Rev. Eugene N. Nelson, Jr.
The Community Church of Sebastopol
February 1, 2004
Matthew 19:13-15; 18:1-7
“Let the little children come to me, do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” To such as these…why children? Why are they examples of the kingdom and of those who will reside in that kingdom? Why, in Chapter 18, does Jesus place a child in the midst of the disciples when they ask him about greatness? Why a child? The old one-liner comes to mind: “Children are a great comfort in your old age…and they help you reach it faster, too!” Maybe that’s what Jesus was talking about. But I suspect he had something else in mind when he spoke of children and the kingdom.
I think of words from Michel Quoist, long ago now, that captures the spirit of this scripture, at least part of it anyway. He wrote:
“God says: ‘I like youngsters. I want people to be like them. I want only children in my Kingdom; this has been decreed from the beginning of time. Youngsters – twisted, humped, white-bearded – all kinds of youngsters, but youngsters. There is no changing it; it has been decided. There is room for no one else. I like little children because my image has not yet been dulled in them. So, when I gently lean over them, I recognize myself in them. I like them because they are still growing, they are still improving. They are on the road; they are on their way. But with grown-ups there is nothing to expect any more. They will no longer grow, no longer improve. They have come to a full stop.’”
This could be what Jesus is talking about. He wants his followers to have the open, growing, inquisitive, trusting spirit of the child - a spirit that receives love without question and which gives loves without condition. Reflecting on this text, Frederick Buechner writes, “Jesus says that in order to enter the kingdom of Heaven we must become like children, and this gives rise to the most poignant kind of awareness of how we ourselves were children once but are no longer, of the dreaming innocence we lost without ever intending to lose it, of a summery, green world where everything was possible, where in the end the evil dragon was always slain and the princess rescued from her tower – all of this replaced now by a winter world about which we feel we know far too much. For it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.”
“I want only children in my Kingdom.” It is a word that speaks of what it is to be a child of God, a word which speaks through the story of how Sarah as an old woman laughed to learn she was to bear a son; it speaks through the story of King David dancing with joy before the ark of the Lord to the infinite distress of his wife, “Oh, there he goes again!” (Are she and my wife the only ones who have ever said that during history?) It rings out in the image of the lilies of the field which neither reap nor sow yet outshine Solomon in their glory; it is a word which speaks of the spontaneous, the candid, the trusting and the foolish. These are the people Jesus wants in his Kingdom. Yes, this childlike quality of openness and trust and willingness to believe could very well be what Jesus is talking about. Certainly it is an important part of this text, but I think there is more here, far more.
In putting a child at the center, what else might Jesus be telling us about his kingdom? And why do the disciples seem to resist? They do all they can to keep the children away from Jesus. Why keep children away? In his provocative book, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, New Testament scholar, Dominic Crossan, asks what is the difference between our attitude toward children and the attitude of the ancient Near East? In answer, he quotes a letter from a first-century Egyptian laborer, working far from home, a letter written to his pregnant wife. He tells her that he is concerned about her during her pregnancy, that he cares deeply for her. Then, regarding the child in her womb, he says, “When the child is born, if by chance you bear a son, let it be; if it is a girl, cast it out…I urge you not to worry.”
Says Crossan, “This shows with stark clarity what an infant meant in the Mediterranean. It was quite literally a nobody unless its father accepted it as a member of the family rather than exposing it in the gutter or rubbish dump to die of abandonment or to be taken up by another and reared as a slave. In that world, a child was a nothing, a nobody, a non-person.” Well, no wonder the disciples resist. In saying that his is a kingdom for children, could Jesus actually be saying that his is a kingdom for all those whom the world considers to be nobodies?
Jesus welcoming the children. To our 21st century eyes, it seems so… charming. But the first-century world would have been shocked. Clearly the disciples are shocked and maybe we need to be just a little shocked as well. It is more, far more, than simply a warm cuddly Biblical scene. Tom Long, New Testament scholar and noted preacher, echoes Crossan when he writes, “First-century parents cared for and loved their children of course, but when the odds were overwhelming that a child would not live to adulthood, 60% of children died before the age of 16, society was reluctant to place much value on childhood. Indeed, a child was a “nobody,” the social equal of a slave, and had to achieve adulthood before being considered a free person.” He continues, “And so, by placing a child in the center Jesus asks his disciples to think the unthinkable…It is, in effect, a command to knock down the barriers between the church and all the “little ones,” all who lack worth and status in the eyes of the world. What Jesus is teaching is not just kindness, but kindness directed toward those who never experience the kindness of the world; not just tenderness, but tenderness toward those who never feel a loving touch; not just hospitality, but a wide welcome toward those for whom all other doors are slammed shut.” And of course, whoever shows hospitality to these little ones, the weak and lowly and helpless, those who are vulnerable and at risk, whoever welcomes them, does nothing less than welcome Jesus himself.
“Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them.” Yes, on the one hand, to be sure, a comforting, welcoming invitation to bring a childlike spirit of wonder and trust and faith to the kingdom of God. “God says, I like youngsters and I want people to be like them.”
But on the other hand, a challenge – a challenge to join Christ in caring for the “little ones” in our midst. These are going to be interesting times as potentially huge cuts loom on the horizon in both state and federal budgets. Who knows which way they are going to go? But people of faith have no choice but to ask, “What will these cuts mean for all the little ones – the weak, the helpless, the vulnerable, indeed the children?” You’ve probably all seen that bumper sticker “What Would Jesus Do?” I think I’d like to see one that says “How Would Jesus Write a Budget?” What would a Jesus budget look like?
As many of you know, years ago our church, the United Methodist Church, along with the City of Sebastopol, helped build Burbank Heights here on our town. Affordable housing for seniors. And just a few years ago, we built Burbank Orchards – actually, Joyce’s father, Larry Duffield, chaired the board when Burbank Orchards was built and ever since the beginning of that project, a church member has served on the board - I am on the board now. 100% of the residents of Burbank Orchards and now a number of the residents in Burbank Heights depend on Section 8 funding to stay in their apartments. Because they are low-income, they pay 30% of their income for rent. Anything due above that amount is subsidized through this Section 8 funding. This funding keeps them in their apartments. The other day in the paper I saw that it is very possible that Section 8 funds will not only be frozen, with no new programs offered, but may very well be cut back. Now wouldn’t that be interesting? In our own town, people at Burbank Orchards forced to pack up a pickup truck and leave because they could no longer afford the rent because of these cuts in Section 8 funding.
What would that say about our care for the little ones?
Now, I am not trying to run an agenda on you. I am on the board, obviously I have some personal interest in this one, and we will all of course make our own choices. But I think it is a huge question before us, and will be before us, certainly this year and the years to come: what are our priorities going to be and how is our faith going to inform those priorities?
A man once stood before God, his heart breaking from the pain and injustice in the world. “Dear God,” he cried out, “look at all the suffering, the anguish and distress in the world. Why don’t you send help?’
“Well, actually, I did send help,” God replied. “I sent you.”
“Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” And he laid his hands on them… he blessed them. Let’s not be afraid to do the very same.