Walkin’ with Jesus:
Young at Heart
Scripture Text: Mark 10.13-16
INTRODUCTION
Kids! They burp, …they toot, …they laugh, …they cry ~ …and some of us-adults wish that they’d just, grow-up already!
TRANSITION
There’s a part of me that’s-that-way. I’m not-really-sure what-to-do with kids. It doesn’t-come-naturally to-me. During our-stint in seminary~ …we’d do-our-time, …as volunteers our local church’s church-nursery. And I grew-to-have a great-admiration for my wife ~ …how she’d get-down-on-the-floor, …and play with the kiddo’s. The floor always looked so-far-down, to-me! Besides, I didn’t know what-to-do once I got down there! I was so-immersed in my deep-theological reading ~ …and these little-critters couldn’t-care-less about Barth or Brueggemann! They didn’t care about theories of the atonement! I couldn’t-even talk-with-them about the cartoon Martin Luther drew of the Pope!
The little-girls wanted me to play dollies; …and the boys wanted to race trucks and make engine-noises. The best thing I came up with was to pull-out these large-cardboard-building-blocks ~ …they looked like large bricks. And I’d try to get the kids to build tall towers… Now-that-I-think-about-it…I was kinda-like the engineers who gave-oversight to the building of the Tower of Babel!
But, I’d try to get them to build the tower as-tall-as-they-could. I’d even lift-them-up, …once the tower got-taller than they could reach. And we’d build the thing all-the-way-up to the ceiling. It was grand! I felt like, finally… we’ve accomplished something in the nursery! And I took a some-pride in organizing the little-kiddo’s and channeling-their-energy in a constructive-way!
But do-ya-know what always happened ~ …and sometimes there was hardly-time to relish our accomplishment ~ …do-ya-know what the kids did after the building-blocks got so-high?
Yep!... They knocked-it-down! It-was-like they couldn’t-wait to demo-the-building. I think that they only-reason why they went-along-with my suggestion to build-a-tall-tower ~ …I think they just-went-along-with-it, so-that they could give it a good-whack, …and watch the blocks tumble-to-the-floor in a great-big-crash!
I guess this-is-confession-time: I confess that there are times when I get so-wrapped up in the adult-world ~ …with adult-thoughts, …and adult-worries, …and adult-concerns ~ …sometimes I get so-wrapped-up in the world-of-adults, …that I have little-appreciation for children ~ …and the things that make childhood, …childhood! Kids are silly. Kids are imaginative. Sometimes kids are temperamental. Kids are short-sighted… They’re in-it for the moment. And they’re not all-that-interested in the world-of-ideas or the responsibilities that weigh on-us-adults.
And-maybe I’m not-alone… I love-kids, and-everything, …but I find-myself pushing-them to-the-side because there’s so-much, “more-important-matters” that consume my attention-and-energy!
BODY
Now, …One of the best ways to get into a Bible story ~ …and give God an opportunity to speak to you ~ …a-good-way to get-into-it, …is to find someone in the story to identify with.
This story has lots of folks to identify-with: …parents, …disciples, …children ~ Who – in this story – do you identify with?... The gospel stories are like mirrors for us to look in, …and when we look closely, …we often see ourselves.
I. Adults (Disciples v. Parents)
Let’s start-off by looking at the adults: There are two contrasting-pictures of adulthood in this story. The first picture that we encounter is that of the parents. They were-bringing their children to Jesus… Why?... So that Jesus would bless them.
Good stuff! Incidentally, …Isn’t this a snapshot of every Christian-parent’s desire? We bring our kids to Jesus ~ …by reading them stories from the Bible, …by bringing them to Church and to Sunday School and to Vacation Bible School, …and by teaching them when-and-where to see God’s hand-at-work in everyday-circumstances; …we bring our kids to Jesus.
We want Him to take them in His arms and bless-them and hold-them. Don’t we do this because we love them? Don’t we do this because we know that they need: His-touch; …that they have-ta-have His blessing resting-on-them, in-order-to make it through this life?
I understand why parents were bringing their kids to Jesus. They very-much-wanted Him to bless them!
But-in-contrast to the parents, …we have the other group-of-adults who should’ve-known-better! The disciples. They’d been hangin’-with-Jesus for quite-a-long-time, now. You’d think-that, by-now, they’d know His heart. They’d have a good-idea of Jesus’ attitude toward children. But they really-blow-it here, don’t they!?! Mark-tells-us that as the parents-brought-their-kids to Jesus, …the disciples are shakin’ sticks at ‘em! He says, “the disciples rebuked them”!
“Rebuked”… We’ve heard that-word before, haven’t-we?... As-in, when Peter ‘rebuked’ Jesus for telling the disciples that He was going to be rejected, and handed-over, and-that He was going to die. ‘Rebuke’ means “reprimand, …to speak sternly to, …to correct.” The disciples ‘rebuked’ them.
I guess the disciples were caught up with the same mentality that sometimes we get-caught-up-in: …thinkin’ that adult-business is most-important; …thinkin’ that children are a pesky-interruption; …maybe-thinkin’ that Jesus is way-too-busy for-to-be-bothered by parents bringin’ their kids!
Mark doesn’t tell us exactly what the disciples said, …but can you imagine-hearing-them: “People, …we’ve got folks-to-see and business-to-take-care-of! “Jesus just fed a crowd of 4,000 ~ …ya-never-know when another crowd like-that will show-up! “He’s got a full-slate: …teaching, …preaching, “…healing some-more-blind-dudes, “…arguing with those blasted-Pharisees. “He ain’t-got-time to play dollies or race-cars with yer-kids! “Back-off, people! Give Jesus some room! “We need to get-on-down-the-road!”
