It's an honor to be with you here at Southside and to be invited to uh participate in the Sunday morning worship uh Sally and I always enjoy uh our times with this wonderful splendid congregation. Lawrence Steger for a number of years at Harvard University, but he was also a biblical archaeologist and he explained in a place called Alon. It's located in Israel uh just south of Tel Aviv on the coast. not far from the Gaza's trip. It was a city, also a Roman city and stay in excavating. The Roman City uncovered a wealthy part of town that had a number of villas. And also a Bath house and underneath the Bath House. uh they discovered an ancient sewer SEWER and they have been plugged and so they want to find out what had plugged up the sewer in antiquity and so they dug down into the into the pipe and they found that it had been plugged by the remains of 100 human babies. That horrible story confirms what we know from Roman literature about a process called exposure and so in Roman times, when a Roman family had a child, they would wait for 8 days before they decided to name the child and on the eighth day, they would either give the child a name and keep the child or on the eighth day they would expose the child take it to a designated spot in the community, usually a trash heap and expose the. To the elements to wild animals to starvation, even the slave traders who would come by and rescue these children, these babies uh for their own use of slaves and the criteria that a Roman uh a family would use to determine whether to keep her or not to keep the child was the gender of the child. It's health uh the legitimacy of the child the number of children already in the family or uh even the economic status of the family, but there was. Thing absolutely For sure about exposure, it was completely legal. No one went to prison. No one was arrested because they had exposed their baby. Well, those two stories I think just raised a number of questions uh for us. How could a parents? a mother father just leave their crying baby on the sheep outside of town? Why did they do that? And and what what what brought this horrible process to an end? Well, we'll get to those answers to some of those questions in just a moment, but first of all, perhaps a perspective closer to home. Jonathan wrote a book called Amazing Grace in 1995. He's a New England journalist went to New York City lived there 2 years and spent his time interviewing children. American children and KOZL said that the most important thing he had done in his adult life was to interview those children in New York City. He lived in a neighborhood called Mott Haven. It's in the Bronx. It's the poorest. Congressional District in America These children came from dysfunctional families. They lived in ten houses that were filled with rats walk on streets that were patrolled by drug Lords went to schools that had no working restrooms had an older brother father in prison and during the time that did his interviews a number of the children that he talked to whose stories are told in the book died it was disease or crime fires and there's. The back of the book, a list of the children who passed away while Colts was writing the book. He called the book Amazing Grace because he said, I expect to hear from adults but I don't expect to hear from children and what I heard from these children in the Bronx was amazing Grace. And then Colts Colts said two things that are just stayed in my mind. One is he said these American children do not yet know that their country does not love them. And the other thing, Colt said in the book Is America does not listen to its children? There is a story about listening the children in Mathew chapter twenty-one just only place in the whole Bible with the stories told for many years I didn't even know the story was there that it's a striking story we expect this children be out playing but they are actually talking about amazing grace and we expect the adults and story to be talking about amazing grace but they are actually complaining about the choice It takes place in the context of what we call the triumph. The first eleven verses of Matthew Chapter Twenty-one Jesus makes his way from the mount of Olives down the side riding on the back of a donkey to the acclaim of all the people in Jerusalem and then he goes into the temple and we have these verses. This is Matthew Twenty-one verses twelve and thirteen and Jesus entered the temple of God and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of. Who sold pigeons, he said to them it is written my house shall be called a House of prayer that you make it a den of robbers when Jesus entered that large courtyard of the temple, which was intended for other uses he was he was he was upset because uh it was filled with commercialization have been turned into a shopping mall and so Jesus quotes Isaiah 56, He says. This is to be a place of prayer and then he quotes. Seven the Temple sermon Jeremiah standing almost in the same place. Jesus was and Jeremiah says, but you've made it a den of robbers and Jesus stops. the commercialization cleanses the temple and chases out the people and then this verse fourteen and the blind and the lame came to him came to Jesus in the temple and he healed them. apparently the lame. A blind maybe even the children had told Jesus that they couldn't get into the temple. It was too fair with people buying and selling and so Jesus cleanse the temple. once the temple was cleansed. The lame and the blind came in to the temple and Jesus was able to minister to them. There was room to do that and then and then these verses verse beginning in verse fifteen, but when the chief priest and describes all the wonderful things that he Jesus did and the. Crying out in the temple Hosanna to the son of David they the religious leaders were indignant. They said to Jesus to him do you hear what these are saying and Jesus said to them yes if you never read out of the mouth of babes and sucklings you have brought perfect praise so Jesus makes us trying for entering into Islam cleanses the temple the lane the blank community heals them and then the children come into the temple and the children are say Hosanna to the son of David Hosanna to the son of David and the empty courtyard of the Temple. Hosanna is an interesting word. It's a Hebrew word that's been translated into English. It's like Hallelujah or Amen, but unlike Hallelujah, Amen, which are used extensively in the bible and even extensively in our churches. The word Hosanna is not used very often in the Bible once twice in the Old Testament and in these stories in the Gospels. And seldom used in our churches. Hosanna comes from Psalm 118. It's a Hebrew word that means save us. I pray save us. I pray and so the children come in to the temple shouting Hosanna to the son of David Save us. I pray save us, I pray. Some have wondered how did the children know this rather obscure word. Some suggest that the children were there uh at the triumphal entry. and if you read that story about the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, it's in all four Gospels, there are seven things that people say is Jesus makes his entry into the temple and one of the things that the adults say is hosanna to the son of David. So some people think that the children were there on the mount of Olives as Jesus made his entry and that's where they learn that line and when they came to the came to the temple, they repeated Hos. To the son of David, I say no that these children that came into the temple. they are the sons and the daughters of the land and the blind every morning. the