A Place for Children

Message Transcription

Well, we're jumping into a new series. And for some of you who may recognize this reference to the 1970s sitcom All in the Family. Now, there's a lot of connections here that I could tell you about, but I'm not going to waste time in the message this morning because we've got a lot more important work to do. But the thing that kept bringing me back to this title as I was thinking about this series is the way that it kept wrestling with Are we a part of the family? Is this person a part of the family? We're going to spend the month of August and that first Sunday in September thinking together about what does it mean to be a part of the family and how do we welcome people that sometimes are are pushed to the side or maybe marginalized in our family? So we're going to look at over the next couple of weeks some different groups in our church family that might, if we're not careful, get pushed to the side or maybe forgotten about or or ignored. And so this morning, as you may have guessed from our reading, we're going to look at children and thinking about children. How do we make space for children? Jesus was very intentional about creating space and inviting children to be a part of the kingdom, and we're going to listen to that. But I want us to think about it as a church and not necessarily because we're not any good at this, but rather to say, could we do it better? Could we create more space, more opportunity to connect with young people? And one of the foundational passages of scripture that we believe here at Broadway is John 316, that God so loved the whole world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him would not perish, but would find their place in his family.

Now, if you read all through the Old Testament and the new, you will read story after story of God creating and making space for people to join his family, especially his children, his lost children. And so we want to be dedicated and thoughtful and mindful of that. And so today I want us to look at a few places in in the Gospels, specifically Matthew, Mark and Luke, where Jesus talks about children in the family and then think some together about how we're trying to create space and how you can help us make those connections in the ancient world. It wasn't always safe to be a kid. You know, if you go back and you look at some of the statistics after the Covid pandemic and you look at how it's impacted young people, it's amazing how many studies have shown the impacts that this pandemic has left. And certainly these aren't new. They've been exacerbated by living in a world that's now post-pandemic. I went through and found a study that had basically gone through and tried to compile over multiple studies over multiple years.

Some folks at the University of Minnesota and Florida and other places who combined all these studies and said, what were some of the major findings that we found on how this has impacted kids, specifically children? And they noticed there were economic impacts. Their access to care and opportunity to food insecurity has skyrocketed. They looked at their mental health and being. Did you know that suicide attempts from young pre-teen boys 5 to 12 years old skyrocketed? Right. Other Other health. Physical health. Being having access to to health care opportunities, to see the doctors to be cared for in the ways that they needed it. Not only that, but but we've talked so much and especially as we begin a new school year, the educational impact that it's had on young people. It's not an easy place to be a kid anymore. Those of you who are students of history know this isn't unique to our time and to our day, that in the ancient world it was often a dangerous place to be a kid. One of the historians who was alive during the time of Jesus, a guy named Seneca, he wrote these words about how we deal with kids. He said, Mad dogs. We knock on the head, unnatural progeny, we destroy, we drown, even children at birth who are weekly and abnormal. Did you know that for most children the first eight days they weren't given a name because parents were still trying to decide, do we want to keep it? Did you know that often? If a young girl was born, servants would take her out to the trash heap, the trash dump at the edge of town and leave her there.

Now, I know we hear these things in and we're offended by them, and rightly so. But in the ancient world, they wouldn't have been. That was just life. That was just life in the world. The world could be a really dangerous place. And so Jesus taught a lot about children and he taught a lot about his community and his kingdom and what it looked like for everyone to have a place who were all a part of God's family. And that's what I want us to do this morning for just a couple of minutes. So we'll begin in Mark or rather in Matthew 19. We're Gabe read for us just a moment ago. As you make your way there. Let me just set the scene because what I've noticed about Jesus teachings on children, many of them sound the same. You'll hear the same themes. And yet each one comes after a different episode in the life of Jesus ministry, which I find super interesting. It's not like other stories where the same events kind of happen in a row and we just hear about them kind of from a different perspective in each of these teachings.

Matthew, Mark and Luke Jesus teaching about children come after very different events. So in Matthew chapter 19 here, it opens up with Pharisees who are trying to test Jesus. And so they ask him this question about divorce. Is it okay? Is it right for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason? Jesus answers, He says, Haven't you read that? At the beginning the creator made them male and female and said, For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate. And the Pharisees are thinking trap has been set. Right? Because they're going to point out, Well, actually Moses said something different. Jesus. Moses said it was okay as long as you gave her a certificate of divorce. Why would Moses say that? And Jesus responds. Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another woman commits adultery. Aren't. The disciples hear this and their responses. If this is the situation between husband and wife, it's better not to be married. If that's the definition, if those are the terms, Jesus is probably better not to even get married and Jesus doesn't back down.

