Dear God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and feet and work through them; take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire for you. Amen
Little Johnny had been misbehaving and was sent to his room. He emerged a couple minutes later and informed his mother that he had thought things over and had even said a little prayer. The mother was very happy and said, “If you asked God to help you not misbehave, He will help you.” To which Johnny replied, “Oh, I didn’t ask Him for help with that, I asked Him to help you put up with me.”
Kids say the darnedest things… That sounds like a good name for a TV show. You can always depend on a child giving you an honest answer to ANY question you might have, little children haven’t usually been taught the art of tactfulness. Sometimes they make us laugh and sometimes they frustrate us so much it makes want to pull what’s left of our hair out, and I don’t even have kids yet. Then again I know many adults who frustrate me in much the same way. I know Jesus had to feel that kind of frustration with the Disciples.
Jesus was in Judea walking along the road when a crowd gathered around him and this was nothing unusual. Jesus begins to teach the people when they are interrupted by some children who wanted to see Jesus, but before they could get to Jesus the Disciples stopped them and began to scold them. Now not a few days earlier Jesus had gathered the 12 around him and told them that if they welcome a child then they welcome Jesus and not just Jesus but God as well and here they are not welcoming but fussing about these kids. I can just imagine Jesus wanting to slap his foreheads and cry out “Were you not here a few days ago when I told you about welcoming the child, were you not listening? Come on Guys, it’s not a hard concept to get!” But instead of getting steamed Jesus takes this once again as a teaching moment, in other words the disciples had once again messed up and now Jesus was going to teach them what they did wrong. Jesus says “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” The Kingdom of God belongs to the children and if we want a part of that kingdom we must receive it like a child. We remember from last week that a child in those days was a nobody, a non-person and if we want to inherit God’s kingdom then we have to receive it like a child, a nobody, non-person. What does that mean? How can we do that? I mean how can we, now that we have all grown up, be expected to receive something like a child?
Do you remember Christmas as a child? You’re Christmases might not be as great as some, but do you remember receiving a gift as a child? I remember waking up on Christmas morning to a living room full of toys and all the stuff I had wanted and I was so excited to get them. I couldn’t by them for myself, I didn’t have a job, I had hinted and asked and even begged sometimes to get all the shiny toys, gadgets, and gizmos because that was the only way I could get them. The same can be said about the kingdom of God. We have to receive it like a child because we can’t pay for it on our own. We are dependent to receive it, just as a child is dependent on someone to get toys and clothes, and even food. We are dependent and we must humble ourselves to act accordingly.
We want to do everything ourselves. We don’t need no stinkin’ owner’s manual we can do it ourselves. We don’t need to ask for directions, we can do it ourselves, I don’t need help moving that TV I can do it myself, these are famous last words, right? We live in a culture that encourages a strong work ethic and that is good to a point, but it also means that most of us don’t want to admit when we can’t do something. It’s humbling to ask for help, you can’t be high and mighty and ask someone to do something that you can’t do for yourself.
So it is with the kingdom of God. We can work, work, work but it doesn’t help. We can’t do it on our own. We try, O boy do we try, but no matter how good we are we can’t receive God’s kingdom without admitting that we can’t get it on our own, because it’s a gift. It’s so big that only God can give it to us and God does offer it to us, freely no strings attached. When Jesus said we have to receive it like a child it meant that we had to admit to ourselves that just like a child on Christmas morning we can’t get this gift on our own.
Another thing about Christmas morning and gift opening is that it isn’t as a joyful experience as adults. We get gifts but as adults we can most things on our own with our own money and so it’s nice but it’s not the same excitement like when we were kids. I remember ripping open wrapping paper like a rabid wolverine and dancing around the room like a wild person when I saw that I got what I wanted. If we are going to receive the kingdom of God like a child then we have to receive it joyfully. Joy is something missing in a lot of churches. We sing joyful songs rather drably, with a monotone voice. We walk around in a hum drum lives barely smiling at the person we pass on the street. If we have receive this kingdom of God, which we can get on our own because it’s beyond our grasp but it is still given to us as a great gift, then we should be happy and joyful as little kids on Christmas morning hopped up on hot chocolate and Christmas cookies. We had to receive it joyfully and spread that joy to all those around us, but joy is wonderfully contagious. People around us will begin to see our joy and want it for themselves. That is receiving the kingdom of God like a child, we receive it freely, because we can’t get it one our own and we receive it joyfully because God loves us so much that despite the fact we can’t get it for ourselves, God gives it to us without strings.
We buy gifts for people because we think they will like them and we want them to use them. We spend days, weeks, or even months trying to pick out the perfect gift for that special someone, a gift they will use all the time. We do this because we don’t want to see our gift that we worked hard to pick out on the shelf in the closet never being used, or worse re-gifted to someone else. The same is true with God and the gift of the kingdom. God wants us to take this gift and use it. The kingdom of God is not like an earthly kingdom with lands and castles, but it is redemption, acceptance, and forgiveness. The kingdom of God is the gift of reconnection with God. We take this gift and use it in the world. We are reconnected and so we see things in a different way. We see the differences between the teachings of Christ and the teachings of the society in which we live. We have to reach out to those who are hurting, we have to feed those who are hungry, help those who are in need in anyway we can. The kingdom of God is not just simply a ticket into heaven but it is power to do something while we are here on earth.
A few weeks ago we talked about the vision for our church. A vision that states that we want to create a Christian home for all that desire a place at the table of God. By doing this then we are taking the gift of God and using it not just sitting back on the sidelines but strapping our armor of God and getting in the game.
Receiving the kingdom of God like a child, it’s not easy, we have to be humble because we accept it freely, and we cannot do anything to earn it. We receive it joyfully. This is God’s way of reconnecting with us, accepting us, and forgiving us, that is reason enough to be joyful. Finally we have to take what we have received and use it in the world.
We teach our children a lot. We are examples and role models for them. In this case however, we see that it is the child that becomes the role model for us, through the example of children we become children of God.
Let us pray…
Grant, O Lord,
that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts,
and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
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