GOATed: Like a Child (Matthew 18:1-12)

Who’s the GOAT?

This is the first weekend of the NFL season. And every time the NFL season rolls around there are the endless debates about who is the GOAT… whether it is a quarterback or defensive nose tackle, social media is full of lists… GOAT lists… the greatest of all time. When I was growing up, there was one athlete who was known as The Greatest. In fact, that was his own name for himself. “I am the Greatest”. Whenever you heard those words, “the greatest”, you immediately knew that the subject was Muhammad Ali. Not only is he considered the greatest boxer of all time, he is considered one of the greatest sports figures of all time.

GOATs. Almost always subjective. Always a changing standard. And in fact, always a changing person. Tom Brady is considered by many to the be the GOAT in the NFL. At one time it was Jerry Rice. Before that it was Jim Brown. Someday, someone else will wear that label. And that’s the problem with the label, especially when it is self-proclaimed. There’s always something else. There’s always someone else. There’s always never being the ultimate forever. That is the problem with Pride. With its focus on the self, pride fails to consider the limits of its feelings, its claims.

"Who is the greatest?” is the question of the morning. The way Jesus answers this question it’s obvious that the disciples' question is about themselves. But Matthew leaves that part hanging, unlike Mark and Luke who tell us that’s exactly what they were asking because it was an argument among them. Matthew doesn’t go there, and I think he doesn’t go there because when the disciples ask this question, you and I are within their purview. “Who is the greatest?” Is it Matthew, is it John, is it Peter, is it Bresson?

Don’t think for a minute that you or me couldn’t be the answer there, because you and I both know that we spend an awful lot of time thinking about how great we are and if we just had the right circumstances, the world would know it. Pride. It’s in us all. It’s been that way from the beginning.

The Problem of Pride

We read the passage from Ezekiel. Ezekiel is prophesying about the king of Tyre and more than once the king of Tyre is called out for being proud, and proud to the point where he wanted to be God himself. But underneath what is being said about that super proud king is language pointing to a figure at the beginning of time, an angel so beautiful and so wise and so brilliant that it all went to his head. Ezekiel says,

Ezekiel 28:13 “You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone covered you: carnelian, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold; they were prepared on the day you were created.”

This grand figure was created. A creature. He wanted to be God… and we know his name as Lucifer, and the downfall of the king of Tyre is the downfall of Lucifer who we also know as Satan. All pride began with and comes back to Satan himself. Pride got the best of Lucifer and still does.

And it got the best of Adam and Eve. Lucifer takes the form of a serpent and the next thing you know, Adam and Eve are in the same prideful state thinking the same thoughts as Lucifer. And just like God took down Satan, Adam and Eve were cursed and kicked out of the garden. Pride. I am the greatest. I want everyone else to acknowledge I am the greatest.

When someone else gets their just desserts, when someone else gets their comeuppance, why do we inwardly smile and have a bit of delight? Because we have our own pride. There’s a reason why pride is among the big no-nos. The problem of pride is addressed in both the 1st and the 10th commandments. Pride wants to be God. And because Pride presumes to take the place of God, Pride believes what the neighbor has is mine. Pride covets.

Who is the Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?

All of this explains this amazing conversation in our passage this morning. “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” We’re not told why the disciples are having this conversation. I think there’s a clue shortly before we find this question in Matthew. Jesus has told the disciples that pretty soon...

Matthew 17:22-23 “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised up.” And they were deeply distressed.

Jesus announces for the second time that he is going to be killed in Jerusalem and they are distressed. And then they turn to figuring out the pecking order in the wake of the showdown in Jerusalem, so.. who’s the greatest? As much as we hate to admit it, this is our answer to hearing the Gospel. The Gospel is not about us. The Gospel is Jesus and His death and resurrection for us. And the Gospel is our death and resurrection. We can’t have that. We want skin in the game. The Son of Man is going to be killed and rise again. So, who’s the greatest? Who among us has the best handle on what’s about to go down? Who is the one most likely to be able to control Jesus being killed and rising from the dead?

What’s amazing is that Peter has already been rebuked for challenging Jesus and his statement that he is going to go to Jerusalem to be killed by the religious pop stars. Now, here they are again, not necessarily openly challenging Jesus, but instead begin entertaining the idea that any one of them just might save the day.

You know what’s else is amazing? You know how blind pride is? What’s the true answer to the question? Who really is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? You have to suspend a bit of what you know to be true to even pose this question to the One Who is the Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. And the reality is that this is the stupendous pride and delusion of self-salvation. Confronted with a Jesus who is killed and rises to save us, we still want to be the heroes. We still want to take credit for making that decision for Jesus. We still want to take credit for being better than the other guy and saying “yes” to Jesus. We want credit for repenting of our sin and believing in Jesus when the other guy didn’t. We want to be the greatest in the salvation conversation.

