Matthew 18:1-14

As Andrew said, this week and next week, we're taking a break from Paul's series in the book of Acts.

This is a one-off in Matthew 18.

And next week, Matthew Roberts will be preaching, Lord willing, at the ordination of Andrew Quay.

Please turn up Matthew 18 again, page 823 in the church Bibles.

Talk of greatness is fairly commonplace today.

The concept of the GOAT, G-O-A-T, greatest of all time, is debated up and down and round and round.

Often that's the case in sport.

The sport I'm most interested in, that case has been closed with the arrival of the French scrum half, Antoine Dupont.

No doubt, the greatest of all time.

But whatever the field, whether it's sport or business or academics or your field of interest,

you know both who you think is the greatest,

and you also know what you think it would take for you to be great.

Greatness is the topic on the lips of the disciples in our passage this morning.

Chapter 18, verse 1.

At that time, that is in the context of a discussion about comparative status.

That's what's been going on in chapter 17.

At that time, the disciples came to Jesus saying, literally,

So, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

And that's an important question, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

Because, well, it concerns an important topic.

Greatness in sport or business may be interesting, it may be inspiring,

but ultimately, it isn't a matter of life and death.

Whether LeBron James or Michael Jordan is the greatest in the NBA,

or whether Warren Buffett or Elon Musk are the greatest in business,

that's actually neither here nor there in light of eternity.

We can have a debate, we can have a conversation,

that might be interesting, but it's not important.

And it's certainly not important in the light of eternity.

But who is great when it comes to the kingdom of God?

That's a question that actually matters.

It makes a difference.

Because it relates to how God views greatness.

And when all is said and done,

when everything's been said, when everything's been done,

when history is brought to its culmination,

His opinion is the only one that matters.

The truth is, you can be great in all kinds of fields.

You can be great in all kinds of fields all at once.

You can be wonderful in all those ways.

But if God doesn't care about that,

if God doesn't care about those areas,

well then, you've wasted your time.

Your greatness may actually be a cosmic failure.

To paraphrase our own Rico Tice,

he said this,

the definition of failure is being great at things that don't matter.

Being great at things that don't matter makes you a failure.

So we want to pursue greatness according to God's standards.

And the disciples' question opens the door to the answer.

Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

That question is brought to us via their own ambition.

They've been with Jesus for a while now.

They've heard him talk about the kingdom that he has brought in.

And he has told them that his mission is going to be to die for the sins of the world.

He isn't going to be around forever.

And so the disciples are looking at each other.

And they're wondering, well, who's going to take over?

When he goes, who's going to be the greatest?

Who's going to be the top dog?

Who's going to be in charge?

Jesus has just at the end of chapter 17 had an exchange with Peter.

Is it going to be him?

Is he going to be the man they don't know?

So the question comes.

So who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

And we discover that Jesus' answer turns all our expectations upside down.

He does what he often does.

He uses a visual aid.

He calls a child.

I assume reading it that the child is old enough to walk.

It says that he calls him.

So he says, come over here.

You, little one, come over here.

And I imagine him just leaning forward and lifting him into the middle of the disciples

and saying, you want to talk about greatness?

There's your answer.

Who's the greatest in the kingdom?

There you go, boys.

Verse 3.

Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,

you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Some of you may remember back in 1995 at the beginning of the football season,

Alex Ferguson, as he was known then, picked a Man United team full of youngsters.

They lost the first game of the season.

And Alan Hanson speaking to Des Lynham on Match of the Day.

Des Lynham.

There's the greatest of all time when it comes to sports presenters.

But Alan Hanson famously said on Match of the Day that Man United had big problems because, quote,

you can't win anything with children.

You can't win anything with kids.

Now, the young players that Alex Ferguson had picked included Ryan Giggs, David Beckham,

Paul Scholes, and the Neville brothers, who all became legends.

And they actually went on to win the league that year by four points.

I don't like football.

I don't like Man United.

I have no horse in this race.

But it's very interesting.

