Wisdom 1:16-2:1, 12-22
James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a
Mark: 9:30-37
Grace and Peace to you from God the Creator, and from the Son of Humanity, Jesus the Christ, Amen
“He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put [them] among them; and taking [them] in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” (Mark 9:35-7 NRSV)
This week we have a Gospel text that is similar to the last one I preached on – Jesus is hiding from the people again (never seeming to get that vacation ‘Up Nort’). The disciples meet him in a random house and Jesus says more cryptic things. Asking why they’re arguing. Asking why they think someone is better than the other. And we have a child again. Uffda.
Well, Jesus takes this moment of hiding to teach his disciples about equality, and finds a random child that just happens to be in the random house they find themselves in to use as a teaching moment. Our preschoolers are getting their bibles from Zion this morning. Preschoolers are sponges. Sam is a sponge. Sam picks up on things that Tiffany and I don’t understand how he figures out, or remembers, or hears… Not only can they learn from us, we learn from them.
Children are innocent, blank pages on which we write upon. They learn from us, TV, other kids; the world around them. They soak up so much. Life for us, and for them, is what we make of it. We can only guide, goad, and prod so much. Children have to learn on their own. We can’t open their head and deposit information, but through education and patience, they learn. Even at a young age, children are difficult to redirect at times. Once they hear ‘bad words’ they know them. And then they want to say them. Sam tells us that he wants to be 100 so he can be old enough to say bad words. Then we tell him he can certainly wait until he’s 100 to say bad words. Children are innocent in most things, but as they get older, the innocence fades away, and the realities of this world start to wear on them.
“for if the righteous man is God’s child, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries.” (Wisdom 2:18 NRSV)
Our first lesson may be strange to you. It comes from the Wisdom literature, which is found in the set of books we generally don’t have in our bibles. The set of books is called the Apocrypha or the deuterocanonical books. Catholics have them, but Martin Luther found these set of books unnecessary in the grand theme of the bible, so he left them out when he translated the books of the bible into the people’s tongue. These deuterocanonical texts don’t always appear in the lectionary (what we use to give us our texts every week), but when they do, I like to use them because it is so rare to see them. However, I might have used a bit more caution and actually read what I was asking to be put in the bulletin. This text is a bit… different. (to use a Minnesotan phrase)…
Children are considered righteous, blameless, until a certain point… When that point is – is different in different situations. We Lutherans baptize infants and occasionally adults. Other Christians baptize older children or adults – when they reach an ‘age of reason’, which is usually about 15 or 16 or later... Between the ages of 12 and 17 is when rites of passage happen for most people in the world. Jews have Bat and Bar Mitzvahs; Latina Christians have Quinceañeras as a coming of age rite. Some tribes of Native Americans have Sun Dances as a rite of passage for their young men. For most Americans, we give 15 and 16 year olds driver’s licenses when they pass a couple tests. Catholics and Mainline Protestants confirm their teenagers in their faith. Most Americans graduate high school around the age of 18. These are rites of passage in our world where we determine that children have passed the age of innocence into the world of young adulthood…
So, when a young man builds a clock, brings it to school and gets arrested for his brilliance, the country reels and gives a double-take. When a boy is shot because he is wearing a hooded sweatshirt. When a boy is shot because his toy gun looks real. When a boy is shot because he’s in the wrong part of town… And then we start to see the underpinnings of the sick daughters I talked about last time. It’s not because of these simple reasons at all. Children make inventions all the time and show them off in class. Children wear hooded sweatshirts all the time. Children have toy guns, walk in different parts of town. This isn’t what makes our daughters sick. Racism. Classism. What happened to the innocent children? Is it because they look different? Sound different? Speak a different language?
What children are we welcoming in Christ’s name? What children are we turning away?
Christ told his disciples that, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” (Mark 9:37 NRSV)
Jesus is using a child as a teaching moment. His disciples were just arguing about which one of them was better than the other. Jesus uses the innocence of a child; the humility of a child; the unlikeliness of a child; the unworthiness of a child – to make a point. “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35 NRSV)
Children were the last of all, on par with slaves in those days. Zion’s bible study group has been going through Paul’s letter to the Philippians for the last couple weeks. Two weeks ago, we went through what is commonly known as the Christ Hymn. One of the earliest known hymns written about Christ. In the Christ Hymn, Paul writes “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.” (Philippians 2:5-7a NRSV)
Children were unlikely to survive through adulthood. Jesus therefore holds children in high regard, using them as teaching moments a few times throughout the Gospels. According to Paul, Jesus humbled himself to the point of a slave. Children were regarded as having about the same worth as a slave. Children were the lowest common denominator next to slaves. Who are the lowest common denominators in our world? In our state? In our community? What children are we welcoming in Christ’s name? What children are we leaving behind because of one reason or another?
Christ, who embraced a child for a teaching moment; hung out with tax collectors; healed the untouchable; spared the life of a prostitute… Christ frequently got in the face of the ruling class and showed the people what Grace, Love, and Mercy truly look like. Christ, who told his disciples for the third time in this text that he was going to die… would soon walk into Jerusalem and face his fate. Jesus, who sat amongst his friends who were fishermen, tax collectors, and the unpopular and had dinner with them. Even the man who was about to turn him over to the authorities was welcome at the Last Supper. Jesus knew who he was hanging out with. It wasn’t the best of the best, but the lowest of the low. Jesus would soon face trial in front of all the people, and die on a cross, just like everyone else. Dying on a cross was commonplace, and Jesus died among criminals. Surrounded by his humble friends, family, and the lowest common denominator of criminals, Jesus died for us all. Jesus died to save us all from ourselves. True Grace, Love and Mercy, given to all, was bestowed upon the world that day.
For we live in a broken world, as part of a broken humanity. The children of this world are in need of our attention. We cannot let the evils of this world be written on their blank slate because of our brokenness; our unwillingness to do anything about this broken world. When the image of a little Syrian boy washed up on the beach makes the world take another double take… We have to remember that our seemingly adult problems affect children too. Our sin; our brokenness; our realities of this world… How many children does Jesus have to put in our face before we cry out in anguish?
God calls each and every one of us to look upon the face of the lowest of the low, and embrace them. Welcome them in Christ’s name; in God’s name. For we are all unique. We are all made in the image of God, for the glory of God. Each and every one of us. No matter the scars we have or the wounds we carry. We live in a broken world, but broken things can be fixed, all with the right amount of Grace, Love and Mercy (and a little duct tape) that we receive and then respond to in kind.
Last time I closed with Bob Dylan. This week, I’ll close you out with words of my favorite band, Pink Floyd:
No more turning away
From the weak and the weary
No more turning away from the coldness inside
Just a world that we all must share
It's not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that there'll be
No more turning away?
Our daughters are sick. Our children are watching us. Don’t turn away from them. Embrace them and welcome them in the name of Jesus; in the name of God. For we are all children of God, born in the image of God, and formed to be people of God.
Amen.
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