Blessed to Be Childlike

Mark records this episode in his second series of Jesus’s teachings. This section of the Gospel is bookended by Jesus saying, “the first will be last and the last will be first.” Within this section we find teachings about insiders and outsiders, the punishment of misleading the vulnerable, men and women and divorce, children as the model for adults, and the rich young man who couldn’t give up all he had. The weak are strong, the strong are weak in each of these encounters with Jesus.

The most stark comparison is between the disciples and the children. The disciples were just your average guys. They had not been the best students in Hebrew school. They had not been chosen to continue their studies past 12 years old. The ones whose professions we know were fishermen and Matthew was a tax collector. But then Jesus called them, chose them, to follow him. They now realize they are part of something important. The crowds are getting bigger and bigger. The spies from the establishment are asking questions. The authorities are getting nervous. This is going to be big. They are going to be part it. They are all uneasy with the lack of clear hierarchy. Who is #2 in command? And #3? When the revolution happens, …they dream of what power they will have.

We know how great they were feeling because they were rebuking the women who were bringing their children to Jesus that he might touch them. The word Mark uses for “rebuke” is the same word he uses for Jesus rebuking the wind in the storm, rebuking unclean spirits, rebuking Peter when he took Jesus aside to rebuke him for saying that he would be rejected and killed and after three days rise again. Jesus rebuked Peter saying, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men!” The disciples were rebuking women for bringing their children to Jesus to receive his touch.

Why would they do this? Children were the lowest, most powerless class in first-century Palestine, the “least of the least.” They had no status. They had no rights. There was no gain in Jesus spending time on them. This did nothing for the movement. They had nothing to offer Jesus.

Jesus saw them and was indignant. “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” We have heard these words, we put them on nursery walls and cross-stitch them on samplers. But, Jesus was indignant, he was steamed. He’s not talking to the children, he’s livid with the disciples. “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.”

While I was in Atlanta for the orientation to my doctoral program a few weeks ago, my nephew came to see me. To be fair, his parents brought him to see me. He’s two. And if you know me very well, you know I love the opportunity to play with children. We decided to go for a walk to the park. And just across the street from my hotel was a construction site and they were using the crane. I held him as we watched. “WOW!” he exclaimed as he pointed. And the , when the beam they were moving dropped into place with scrapping and banging, he used his other favorite word, “Uh-oh.” This is the language of childhood. “WOW!” and “Uh-oh.”

WOW! Look at the world – be amazed! We walked to a waterfall. “WOW!” he said. We picked up a pinecone. “WOW!” he said. When was the last time you were amazed by the natural world? Did you know that there are 12 times more trees on earth than stars in our galaxy? WOW! A lion’s roar can be heard 2 miles away. WOW! An ant can lift 20 times it’s body weight. If we could do that, if we weighed 100 pounds, we could lift 2,000 pounds. WOW! And speaking of weight, scientists estimate that there are 20 million tons of gold in the oceans…not at the bottom, particulate in the water. WOW! Did you know that there is plenty of food on Earth to feed everyone. WOW!

The problem is distribution…and that is where my nephew’s other favorite word can be helpful. “Uh-oh.” You see, as he looks around, when he sees something out of place, something that doesn’t seem right, when that beam scrapped and banged as it didn’t quite go into place straight, he calls it out – “Uh-oh.” There is a patch of plastic garbage floating in the Pacific Ocean that is twice the size of Texas. Uh-oh. Those oceans are full of gold, literally and figuratively. The weight of humans on the planet is large. So large, in fact, that some have argued that this period in history should be named Anthropocene. In the last 500 years, humans have caused the extinction of almost 900 species, that we know about…and we have only documented 2 million of an estimated 13-14 million species on earth. Again, wow, and Uh-oh. Lions’ roars may not always be heard 2 miles away because they are among the species that are endangered. Uh-oh. Every year we are clearing 18.7 million acres of forest. At that rate, within 100 years there will be no rain forest. Uh-oh.

The entire history of humanity is captured in those two words, “Wow.” And “Uh-oh”. We were gifted the world, given dominion to be stewards of the earth. Wow! And we did the one thing we were told not to do. Uh-oh. We repeat this pattern every day we have breath. Over time, we get numb to it, calloused, indifferent. The amazing moments and wonders of life become routine, expected, and they go unnoticed or get explained. And the same thing happens with our “uh-ohs” – we get used to them, we blame them on someone or something else, we rationalize them, explain them to ourselves.

Hear again the invitation of Jesus, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” Whoever does not look at themselves and the world with fresh eyes, cannot see the possibility and the wonder and cannot hear the scraping and the struggles, cannot experience life through “Wow!” and “Uh-oh!” Cannot consider all God made and sing in their soul, How Great Thou Art, and won’t mourn the ways those worlds have been damaged and destroyed by our hands.

Hear again the invitation of Jesus, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” Children enter this world completely dependent, and so are we, dependent on God’s grace. We are blessed to be child-like.