Children Welcome!

So here we are in Luke chapter 18. Ever since Luke chapter 9, Luke has been telling the story of Jesus on his journey towards Jerusalem. And on the way on this trip that Jesus is taking with a crowd that are also going up to Jerusalem, Jesus has a series of conversations that Luke tells us about.

There's a s a series of experiences that Jesus has that Luke tells us about. A bunch of parables that Jesus tells on this trip towards Jerusalem. All these things that gather together to give us a picture of what it looks like to live as citizens of the kingdom of heaven. And we need to have the different pictures and layers and examples piled on top of each other because this is foreign to us. We're used to living in this world. And the culture of this world, even way back then, the culture of the Roman Empire was different from what the culture of the kingdom of God is all about.

And so Jesus takes time to unpack this to reveal to us what the kingdom of God is all about. And so here's the scene that Luke describes that people were bringing also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them.

You know, it's kind of interesting. The first three gospels in the New Testament are actually quite similar. We call them the synoptic gospels, meaning that that they kind of say the same thing in the same order. And Matthew and Mark tell this same account of people bringing children to Jesus.

But Luke tells it slightly different than Matthew and Mark do. When Matthew tells the story, he says, "Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them." When Mark tells this story, he's very similar. People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. You see the difference though?

Luke says that people were bringing babies to Jesus.

So, why should you care what word Luke chose 2,000 years ago to describe this scene?

Now, we firmly believe that every word in the Bible has been inspired by God, the Holy Spirit. By using the word babies instead of little children, Luke is drawing our attention to something.

He highlights the helplessness of the infants that the moms and dads and grandpas and grandmas were bringing for Jesus to lay his hands on them. These kids, couldn't do anything for themselves. All that these kids could do was to eat and sleep and fill their diapers.

They couldn't walk. They couldn't talk. They can't feed themselves. They can't clean themselves.

Some of them are so young they can't even turn over by themselves or lift their head. These little ones are completely dependent on others for their care and for their life.

And yet infants, babies are highly valued in the kingdom of God. And this is kind of different than the kingdom than the Empire of Rome where kids are not important. At least not until they grow up.

Now, I said they're not important. That doesn't mean they're not loved. God hardwired parents to love their kids. Is something that we're made to do, especially moms. We love our kids. That's one of the ways that we see God's image in moms and dads and grandparents and aunts and uncles: that we love and care for little ones.

My point is that in the Roman Empire, kids don't get a lot of respect. They don't get any legal status, absolutely no rights until they're all grown up. And then finally, they got recognized as having legal status and rights and are worthy of respect.

And that's different. The Roman Empire is different than the kingdom of God. By welcoming children, Jesus emphasizes the hospitality that the kingdom of God is like it has this grace, this welcome, this hospitality as a characteristic in the kingdom of God for helpless people like little tiny infants.

It's kind of an amazing thing, isn't it?

Already from birth, the children of believers are citizens in God's kingdom. Already from birth, the children of believers are citizens of the kingdom of God.

So when his disciples try to run some interference and say, "No, no, no. The master's busy. Come back some other time or don't bother him with these little kids."

When the disciples are so hard at work keeping the babies and their caregivers away, Jesus speaks rather strongly to them. Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them. For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Do not hinder them. Don't stop them. Don't stand in their way. Don't let anything get in the way of these kids coming to Jesus.

Jesus stops everything he's doing. Calls little children. Come on. Come on. Now you can come here. Let me let me hold that little one.

He's not just acting like a politician, shaking hands and kissing babies. No, Jesus is showing in word and in deed just how important babies and toddlers are in the kingdom of God. They're important to Jesus. They're important to Jesus' heavenly father.

And in case anybody missed it the first time, Jesus shows all over again how these kids, these little ones, these babies, characterize the kingdom of God. Truly, I tell you, Jesus says, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.

You see, there's a way in which you and I are like infants, like babies. How's that?

