Live With a Child-like Purpose
Pastor Jim Luthy
Last week we discovered Jesus confronting his disciples about their approach to greatness in the Kingdom of God. It seems they were developing a worldly approach, which creeps into our thinking dressed as religion. They thought, you might recall, that greatness came by our doing, and not by our being. "Who is the greatest?" they asked Jesus.
Jesus then taught them a different approach. He set a child among them and said, "unless you change and become like a little child you will never enter the Kingdom." As usual, Jesus’ teaching turned the thinking of the people upside-down. In most cases, the Kingdom of God is quite contrary and opposite to what we might think or presume.
For example, we might presume one way of approaching a text of scripture, basing it on our thinking or our experience, rather than with the mind of Christ.
That’s exactly what I did in preparation for this week’s message.
I approached Matthew 18:10-14 with a "greatness comes by what we do" mindset. By doing that, I kept assuming that this parable of the lost sheep was about evangelism. I was trying to squeeze out a message on evangelism from a parable that wasn’t intended for that purpose. It didn’t help that every sermon I ever heard about this parable was about evangelism.
When I took off my "who’s the greatest" filter, I realized Jesus was still making his point about the little child. While the heart of God is definitely in view here, Jesus told this parable to convince them to change and become like little children. His point – whoever humbles himself like this little child finds favor with the Father.
First, in verse 10, Jesus declares that these little ones have a special audience with God.
See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven."
The angels who watch over the humble are always close enough to see the Father’s face. They have quick access to God because they are charged with the truly great in God’s kingdom – those who humble themselves like a little child.
Then Jesus tells them this parable. See if you can read it with me without your filters and hear God’s love for those who humble themselves like a child…
What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the niney-nine that did not wander off. In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that nay of these little ones should be lost.
Picture the throne room of heaven. Paraded before the throne are the righteous acts of God’s children, one right after another. Suddenly one of the ministering angels interrupts from the side of the room, "O Sovereign One, I am sorry to report that one of our little ones have wandered away."
The angel immediately has the attention of the Father. "How so?"
The angel reports, "It appears that this simple one has been deceived, believing there are many ways to you, not just one. He believes in the Lamb, but has fallen for a young maiden who follows the teaching of Moroni and assumes all is well."
The Father leaps into action to seek and save this little one. He sends angels to protect him, people to teach, rebuke, and correct him, and goes himself in the form of the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to him. The young one is easily deceived, and the Father is not going to remove his freedom to choose, but he will leave the religious parade to make a way of escape to this one he loves so much.
This one like you.
The one who humbles himself like a little child is the greatest in the kingdom. His angels have a place in the presence of God, and his/her wanderings initiate a special effort of the Father to find them. The parable is an invitation to change – to humble yourself and find special favor—grace—with the Father in heaven.
A little child would not approach this parable looking for ways to become great. A little child would not look at this and ask what it tells him about being a better Christian. A little child humbles himself and looks for the Father that Jesus reveals. His response might look quite similar to the person who read it with their "Who is the Greatest?" filter. It might look quite religious. But it comes from a different heart. It comes out of a different purpose.
A child doesn’t try to impress his Father to gain his Father’s attention and love. A child does what he does because he knows his Father loves him and because he loves his Father. Why complicate it? When a child receives a gift, he leaps in joy to express his delight. When a child imitates his father, he does it because he admires his father. When a child obeys, its because he respects his father, even his father’s authority.
So when a child reads the parable of the lost sheep, he might do exactly what the religious zealot might do, but he does it for completely different reasons. He’s not looking to become great. He’s looking to be grateful. He’s looking to imitate his Father. He’s looking to obey out of reverence.
Jesus humbled himself like a little child when he came to earth. He said he came to seek and save that which was lost. He also said he only does what he sees his Father doing. This example of the Father was embraced by the Son, and so we have a Savior.
Paul’s example was quite similar. He said,
Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible…I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
Notice his childlike motive. It wasn’t to impress God or out of bondage to the approval of men. He wants to save others for the sake of the good news. He wants to share in its blessings. He wants to save because greatness is not a competition, it is a condition. So he purposed to save some.
Paul later said that these Corinthian believers should follow his example as he followed the example of Christ. But the evidence is that we must change.
We’ve left the seeking and saving to those we consider great. It’s the job of the professional evangelist, we reason. We hire Luis Palau or Billy Graham to come to town and think, "now people are gonna get saved!"
In America, it takes 85 people working over the course of an entire year to produce 1 convert. This might be because we’ve left the work of becoming great (in our thinking) to others, and it might be because we’ve sought to be great in other ways – raising children of good character, compiling a history of good church attendance, serving on church boards and more. It’s also possible that in our desire to be significant in what we do, our failures have left us thinking we cannot be great and so we’ve given up doing the things we think might make us great. For whatever reason, we’ve given up following Paul’s example as he followed the example of Christ. The result: we don’t even save some.
We need to change and become like children. If we do, we will escape the pursuit of greatness and focus on one purpose. To save some.
Charles Spurgeon said, "Lives with many aims are like water trickling through innumerable streams, none of which are wide enough or deep enough to float the merest cockleshell of a boat. But a life with one purpose is like a mighty river flowing between its banks, bearing to on either side." Oh, that we would be like that mighty river, not for our sakes or for our greatness, but for the sake of the gospel and to share in its blessings with those we might save.
What if our only reward for trying to save some was to join the Savior in his tears and mourn, "How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"?
What if we were to agree with Spurgeon that "it is marvelous that we should be employed by the Father to give to Christ the purchase of his agonies."?
What if we were to press on to save some to stand alongside Jesus as he says, "Here am I, and the children God has given me."?
What if we were to adopt the life purpose attitude reflected by Charles Roessel, pastor of a Baptist church that has grown tenfold in Leesburg, Florida, who said, "I exist for evangelism like a fire exists for burning."?
We need to follow Paul’s example as he follows the example of Christ who follows the example of the Father in heaven. We need to quit competing for greatness and begin competing to save some. This needs to be our purpose. And this will only become our purpose if we humble ourselves like a little child.
In my new neighborhood, I have met some very respectable people. One is the principal of a local high school who was the principal at Thurston High School in Springfield Oregon when a student opened fire in the school. I’ve met a retired police officer and another who is currently a detective with the Gresham Police Department. I can think of few professions who do more productive and purposeful work than teachers and policemen. Yet I know, my neighbors aside, public servants are as likely as any of us to ask, "what’s the point?" Suicide and alcoholism rates among policemen are the highest of any profession.
But in becoming like little children, we can live with a purpose that will endure. We can demonstrate our gratitude for the gifts of God. We can imitate the Father. We can obey out of reverence to God and not for our own advantage. That is the childlike response to the parable of the lost sheep.
C’mon little ones, you who are great in the eyes of our Father. What are you living for? In humility, go, and save some.
