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Last post we looked at how the basic groundwork of youth ministry calls us to understand the truth that God gifts young people, calls young people and uses young people and therefore we must take seriously ministry to young people just as we take ministry to adults seriously. But as adults, ministry to other adults is often far easier to fathom. We inhabit the same world, often have similar or parallel life experiences to draw from in conversation. With young people though, we all too often feel at a loss. Their world seems so different, their experiences different than ours, and different than ours when we were in high school. How can we possible hope to relate?

In order to do successful ministry anywhere, we must be willing to follow in the steps of our Savior and become incarnate, or take on flesh, in the world of the people we are ministering to. Paul outlines what incarnational ministry should look like very clearly in his letter to the Philippians, chapter two. We then, as adults who are called to pour into youth, are to follow Jesus’ example in that he made himself nothing, (Phil 2:7) being found in the appearance of a man, (v. and was obedient. What does that mean in our world? He came into our world, assuming nothing. He emptied Himself of all His heavenly glory and authority to come into our world and meet us where we were. We, then, need to empty ourselves of all our “grown-up-ness,” meaning that we must go against the stereotypes youth have of other adults in their world as being aloof, uninterested in “kid things,” authoritarian, among others (but not implying that we have to then start acting like the kids). This doesn’t mean that we have to act like kids. We need to be comfortable with being adults, but not so hung up on it that we can’t be interested in what the youth are for the sake of showing interest in them.

Assuming nothing also means taking on those pesky insecurities that we have that are so easy to sort of take out on the youth in the form of unnecessarily displaying knowledge to the disadvantage of the youth (e.g. making the kid feel stupid for not knowing something). All of these things are potential barriers to adults being able to enter the world of the youth.

Therefore, because of this, we have to consciously empty ourselves, and not consider our current position as something to be grasped (Jesus “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped (Phil 2:6)). Rather, we must let go of it and become obedient unto death (v.8)—death to ourselves, death to our pride, death to our insecurities—so that by our death, the youth in our sphere of influence might be exposed to life through Christ. In order to come across in the right spirit to these youth when we enter their world, we must have the mindset of a servant, the “very nature of a servant” (Phil 2:7).

Two other things that are important to notice are these: when Jesus came to earth, He came to earth and He came to earth. The first involves motion, the second location. He moved from where He was, but this move was more than moving from the sanctuary to the youth room, He came to where humans were, and not just the clean, nice-smelling respectable humans, but also to the blind, the beggars, the tax collectors, the lepers, the prostitutes, in short, the unwanted, the “unclean,” the outcasts. Hence, it is not enough to be seen in the youth room of our church on a regular basis, though this is important. But we must also be seen in the malls, in the libraries, on the school campuses, at the talent shows, the basketball games, and anywhere else that youth gather. We must go because the vast majority of them will never come to us while we remain safely ensconced in the neat, clean youth rooms (okay, so somewhat clean and neat) decorated with posters of Christian bands and having Veggie Tales marathons and worship services. This going forth, this living in the context in which the youth of today live, this is incarnational ministry, the kind of ministry that points young people to the reconciling power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I’ve been thinking recently about how to listen to sermons, and I imagine that both we and our young people struggle with this, too. I grew up in a tradition that valued expositional, verse-by-verse, 45-minute long preaching. These sermons were long but pretty easy to follow. There was information being handed out, so it was best to take notes.

When I went to seminary, I got introduced to the tight, well-written, 20-minute sermon. These were short-too short to take notes, really. I found it best to sit back and experience the sermon, and they usually packed a punch.

Since becoming an Episcopalian, I’ve had to struggle to come to terms with the loose, extemporized 10-15-minute homily. In comparison to my previous experiences, trying to follow an Episcopal sermon is like being “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind” in the priest’s head (cf. Eph. 4:14). What’s a parishioner to do other than suffer? The sermon is too short to take notes for content. The sermon is often too diffuse to experience in any kind of meaningful way.