Am I the only one who finds those kinds of thoughts floatin’ through?
We love kids – Don’t we?... But, how-often does my attitude chase kids-away, …or push-them to the margins because there’s “so-much-to-do” that I can’t be bothered, …or interrupted, …or take-time-out to listen to their stories, …or laugh at their corny-jokes, …or watch with wonder at a gran-daddy-long-legs! I am such a disciple, of the disciples!... God help me to be a disciple of Jesus!
II. Children
Another group you might identify with is the children.
Just last week we heard a passage in which Jesus said,
“If anyone causes one of these little ones who believes in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.”
And, in the middle of chapter-nine, …Jesus scooped-up a child-in-his-arms, and said,
“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me.”
And,… there were other-times when Jesus used children as-an-example to us-adults ~ …to help us see something about life-in-the-kingdom-of-God, …or to help us grasp some basic-truth that we clutter-up with complications! Children are precious in the eyes of God. Children were precious in the eyes of Jesus.
I hope that all-of-us have felt-like a child, at least some-of-the-time. But, identifying with the children in this story works on a couple-of-levels. Of course, you could identify with the children because, maybe-you-were-a-child when you first came to Jesus in faith. But, maybe you can identify with the children simply because they represent the attitude-and-heart with-which we are to come to Jesus ~ …no-matter what our age is! Even as a child trusts his parents to protect and to provide and to take care-of, …we come to God with a very similar heart-attitude. It’s called faith ~ …and it doesn’t depend on intellectual-gymnastics; …it doesn’t hinge on a certain level of education; …it is an attitude-of-the-heart ~ …an attitude that trusts the heart of our Heavenly Father. We trust Him and we entrust ourselves to His care! This is the essence of salvation. This is the essence of walking with God.
And Jesus uses a child’s heart-attitude as the picture of how we are to come to God:
“I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
We bear the image of our Creator and Savior. Genesis tells us that we have been created in the image of God; …and the New Testament calls the Church, the Body of Christ. Of-course, I hope the resemblance goes a whole-lot-deeper than facial-hair or eye-color, …or whether our wardrobe consists of sandals, robes, and tunics! I hope the resemblance that people see in me… …that people see in us goes to the core of who we are: …that we are loving and kind, …patient and merciful, …that we are holy and genuine, …that compassion oozes-out-from us like the raspberry-filling in a jelly-donut! “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them”. This is our calling! Whether the “little children” are the littlest-people, at the earliest stages of life, …or whether they are new-believers, who have received the promise of the kingdom with the faith of a child ~ …we are receive them and welcome them and make them ‘at home’. They may make messes. They may tell corny jokes. They may not know exactly-how-to-act in a dignified-manner. But receive them anyway. Remember ~ you did not enter the kingdom of God based on your respectability! We are saved by grace through faith. And it’s the faith of children and new believers that reminds those-of-us who are “established”, …it reminds us that this whole-thing is not-about-us! It’s about Jesus. It’s about His kingdom. It’s about letting the family of God grow large. “Jesus took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.”
PAUSE 3
CONCLUSION
Well… What do we do with this teaching-of-Jesus? What’s the intersection with our lives?
Well, I think there’s two very clear applications ~ …but they are to very-different groups of people. The first application is for those of us who are already believers. And we need to ask ourselves, “Am I more-like the parents who brought their little ones to Jesus? “Or… Am I more-like the disciples, who, for-whatever-reason, tried chasing the children away?” This is a question, not-just for us individually, …but-also for us to thing-about, as a church. Are we ‘kid-friendly’? Do we make children and teens feel welcome, …appreciated, …wanted? Do we make room for new-believers and help them to find a place in the family ~ …no-matter how immature their faith, …or how-different their background, …or how-much baggage they carry?
We can say, in-theory, that everybody’s welcome. But, in reality, …we may give the impression that unless you’re from the right-side-of-the-tracks, …or, unless you look like us, …or, until you grow up, …or, until you’ve got your-life-together: We may give the impression that they’re not entirely welcome. May God helps us to be a welcoming, …loving, …compassionate people ~ …where the love-of-God flows freely and we are thrilled to have the young-at-heart, …and the young-in-faith in this family! We know the children and the “little ones” need to be brought to Jesus. May we do everything within our power to receive them and welcome them and love them like Jesus loves them!
PAUSE 2
The second group that this passage has a direct-application to are those-who either have not-yet come to Jesus, …or-who have just-recently done-so. If you have been treated like the disciple treated the children in the story, …if you’ve had a bad-experience with church-people, …if you’ve wanted to come to Jesus, but found His people to chase-you-away with sticks and harsh-words and rebukes ~ …If that-describes your experience, …please hear my apology! In our heart-of-hearts, …that’s not what we want to communicate to you. Whether you are six …or sixteen …or sixty ~ …if your heart is drawn-to-Jesus, …we want you to know that we’d be more-than-happy to welcome you into the greatest family in the world! We want you to know that coming to Jesus is the most-awesome-thing you’ll ever-experience. We want you to know that we’re here to encourage and embrace and bless you! We’re sorry for giving the wrong impression ~ whether it was us or somebody-else: We’re sorry! Please don’t let us or anybody-else get-in-the-way of you coming to Jesus.
Jesus said,
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
That’s an invitation and an offer to anyone, of any-age ~ …and, as-the-music is played softly, I want to offer a prayer for us… for you. Jesus wants you to come to Him. And He certainly will receive you. Just… come in faith; …trust His heart toward you; …know-this: He loves you!
