“Let The Children Come To Me”

The Appomattox Court House Presbyterian Church Pulpit
Rev. Cameron S. Smith
The Lord's Day, June 16, 2006
Luke 18:15-17 // Mark 10:13-16 // Matthew 19:13-15

Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked the people. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. And he laid his hands on them and went away.

THE HEART OF THE MATTER
     In a speech, former Vice-President Dan Qualye was trying to recite the motto of the NAACP, but botched it somewhat badly. The motto goes like this: "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." Vice-President Qualye put it this way: "It's a terrible thing to have lost one's mind."
     I thought of this misquote as I was thinking through the preparation of this message. I was thinking of how true Quayle's mis-speak is if you replace mind with heart. It's a terrible thing to have lost one's heart.
     The motto of the NAACP speaks of the shame of the lost potential of a young mind due to a lack of opportunity. What might have been? What could have been!
     In the same way, I was thinking the same thing of a child's heart. How tragic when a child grows up and decides that the faith is passé or unnecessary? I emphasize this point this morning in light of our reading in the Gospels. "Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God."

IN CONTEXT
     I'll confess that for years, my approach to this well-known saying from Jesus has come from a somewhat different angle. If you look up this story in Matthew (19:13-15), Mark (10:13-16) and Luke (18:15-17), you'll notice that the children being brought to Jesus precedes the story of the rich, young ruler in all three Gospels.
     Just as a little aside on Bible study, if you want to understand the Gospels better, be attentive to the context of each story - look at what precedes and what follows. Context usually provides a firm clue as to what the Gospel writer is trying to communicate.
     Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." The immediate context of this story anticipates the upcoming presentation of the rich young man, who has all of the world's privileges and pleasures; and yet, he refuses to let go of these things - placing them over and above unqualified obedience. The upshot is that he gains the world but loses his soul. But the kingdom of God is described as belonging to children.
     Now, these words from Jesus about children surely don't mean that children are pure, innocent and without sin! Please, disabuse yourself of that romantic interpretation!
     Children, even infants are born sinners. My father-in-law likes to point out that we have to teach our children how to be good; we don't have to teach them to be bad - that comes naturally.
     More realistically here, children, unlike the rich young ruler, generally have no bank accounts, great wealth or privilege. They are on the lowest rung of the social scale: Dependent on their parents or guardians for everything: Food, shelter, clothing and financial means. To receive the kingdom of God like a child means to enter it looking to your Heavenly Father for everything, admitting poverty and putting away all pretensions to self-sufficiency.
     If I were doing an exegesis paper in seminary - which means writing a paper that seeks to interpret and shine the light of meaning on a particular biblical passage by using various tools of critical analysis - this is a primary theme that I'd hammer out.

ANOTHER LOOK
     But, there is something else here that I overlooked until I re-discovered my Presbyterian & Reformed heritage a number of years back: This passage is also about the significance of our children to God. This is one of the texts that the Reformed branch of the Church cherishes - our children belong to God.
     These words from Christ provides one of the many reasons that we baptize our infants and bestow membership upon them, even before a credible profession of faith. We understand that the children of believing parents have an inheritance in the Lord as well.
     In Peter's first sermon on the Day of Pentecost, he declared: "For the promise is for you and for your children" (Acts 2:39). Moses, towards the end of his life, reminded the children of Israel that, "[t]he secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law." (Deut 29:29). Jesus said, "Let the children come to me." And further, "he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them." This was more than just an affectionate gesture on the part of Jesus: He was indicating by his actions that our children belong to him just as much as the most knowledgeable, faithful adult disciple.
     Incredibly, the disciples forgot all about this long, time-honored tradition and responsibility in Israel. Matthew, Mark and Luke all agree that the disciples were unanimous in their condemnation of the little children and infants being brought to Jesus: "When the disciples saw [the children being brought to Jesus], they rebuked the people[!]" Mark alone notes that Jesus was "indignant" with them.
     How could they forget something so basic? How could they forget something so important? Children are not to be written off as insignificant dependents. Indeed, it's a terrible thing to have lost or neglected a young heart!
     Jesus needed only to remind his disciples of the responsibility of parents in Israel of instructing their children in the ways of the Lord. The Old Testament is replete with admonitions and exhortations to teach our children who they belong to…; remind our children of why we worship the way we do…, explain to our children the ways of the Lord our God.