little boy would get up and take his blind father to the temple or try to get into the temple in order to be ministered to the little girl would get up and take her aunt or a mother who who is lame into the temple to be ministered to and these children in the temple heard this line Hosanna to the son of David and that's why they repeat it. Still, others say that God sent these children to the temple with this message save us. I pray the son of David. The chief priest and the religious leaders are upset. These are the people who control the temple they determine when the what the hours are. they control the budget uh they're in charge of the order of service. These are the the people who have authority at the temple and they're upset with what's going on. In fact, the text says that they are indignant indignant that word indignant used five times in the New Testament twice in connection with children. Mark Chapter Ten is the other occasion. the disciples are trying to keep the children away from Jesus. And Jesus is indignant here. The children are coming to Jesus and the religious leaders are indignant. And so the religious leaders ask Jesus, the question. Do you hear what these children are saying Jesus Do you hear these children shouting Hosanna to the son of David Jesus. Are you listening to the children? Clear statements anywhere in the Bible, Jesus says. Yes, I hear what the children are saying I hear them shouting Hosanna to the son of David. I am listening to the children. Jesus quote, Psalm eight third verse of Scripture is quoted in this little story. Psalm eight begins by saying that we can see the Majesty of God and the things that have been made us the seashore of sunrise snowstorm and then it quickly says that we can also hear the Majesty of God and the things children say it's almost like Jesus putting the question back to the religious leaders. Are you listening to the children? do? Hear them saying Hosanna to the son of David are you are you aware of what the children are saying? Where is the striking story don't place that this found in the Bible what what we learn from them what what are they take aways two thoughts one is in dealing with children Jesus clearly indicates that he listens to children he heard this children and then secondly he made room he cleansed the temple and made room even in his own life for the children Listened and he made room listened and made room. It seems like that example, is a good guideline for us today for those of us who have uh relationship with children or as parents or grandparents or relatives or school teachers, Sunday school teachers, Whatever whatever uh we might ask ourselves am I listening to these children, not just their request for a cookie, but their spiritual request the spiritual things on their hearts and they are. Room not just giving them a bedroom in the house, but are we making room in our spiritual lives and the lives of of our life of our family for these children? are we listening and making room? And perhaps it's also a guideline uh for our churches. Our churches are filled with children. this churches many children normally we have Sunday school classes and we will return to that again shortly, but are we are we listening to the children in our churches? Do we do we hear their spiritual needs? Are we aware of where they are and are we making room not just a Sunday school classroom, but are they part of the budget? are they are they part of the thinking? are they? The programming and the and the calendar of the schedule of the church, are we listening and make room making room. And then there are the children who live all around our church buildings. Thousands of children. Most of them do not go to church anywhere are the ways we can listen to those children to hear their cries to hear their spiritual questions and are we willing to. Room slide over make a spot in our churches in our hearts for those children, listen and make room. When I first became aware of the story, I thought this is my story. Uh I'm in this text, I grew up in a unchurched to I never saw my parents pray read the Bible. We went to church two or three times through my whole childhood. I never was talk to bed at night with a bedtime story with a prayer. and when I got in fifth sixth grade, I had I had the spiritual questions. these nagging questions about God and I had no idea where to turn. I don't know where to get answers to those questions and it was almost as if God. To Mildred Stutzman, the wife of a cabbage farm. And the new preacher in town Ray Beggs and a preacher from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Nearby City. uh named Larry Steinberg and II was in Mildred S's uh sixth grade vacation Bible school class didn't go to church and where it went to VBS and after class she'd heard what I was saying in class and the questions I was asking and she took me aside, she said. I teach a class on Sunday morning for the same children. would you come? She listened to me six grader? And then after a couple of weeks in class, she came to me and she said, Would you be willing to come to lunch at our house after church on Sunday and she made room, she listened and she made room and the church hired a new preacher. Beggs and I don't know what the first thing he did when he moved into town. but we lived in the same neighborhood as the church building in the Parsonage and the first thing I know that he did was he knocked on the door of our house and he asked to talk to Harold and he. To me and then, he said, I'm starting a class on Wednesday night for teenagers. I was in seventh grade, then would you come to my class listened and he made room where I went to Christian camp and there was the preacher from Pittsburgh from one of the large churches Steinberg. I didn't know him. He didn't know me, but he listened to me and we got involved in these conversations and and I was able to explore some things with Larry and then after I got home I. A letter in the mail and he invited me to come to his house in Pittsburgh and stay in my, he listened and he made room. Om two initials and then BAKE Norwegian theologian lives in Norway, married as a wife and three children, and he he's a church historian and his expertise is in the backgrounds of the early church and it talks about how uh the Romans would abort babies and how they. Would take children and put them into sex slavery and he talks about the process of exposure How in a Roman family they had 8 days before they decide whether to name the child or put it on the trash sheep and expose it and allow it to die. And he deals with when those practices stopped and why they stopped and really the answer is the title of his book when children became people. Says that those practices in the Roman Empire stopped because Jesus Christ listened and made room for children. The church followed Jesus guidelines there, and yet those practices were deeply ingrained in the Roman Empire that didn't stop easily. Constantine was the first Christian to be Emperor. The Roman Empire early third century and one of his successors Valentin was another Christian Roman Emperor and on March, the fourth 384 a din. Find an Egypt in the law. Said exposure was illegal And it was all because of Jesus Christ. And what happened was the Roman family still had children. They didn't want that that practice was hard to stop and so instead of taking their children and exposing them on the trash what they did was, they started taking the children they didn't want and leaving them on the threshold of the church. Because they knew the Christians would take care of the children. Listen