“Yielding All Things: The Kingdom of God Is Children”
My parents had three children, and my dad worked hard all week.
And since he gave us kids most all his attention when he got home from work, he didn’t have much of any time to himself except for about an hour on Sunday mornings.
My mother would haul my two sisters and I off to Sunday school while my dad took that time for himself.
Later, he would join us all in the worship service.
One morning, when I was about 5 years old, I decided to declare my independence: “Dad, doesn’t go to Sunday school so why should I?” I declared.
From that point on, my dad went to Sunday school.
He gave up the precious little time he had cherished for himself because he wanted to be a good role model for his kids; he knew how important it is for kids to go to Sunday school—to church in general.
Eventually, he started teaching a Sunday school class.
I wonder where I would be without the church.
I can’t imagine what it would have been like to grow up without the knowledge of a loving God.
I have no idea what would have happened to me—what direction I would have ended up going in if I had not been surrounded, from a young age, people who were striving to love like Jesus.
That’s right.
I got my first taste of Jesus’ love through His Church.
Church was central in our lives.
We went to church picnics, had our pastors and their families over for dinner, participated in Vacation Bible School, and were in the church building every single Sunday.
Even if we were on vacation, we went to a Church wherever we happened to be.
And as I grew into a middle school kid and a high schooler, I came to identify the church as a place where I was loved unconditionally.
And outside my family, I suppose that was the only place where I felt that way.
Because, let’s face it, life is hard.
And people can be mean.
And children can be VERY MEAN to one another.
How do kids make it through childhood without a loving church family—without an unwavering faith in a loving God?
I can’t imagine, and yet, it is becoming more and more the norm.
Statistics tell us that less than 20 percent of the folks living in the houses that surround this building are in church right now.
That includes countless young families with children.
What are we going to do about it?
What can we do about it?
What is God calling us to do about it?
There can be no doubt that children hold a special place in Jesus’ ministry.
Their presence across the Gospels shows us that Jesus interacted with them, healed them, fed them, blessed them and welcomed them in a world which was usually reserved for “adults only.”
The little children in our Gospel lesson for this morning are probably under the age of seven.
And perhaps because they weren’t yet productive members of the family nor of society, little children were often invisible or ignored by adults.
And when the disciples try and block them off from Jesus, they are doing what they think is right.
It’s what society has told them to do.
In other words, the disciples represent those who see children as a waste of time or a distraction.
They have bigger fish to fry.
They have an agenda for Jesus: He is their king-to-be and wasting time by blessing children and taking them into His arms does not rank high on their list of important things for Jesus to be doing.
And so, the disciples assume that it’s their job to keep the children away from Jesus.
But instead of being a help to Jesus and His ministry, the disciples are the problem.
“People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them.
When Jesus saw this, he was indignant…”
…in other words, He was really, really mad…
“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.’”
Do not hinder them.
Do not stop them.
Do not put a “stumbling block in their way.”
I mean, this is important stuff.
Back in Mark Chapter 9 Jesus says: “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me…”
And then in verse 42 the rubber meets the road when Jesus reiterates: “If anyone causes one of these little ones…to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.”
Do we ever cause “one of one of these little ones to stumble”?
Do we ever act as gatekeepers who keep children and young people away from Jesus?
We may do it without even realizing we do it.
I remember, one time, noticing that a certain woman had been missing from worship for a few weeks.
She had always come, so I was a bit worried about her.
I called and told her that we missed her and asked why she hadn’t been in worship.
Her reply floored me.
“The last time I was there I was sitting behind some Youth.
They were making noise and bothering me.
That’s why I am no longer coming to worship.”
“Why don’t you just sit somewhere else?” I asked.
“Oh, well, I never thought of that,” was her answer.
Other times, I have noticed teens or folks with young children who have dropped out of a worship service.
When I inquired as to why these folks were no longer coming to worship, I have gotten answers such as “Some adult told us that we were bothering them, making too much noise, not sitting still enough.”
“We felt judged, not wanted, not welcome,” and so forth.
Parents with young children already feel self-conscious about bringing their children, who might cry out during a sermon or prayer time, to worship Jesus.
Our self-absorption and self-interest can put a huge stumbling block in their paths, and thus, in the path of a young child who needs to experience the love of God through Christ’s Church.
Jesus makes it clear that children belong with Him.
I want to ask myself this question this morning, and maybe we can all do this: do we, as a congregation, welcome children in worship or see them as a distraction?
Now, welcoming children in worship does not mean trying to make sure that children totally understand worship, or that all of it is relevant to their lives.
Even adults don’t comprehend everything.
Coming to worship is more than “getting something out of it.”
We are all called to “put something into worship” as well—through giving praise and thanksgiving to God by welcoming all with the love of Jesus, and not hindering anyone from experiencing Christ’s love.