All people are helpless against sin and death just the way that little kids are helpless. So that no matter how religious we become, no matter how hard we work, no matter how hard we try, no matter how wealthy or distinguished we become, no matter how highly educated or how great our accomplishments or how big our businesses or our bank account becomes, we cannot save ourselves from sin and the consequences of sin and brokenness in the world.

What's sin? Well, sin, that basic default set setting that people have since Adam and Eve first disobeyed God. Sin is my tendency to hate God and hate my neighbor directly against what God's commandments and instructions for life tell us to do.

And God is totally righteous. He's completely 100% good. There is no evil in him at all. And he can't ignore sin.

He can't just sort of sweep it under the rug and pretend it never existed. He can't let it go unpunished. That's against God's character. In his justice, he holds people accountable. And sin always always leads to death and damnation, a complete separation from God for all eternity.

But because of God's great compassion, that warm welcome that Jesus offers to little kids and their parents and of his deep love for all people and the whole world, Jesus welcomes helpless people like babies and little children. And he sternly tells the disciples and anybody else who would stand in the way, don't hinder them. Let them come.

You see, Luke describes this scene immediately after recounting one of the parables that Jesus told on his journey from Galilee toward Jerusalem.

Jesus told this parable to some who were confident of their own righteousness and who looked down on everyone else. If you follow Crosspoint's daily Bible readings, then you read this on Friday. It's the second of two parables we read on Friday in the daily readings. And this parable shows a big contrast.

On the one hand, this Pharisee stands tall and proud and speaks with confidence as he tells God, "Look how good I am. I'm so amazing. At least I'm way better than that guy."

And this is a temptation that religious people have particularly when we see the fruit of faith in our lives. Particularly when we see how the Holy Spirit is changing us, making us more holy and more like Jesus Christ. The evil one can even use evidence for our new life as in Jesus Christ as a wedge to separate us from relying completely on Jesus for our salvation. and we start to think and hope and imagine that we're kind of good enough on our own. We can do this thing.

In his book, The Screwtape Letters, CS Lewis depicts a senior devil advising a junior, a novice tempter in this way. He says, "I see your patient is starting to become humble. Have you drawn his attention to this yet?”

The implication, well, then he can be proud of how humble he's becoming and the whole thing turns on its head and becomes a wedge separating him from his faith in Jesus Christ.

How would you have you experienced this kind of unhealthy pride as you grow in faith?

As you see progress in this journey of sanctification, becoming holy like Jesus is, you see, we're tempted by this to become proud of our own goodness. We're tempted to become proud of our own rule following.

And we kind of like comparing ourselves to other people who aren't quite as good as us, who aren't as mature as us, who aren't as holy as we are. Like the disciples, we kind of like to push those less important people, those less good people, those less holy people, to the margins, to the outside, and we can bask in the in the spotlight and be close to Jesus ourselves, preferably on his right hand and on his left hand, right?

But the whole point of Jesus' parable and the warm welcome that Jesus offers to babies and to toddlers is that spiritual pride is simply unhelpful. An overinflated opinion of our own goodness becomes this huge barrier when actually we really need to look completely to Jesus for our salvation and not trust in anything we can say or do on our own. And it becomes a rather sad thing, doesn't it?

That when the Holy Spirit is hard at work in us and uses the holy uses the Bible and accountability of other Christians to help us grow in obedience to grow in righteousness like Jesus Christ. Then as that fruit begins to ripen in our lives, the fruit of repentance is showing up in our lives and there's evidence that God is hard at work in us, then that becomes a point of selfish pride and self-reliance that the evil one uses to wedge us away from God and all his grace.

Awful thing, but it does happen. I've had to battle this in my life. Have you?

So on the one hand we have this Pharisee. On the other hand we have this tax collector. And this tax collector is incredibly unique.

The tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven but he beat his breast and said, "God have mercy on me a sinner."

You see the difference between the Pharisee and the tax collector. You see the difference in their approach as they come to God. Jesus assures his listeners that that humble repentant tax collector, not the Pharisee, went home justified, forgiven, made righteous and holy before the Lord God Almighty. The tax collector recognized his guilt, recognized his need for help, and he threw himself on God's mercy instead of relying like the Pharisee on his own goodness and charm.

