In Jesus Holy Name September 6, 2020
Text: Matthew 18:3,4,10 Pentecost XIV - Redeemer
“Grasping the Great Prize – Horse Race”
Yesterday was the Kentucky Derby. It was run at the wrong time of the year, few if any fans in the stand…no famous hats on display. No Kentucky Bourbon available to imbibe. The Kentucky Derby is the most prized event in horse racing. At this writing I do not know who will win. But I know something about pedigrees.
Tiz The Law was the favorite but had to run from Gate No. 17. He was the Belmont Stakes winner. Gate No. 17 is the only gate that has never produced a Kentucky Derby winner. He ran against Honor A. P. and Authentic.
Tiz the Law has the following pedigree of past champions. Constitution, Tapit, Pulpit, A.P. Indy Seattle Slew, Bold Reasoning. California Chrome came from a similar pedigree. Lucky Pulpit, Pulpit, A.P. Indy and Seattle Slew, Bold Reasoning.
Of Course, Honor A.P. is no slouch. His family tree is includes Honor Code,
A P. Indy, Seattle Slew and Bold Reasoning.
Investors purchased these thoroughbreds because of their ancestry hoping for the “Greatest Prize”. Will the winner be as great as American Pharaoh or California Chrome of even his genetic grandparents? Trophies will be on display. Bragging rites and stories will be told. Money to be made on breeding fees.
Do you want an argument? Go to any horse barn and you will hear the conversation. Is he as great as Secretariat? Go to any clubhouse of any golf course, and say… “So and so is, without a doubt, the greatest golfer who ever lived”. You know what will happen. You will have an argument.
People grasp for greatness. Millions will be spent on the fastest race car and team. Millions were spent on buying and training the winner of the Triple Crown.
If you didn’t believe it before, you’ll soon find out… not many people would argue with legendary football coach Vince Lombardi whose line: “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” let the whole world know that taking second place is just another name for losing.
People grasp at greatness. So powerful is the desire to be great, or to own something that provides greatness, people are willing to undertake some expense or act in unusual stunts. We grasp at greatness. We desire “likes” on our Facebook page.
It has, almost since the beginning of time been that way. The Bible tells us that Satan desired to be as great as God, and thus Satan to stumbled into his sin of rebellion, and was cast out. It was a desire to be as knowledgeable as the Lord, which led our first ancestors, Adam and Eve to take a bite out of the forbidden fruit. Their search for greatness introduced this world, and into our lives the sins of envy, greed, lust prejudice, and hatred. Behaviors which are displayed when trying to act greater than someone else
Look through your bible. It is positively filled with people who got involved with issues of greatness. The brothers Isaac and Esau got into a family feud as to which would receive a special blessing. Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery because they believed he considered himself to be better than they. King Saul struggled for supremacy over David.
Not even Jesus’ disciples managed to escape the ongoing debate over who would be the greatest. The disciples were jockeying for position… just as we saw yesterday in the horse race.
Jesus was on a mission, sent by the Creator of the universe, His father, to seek and save people who are alienated from the love of their Creator. His life, death and resurrection provides an open gate into heaven. Jesus kept telling the disciples that he was going to Jerusalem where he would be arrested, tried, crucified, and murdered, and then rise on the third day, in order to reestablish peace and forgiveness between human beings and our God.
They did not understand so their conversations, their arguments
centered around themselves. Rather than seeing Jesus as the only person worthy of the title “Great”, they fought and feuded over which of them would be #1 in the new kingdom Jesus was going to establish. They wanted to know who was going to drive the Tesla, who was going to sit behind the wheel.
Eventually Jesus had enough and asked them to tell Him what they were talking about. Shamefaced, “Well, Lord,… we were sort of wonderin’ which of us is going to be Your Right-hand man and which of us ought to be sending out our resumes? Jesus was patient. “unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven….
Don’t be “like a little child” “Become like the little child.” What did Jesus mean? The truth is that often those cute, cuddly little children are self centered, self absorbed, and selfish. A baby wants what it wants, when it wants it. A baby doesn’t care if you have a crisis on your hands. He or she doesn’t take into consideration your pains or problems. A baby doesn’t care about you.
So what did Jesus mean when He said we should be like the little child? Did He mean that we should be obedient like a little child, following all of God’s laws like a child follows all of his parents rules? Well, you and I know that that idea is so ridiculous that it is laughable.
Maybe Jesus was talking about faith and trust that little children often display. I recall my son throwing up my grandson, high in the air in a swimming pool. Every time my grandson came down my son caught him. And up he went again. Laughter was constant. You can hear my grandson say: “One more time, daddy. One more time.” He soared and flew, without a care in the world. My grandson trusted his father. He knew that his father would never drop him. The child’s trust was complete. My guess is that we all have done that ourselves.
That is what Jesus meant. Trust me. Be humble and quit seeking to be #1.
It is Christ-like to love children, to care for them, to welcome them, and to embrace them. It is like Jesus to become indignant at those who would mistreat them. Jesus is the little child’s best friend. His blessing has brought its benediction wherever his name has been heard. Christianity has always been the religion that safeguarded the rights of children.
Wherever the gospel goes . . . it honors families . . . it raises up motherhood . . . it protects and preserves the place of children.
Where Christ is known and trusted and followed, and where his example is the model, there infancy is sacred and children are safe.
Unfortunately, our California legislature just passed AB 145 stating that one does not have to register as a sex offender for statutory rape. This bill will affect cases where the victim was between 14 and 17 years of age. In this setting I cannot speak the details of the sex offenses listed, they are too offensive. You must read AB 145 yourself. I strongly encourage you to write to the Governor and ask Him to protect our children and not sign this bill.
Jesus was clear. Those who do not protect the children will face judgment.
But then we must face the judgment of Matthew 18:6. In the ancient world, the farmers would take freshly-harvested grain and grind it between two heavy stones. The “millstone” was a huge stone so heavy that it was pulled by a donkey. The “depth of the sea” represents the deepest, darkest, most turbulent spot. If you hang a millstone around a man’s neck and drop him in the depth of the sea, he will most certainly drown. The millstone makes his death doubly sure. It speaks of a terrible, agonizing death.
Jesus then tells the story of a shepherd who has lost a sheep and leaves the 99 and goes out to seek the one that is lost…so God does not want any child to be lost.
Jesus wants us and his disciples to not grasp for 1st place, but to be servants to one another. Jesus call us to “become like the child” In complete humility be open to learn what God is telling you.
Humility . . . Total dependence . . . Complete honesty . . . No cover-ups . . . No games . . . No pride . . . No conditions . . . No deals.
Jesus loves me! This I know, For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong; They are weak but He is strong.
This verse tells how Jesus saves us: Jesus loves me! He who died
Heaven’s gate to open wide; He will wash away my sin,
Let His little child come in. And the chorus is a wonderful affirmation of faith:
Yes, Jesus loves me!
