If we are to
take seriously what Jesus is saying here, these children are to us something
like what the bread and wine is to us at communion — signs of the life of God —
signs which we can receive unworthily and mindlessly, or in which we can
recognise the fragile presence of God and receive as both a gift and a call to
totally reorient our lives. Perhaps the main difference is that, unlike the
bread and wine, the children will detect how we regard them and respond in ways
that reveal the truth. You can’t fake it with children. They pick up very
quickly who loves them and treats them with joy and respect, and who
sentimentalises them and patronises them in a parody of care, and who simply
pushes them aside. When Jesus wanted to illustrate his point with a child,
there was one close at hand and only to happy to hop onto his lap. Kids were
always coming to Jesus, despite the best efforts of adults who thought them too
unimportant. The kids knew that Jesus took them seriously and that they were
safe with him. That’s all he’s asking of us. Simple request. Probably a lifetime project to live it out.
But the realm of God is like that!
http://www.laughingbird.net/SermonTexts/0312.html
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