Alan Hanson is famously known not only as a legend of football playing for Liverpool,

but by that quote, you can't win anything with kids.

Now, ordinarily, although Hanson was proved wrong on that occasion,

he's right, isn't he?

The sentiment is generally true.

Children aren't usually an example to follow.

We don't think, what's the answer to the problem here?

What's the solution?

Let's go to the kids.

Except, that is, when it comes to the upside-down nature of the kingdom of God.

Greatness in God's sight, winning in the courts of heaven,

requires us to go to the little ones.

That's what Jesus says.

Here's our first point.

He tells us, you want to be great?

Number one, embrace the humility of a child.

Verses three and four.

Unless you turn and become like children,

you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Turning and becoming like children, that sounds a bit unclear.

Are we to become childish?

Is that what he's saying?

Well, Jesus goes on, verse four, he clarifies,

whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

The issue is humility.

And children are the example.

Both because in this culture, the culture that they're in at the time,

children were the lowest social level when it came to authority and decision-making.

They didn't have influence.

Children couldn't open doors for you.

They were socially as well as physically.

Verse six, little ones.

But also, they are the example because little children embody humility in all kinds of ways.

We'll say more on that in a minute.

But can you see the shock?

Talk to us about greatness, Jesus.

Go to the children.

Become like a child.

It is shocking.

The disciples, Jesus sees, need to radically reimagine what it means to belong to the kingdom of God.

All of their desire for authority and for power and for position.

The question was motivated by that.

Who's going to be the greatest?

You only ask that question if you're hoping that it's going to be you.

All of that motivation, he's saying, is totally misguided.

And the truth is, we can easily fall into the same trap.

All the maps for life that our culture lays before us involve some version of go you.

Go you.

Self-promotion.

Push hard to succeed.

Self-belief.

Confidence.

And of course, all the big names online, and you can take your pick, whoever your big name online is,

they are big because we like their confidence.

We like the self-sufficiency.

We like the sense of power that they have, that they exude.

Because we're told that that is what greatness looks like.

It's not that way in the kingdom of God.

Greatness looks like humility.

Matthew has said earlier, the Lord Jesus has said earlier, chapter 5,

It is poverty of spirit.

It is poverty of spirit.

Blessed are the poor in spirit.

Getting yourself out of the way.

That is how you enter the kingdom.

Verse 3.

And it is to be your posture as a citizen of the kingdom.

Turn and become like children.

Take the bottom rung.

Embrace humility.

Embrace humility.

It's the example that he gives is the lowest on the social ladder.

And he says, become like them.

Not only because they're down there, but also think about it, children.

Become like them in their trust and dependence.

That's what characterizes children, isn't it?

Children trust their parents.

Children don't try to live self-sufficient lives.

They ask for what they need when they need it.

They're not shy to cry out because they know that their parents will provide.

Give me today my daily bread is a prayer that you often hear from the lips of a child.

They might not use those words, but they might say, I want it now.

I'm hungry.

They don't pretend that they can live without mom and dad.

If we're honest with ourselves, we resent that we're dependent on anyone.

Lots of the way that we live our lives is about getting rid of dependence.

And yet it's unavoidable.

We must depend on God.

We require him for absolutely everything that we have.

Become like children in their honesty and their unfiltered approach to life.

Children, little children, don't worry about what others think of them.

They don't pretend.

They don't pretend either in the demands that they make of their parents

or in the way that they carry themselves in the world.

I want that one and I want it now.

It's very honest.

They're not pretending.

Toddlers generally don't fuss about their hair or their clothes.

For honest with ourselves, so much of adult life is playing pretend

in the personas that we adopt,

the face that we put on to go out into the world

to try and look impressive,

to try and be accepted.

But it's all a persona

in the way that we speak,

even in some cases in the way that we pray.

We've been taught that there are certain things that we should say in prayer

and there are certain things we shouldn't say in prayer.

But in our hearts we feel all kinds of things that we never bring to the Lord.

