Sometimes I ponder how I would have reacted if I had lived while Jesus walked on this planet in the flesh. Would I have reacted like the Pharisees who perceived Jesus as a lawbreaking hippie type cult leader? Would I have reacted like the Sadduccees who saw Jesus as a threat to their comfortable materialistic lives and who had no room for his endless talk of spiritual realities outside of this present world? Would I, in my cynicism, have viewed his miraculous healings as simply the psychosomatic reactions of his naïve followers (that’s hard to do when he raises someone from the dead but I’m sure I could have manufactured some naturalistic explanation!)? To be honest, I’m not really sure how I would have reacted. Yet, the Lord has given us an indication of how receptive we are of him and his Father – even today in 21st century America. What in the world is it? I am glad you asked!
Kids! Yes, kids! How we treat, value and respond to children is an indicator of our receptivity to Jesus and to the Father. “And he (Jesus) sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, ‘If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.’ And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.’”
Most of us realize that God desires us to emulate the trusting nature and lack of hubris of young children (“…unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”) yet, he calls us to more than a mere imitation of childlike trust…he calls us to stoop down, to open our arms to lovingly embrace these little ones, and to teach them of Jesus’ incredible love. We actually receive God when we see children as significant and valuable even though they can add very little to our resumes or personal net worth.
What is valuable in God’s economy is so often despised in our world’s economy. We are all too often like the disciples instead of the little children – overly concerned with our own importance and jostling with one another to be the “greatest” in terms of position, power, possessions, and even ministries (Mark 9:33-41). We, like the disciples, need to hear Jesus’ call to come and sit at his feet and watch him receive the children – to see him take time to be “bothered” by children (Mark 10:14-16); to heal children (Matt 15:28; Mark 5:41-42; Matt 17:18); to use children in ministry (John 6:9-10); to receive praise from children (Matt 21:15); to warn adults about leading children astray (Matt 18:5); and to see children as wonderful examples of citizens of God’s kingdom (Lk 18:16).
So, let us remember to “receive” Jesus by receiving the children in his name. Teaching children’s Sunday School, volunteering in the nursery, helping out with VBS, being loving parents, grand parents, foster parents, or adoptive parents, helping ministries that care for orphans and disadvantaged children are all ways we actually fellowship with Jesus and receive the God of the Universe! No, working with children is not a stepping stone to greater and more significant ministries with adults…it is greatness exemplified in God’s economy. You may not get to see your name in lights when you work with kids. Your love, concern and sacrifice may go unnoticed by a world overly impressed with impressions and “important” adults yet, to love and receive a child as Jesus would is a way of being “first” in Jesus’ eyes and almost certainly ensuring that one day you will hear, “Well done good and faithful servant!”
P.S. Thanks to so many of you who loved and served our kids this past school year at GCC! Your ministry is invaluable and your labor in the Lord is not in vain! May the Lord refresh your spiritual batteries during the summer break and then continue to use you in lives of our children in the future!