“Let the children Come to Me”
October 6th, 2009 Posted in SermonsThe Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Series B)
“Let the Children Come to Me”
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Text: Mark 10:2-16 [show]Mark 10:2-16
And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" He answered them, "What did Moses command you?" They said, "Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away." And Jesus said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female.' 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."
And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. And he said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."
And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. (ESV)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Our Lord’s words paint a vividly honest and true picture of marriage, how God ordained it, and how God intended it to be. Though the Pharisees intended to trap Jesus in this game of question and answer, our Lord uses this as an opportunity to teach the very truths of God. What He teaches is nothing more than what is written in Genesis. That is what the Creator intended for His creation. What applied then, applied in Christ’s time, and it applies now; there is nothing new under the sun.
But there is sin, and the evidence of sin still presents itself, in the Scriptures and in our society. Sin makes it so that things cannot be as simple as a man leaving his father and mother and holding fast to his wife. Sin causes us to lie, break our promises, and to become adulterous. Worse yet, sin causes us to justify such actions, to make things right in our own eyes
Though we have corrupted this holy union, distorted our Lord’s words to allow for divorce, and given self-justification for all of this, He does not give us over to our corruption. God still joins man and woman together; He still blesses them for the sake of His Son. We still have marriage and we still call it holy. Thanks be to God for that, for it is from such a union that new life springs and is nurtured.
How fitting that what follows our Lord’s discourse on marriage is an episode with children, for they are the intended product of marriage. God desires life for His creation and He has provided the means for this. Whether biological or not, children are the fruits of marriage, and are to be loved and cherished as the very embodiment of the kingdom of God on the earth.
The parents in our Gospel text so loved and cherished their offspring that they desired that they be with our Lord. That is the best thing anyone could want for their children, for them to be with Jesus and to have Jesus touch them and bless them. That is the very touching and blessing of the Son of God, and that act gives healing and life to those who believe. What parent would not want these things for their children?
Before they can reach Jesus they are stopped and rebuked by the very disciples of our Lord. It would be bad enough if these children were merely overlooked, but the act of children going to Jesus is considered wrong in the eyes of the disciples. They are hostile and assume that such a thing is improper. They think that they are in the right in preventing this.
The disciples whom our Lord called are not always portrayed as the smartest or holiest of men. Often they are presented as hard-hearted and thick skulled. But our Lord still uses them for good in this world. Just as he uses other earthly means, that which is mundane and meager, to accomplish His will in the world, so also He uses those whom He calls for a specific purpose.
We should not be too quick to pass judgment upon the disciples, for our attitudes and the attitudes of the world are really no different. How often we think of children as inconsequential or an inconvenience to our lives. The world manifests this attitude in the vilest extreme of abortion. That is the taking of a life that is inconvenient, for convenience is what it ultimately boils down to.
We stand against abortion and rightly so, but we cannot be held guiltless of similar attitudes. The truth of the matter is that children do not make life easier, whether you are parents or not. Day-to-day interactions with children often times leave us frustrated or exhausted. They can be loud, unruly, and above all else, needy. How often we are annoyed by the crying child in the store or in the pew. Often we desire that they be taken out of whatever space or situation we are in, or that they behave more like adults.
Even the parents, who love their children more dearly than anyone else, succumb to this demeanor, when the hour is late or the sleep is lacking, and the child is temperamental. We desire that things be easier, or more conducive for our needs.
This does not negate our love for children. Few people in this world would say that they hate children. Rather, we find great joy in the birth of a child, the new birth of a child in baptism, and the raising and instruction of a child. We love them, but we also view them as inferior. And so it strikes us as odd that our Lord would say “such is the kingdom of God.” We often view supremacy as the norm of being a Christian. From this we get the false understanding that only when we can truly rationalize and understand the faith can we become true members of the Church. We understand that children cannot do this, that they don’t “get it.”
Where does our superiority get us? Like the Pharisees we rationalize God’s Word and justify ourselves before His most holy Law. We allow for exceptions to the rule, exceptions that make divorce okay. In such doings how we pervert the workings of our Father, His created way of marriage. How long will we continue to justify such things, or allow such things to occur in our lives?
It must be pondered if it is not the children who truly “get it.” For their air of innocence brings with it brutal honesty. This is true with divorce. When a child sees a wedding service he sees two people making a promise to be together for life. If this couple gets a divorce, the child does not care so much about the reasons or justifications. He does not care that they no longer love each other or that they found new loves. Rather, the child sees this as a broken promise and therefore as a lie, and lying is wrong. It is as simple as that.
If the Pharisees had asked a child if it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife, the child would respond “no, it is a lie.” A child trusts that what is lawful is for our good and what is not lawful is for our detriment. This is not to say that children are innocent, sinless, or any better at keeping the Law. However, they better trust that their parents love them and want what is best for them.
So Jesus teaches us to become like a child. We are to receive the kingdom of God, which is to receive Christ Jesus, receive His forgiveness for all our sins. A child is not perfect. All children are born into sin and all children are rebellious. But the kingdom of God is not made up of perfect individuals, but rather of sinners. These sinners, these children of the kingdom of God are those with childlike faith. For children love and trust in their parents, that what their parents ordain is good, and that the parents will love and care for them.
Our Christian life is one of a child. For our faith clings to Christ, trusting that He will provide for all our needs of body and soul. He is the object of our faith for He is our Lord. We have no need to justify ourselves, to find ways around the Law, for Christ has paid the penalty for our sins and it is He who justifies us. Therefore, we can call a sin what it is, and trust that Christ has forgiven all our trespasses.
This is not to negate the Law, for it has been given for a purpose, but it can do no more than show us our sins, accuse us of breaking the rules, and punish us. It leaves us dead, but Christ gives us life. He has fulfilled the Law in your place and now you bear His name.
This text is one that was proclaimed at your baptism, when you were given His name and washed clean of all your sins. There you were made into children of God, children who received and were received into the kingdom of God. There God was made your Father.
Your heavenly Father, who created you in your mothers’ womb and who recreated you in the baptismal fount, has not abandoned you. Though you are rebellious children, He has not viewed you as inconvenient or grown impatient with you. He still loves you for the sake of His Son. He who created you also preserves you, feeding you with His very Body and Blood. For your God desires that you live and so out of love he has provided you with life. For you are His dear children, washed in His blood and named with His name. By grace He has received you as His own. Amen.
May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.