And so there's a dishonesty.

There's a problem there.

Children aren't like that.

Little children live with an honesty and an unfiltered approach to life.

Be like children in their resilience.

Children can scream with laughter one minute

and scream with sadness and distress the next

and back to laughter again

and back to distress.

Little ones can fall out

and they can make up

and fall out and make up.

There's no emotional baggage

with a toddler, with a little one.

They're resilient.

Become like children

in the way they live in the present.

Little children don't dwell on yesterday

or worry about tomorrow.

Isn't that what Jesus tells us?

That we should live our lives like that?

They don't get twisted up

about having to have the newest things

because they're taken up with whatever is in front of them.

We have lots of little, little,

I'm talking about the tiniest ones,

the little ones,

toddlers and below.

We have lots of them in the church.

Have a look at them,

the way they conduct themselves.

Taken up with whatever is in front of them

and it can be the most simple thing

which is another thing that we should emulate.

We should be like children

in the simplicity of their lives.

Little children aren't worried

about making a name for themselves.

They aren't worried about

what their friends are saying about them.

They live in the moment

and they live with the most simple

and straightforward little things.

They haven't even thought,

it hasn't even crossed their mind

that they have no authority or status.

They enjoy simple things.

And they're content.

If we,

if Jesus is saying

your example for greatness is a child,

we are called to the humility

of at least those things.

Dependence,

honesty,

resilience,

presence

and simplicity.

Where do you need to change?

Where do you need to have the Holy Spirit

break down old attitudes

and desires?

And you might say,

well,

but what if I found myself

actually with status

and authority

in the world?

What if I'm not

actually on the lowest rung?

What if I'm pretty impressive

in the eyes of the world?

Well,

if God has given you that,

that's up to Him.

Praise Him for it.

Thank Him for it.

Recognize Him.

Recognize that it is a gift from His hand.

It's not ultimately

what you've managed to do

by the sweat of your own brow,

however hard you've worked.

It is a gift from Him.

And if He has given that to you,

even though you might have that status

as a follower of Jesus,

as one who belongs to His kingdom,

you must carry those responsibilities

with the same qualities,

with dependence,

honesty,

resilience,

presence

and simplicity.

And you know,

don't you,

that doing that is possible.

Doing that is possible

because you,

as a follower of Jesus,

understand the paradox of a kingdom

where the least are greatest

and the last are first.

Embrace the humility of a child.

Well, having placed a particular child,

He took a real little child

and put them in their midst,

Jesus then moves the point of discussion

to how we should treat others

who have adopted this humble,

childlike posture.

He doesn't just care about

how we conduct ourselves

and how we exercise

our own personal humility,

but also that we do what we can

to help others in this area too.

Now, it could be that He's referring

to children specifically.

Verse 5,

Have a look.

Whoever receives one such child,

although it seems more likely

that His repeated use

in the rest of the section

on little ones

is His way of describing

all of those who have embraced

the humility of the kingdom,

little ones being a nickname,

as it were,

for disciples.

Now, those are the options

that commentators present us with,

but I wonder why it is

that we need to choose, actually.

Are not our children,

born as they are

into our covenant homes,

themselves disciples

of the Lord Jesus?

Jesus has in view here

the whole church family,

as it were.

And so our second point,

Having embraced the humility

of a child,

we must secondly also

embrace responsibility

for others.

Embrace responsibility

for others.

That's verse 5 to 14.

Now, what's happening here

is a challenge

to any sort of sense

of individualism

that we might bring

to the kingdom of heaven.

And Jesus starts

with an encouragement.

You see, verse 5,

Whoever receives

one such child in my name

receives me.

When we receive,

that is,

when we welcome,

show respect for,

care for,

another Christian

in the name of Jesus,

that is,

seeing them as one

who represents Jesus,

we actually receive

Jesus himself.

Jesus so closely

identifies with his people

that the way

that you treat them

is the way

that you treat him.

