Word of Salvation – Vol. 15 No.36 - September 1969
God Receives Us Only As Children
Sermon by Rev. N. Hart, Th. Grad on Luke 18: 15-17
SCRIPTURE READING: Matthew 18: 1-44
PSALTER HYMNAL: 305; 307 (Creed); 70 (Law); 237; 276; 493
Brothers and sisters in the Lord, boys and girls,
In many Christian homes in N.Z. there is discomfort about the booklet prescribed for the public schools in Liberal Studies. It is written by Prof. L. Geering, and is entitled ‘God in the 20th Century’. There is discomfort about this booklet, because it speaks about Jesus, but not about God. It is the confession of a very learned man, who with all his learning has lost God – the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the feeble effort of a man who is trying to make his own idol, because he is afraid to be without God in this world. It is the witness of a man who has seen the tremendous power of secular education, that education which does not recognise or know God will lead to spiritual death.
In our text, we also come across a great religious teacher, Jesus, the Son of God in the flesh. He also gives "religious instruction". He speaks on the conditions set down for entrance into the Kingdom of God. They are God's conditions set for us. These conditions are endorsed by the apostles. Yes, this is especially important. Above this passage we might have seen written: "The day we were corrected by our Master." The incident is recorded by the three synoptic writers, as if they want to say, "let this mistake never be yours!"
What was this mistake? It was the mistaken idea that those who come to God must be socially and culturally mature individuals. But Jesus tells us the direct opposite.
GOD RECEIVES US ONLY AS CHILDREN,
1. The Child as focal point.
The setting of our text is simple enough to reconstruct, though we have no details. There are women there with children. The disciples are also there with Jesus. Some would say that all this happened whilst Jesus was teaching parables. Others say that he was healing the sick. And yet others say that it happened when Jesus was resting a few hours after a day of ministry to the multitudes that came to Him. It makes little difference. The rebuke directed at the women was intended to mean but one thing, as far as the disciples were concerned Jesus was too busy to be bothered about infants. The sick, the adults, or the work of the following day – any of these was far more important.
I suppose it would be fair to say that we have not changed much from this apostolic attitude – and this time it is no recommendation. In the Protestant Churches of our land there still is an evident lack of concern for the children. It seems as if the Christian religion is an adult religion. Note how much time and energy is spent on the adults of the Church, even at the expense of the children. How much provision is made in our congregation for Sunday School equipment? What interest is there in providing staff and training staff for Sunday School work? How much interest do we have in evangelistic projects for the children of the district? Bible Vacation Schools, Christian Kindergartens, Christian Day Schools – do these have priority in our lives over that beautiful Church Building, a comfortable home and a good car? I am afraid that we are too much involved with the so-called great and important tasks of the Church and of our personal lives so that the children are frequently neglected. How much time do our Church bodies – Classis (Presbytery) and Synod – spend on Christian Education, compared with the other important items of deliberation?
Moreover, it seems that in many respects our interest in leading children to Jesus is primarily on an intellectual basis. We want the children to become adults first so that they can have a proper understanding of the finer details of the Christian Faith, before we will recognize them as fully Christian. If this is the attitude of our heart, we may well ask ourselves what we think the basis of confession to be. Do we expect our children to do Profession of Faith on the basis of what they learn in Sunday School and Catechism Classes, or on the basis of the Christian confession in the home and in the Church?
It is well that we have in our text not only disciples who prevented children from coming to Jesus. These children were brought by their mothers. It was obvious that these mothers did not bring them to Jesus for instruction. The word Luke uses makes it clear that these were not infants, but babies. These were far too young for instruction. But they were not too young for prayer. Let us acknowledge that sometimes children ARE too young for formal theological education, but they were never too young for religious impressions.
We might speak for hours to children on God's providence, saying that nothing happens by chance, but by the will of God. But we need only say a few times in their presence that it is "bad luck" when it rains just as we want to go out – and our whole lesson on Providence is meaningless. Children learn by copying our attitudes. We can tell our children the great and wonderful truths about God's mercy and forgiveness for many hours. But we need only speak a few times in their hearing about the things which we cannot forget that others have done to us, and the child will know what is more meaningful to our heart. We can talk till we are blue in the face about the necessity of reading the Bible and learning Catechism work. But if our children see that we are not interested in anything but the Newspaper and T.V., what are they to do? Children learn more by example than by precept.
Now note the attitude of those mothers. They brought their children to Jesus. They had a very high opinion of Jesus, and considered that His prayer for their children would be a good thing. The fact they brought their children to Jesus demonstrates that they though He was the spokesman of God. How much more ought we to bring our children to Jesus, since we know that He is God in the flesh.
Note also that they did not teach their children about Jesus. Nor did they send them to Jesus. They BROUGHT them to Jesus. All who deal with children must note that there is a vast difference between "Christian indoctrination" and bringing children to Jesus. We can bring our children only if we go ourselves. And we would go ourselves only if we were convinced that it was meaningful to go to Jesus,
Well, in this setting of conflict about the children we see Jesus. On the one hand, there are the disciples who had so much concern about Jesus and the tremendous task of His mission in this world. On the other hand we have the mothers, who were concerned only for their children. And Jesus is this time on the side of the mothers, and definitely not on the side of the disciples. Mark, in another place tells us that Jesus was "much displeased". There is a thorough disapproval of the attitude of the disciples. Immediately, Jesus opens the way for the children – out of the way, "per- mit the CHILDREN to come to me, because the Kingdom of God belongs to them."
