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Like A Child
Luke 18:9-17
10/28/2007
Some memories never fade away. I can go back about 11 years and anyone who has had children could probably do the same. I would come home, open up the door, and here would come this little guy with a smile on his face, with arms outstretched, wanting to be picked up. One of the only words Carey said for a long time with regularity was the word “Daddy.” That kid was always glad to see me. What a joy children can be. Or take another scenario you may be familiar with all too well, it has been a struggle all evening just to get the kids bathed, read to, and into bed. Some of it has been less than fun. And they finally nod off to sleep. That’s the best part of the day. And I would peek in to see if they were OK before I went to bed myself, and there on the face of my daughter was the most angelic look, a look which could melt a heart of stone. I don’t know what it is, but God puts an unusual love in the hearts of parents for their children. And the Lord has taught me much about himself through the years through those little rascals.That’s why I’m excited about today’s text. In it Jesus turns traditional teaching upside down. Our story opens with two men who went to the temple for prayer. The temple had a part of it which could be used at all times for public prayer. And there was a crowd there praying. And for their own reasons, two men wouldn’t go near the main crowd, but prayed by themselves. And Jesus reveals their prayers.The first man was a fine, upstanding religious sort, a Pharisee. The Pharisees were known for their outward piety, doing even more than the Law commanded. And this man starts thanking God that he isn’t like the sinners he sees around him, reeling off the list to God of all the things he does: - Fast twice a week...the Law didn’t require that, it was an extra.
- Paying tithes of all that he took in...Deuteronomy required them only to tithe of the agricultural products.
He is feeling pretty smug. But as Jesus said, he trusted in himself that he was righteous and he views others with contempt.But there was another man, standing even farther away, a tax gatherer, one who made a living by cheating people and giving a share of it to the Roman government. No one liked him. [v.13]He was taking an honest assesment of his life before God, and he knew he was sinful. And his prayer is simple, no pretense, just, “Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner.”
And Jesus has the audacity to say that this man went out of that place justified by God. He was the one with his sins forgiven. This was probably close to blasphemy to the religious crowd, but this is the kingdom of God. We are justified, not by anything we can do, but by who we ask for mercy.I don’t think the disciples quite understood. There were children wanting to come near Jesus to receive a blessing from him. And to illustrate the point Jesus picks up a child and says, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child does not receive it at all.”And so I wondered, what is it about children which makes them such ideal role models for the kingdom? In the time we have remaining I would like to discuss 4 attributes of a child. 1. Children have no pretenses.In computer programs today there is a saying WYSIWYG. If you get a good program it boasts of this feature. It stands for What You See Is What You Get, meaning that just what appears on the screen is what comes out on the paper. Nothing changed, nothing hidden. How like a child that is. They haven’t learned the art of pretending to be something they are not. If a child has dirt or food smeared all over him, he comes anyway, grinning. We adults learned years ago to put on our pious masks and hide part of ourselves, and not let the world around us know who we really are. That is one of the problems we have with really worshiping God. When we get together we have to peer through these masks we wear to try to see God. Somewhere we got the idea that God doesn’t want us the way we are, when nothing could be farther from the truth. Had the tax gatherer tried that He would never have been the one justified. Instead, there he was, with the mess he had made of his life right out for everyone to see, saying simply, God, be merciful to me. I believe that as Christians we must learn that openness of a little child. We need to acknowledge that we are sinners and that we have made a mess of our lives. God sees it anyway, no matter what kind of a facade we try. Then we can know the true love a forgiven, loved, child of God experiences from our heavenly Father. 2. Children are always ready to receive. It never mattered how busy I was, or what I was doing, or how tired I was, or if I’d really blown it as a father, Christy and Carey, when I sat down, had no qualms whatsoever about climbing up into my lap, and bringing a book, or asking for something, or trying to get me up to play with them. And Christy can get things out of me that only a daddy’s little girl could. Think for a moment about our heavenly Father. He is perfect. He never has a bad day. And I’ll let you in on something: We’ve got Him wrapped around our little finger, so to speak. That’s not to say that we control God. God is still God. But He loves us more than we could ever imagine. You don’t have to wait until you’re good enough. Your Father loves you. In fact, when we went astray He became a man and died for us to pay the penalty for our sin. You are incredibly precious in the eyes of God. And if you’ve never experienced the love of Christ, then I believe, scripturally, He’s got his arms wide open telling you, come here, kid! And he will bless you with eternal life. Who, tell me, knew the love of the Father better than the Son? And Jesus couldn’t resist the little children. I believe Jesus is saying to us that we must become like a little child, lay our pretenses aside and come ready to receive. You’ll be glad you did. 3. Children love touch. I did a project one time when I was chaplain at Brackenridge Hospital in Austin. On our printout there were listed, every now and then, children who were classified as “failure to thrive.” I really didn’t know what that meant, but it caught my attention. As I read about it and interviewed doctors and nurses I was shocked to find out that these were, for the most part, babies whose parents didn’t touch them enough. They were dying because there was no parent-infant bond, and the side effects were deadly, if not treated. Kids love to be handled, don’t they? What about us, as children in the kingdom? Do we love the touch, the presence of the Father? Do we engage in activities which we know remove our closeness, our fellowship? If that’s the case, we start to dwindle spiritually. We fail to thrive. But if we receive like a little child, I believe that the presence of God in our lives will be every bit as important as the touch of a father or a mother to an infant. And we will treasure God’s presence, and train ourselves to live in that presence. And we’ll ask for God’s help when we don’t feel it. 4. Children forgive easily. Have you every noticed that children don’t hold grudges very long? [Christy and the neighbors]That’s something we learn later in life. And I believe that we ought to all be like children in that respect. Let love be our guide. That’s part of what it means to live in God’s kingdom. We need to learn to get along. That’s what 1 Corinhians 13:7 means when it says, “love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Sound anything like a child? In conclusion, let me say that what we have not nearly exhausted Jesus’ analogy of a child. I hope that you will go home and come up with more comparisons. But let me also say that what we are talking about here is not presented as an option. If we are to receive the kingdom at all, it must be as a child. I believe, scripturally, that God just can’t resist you. He loves you that much. And may God speak the words to our hearts again, “Permit the children to come to me.” And may we receive with childlike hearts! Let us pray.
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