Traveling Mercies, Dec. 1-7

“Jesus called a child whom he put among the [disciples] and said, “truly I tell you unless you change and become like children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom…” Matt.18:2-3

Three of the gospels record this teaching, and it’s interesting when we look at the different settings the gospel writers chose to record it in. In Matthew, it comes right after the disciples, asking Jesus, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” In Luke, it comes right after the story of the Pharisee and the publican standing in the temple where one thanked God he wasn’t a sinner like the publican standing beside him (as he listed all his attributes) and the other prayed, “God be merciful to me, a sinner.”

The question is, “What is the sort of change Jesus is calling for when he asks us to become like children? We know that he isn’t calling for us to be childish. When we look at the settings of this teaching Jesus seems to be saying that it won’t have anything to do with how biblically literate we are, or how faultless our posture.

It seems that Jesus was saying that children have characteristics that make having faith simpler and profound. It’s like a child’s capacity to believe the best about people, and of life, and of God. Having a childlike faith is about the capacity to depend on God’s Spirit to supply us with what we need. Having a childlike faith is about being able to let go of all our need to be in control of everything, and instead to let ourselves receive the gifts that can sustain us and can get us through what life brings. It’s about letting God bless us and heal us – and to know more of the joy and peace that we can experience even in the midst of the hardest times.

There’s another characteristic of a childlike faith that is especially poignant in the midst of the crises we are all experiencing these days. It is the way a childlike trust in God can make us so much less afraid. Have you ever noticed how often God begins encounters with us with the words, “Be not afraid?” What is important to notice is that those words are often said in some pretty serious situations. God said them to Joshua just before he was about to step into Moses’ shoes to bring the people into the promised land. Angels said them to Zechariah and Mary when their lives were about to be turned upside down. Jesus said them to his disciples when he was describing the sort of resistance they would encounter being his witnesses in the world.

What’s amazing is that if we’re not afraid, and engage the world with this kind of childlike faith, it’s contagious. It helps other people to not be so afraid.

Prayer:
Gracious God, we believe that we can trust you with all our hearts and we don’t have to rely on our own understanding. We believe that you are always doing new things – that lead to goodness and mercies and well -being. Walk with us into the unknowns that trusting you means. Sustain us with your Spirit so that we can walk in your light on the paths you set before us. This we pray in the name of him who taught us to pray…The Lord’s Prayer.

Peace, Pastor Ed