In fact, this is how he responds. He says not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs rather, by others. And there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it. I was reading Eugene Peterson's translation of this passage I really love. I think he captures it so beautifully. He says not everyone is mature enough to live a married life. Amen. Amen. Itrillionequires a certain aptitude and grace. Marriage isn't for everyone. Some from birth seemingly never give marriage a thought. Others never get asked or accepted. And some decide not to get married for kingdom reasons. But if you're capable of growing into the largeness of marriage, do it. I Jesus response to their concern about the kingdom. These these this criteria seems overwhelming. And Jesus says, you're right, it is, because that's how valuable relationships are in the kingdom. And if you're not a grown up, then you probably don't want to enter into that relationship because it's going to grow you up. It's going to challenge you. And so the disciples are kind of sitting there going, Hmm, all right. It's on the heels that Jesus then shares this teaching that Gabe read for us just a minute ago about how we deal with children.

If people start to bring children to Jesus and he places his hands on them and he prays for them, but the disciples rebuke them. And he said, Let the little children come to me and don't hinder them for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. And when he placed his hands on them, then he went on, The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. Immediately after this story, then Matthew tells us this rich young ruler runs up to Jesus and says, Jesus, how do I inherit eternal life? And Jesus points him back to the Ten Commandments. He says. No problem. I've kept all these since I was a child. Anything else? And Jesus says there's just Colombo. One more thing. Everything you have. Sell it. Give it to the poor and you'll have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me. Matthew tells us the young man walks away sad because he was very wealthy. And Jesus points out, that's why it's hard to enter the kingdom. That's why it's hard when it gets between a struggling match, between what I am and what I can have and what I can possess, and giving it all away. It gets so difficult. And the. The disciples recognize this because in their eyes, no, he's doing it right. That's why he has all that stuff. And Jesus says, No, no, no, no, you're flipping things the wrong way.

And so their response to him is, well, who then can be saved, right? If this is life in the kingdom, who can be married? I mean, if this is life in the kingdom, who can be saved? And Jesus says, no, nothing is impossible with God. Right in the middle of that little sandwich is this teaching on the place that children have in the kingdom? And you get the sense that as they're wrestling with this marriage conversation, they've just been exposed to, their minds are kind of reeling that all of a sudden these bozo parents bring their weirdo kids up to Jesus and he's like, Hey, knock it off. Can't you see we're trying to talk about kingdom stuff here? Can't you see this is an important conversation? And Jesus rebukes them and says, No, no, no, no. There's nothing more important. That the kingdom belongs to such as these. So you're trying to leverage your power and your mental acumen to to find out how can you game the system, How can you get the guarantee that you're in? What if you accepted God's work in your life like one of these children would do? And Mark sets this conversation up a little differently. He opens it up on the heels of the Transfiguration. So, Mark, chapter nine, if you have your Bible, I invite you to to turn over there at Jesus takes Peter, James and John up on the side of the mountain.

And this incredible scene takes place. And as they're walking down off the mountain, they rejoin the rest of the disciples and they find him surrounded by people and arguing with some Pharisees. And so Jesus asks, What's going on? Why are you guys arguing? And this man from the crowd says, Well, I have a son, Jesus, who's possessed by a demon, and your disciples couldn't cast it out of him. But if you. If you could do something. And Jesus says. If. Everything is possible for the one who believes right. And the famous passage that so many of us have cried out in our own experiences of struggling with Jesus, I believe, help my unbelief. All right. Jesus heals this boy. And they go on back to Capernaum and we're told, Mark tells us in verse 33, when they get back to the house, when Jesus was in the house, he asked his disciples, What were you all talking about just now? I could hear you talking about something. What were you arguing about? But they kept quiet. Why? Because they were arguing about who is the greatest. Sitting down. Jesus calls the 12 and he says, Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last and the servant of all. He took a little child in me. He placed among them. Took him in his arms and he said to them, Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me.

And whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but the one who sent me. You guys are arguing about who is the greatest? You can't even understand a vision that I showed you about who I am and you can't even cast out a demon. And yet you're arguing about who is the greatest. Let me show you who is the greatest. What true greatness is like. Look at this child. Welcome them. Create a space for them. Invite them in. Because when you do, you don't realize that you're inviting me in it. And not just me, but the one who sent me. And say when I'm a part of that kind of community, will great things happen. And Luke sets it up even a little bit differently than that. If you turn over to Luke chapter 18, we find it begins with a couple of parables. And the first one is about this widow and it's set up this way. Luke 18, verse one says, Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. I then as quickly followed by a second parable, this time it's about two guys who go up to the temple to pray. But again, Luke starts this parable like this. He says to some who were confident in their own righteousness and look down on everyone else. Jesus told them this parable. There's something about persistence and humility that resonate in the kingdom deeply.

