Jesus Love Children:

A Third Test Plot for Greatness

Matthew 19:13-15

13 Some people brought children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and to pray for them, but the disciples scolded the people. 

14 Jesus said, “Let the children come to me and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 15 He placed his hands on them and then went away.

Some locals brought their children to Jesus. A great opportunity for them, but how do we apply that since we can’t do what they did? Well we can bring them to Sunday School? Yes, but it’s a lot more comprehensive than that. Bringing children to Jesus is the essence of parenting. If moms and dads learned to do that did that 24/7 in each and every circumstance, they would be nearly perfect parents.

Bring children to Jesus when you’re teaching them to share. Bring children to Jesus when you’re teaching them to do their chores. Bring children to Jesus when you’re teaching them to be respectful. Bring them to Jesus here, there and everywhere, now, then and every time and you’ll be a great parent in the kingdom. 

It’s safe to say that on that day not all the parents brought their children to Jesus? Some were too busy. Some didn’t known Jesus was in town. Some were taking their children to other places. Where else can we take our children? Since none of us are perfect we are taking them other places.

Sometimes we focus too much on making sure they’re smart. We’re taking them not to Jesus but to have a better education than other kids.

Sometimes we focus too much on making them achieve prominence in the world. We’re taking them not to Jesus but a status at least as good as ours.

Sometimes we focus too much on getting them a rung up on success. We’re taking them not to Jesus but to the height of self-sufficiency.

Sometimes we focus too much on making sure they will have lots of money. We’re taking them not to Jesus but to the acquisition of wealth.

Those are just four examples and the list is long. When our kids are losing their grip there’s a less stressful way to parent. Not so high anxiety as rushing from one destination to the next.  Jesus says,  “Hey, just bring the kids to me. Let them be great in my kingdom.”

How do we do that?

The answer is back in Matthew 18 when the disciples asked Jesus who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of God. 

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he 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 (Matthew 18:1-4).

Did you ever wonder if that child was a plant? If you repeated that scene today, would Jesus find a suitably humble child within a hundred miles – present company excluded, of course.

Children throughout history have been self-centered and naughty. They write notes like these:

· Dear God, Please send Dennis Clark to a different camp this year. Peter

· Dear God, I bet it is very hard for you to love all of every body in the whole world. There are only 4 people in our family and I can never do it. Nan

· Dear God, If we come back as something, please don’t let me be Jennifer Horton because I hate her. Denise

So what did Jesus want us to emulate? For the most part Children are curious and adventurous. Willing to change. They’re teachable. Did you ever hear of a child that didn’t want to learn to walk or talk. They’re trusting and look to parents to meet their needs. They don’t hold grudges. They’re basically content and don’t care about appearances. Did you ever see a children looking for a new house or putting themselves up for adoption?  Humility makes those qualities possible.

Yes, children are naughty, but it’s up to parents (pause) to make sure that pride doesn’t take over and destroy them. The parents need to do that with humility. And it’s our job to humbly assist.

It’s a big job. What makes a child great in the kingdom of God? Humility. And what does our culture promote at every turn? Building self-esteem. Promoting self-esteem. Convincing the little buggers they’re king of the jungle – not because of humility but because . . . nobody knows why. It’s just something they have to believe.

It’s a big job. So how do we do it? There are some terrific parenting principles in Matthew 18. The same ones that help married people and singles be great in the Kingdom of God.

1. Don’t cause children to sin. Most parents don’t tempt their children to cheat or steel or hurt people. So at first this may not seem that helpful. But if parents indulge a child and spoil a child and make excuses for a child and turn a blind eye to misbehavior, what are they doing? They are causing their child to sin again and again and on into adulthood. Hebrews 12:6 The Lord corrects everyone he loves, and punishes everyone he accepts as a child. When we discipline children, we are taking them to Jesus. It’s really his correction. If we don’t discipline our children, we might as well get them an unlimited cash card for SINSRUS.

2. Let’s look at another parenting principle from chapter 18:8 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it of and throw it away.  It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to be thrown into the eternal fire.

Did you use that verse with your child the last time they did something naughty with their hands? If not, why not? One of the purposes of discipline is to help them learn eternal consequences.

Our government is bent on making everything easy for everyone. One of the reasons our society wants to tolerate certain sins is because it’s just too hard for people to abstain. Homework is too hard, so the parent does it. Doing the right thing is too hard, so when the child doesn’t do it, the parent is understanding. God’s way is too hard, so we try to find out how the child feels about being honest or whatever.

