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These Little Ones Who Believe in Me
Matthew 18:6

 

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost—September 7, 2014

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

There is an interesting and very revealing distinction between the Bible versus the Koran and Hadith, which are essentially the equivalent in Islam of our Christian Epistles, Gospels, and Acts of the Apostles.  The Koran was written by Mohammed, and the Hadith is the official record of Mohammed’s statements and actions, composed by his followers after his death.

In the Koran and Hadith, the superhuman hero of every story is—surprise!—Mohammed himself.  But, in the Christian New Testament, the Apostles and Evangelists who wrote these books are often not portrayed heroes.  Instead, they are frequently depicted as bungling, dimwitted, and very slow to understand the truth about Christ and his mission as the Messiah.  This is an important testimony to the truth of the New Testament Epistles and Gospels.  The Apostles and Evangelists were recording what really happened, even if it was not very flattering to them.

This morning’s Gospel Reading is one of those times when the disciples of Jesus don’t come off looking very good.  We learn from the parallel accounts of this event in the Gospels of Mark and Luke that while they were walking along the road the disciples had been arguing among themselves who would be the greatest among them. 

There was a common misunderstanding among the Hebrews at that time about the nature of the Messiah and the scope his mission.  Former President George W. Bush is famous for inventing a new word when he said that his political opponents “misunderestimated” him.  That’s the mistake the disciples and other Hebrews made about Jesus, they “misunderestimated” him.

The “mis” part had to do with the nature of the Messiah.  They thought when the Messiah came he would be only an earthly, political king. They expected him to rally the Hebrew people oppressed by the Roman overlords occupying their land, raise an army, drive out the Romans, and establish the kingdom of God on earth—in the area approximately 75 miles wide and 150 miles long, which we call the Holy Land. 

That was the “underestimated” part of their mistaken notion of the Messiah: the scope of his mission.  To them, he was to be strictly a Hebrew Messiah for the Hebrew people to establish a Hebrew kingdom in their Hebrew Holy Land.

The disciples and most other Hebrews of their day “misunderestimated” the Messiah, because both the problem he came to solve and the solution he came to bring were much, much bigger than the Hebrew people oppressed by the Romans.  The problem was all of humanity, oppressed by sin, death, and the devil, condemned to damnation.  The solution was for the Messiah, the Son of God, to come down from heaven and as our substitute live out a perfect life here on earth, to fulfill for us all the requirements of God’s law, and on the cross to suffer and die in our place, taking on himself the punishment for all our sins. 

Paul puts it this way in Colossians: “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things . . . by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. . .  he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.”  That’s what we’re celebrating here each Lord’s Day: the Good News that you are reconciled, at peace with God.  Through Christ’s blood shed on the cross you are holy in God’s sight, without blemish and free from accusation.  That is the true nature and scope of Christ’s mission as the Messiah.

But, because they “misunderestimated” the Messiah, the disciples were thinking in terms of an earthly kingdom, in which they would form the cabinet of King Jesus I.  In every presidential campaign, the inner circles around the candidates are dreaming, and scheming, and vying for the top spots in their hoped for administrations.  That’s what the disciples were doing.  They expected Jesus to soon break out of the role he had played for the past three years, of a vagabond rabbi, traveling about and preaching, and instead transform himself into a warrior king, to rally the troops, and take over the country.  What they were debating as they walked along earlier that day was who among them would be the “prime minister” of King Jesus I.

Either because of his divine omniscience or because he simply overheard them arguing about it on the way, Jesus knew about their discussion and decided it was time to set the disciples straight: “Then Jesus called a little child to him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’”

They had King Jesus and his kingdom all wrong.  Not an earthly kingdom of power and glory and might, but the “kingdom of heaven,” a spiritual kingdom of faith and hope and trust like a little child.  That’s the main point of Jesus’ illustration for you.  Trust your heavenly Father like a little child trusts its earthly parents.  As Paul says in Galatians, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,” and the Apostle John declares, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 

You are God’s own beloved child.  Like a loving earthly parent your heavenly Father cares for you, watches over you, provides for you, hears your prayers.  As James says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father.”  And Paul writes in Ephesians, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”

“I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  Trust your heavenly Father like a little child trusts its earthly parents.  Turn to him with your needs and problems and concerns.  As Peter says, “Cast your burdens upon the Lord, for he cares for you.”

“Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.  But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”

People sometimes wonder if little children, even babies, really can have saving faith in Jesus.  Jesus himself answers that question in these verses with the words, “these little ones who believe in me.”  The Greek word for little ones is “micros,” from which we get “microscopic.”  When referring to children, it ranges from what we would call a toddler all the way down to the smallest newborn.  Can little children, even babies, really have saving faith?  Jesus says so, for he describes them as, “these little ones who believe in me.”  According to Christ’s own words we “misunderestimate” little children, including infants, if we doubt that they can indeed have saving faith in Jesus. 

Just before he ascended into heaven, Jesus gave us his two-part plan for making disciples of all people, including little children: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”  Baptizing and teaching.  That’s why bringing your children here to worship, Sunday School, and Confirmation class is so important.  As Paul tells parents in today’s Epistle Reading, “Bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

“Let the little children come to me,” Jesus says, “and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these . . . these little ones who believe in me.”

Amen.

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