Children and the Kingdom of God

Mk 10:13-16

 

 1. One year ago, we started community worship. I created this term for our congregation. Even though it is formally similar with the so-called “open” or “contemporary” service, “community worship” is different from them in the emphasis that our worship should be the united worship of the whole community without alienating any member or any generation. We are not perfect yet, but we made a good progress toward it with excellent leadership of our worship leader Esther Chang. We worship together with our children and non-Korean speakers bilingually from the beginning to the end with our wonderful translator Peter Chang. We also appreciate active and sensitive role of council members, pastors, praise team, worship committee, technical helpers for the success of community worship, and most of all, those members who feel uncomfortable with this form of worship but joyfully supported it for the benefit of the whole church community. Now, we are a dynamic and vibrant worship community!

2. It is wonderful to see our children actively participating in the worship to God, singing, playing instruments, leading prayer, and active responding, and . More than anybody, God will be very glad and glorified with the active and joyful worship of our children. I preached with this text one year ago for the community worship, not to alienate our children from worship. Today, I preach with the same text for another message in this Children’s Sunday.

3. When his disciples forbade children’s coming to Jesus, he was indignant and said that “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”(14-15) It is an astonishing declaration that the Kingdom of God belongs to children. We adults always ignore children, but they know everything essential more clearly and firmly than adults. Robert Fulghum, the author of the bestseller book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, wrote that “These are the things I learned: Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody . . . When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.” Adults teach those to children but they are used to sins and no longer believe these. A Sunday school teacher asked her students: “What’s wrong with grownups?” They pointed out the followings:

(1) Grownups make promises, then they forget all about them, or else they say it wasn't really a promise, just a maybe.
(2) Grownups don't do the things they're always telling the children to do--like pick up their things, or be neat, or always tell the truth.
(3) Grownups never really listen to what children have to say. They always decide ahead of time what they're going to answer.
(4) Grownups make mistakes, but they won't admit them. They always pretend that they weren't mistakes at all--or that somebody else made them.
(5) Grownups interrupt children all the time and think nothing of it. If a child interrupts a grownup, he gets a scolding or something worse.
(6) Grownups never understand how much children want a certain thing--a certain color or shape or size. If it's something they don't admire--even if the children have spent their own money for it--they always say, "I can't imagine what you want with that old thing!"
(7) Sometimes grownups punish children unfairly. It isn't right if you've done just some little thing wrong and grownups take away something that means an awful lot to you. Other times you can do something really bad and they say they're going to punish you, but they don't. You never know, and you ought to know.
(8) Grownups are always talking about what they did and what they knew when they were 10 years old--but they never try to think what it's like to be 10 years old right now. 

4. Such adults do not fit to the Kingdom of God unless they become childlike. We tell children to behave like adults, but Jesus tells adults to model them after children. To participate in the Kingdom of God is to imitate children and restore our lost childhood. Let children be children. Do not make children adults. Understand children and respect them. They are in the process of growing, and they are doing their best. Do not spoil them to lose their pure humility, honesty, trust, and easy 'forgive and forget'. I am painfully sad when I see adult-like child who are so proud, dishonest, distrustful, unkind, unhappy and not-forgiving. You spoil them to be sinners like you. Do not make you model for your children, but Jesus Christ!

5. Jesus said that “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”(15) To enter the Kingdom of God, we have to receive it “like a little child.” A little child is so humble and has a mysterious receptivity of the Gospel without any doubt of a proud adult. Two weeks ago, I preached to Princeton CRC in Grand Rapids. After the service, a boy came forward to me and said like this: “Thank you, Pastor! I learned a great lesson today.” Most adults do not listen to the Word of God so full-heartedly. Many adults simply want to entertain their ears or justify their cause. We have to learn from children, before teaching them, how to humbly receive the Kingdom of God and believe the Word of God without any doubt or suspicion.

6. Other religions generally do not welcome children, and nor children like them. Why? The Kingdom of God belongs to children, and their pure souls intuitively know what is true and good. Children love Jesus and Jesus Loves children. When they accept Jesus Christ as the Lord, they do not easily change. When I first taught Sunday school, a girl student came to the church with scarp on the hair. I found that her father cut all the hair not to go to church but she came with scarp.

7. When God gave a child or grandchild to you, it was for you to “bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”(Eph 6.4) Your primary goal for your child should be a good human being who can love God and neighbors. To be rich and famous is not the primary reason for God to give them to you. Everyday and every week, share your life with them in the Word of God in the form of family altar, Bible study, group prayer, and  natural talks. Teach them how to love God and men, how to be kind and smile, how to be polite and thank, how to care and trust, how to share Gospel and Christian love, and how church and Sunday school is important. Be their genuine friend and care what is important for them. Charles Francis Adams, a son of President John Quincy Adams and Lincoln’s ambassador to England, kept a diary. One day he entered: “Went fishing with my son today--a day wasted.” His son, Brook Adams, also kept a diary. On that same day, the son made this entry: “Went fishing with my father--the most wonderful day of my life!” The father thought he was wasting his time while fishing with his son, but his son saw it as an investment of time.

8. The Kingdom of God on earth is continued through our children, grandchildren and descendents. Invest your time for your children and be a genuine friend to them. Share with them who your Lord is, why and for what you are living, and how you live and think. Share the vision of the Kingdom of God with them. Then, you will not fail. They are like angels and they will learn from you. Even if they are already grownup, if you continue pray and share your heart, I am sure that they will join your faith in the Kingdom of God sooner or later. Amen.