You see, it's your humility. It's your reliance on God that leads to receiving his forgiveness. Otherwise on your own against sin, against death, the consequences for sin and wrongdoing, you're as helpless as a baby. You just can't do it for yourself.

And yet somehow the disciples who listen to this parable and have been walking with Jesus for a long time, listening to his teaching, somehow they missed the point of the whole parable. They chased the babies, the toddlers, and their caregivers away.

And Luke is kind of worried that his readers might not catch Jesus' point either. And so as he organizes the way that he's going to describe Jesus' ministry in this gospel, the way he's going to tell the story of this trip from Galilee all the way south to Jerusalem, Luke puts this scene of the babies being brought to Jesus immediately after the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. You think it's a coincidence?

I don't. Because Luke is in the process of building one scene on top of another on top of another on top of another to drive this home, this point home that all people need to be to humble themselves and become like little children in order to be justified, made righteous, made holy, and enter the kingdom of God.

And so later on as we're going to read this week, as we get into Luke chapter 18 a little bit further, there's going to be a rich ruler that we meet and he's going to walk away from Jesus disappoint disappointed because he'd rather hang on to all the stuff that he owns and the money that owns him instead of let go and humble himself before God.

And then we're going to read about a blind beggar who was not too proud. But there he stood on that road to Jericho and cried out, "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me."

Willing to beg and humiliate himself and even would throw himself down on at Jesus' feet to beg and plead for healing and for mercy and for compassion. You see how Luke is piling up these examples of how self-sufficiency is a barrier to entry into the kingdom of God. You and I need to have this kind of childlike faith that will let go of everything else except that Jesus' offer of mercy and welcome and grace. Because it's only by faith in Jesus, only by 100% relying on Jesus' mercy and goodness that we can receive all the amazing benefits of his goodness that we can receive the grace that is offered in Jesus' death and in his resurrection.

The only way into the kingdom of God is to humble ourselves, say yes, please, and thank you. Because it was on the cross that God the Father put all the punishment for my sin and your sin on Jesus Christ. And Jesus being completely human and completely God was able to step forward and take the punishment that you and I deserve for our sin and wrongdoing.

And when Jesus did die on the cross, he endured the suffering and punishment that I deserve. The suffering and punishment that all sinful people deserve. And when he rose from the grave three days later, his resurrection demonstrated that sin and death have been completely defeated. No longer have any power over Jesus or those who put faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord.

You see, it's by putting our trust completely in Jesus that we're raised to life with Jesus, eternal life with Jesus and for Jesus, and gaining citizenship in the kingdom of God. And then you're invited then to receive God's grace, to receive forgiveness, to receive life with God in the way that an infant simply receives care from her parents, from her aunts and her uncles. Total reliance, total trust, total dependence.

God's got you. You're a child, a dearly loved child in his arms. He's not about to let you go. And now once we've been saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ, we're able with the help of God, the Holy Spirit to live as citizens of the kingdom of God. The goal now that we've been rescued from sin, now that we've been rescued from the death that we deserve is that our homes, our workplaces, and our church family is able to look and to sound and to be like the kingdom of God. So that when people step in here, they breathe something of the air of God's kingdom with all its holiness and goodness and righteousness and welcome. That when you walk into a room, an ambassador of God's kingdom walks into that space and brings a breath of fresh air fromthe kingdom of God into that place. And so what does it look like to sound like and to be the kingdom of God, the citizens of the kingdom of God?

Well, that includes bringing our babies and our toddlers and our young children to Jesus. And he offers these warm words of welcome. Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them.

Can there better be a better affirmation for the parents who were there on the way to Jerusalem who wanted Jesus to take their little ones in his arm to lay his hands on them to bless them and to say a prayer over them?

And then you think back and you look at that and you say, "Wow, those parents had a huge advantage, didn't they?” They could just hand their kids and Jesus would take them in their arms and they got to receive that that blessing in in person. Jesus could dandle those little babies on his lap and could play peekaboo games with them and then let them go back to their parents, their grandparents with a blessing.

