Proper 6B June 14 2009
What Teens Want
What do today’s young people—teenagers—want? We should ask
them; and a number of recent studies have done just that. Three surveys in particular
have focused on thirteen to eighteen year olds’ views and feelings about
religion, life, personal relationships and faith communities. Of the three studies,
only one was directed at church going youth, the other two were surveys to teens
in general, which makes the top result all the more interesting. What teens
want most is connection with the “other.” Teens, like people of
all ages, want to be known and to know they are wanted. When it comes to God,
a teenager wants to be known by a God who cares about him or her.
What kind of God this might be is suggestively presented in the Ezekiel reading
this morning. For this God undertakes projects in a way different from the methods
most people might employ. God doesn’t look for the shortcut or the easy
at hand option. In the tree planting project described by the prophet, God doesn’t
graft a branch from a readily accessible location on the trunk of the existing
tree. Rather, God searches for a young, vital and flexible sprig from the very
top of that tree and then plants it in a prime growing space atop a mighty,
lofty mountain. God chooses this young life that others wouldn’t bother
taking the time to reach out to and, then, nurtures this life for a special
purpose. God’s aim, within the context of Ezekiel’s word picture,
is to choose a precious life and grow a noble cedar tree so that it can be fruitful
and become a lush home to many creatures. As a result, all who come upon this
young growth that develops into a magnificent natural dwelling will have an
experience of what God is like—the Grower whose ways are mysterious and
miraculous:
Mysterious because God’s ways don’t follow standard operating procedures.
The high are brought low, the low made high. That is, who and what is in everybody’s
Top 10 doesn’t count with God;
Miraculous, because the dry will flourish. Yes, even if you are treated poorly
by others and have been cut off from the flow of their attentions, even if people
don’t seem to care whether you dry up and blow away, God is going to keep
you hydrated with a concern that’s beyond your wildest imagining.
Speaking of imaginings, Teens also want to make sense and meaning out of this
life. Paul talks about this in his letter to the church at Corinth, saying you
need to walk in your body, that is, live this life, with a sight that doesn’t
just look at what’s in front of your nose but, rather, that sees with
the sight of faith. Vision is what he is calling for—our having a vision
of how things can be if we walk, move, live and give for the good of all. Vision
for Ezekiel is about a tall, wide tree, bearing fruit, limbs full with every
kind of winged creature—a Vision of Community in Balance. For Paul, this
kind of vision gives us confidence and highly sensitizes us. Faith is about
living by the sense of Christ. Christ who gave himself for the good of all becomes
our vision, our eye sight, our God sense, our good sense of how to live with
all. “He dies for all, so that those who live might live no longer for
themselves” but to live a responsive life, responding in thanks. God shows
us how to live. It’s not about me, what I want. It is about God and about
us—what we need and a God who really shows us and gives us what we need.
The Vision of how things can be has us no longer regard others, or even Christ,
from a “human point of view,” from just seeing and sensing what’s
out there beyond my nose, because what’s in here—in my mind, in
my heart, in my soul—is connectivity to all, to everyone. The Vision becomes
our Venture. Living this way, we become a new creation: everything has become
new.
This connectivity is desired by teens—to be known as wanted by God and
to feel welcome and a sense of belonging in a caring community. At the same
time, teens are very quick to point out that they are not about to be absorbed
into the community, that the church needs to recognize that they will not believe
everything the churches tell them. Teens will not agree with all church positions
or the way so many churches are behaving these days. In fact, in terms of community
life, what teens want is moderation and tolerance—tolerance for religious
people as well as the non-religious, and toleration between religions. For the
vast majority of teens firmly believe that there is no one “true”
religious tradition, nor is there only one “right” way to work out
a social issue. And, again, on the subject of tolerance, interpersonal tolerance,
teens believe that what you experience in your interactions with a person means
more than the labels society or church would use to categorize that person.
For these young people, the perspective of “live and let live” beats
out a judgmental attitude; and teens are saying they are very tired of such
an attitude.
Teens don’t want to be lectured or subjected to classes that state a whole
list of things you must believe. Rather, teens want to see examples in the people
of the congregation living their faith. Teens want honest and down to earth
role models of people expressing their faith and they will be open to being
influenced by their example.
Teens want faith to play an important role in their life. However, almost half
of them, are highly critical of their congregations for not offering young people
assistance in relating faith to their timely issues of relationships (dating,
sexual decision-making), or other important life goals such as education and
career. Furthermore, teens want to feel safer, much safer, in their churches.
Kids are split 50/50 as to whether they could raise a personal concern or problem
with their priest or other parish leaders.
Teens do not want a church community that is marked by the hypocrisy of an institution,
nor are they comfortable with the negative effects of religion in society today.
More and more, teens are hearing their peers equate Christian with extremist
and churches in general with people who fight and lay blame about social and
political issues. This brings us back to Vision in the scripture, because teens
don’t want words, rather they want to experience these words becoming
living, breathing realities. That’s what most inspires teens and shows
them that religion is important.
Mark’s Gospel lesson today mirrors the Ezekiel reading. The Kingdom of
God (this time a noble tree grown from the tiniest of seeds) is like a tree
in which all the birds can nest. Just as the prophet had painted a word picture,
Jesus speaks in parables. Why; why these word puzzles? Jesus often taught in
parables because of the many different circumstances people face in life, as
well as the variety of talents and abilities that people have to dedicate in
action for good results. If the Kingdom of Heaven is “like” a big,
beautiful tree with strong branches that can hold all manner of creatures, Jesus
is asking: How can you be someone who is alive and giving so that there might
be something “like” this huge cedar or mustard tree in our world
today? Through parables, words are made available that help to shape the Vision.
What do teens want? What do all people want? What Jesus Christ wants is for
us to take his words and make them into flesh and blood—our lives living
the life of The Body of Christ. That’s what the world needs. And whether
you are just reaching 16 or long ago surpassed 66, God wants, God needs, each
one of us to become building material for a big house in which we all can live
at peace. AMEN.
©Thomas F Reese 06/14/2009