That couldn’t be more wrong. We should take them to Jesus to see what he thinks about it. He thinks it’s good for us when things are hard. We might remind our children: In your struggles against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood (Hebrews 12:4). Get with the program. Jesus is the program.

3. Another principle from chapter 18. Do not despise one of these little ones (10). Spoil a child and when they act like brats don’t be surprised if you nearly despise them. Repeatedly tolerate their  SINSRUS escapades and people in the grocery store and at school and in the neighborhood, they’re all be tempted to despise your children. But if you consistently take them to Jesus, they’ll be becoming more like him and more and more to be respected.

4. Another principle. If the shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine one the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? Imagine that your child is one of the 99. How would he or she handle your being gone? Lots of self pity or arrogant whining, “Hey, what about me?” Or lots of humble playing, “I’m okay. I’m loved.” If we’ve taken our children to Jesus, they know what it’s like to be in his presence and they can manage a few minutes without demanding all of our attention.

5. Another. If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or tow others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

Change that to when your child sins and the rest of the verse stays intact. Your child sins; go and tell him. So far so good, but have you ever met a child who listened the first time and that was the end of the sinning? Now what?

Here’s the beauty of being a parent. The next time the infraction occurs (maybe four seconds later) – you go back with one or two others. Who could that be? Your spouse is at work. The grandparents are worthless when it comes to discipline. So take Jesus with you. 

 Parents say, “Okay, Jesus. You said to bring the children to you. Here they are.” Then you explain to them what Jesus has said in the Bible about the naughty behavior. Not sure yourself? Get a good concordance or Google it.

When two siblings get in a row and one tells on the other. You only have one witness and you explain to them that Jesus said one is not enough. Just wait and sooner than later you’ll witness the behavior, then discipline decisively.

6. One more principle. Jesus said forgive the little buggers seventy times seven (22). As a parent I start to lose patience after four or five times. After six or seven times I start to keep a record of wrongs. Remember that’s one of the things 1Corinthians 13 says love does not do. After eight or nine times I’m at the boiling point. When that happens, where am I going to take my children? To Jesus? No way! I’m going to take them for a taste of my anger. Anger is justified. Right? Not so fast.

James 1:20 (A parent’s) anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

In closing I want to look at the last verse of our reading today. Remember the parents asked Jesus to lay hands on their children and pray for them. Jesus took them and then this is what it says he did: He laid his hands on them and went away.

I read that and I was actually shocked. He didn’t even pray for them. At first this seemed like the most anticlimactic disappointing ending to any passage in the Bible. But surely that’s not the case. So what do we make of this.

I believe Jesus was saying this: God gave children parents. That’s the happy ending. In parents God meant for children to have the best, most secure world in all creation. Parents have the unbelievable power to bring their children to Jesus. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Prayer

 Lord God, you are the creator of the universe and each of us. Thank you for making us in your image. You are wonderful beyond our ability to even imagine your greatness. You are loving beyond our ability to understand that you have forgiven us because Jesus died for us.

 Thank you for creating our children and blessing their families and our church with their lives. Please protect our children from accident or injury or harm.  Protect them from evil and evil people. Protect them from the mistake we make and the impatience and anger we sometimes heap on them. May each of our children grow like Jesus did in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and society.

 Thank you for creating each parent and blessing their families and our church with their lives. Protect them from accident or injury or harm. Protect them from pride and greed and lust. Help them to put their trust in you and to skillfully and promptly bring their children to Jesus.

 We pray for children who are unloved and unwanted, abused and neglected. We pray for children who are orphaned and abandoned. We pray for children who are cold and hungry, sick and dying. We pray that you would send them help even as you have miraculously provide for the children in the Malawi Crisis Nursery.
 

Youth Message

We can’t take credit for being special.

 Did anyone ever tell you that you were special? You are special for a special reason. Do you know what that is?

 Some people think they’re special because they’re smart or good-looking. Some people think their special because they’re rich or because they were born into a certain family. Some people think they’re special because they have a lot of talent.

 But some day we all grow old and die and then none of those things matter any more. But there are two things that never change, two things that we can never lose.

1. God created us. And we aren’t just some wild idea God dreamed up one day. He made us in his own image. He made us to be like him. He didn’t do that with anything else in creation and that makes us more special than any other animal or thing.

2. Jesus died for us. Even though God created us, our sins separated us from God. And even though we were guilty and Jesus was innocent he took the penalty for our sins. Jesus paid a big price for our forgiveness and that makes us special – not because of what we did but because of what he did.