TEXT: Luke 18: 15-17 nrsv
THE PLAYERS
The salvation of God is received simply by receiving. That is the sermon.
Our text gives us three players in a microdrama that illustrates how God saves and how we appropriate God’s grace. There are the Toddlers, Jesus the Rabbi, and the Hinderers. Let’s look at each as we seek to find our own lives mirrored by the text.
THE TODDLERS
Today, we tend to think that all children are delightful, but it wasn’t always the case. In many cultures—and this is true of the ancient middle east—only your own babies were delightful. So “delightful to you” did not translate to “delightful for everyone else.”
We are more likely today to understand this in terms of pets. You may absolutely love and adore your extremely high-strung mini-doberman-pincher. You may insist that she “loves everyone,” but the cat lovers and folks with dog allergies are unlikely to share your opinion. They think, “adorable to you, maybe, but you ought to keep your pets either on a leash or at home.”
This was the attitude about infants and babies in general. Don’t inflict a face that only a mother could love on everyone else expecting that same delight from others.
Jesus says, “Bring ‘em on, because I love them all!” But Jesus is different. He is a different kind of Rabbi.
JESUS THE RABBI
Rabbis were highly-valued and most highly-respected in Jewish culture. They were the source of wisdom for all of Israel—the backbone of the nation—and their opinions on all matters were sought for enlightenment and direction. Jesus, though controversial, was a respectable rabbi. The people all understood this, though some of the religious leaders disapproved of him. Even these always approached him with great respect—at least publicly—for to undercut his professionalism would have been to undercut their own.
Rabbis were respectable leaders—we might compare this today to captains of industry or long-grounded senators—men and women who have tremendous influence and cultural power.
So now imagine a high and mighty red carpet event. Limosines and glitzy gowns pulling up to a curb with a mob fans and photographers behind the velvet ropes. We see Warren Buffet and his wife, smiling and waving to the gallery, Bill and Melinda Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Tim Cook, Nancy Pelosi, Melania Trump, Tom Hanks, Lebron James, Rachel Maddow and Tucker Carlson—cultural A-listers. Now imagine up that carpet a few yards beyond the paparazzi, groups of young mothers on both sides of the aisle, holding their babies out over the ropes to touched, kissed, blessed, or otherwise adored by the stars.
Would Bill Gates recoil a bit? Can you see Tim Cook wince? Can you imagine the celebrities drawing themselves in toward the center of the carpet, shoulders up to their ears cringing like germaphobes running the gauntlet in a leper colony?
That’s why so many of them have body guards, private security details, or the secret service—buff dudes with handguns and Oakley sunglasses keeping the crowds back. All Jesus had was a dozen ragtag apostles.
THE HINDERERS
It is they who say, “C’mon, lady—he’s a Rabbi! He doesn’t need your drooly, stinky baby in his face! Back up!”
These hinderers are just trying to do the right thing as they see it. They’re protecting Jesus from the pressing crowd and trying to honor his rabbinical dignity. They are—to the best of their thinking—trying to honor their master.
Who are today’s hinderers? Were I to ask, “Who today, by trying to honor the glory and majesty of Christ, actually hinder little ones from coming to him?” I think we can imagine several versions:
I think of the very high church, with its strict separation of clergy and laity. Any church with “High priests only” areas, or anything that separates the children of God from full access to the Table of Christ—that is a form of hindrance attempting to honor God but excluding the children.
In short, a church that does not welcome children is not the church of Jesus.
Contrast that attitude with the current Pope. When children have wandered up to his papal seat, they have not been whisked away by the Pope’s personal gophers. No one has scowled at the children’s mothers with that look that says, “Can’t you control your kids? This is the pope!” A few years ago, that would have been the case.
Another hindrance comes from the American zeal to appear fair, balanced, and unbiased. We have all but entirely removed Christianity from our schools, which is a pointless and countercultural gesture in the name of impartiality—a false god that many of us would argue does not actually exist. We have become so paranoid of wielding undue Christian influence that we have opted for policies of total, absolute hindrance.
CHILDREN BELONG
What do we say of this? Without exception and without qualification, we say that First Presbyterian Church of Upland will welcome and encourage the children to come to us. With our Preschool, we will continue our commitment to partner with parents in giving young children the best possible start to life. We will continue our commitment to staff a Children’s Ministry and bolster our outreach and programming for children and their parents. And let us as well continue our commitment to provide staff and programming to children right up through graduation in order that we assist them into adulthood and gear them on a path to Christian Maturity.
It’s costly. It’s messy. Children still burp, drool, spill, and break things. Youth ministry can be expensive. Stuff gets broken. Holes appear in walls and strange stains appear in carpets everywhere. And it can be frustrating for those among us who want to serve the dignities of Presbyterianism.
And yes, we will have our moments of saying things like, “Hey lady—get your kid away from that, we just painted it!” or “Yeah, you! No eating in there!” That’s okay. It does take a village to raise a child, and part of leading a child right includes them getting hissed at in church from time to time, but the larger message must be—and will be:
Child, you are welcome here!
Child, you belong here!
Jesus loves your babies and so do we.
We too are welcomed only as children.
RECEIVING
The core truth of the gospel is found right here. Jesus says,
“Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it."
How does a child receive? In short, quite easily.
Offer to a small child say, a cupcake—moist and covered with shiny yellow frosting with rainbow-colored sprinkles—and how will they receive it? Easily, and quickly. What child would say:
I have done nothing to either earn or deserve this treat—so I’m sorry, but I cannot receive it.
It looks good, but I don’t want to be in your debt by taking it.
What strings are attached? How do I know it isn’t poison? Would you be willing to sign a contract guaranteeing that you’ll take full responsibility in the event of my indigestion?
So you and I must not question the offer of Grace through Christ.
It is a gift from God. Our job is not to earn or deserve it. We can’t.
There are no required calisthenics or contracts.
We are simply to receive. Easily. Quickly.
No strings attached.
Jesus’ words from the table are the words of grace. Take. Eat.
We receive it all—Heaven and Earth—by simply receiving all that God gives. †