Well, I decided to try to split the difference between note-taking and experience. I take notes now, but I only look for three things: One Gift, One Hindrance, One Task.

One Gift: As diffuse as any sermon might be, the priest is probably speaking about or around something great God has done for us in Jesus Christ. This last week, the gift was “Jesus, the Lamb of God, comes to us.” When I’m looking for the gift of the sermon, I’m looking for a sentence that stars God the Trinity or a Person of the Trinity doing something on our behalf.

One Hindrance: Or, “one sin.” Look for something in the sermon that specifically addresses your need for God. This might be brought into focus by reflection on the Gift. What keeps you from accepting that Gift? What problem in your life does that Gift specifically address? It’s important to be specific here, because that will aid us later in the service.

One Task: It’s a recurrent theme in Scripture that God blesses God’s people so that they, in turn, might be a blessing to others. Most sermons have an ethical edge, but that edge is usually diffuse and abstract. Take one of those ideas and wrestle it down to the ground so that, by the end of the sermon, you have something tangible to do in response to God’s gift. Mine last week was “Listen for opportunities to minister in other people’s lives.” It’s been an interesting week!

Now, the really neat thing is that these tie directly into and are reinforced by the liturgy. First up is the General Confession of Sin. In the silence between the bidding and the communal prayer, confess that Hindrance you identified and then receive the absolution with joy. Next, when you receive Eucharist, take it as an opportunity to receive with thanks the Gift of God given you in the sermon. Finally, have your Task in mind at the Benediction and the Dismissal and accept those words as God’s blessing and empowerment for the task.

Then, go in peace to love and serve the Lord!

Nooma video #17 is now available, and #18 should come out in November!

Nooma 017 Today: How much time and energy do we spend wishing things were how they used to be? We often think about times in our past when things were different and want our lives to be like that again. Some of us have even come to believe that our best days may actually be behind us. But if we’re in some way hung up on the past, what does that mean for our lives now? How are we and those around us affected if we’re are not fully present? If we’re longing for the way things used to be, what does that really say about our understanding and appreciation of our lives today? Maybe we need to learn to embrace our past for what it is, in order to live our lives to the fullest, right here, right now.

Nooma 018 Name: We all compare ourselves to others. Some of us even wish we were someone else. But why are we so concerned with what other people think, say, or look like? Maybe if we really knew our true selves, we wouldn’t focus so much on other peoples’ lives and live more in tune with the life God wants for us. The NOOMA series is comprised of short films with communicators that really speak to us. Each NOOMA touches on issues that we care about, that we want to talk about, and it comes in a way that fits our world.

The space the youth meet in speaks volumes to them, even though they don’t realize it. What they are looking for is not what you say you value, but what you show them you value, so if your youth space is cluttered and not set up for the worship time, no matter what you try to teach about valuing worship, your space says that you don’t.

This generation of youth has a different concept of what “true” is… “True” is what you live, not what you say, so no matter how much Biblical truth you teach them, if you’re not striving to live into it yourself, then they won’t see it as “true.” This goes far beyond any sort of post-modern denial of absolute truth, and is actually very biblical. I think in fact this concept is an embodiment of what James was talking about when he asks the believers he’s writing to: “What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?” (James 2:14).

So, if the youth space is full of games, and arranged to make room for those, while the worship space is an afterthought, then the message recieved is that this youth ministry is all about the games.

Don’t get me wrong, games are important to community-building, but you don’t want that to be the focal point of your entire ministry.

Also, simply setting up your space as a classroom takes away from the worship element. I’m not saying it has to look like a mini-church, but churches are set up, when done well, to communicate the value of the sacred in the space. It’s a place where we can set aside the worries of our week and dedicate some time to the worship of our awesome God in the middle of a community of believers, and our youth worship spaces should do the same.

The games is just one example… walk into your youth room and ask yourself what is the focal point of the room? If you didn’t know this was a youth space at a church, what would the room tell you it was used for if you had stumbled across it out of context?

If we as youth workers are dedicated to being on a journey with the kids, to being in community with them, then our spaces need to show it…