And in saying this,

he is giving

to the least important

person in the eyes

of others,

the little ones,

those that have

embraced this humility,

he is giving them

a significance

that is completely

out of proportion

with their human standing.

The last,

really,

our first

in his kingdom.

Now,

isn't that a great

encouragement?

It's an encouragement

to us both

to embrace

the humility

that he calls us to,

but also to embrace

others in his name.

When you greet

or serve

or go out of your way

to be a blessing

to another Christian,

not because they can

do something for you,

not to enhance

your agenda,

not to make you

feel better,

not to have you

at the center of you

doing what you do,

but simply because

they belong to Christ,

you are displaying

heavenly greatness

according to Jesus.

And it pleases him.

But he goes on,

and if he starts

with a positive word

about how we should

treat others,

he continues with

a more somber tone,

do you see?

He so cares

about his little ones

that he takes

a very dim view

indeed of anything

that anyone might do

to cause them harm.

The warning is very grave.

Look at verse 6.

It starts there.

Whoever causes

one of these little ones

who believe in me

to sin,

more literally,

to stumble,

it would be better

for him to have

a great millstone

fastened around his neck

and to be drowned

in the depth of the sea.

Now, I take it here

that Jesus has in mind

stumbling people

specifically for

misleading them

about what it looks like

to belong to Christ's kingdom.

I take it that the theme

of humility

actually runs through

this whole section

1 to 14.

And the warning is

that if you give

the impression

to others,

to other people

in the body of Christ,

that life is actually

about status

and recognition,

that life is actually

about posturing

for greatness,

you will cause them

to stumble,

it will lead them

down the wrong path

and they may wander

away completely.

That's why he takes

it so seriously.

Now, let's think

about this in terms

of how we raise

our children.

If it is literal children

that are in view here,

little disciples,

those that are less mature,

of course,

we would put children

in that category.

Do our children believe

that following Christ,

no matter what it costs,

is more important

than anything else

in the world

and they can invest

their lives

in nothing more valuable.

Are we training them

to understand

that life consists

in cultivating

dependence,

honesty,

resilience,

presence,

and simplicity?

Or have we taught them

that they should have

just the same ambition

as their friends,

just the same values

as their friends,

but with Jesus

tacked on the side?

Because that's actually

how we live our lives.

In what ways

might we be causing

our children to stumble

by the example

that we're setting them

about the values

of the world

according to Jesus?

More widely,

does the way

that we relate to others

or talk about others

reflect the reality

that in God's kingdom,

the great ones

are the little ones?

Or does our example

tell a different story?

Our influence

on others,

our influence

in the context

of the church family

on those around us

is something

that we need

to consider

because causing

another believer

to sin

is very,

very serious.

if Jesus says

a quick drowning,

it would be pretty quick

if you're thrown in

with a massive millstone

tied around your neck.

If a quick drowning

is better

than what will happen

to you for misleading

another believer,

it doesn't bear thinking

about the alternative,

does it?

And so,

we are to take radical action

to ensure that this

doesn't happen.

That's verses 7 to 9.

Woe to the world

for temptations to sin

for it is necessary

that temptations come

but woe to the one

by whom the temptation comes.

And if your hand

or your foot

causes you to sin,

cut it off

and throw it away.

It is better for you

to enter life crippled

or lame

than with two hands

or two feet

to be thrown

into the eternal fire.

And if your eye

causes you to sin,

tear it out

and throw it away.

It is better for you

to enter life

with one eye

than with two eyes

to be thrown

into the hell

of fire.

Again,

I take it the temptation

and view here

as the temptation

to stumble over humility.

To tempt people

to only care about

the bright and the beautiful.

To tempt people

not to treat others

as if they are

more important than you.

Now,

this is commonplace

in the world.

It's dog eat dog

out there.

It's every man

for themselves.

We expect those temptations

to come out there

and God will one day

judge that.

We can leave that to Him.

But we must act

to avoid that judgment

ourselves.

Do you see?

