Act Like A Child

Rev. Debbie Cato
Matthew 19:13-15; Mark 10:13-16;  Luke 18:15-17 
Fairfield Community Church
May 21, 2023 

Lord, Open our eyes; open our hearts. May we hear your Word read and proclaimed so that our lives and our witness will be strengthened. Amen.

 

Act Like Children

 

Jesus spent most of his time surrounded by large crowds.  Whether he was teaching or healing or performing miracles, the crowds followed him because they were drawn to this man who welcomed the marginalized.  Those that were left out and forgotten.  He welcomed the poor, the oppressed, those considered “sinners.” He welcomed women and children.  And always his disciples, those he personally invited to follow him, were with him, observing and learning.

Jesus was considered a rule-breaker.  He healed on the Sabbath, he touched the untouchable,  he forgave the unforgiveable, he ate with the unsociable, he welcomed women into his inner circle, and he spoke about things that the religious people found to be blasphemous.  So of course Jesus loved children.  The insignificant because they had no voice.  Too young to matter.  They should be seen but not heard.    

Though scripture doesn’t say this, I believe that Jesus played with children.  Surely there were children in the crowds that gathered all the time.  I imagine Jesus as being playful.  Laughing and enjoying himself.  In my office, I have pencil drawings of Jesus with children – playing, holding a baby up in the air and laughing, pictures of children surrounding Jesus and Jesus laughing with them, dancing with them. One of the pictures is on the front of your bulletin today.  You see, this is how I imagine Jesus. 

Loving and gentle, welcoming children and spending time with them.  Taking time to experience the joy of their laughter and play. The unabandoned sense of childhood without worries and responsibilities weighing them down.

Each of our scripture passages today tells us that Jesus said, “Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.” Jesus is talking abo0ut children who laugh and play and explore.  Children who are curious and ask a thousand questions; who wonder why and how and want to learn; who love without distinction; who trust and believe what they are told.

You see, something happens as we grow up.  I don’t know at what age or what happens in our life to cause it, but we begin to think too much, to analyze, to question.  We become skeptical. We stop being creative and curious and playful. We become too serious and forget to laugh. Our responsibilities and worries take over and we become overwhelmed with the minutia of daily life.  We forget that Jesus said, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”  We forget this because of our independence,  Our “I can do this myself” attitude takes over and we think we certainly don’t need God.  But it is in Christ that we find our true rest and relief. 

Young children don’t get burned out.  They don’t experience the weariness that we do as we get older. Granted, they do not have the responsibilities we do.  They do not have the worries we do.  But I also wonder if it’s because they have a playful spirit.  They laugh more.  They are allowed to be creative.  To be curious.  To pretend.  To be themselves. To take time to examine the bug on the sidewalk or watch the bird making its’ nest or splash in the puddle after a rainstorm.  We forget to be playful.  We forget to take time to be curious.  To examine the rocks.  To delight in the dandelions.  To just laugh from our bellies and feel the joy of being alive.

I think Jesus is saying that we cannot overthink this religion thing.  We can’t wonder how it’s all possible; how the things we believe in could happen; why God would do things the way he has.  Like children, we just need to trust and believe.  Hebrews 11 tells us that “…faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”  God coming to earth as a vulnerable baby.  The miracles Jesus performed.  The resurrection.  Jesus’ ascension into heaven.  These and other things defy logic and reasoning.  But faith tells us we just need to believe. We need to trust in God’s promises. That’s what faith is.  “Confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”  “Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.”

Let’s all be a  little more like the children who stood before us this morning.  They are precious in God’s sight just as we are.  We are all His beloved.  He asks that we have faith like a child.  Let’s allow the children to be our examples.  Let us pray:

Loving God,  Help us to be like children, trusting you and the promises that you have made.  Help us to let children be our examples in how to have faith.  Amen.