And so right after that, then Luke tells us this story. People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. And when the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them. For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly, I tell you, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. And Jesus teaching his followers. You're going to have to relearn some things when it comes to the kingdom and kingdom life. You're going to have to learn to approach it the way a child might. You ever noticed how Jesus interacted with children? One of my favorite New Testament scholars, N.T. Wright describes it like this He says, Jesus isn't bothered by the fact that some of the children who are brought to him can't talk properly, that some may be dirty and smelly, and that some will be up to mischief the moment they think no one's looking. He simply relishes the young life bubbling up like water from a fountain and refusing to be quenched. That's what God's kingdom is like, full of new and unpredictable life. Little children, trusting, adventurous, eager, ready to be drawn into stories and dramas are just the sort of people the Kingdom of God is for. A church. Can we here? Do we have ears to hear this today? Or like the disciples in Matthew 19 and Mark eight and Luke 18.

Are we having a hard time hearing because we think he's speaking metaphorically? One of the ways we might be confusing what Jesus is trying to say is if we're still worried like the disciples were about their status. Yeah, that's okay. But what about me? What about my problems? What about my issues? What about my struggles? What about me? So if we think following Jesus will enhance our prestige and our social status, or even our own sense of self-worth, what we find ourselves doing is missing the point. See, Jesus demonstrates that by learning to receive a child as one of the ways we learn to receive Christ and not only Christ, but God's power into our lives. And it's not like we're dumbing things down that way. Rather, we're opening ourselves up. To new possibilities to that energy that that possible new life flowing up in us. I imagine Jesus as an older brother. We got any older brothers in here today? We got any older sisters in here today? Right along with you. Jesus could attest how annoying younger siblings can be. Can I get an amen? Okay. Younger siblings. Can I get an amen? On how annoying older siblings can be? They know everything, right? I certainly Jesus understood that it wasn't that children were perfect. I mean, he certainly knew how challenging it could be to have siblings, to be around children, to be a child growing up in a community.

Yet at the same time, he keeps pointing back to this humility and trust and openness. That a child receives from a parent. And takes and is willing to receive it. And he contrast that with these images of adults who constantly are tempted to power up on one another. Two instead of putting your needs ahead of my own to think, Well, the only one who's going to get after me is me. So I better get mine while I can. And he keeps contrasting it and saying, No, no, no, no, don't, don't stop focusing and seeing the life of Christ at work in children. Don't get distracted because if you really want to experience the kingdom, you're going to have to learn how to experience it the way a child does. Not holding on to power or status or prestige. Instead. Being willing to submit. Receiving daily. What's given? Learning how to trust, learning how to hope, learning how to follow. Even when you're confused, even when it sometimes doesn't seem very clear or you don't agree. But learning to be obedient. That's why at Broadway Children's Ministry is so incredibly important to us. In fact, we've been willing to say we want to invest a big chunk of change into helping us create spaces and grow in our ability to welcome and to receive children. That's Mackenzie's big challenge, is to help us organize and implement these opportunities to grow as Kingdom disciples.

So as Jesus says, let the little children come to me that Broadway is the kind of church where our community hears, Let the little children come, come be a part of us. Come be a part of what we're doing. Now, one of the things we've asked Mackenzie to do is to help us get organized and to engage more volunteers. In fact, I'm going to put her information up this morning because my hope and prayer is that some of you have been waiting on the sidelines and and wondering, thinking there's maybe more important work for you to do than than to to love and help our kids. Now, asked Mackenzie this week, I said, could I put your cell number up there so they can text you, like right in the moment? And she said, sure, go ahead. My hope is that right now you'll blow her phone up as she's in kid connection. Saying, Hey, I want to know more about this. I want to hear about opportunities that I would love to be one of those who, like Jesus, welcomes children into our church, who tries to help shape and form them into the image of Christ. I want them to know that they're a part of our family and that they have a place and a voice, and we want to hear it. Now, McKinsey's got some amazing things happening right now, some amazing things to to for us to get involved.

