Whenever I hear special attempts to communicate with children during worship eschewed on the grounds that it possibly compromises the God-centered focus of Reformed worship, I cringe with sorrow. Why must a special attempt to communicate with children be man-centered?

To my mind, nothing is more consis­tent with Reformed worship. Reformed worship is response to the speaking God; it centers in the Word of God. It presumes that we speak to him, be­cause he first spoke to us. We rever­ence God and are in awe of him, be­cause he renewed that capacity in us through the grace of his son.

Sophistication not a Priority⤒🔗

God is a communicator. Because he has chosen — for reasons that defy our capability to understand — to set his love on us redemptively, we cry out "Abba, Father!" How wonderful and tender is that communication, meeting us where we are in life! We bow before him who sets his glory in the heavens and yet has such loving concern that he ordains from the lips of the most help­less humans (infants and children — Psalm 8) a symphony of praise that sty­mies and silences his enemies. He speaks to us in terms that we under­stand so that we can respond in joyous and loving worship.

Reformed people worship the be­nign and benevolent Father who is tenderly intent on communicating his love to each of his children. The sophis­ticated are not preferred over the simple, nor the intelligent over the igno­rant. And when the Lord himself deliv­ers a sermon, he shows great impa­tience with disciples who don't think children should receive any special at­tention. "He was indignant" (Mark 10:13-16). He took them in his arms and blessed them; didn't feel their restless interruptions an intrusion.

Rather than being entertainment for children, a service that especially ad­dresses them — and all others in the congregation whose capability is more limited than most of us Reformed "scholars"— magnifies that God! How does one praise God for his thoughts if he doesn't even understand them? Isn't it the function of the elders to ensure that they are understood by all whom God, in his covenantal love, has included in his community? "The prom­ise is to you and to your children" (Acts 2:39).

Israel's worship deeply respected the place God gave to children as well as the nature of worship. At least in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, the people and leaders did not practice enforced boredom by insisting on the presence of children incapable of understanding in the service (Nehemiah 8:2; 10:28). I sus­pect they had a greater sensitivity to that age where understanding takes place than we do. They believed it much more important that their parents who could understand be as undistract­ed as possible, so that they could gain as much as possible. The wiser the parent, the better the instruction of the children as their capacity to compre­hend developed.

Helping Children Understand←⤒🔗

When a child could understand, Israel's worship provided means that were specially adapted to help him grasp some of the realities of faith. Questions about the significance of cir­cumcision became the occasion to point the child to the Seed of Abraham who would be cut off out of the land of the living for the salvation of his people. The child began to participate annually in the great feast of redemption — the passover. The four questions which are asked at the beginning of this lengthy celebration of redemption have long been asked by the youngest child pre­sent capable of reciting them. Much of the discourse during the feast is di­rected to better help children under­stand.

Perhaps we Reformed need to re­examine our practice of excluding covenantal children from our com­munion services in light of this. Are not the covenantal sign and the covenantal feast God-given object lessons to pro­voke in adults and children questions that will lead them to the truth of re­demption, as much as they are affirma­tions of the redeemed?

There seems to be a resounding dearth of simple people in our circles; not too many bruised reeds or smolder­ing wicks get healed or reignited in our midst. Where are these who earmarked the Messiah's ministry (Luke. 4:18ff.)? What indictment awaits us as a church for this dearth? I have talked with cove­nant children who — apologetically but honestly — have told me that as soon as they are old enough to leave the roost, they will find another church. Why?

The God of our redemption knows our thoughts and meets them in terms we can understand so that we respond with praise to him. The point is not to pattern our services after Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, nor was that the point of any writers in the May, 1982 issue of New Horizons. The point is to be faith­ful to our speaking God and communi­cate! Fred Rogers is without rival when it comes to communicating with the newly learning. Fred must communi­cate with children and go to great lengths to do so. His heart is filled with love for them and for their educational needs. He thinks them very, very im­portant people.

Perhaps therefore, in the last anal­ysis, our failure to take time to com­municate the love of God to those struggling the hardest to understand betrays a lack of sharing in that love. We simply don't think that these who have a harder time understanding than most are that important, yet. Could it be?