Turn and Become like Little Children

Jesus doesn’t condemn them. Instead, Jesus pulls a little child into the center of the discussion and says.

Matthew 18:3 “Unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

One of the ultimate object lessons of the New Testament. Can you imagine being this child, one minute you’re playing hide and go seek and the next, you’re in the middle of a bunch of adults bickering about who is the greatest? The child’s name is never given. We don’t know who the child is or was. What we do know is that this child absolutely consumed Jesus and dominated his answer to this unbelievably narcissistic question.

Matthew doesn’t tell us Jesus was angry. But Jesus was certainly emotional because all he can talk about in the wake of this question is children.

Unless you turn and become little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Whoever humbles himself like this child - this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Whoever welcomes one child in my name welcomes me.

Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away — it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea.

Don’t despise one of these little ones.

It is not the will of your Father in Heaven that one of these little ones perish.

Six statements, four of which are stark warnings, and among them, the answer to the question. The one who humbles himself like this child… that’s the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Six statements, again and again and again, please look at this child and be like this child, this child is the answer to your question. And it all begins with “turn and become little children”.

It’s not an accident that Jesus begins with the word “turn”. “Turning” is at the heart of what it means to repent. And “become” is a reference to faith. The kingdom of heaven cannot be accessed by attempting to be the greatest. It cannot be accessed by inserting ourselves into the equation. Repentance and faith… welcoming Jesus or receiving Jesus and his death and his resurrection for us are how we enter and belong to the kingdom of heaven.

The disciples want to dismiss Jesus’ talk of dying and rising. No, Jesus says, the kingdom of heaven is only for those who embrace Jesus’ death and resurrection. The kingdom of heaven is for children. Children who cannot do anything for themselves. Children who receive from Jesus, no questions asked.

Children believe

What does it mean to be humble like a child? The thesis statement of everything that Jesus says here is found in this expression, the one we stumble over because pride blinds us:

Matthew 18:4 “Whoever humbles himself like this child—this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

You wanna be the GOAT? Children get it. Adults don’t. Turn from trying to save yourself. Repent for trying to be the most important one in the room. Stop trying to control. Stop trying to figure it all out. Stop trying to have the answer for everything. Stop trying to be God.

Do nothing. Let Jesus do it for you. Simply trust. Children have the amazing ability to believe the unbelievable. One of the great Christmas stories is the Polar Express. I think one of the reasons why every Christmas I read some article or editorial taking a swipe at the Polar Express is because of its anti-modern and anti-scientific notion that there are grand stories to be believed, and those most inclined to believe them are children. In the story, adults cannot hear Santa’s sleighbells because they don’t believe any of it. They’ve mastered the art of not being bamboozled by the claims of Christmas. But children hear them. Children believe.

In fact, Polar Express is an elaborate tale expressing the very idea that Jesus is presenting to the disciples. Become a child and believe. Put negatively in our culture, children are gullible. Children will believe anything. Children believe the unbelievable because their filter is controlled by faith.

What those disciples need in the Word of Christ’s death and resurrection is to repent of their pride and their unbelief and place their trust in Jesus. Again. When Jesus says “I’m going to be killed by the religious elite in Jerusalem”, believe it. When he says he will rise again after three days, believe it. Believe that Jesus dies and rises FOR YOU. Against all odds, believe Jesus.

In the midst of this discussion about who’s the greatest, Jesus tells a story about a Shepherd who leaves his 99 sheep and goes and looks for the lost 1. Childlike faith believes Jesus when he talks of himself as loving shepherd who will never let you be lost. We’re too smart for that. We’re too adult for that. We don’t need saving. We’ve got it. There’s our pride. We can be like god. We don’t need you Jesus. I’ve got this.

We do this with Jesus. We do this with his church. We don’t need help. We don’t need assistance. We don’t admit need. We’re Americans raised on rugged individualism and self-sufficiency and self-reliance. We don’t need community.

No. Come back and look at this child. Turn and become like this child. This child is all about faith. This child knows he needs Jesus. This child knows he needs Jesus’ community. This child knows he’s the lost sheep that Jesus has come to find. This child is willingly dependent on Jesus. This child knows and believes that Jesus absolutely loves him. This child knows Jesus is the greatest. This child knows Jesus is the GOAT, the GOAT who is FOR US.

Let’s Pray.

The Table

This Table is Jesus for us. And we come to this Table as children. We turn and become children right here. This is what it means to receive Jesus in childlike faith. Right here, right now The Greatest of All Time, Jesus himself, gives us the kingdom of heaven.

Benediction