In God’s Family ~ Mark 10:2-16 ~ Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ October 7, 2012

Little four-year-old Timmy loved Sunday school...

Every Sunday, on the car ride home, he was always anxious to tell Mom and Dad about what he’d learned...  And he was always full of questions...

But a few were rather peculiar...

“Why is God’s name Halloween?”

“Is King Kong real?”

“Are there bad people at Penn Station?”

“Who is Reverend Ebbert?”

After several weeks of strange questions like these, Mom and Dad were considering having a talk with Timmy’s Sunday school teachers, just to check on his progress...

Then on Saturday night, right before they were to tuck Timmy into bed, they find him on his knees and praying:

“Our Father, who’s arts in heaven...  Halloween by thy name.  Thy King Kong come, I will be done, on earth as it is in heaven...  Give us today our daily bread, and give us our bus passes, as we give those who bus pass against us...  And lead us not into Penn Station, but deliver us an eagle...  For thine is the King Kong, and the power, and the glory, for Reverend Ebbert, amen...”

Yes, Timmy’s interpretation of the Lord’s prayer was a bit off, but there was no denying the faith of this little child...

If we pay close attention, little children have much to teach us about being a disciple of Jesus Christ...

In our Gospel lesson today, people are bringing little children to Jesus “in order that he might touch them and bless then...”

But in all likelihood, the scene was quite different from the idyllic pictures we remember from our Sunday school rooms of Jesus embracing a crowd of smiling children...

When people came to Jesus seeking his touch, they did so because they were sick and in dire need of his healing.  The scene here would be no different.  In his day, a child’s life expectancy was such that less than half of them would live to see adulthood—meaning that there would be no shortage of sick and needy children.  So this was one of the reasons why Jesus’ disciples were so eager to keep them away from Jesus.  But it was not the only reason.

Children (as well as women) were treated not as persons but as property in this period of history.  They had no rights; just the duty to keep silent and out of the way so as not to bring dishonor upon their patriarchs. 

So any parent who would bring a child to a man of status like Jesus—especially if that child were ill—would be committing an act of utmost rudeness.  And for Jesus to willingly surround himself with poor and sick children would be the ultimate act of self-debasement.

And yet—the children coming to Jesus demonstrate exactly how one receives the Kingdom of God...

The children came to Jesus with nothing to offer him; no status; nothing to offer Jesus in exchange for his favor...  They came to him in need of everything he could give them. 

So it is with us.  Our successes, our wisdom, our age, along with all the good deeds we’ve ever done cannot save us.  There is none who does not sin; there is none who is immortal.  The lifelong churchgoer needs God’s saving grace just as much as the smallest child or the worst sinner or the most adamant non-believer.  We are all beggars standing before a holy God. We all come to him as helpless little children, fully and completely dependent on him to save us from death and the devil.

When it comes to the family of God, we don’t enter it as we would a social club or a new job, as the result of status or achievement.  We are born into it because that is God’s gracious will for us.  We are born into the family of God through our baptism, for the purpose of receiving the good gifts that God gives us. 

In a world that is stratified in terms of haves and have-nots, where people are defined by how they look or how much money they have in the bank or what they do for a living and from what side of the tracks they come, the good news is that there is a place for everyone in the family of God.  No one belongs to God’s family because of what they have or what they do...  We belong to God’s family solely by God’s gracious shown to us in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And knowing that we have a place in God’s family, we also have an important purpose...

Even though children depend on their parents to care for them and meet their needs, children can nonetheless play a vital role in the care and keeping of other children in the household.  Being a disciple means that we join Jesus in caring for all the people in God’s household.  And like Jesus, we serve according to people’s needs. 

And whatever we do in Jesus’ name will testify to the most important truth a person will ever learn in their life—that they are a child of God, and that they have a place in God’s family.