I don't know if you've tried, but it's kind of difficult to put your baby on Jesus' lap right now. I mean, there he is enthroned in heavenly glory, physically in heaven, and we're here on earth. It's not like you can just plunk them down on Jesus' lap, right?

So, I think bringing your baby, your grandchild, your niece, your nephew to Jesus for his blessing, I think that looks different nowadays than it did back then.

How would you do it? Could you bring your child, your little child to Jesus for his blessing as you're praying? I mean, you're talking to God anyhow. And by the way, I mean, it might be a blessing both for you and for your kid. It might be better as you're taking care of your kid, snuggling them, feeding them a bottle, or just crooning them to sleep. Might be better to talk to God and ask for Jesus' blessing than mindlessly scrolling through the feed on your phone if you're going to be sitting there anyhow. What else could it look like?

Kids learn the habits of faith already when they're really, really small. I don't know if you've noticed, but kids are always watching. They're always listening and they're always copying you. And so already before they're verbal, you can create habits for praying or singing at mealtime or at bedtime that kids learn those habits, learn those rhythms already before they're able to speak and join in. They simply get accustomed. That's what we do as a family.

And then habits for reading the Bible or reading the storybook Bible, they become really special for kids too. Especially when that means the time to sit on grandpa's knee to enjoy cuddles as we read the Bible together.

That it becomes a really special time that here's where at the end of the day we sit quietly with our little one on our lap and tell a Bible story and enjoy cuddles.

What I'm trying to say is that by creating these patterns and habits of basking in God's blessing, it doesn't have to wait and the kid until the kids old enough or big enough to talk or reason or understand. In fact, if you wait that long, you've perhaps missed some golden opportunities because Jesus wants you to bring your little ones to Jesus to him already an early age. He welcomes babies. Come enjoy my blessing. Don't let anybody stop you. Bring your child to me.

And so, wouldn't it be cool if one of the first words your kid learned to say was “amen” at the end of a prayer that you have at a family dinner? I mean, I always find it a real big thrill when we're praying together as a church family and we come to the end of the prayer and I say, "Amen" and a little one pipes up “amen” because they're so used to that habit at their home that when we pray together, we say amen together.

It shows that those little ones have been doing that at home already if they do it out loud at church. This is not embarrassing. I mean, that's our goal as a church family. That's what we want for our kids that they know these habits of prayer and that they participate and say, "Oh man, that's true,” when we call on God as a as a church family together.

It's also why here at Crosspoint, we welcome kids to the front to sing action songs and to do silly stuff at here. Not because we're trying to make a spectacle of them, but because kids belong. They need to bang on tambourines because that's how they participate in worshiping God. And we honour them and show their place among us by saying, "You know what? We're going to take 5 minutes or 10 minutes or however long it's going to take to sing these interactive songs” because that's welcoming them into God's presence, letting them breathe the air of the kingdom of God because they're important. They're valuable to Jesus Christ.

Don't hinder them. Don't stand in their way. These children are a vital part of our church family.

And then finally, the scene that we just read from Luke chapter 18 is not primarily about baptism. Not primarily. But what better blessing could a person ask from Jesus on behalf of their little kids than to receive the sign and seal of God's covenant promises in a sacrament of baptism?

That's why as Reformed Christians, we teach that our children ought to be baptized. Infants as well as adults are included in God's covenant and people and they no less than adults are promised deliverance from sin through Christ's blood and the Holy Spirit who produces faith.

These are big things that when we come as a congregation stand around the baptismal font and a little one or an adult is baptized that

they receive deliverance of sin through Christ and the Holy Spirit comes on them just as surely as the Holy Spirit came on Jesus when he was baptized. (HC Q&A 74)

So that faith gets produced in the life of the child. And we as a church family stand up together and say, "We're going to help this little one or this adult or this teenager. We're going to help them in this journey of faith because they are important in the kingdom of God."