In doing so, we are welcoming Christ, and we become more like Him not only in our worship but in our daily lives.
Today, more than ever, less and less children and young families are coming to church.
Many would argue that this is the reason for so many of the problems that plague our towns and cities.
What will happen in the future if so few children are learning about the love of God which comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ?
Jesus makes it clear that children belong in His Church, in His Kingdom.
Again, in verse 14 of Mark Chapter 10 Jesus says: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
The verb in this verse in often interpreted as “belongs to” but it literally means: “is.”
So, the meaning of Jesus’ statement about the Kingdom of God may be more of a sweeping assertion about the nature of God’s Kingdom rather than a “belongs to.”
It’s kinda more like: “The Kingdom of God is defined by how we welcome children, or The Kingdom of God will be recognized by the fact that it embraces and loves those who are considered by society to be powerless, needy and totally dependent on others.”
I mean, think about how children are designated on an IRS tax form.
Children are “dependents.”
They depend on their parents, they depend on society, and they are to be able to depend on the Church of Jesus Christ to love them unconditionally…to enfold them with a love that will never let them go—no matter how the world treats them!
In other words, where do children belong?
Children belong in church, which is the Kingdom of God on earth.
That is YOU.
That is Me.
At East Ridge United Methodist Church, where I served for 9 years, we had an after-school ministry to the 100 or so children that lived in the nearby extended stay hotels.
And every Sunday morning, I would drive the church van to the hotels in order to pick up the kids for church.
I’d be bringing anywhere between 20 and 30 elementary to middle school age children to church every Sunday.
And these kids didn’t have their parents with them.
The parents wouldn’t come.
And so, in order to accommodate all those unaccompanied children, the congregation reshaped everything they did on Sunday morning in order to welcome them.
Church members signed up to be “shepherds” for individual children during worship.
This meant that the children would come sit with them during the worship service.
We found out right away that having a group of young children who had never been in church, without their parents, all sitting together was not going to work.
So, each child was loved and guided and taken care of by an adult.
We also realized that one of the reasons the kids were being so unruly in worship and Sunday school was because many of them hadn’t had a real meal since school on the Friday before.
And so, a group of church folks would gather at the church forty-five minutes to an hour before Sunday school in order to cook the children breakfast, which the kids would eat as soon as they arrived.
And you know what?
It not only changed the lives of those children, it also changed our lives.
Not long ago, I received a letter from one of the parents of two of the kids from that time period.
She wrote that, although she never came to our church herself, she saw how much it meant to her children.
And she saw how much we were doing for them.
She was watching, and it changed her life as well.
Now, she is on her feet and a Christian to boot.
One of her children is now attending a Christian college.
Another is works in the summer at a Christian camp.
And she attends a church and is involved in ministry with folks very similar to what we were doing at East Ridge.
In a day and age where so many children are living with abusive parents or guardians—it is more important than ever that they be in church.
In a day and age, where their schools are underfunded and many cannot afford decent day care—it is more important than ever that children be in church.
In a day and age, when many children are being lured into crime while living in poverty and despair—children belong in church.
They do not belong out behind their school buildings smoking pot and doing other drugs.
They do not belong in homes that also function as meth labs.
They do not belong on the streets as prostitutes and victims of human trafficking—they belong in church!
How can we better welcome them and introduce them, bring them to Jesus so that He can take them into His arms and bless them?
One way is to have a Children’s Ministry Director.
We haven’t had a Children’s Ministry Director for about two years.
And it takes money to have a Children’s Ministry Director.
And we have hired one, part-time.
Her name is Nicole Stookey
She is extremely qualified.
She has about 10 or 12 years of experience under her belt.
She will start working here November 1st.
But we will need to be able to pay her.
A few weeks ago, we passed out cards asking each of us to pray for God’s direction as to what our financial commitments will be to Red Bank United Methodist Church in the year 2020.
And this morning, each of us will be receiving “lanyard” copy of “A Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition,” which we have been praying in worship.
Please put this prayer somewhere where you will see it every day.
You might want to put it in your bathroom, hang it in your shower or from the rearview mirror of your car.
But please make sure and pray it every day as you contemplate what God is calling you to do with the money God has blessed you with.
Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart is also.”
I am coming to know you, and I know you believe that your ultimate treasure is found in God’s Kingdom.
So, I would like to challenge each of us to increase our giving by twenty-five, fifty or one hundred dollars a month.
If we all do it together, we will not hinder the children from coming to Jesus, we will help escort them into Jesus’ arms.
Jesus spent a lot of time with children and gave them attention that was unheard of in His time.
In Mark 10:14 Jesus says, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
We are the Kingdom of God in this particular place at this particular time, and the children who live in this community belong here.
Jesus said, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me.”
May we take the children into our arms and bless them in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
