient at picking up crumbs in readiness for a huge welcome to mothers, fathers, little children and their crumbs next week and the blessings received because they are VIPs in our midst.

Daron gets off his soapbox, picks up the Dyson upright and thanks God for crumbs in church! A sign of the kingdom.

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