Launch Sunday Sermon

I had a friend in college who’s life’s passion was throwing surprise birthday parties. And she was really, really good at it. But here’s the thing I’ve never understood about surprise birthday parties. In order for them to work, you have to convince the person that everyone has forgotten about them. You have to persuade this person that everyone who they thought loved them, cherished them, and valued them - all of those people had forgotten to celebrate their big day. You have to signal that they are insignificant. It’s a really strange line you have to walk when you’re throwing a surprise birthday party, because the more insignificant the person feels, the better the surprise at the end. But it’s strange, isn’t it?

Because being insignificant is one of our greatest fears. I think we can all agree on that. Even the introverts in the room want to be seen and heard and remembered. We want to be valued. In fact, we’re so afraid of being insignificant, that sometimes we do crazy things just to be noticed or remembered. I can clearly remember a high school classmate of mine who went to Prom wearing a brilliantly white tuxedo complete with top hat and cane. Why did he dress this way? So that people like me, twenty years later, would still remember him! Nobody wants to feel insignificant.

But the truth is, we feel it all the time. Whether at work, or at school, or even at home with the family, we constantly question how much people really value us. Are we as significant to them as they are to us? I’ve been alive long enough to realize that everyone is insecure like me. And that insecurity, that fear of being insignificant, it extends into our spiritual lives as well.

Think of how Hollywood depicts prayer. You’ll see a character who is going through some kind of crisis, they are brought to the brink, they feel like the walls of life are caving in, and how do we hear them pray? “God, I know you’re busy, but…God, I know you’ve got a lot on your plate and all, but…God, if you’re listening...” What’s the assumption here? The assumption is that the real issues of our lives are an inconvenience for God. He can’t be bothered with what’s going on in our lives. And if he does decide to enter into the messy details of our lives, it’s an exception - something out of character for him.

As it so often is, Hollywood is a reflection of the spirit of our culture, and evidently we feel remarkably insignificant before God. But our text this morning sings a different tune. This story from Mark’s gospel speaks to us this morning a beautiful truth: that we are all significant in the eyes of our God.

Look with me at Mark 10:13.

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them.

Jesus is in the midst of teaching a crowd of very important people - Pharisees and other religious leaders, and townspeople start bringing him their children: babies, toddlers, tweens. They want him to offer a blessing for them. But the disciples are trying to get them to stop interrupting what Jesus came here to do.

Now in this regard, the culture of first century Palestine and twenty-first century suburban America, could not be more different. In our culture, children are everything. We organize our lives around them. When they are babies, everything revolves around their sleep schedule. When they are old, everything revolves around their sport schedule. We highly regard children, and that can be a good thing and that can be a bad thing.

But in the first century, children were insignificant. They were very low on the societal totem pole. Their existence was not regarded in any meaningful way. And so when Jesus is bombarded by these insignificant little people, the disciples are thinking: Jesus can’t be bothered by this. He has more important things to do, and more important people to interact with.

And look at how Jesus reacts to that line of thinking in verse 14.

But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.

How does Jesus react? He is indignant. He is furious. Now, contrary to popular belief, Jesus isn’t a cuddly teddy bear in the gospels. He can be sarcastic and firm and a force to be reckoned with; but he is rarely said to be angry. Only a handful of times are we told he is moved to anger, and this is one of those times.

And what is Jesus angry about? He’s angry that his disciples would assume that there is a category of people who do not deserve his attention - that some people are not significant enough to warrant the his attention, never-mind his blessing. You see, this is about more than the disciples’ view of the value of children. This of course is a verse used in every children’s ministry on planet earth - heck it’s quoted on the baptismal certificate we give out to families. But this isn’t really about children.

Jesus has noticed something terribly wrong in his disciples. What troubles him isn’t just how they view other people. It’s how they view God. Because who we think is acceptable in God’s eyes reveals a lot about our ideas of God’s character. For example, if, in our mind, God is bothered when people ask him for help, because stepping into the messy details of our life is beneath him - well the ideal disciple in our mind is probably someone who has their life together and everything is running smoothly for them.

Or here’s another example? If in our mind, God prefers to associate with people who offer him the greatest utility - then the ideal disciple in our mind is probably someone who is deeply gifted or talented in some area of ministry.

Our view of God is often linked to our view of who is acceptable in God’s eyes. And for the disciples, they saw God as caring more for the significant than lowly.

And it is this mischaracterization of God that made Jesus so mad. And so he set his disciples straight. Not only should they let the insignificant children come to him, but, in fact, the whole kingdom of God belongs to people like them. Jesus says, the whole kingdom of God - the lump sum of every blessing and every promise that God has ever given, all of it belongs to those whom you have deemed insignificant and unworthy of God’s attention. And if that doesn’t make any sense to you, it’s because you have misjudged the character of God.

He goes on in verse 15:

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

So this is important. We don’t ever have to wonder what kind of person is God’s ideal disciples, because Jesus tells us right here. He doesn’t keep it a secret, he’s very explicit. In the eyes of Jesus, the ideal disciples is like a child: insignificant, weak, helpless, and dependent.

My son Peter is nineteen months today. He’s at the age where he’s learning a new word every day it seems. Well his favorite new word is help. And it’s adorable, he clasps his hands together and says “help.” But the thing is, he does it all the time. It turns out, nineteen month olds new help to do just about everything. He needs help opening his toy chest. He needs help into his high chair. He needs help squeezing his yogurt pouch. He needs help getting in and out of his stroller. All day long he’s clasping those little hands and saying, “Help.” He is weak. He is helpless. He is utterly dependent.

And he is the model for discipleship according to Jesus. What kind of people make up the kingdom of God? The weak, the helpless, and the dependent. And what does that say about the character of God? He must love stepping into the messy details of our lives. He must love hearing our voices cry out to him with our need. He must love reaching down from heaven to provide for us, to comfort us, and to make us whole. He must not think any person is too insignificant to be seen, heard, and loved.

This is our God. This is who we worship and encounter each week at Redeemer. And this is the God who we seek to point to and embody as his church. We want every person in this city, no matter their religious affiliation, no matter their background or story - we want every person in this city to know that they are significant in the eyes of Christ. So significant, that he joyfully came to take away every hinderance that kept you from receiving the full blessing and promises of God.

Each week at our service we read from one of the four gospels. But we have a symbolic moment before that happens. The cross and is brought into the center of the people, and it is there that the gospel is read - amongst the people, to symbolize that Jesus did not minister from afar, he came into our midst, he drew up alongside us to give us the good news. But something else happens. As he congregation turns to face the priest who reads the gospel from the middle of the people, they are inevitably facing one another. But between you and me as we’ve turned inward, between us stands the cross of Jesus.In that moment, I can’t see you without also seeing the cross. I can’t see you, without also seeing the symbol of God’s love for you, the symbol that reminds me just how significant you are in the eyes of God. It doesn’t matter who I’m looking at. It could be a CEO or someone from the trailer park. It could be my best friend or the person who most annoys me. It doesn’t matter. In that moment, I can’t help but recognize that they are significant in God’s eyes.

So as we continue the work of planting this church in the city of Lawrenceville, it is my hope that all kinds of people come and join us for worship, but especially those who feel insignificant, overlooked and forgotten. We don’t have to have it all together. We simply need to ask for help. And when we do, our God is ready, able, and eager to bring it.