The Faith of a Child

We are currently looking at the topic of the Kingdom of God

As I have previously mentioned the Kingdom of God is one of the primary topics in Scripture

Yet even with that being said, there is still a lot of confusion over what exactly the Kingdom of God is

In my opinion the Kingdom of God is basically us surrendering ourselves totally and completely to God’s rule

Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is … righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit

In Matthew 6:33 we are told to “seek first” the Kingdom of God

Even if we do not totally understand what it is, we are still to seek it

In our look at the kingdom of God – or kingdom of heaven as it is sometimes called – we are going to be taking a look at some of the teachings of Jesus

Often times we see Jesus making statements such as “the Kingdom of God is like …”

We are currently looking at some of these passages

In these passages Jesus is taking something that was familiar to his audience and relating it to what the Kingdom of God is like

Today I want to take a look at two very similar passages – one in Mark 10 and the other in Matthew 18

First let’s go to Mark 10

Mark 10:13-16  People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴  When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵  I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." ¹⁶  And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

How many of you know that God really loves kids?

The disciples apparently thought that the kids were bothering Jesus, that He had far more important things to do than mess around with a bunch of children

Remember that this was in the days when the prevailing attitude was that children should be “seen and not heard”

Kids were not very important in society at that time, but they were incredibly important to Jesus!

Jesus even goes so far as to say that the Kingdom of God belongs to children, and that anyone who does not receive the Kingdom like a child will not enter it

That’s a pretty powerful statement!

Our second passage in Matthew 18 is very similar and echoes this importance:

Matthew 18:1-6 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" ²  He called a little child and had him stand among them. ³  And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴  Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵  "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. ⁶  But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Wow! The Greatest in the Kingdom is someone who humbles themselves like a child

Jesus even went to far as to say that if you wanted to enter the kingdom of God, you had to become like a child!

I know some of you must be thinking “Pastor Harry should have no problem with that command because he’s still a kid”

And you’re right!  I’ve always said that growing old was inevitable, but growing up was optional!

However there is a huge difference between being childish and child like

In this instance Jesus is speaking of being childlike, which is a comment that would have confused his listeners

Someone who humbles themselves like a child will be the greatest in the Kingdom?

What’s up with that?

Remember that when Jesus spoke about the Kingdom of God the people listening to Him were thinking about a literal political Kingdom

They were expecting Jesus to lead an armed rebellion against the Roman Empire, drive the Roman’s out of the land, and establish a political kingdom that would never end.

Children could not accomplish that task

In fact, children were pretty powerless, there is no way they could even partake in such an endeavor, yet Jesus was saying that the greatest in the Kingdom would be someone who humbled themselves like a child

What in the world did Jesus mean by this?

What does being childlike have to do with entering the Kingdom of God and being the greatest in the Kingdom of God?

I have a personal story that may help illustrate this point

Several years ago I was out for a motorcycle ride with my oldest daughter Sarah, who was around seven years old at the time.

It was a beautiful day with clear blue skies and temperatures in the mid to upper 70’s – a perfect day to ride!

We were travelling down a 2 lane country road thoroughly enjoying ourselves. In fact, I was enjoying the ride so much that I was not really paying attention to my surroundings like I should have been, and suddenly realized that there was a car stopped in the middle of the road in front of me.

I hit the brakes and started downshifting as fast as I could. I honestly thought that we were going to hit the car, but thankfully I was able to stop the bike with about 6 inches between my front tire and their back bumper.

I’m sure you can imagine how I was feeling at that point! My heart was pounding, my breathing was rapid, and my hands were shaking.

I turned my head and asked my daughter if she was okay.

She said she was fine, and when I asked her if she was scared she replied “No Daddy I wasn’t scared because you were driving!”

Her innocent reply blew me away. She knew that Daddy was driving, and that he would keep her safe.

My daughter had total and complete faith in her daddy’s abilities

Needless to say, her Daddy didn’t have as much faith in himself as she had in him!

What does Jesus mean when He says “become like little children”?

I believe what Jesus is referring to is that we must have the faith of a child.

Children tend to totally trust their parents.

They don’t think about all the “what if’s” of a situation.

They don’t worry or stress about all the things that we, as adults, worry and stress about.

They just believe and have faith that mom and dad will take care of everything.

The difference between the faith of a child and the faith of an adult is huge.

The seven year old daughter riding with me that day is now twenty-four.

I can promise you that if a similar situation happened today, her response would be totally different!

Her response has nothing to do with her love for me or my love for her.

She knows that I love her very much, and will do everything I can to keep her safe.

However, she also sees the world a little differently than she did at seven years old.

She is aware of the dangers, the problems, and the stresses of daily life.

She is also aware of the limitations of her dad.

As much as I would want to keep her safe, I may not always have the ability to do so.

Yes, she still has faith in her dad, but the reality of life in this sinful world has changed that faith.

This same reality can also change our faith in God.

We love God, and know that He loves us.

We know that the Bible says He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

We know that God will always be there to help us through any situation that life may throw at us (Psalm 23:4).

However we also know that this is a world that can be full of worry, fear, and pain.

Experience has shown us that people – even people that love us and want the best for us – can let us down.

It’s very easy for us to extend those same feelings towards God.

This is why Jesus wants us to be like children; to have the faith of a child.

To not worry about the circumstances and situations we find ourselves in, but to put our total faith and trust in God’s ability to bring us through.

As a child my daughter believed that her daddy could do everything and would always be there to protect her

As an adult, her perspective is quite different

But there is a big difference between her earthly father and her heavenly Father

Some of these differences are very obvious, such as the fact that I cannot be with my daughter most of the time

I live in Pennsylvania, she lives in Kansas – we’re 1100 miles apart so even if I wanted to be with her it’s just not practically possible

God, however, is with her always

As much as my daughter would like to have total faith in her earthly father, she realizes that I am far from perfect

She is aware of my imperfections, my shortcomings, and my limitations

Life has shown her that I am not the superhero that she thought I was when she was a child

However here is where the problem enters in

It is so easy to take these attitudes towards people who have let us down and apply them towards God

Especially if – dare I say it – God has let us down

If we were all to be honest for a few minutes I think we would all agree that things in life have not always turned out the way we wanted them to

In many of these situations we understand that it is just life and sometimes life stinks

But in some of these situations it’s really easy to blame God isn’t it?

Intellectually we can understand that we live in a messed up world with messed up people and sometimes this messed up world with messed up people can cause pain in our lives

Yet at the same time it’s so easy to say to God “You could have stopped this! You could have done something!”

Natural disasters in which thousands lose their lives – terrorist attacks – mass shootings – abused children – abandoned spouses – addictions – the list goes on and on

It’s so easy to get cynical

As children life was all cotton candy and unicorns, but as adults we see the cold, harsh reality

A reality that can easily make us doubt our faith, question God’s love for us and even wonder about the very existence of God

So, what do we do?

We ask God to help restore us to our child like faith

I am not saying that we should ignore the problems and the dangers around us – far from it!

What I am saying is that we need to have the faith of a child and believe with all our hearts that as long as our Heavenly Father is driving, everything will work out just fine.

I’m not saying that we will have no problems

I’m not saying that we will never experience pain

What I am saying is that we need to believe that despite the circumstances and situations we find ourselves in, our Heavenly Father loves us and will work it out

With Him driving, it will be okay

When I am cynical I want to drive – and that will only cause problems!

I need to leave the driving up to God and it will be okay

So, what about all those messed up people that cause us pain?

Jesus has something interesting to say about that!

 ⁵  "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. ⁶  But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.