Can Billy Come Out to Play?
Matthew 18:1-20 ESV
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is
the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put
him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless
you turn and become like children, you will never enter the
kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is
the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever
causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be
better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be
drowned in the depth of the sea.
“Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For
it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the
temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it
off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than
with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if
your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you
to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into
the hell of fire.
“See that you do not despise one of these little
ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face
of my Father who is in heaven. What do you think? If a man has a
hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the
ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And
if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the
ninety-nine that never went astray. So, it is not the will of
my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him
his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you
have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two
others along with you, that every charge may be established by the
evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to
them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the
church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly,
I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, I say
to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will
be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three
are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
The disciples once again ask Jesus a question about the
Kingdom of Heaven. Who is the greatest? In this passage, Jesus stresses the
importance of being a citizen in the Kingdom, rather than, as the disciples are
thinking, being a leader in the Kingdom. Jesus has a way of turning the
disciples and the rest of us around in our thinking. I fall into this trap,
myself. Humility is sometimes hard to come by. As mortals, we tend to want to
impress one another with some skill, some money, some leadership, some power,
some something. But the Kingdom is not about me or you in a way of authority or
prestige. It’s about God and our place before God.
So, Jesus turns to his disciples and teaches, or gives a
challenge to change dispositions, change habits, change thinking and turn in
repentance from our own selfish ways.
The child in the day of this conversation was rather
insignificant in ranking of society. What did a child have to offer in the
daily life of the family? Maybe cheap child labor, but still, the child was
someone to support and raise and nurture. The child wasn’t a great source of
monetary or living advantage for a family attempting to feed one another. Here,
Jesus welcomes the insignificant child as if the child were part of Jesus
himself. Jesus encourages his disciples to welcome all like children as if they
were Jesus. Jesus teaches the disciples to be willing to be insignificant themselves.
Some great attributes of children that all of us should
emulate:
·
A child is dependent and trusting
·
A child is friendly and unconscious of rank
·
A child is candid
·
A child lives in constant wonder
·
A child expects great things in life and discovers
those great things
·
A child is innocent
As I have aged, I’ve lost most of
these traits. Good traits to have. This is where the fun really is found in
life. If I would only have thought it all through, and listened to the voice of
Jesus, I too, and you as well, could regain these child-like attributes. So,
Jesus calls his disciples to turn to God, away from themselves, and become like
children that depend fully on God. And we really do depend fully on God.
Childlikeness is one of the greatest features of the Kingdom of God, in heaven
and on earth. Children gain the entrance into the Kingdom of God. Children
bring humility into the Kingdom of God and that’s where things get great.
As we turn to God as his children,
I’m reminded of the Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer and Luther’s Explanation.
I’ll paraphrase with my own wording here. “Our Father who art in heaven…”
God calls us to come to him as
our Daddy. We come to our Daddy in heaven in love and truth and purity; like
little children who love their Daddy. We can be bold in his presence and seek the
love we need to live in his house and in his presence, because all we have and
need comes from this Daddy. We love our Daddy and respect all that he has to
say and give to us. He’s our Daddy and we are his children. Our Daddy wants us
to come to him and welcomes our presence and listens to our hopes, needs and
way of living.
After all, … He’s, our Daddy!
I could leave this reflection
right here and be happy. But, let’s go on.
Jesus calls his disciples to treat
the weakest with us with the most respect. Yet…
Jesus also tells us that we must
be like a child ourselves. Because, we really are children, God’s children.
We are God’s children called to
serve God and one another in acts of love, humility and caring. Acts not to
gain God’s favor. Our Daddy already favors us, but Daddy wants us to love him
and one another, not out of marching orders, but in response to the love God
has already given to each of us. To help other Children of God is to help Jesus,
and a disciple is called to help the leader… Jesus. We do Jesus actions in Jesus’
name.
In loving God’s children, we desire
to observe and teach the commandments. One of the toughest things God sets
before us it to rid ourselves to whatever leads us to sin. There are
temptations in this world. I fall and fail all the time to these temptations. I
wander off and need my Daddy to come after me and pull me back into his arms. I
need my Daddy to call me out for what I’ve done wrong. I need his correction,
so that I can see my sin and turn back to Daddy for help, guidance and
salvation. That’s why here we see, in this passage, some hyperbole on what to
do in the face of temptation and sin. God loves us and wants us to be forever
with him in his Kingdom. Wouldn’t it not be better to lose an eye, hand or
foot, rather than to lose the spirit, which is life itself? God does not want
his children to lose true life to temptations. God does not want us to cause
others to sin. God stands in horror to those who cause another child to sin,
especially the weak, or young or new. To God, our Father, our Daddy; each
person is highly valued and loved deeply.
And in this love, our God teaches
us to love all people with a compassionate concern to seek the lost with love
and understanding, bringing each one home to live with us in the flock of God’s
Kingdom forever. For we are citizens, children, in God’s Kingdom, each guarded with
God’s angels. God values the “little ones.” God calls us to imitate the
shepherd and go after the lost sheep. And don’t we all wander off and some time
or another?
And don’t get caught up in the
what about the ninety-nine left behind. Remember they are loved and cared for
and protected with the fresh dew on green grass and loved already forever by
God. Each one a soul of earth’s ultimate worth. Everyone is dear to Jesus’
love.
So, what of the one sheep who
does not wish to return? Tough but loving action takes place. Sometimes it’s a
discipline washed in love and patience and prayer. We reach out. Not once, but
over and over and over again in many and various ways. We reach out to the lost,
one on one, with a few and in the congregation.
As we reach out to the one sheep
who does not wish to return, we need to know that forgiveness is not
indifference to sin. The offender needs time to turn to God and now is to be
loved through the sure message of Law and Gospel, in hopes that he will turn to
God. But if and when he doesn’t turn to God; we still love him. We evangelize those
who choose not to turn to God. We don’t exclude them. We rinse and repeat in
the hope and love that the lost in sin may turn to God. No! We don’t want them
to turn to ourselves, for our self-glorification, as many of us fall into this
trap. We want the lost to turn to God and fall into the Shepherds arms being led
back to the flock. But at some point, we must let it go to the actions of the
Shepherd.
This Gospel passage was an
emotionally long one for me. It led me through my sin to the Gospel of the love
of God in Jesus. It calls me to turn to my Daddy in prayer and it teaches me
how to love those God gives to me each and every day. I know I will fail in all
of this, but that’s where I must turn to God’s Word and speak to God and listen
to him. I can’t hide my sin from God. I acknowledge daily that I will fail at all
of this, but God assures me that he has fulfilled the Law for me out of his eternal
love in Christ Jesus.
Lord, forgive this reflection of
mine where I need forgiveness, speak your Word to me that I may hear your call.
Speak your Gospel through me to those in the need of hearing about your love
and salvation. For, I am your child, called to the action to follow Jesus in
his love for all those you give to me, today, tomorrow and forever. Amen
