INTRO.- Greatness. Who is the greatest person in America? Obviously, that depends on your viewpoint and what you’re talking about. If you are looking at physical beauty many people will name someone in Hollywood.
ILL.- Some say, for example, that George Clooney is the sexiest man in Hollywood. He is a handsome man and he’s a good actor, and he might be sexy (and I really don’t care) but I certainly wouldn’t certainly consider him to be a great man. Not considering the few stories that I have read about him. He’s quite a rounder, a drinker, a partier, so to speak, and that doesn’t constitute greatness in my thinking.
Plus I read this story recently about George Clooney. His pet pig died. Listen to this. Months after enduring the death of his pet bulldog, now George Clooney is having to cope with the death of his pet potbellied pig, Max.
Max, who weighed approximately 300lb, was Clooney’s pet over the last 18 years. The two were so close they even shared the same bed. "Usually, he sleeps on the foot of my bed, but he’s gotten so fat in the last year," Clooney told 60 Minutes last February.
Max died peacefully on Friday, Dec. 1st of “natural causes” but he was suffering with arthritis and was partly blind. The animal lived a nice long life in pig years and according to Richard Slayton from pigs4ever.com, "I can tell you any pig that lives over the age of 12, the owner knows what he’s doing and is taking care of it. Obviously, Mr. Clooney did a very good job, and probably loved that pig very much."
Brothers and sisters, I have nothing against pigs or pets of any kind, but when a man seemingly values a pig that highly then he is not a great man in my book! I just happen to think that people are far more valuable than any animal.
Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder so greatness is in the mind of the thinker. Personally, I consider Billy Graham to be something of a great man because of his faith in Christ and how he has never wavered in his preaching of Christ. He has always boldly but politely pointed people to Christ, regardless of their position in life: the rich, the famous, the presidents, etc.
What constitutes greatness? I think it deals with a person’s faith in Christ and how active that faith is. In my mind, a great person doesn’t have to preach the faith, but they certainly have to live the faith. If they are faithful to Christ and love others, to me, that’s greatness!
Regardless of what we consider to be greatness, we must always consider what Jesus says. Jesus asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He didn’t ask who is the greatest actor, politician, preacher, etc. Jesus was always concerned about the eternal, not the temporary. And since we are going to live forever after this earthly life then we, too, should be thinking more about the eternal.
PROP.- In this text Jesus talks about children, their importance and how they relate to greatness in God’s eyes.
1- the humbled child
2- the welcomed child
3- the sinful child
I. THE HUMBLED CHILD
Matt. 18:1-4 “At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Children may be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And we all need to be like children in that they are often humble, dependent, needy, etc. This is the kind of attitude we need toward the Lord.
ILL.- Billy Graham tells of a time early in his ministry when he arrived in a small town to preach. Wanting to mail a letter, he asked a young boy where the post office was. When the boy had told him, Graham thanked him and said, "If you’ll come to the Baptist Church this evening, you can hear me preach about how to get to heaven."
The boy replied, "I don’t think I’ll be there... You don’t even know your way to the post office."
How’s that for being humbled? And haven’t we all been humbled in some form by someone? And especially by a child? Children often say what’s on their minds and sometimes it can be very blunt.
ILL.- Katie, age 9 - If you want something in a cereal box and it looks really big, it always turns out small and crummy.
- Laura, age 13 - No matter how hard you try, you can’t baptize cats!
- Scott, age 11 - It’s not a good idea to spit while on a roller coaster.
- Kelly, age 11 - My puppy still has bad breath even after I gave her a Tic Tac.
Kids are blunt, funny and can be very humbling to an adult. They are also humble and dependent on their parents and others. And we adults should be to our heavenly Father. Humility is a great trait, which is not always seen in this world.
ILL.- S.I. McMillen, in his book None of These Diseases, tells a story of a young woman who wanted to go to college, but her heart sank when she read the question on the application blank that asked, “Are you a leader?” Being both honest and conscientious, she wrote, “No,” and returned the application, expecting the worst.
To her surprise, she received this letter from the college: “Dear Applicant: A study of the application forms reveals that this year our college will have 1,452 new leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it is important that they have at least one follower.”
That girl was humble enough to admit her inability and it paid off. IT PAYS TO BE HUMBLE. At least, in God’s eyes.
Matthew 23:11-12 “The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
James 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
I Pet. 5:5-6 “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”
I’d rather have God’s grace than His opposition, wouldn’t you?
ILL.- Seeing a man going to be hanged for crime, English martyr John Bradford said: “There, but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford.” And the German scholar Goethe said: “I never heard of any crime which I might not have committed.”
That’s the kind of humility that will pay off spiritually and allow a person into the kingdom of heaven. It’s the kind of humility that we read in Luke 18 when the two men went into the temple to pray. The tax collector said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” That’s the kind of humility that we all need and must have!
II. THE WELCOMED CHILD
Matt. 18:5 “And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.”
ILL.- Two strangers attended the same church for several Sundays. No one spoke to them. One said, “I will give this church one more chance. If nobody speaks to me next Sunday, I’ll never go there again.” The other said, “I don’t like this unfriendly church. If no one speaks to me next Sunday, I’ll speak to someone.”
