Sermon for February 23rd, 2025

Mark 9:33-37

33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. 35 He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” 36 Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

Romans 15:2-7

2Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor. 3 For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, 6 so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Catholics have Mother Theresa. The Baptists have Billy Graham. And Presbyterians have Mr. Rogers. Though you might never have realized it just from watching his show, Fred Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian Pastor, who went to Pittsburgh Seminary where he studied theology, Hebrew, Greek, and all the things I had to study in order to become a pastor.

During his time in seminary, he also studied education and childhood development, through the University of Pittsburgh--and that's something that makes our annual celebration of Mr. Rogers life and legacy deeply personal to me. In addition to watching Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood as a child (like so many of us did), my "other" career before seminary, and my "other" degree while at seminary was in education and child development. Some of the most meaningful work I get to do as your pastor revolves not around Sunday morning (although I like that too!) but the work I get to do with our scouting programs, with Kids-N-Co, with the students in our school, in weekly chapel services where I get to introduce them to my make-believe friends, like Ebenezer the Pet Rock, Horseytorix, Tommy Otamatone, and of course, Calvin the Camel.

Fred Rogers knew that children will often open up to and connect with a puppet, a toy, or an imaginary friend, in a way that would be difficult with an adult. He knew that imagination, role-playing, and make-believe are valuable experiences for children, and once said that, "For children, play is serious learning. Play is a way to cope with life and to prepare for adulthood. Playing is a way to solve problems and to express feelings. In fact, play is the real work of childhood."

I agree with him...but I also think (and Mr. Rogers would probably agree) that play and imagination are important for grown-ups, too. Jesus taught his disciples using parables, make-believe characters and yes, even talking animals like sheep and goats. Here at First Presbyterian church, we often say that we are a church for "wanderers, wonderers, and wisdom-seekers." It's a reminder that maintaining a child-like sense of wonder is the pathway (often a wandering pathway) that leads us to wisdom.

Everything that Mr. Rogers did--from the title of his famous show "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood" to the iconic song "Won't you be my neighbor--focused on this idea of what it meant to be a neighbor and part of a community, a neighborhood.

Jesus also spent a considerable amount of time talking about neighbors and neighborhoods. He taught that the greatest commandments were to love God and love your neighbor. On the surface, that doesn't sound too hard, right? Just love the person who lives right next door to you. You can still hate everyone else!

But when Jesus' disciples asked him who exactly counted as a neighbor, he told them a story--the story of the good samaritan--where he basically expanded the whole category of "neighbor" to include unlikely and unexpected people: those dreaded samaritans that the people of Israel didn't like very much.

In the same way, Fred Rogers constantly used his television show to subtly push and expand our idea of what (and who) a neighbor is: He welcomed into his "neighborhood" Jeff Erlanger--a disabled boy in a wheelchair--and Margaret Hamilton, the actress who played the "Wicked Witch of the West" in the Wizard of Oz movie. One of the recurring guests on his show was Officer Clemmons, played by real-life actor and opera singer Francois Clemmons--a gay black man. In the 1960s, a time when many public swimming pools were still segregated, Mr. Rogers and Officer Clemmons waded into a plastic kiddie-pool as friends, setting an example of kindness and welcome for the adults who watched with their children.

As radical and subtle as his approach to adults and world issues was, however, Fred Rogers main audience was always children--especially those children that otherwise might not have been seen, heard, or appreciated. In this, he also resembled Jesus, who, when his disciples were arguing about who was the greatest among them (as adults often do, even today) lifted up a small child in his arms and said, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

Near the start of his career, when Fred Rogers had finished his seminary coursework and was preparing to be ordained as a minister, the Presbytery (the local governing body for Presbyterian churches) made an interesting and unique decision. Rogers had already been working in television, and had already taped some of the earliest episodes of his show. So instead of ordaining Rogers as the pastor of a traditional church congregation, they ordained him instead as an evangelist -- to be a pastor to the children and families across the nation in his television audience.

Interestingly, this means that Mr. Rogers was, technically speaking, one of the very first (and in my opinion very best) televangelists. And it means that if you watched (and loved) his show as a child, you had a Presbyterian pastor long before you ever walked through the doors of this building or any other Presbyterian church.

And so day in, day out right up until the end of his life, Fred Rogers preached the gospel of God's love for all people, the core Christian message of loving your neighbor as yourself, while rarely ever specifically mentioning God, Jesus, or the Bible. And there is something quite quintessentially Presbyterian in that sort of evangelism.

Presbyterians don't have altar calls. We don't knock on doors, proselytize, or try to convert people to our religion by argument. We care far more about doing the things Christ actually did (loving each other, caring for each other) than whether or not people label themselves as Christians. We care more about what's going on in the world, and how we can help hurting people, than whether they are following all the rules and obscure bible passages that so many Christians seem to obsess over today.

One of the producers of Mr. Rogers television show summed up his approach this way: "If you take all the elements that make good television, and do the exact opposite, you have Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood: Low production values, simple set, unlikely star--yet it worked, because he was saying something really important." I think there is a profound truth in that for the way we do church, and for the way we live our lives.

For what it's worth, Mr. Rogers would have said that the "unlikely star" of your show...is you. God always uses unlikely stars to advance his work in this world, in simple, meaningful ways.

I'm going to end the sermon today the way Mr. Rogers used to end many of his speeches, when he received awards or was invited to speak at graduation ceremonies. When the spotlight was on him, when he was being honored for all that he was and did, he would pause...look right at his audience, and tell them:

"From the time you were very little, you've had people who have smiled you into smiling, people who have talked you into talking, sung you into singing, loved you into loving. Let's just take some time to think of those extra special people. Some of them may be right here, some may be far away, some may even be in Heaven. No matter where they are, deep down you know they've always wanted what was best for you. They've always cared about you beyond measure, and have encouraged you to be true to the best within you. Would you just take, along with me, ten seconds to close your eyes and think of them right now? Ten secones of silence. I'll watch the time. May God be with you."