Focus on our children

Pay more attention to children.

 

This is the advice of Reverend John Rogers, in his sermon given at the St. George Parish Church yesterday morning. 

 

Speaking on the first Sunday of the new year, Reverend Rogers, recalling early Jewish traditions, noted that from a very young age, children were introduced to the covenant community. According to him, at just eight days old, babies were circumcised and given names. Noting that there has been criticism surrounding the practice, Rev Rogers defended it, stating, “If this covenant is so good, if this life and this relationship with God is so good, why are we denying our children?…Being brought into covenant doesn’t mean that you will know everything there is to know, you now have to grow in the community and so it was for young boys and girls.”

 

Admonishing that if parents and guardians do not nurture children from early there will be challenges later, Rev. Rogers stressed the importance of giving children meaningful names. “When we have children we bring them into the Faith as early as possible and nurture them so that they may grow in the knowledge of the Almighty God … but not only were they brought to the knowledge of God at an early age, they were given their names.”

 

Rev Rogers went on to say that the name of the child says much about who they are and who they are meant to be. As was the case with Jesus, the Reverend noted that He was not given the name by chance, but that the name “Jesus” sums up his mission here on earth. This, the Reverend said, has implications for the naming of children to date.

 

“Names are very important. As Christian people, we give them Christian names. We give them names that speak to our Faith, that speak to something good; and I said that to say that a collaboration of names where the mother takes a piece of hers and the father adds a piece of his to it, and call it a name … what does it mean? The name really tells us, this is what you are to be like as was the case with John The Baptist,” he continued.

 

Thus, Rev Rogers made an appeal. “I am saying this to stress the point that we have to pay a lot more attention to our children. The world is in a state now where children are the targets of all kinds of negative things and as Christians, we must double up on our efforts to ensure that we keep our children close to us and we nurture them in the knowledge and ways of their Heavenly Father.”

 

As he closed he expressed his hope to the congregation that even more children will be seen in church being nurtured. For if they do not endeavour to do that, they have failed them. (PRF)