Weaning

I am studying for Feb. 13th sermon on the text from Paul's letter to the church in Corinth: 1 Cor. 3:1-9. Paul indicates his great frustration at the fact that he still has to nurse these believers like little babies. There comes a time for us to wean out children, a time to comfort them by removing them from our breast. This is always a time of anxiety and includes some painful withdrawal symptoms, but it is necessary for growth. Ps. 131:2 puts it like this, "I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me." The psalmist has in mind that there is a comfort after the pain. Eugene Peterson puts it this way, "The transition from a sucking infant to a weaned child, from squalling baby to quiet son or daughter, is not smooth. It is stormy and noisy. It is a pitched battle. But, to the weaned child his mother is his comfort though she has denied him comfort. It is a blessed mark of growth out of spiritual infancy."1
How hard was it for you to grow up beyond your parents support? How hard is it for you with children who are older, to let go of them and allow them to grow up? I am writing this mostly to me as I am wrestling with this having 26, 21 and 20 year old children of my own. I ask for your prayers as I try to work this out. I pray for the church as we work this out with God. There is a time to grow up, and it is NOW! Let's move beyond our jealousy's and our division making. We may not be able to change others, but we are responsible for ourselves! Let's start there!
Dr. Fitz

1. Eugene H. Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society (Downers Grove: IVP Books, 2000), pp. 155-156.