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"LET THE CHILDREN COME!"
GOSPEL SCRIPTURE TEXT:
LUKE 18:15-17

DAVE RING, PASTOR
LOS ALAMOS 1ST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 24, 2007

Gospel Scripture Text: 15People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." -- Luke 18:15-17, New International Version

Preliminary Remarks: It's pretty hard for a preacher to follow a children's program like the one we've enjoyed this morning. Children have a way of presenting the gospel that no adult can match. God's Spirit can work through children in ways that it just can't work through adults--we've got too many layers of calluses built up from our years of worldly exposure. But let's try, anyway, to be open to the preaching of God's Word.

Prayer: (Let us pray for our message at this time) Father, we are, each and all, from youngest to oldest, Your children. Help us to come openly to You, and find welcome in Your arms of love. Amen.

Message: Some preachers I know like to use a lot of personal illustrations. Some never do. I'm in-between; I try not to focus too much attention on myself and my personal experiences, because I'm here to represent Jesus, not Dave Ring. But sometimes, personal illustrations are appropriate to illuminate the gospel. During this Pentecost season 2007, I believe that the Holy Spirit has been regularly prodding me to wax more personal than usual.

Actually, today's personal story is more about my father than myself. My father, who died at the age of 80, never liked children. He grew up in a strict household where he was taught that "children are to be seen and not heard." That was his motto for relating to youngsters. He didn't enjoy being a kid, and, when he grew up, he didn't like kids, period. Frankly, my father didn't even like me when I was a child; I was over 30 years of age before we began to develop a positive relationship with one another.

As my dad moved into old age, his dislike for children intensified, becoming almost an active hatred of anyone younger than 21. He wanted as little as possible to do with his grandkids -- my three children. Whenever I would propose visiting him, he would say, "You can come --but leave those blankity-blank kids of yours at home." That was how he was and, in obedience to the fifth commandment, I tolerated his idiosyncrasies.

In January 1997, shortly before declining health forced his confinement to a nursing home, I had the joyous privilege of leading my father to make a first-time profession of faith in Jesus Christ. I came to know my dad's new-found faith in Christ was real several months after he entered the nursing home. I was visiting him there, in a large lounge area, when I heard that a group of schoolchildren was about to arrive, coming to sing to the nursing home residents. I quickly began wheeling him out of the area, intending to sequester him in his room until the children had safely come and gone. I told him why: "Some kids are coming to sing, so we're going back to your room until they're gone." While in the nursing home my father rarely talked, but this time he formed a complete sentence: "I want to hear them." I couldn't believe my ears. "Are you sure, dad? These are children, and they'll be noisy and rowdy." "I want to hear them." So we sat in the commons room and listened to this children's group, some 30 in number, give about a 20-minute concert. And my father smiled, occasionally laughed, and even sang along with them on a couple of songs. The high point came when, as they finished up, they spread out among the nursing home residents. A little girl of about eight shoved a piece of paper -- a drawing of some sort -- in my father's face. I saw his hands come up; I was momentarily afraid he was going to slap her. But he was actually reaching out to touch her -- and, almost, to give her a hug. I knew then that Jesus Christ had truly come into my father's life.

"Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." I don't want to glorify or deify children -- we all know that kids, just like adults, have their good moments and their bad ones. Today's sweet, innocent babe can be tomorrow's spoiled brat. And I have to believe that Jesus, who knew human nature through and through, was well-aware of all that. And yet, He clearly linked children to the Kingdom of God. Jesus said that all of us, young and old and in-between, needed to become like children in order to enter that blessed realm. What did He mean?

I believe that the basic difference between children and adults regarding the Kingdom of God has to do with our openness, or lack thereof. Children, plainly and simply, don't know what to expect -- the world is too new to them. So they just open themselves, and receive whatever is offered, good or bad. Adults, having been burned a few --sometimes more than a few -- times, come at new experiences with their guard already up. They're cautious, concerned, suspicious. "God loves me, you say? What's the catch?" "Free grace, huh? Let me see the fine print!" "Jesus died for my sins? Why would He do that? He's never even met me!"

Decades ago now, I used to work at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque. Like Los Alamos Labs, everyone on the technical staff at Sandia is smart -- they don't hire anyone who isn't well above-average intelligence-wise. I learned early at Sandia that within that ivory tower environment of intellect there was yet a further division. There were the bright people -- and then there were the true geniuses. Interestingly, I found that many of the bright people at Sandia had discarded the Christian faith -- they found it too simplistic for their tastes. But the true geniuses, eccentrics and oddballs in many other ways, were more often than not born-again believers in Jesus Christ. Many of them belonged to evangelical churches, churches which preached a very simple, unapologetic gospel of God's loving grace. These geniuses were smart enough -- to recognize the limits of their own intelligence.

Ever since Jesus opened God's way to life eternal, self-confident, fiercely-independent, close-guarded adults have been trying to find another way. Jesus knew this would happen; that's why He said, so long ago, "....whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." Today, as we enjoy the presence of our Vacation Bible School children in worship with us, let's learn from them. Or rather, let's put our accumulated adult learnings aside, and simply be open, as they are, to whatever God wishes for our lives this Lord's Day. Amen.

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