Matt 18:1-5 for Sunday, February 10, 2008

Translation:
(1)In that time, the disciples approached Jesus saying, "Who, then, is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" (2)And summoning a child, he put him in the middle of them. (3)And he said, "Truly I say to you, if you do not change inwardly and become as the child, you may not enter the kingdom of heaven. (4)Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (5)And who ever welcomes such a child in my name welcomes me."

We get all kinds of warm and fuzzy feelings when we read this scripture. When we read it, we start thinking of all the ways we could work in children's ministry. Unfortunately, I don't think this is what Jesus had in mind.

In Jesus' time, children were seen as inferior members of the human race. It makes perfect sense, if you also know that many children did not live to see their second birthdays. A child was not useful to society until he or she was old enough to contribute in meaningful ways. Until then, children were a huge liability. Very rarely would anyone consider that a rabbi would use a child in an illustration about how to become a member in the kingdom of heaven. Children did not have the kind of social status that would be noticed by a rabbi.

All the same, Jesus uses this child as an illustration to say that if you want to be in the kingdom of heaven, you must be as humble as is possible. Clearly, this is not like earthly kingdoms. In a an earthly kingdom you climb the ladder of success until you reach a very important position of power. In the kingdom of heaven, you humble yourself until you are seen as a nothing, a worthless nobody to others. Only when you are as humble as you can possibly be can you truly identify with the poor, weak, and the sick. How else could any of these persons be welcomed in Christ's name?

So, I don't think the message here is that we all need to become involved in our church's children's ministry. As it turns out, Jesus is not reminding us that children are our future. Jesus is reminding us that children are our present, for with us in this very moment are members of our society who are forgotten, lonely, and deemed worthless. If any of us wish to enter the kingdom of heaven, we must change ourselves inwardly and become as humble so that we can identify with those who have been forgotten and welcome them into the body of Christ.