Become Like Little Children
According to multiple surveys - Parents of school-age children will spend on average, for back-to-school shopping, anywhere from $498 - $850, per child. With as many kids as I have - yeah, that ain't happening. They're claiming that the amount spent nationally is over 32 billion dollars. That's a pretty good chunk of change - all for the purpose of getting our kids ready for the school year.
I would say that the amount of money spent could be one indicator of the high value that we place on our kids. Of course I say 'one indicator' - because that value we place on our kids can't really be measured in dollars. Back when I was in youth ministry - when we were preparing to head off for a week of Bible camp, or an out of town concert or event - I remember having a parent remind me of the responsibility I was carrying.
I would be transporting and responsible for her most precious and prized possession - her daughter. I remember intellectually understanding that, but it wasn't until I had kids of my own that I really understand the depth of that statement. For most decent human beings - our kids, our grandkids - we would do anything within our power for them. And most of us do - we sacrifice, we work, we do what it takes to provide a good life for them.
And then, those parents who are believers work and sacrifice to make sure our kids and grandkids are prepared for beyond just this life. We strive to make sure they have more than just a good life here - but that they have a relationship with Jesus for when this life is over. That really is the most important thing!
So I wanted to look this morning at a passage of scripture that reveals...
I. The value Jesus placed on children
This section starts with the disciples questioning 'who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven'. And based on other stories we read in the Bible - this was apparently not the only time they'd had this discussion. So I want to look at this passage as a whole and then break it down a bit to see what we can learn. Let's look at Matthew 18:1-14 (NIV)...
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" (2) He called a little child and had him stand among them. (3) And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (4) Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (5) And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.
(6) But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. (7) Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! (8) If your hand or your foot causes you to sin cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.
(9) And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. (10) See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
(12) What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? (13) And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. (14) In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost."
Jesus took the occasion of the disciple's questions to teach them once again. And He called a child to stand in front of these men and set this child up as an example for these adults to follow. I'm guessing that wasn't what the disciples expected. But one thing Jesus was teaching them was that He valued...
A. Humility
I want to read a section again and I want us to listen to it, imagining what the disciples may have been feeling. These adult men had previously cast out demons and healed people. They themselves had performed incredible miracles! They had been a part of Jesus feeding thousands with a few loaves and fish - yet this child was held up as an example of 'the greatest'. Let's look at that again...
Matthew 18:1-5 (NIV)
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" (2) He called a little child and had him stand among them. (3) And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (4) Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (5) And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me."
That had to be a bit of a punch in the gut! These men were focusing on all of their good accomplishments and Jesus tells them that if they do not change - that they will never enter the kingdom of Heaven! These were Jesus' closest followers, but He didn't pull any punches. He told them their lack of humility would put them at risk of losing out on Heaven. That's kind of a big deal!
We know that we're not saved by our good deeds - but only through grace in Jesus Christ! But apparently, a lack of humility is a massive obstacle to a person accepting that grace. And Jesus called His disciples to change - to repent - to become like this little, humble child.
In preparing this message, I did a little research into how the ancient Jewish culture viewed children. And what I found amazing - among the 'experts' - their opinions differed greatly. - Same history, same facts - extremely different views. Among the secular experts - those who did not have faith - they saw the Jewish people as being mean, treating children as property, viewing children as 'non-persons' without rights. But among believing historians - they saw the Jewish people as loving, as extremely protective of their children, a people who first and foremost taught them about God and His laws.
Why such different conclusions? Some saw it through a purely modern, 'enlightened' worldview. Others approached it humbly, as looking at a people seeking to please God first, rather than their own desires and plans. When you approach God humbly - your actions and values will be very different from the rest of the world and they won't always make sense.
Let's be frank here - we have this 'crazy message' about God coming down from Heaven in the flesh, dying on a cross, then coming back to life and promising He'll come back for us... someday. That requires a little humility, and a whole lot of faith to accept. - So many don't.
Statistics show that, in many people, faith in God decreases as their level of education increases. Why? It's not that education in itself is bad - but as people trust more in themselves and their own education and intelligence, they think more highly of themselves and 'faith in one's self' becomes the focus - rather than faith in a God they cannot empirically see. Education and accomplishments are not bad - but they can become an obstacle to humility. And it's humility that brings honor and growth to God's people.
Jesus valued the humility in this small child in our passage, and Jesus valued the child's...
B. Purity
We live in a society that places very little value on purity in individuals. In fact, those who focus on purity are seen as naive, inexperienced and 'prudish'. That's not how Jesus viewed purity as He held up a little child as an example. Let's look again at Matthew 18:6-10 (NIV)...
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. (7) Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! (8) If your hand or your foot causes you to sin cut it off and throw it away.
