Childlike Faith

I want to do a quick survey before we get into the message…If you are an adult and grew up going to church, would you stand up. Stay standing if your childhood in the church is part of the reason you are a believer in Jesus. Stay standing if as a child you attended this church.

My wife is in with the children currently. If she were here, she would be standing as one who was blessed in part by this church’s investment in young people.

As a church, we have been blessed by other churches who invested in children. I imagine that each of the adults who grew up in church can remember one or more of those adults who volunteered in the children’s church rooms, who engaged with them at youth events…these are formative years and we remember those who have given into that time in our life.

I shared this list last year…these are some of the stories from the children who we are the first VBS that Christine and Jason helped with in 2018...

At least 3 of those children were baptized here and several others were baptized in other churches.

The oldest of those children will be turning 19 in the next year.

Two of the children have since lost both of their parents.

Some of them have parents who are now divorced.

All of them heard the gospel. They all heard the name of Jesus proclaimed and I imagine they would all remember something about that week they spent here at Crossroads 5 years ago.

We may never get to hear the full testimony of the impact this church has in the lives of these children as they grow, but I do know that Jesus had some things to say about children.

Today, as our church looks a little different than our normal Sunday, I want to cast a vision for what weeks like this might mean, not just to the children, but also to their parents and eventually what weeks like this will mean to these future adults who will be serving in their local church.

Turn with me to Mark 10:13…there are 3 major passages in which Jesus either addresses children, or speaks about children. Each of those events are chronicled in at least three of the Gospels.

(Matthew 19:13-15, Mark 10:13-16, Luke 18:15-17)

Mark 10:13–16 NIV

13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

vs 13 - In this culture, it was not uncommon for parents to be bringing their children to the local rabbi for blessings. Many times, it was the fathers bringing their children for a blessing. You would think that the disciples would be welcoming to that, but it says in verse 13 that the disciples rebuked the parents.

I think the disciples meant well in keeping the children back. Certainly they wouldn’t be able to grasp all that Jesus was saying. Jesus came to set the adults straight…right? Jesus has more important things to do.

vs 14 - But Jesus was indignant…he was angry, displeased and disappointed with their reaction.

I know there are times when it seems like the kids are just making a mess…they are noisy, unruly and crazy. They run around and make it difficult for the adults to have a conversation…I know, but if you are going to rebuke parents for bringing their children to church…to Jesus, I’m likely to get indignant.

Parents…that doesn’t mean you can just let your children run free and do what they want. There needs to be some discipline and order. At the same time, we are going to extend grace and love to those who did all they could to just make it here, hoping for some love and compassion.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll continue to say it…if the noise of children is upsetting to you during church, this may not be the right church for you. We will celebrate all the noises, joyful and not, that children make while they’re here.

He commanded the disciple to not only let the children come to him, but also commanded them to not hinder the children.

I am grateful we are a church that welcomes children…not only welcomes them, but does things like VBS for them. My prayer is that in every way possible, we continue to invest and encourage kids to come and hear about Jesus.

vs 15 - Then he says this in verse 15 - “anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

I’ve spent some time teaching kids…here are a few observations I can make about them.

When you teach a child, you don’t have to get them to unlearn anything. By the time we get to be adults we already know it all…right? It can be so difficult for me to change my mind about something I’ve already made my mind up about.

Children are generally trusting of those in authority. They have a faith that is not clouded by cynicism, by promises broken and hurts from the past. They are capable of accepting truth without lengthy explanations.

A child sees with such wonder and curiosity. One of my favorite things to watch is when a child is learning something new. To see their eyes light up and their face register a new thing is a wonder in itself.

This is how Jesus wants us to approach this Kingdom of God - a willingness to learn, a faith unclouded and with a sense of wonder and curiosity.

vs 16 - After Jesus said this, he takes time to place his hand of blessing on them. Let us never get to busy with the business of church and the formality of our service that we would neglect blessing our children in Jesus name.

I want to read one more passage today. Turn with me to Matthew 18:1. In Mark 9, the disciples are embarrassed by the question, but here they ask outright...

(Mark 9:33-37, Luke 9:46-48, Matthew 18:1-5)

Matthew 18:1–5 NIV

1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

Jesus covers humility in the Sermon on the Mount, but it is a lesson worth repeating often. In Mark, the disciples are arguing over which one was the greatest. That kind of conversation happens among siblings sometimes…who’s the favorite?

The world uses a different measure for greatness than Jesus does. According to Jesus, voluntarily taking the low position of a child is the greatest thing a person can do.

I don’t know if this is your observation, but when kids are between the ages of 3 and 6ish, they have this willingness to be mom and dad’s helper. They can’t even reach the sink, but they want to do the dishes. They don’t even know what a clean spoon looks like and they want the job. A job they think will help us, but really only causes more work because we have to reclean the dish anyway and then we have to clean the floor because they’ve managed to get half the dishwater on the floor.

I was going to make a comment about how teenagers approach this....but I am going to keep it to myself.

Look at what verse 5 says…whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

Little children have very little to offer. They require constant supervision. They require help feeding, clothing, cleaning…all of it. They generally don’t contribute to the provision of the house. When they are our own children, we have a responsibility and a parental love that drives us to provide and care for them.

When we as a church welcomes needy children into our midst, Jesus says that is just like welcoming him.

By welcoming children into our service, allowing them to disrupt our “good order”, that is just like inviting God into our midst.

I want to push this just a bit more…welcoming children requires more than just the Pastor on Sunday saying so. For every 5-10 children we welcome in each week, we need 2-3 adult volunteers every week to welcome them safely and properly. We are averaging 20-30 children and youth each week. Simple math says we need at least 8 volunteers each week. Right now we have a total of 15 or so people who have committed to this task out of the 80 adults we have here each Sunday.

Some of those adults are with the children every week. They are doing so because they would like Crossroads to be a place that welcomes children and young families. I would like Crossroads to be a place where volunteers and staff are not overstretched or burned out. We would really like to add 10 or more assistants to our rotation to make the rotation more manageable. The leadership team has been tossing around all kinds of ideas about how to meet this need. Really it comes down to more people being willing to serve.

In our passage in Mark, Jesus tells us to approach the Kingdom of God with a childlike faith. To approach Jesus and what he did for us with a sense of awe, wonder and simple faith in what he offers.

In our passage in Matthew, Jesus challenges us to welcome children. In doing so, we are welcoming him. We could really use your help with that.

This week, we’ll be welcoming in children from this church and the community. We’ll show them the love of Jesus, the love he poured out on the Cross. Please join us in praying for these families and children this week. Pray for our volunteers and staff as they pour themselves out for these children.