My children’s message from the 16th Sunday after Pentecost (September 28, 2025)
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So it’s my tradition after the prayer of the day to bring a message to all of God’s children. And I brought with me a book. As you might know, I’m a bit of a nerd. I like comic books, playing card games, reading fantasy and science fiction, and more. The stories I read about these far off and fantastical places have a way of inviting me to think deeper about the world we’re living in today. And so, a while ago, I got this book – Marvel’s Fantastic First – to read the very first appearances of superheroes such as Spider-man, Iron Man, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four. These superheroes have been around for decades and we now have the opportunity to see them acted out in movies and tv shows. But before that, they were merely pictures and panels on a comic book page.
One of these superhero groups – the Fantastic Four – first came out in 1961. Some of your grandparents might have been able to go down to the local drug store and, for 10 cents, buy their own copy of the story. The Fantastic Four is a story about a family who, after flying into space, end up developing all kinds of strange powers. One ends up being able to turn their entire body into flame, flying through the air like a torch. Another gets incredible strength but their body is changed so that it looks like they’re made out of large orange rock. Another can stretch their body, arms, and legs. But the very first superhero we are introduced to is a woman named Susan Storm.
As you can see – she can make her body invisible. She leaves a room without anyone noticing and zooms down the street, pushing people out of the way, so they think they’re being harassed by a ghost. She even goes into a taxi cab that drives her around for a bit without the driver even realizing it. Imagine – for a moment – what it would like to be invisible. What if, suddenly, you could make it so no one could see you? What would you do right now? Where would you go? Accept answers.
It’s pretty wild to think about what we might do if no one could see us. We might imagine we could do all kinds of things that we usually can’t – like sneak into the kitchen and take extra candy from the cupboard even though our parents say no. And while we might think that’s the kind of stuff we – or those around us might do – I’m pretty sure if we could turn ourselves invisible, like really do it, we’d probably think long and hard about what we should do. Being able to go into spaces where no one can see us – and where we decide no one can see is – would be a powerful thing. But I also imagine we all know what it’s like to go into a place and feel as if we really are invisible. Maybe we’re playing kickball at school – and we get picked last or are not picked at all. Maybe we’re sitting at the lunch table and watch all our friends sit somewhere else. Maybe we’re raising our hands in class to answer a question – but the teacher calls the person sitting next to us. There are times when our parents and guardians are super busy and they act like they don’t see us or that we don’t matter. Everyone feels this way at some point or the other. And while it would be really powerful to make ourselves invisible when we want to – it’s so hard, sad, and scary when we feel invisible while standing in a room full of people.
Which is why the story Jesus tells today is, I think, important. He talks about a rich man who spent his entire life acting as if a man named Lazarus didn’t exist. The rich man was wealthy, could buy whatever he wanted, and had all the best stuff. Lazarus, though, didn’t – and instead of seeing, noticing, and helping the one who didn’t have enough – he acted as if Lazarus didn’t exist. In fact, he assumed Lazarus was supposed to pay attention to him, to honor him, to serve him since he acted as if those without money are supposed to always honor and serve the rich. Yet Jesus reminds us that we have a responsibility to make sure no one is invisible. We have to do the work of learning their stories, learning their names, and discovering what they think about themselves. We have to notice all the ways we act as if people are invisible and change what we do. We have to invite those on their own to sit with us at the lunch table, hang out at the buddy bench, and even pick the player who can’t play kickball to be part of our team. Jesus wants us to see those around us because Jesus – even now – sees you. He loves you. He is with you. He has, through baptism and faith, promised you will always belong. And so if Jesus doesn’t let us feel invisible, than we can respond by showing others how they’re not invisible too.