Let the Children Come

A reading from the Gospel according to Mark.

This is a little bit of a chapter 10, verses 2 through 16.

And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?

He answered them, What did Moses command you?

They said, Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.

And Jesus said to them, Because of your hardness of heart, he wrote you this commandment.

But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female.

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.

So they are no longer two, but one flesh.

What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.

And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter, and he said to them, Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.

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

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.

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.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Picture the body language of someone who is indignant, that is, outraged and upset because of some wrong.

The way that I picture that body language is like this.

I imagine clenched fists held at the bottom of arms that are going straight down, and a furrowed brow, narrowed eyes, and a firmly set jaw.

That is not the way that we often picture our Lord Jesus.

But maybe we should depict him like this more often.

For in today's gospel, we have one of those moments in Jesus' life where he grew indignant.

And surely that showed in his body language.

What was the wrong that caused Jesus to be indignant?

Well, in this case, it was that his chief of staff and his press managers had made the decision for him that he was far too important and far too busy to be bothered with having to stop to kiss some babies.

The disciples were literally rebuking, putting their hands up and stopping parents who had their children in tow and saying to them, No, you cannot see him.

Try again another time.

And it was when Jesus saw this, it was when Jesus saw those disciples standing in between him and the little children that he grew indignant.

And that you and I could imagine his fists tightening and his face drawing together in that look that demonstrated that here something had gone amiss indeed.

So take this as a warning, then, that anyone who would get in the way and come between a precious soul and the dear Lord Jesus might very well find themselves facing his wrath.

And since in the gospel it was Jesus' disciples, it seems to me that the place where we ought to begin is by acknowledging that oftentimes it's been Christians, people within the church, oftentimes, in fact, even the leaders of the church, pastors and teachers, who have wound up doing in effect what the disciples did and becoming that barrier, that hindrance that pushes people away from Jesus.

You know that when church leaders fall and become scandals that make the news, there's all sorts of collateral damage.

And part of that damage is that those who have been hurt by them come to associate the name of Christ with the hurt, and those who cause it become the hindrance.

Surely Jesus would be indignant whenever any such thing would happen.

And of course, all of us within the church, by our words, by our actions, by the way that we interact with one another, if we are not reflecting the love of Christ in kindness and compassion, we can become hindrances that cause people to say, if this is the way that Christians act, or if this is the way that people in this church behave, then I don't want anything to do with this Jesus who they claim to be following.

And it would cause Jesus indignation when that happens and becomes a hindrance.

It seems to me, though, that today's gospel would have special words to say to parents, since parents are the ones who are given by God the task of raising their children in the training and instruction of the Lord, and to do so without exasperating them in the process.

Last week I talked with a man who told me that he had had religion forced upon him by his parents.

And I think that's a fairly common sentiment.

And we don't know the whole story of what happened in his life, but we can understand that there is a fine balance here.

That parents juggle between setting clear expectations, saying things like, in our household, we go to church, and also recognizing that there's a moment when you can no longer push because pushing so hard would be forcing.

And the kingdom of God does not come by force.

And somebody who feels forced is going to wind up with that same kind of hindrance between them and the Lord Jesus.

That's a delicate dance and balance to keep.

And I suppose it's one that every parent wrestles with.

When do I push and when do I step back?

But I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself here.

In fact, it seems to me that if we're going to consider how children might be kept from coming to the Lord Jesus today, then we really should begin with this thought: that children are kept from coming to Jesus when they are not born in the first place.

You have surely heard the news stories that tell of the plummeting birth rate.

And if you look at the maps, you can see that it correlates strongly to countries that have a Christian heritage and past.

In other words, to the very places where people should know better and should recognize that children are gifts from the Lord, to be welcomed with joy.

And yet something has happened that has caused people to second guess and wonder whether they really want to have children in the first place.

Sometimes we can understand with sympathy where that view comes from.

When people look at the world around and see how fearful and uncertain it is and wonder if they would really want to bring a child into this world, we can understand that viewpoint and have some sympathy for it.

Or somebody who was harmed by their own parents and their parents' failures perhaps might not want to inflict harm upon another generation.

Again, a viewpoint that we can have a lot of sympathy for.

We should also acknowledge, though, that there is a strong message out there that says that you should pursue yourself, your career, your fun, your goals first.

And that that makes marriage a threat to your independence and children, a kind of add-on, a luxury item that you might choose and opt for at some point in life if you're looking for some more fulfillment, but you certainly wouldn't want them too soon when they would get in the way of your fun.

So let me speak a word of advice to the children and the young people who are here today.

You do not have to follow our society's plan for your life, which basically says that you're going to be busy doing you through at least your 20s and probably halfway through your 30s as well.

And only then, maybe, will you think about marrying and settling down and then discovering that it actually can be quite difficult to have children at that age.

There is a different path that can be followed.

Now, of course, every one of us has a different life story, and every one of us is going to find it working out differently for us, but at least we can say this.

As Christians, we do not view marriage or children as impediments to a fulfilled and flourishing life.

Instead, we view them as the very ingredients for it, since these are gifts from God's hand.

And should He choose to give them to you in your life, you would be wise to receive them.

So again, everybody's going to have a different life story, and certainly you should consult with your parents and other adults who know you and trust you.

