Sermon Tone Analysis
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Text: Mt 19:13-15~/ Mk 10:13-16~/ Lk 18:15-17
Theme: Children belong in God's kingdom.
Doctrine: Covenant~/Baptism
Image: wide eyed in wonder
Need: full devotion to faith
Message: let your faith sink into your bones
*Childlike Faith*
Luke 18:15-17
*Intro*
*friend's date and children *
One of my friends told me about the first time he took a certain girl out on a date.
He picked this cozy little Italian place.
It was a small restaurant, and had mainly tables for two.
He had been there once before and the atmosphere of the place was great.
People were talking softly, there were some musicians strolling around the place playing for the couples who were there.
He had everything planned out.
He had picked a quiet table in the back so that he could have some privacy and get to know this girl.
He picked her up promptly at 6:30.
Their reservation was for seven, so he figured they had plenty of time.
As he was going to the restaurant, they blew a tire.
He took his time to change it, so that he would not get his clothes too dirty.
When they finally got to the restaurant they were late and their table had been given to someone else.
The hostess placed them at a table in the middle of the restaurant, right beside a family with little kids.
They could hardly hear themselves think, let alone what the other person was saying.
All they could hear was, “Johnny, don't do that.
Sarah, please eat your food.
Jimmy listen to your father.”
My friend was about to scream at them, but he held his tongue.
After the date, the girl he had taken out said, “Thanks Jeff, this was probably the best date I have ever had.”
Best date, can she be serious.
“It was nice to be with someone who can appreciate children, even when they are a bit difficult.
He was stunned.
It was a good thing he had held his tongue.
*Page 1: The disciples hindered the little children from coming to Jesus.*
The disciples were faced with a similar dilemma, only they did not keep their mouths shut.
*Parent's gathered children and brought them to Jesus*
A small group of children were being gathered together by their parents.
“Now you behave,” their parents are telling them.
“We are going to see a very great man today.
He is a rabbi like no other.
This man is special.
That is why we are going to see him.
We want him to bless you.”
The parents scramble to try and get the kids presentable.
Their mother is busy slicking down hair, straightening out cloaks, and making sure they have their sandals on as they file out the door.
As they walk down the street, they spot a large crowd around the gate.
“This must be him,” father said.
“Remember everyone, be on your best behaviour.”
“Yes, dad,” they answer in unison.
*Disciples stood in the way*
As the group approached Jesus, the disciples came and stood in their way.
“What do you want here?”
they asked.
“We want Jesus to bless our children,” they answered.
“Sorry,” one responded.
“Jesus is much too busy to be bothered with your children.
He is a very important man, and he cannot take the time to see children.”
Exasperated, they plead with the disciples, “But other rabbis see children and bless them.
Why will you not let us bring our children to Jesus.
We have heard he is a great rabbi, and we have been listening to him.
Please, let our children see Jesus.”
The disciples ignore their plea, and turn them away.
*Jesus is saddened by ignorance (story of Pharisee and tax collector)*
Jesus looks over from where he is sitting and teaching and he sees the disciples hurriedly pushing the children and their parents away.
He is saddened by this display of ignorance.
He has just showed them the difference between those who were confident in their own righteousness, and looked down on everyone else.
He told them that a publican, a tax collector, who comes before God humbly and repentantly is justified before God, not a Pharisee, who is not repentant and humble before God.
He told them that people need to be humble to approach God.
They need to realise their sinfulness and come before God thanking him for the forgiveness he has shown them.
The message did not seem to sink in.
The disciples thought that Jesus was too important to meet with children.
These kids were just a distraction.
They would cause a raucous and stop people from hearing Jesus.
They thought, “No, those kids do not belong here.
Take them somewhere else, somewhere where we can't hear them and they won't be a distraction.”
*they discriminated about who they thought was important*
But, these children were part of God's chosen people.
The disciples discriminated between God's people.
They thought that the adults were more important than the children.
That had long been the tradition in the Jewish community.
Jewish women and children were part of the covenant people of God, and were considered higher than the gentiles, but they were not considered equals to the men.
The disciples fell into this discrimination trap, and they would not allow the children to get near Jesus, even though he had come for them as much as the adults.
See, the disciples did the same thing the Pharisee did in the parable just before this one.
They tried to distinguish who was righteous and who wasn't.
They tried to determine on their own who Jesus had come for, and who he hadn't.
They had done this many times, and always against Jesus's will.
They tried to send the crowd of 5000 away hungry, but Jesus insisted that they feed them (Mt 14:15).
They tried to stop the Canaanite woman from asking Jesus to help her daughter who was demon possessed (Mt 15:21), but he helped her anyway.
They did not have the same compassion as their master.
They did not see the good in the children, all they saw was the bad.
They could not see what possible good their was to having the children come to Jesus and have him bless them.
All they could think about was their schedule.
“We don't have time for this,” they said.
“We have another appointment at 3 somewhere else.”
They looked at the kids and saw a distraction, so they sent them away.
*Page 2: We hinder our children from coming to Jesus.*
All too often we look at our kids and see a distraction.
We look at them and think about the mess they will make, or how loud they will be, or how much they will squirm.
We look at our kids through the same eyes the disciples did almost two thousand years ago.
We think, “Well, they won't get anything out of the service anyway.
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