One of those is Kid connection. You just saw a bunch of our young kiddos running out the door. They love it so much. Well, we need some help with that. We try to do that every week. Right now she's got two full teams and she needs two more teams. So we need another at least four adults who'd be willing to say, Hey, once a month. As hard as it would be, I'll pause on hitting Carl sermon and I'll go back and listen to it online. And instead I'll go in with our kiddos. I'll begrudgingly now I'll gladly go and love on our students, our young kiddos, and let them know how much Jesus loves them and how much this church loves them. She has some amazing ways to even expand what we're doing in kid connection, but again, that that comes back to do we have folks who are willing to help receive children church Are we willing to receive it, Not just say it. Not just get our pocketbook out and pay for it, but are we willing to get involved to be a part of our ministry to children? I love the work that Mackenzie is doing and that our volunteer leadership, our children's ministry leadership team is doing. Because again, Jesus cared deeply about young people, knowing you have a place in our family. Well, my hope is that you're challenged once again to think about ways.

And some of you may be thinking, well, Carl, I would love to help. I just don't even know where to begin. So I asked McKinsey this week. I said, what are a couple of resources that if our church were serious about about growing in this area, what are a couple of resources that we could look at that we could learn about ministry to children and how to create these spaces for them to find their voice and to find their connection with God and to also find their place in our community. And she said, Well, these two are great ones to start with. One is called It's personal. The other one's called Love. First we have copies of those here at Broadway. If you would like to order your own copy, go for it. If you'd like to come and check one of those out, we have them in our resource library. Go. Go find McKinsey after worship this morning and she'll get you connected. But this will just give you some simple insights on on ways to engage with kids, because sometimes it can feel a little overwhelming. I imagine that some of the disciples reacted the way they did because they were freaked out by kids, by miniature people. They didn't really know what to do. And some of us are that way. These resources are a great way to come back alongside and say, God, I want to help, Right? One of the things that, again, we take so seriously is the next generation of faith.

We want to keep this faith passing on as the kingdom of God is breaking through. Church Would you help us with this? If you have questions about this again, get in touch with McKenzie. Blow her phone up right now. I know none of you are on your phones right now. I can see that none of you are on your phones. Right. So I'm giving you permission. Go ahead. Pull that phone out. Open up that text message app. Dial that number. Shoot her a message. Let her know. Maybe for you this week. It's just take that number and shoot her a text message and say thank you. Thank you for helping us love our children. Thank you for helping us learn how to engage with young people and shape them and expose them to the incredible opportunities of the kingdom breaking through in their life. Because the kingdom life is you follow Jesus around. It didn't start when you when you finally decided you wanted to be baptized. Right. Well, now I'm old enough to know, know, know. God's at work in kiddos life all the way through and we want to be a part of that process. Would love for you to help us with that. So, church, will we have ears to hear this morning? God, how do you want us to learn how to receive children so that we might better receive and follow you? God, we love kids so much here at Broadway.

We're so thankful for the legacy of faithful service to kiddos and their parents. Yeah. We're so thankful that our church was one of the first very first in our brotherhood to pioneer this thing called youth ministry and being more intentional about engaging with our young people. God. We thank you for the men and women who have served so faithfully in ministry here as our children's ministers. We thank you for Mackenzie and her incredible love for you and for our kids. We thank you for her creative heart and her mind. And God asked that you would continue to fill her. To shape her. To grow her. Yeah, but you give her the words to say and the opportunities to help us learn how to do this better. God, we want to love our kids well. They got. Our hearts are heavy as we see so many children. We read about it and we some of us have experienced it, of kids walking away from faith because it wasn't their faith. It was our faith trying to take root in them. God, we want each and every one of our kids to know and to love and to follow you. Like we want to see great things happen in our church and we know that's only because you are present in our church. Yeah, we want to treat children with the same love and joy and respect and honor that Jesus did.

And so, God, would you help us? Lord, we thank you for all the babies and for all the children that you have brought to our church. God, I love to hear their voices. I love to hear them crying. I love to hear them screaming. God, I just love that it's that new life bubbling up again. It reminds us that your kingdom is continuing to break through. And so, God, would you help us to hear that kingdom call and to find our place in service to these young kiddos and to their families? Lord, would you help us to come alongside Mackenzie, not just in word and not just with our finances, but God with our actual help, our time and our energy and our effort? You got to pray that it would would reap a harvest. Of life with you. Yeah, but you remind us again this week in an opportunity that we're going to have, we're going to encounter a child. God, would you help him to help us to see them the way that you do? Would you help us to receive them the way that you do? To remember that as we receive them, we receive you? And not just you. That our Father in heaven. God. Thank you. Thank you for the gift of kiddos. Maybe grow in helping them find their place in your family here at Broadway. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.