Saturday, June 20th, 2009

Mark 10:13-16
And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

The kingdom of heaven is not for grownups. Is this what this passage is saying? In many ways, I think it really is. Grownups are interesting people. We would say that we are realistic, have a good grasp on reality, do not live in a dream world, nor are we weak minded and believe everything that we hear. We as grownups tend to think that the relational distractions are just that, having little children bug us, get in the way of our tasks, and prevent us from doing what is really important.

But it seems in this passage that God's wants worshippers to be people who act and think like little children. So what does this mean? Does it mean that we have to be silly all the time? Does it mean that we have to live life carefree and without worrying about all the tasks? No it doesn't mean this. What it means is that our faith, our belief in God must be and must have its basis in love and devotion to Christ without distraction. Just as the little children ran to Jesus and wanted to be held in his arms, we need to be like little children and find our joy and happiness in our relationship with Jesus. In other words, we need to value our personal walk with Jesus.

Small children tend to find their joy and happiness in their relationship with their parents. Find a child who has awful parents and find a miserable, lonely, not very child-like child. But, find a child who has parents that love, nurture, want to spend time with them, and teach them, and you will find a child who is happy, who finds all his or her joy in this relationship. Children when they are loved do not doubt that love of their parents, but rather they assume and they live in it in a real, meaningful way.

So you see, when the disciples said that Jesus is not to be bothered by children, Jesus became indignant. He was not happy at all with them. Because Jesus knew that faith in God, and a desire to be with God and in God only comes when that relationship with him is primary and most important of all. So then Jesus using this example, told the disciples that the kingdom of heaven must be full of people who's minds and relationships with him are full of child-like, devotion, desire and passion for Christ.

Without this basic love and passion for Jesus in a personal relationship, the coldness, deadness and preciseness of the adult world and the adult-like relationships is not truly a real relationship, but rather, a calculated thought process on what the relationship will give me. The adult concept is extremely self-centered, and not God-centered. So, as an adult, I must be like a child. I must give myself completely and wholly to my relationship with Jesus. I must treat the Father the same way as I treated my Father when I was a child, which was relying and believing every single word that He said, and knowing how sad and disappointing it was to live outside of all of these things that he expected of me and desired for me.

So being like a child then is love, devotion, trust, desire and obedience because I know that I am dependent upon my Father. So this is what Jesus was saying and telling the disciples. Not that adults can't get to heaven, but rather that adults must live in their relationship with God as children live in their relationships with God and others.

Oh Father, my own heart gets so proud and arrogant. I think that I know what is right and true in all cases. I find myself living and believing and acting like an adult who thinks that he knows everything. I so often fail and sin against you by trying to run and live and grow in my own strength. As a child knows his or her weakness, and knows that he or she can't provide for themselves in their own power. Let me love and know you in such a way that rely on you for all things, in all things, and know that in my own power I am a failure and I can't come to you. So I need your Spirit, I need your power, I need your love and I need your forgiveness today. Let me be happy in Jesus this morning, knowing that he obeyed all, he paid all, and he gave all for me, so let me know and understand my true standing before you, and let me obey all, give all and pay all in my life to you. Let it be a continual offering of praise and love for you. Because I can't do this on my own. I need to be like a child. I need the Holy Spirit to make me like a child. In Christ, amen.