Next Sunday, the usher happened to seat both of these men, one in front of the other. As usual after service, no one greeted the other. The first man rose to leave and never come back. The second man turned, put out his hand and said, “Good morning, sir, I’m glad to see you. Fine sermon, wasn’t it?” And both were pleased at having made a friend, and continued to come.
Obviously, we need to be quick to welcome people in the church. But at the same time this welcome should also happen outside the church. I’ve heard it said that first impressions are vitally important when it comes to the church. If people are not welcomed quickly and courteously when they get out of their car or walk into the building then they may not return.
Sometimes they don’t return anyway, but an excellent welcome is something that we can’t afford not to give!
ILL.- Phillips Brooks, the writer of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” was one of the greatest orators and best-loved preachers of the 19th century. No greater tribute could be paid him than the words of a five-year-old Boston girl, who exclaimed after her mother had told her that the beloved Mr. Brooks had died, “Mother, how happy the angels will be!”
How would that be for a welcome? To be welcomed by the angels of heaven would be similar to being welcomed by God.
I would love that kind of welcome into heaven, wouldn’t you? I really do hope that God will be happy to see me!
Matt. 18:5 “And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.”
How do you welcome a little child? Do you shake their hand? Do you talk to them? Do you recognize them and acknowledge them?
ILL.- You could do like two different men in our church do. Matt Sandy welcomes ALL our little children by grabbing them and lifting them into his arms. I think Jesus did similar to that. And Matt is something of a magnet when it comes to our little children. Of course, Monica says it’s just because he’s nothing but a kid. But what Matt does is good, very good!
The other man who is quick to acknowledge children is Jim Reed. Jim constantly teases our children by calling them a sister’s name or perhaps a brother’s name, etc. Jim does it in a way that it grabs their attention and most of them know that he’s just teasing them. And teasing children is a good thing to do, because it shows that you care about them. I’ve always said that when people are teasing you’re in pretty good shape, but when they stop teasing, you better watch out!
And if we stop teasing children it’s because they’re getting into trouble! Overall, we must pay attention to the children around us…in the church and outside the church.
Matt. 18:5 “And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.”
I certainly want to welcome Jesus in life, don’t you? Since He is the only savior of the world we must welcome Him into our lives every chance we get…and that also means by welcoming little children.
III. THE SINFUL CHILD
Matt. 18:6-7 “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. "Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!”
ILL.- When the 10-year-olds in Mrs. Imogene Frost’s class at the Brookside, N.J. Community Sunday School expressed their views of "What’s wrong with grownups?" they came up with these complaints:
1. Grownups make promises, then they forget all about them, or else they say it wasn’t really a promise, just a maybe.
2. Grownups don’t do the things they’re always telling the children to do--like pick up their things, or be neat, or always tell the truth.
3. Grownups never really listen to what children have to say. They always decide ahead of time what they’re going to answer.
4. Grownups make mistakes, but they won’t admit them. They always pretend that they weren’t mistakes at all--or that somebody else made them.
5. Grownups interrupt children all the time and think nothing of it. If a child interrupts a grownup, he gets a scolding or something worse.
Powerful. If we are honest, we adults must admit that we don’t do everything right and we don’t always give our children the best example. When we do something wrong, we sometimes cover it up with some kind of excuse, but children often see through our excuses.
ILL.- A man once dreamed that he was in hell. When asked to give an account of what he had seen—if there were flames there, and suffering there, and terrible creatures with whom he had to associate, and he said, “Yes, but there was something far worse than any of that. I was compelled to face my influence. I knew that I deserved punishment because I had scorned and rejected Jesus Christ. But my sorest pain was to see what the effect of my life had been upon others.”
Brothers and sisters, what we all do affect others, for good or bad. Have you ever caused anybody to sin? Probably, though you might not have been aware of it. It’s one of those things that we really don’t like to think about or talk about.
ILL.- While working for Safeway back in the early 1960’s I invited a fellow employee to go with me to Galena, KS, to drink beer at Nina’s Green Parrot. I’m not sure at that point in his life he had drank beer, but he did after I got a hold of him! And I think he was sorry for it, too. The reason I say this is because sometime later he went back to the Green Parrot, got drunk and also got beat up.
When he came to work one morning he was all bruised and swollen. I asked him what happened and he told me. He probably wanted me to share some of that bruising. I doubt that he ever went back, but I felt bad for taking him there.
I wondered about the Green Parrot and did some research and discovered that place is still in existence after 40 plus years. It’s still called the Green Parrot and it’s in the same old building, 317 S. Main, BUT I THINK NINA IS LONG DEAD!
Seriously, we can cause others to sin and worst thing of all is to cause little children who believe in Jesus to sin! Of course, it’s not good any time to cause any believer to sin or to cause anyone to sin. We’re supposed to lead people to Christ, not away from Him!
God have mercy on us all! And God give us the grace to be smart enough and strong enough not to cause anybody to sin.
CONCLUSION-----------------------
- Ralph Waldo Emerson - There was never a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him to sleep.
- Boy, n.: a noise with dirt on it.
- Erma Bombeck - There’s nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.
- Children are unpredictable. You never know what inconsistency they’re going to catch you in next.
- In the United States today, there is a pervasive tendency to treat children as adults, and adults as children. The result is unruly children and childish adults.
And Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
May God have mercy on us in our stubborn ways and give us the grace to humble ourselves before Him.
