THE WELFARE OF LITTLE ONES

THE WELFARE OF LITTLE ONES Matthew 18:5-14 April 30, 2006 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction Children are delightful. And I’ve discovered that when you’re a grandparent, life is little more than discovering one cute thing the children say or do after another. Really, you just enjoy a recent anecdote, talk and laugh about it, then wait around for the next one so you can rehearse it, too, until the next one occurs. Not long ago when the grandchildren were opening their Christmas gifts, Elijah opened one from aunt Heather. It was a Snoopy doll. He took one look at it, said, “I don’t like this,” pitched it aside and dove into the next gift. Later, just to certify that he was clearly understood, I suppose, he came up to Heather, the giver of the Snoopy doll, held Snoopy by the neck, got right in her face, raised one finger and said, “I don’t like this guy! I don’t even know who he is!” Kids can make their parents so proud, can’t they? One mother sent a note with her first grade son on the first day of school. He dutifully handed it to his teacher. It read, “The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents." Only a parent can fully appreciate the medical advice found on a bottle of Tylenol: “For tension headache, take two tablets" and "Keep away from children." I’ve come to realize that the main reason for hosting children's parties is to remind yourself that there are children act even worse than your own. That’s the way we often feel, but in our saner moments we know and believe the Bible’s perspective on child-rearing. We are given charge of these young lives to mold and train according to God’s design that they will grow and become responsible people of faith. And, like the underlying theme of the Hippocratic oath, we know that we first do no harm. It is perhaps our primary responsibility to protect them and provide for their welfare. First, Do No Harm Jesus drew on this universal truth in Matthew 18. Let’s read verse 5: …whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. You’ll remember, Jesus has invited a young child to come and stand by Him as a living illustration for his teaching, referring to a little child like this. The Lord is emphasizing the special place children have in his heart. So profound is his love for these innocent ones created in his image that he says anyone who welcomes/receives/accepts (the word means to warmly entertain) actually welcomes him, Jesus. He further indicates that treating children in such a kind and loving manner is a natural byproduct of living Christianly. Whoever welcomes a little child in my name welcomes me. This tells us two things: one, a true mark of Christian faith is loving children. It should be a surprise to no one that Christian people are the first to stand up for the protection and blessing of children. That’s why throughout history the overwhelming majority of orphanages and hospitals began with the church. Neither should it be a surprise that the church is the first to stand against the horrible genocide that is abortion. We love and bless children because the Lord loves and blesses children. We uphold the right to life because the Lord upholds the right to life. Secondly, it reminds us of the biblical teaching that our motive and our capacity to love others comes through the grace of the Lord. In and of ourselves we are not good enough to be that good. But in his grace, and that alone, are we enabled to love. Again, the one who loves others first does no harm to them. Then in verse six we find the exact opposite of “do no harm”: But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin Jesus draws on a graphic illustration to vividly make His point about bringing any harm to little ones: if anyone causes a little one to sin will have God to answer to. The term Jesus uses here is SKANDALIZO, from which we get our word scandal. But before scandal came to mean exposing something bad about another person, skandalizo meant to set a trap. That led to the meaning to entice or to tempt or to cause a loss of faith. It’s the same word Jesus used two chapters ago when Peter impulsively tried to dissuade Jesus from his mission of suffering and death. Jesus said, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a [scandal] to me… [webmasters note: Matthew 16:23] If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. He describes the children as those who believe in Him. Jesus warns that some of God’s harshest judgment is reserved for the one who scandalizes a little one—that is, a person who believes in Him with childlike faith. A millstone is a huge wheel of solid rock pulled by a beast of burden along a trough to crush olives. It is a dramatic picture of the gravity of God’s judgment against scandalizing a little one. How would like one of these babies hung around your neck as you are thrown into the ocean? If this is the kind of fate awaiting those who cause a little one to sin or lose faith, I shudder when I think of what is coming at the final judgment. At that time as every knee bows and every tongue confesses Christ, God will have everyone’s undivided attention and He will declare in the clearest terms how He feels about things like child pornography, chat room solicitations of innocent kids and the wholesale butchering of pre-born children. Yet we are so cavalier as we euphemistically call it a “D & C procedure on fetal tissue,” when it is actually the insinuation of scalpel-sharp instruments into the baby’s safe amniotic harbor for the purpose of slicing to death a living child. Oh, that our culture would wake up to our serious peril before a holy and just God when we rapaciously plunder wombs and butcher babies for the sake of our selfish convenience. There will be hell to pay as such sin leads to millstone-level judgment. How the mature, “fully-evolved” humanist culture has turned on its own children, victimizing them for fiendish pleasures, irreversibly wounding them, body, soul and spirit. Every day the news is littered with more sexual abuse cases, with thousands of children as casualties of the wanton concupiscence of uncaring sexual deviates who prey on them with impunity. I say it again, if you have any inclinations toward any behavior that jeopardizes the safety of children, get help and get it now! It’s one thing for a sinner to sin, but it is exponentially more evil to compound the sin by causing the little ones to lose faith. Skip down for a moment to verse 10 – See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. Guardian angels are very real. These protective angels are assigned, according to Hebrews 1:14, as ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. As God’s emissaries they carry messages between heaven and earth. They regularly and continually see the face of God. Try to get the picture here: You bring harm or in any way detract from the faith of a “little one,” and instantly the angels are telling God on you! Transition to the theme of Temptation His attention and his theme now turn to temptation. Verse seven: Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Time and again the scripture warns that living in our world of sin will continue to get worse, not better. What are the things that cause people to sin? Temptations perpetrated by Satan and spread through the sin and malevolence of other people. He says, Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!  [webmasters note: verse 7] Here again is the issue of SKANDALIZO. It is one thing to sin and rebel against God, but when your behavior causes another to be dragged down with you the level of your violation against God’s holiness and righteousness is multiplied. Jesus acknowledges that evil will be rampant in the fallen world, but he warns against being an instigator—particularly when the young, innocent and faithful are violated. Christian, though you are bombarded by temptation, don’t be an agent of temptation to others. Woe to the man through whom they come! How do temptations come to little ones around us and threaten to destroy their faith or keep them from faith? 1. Little ones are scandalized when others take selfish advantage of the young, innocent and vulnerable. We’ve already touched on the lascivious manners of victimizing children: incest, child porn, abortion—these are painfully obvious. Let me add another idea or two. Regarding children, let me ask a seldom considered question: why do you want children? “I just want to have a baby—I’ve always wanted a baby! Everybody wants to have a baby, don’t they?” If this doesn’t sound selfish to you, maybe it ought to. People want babies for a lot of selfish reasons. Some want a bigger government assistance check. Some want a child they can dress up and have fun with. Honestly, some adults have not grown up beyond their Barbie doll days. Some want to prove they are adults now. These observations may seem a little stark, but seriously, isn’t it a bit selfish to simply think in terms of what a baby can do for us? Having a child is a stewardship before God. It is a calling to bear and nurture to maturity and faith in God another living human being. It is involvement with God in the creative process. It strikes me that many couples give woefully little thought to their reasons for wanting a baby. And that may well be a very selfish way of taking advantage of a precious little one. Another way we take selfish advantage of little ones is through neglect. Parents, if you ignore and neglect your opportunities to communicate with your children, demonstrate your love for them and affirm them as God’s special creation, you are scandalizing them. Neglect may be the most prevalent form of abuse. If you allow your family’s schedule to get so full and busy that you never have time to relax and spend meaningful time with your children you are wasting a valuable chance to bless them with something that neither their teacher nor their soccer coach can possibly give them. Parental blessing. They can’t get it from their friends, their televisions, their video games or their ipods. They can only get that most precious commodity from you. And to withhold it is a scandal. 2. Little ones are scandalized when those responsible for them wink at spiritually dangerous trends. There are spiritually dangerous trends in the world around your little ones. Tendencies that subtly lead away from faith in God. Many of their teachers, do not operate out of positions of faith, and many are anti-Christian. You must militantly defend your right and responsibility to be your child’s primary teacher. There are predators in the world around your children who have as their objective to change their thinking from a Christian world view to a secular and humanistic mindset. They are determined to convince the little ones that a creationist perspective is ludicrous and evolution is science. There are many who are dead set on training your child that homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle and they ought to try it on for size. We cannot afford to wink at such spiritually dangerous trends. If you are not vigilant, you may be passively scandalizing your little ones. And listen, I’m not saying you have to be an expert in philosophy, earth sciences and human sexuality. Your primary responsibility is to love and bless your children, training them in biblical values and Christian faith. God has already guaranteed if you will parent them in faith, teach them discipline, and love them with the love of God, it will be enough. Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.  [webmasters note: Proverbs 22:6] But there are trends we should be alert to in our children’s lives as well. What trends? Anything that trends away from spiritual health. Fundamental biblical teaching warns against: Disrespect of parents – Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right  [webmasters note: Ephesians 6:1] Disregard for biblical truth and justice – How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your Word.  [webmasters note: Psalms 119:9] Lack of discipline – He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.   [webmasters note: Proverbs 13:24] Bad companions – Bad company corrupts good morals.  [webmasters note: 1 Corinthians 15:33] Whenever these trends even begin to manifest in the lives of little ones it is important to deal with them. To ignore them is to scandalize the children, and to neglect our stewardship in the Lord. 3. Little ones are scandalized when adults withhold clear biblical instruction. The formula for good Christian parenting is very simple and straightforward in the scripture. We are to train children in the way they should go, teaching them the tenets of scripture. Paul reminded the young pastor Timothy how he had known from infancy the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. And he went on to affirm that all scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Parents and Christian leaders—you cannot do better than to train the little ones well in the Word of God. You cannot do better—but you can do worse, by withholding the teaching of the Word. Make the Word of God central in your lifestyle and your conversations. Talk about biblical principles when you walk down the street with your child or ride in the car, at bedtime and in the morning. Impress the scripture’s truth on their minds any time and any way you can. Get them to Kid City and to any outlet of effective bible teaching to supplement what you teach at home. To not aggressively pursue biblical training for your children is to scandalize them—tempt them, trap them, rob them of faith. Conclusion I want to close with a look at verses 8 and 9: If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. We have fully transitioned from welcoming children in Jesus’ name through the idea of not causing little ones to stumble in their faith to the final admonition—to avoid personal temptation in your own life. Jesus uses hyperbole to make an important point here. Whatever might lead you into sin, cut it off early and do not allow the temptation to even begin developing. Clearly this passage is not to be taken literally, although some have dismembered themselves in slavish obedience to the literal idea, but it is to be taken seriously. When you are aware of things or situations or people that easily tempt you and lead you into sin, don’t flirt with them. Cut them out of your life right now and don’t leave yourself open to temptation. This may be the ultimate way to bless your children, by the way: to do all that you can to keep yourself pure and blameless in the Lord as an example to them. When your little ones see you taking the admonition of scripture seriously and notice you taking steps to avoid temptation (and they will notice), that may be the very strongest exemplary teaching you could possibly deliver to them—the example of an adult who is serious about his faith.   [Back to Top]