1 Samuel 17:32-37; Mark 10:13-16
March 14, 2021
- Entering the Kingdom as a child?
If you remember back to the days when we had things like amusement parks, theme parks, and fast and furious fun rides, there were always the hated signs at the beginning of the best rides – hated by children everywhere: “You have to be “this” tall to ride this ride.” Most of us were able to rise above those height requirements for personal safety. I will say MOST of us. I love you short people.
Well, imagine for a moment the opposite, only this time for something deeply more important than the newest roller coaster. If you want to be part of God’s emerging Kingdom, the very Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, the new way of life under the rule of Christ Jesus, then you must be a child in order to enter. In other words, the sign might be switched to read “Adults Not Allowed.” If you did not enter the Kingdom as a child, you are out of luck. That does not seem quite fair, but that also sounds like exactly what Jesus is saying.
Today’s sermon is the second of these sermons that focus on Jesus’ teaching concerning children in Mark’s Gospel. Last week, we considered how we value the children of God around us and whether we invest in them to be our help in the generations to come. Today, we are considering this very interesting, even troubling idea, of how children can be greater than adults in their welcome to God’s Kingdom.
Of course, children already know they are better than we are, don’t they – at least children of today. Things were different back then. I don’t think young people had swelled heads or egos like so many entitled young people in contemporary American culture. In other, poorer cultures today, children seem to be on much more precarious footing. Their future or success in life is not nearly as secure as in America and comparable cultures to ours. There are no free rides for young people in so many countries out there and even many places in our own. Children have no claim to boast.
And yet, David seems pretty sure of himself. Does that seem strange to anyone else? The First Samuel passage that we read today is an excerpt from the famous David and Goliath story. David has shown up at the Israelite front lines to bring food to his brothers who were apparently part of the troops. Goliath is out there in the open horribly taunting and intimidating the Israelites. David is mortified for the Israelites and cannot sit back and let Goliath insult them and their God like that. Even though David is boy and too young to be in the army himself, he has a mind to go out and fight the massive Philistine champion, himself. He pleads his case to King Saul and explains with perfect clarity why this is a piece of cake for him – no different than anything else he has had to fight on the job as a family shepherd.
We know how the story goes. Of course, David is successful, but you have to admit, that is a LOT of bravado coming out of that young person’s mouth. He has no inclination of hesitation. While it might be possible to say he is a little naïve (he is, after all a child), and there is no magic shield that will prevent him from ever getting hurt. Still, David is making this dramatic appeal in confidence. Because of his ability? His skill? His courage? His strength? His training?
Of course not. He believes entirely and completely that God will fight this heathen warrior through him. It would be completely ludicrous to believe that a young lad with no military training or weapons or armor would have any hope of fighting, let along overcoming, a seasoned, massive warrior. That’s why NO ONE took up the challenge that Goliath gave. Everyone looked to their own ability and found themselves lacking. David was no different. He knew he had not a snowball’s chance in Sheol by himself. It was God alone who could deliver him and God alone would do it.
That is a child’s faith.
When I have previously read this passage from Mark 10 which also shows up in Matthew 19 and Luke 19, it never really made a great impression. First, when a passage shows up in multiple gospels, you might want to take notice. Second, this is a passage which is very challenging to us, if we take it seriously. Obviously, Jesus is not speaking literally here. We do not need to be actual children to enter God’s Kingdom and be a part of God’s restorative work on earth. But we can take the “as children” to mean “like children.” Somehow we need to be childlike in order to be present in God’s Spirit in the work of Christ in this world. I always took that to mean that we have to be innocent or pure or like new people or something like that, but I’ll be happy to tell you that I had it all wrong.
The Jews in Jesus’ day actually believed like we Presbyterians do in the notion that people are born corrupt and sinful. As sweet and darling as our children can be, they start off pretty selfish and willful and full of themselves and their wants. You regular hear the words “NO” and “MINE” in the early vocabulary of young people. There are no rosy glasses here. Jesus is NOT saying that we have to be sweet and innocent and pure to enter the Kingdom of God. After all, that is kind of silly notion if you think about it. How would we even reform ourselves in order to be approved by God? That is akin to saying that you have to get yourself right before God can use you or love you or make you part of the family, and that is as wrong as it gets. That notion makes a mockery of God’s grace that loves us as we are and adopts us into God’s people as broken and sinful people. Christ heals our brokenness, not us.
So there must be something else to being “as children.” Jesus is not just spouting off nice sounding aphorisms. That brings us back to David who was not an idiot. He knew that he was not the warrior that Goliath was. He had eyes just like anyone else. He saw the size and armor and weapons. He saw how rational people responded to Goliath’s threats. Everyone was terrified. No one in their right mind would square off against him one-on-one. To put it into a more contemporary context, how many of us would jump into the ring with Mike Tyson or Evander Holyfield or George Forman or Muhammed Ali or Joe Frazier? Going even further, can we imagine a boy going into the ring with a champion heavyweight boxer? Of course, not. David is not delirious. He knows he stands no chance without God’s help. In fact, he is helpless without God being on his side. With God behind him, he can do anything, but without God’s strength, he is just a boy.
This is the quality of children that we need to see. If you remember last week, I was pointing out that children were next to worthless because they could not do much of anything but play and get into trouble. They had to rely on adults for just about everything. David had to rely completely on God’s Spirit working through him to defeat Goliath. The one aspect of childlikeness that everyone needs to enter the Kingdom of God is embracing that helplessness and dependency. If you want to be a part of God’s Kingdom, you need to know that you need God completely and utterly.
I know that is not very glamorous. No one wants to feel deficient or helpless or completely lacking. No one wants to be confronted by their inability or failure or weakness, but that feeling of uselessness is a requirement to being useful to God. And it can even be a beautiful thing.
It is no accident that the gospel is especially powerful among the peoples who have so little, those who are oppressed and run down, those who are on the fringes of society, and those who are forgotten by everyone else. The rich and powerful and successful generally have no need for God. They see themselves as sufficient unto themselves. The moment David forgot his need for God later in his own life and sought his own strength and glory, he diminished as a king and never fully recovered. He traded a sling for a crown.
It is no surprise that some people have such a hard time being an active part of God’s Kingdom and the reign of Christ Jesus. Jesus said something about a rich man and a camel, if you remember. It is human nature to try to build ourselves up, not to become like children. It is human nature to try to do for ourselves, not to depend completely and utterly on God’s grace. But if we find ourselves in that situation of powerlessness and weakness and helplessness, there is hope. Just think how many people out there are being crushed under the weight of this consuming world. There is no way we can keep up; there is no way we can win – not on our own ability. The real victory is our Lord’s.
This is a child’s faith. When we realize we are not our own little gods and must trust in the one true God for everything, when we know that the goodness of our Eternal and Heavenly Father will provide for us in ways we could never provide for ourselves, then we will know a child’s faith – just like when a child trusts in their parent to secure their life. God is for us in that complete and utterly loving way, and God wants us to know it. Then, we become useful to God. With humble and gracious and forgiving and loving hearts, we will meet others and God’s Kingdom will grow. When the true children of God come together, God is glorified and Christ is in their midst.
There is nothing easy about this, though. It is not painless to recognize our frailty, and usually it is because we are broken that we see our brokenness. This is where God works, though, where we are most at-need, where we can give and receive the most love, where we find new ways to be and do as God’s children. The power of the cross shows us a God who is willing to be broken right alongside us. And that God came back from the dead, and in that God, we will have new life.
To God be the glory. Amen.