But it seems to me that if you can find someone who shares your commitment to your Lord, shares the faith, shares this understanding of the gifts that God gives, then maybe you would do well to make your commitments to one another to get married, and should the Lord will it, to welcome children in your union.

You could even do this, say, in your twenties, before too much of your life has gone by.

After all, you can look at this account and see how Jesus welcomes the children and how highly he values them.

And you can count on it.

If Jesus values children like that, then you will find reason to value them should the Lord give them to you as well.

So certainly, children that are not born are kept from coming to the Lord.

Yet you can also bring children into this world and then keep them from Jesus.

And this is where the role of the parent becomes particularly significant in carrying out that charge that God has given to train their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

This past weekend, our new downtown church plant was conducting community surveys down at the Fete de Marquette.

While I was there, I had a couple conversations that I heard on repeat and that the survey results bear out.

Conversations where people would say, My parents left the church, they weren't religious, so I have no religious background whatsoever.

Or I think that maybe I went to Sunday school once or twice when I was a kid.

Or the only time I ever made it to church was when I was visiting my grandma's.

And we should be clear-eyed enough to realize that you don't have to have hostility towards the church to wind up doing this very thing.

I suppose that I'm preaching to the choir by speaking to parents who are here today and have brought their children.

Yet we should be clear-eyed enough to realize that when we as parents schedule activities so that we can't get our children to church, we're sending a clear message to them that is not going to be lost on them, and that clear message runs like this: Jesus is not as important as X, Y, or Z.

And that seems to me to be making a foolish choice and bargain.

For will winning a soccer match be able to bless a child and bestow eternal life upon them in the way that bringing them to Jesus will?

Parents are called to bring their children to the Lord Jesus.

And if they choose to pursue other goals and other ends, well, they wind up being the hindrance, the block that keeps the child from the Lord.

You know, Jesus in his indignation took matters into his own hands.

I imagine his arms getting busy, his fists unclenching, those arms going into motion to sweep his disciples aside, and then to invite and draw those parents and their little ones to himself.

And that is particularly good news for us, for it demonstrates that Jesus knows how to reach a soul, even when you and I become the block or the hindrance that stands between that dear precious soul and the Lord Jesus.

It means that Jesus does not overlook even the littlest among us or the ones that could so readily be written off, like the disciples wrote those little children off.

It means he sees them and he knows how to reach them and draw them to himself to bless them.

And this is particularly good news for us because I'm hesitant to speak about parenting at all because I recognize how much guilt parents carry with them.

How often parents second guess themselves, live with regrets, say, I wish I would have done things differently.

It can be a very challenging and difficult task.

And it's hard to remember that Jesus does not demand perfection from parents.

Instead, mostly what he asks is that we get out of the way and let the little children come to him.

Surely there are parents who are sitting here who are hearing these words and who know that kind of guilt.

Surely there are parents here who are saying, Look, I did everything I was supposed to do.

I brought my child to church week after week, and still, when my child left home, my child also left the church.

And their hearts grieve for that and they don't know what to do.

Surely there are parents who want nothing more than for their children to come back.

So let's see Jesus' arms in motion here, and the way that he clears the hindrances and draws the soul back as an invitation for us to come ourselves to him.

If it's true that anyone can become a hindrance that would cause Jesus' indignation, then consider this.

Anything that gets between you and your Lord Jesus is likewise that kind of hindrance that would cause Jesus' anger to rise.

And so if it is a load of guilt and regret, if it is an accusing voice that says, You messed up so much, well then you should realize that that is the very thing that Jesus is indignant at, and that he would sweep away so that you might come to him.

He would take your guilt and say, See, I have atoned for it.

It's taken away, it's gone.

Stop living in your regrets.

Instead, live in my grace and my forgiveness that I have so given to you.

Come to me, trust in me, cling to me, hold on to me.

Don't let that guilt get in the way.

And you can be comforted in knowing that your Lord Jesus cares for your child even more than you do.

And that that indignance that he feels towards whatever it is that might keep someone from him is not lost upon him.

If you have a child who has wandered from the faith, then you can pray and ask Jesus to sweep those hindrances away and to call that child back to himself.

You can know that Jesus sees those whom others would write off or think of as a lost cause.

You can trust that Jesus still wants nothing more than to sweep away the obstacles and draw the soul to himself.

And you can know that Jesus today still has the power to bless our children when they come to him just as surely as he did on that day when he took those children in his arms and blessed them.

So let's think about some more body language.

Let's think about how Jesus' body language changed from indignation to tenderness as he drew those children to himself, how his strong arms were so gentle in lifting those babies, how his hands, which formed the universe, were laid upon the brow to bestow all of his gifts and all of his blessings.

Let's see how Jesus continues to do this for our children today.

And not only for our children, but for all of us, really, since Jesus here says we all must change and become like children to receive the kingdom of God, for it belongs to such as these.

It belongs to those who come to him like a child, which means I have nothing to offer.

Just wide sparkling eyes to receive with joy what my God would give me.

And what he gives me is great indeed.

For as Jesus invites us to come to him, bearing our failures, our guilt, our regrets, he invites us to lay that all down at his feet so he can sweep it away and place his hand upon you.

And you will perceive and feel in that hand of your Lord Jesus, not his wrath, not his anger, not his indignation, but his blessing.