Childlike Faith

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 This morning is 'Patriot Day' remembering 9/11 but it's also Grandparent's Day. I've heard it said that 'grandchildren are God's reward for not killing your own children'. So I do want to honor those today who hold the title of 'Grandparent.'

And I want to talk a bit about the kids and grandkids who made you grandparents. Kids change everything. And that's okay. I'm not saying it's easy - but kid's ministries are vitally important to the continued life of any congregation. And the way that so many of you have stepped up and supported Sunday School and Kingdom Kids and youth group programs like these communicates to me that you understand the importance of reaching the next generation. So thank you again!

This morning I want to look at several passages in the Bible to remind us just how Jesus felt about these little ones. I'd like to start with Mark 10:13-16 (NIV)...

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. (14) When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. (15) I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." (16) And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

The first thing we see in this passage, Jesus welcomed children, so we are to...

I. Welcome children

Jesus - the force behind all of creation, in existence before the beginning, God in the flesh, on a mission to save mankind - He was not too busy to spend time with children. I mentioned before my favorite episode of the TV show 'The Chosen' was the one with Jesus and the children....

In the passage we just read, the disciples were trying to keep children from bothering Jesus. Maybe they thought the children might keep Jesus from doing something more important. But if we look throughout Jesus' ministry, we see recorded several occasions where He went out of His way to reach out to and even heal children.

In the book of Mark, the 5th chapter, we see Jesus raised a twelve year old girl from the dead. In the 7th chapter, Jesus cast a demon out of a little girl and then in chapter 9 He does the same for a young boy. None of those kids could have done anything for Jesus or repay him. Jesus healed them because he cares for little ones. We need to continue making it a priority to bring children to Jesus.

My father wrote that in the past, on any given Sunday, he was preaching and influencing several hundred people for Christ. He then pointed out that if he also added the people whom his four children were influencing on a Sunday in different Churches - that number grew to over a thousand. There's great potential for God's work in our children.

A survey showed that 85 percent of Christians began their relationship with Jesus before the age of 14. Statistically, 19 out of 20 people who follow Jesus are saved before the age of 25. Of those who were saved after age 25, 1 in 10,000, - After age 35, 1 in 50,000, - After age 45, 1 in 200,000, - After age 55, 1 in 300,000, - After age 75, only 1 in 700,000

Those are some sobering numbers, and that's why we're to put such effort into ministering to children. There's great potential in these young lives. Now of course a person can accept Jesus at any age - but there's a reason that kids are more open to accepting their Savior than a person who may be set in their ways and 'self reliant'.

We are to bring children to Jesus. And Jesus wants us to realize that we can...

A. Learn from children

Most of the time, I'm not looking to learn anything from my kids. I want them to learn from me. That's my job to teach them. But Jesus has a way of reminding us that we don't always know as much as we like to think we do. Let's look in Matthew 18:1-6 (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."

- Pretty strong words. Jesus used a child to teach and to humble His adult disciples. Jesus understood the problems with many 'adults'.

We understand that kids don't know a lot of things, but we expect them to accept those things when taught. If I tell them - yes, there is something called the Eustachian tube that connects the middle ear to part of your throat to help adjust the middle ear's pressure to the atmospheric pressure - I don't want to have to prove it or argue about it. If they are experiencing pain in their ears with increasing elevation - I want them to listen to me and to try swallowing, even if they've never seen a Eustachian tube with their own eyes.

We understand that kids don't know a lot of things, and we expect them to accept those things. Jesus understands that we don't know a lot of things, but He expects us to accept those things. But adults like to disagree or rationalize. We tend to argue and point out extenuating circumstances, or moral ambiguities, or discuss moral relevancies. We tend to do all sorts of mental gymnastics and say, 'I know Jesus said that, but...' - and then we do what we want anyway. Jesus wants us to relate to Him like humble children.

We don't want our kids to lie - but sometimes we 'massage the truth' because we're adults and we know what's best. We want our kids to accept responsibility for their mistakes. But as adults, we struggle to admit our sins - or even argue that it's not really sin at all. Does it make sense why Jesus used a child to shame His disciples who were arguing about who was the most important in the Kingdom of Heaven?

Children accept it when you tell them the Bible says that God created the earth and everything in it. They don't argue about fossil records or carbon dating or how could God possibly do it - they accept it and let adults argue about geological records and old earth/young earth theories. When you tell them the Bible teaches that human life is sacred, they understand that babies are special, even in the womb. They don't bring their politics or life's extenuating circumstances - they accept it. When you tell them that Jesus says that He is The Way to Heaven, they don't suggest there are many ways and that we need to celebrate diversity of thought.

Jesus held up children as an example for His adult disciples, because we need to learn...

B. A humble dependence

Pastor John Piper wrote, "Have you ever asked why God designed the world so that the human race multiplies by having babies that take years to become adults? Why didn't God design the human race so that we multiply like earthworms: one adult splits to become another adult? He could have done it that way or any number of ways. Why did God ordain that there be children and not just adults?"