APPLICATION
     As we seek to apply this reminder in our own particular situation, our minds are drawn inevitably to that little exercise we just completed this past week: Vacation Bible School. I know of no three words in the Christian vocabulary that strike fear and dread in the hearts of God's people. "Oh, no, not this again!"
     To be sure, it can be inconvenient to families to put together five consecutive nights of seemingly organized chaos in the heat, humidity and rain. We were all running on empty some nights after a long day of work, and then to have to drive out to Rocks for two and half hours of VBS!
     When I shared my own tiredness with my sister, she said, "You got to be kidding, we used to run VBS for two weeks from 9:00-3:00!"
     Perhaps those of you who worked at VBS this year sometimes harbored the uneasy, haunting impression that what we were trying to lovingly accomplish was hopelessly lost in the frenetic forgetfulness of a pre-schooler's mind or the persistent indifference of the older kids.
     But, we have the words of Jesus: Bring the children to me. The children belong to me. They are precious in my sight. One heart lost is one too much.
     The prophet Isaiah reminds us that we are not to judge by our own tangible, assessment of certain situations because, God says, "[m]y word...that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." (Isa 55:11). We can believe that with all confidence.
     I know that it was a long week for those who were involved with the project; but I want to tell you that the Word did not go out in vain. I watched twenty-two volunteers from our church in a labor of love this past week. I saw faithful, servanthood in action.

Barry and Brenda Sauls treated my son like he was their very own.

I watched Gary and Thea Gilliam take care of the kids in their crew, encouraging them and also taking the time to correct them when they were misbehaving.

My wife had the privilege of getting to know a little boy named Pablo, who was visiting Appomattox from the Bronx. She was able to share the love of God with this little boy a long way from home.

Dewitt Goin and Ann Miller were given the gift of coordinating this endeavor with Rocks Church. They'd never done anything like this before, and were a bit apprehensive. But, after all was said and done, they came through like pros!

Carol Goins, Beverly Torrance, Pat and Christy Evans had the unenviable task of chasing my daughter Rachel over every inch of the property- along with other youngsters -- who was too young to participate this year.

I could go on about the faithfulness of our volunteers this year, but I think you get the picture. I want to you to know that when we had completed the final day of VBS, a little boy's mother called the Harbins and said that her son wanted to talk to Pastor Chris. He wanted to know how he could ask Jesus into his heart. That makes it all worthwhile.

CHALLENGE
     I want to offer a challenge to you this morning. I want you to start thinking about this command that we have from the Lord to bring our children to him; this privilege we have to mold and shape young hearts to know and love God with all heart, soul, mind and strength.
     We are, I believe, a seasoned congregation. The vast majority of you have already raised children who have in turn gone out to raise families of their own. My own situation, with two very young children, is the current exception to the rule here at our church.
     But, let's turn this situation to our advantage! I think our prevailing mindset about our present demographic spread is aimed in the wrong direction. I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone say to me, "Cameron, we aren't getting any younger. One day were all going to die. We need fresh blood." I even hear people say that "we need younger families to come into the church to take our place. We've raised our children and taken leadership; and now it's time for someone else to take up the mantle."
     But honestly, I'll tell you, I can't find the concept of retirement anywhere in the Bible! I only find a consistent and persistent call to be faithful and make disciples. I mean, the Great Commission doesn't say, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Holy Name and teaching them to obey all that I've commanded…until your kids are through the program!"
     I challenge all of us to take this call for servanthood seriously. I think that God will bless us beyond all that we could ever imagine if we would grab a hold of the command to bring the children to the Lord. I am encouraged after this week. I observed the incredibly faithful service by this congregation at VBS. The question is, how can we improve on that? How can we take the next step? Well, for one, I can tell you that our children's and youth program is nearly non-existent. That is something we need to address if we want to be faithful to the Lord's call.
     In the coming weeks, we will be letting you know of opportunities, from teaching Sunday School; to be involved in youth activities, and even in planning next year's VBS. This is exciting and I hope that you'll join me in this vision for our church.

My dear congregation, we have all the raw materials for carrying out this exhortation. It is a terrible thing to have lost a young heart!

Amen.