Now note that the disciples had never disputed that. I am convinced that all of them would have upheld their right of circumcision. None would have disputed that these were children of the covenant. Sure! These are members of the Kingdom of God. What then was their great mistake? This: they never recognized that being a member of the covenant from those days on meant living in personal and intimate relationship with Jesus, the King of the Kingdom. Here we are taught by Jesus that His greatness as King of the Kingdom does not consist in this, that he is lifted far above us. It is this: that he is standing beside us; He reaches out above us. We have a High Priest, exalted in heaven, who is perfectly well acquainted with all our problems, even those of a child. That High Priest was Himself a child once.
Busy or tired as He may have been, He took time off for these little ones. He came to them on their level. In His own loving way, He took them in His arms it was the language which even an infant could understand – and He prayed for them. And in this simple action lies a wealth of meaning.
How frequently do parents teach children to SAY prayers, rather than teach them to pray! When our children are sick, do we pray for them in their absence, or do we take them in our arms and pray for them? Or, to put it differently, when we bring the children to bed, do we wait in the door opening until they have said their prayer? Or do we pray with them? Note that our Lord said, “Permit them to come to me." He did not say, "Teach them all about me." Only by our bringing them can we ever hope that they will learn to know Him.
2. Membership of the Kingdom as focal point.
Up to this point we have considered only the children in our text. We saw the attitudes to them expressed by the disciples, by the mothers and by Jesus. But the text has a wider circle of reference. Jesus speaks to the whole Church. Not only does the Kingdom ALSO belong to children, but UNLESS we become as children, we cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
We may summarize the meaning of "the Kingdom of God" in these words: it is the transforming power of God's self-giving love in Jesus Christ. Through this love, God reconciles the world to Himself. He transforms those who were enemies and in sin, by shedding this love abroad in their hearts. He preserves His children by this love for the eternal Kingdom. If we are indeed to belong to this Kingdom, then we must RECEIVE this love. Not by understanding, not by studying, but by experiencing God's love as it takes effect in our lives, is the way to glory.
The children in our text could not understand this love. They could do no more than bask in the "sunshine of God's grace". Receiving this grace comes first, and only much later is there a deeper understanding of the light and the depth and the breadth of God's love. Before we experience it we cannot even understand it. Try telling a child what it means that his father loves him if this child does not experience such love. It is equally difficult to explain God's love to children, if we do not permit them to see it in the actual experience of daily life.
How does this happen? We share with them the joy of having received from our Father in heaven, food, clothing, health and happiness – yes, every good and perfect gift. For that is the only way in which we can enter God's Kingdom.
Children are more receptive to experiencing the love of God in this way. They are not yet sullied by evil. They are not yet hardened by difficulties and disillusionment. Cynicism and pessimism do not yet disfigure their life. But more than this, they are not yet perverted by secular education, which has divorced reality from God. They have not yet been subjected to a scientific world view which refuses to accept spiritual realities. At this point I must refer again to the booklet written by Prof. Geering.
"The scientific method... questions all traditional beliefs, no matter what weight of authority supports them, subjecting them to various objective tests to see whether they are to be confirmed, or abandoned as false."
He goes on a little further:-
"Many of the things that mystified ancient man, and caused him to postulate an unseen world of spirits, no longer puzzles us at all. Of course, there are many things still unknown to us, and not understood by us..., but we are no longer prompted to explain our ignorance by resorting to concepts of unseen personal forces such as seemed self-evident to ancient man" (unquote).
This is the way for secular scientists who have become too "mature" to see God in this world. Their little learning has driven them to blindness – blindness to spiritual things. God's eternal power and deity can be clearly seen in the things which He has made. But only those who in childlike faith listen to The Word's word are able to see it. Many purposely close their eyes, because their senseless minds are darkened by unbelief.
Many of our children are subjected to instruction that flows forth from such spiritual blindness. They are taught to look at the universe through "glasses" that filter out the evidence of God's presence. As soon as they are able to speak about life without reference to God, they are considered "mature." They understand reality without childish superstitions. For such people God has disappeared and His Kingdom has vanished.
This is the most tragic situation of life. Many there are in the Church also who are becoming too wise to have a childlike faith. And in their vanity, they seek to influence children to become as they are – ignorant of God. There is a movement in and around the church which seems to say:-
"Whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a secular scientist, who has removed every thought of a personal Being from his mind, cannot enter the Kingdom of God."
This is a tragedy, because it pretends to say what Christ said, but says the direct opposite. This is how Satan comes to attack our children through their so-called "religious instruction". He comes as an "angel of light." Now more than ever the urgent call of Jesus goes out:-
"Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God."
May His word be an earnest encouragement in our ears and a clear directive for our life, to lead our children into glorious fellowship with God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.