Piper then gives this answer: "Children stand for something. They point to something. They represent something. They signify something bigger than themselves. They stand for the kind of dependence and helplessness and need and insufficiency and faith that is required of adults to enter the kingdom of God. To 'such as these' belongs the kingdom. That's the meaning of their unique existence. They point the way to salvation: to such as these belongs the kingdom."

Many adults have had to work hard to gain knowledge and experience in order to provide and take care of themselves and others. This struggle can mistakenly lead to self pride and a lack of acknowledgment of the source of our imagined 'independence'.

Many years back, I was sitting working on a message for Sunday. Erin has told our kids that they need to leave Daddy alone when he's working, but that doesn't always happen. This particular evening, out of the corner of my eye, I saw 3 year old Josie's little head peek out from around the couch. I stopped and asked, "Honey, what do you need?" "Nothing." "Then why are you staring at me?" She replied, "I just need to love you." - and she came over, hugged my leg and kissed my knee.

When we go to God, our Father - do we only go when we want something - or - do we go to Him just to love Him? There definitely is something to be gleaned from the example of children.

There's a spirit of humility, a genuine sincerity and most importantly a simple faith that we see in children that we need to learn to emulate if we're going to follow Jesus well. According to Jesus' own words, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." - Jesus' words! How willing are we to change? I'm always more than willing to correct my kids. Am I willing to humbly learn...?

Jesus encouraged people to bring children to Him - because Jesus knew...

II. The worth of children to God

In the book of Mark, we find another account of the same story we read earlier from Matthew. Let's read Mark's account from Mark 9:33-37 (NIV)...

They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" (34) But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. (35) Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." (36) He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them,

(37) "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

In Matthew 18, we saw that Jesus had very strong feelings about anyone leading a little one astray and then again in this passage it's recorded that Jesus said, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me". But He then adds, "and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." That statement shows just how deeply Jesus valued children and how our relationship with them connects to our relationship with God, the Father.

We understand the worth of children to Jesus. The question we need to ask is...

A. How do we value children?

What value do we place on children? Our society seems to see them as more of a burden than a blessing. I know, they cost a lot of money to raise from diapers through college. And I always joke, I don't have hobbies, I have kids. But as believers, as a Church, do our actions match up with how we say we value children?

Now I've had experience with some in previous Churches where I served who seemed to have the attitude, "We want kids here on Sunday mornings but we're not going to go out of our way or do anything that's too loud or that costs too much or messes up the building - they should just sit still and be quiet."

Based on all the activity I have seen around here surrounding programs for kids - it's apparent that many people here care a great deal about children! Meeting the spiritual needs of our children is essential for us as a Church and in building God's Kingdom! As the adults, we need to sacrifice for their needs - and thank you again to so many who are doing just that! I also want to say 'thank you' to those donating to support the women's center and the unborn - bless you for that!

In valuing our children here at Deep River - in addition to just supporting programs - please, also make it a priority to...

B. Pray for our kids

Our kids are growing up in a rapidly changing world with challenges and temptations even stronger than those with which we have had to deal. Satan has them in his cross hairs. There are many in our society who are actively targeting kids to turn them against anything representing a Christian worldview. If we do not make the time to minister to them, to teach them, to pray for them on a daily basis - statistical fact - we're going to lose most of them. And that's not an acceptable loss.

A preacher was visiting a friend who was an old sheep herder. His friend was very quiet and unusually emotional. He said, "I lost sixty-five of my best lambs last night; wolves got in." The pastor expressed his grief over his friend's loss. "And how many adult sheep did they kill?" he asked. The shepherd looked surprised. "Don't you know that a wolf will never take an old sheep as long as he can get a little lamb?"

Remember to pray for our little ones - and our youth and children's workers as they serve our little ones. Our children are essential to the future of our congregation.

So What?

Remember, I speak as one who basically lives in a 24 hour daycare that keeps growing... When kids are around, a job that should take five minutes takes an hour! Nothing ever stays clean for very long - kids can be exhausting!

However, every single one of us here was little once. Many people sacrificed a lot in order for us to make it to adulthood and to become part of God's Church. I'm aware that kid's programming is rough on our building and we have a lot of chipped paint and stained carpet. But I've always found it interesting that Jesus told adults to become more 'child like' rather than instruct children to 'grow up'.

Jesus wasn't saying not to seek answers or ask questions - kids ask questions all the time. But children display a simple faith that accepts truths, a faith that doesn't come with all the answers - but a faith that is humble and teachable.

...As adults, we spend our time and money on a lot of things. We invest in things like houses that can burn down, get flooded and will eventually fall apart. We invest in cars that rust and break down and will end up in a junk yard. We invest in clothes that wear out, go out of style and will be thrown out. We're willing to invest our time and money into those things - but let's also make sure we invest in something that has the potential to last for eternity and to make us better followers of Jesus - our kids and grandkids.