So verse 8,

if your hand

or your foot

or your eye,

it's a way of saying

any part of you

causes you to sin,

take radical action

in order to stop.

Jesus says,

it is better

to be impaired

in some way now.

It is better

to have a worse experience

of this life

but in so doing

gain glory

in the future

than to be fit

and healthy,

comfortable

and happy,

self-sufficient,

completely self-contained

now,

but to miss glory

and to receive

in the end,

look at verse 8,

the eternal fire.

Verse 9,

He repeats it,

the hell of fire.

Don't muck about

with sin.

Don't muck about

with sin.

And don't muck about

with sin

such that others

follow your lead.

It is better

to look foolish

than in your pride

to cause another person

to sin.

It is better

to be thought weird

and eccentric

by others

for the sake

of faithfulness

than to mislead

a brother or sister

into sin.

We live

our Christian lives

in relation to others

and we are to

bear them in mind

in the way

that we live.

And we see here

Jesus makes it

really clear

the stakes

could not be higher.

You might say,

look,

talking about hell

sounds a bit much.

It's not a bit OTT.

Well,

think about it

like this.

In talking about

people stumbling,

Jesus is talking

about people being harmed

and being harmed

spiritually,

which is the worst

kind of harm

someone can experience.

Falling away

from the source

of life

is a desperate thing.

Now,

how would you feel

if someone harms

your little one?

Does them serious

damage in some way?

Parents here,

there's nothing

that you can think of

that would anger you

more,

is there?

Why should God

the Father

be any different?

The extent

of the judgment

that he talks about

here serves

to emphasize

how deeply

God cares

for one of his

children.

When you think

about the nature

of this judgment,

think about

the strength

of feeling

God has

for his children.

In fact,

this is where

Jesus goes next

to make precisely

that point

using the parable

of the wandering sheep.

How deeply

does God

care for

one of his children?

Well,

see that you do not

despise one of these

little ones.

Verse 11,

for I tell you

that in heaven

their angels

always see the face

of my Father

who is in heaven.

What do you think?

If a man has

a hundred sheep

and one of them

goes astray,

does he not leave

the ninety-nine

on the mountain

and go in search

of the one

that went astray?

And if he finds it,

truly I say to you,

he rejoices over it

more than over

the ninety-nine

that never went astray.

So it is not

the will of my Father

who is in heaven

that one of these

little ones

should perish.

He's using the parable

as a picture

of the Father's

love for his children.

God,

the Father's love

for his children.

He's using the parable

here in Matthew

in a different way

than he does

in Luke's gospel.

Here the one sheep

is not yet lost.

It's just,

it's gone astray.

And the point is

that for God

the one matters

just as much

as the whole.

God cares about

individuals.

He cares about you

as an individual.

But he cares about you

as an individual

in the context

of the whole church.

He cares that the

wanderer,

the individual

wanderer

is restored.

But he cares

that that happens

in the context

of the whole church.

That should be

our posture.

The language

in this last section,

10 to 14,

has shifted

from the singular

to the plural.

So he's saying

this is the work

of the whole church.

And he'll say

more about this

in the rest of the chapter.

But we are

to love one another

enough

in the context

of the church

that when we see

another person

wandering off

we care about it.

That we take

one another's growth

in the Lord Jesus

seriously.

Spiritual health

of the body

is something

that we have to take

responsibility for

together.

Don't despise

the little ones.

They are the great ones

in God's assessment.

And if any brother

or sister

has been stumbled

in some way,

tempted to wander

in some way,

if they're going astray,

we don't just shrug

our shoulders

and say,

oh that's a bit

of a pity.

What a shame.

We go after them

to bring them back

because they matter

to their Father

in heaven.

And he has tasked

the church

to embody

the same pastoral care

that he shows

as the true shepherd

of his people.

How is it

that God the Father

goes after the one?

He does it through

his body,

the church.

That is the humility

and the care

that marks out

the kingdom

of heaven.

That is the humility

and care

that in the end

defines

true greatness.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.