HoHum:
A lady was cleaning her house and singing Gospel songs as she worked. She began singing, "Soon and very soon, we are going to see the king..." Her little son was in the next room and began singing along with Mom. Something was a little off, however, so Mom stopped to listen. The preschooler's version: "Soon, and very soon, we are going to Burger King..."
WBTU:
Sigmund Freud says that when we are born we are dependent upon our mothers. Soon this function is replaced by the father, who retains that position for the rest of childhood. When an individual transitions into adulthood, the father figure is replaced by many with the idea of God. According to Freud, the struggles of life and the lack of strong, loving father figures inspires the construction of an imaginary Father-God. This Father-God provides for all the psychological needs of the deluded. According to Freud we need to grow up and mature by abandoning this idea of God because God does not exist. We are alone in the universe.
Freud’s strategy for dismissing our sense of a need for God is to call it “infantile,” and mocks it. The Christian calls our need for God infantile and calls this good based upon teachings of Jesus.
There’s something powerful and irresistible about a little child. A baby melts the heart of the cynic, opens the pocketbook of the miser, brings a smile to the joyless, gives hope to the despairing, and turns otherwise ordinary people into obnoxious grandparents. Children seem so nice until we have to raise some. Talk to a stay at home mother and these thoughts of the preciousness of children are meet with a smile but also with a roll of the eyes.
Jesus could not have meant that we are to imitate children in everything. “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.” Proverbs 22:15, NIV. Babies come into the world with a sense that the world revolves around them. Children need to be disciplined because without the direction of the parents the child will naturally go the way of the world, the way of evil. “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die. Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.” Proverbs 23:13, 14. Also, Paul tells us, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.” 1 Corinthians 13:11, NIV.
Since this is the case, in what sense did Jesus mean that we should be like little children? What traits of children do we need to receive the kingdom of God?
Thesis: What qualities of a child does the Lord want us to imitate?
For instances:
A childlike faith
God is real to children. They don’t doubt his existence. They find it easy to trust him for the best. But as we grow older, pride takes over. We become skeptical of anything beyond our experience. We find it hard to trust someone else
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1, NIV. God has given us ample evidence to believe in the reality of creation, the wonder of birth, the mystery of a seed, the pain of conscience, the historicity of Jesus, the permanency of the church, answered prayer, fulfilled prophecy, transformed lives, and the durability of the Bible. But that’s evidence, not proof. To please God we have to examine the evidence and then take a step of faith. This requires childlike humility.
In the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, chocolateer Willy Wonka (played by Gene Wilder) launches a worldwide frenzy when he inserts five golden tickets into his famous Wonka Bars. Each ticket gives the owner a chance to tour the chocolate factory and win a lifetime's supply of chocolate. Five children find the tickets and come to the factory for the tour. As the day passes, each of the children falls prey to his or her own greed, except for Charlie Bucket—a poor boy who won the last ticket available.
In this scene near the end of the movie, Wonka unveils his true plan: to find a suitable owner to whom he could give the factory.
Willy: How did you like the chocolate factory, Charlie? Charlie: I think it's the most wonderful place in the whole world. Willy: I'm very pleased to hear you say that, because I'm giving it to you. (Charlie and his grandfather are stunned.) That's all right, isn't it? Grandpa: You're giving Charlie the… Willy: I can't go on forever, and I don't really want to try. So who can I trust to run the factory for me when I leave to take care of the Oomph Loompas? Not a grownup. A grownup would want to do everything his own way, not mine. That's why I decided a long time ago I had to find a child—a very honest, loving child whom I could tell all my most precious candy-making secrets. Charlie: And that's why you sent out the golden tickets? Willy: That's right. So the factory's yours, Charlie. You can move in immediately.
A childlike innocence
A one year old toddler knows nothing about prejudice, lust, murder, and other sins of the flesh. Since the world ridicules the innocent as naive, some Christians participate in sinful activity just to avoid the mocking. But we would do well to humbly imitate a child’s purity and stay away from things that we know are evil. “I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.” Romans 16:19. In other words be childlike toward evil ways.
“Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.” 3 John 1:11, NIV.
We do not have to be experienced in sin to be against sin! We do not have to drink poison to know that it will kill us! We don’t have to handle a rattlesnake to know that it will bite us.
A childlike wonder
Little children are fascinated with the simplest toy. Many times they are more fascinated with the box than with the toy itself. When his mother puts a cloth over his face, pulls it back, and says, “Peek-a-boo!” the child squeals with delight. Watch the eager face of a child smell a flower, pet an animal, or sing a song for the first time. Jealous of the wonder
The world can become so commonplace that we don’t see anything special at all. The harsh reality of pain, conflict, and evil can make us cynical. Remember what Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”” Mark 10:15, NIV. Wonder is to life what romance is to marriage. There has to be more than romance, or the marriage won’t last. But if there is never any romance, the marriage becomes dull and stale.
Now we can’t go around on an artificial high all the time. However, if we never get goose bumps, never experience cold chills or tears in our eyes, if we never admire the wonder of all that God has created for us to enjoy, the Christian life is tedious and boring.
Think again about what Jesus did for us on the cross and be filled with a childlike awe and enthusiasm. Has communion become commonplace for us. New Christians are such a joy and we need to be reminded of the blessings that we all have as Christians. Many times we take so much for granted.
WONDER OF IT ALL by George Beverly Shea
There's the wonder of sunset at evening,The wonder as sunrise I see; But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul Is the wonder that God loves me. There's the wonder of springtime and harvest, The sky, the stars, the sun; But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul Is a wonder that has only begun. Refrain- O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all! Just to think that God loves me. O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all! Just to think that God loves me.
So what?
To boil it all down, a child knows that they are dependent upon others. A Christian also needs to realize that we are dependent upon Christ. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:6, NIV. We cannot enter the Kingdom of God without being helplessly dependent on Christ! If we turn to Christ in hopeless dependence, we will be saved and our life will change. “he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.” Titus 3:5-8, NIV.
Some time ago I read about an instant cake mix that was a big flop. The instructions said that all you had to do was add water and bake and you had your cake. The company couldn’t understand why it didn’t sell -- until their research discovered that the buying public felt uneasy about a mix that required only water. Apparently people thought it was too easy. So the company altered the formula and changed the directions to call for adding an egg to the mix along with the water. The idea worked and sales jumped dramatically.
That story reminds me of how some people react to the plan of salvation. To them it sounds too easy and simple to be true. They feel that there is something they must add to God’s “recipe” for salvation. But the Bible is clear -- we are saved, “he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy (Titus 3:5). Unlike the cake-mix manufacturer, God has not changed His “formula” to make salvation more marketable. The gospel we proclaim must be free of good works, even though it may sound too easy.
