April 1, 2020
Mark 10:13-22
13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” 20 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
Ten years separate me from my youngest, older brother. This means that as a wee lad, I was often outside of the conversations and discussions going on. My older siblings and my parents would be conversing about something, like where we would go on vacation, what was going on with the family, decisions regarding important matters. I was often excluded because as a little tyke, what could I offer to the discussion and if the topic of conversation was serious perhaps even deathly serious, I was not even allowed in the room.
So too was it with the disciples and children. In Mark, people were bringing their children to Jesus in order that he might touch them and bless them, and the disciples were shooing them away. We are not really told the reasons why the disciples did this, perhaps a wanting to keep Jesus for themselves, or even his blessings for themselves, perhaps they thought that this was an adult matter, exclusively for those responsible enough to hear and understand the topics of conversation. Whatever the reason we are not told, but they wanted to keep the kids away from Jesus.
Jesus becomes irate, indignant; he gets
downright mad at his disciples because they are keeping the children away from
him. The children are coming to him and
accepting him, but the disciples are pushing them away, perhaps until they grow
up. Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to
such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.
The Kingdom of God
belongs to such as these children. The Kingdom
is not an exclusive club or group or social fraternity or sorority, keeping the
young people out until they grow up or wise up.
No Jesus explains the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
But, even more severe than just allowing the kids to come near and toddle over,
and ask incessantly ending questions, Jesus doesn’t just allow their presence,
he tells the adults they need to become kids again. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive
the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”
Kids have the advantage over adults, they even are better at something than
grownups are. Faith. A little child must depend on their
caregivers for every need. Someone else
must provide, someone else must cook and clean, someone else must clean their
scrapes, and buy their clothes. So, a
child knows all about faith in another, because they have no choice but to
trust and depend on someone else to take care of them.
Perhaps as adults we have forgotten that. We grow up to provide for ourselves and we should responsibly do so. We grow up to cook and clean and tend our own houses and we should responsibly do so. We grow up to trust and provide and heal ourselves, and we should probably do so. But with no surprise, we grow up trusting in ourselves and we have no room for trusting in God; like the rich man, who had followed the law since he was young, and who had many possessions. With a life so full of himself and so full of stuff, how could he trust in God? When the times became tough, he had his obedience and his bank account, but he had no room for God because he didn’t need God.
My friends, we find ourselves in a peculiar place. Everything we as a nation, as a people and as a church have put our trust in, except God, has been taken away from us. We placed out trust in money, and in a flash, the stock market has crashed, our retirements are gone and all we have left is God. We placed our trust in our politicians, and in a flash many, not all, have shown their true colors, trying to keep their jobs instead of doing their jobs, and all we have left is God. We have placed our trust in science, and in a flash, the scientists are scrambling for a cure, and I hope they find one, but they will still be powerless to resurrect the hundreds of thousands of corpses, and all we have left is God. We have placed our trust in actors/actresses, athletes and musicians, only to find out of their mortality, as even they in vulnerability hide in their mansions and even get sick, and all we have left is God. And when it all is gone and we are stuck alone with ourselves in quarantine, all we will have left is God.
We will have become like little children again. Little children dependent on and requiring the care of our Heavenly Father. And as we see revealed in Jesus Christ, then is when God will take us up in his arms, lay his hands on us, and blessed us. Because we will have become little children again, and all we will have is God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The money will be gone, but we will still have God. The power will be gone, but we will still have God. The fame will be gone, but we will still have God. The knowledge will be gone, but we will still have God. The life will be gone, but we will still have God. It can all fall away, but we will still have God; because God is faithful and mighty.
My friends, what if we can still find a silver lining amid the black clouds. What if all of the things in our lives that steal us away from God have been quickly taken away from us, so that in our hour of need, we might be returned to our true humanity: creatures trusting in their Creator. I beg you not to worry about the things that have been lost, but instead to see the one thing, the most important thing that we have gained. While we might have the lost the things of the world, we now, like children, can truly enter the Kingdom of God. Let us not go back, let us instead enter in. Amen.
Prayer
O Loving and Holy God, we thank you for creating and sustaining us and for your love that will never let us go. Help us through the Spirit of your Son Jesus, to accept your rule and your Kingdom, as children trusting and depending on you instead of all the things that might have been taken away from us. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
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