Scripture Reading: Mark 10:13-16 (New Revised Standard Version)
13 People were bringing little children to Jesus in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
Sermon: “Learning Faith from a Child”
I love this passage where Jesus takes the little children up in his arms and blesses them! Not only does it show us how much God values children, but also it teaches us adults something about faith. “Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” When Jesus said this, I am sure the disciples stood up and took notice. I can just picture them stopping in their tracks, their jaws dropping, the word, “What?!” forming on their lips. This statement had to come as a shock, since children in that day and age were considered to be unimportant, “non-persons,” almost. This statement of Jesus’ flew in the face of what they’d been taught in their culture—that wealthy men with power and prestige were the ones whom God had blessed, the ones closest to God’s kingdom—not little children who had nothing.
I can just picture the disciples puzzling this out with each other later on, when they were again walking along the road. I can imagine their conversation:
- “The Kingdom of God belongs to children?? Do you understand what Jesus meant by that?!”
- “Is he really saying that there is something about little children that brings them closer to God than the rest of us?”
- “Yeah, I think he’s saying that--and more than that: he’s actually saying we need to be like them! But in what way?”
- “Could it be the way they trust others so freely?”
- “How about their openness, their willingness to accept and love people, faults and all?”
- “Yeah, and maybe it’s also their lack of guile-- their natural tendency to be full of hope…”
I can imagine the first disciples having this kind of conversation, because it’s the conversation that scholars have been having over this statement ever since.
It’s a conversation that I commend to you to think about, starting with the question, “What is it about little children that naturally brings them closer to God than the rest of us?” (And, while we’re thinking about this, it’s important to note that the gospel of Luke, in relating this story, uses the word “babies” instead of little children. So, we’re talking really young children here.)
It’s a question that I’ve thought about over the years, and a few years ago I came up with an answer that made sense to me--and then I found that answer written up in a book. (Just an aside: I didn’t know whether to be psyched that I’d come up with a theory that was corroborated by a scholar—or annoyed that I hadn’t thought of it sooner and written the book myself! J) So, my answer (that I have to say was very well-stated by the scholar) is that it’s primarily a little child’s “radical dependence” on other people that brings them closer to God. They have not yet learned to strive for self-sufficiency, so they are ready and willing to receive all the blessings that God has to offer, including life itself. (New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Vol. VIII, p. 647)
Sadly, however, in our culture, as we grow up, we tend to lose this openness to receiving blessings from God and other people. We are taught that our highest value should be autonomy, self-sufficiency, independence. We begin to believe that relying on others, instead of ourselves, makes us weak and worthless.
I know that I internalized that message early on. Let me give you an example.
When I was around 5 years old, I used to love hanging out with my father in his basement workshop. I used to love watching him work on “projects,” as he called them— items he would repair or make out of wood or metal. And one day I decided, myself, to embark on a project—to make a toy airplane out of wood. I had collected two scraps of wood that I wanted to use for the body of the plane and the wings, but both were a little too long, so I figured the first order of business was to cut them down to size—using one of my father’s saws. I told my father what I wanted to do, and he said he’d be glad to help me. But, apparently, I did not like that suggestion. My father told me years later, when we were talking about the airplane project, that I had looked at him indignantly and said, “No, Daddy, I can do it all by myself!”
Now, the amazing thing here, was that he somehow managed not to laugh at me. Here I was, 5 years old, small for my age, not even tall enough to reach the work table, barely strong enough to even pick up a saw, never mind use it, and yet I thought I could handle a woodworking project all by myself. Well, to make a long story short, I discovered I couldn’t do it by myself, I allowed my father to help me, and together we made a pretty decent little toy plane. (Which hung for years from the ceiling of my room. J)
So, analogous to this, the concept that competent adults should be able to do everything on their own without relying on their fellow human beings and God is simply not true. Autonomy is a myth. And, worse than that, it’s a myth that sets us up for isolation, loneliness, and deep feelings of inadequacy. If it weren’t so painful, it would be as laughable as a 5-year- old who thinks she can make an airplane by herself out of wood!
The truth is what’s stated in the first couple of steps in any 12 step program. Let me paraphrase: “By myself I am powerless; I look to God, or my Higher Power, for strength because I cannot do it alone.” We all know the truth of this statement, don’t we? How many of us have faced situations in our lives when it feels like we are standing at the bottom of a mountain and the only way forward is up, but we have no energy for the climb. Whether we are facing an addiction, an illness (our own or someone else’s), a loss, or some other huge obstacle, one of the first feelings that may hit us is hopelessness, because we are inadequate to face such momentous things on our own.
My friends, this is one very important thing that little children can teach us about faith: We cannot do everything on our own; God is the source of our strength and power. We cannot do everything on our own; God is the source of our strength and power! The more we accept this fact, the happier we will be. In fact, that’s part of why we have church—to encourage one another to look to God and to support each other. Because we can’t do it all alone. It’s the grace of God that gives us life.
So, in the coming weeks, whatever projects we embark on in our individual or corporate lives, may we do them in the strength of God’s power, for God’s purposes—recognizing that it is only in connection to God and our fellow human beings that we will thrive.
Let us pray…
Gracious God, we thank you that you have not created us to be islands unto ourselves. You have given us the gift of each other--and you strengthen us when we turn to others--and you--for the support we need. Help us to accept support when we need it, and help us to give it when others are in need.
Hear now our prayers for our community and our world.
We pray that the marches yesterday for Women’s Reproductive Rights will bear good fruit. We pray that women’s health care will be a priority for our politicians, and we pray that we can find ways to talk with each other about complex issues like abortion without our conversations escalating into angry confrontations.
We continue to pray for healthcare workers taking care of patients with Covid 19. Keep them safe, O God, and may people worried about whether or not to get the vaccine find trustworthy sources that give them the information they need to weigh the risks.
We pray for our church community as well. We received a few requests by email…
1. We pray for Julia who will be having surgery on Tuesday. She asks for prayers for her doctors and nurses who will be taking care of her, and so we pray for them--AND HER--that your Healing Spirit will guide their work--and that everything will go as planned.
2. We pray also for Lyn’s friends Meri and Mark and family as they deal with Meri's worsening ALS.
3. And we join Lyn in a prayer of celebration for her daughter Michelle, who is in the Netherlands to receive her Master of Legal Letters degree in international law on Tuesday.
PHONE
SLIPS
- Moment of silence…lifting up in prayer those we hold in our hearts.. others in this room and in our livestream… [PAUSE]
- O God, bless the sick… those who are struggling… those who are grieving…caregivers… Give them strength and healing…. In Jesus name, Amen
PLEASE JOIN ME IN THE LORD’S PRAYER
- Our Father, who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy Name
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven
- Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts
As we forgive our debtors`
- And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. AMEN