It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. (9) And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. (10) See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
'Woe' is a word we rarely use anymore. 'Woe' is an old English word that means: "Misery, sorrow, distress, sadness, heartache, despair, regret, gloom". So while we may not use the word 'woe', we can certainly relate to its meaning - and it's not a good thing. But that's what Jesus wished on those who cause a little one to sin. Do we view purity in our own lives the same way?
And Jesus isn't encouraging anyone to cut off a hand or foot - but He is making a true statement. It is better to lose a part of you than to go into Hell complete. But it's not our hand that causes us to sin - we control that hand with our minds. But if our minds aren't pure - are hands won't be involved in pure actions. Are we willing to reject sin in our lives or do we rationalize it away - 'it's not a big deal.' 'Millstone around the neck and drowned' - sounds like sin is a big deal to Jesus.
Yes, we live in a fallen world and are surrounded by sin and it's amazingly hard not to be exposed to sin and tempted by it and swept up in the culture. But if we want to follow Jesus - we need to do everything we can to prevent sin from pulling our kids and grandkids down in their lives and reject sin in our own!
Jesus highly valued humility and purity, and taught to focus on...
C. Children's salvation
The last part of the passage of scripture we read - the story of the lost sheep - is found in both the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. But the settings are quite different - so it appears that Jesus told the same story twice. There were two different occasions, in two different contexts, where Jesus was teaching about seeking for a lost sheep.
In Luke, Jesus' focus was on teaching the Pharisees, the teachers of the law, the value that He placed on the lost. In this passage, Jesus was specifically teaching His closest disciples the value He placed on 'little ones'. Let's read that final section again, in Matthew 18:12-14 (NIV)...
What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? (13) And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. (14) In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.
If you've been a parent for any length of time - you've probably had one of those moments when you're watching your little kids, something distracts you - and when you look back, they're gone. Maybe you're at the store or the park, and you look away for just a second - but when you realize you don't know where they are - there's that panic feeling. 'They were just here!' And it seems like forever, but then a few seconds later they come racing from the other side of the playground or you turn the aisle at the store and there they are!
I think that might be slightly comparable to the feeling that The Good Shepherd has with His little children. Even though He always knows where they physically are - when they are straying down the wrong path; when they stray away from the path of Heaven - when they are headed away from Him - it pains Him. He created them to be with Him forever - but then we grow up and wander off on our own path.
That's the sort of thing that breaks God heart - and when we see it in children around us, it should break our hearts, too. We are called to...
II. Value children like Jesus did
In our culture, are children always viewed as a 'blessing', or many times, more as a 'financial burden'...? And trust me - as one who understands the cost of raising a good number of kids - it does cost quite a bit. But it's only been in the last several generations that many have shifted from seeing 'many kids' as a 'blessing' to a 'managed burden'.
And we'd never say that out loud - that sounds pretty heartless. But if you look at our shrinking families, and more importantly the statistics on abortion - sadly, I'd have to say it's more accurate than not. The number one reason given for ending the life of an unborn child is that it's just financially not the right time. And each time the Good Shepherd is broken hearted.
We can't change how everyone values children. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't speak out, we shouldn't work to change hearts and minds - we should! We need to give of our time and money to protect and save children! And we need to pray!!! We can't change how everyone else values children. But we can make sure that we are living lives that clearly demonstrate that we value children in the way that Jesus does.
We need to make it a priority in our lives to teach our kids and grandkids about Jesus. We need to protect them, guide them, lovingly correct them, and learn from their example of childlike faith! We need to learn humility and to highly prize purity.
And I want to look at one last scripture passage to move our thinking in a slightly different direction...
John 1:10-13 (NIV)
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. (11) He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. (12) Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - (13) children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
We've focused on little children and how we should view them. But we can't forget my last point...
You are God's child
Earlier, we sang the words, "Who the Son sets free, Oh, is free indeed, I'm a child of God. Yes, I am. In my Father's house there's a place for me, I'm a child of God. Yes, I am" That last passage of scripture says that is absolutely true!
We watched a video earlier that listed some of God's promises to His children - "He is with you, He will never leave you, He is your light and shield and salvation, He will give you rest, peace, strength, good gifts, abundant life, and eternal life! And He is coming back for us!" - just to mention a few of those promises...
So What?
I know the world doesn't always agree with what scripture teaches - but we need to align our lives 100% with what Jesus taught. We need to encourage one another because it's easy to get distracted from what is really important in this life. I want to value what Jesus valued - and if Jesus required those early disciples to change - then I need to change.
Let's refocus our efforts - let's be intentional about talking to our children and grandchildren about Jesus - and let's do our best to make sure none of His little ones wander away from Him!