Let's Be Childish

This is the message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, July 18, 2021.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 18:1-10.

            Have you ever had someone tell you you’re being childish?

            We take that as an insult, right?  No adult wants to be thought of as childish.  We want to be thought of as mature, as being responsible, as being someone who’s respected.  Being called childish is the opposite of all that.

            When you think about it, we don’t even really want to be thought of as childish when we’re children.  One of the things we always want as children is to become older.  We think there are so many more things we’ll be able to do then.  We won’t have to ask people to help us.  We won’t have to get permission to do things.  Even when we’re kids, we want people to think we’re mature, that we’re responsible, to treat us with respect.  We don’t want to be thought of as childish.

            But in our reading for today, Jesus is talking to a group of adults--the disciples.  The people Jesus had hand-picked to be his closest friends and followers.  If ever there was a group of people who thought of themselves as mature and responsible, it was probably the disciples.  

            But what does Jesus tell them?  Jesus tells them, “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

            The disciples must have been stunned.  Little children had almost no status in society at that time.  They were a burden.  Once they got older, and could help with the work, then they might have some value.  But when they were little?  They were just another mouth to feed.  But here’s Jesus telling the disciples that the only way they can enter the kingdom of heaven is by becoming like little children.

            What did Jesus mean?  How are we supposed to become like little children, and why is that the only way we can enter the kingdom of heaven?

            Well, let’s look at little children and how they are.  For one thing, little children are totally dependent, right?  They cannot take care of themselves.  Little children are totally dependent on their parents, or at least some adult, to provide for their needs--food, clothing, shelter, all of it.  Little children cannot survive if they don’t have someone providing those things for them.

            As adults, and especially around here, we don’t like to think we’re dependent on anybody.  We like to think we can do things ourselves.  We take pride in being able to provide for ourselves.  

            And that’s where the problem comes in--our pride.  We’re so proud of our ability to take care of ourselves that we forget that ability comes from God.  We’re so proud of what we have that we forget that we only have it because God provided it.  We’re so proud of all the things we can do that we forget that we can do nothing without God.

            That pride is a dangerous thing.  It leads us to drift away from God.  Not intentionally, a lot of the time.  Many times we don’t even realize we’re doing it.  But the more we think we can depend on ourselves, the less we think we need to depend on God.  And when we don’t think we need to depend on God, we spend less time talking to God.  We spend less time thinking about God.  God becomes less and less a part of our lives.  We say we still believe in God, we say we still believe in Jesus as the Savior, and in a sense we do.  But that belief no longer has any impact on our lives.  There’s nothing different about our lives because of our faith, because we really don’t think we need God anymore.

            And that’s the point at which things will fall apart for us.  Not because God’s going to do something to us.  Not because God’s going to punish us.  But because our pride will lead us to make mistakes.  Our pride will lead us to get into trouble.  And when that happens, we won’t have that relationship to God to fall back on.  God will still be there for us, of course.  But when our pride keeps us from having that close relationship with God, we won’t do the things God wants us to do to get out of our trouble.  And a lot of times, it’s only when we hit rock bottom that we can get rid of our pride and allow God to help us get back on track.

            Like little children, we are dependent on God.  If we realize that, we will be closer to entering the kingdom of heaven.

            Another thing about little children is that they tend to be trusting.  They trust that the adults in their lives love them and will take care of them.  That does not always turn out to be true, unfortunately, but little children trust that adults have their best interests at heart.  They don’t expect the adults in their lives to let them down.

            When we get older, we lose that trust.  There are reasons why, of course.  We run into too many situations in which people have turned out not to be worthy of our trust.  We run into too many situations in which we trusted someone only to be let down by them, or even betrayed by them.  And that hurts.  It hurts a lot.  Once we’ve been betrayed, it can be very hard to trust again, because we don’t want to go through that hurt again.

            But God will never betray us.  God will never let us down.  It may feel like it sometimes.  We have probably all had times when we asked God for something, and God did not give us what we asked for.  But usually, once time goes by and we get the perspective that time gives us, we can see that we’re better off because God did not give us what we asked for.  God did not let us down.  God simply knew better than we did.  God knew that what we asked for would not be best for us, and so God was acting out of love by not giving it to us.

            God loves us.  God will take care of us.  God has our best interests at heart.  Like little children, we need to trust God.  When we do, we will be closer to entering the kingdom of heaven.

            Another thing about little children is that they have a spirit of joy.  Little kids can have fun with almost anything.  Blowing leaves can bring them joy.  Puddles can bring them joy.  Making silly noises can bring them joy.  When you’re a little kid, the world is there for you to enjoy, and you appreciate all of it.

            Somehow, when we become adults, we lose that.  We don’t appreciate those simple pleasures anymore.  The world becomes a serious place.  We’re dealing with important things.  We’re dealing with major issues.  Even when we do manage to have a little fun, we plan it out and we schedule it in.  We still might have fun, but we often don’t have that same spirit of joy.

            When it comes to dealing with life on earth, of course, we sometimes have to be serious.  But when it comes to dealing with God, we should feel joy.  We should feel the joy of living in this beautiful world that God has given us.  We should feel the joy of knowing God loves us, even though we don’t deserve it.  We should feel the joy of knowing that salvation and eternal life are available to us through faith in Jesus Christ, even though we don’t deserve that, either.  We should feel the joy of God’s Holy Spirit acting in our lives.  

Our dealings with God should be nothing but joy.  Like little children, we need to feel joy with God.  When we do, we will be closer to entering the kingdom of heaven.

We could go on and on about all the qualities of little children, and we’d make this an hour-long sermon if we did.  But there’s one more thing about little children I want to address.  Little children feel love.  And they are not afraid to show love.  Little kids show love spontaneously.  They show love without hesitation.  They show love without wondering what anyone else will think about it.  Little children feel love, and little children show love.

Somewhere along the line, as we get older, we tend to lose that.  Maybe it goes back to the trust thing--we’ve felt love and shown love and we’ve gotten burned, and so it makes us hesitant to love again.  Maybe we start thinking about what others will think of us.  Maybe we start worrying about whether someone is really worthy of our love.  It could be lots of things, but for some reason, as we get older, we become more hesitant to really show love.

We need to get back to it.  We need to get back to showing love the way little kids do.  We need to show love spontaneously.  We need to show love without hesitation.  We need to show love without worrying about getting hurt.  We need to show love without wondering what other people think.  After all, that’s the kind of love God gives us.  We need to give that love back to God, and we need to give it to others.  When we do, we will be closer to entering the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus said that unless we change and become like little children, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  I think we all want to enter the kingdom of heaven.  So let’s become more like little children.  Let’s depend on God.  Let’s trust God.  Let’s feel joy with God.  Let’s show love--show love to God, and show love to others.

If doing that means we’re childish, then let’s be childish.  And let’s be with Jesus in the kingdom of heaven.