Glory, Humility, and the Kingdom of God
Video: https://youtu.be/TGR41HQJqpI
What do we need to do to inherit eternal life? What do we need to do to enter the Kingdom of God? These are two questions asked by our texts today. The funny thing is that these should be two of the most important questions and yet I very rarely hear people ask them in today’s world. Why do you think that is? Maybe death and our mortality aren’t as visible as they used to be. Maybe we are living longer so it is not as urgent as it used to be. Maybe we are too focused on the right now. Maybe we put too much trust in money, wealth, power, doctors, or any other part of this world that is fickle and transitory. It is probably a combination of all of these things, but whatever the reasons are, they are taking us away from what we truly need, because we all know that we will die.
As Jesus welcomes the little children, that the disciples and many others would have cast aside, Jesus lifts them up and says the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. In fact, we all must be like children, to receive and enter into this eternal life. So what is it about these children?
We all know children can be pretty amazing, but let's look at the text. It would seem that these children were not coming on their own, but that they were being brought to Jesus. These children were being led, they were trusting, and with their guardians, they were searching and looking for greater life. Outside of the disciples trying to stop them, there was no impediment to these children from outside or internally, so they were open to receiving Christ. They did not think too highly of themselves, they knew they needed others. They did not think they were smart, they knew how much they needed to learn. They knew they could not see or understand everything, they let their imagination explore the amazing and sometimes invisible world around them. They did not think they had all they needed but found joy and excitement in every new thing. Families, culture and so children were a little different in Jesus’ day, but we can still see these qualities in the children around us. Blessed are the lowly in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God.
I believe these are some of the key reasons why Jesus says the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these and why we must receive the kingdom like a child to enter in. Children, most of the time, are ready to receive. They have their hands empty, their minds are searching, their hearts are yearning, they know they are growing and they are willing to follow. Jesus is talking about the reception, these are the qualities that would help anyone receive. Jesus is also talking about belongings. Especially in Jesus’ day, children didn’t have many belongings and so they were willing to take hold of something of infinitely more worth and so they were blessed.
There is an important parallel between this story and the story of the wealthy man, which comes directly after. This man runs to Jesus and kneels before him. An obvious act of humility, as this man knows he needs Jesus. This man does come to Jesus like a child. He seems to know the scriptures well and yet he didn’t have confidence in his personal knowledge, as he knew he needed to know more. Jesus’ love for this man, even seems to imply that this man has been righteous in keeping what Jesus asks, but that righteousness does not make this man self-righteous, he still knows he needs God and Jesus.
Yet there is one thing that does stand in his way, just as Jesus says. It is his wealth. Jesus tells him to sell everything he has and give it to those in need and then to come and follow him. How we should use our wealth is a whole sermon unto itself, but it is obvious here that wealth can be a huge stumbling block, such a huge stumbling block that it is easier for a camel to enter through an eye of a needle (a physically impossible task) than for a rich person to enter into the kingdom of God. We can see how dangerous wealth can be because this man’s wealth literally makes him walk away from Jesus. Our wealth can get in the way of us actually following, giving ourselves to Him, and caring for God’s Kingdom. This is a bigger problem today than it has ever been because most people are far wealthier than even the richest in Jesus’ day. This man was looking for eternal life. He was looking for eternity and yet he walked away from it for fickle fleeting wealth. For this man, there was still one thing he trusted in more than God.
As we are, many of Jesus’ followers were scared and shocked by this. How do we overcome this? Jesus’ command should challenge all of us. To some degree, we are all called to use our wealth for those in need, but first and foremost we must lay it down at God's feet because what is impossible to humanity is never impossible to God. We must trust God beyond anything else.
Many of the disciples have done this as we saw fisherman leaving their boats and tax collectors leaving their booths. Jesus tells them and us that we will be rewarded in this life for what we give up for Him, but with those rewards, struggles and persecutions will come too. It will not always be easy going a different way than the world, but in the end, we will inherit a much greater world. Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.
Then Jesus tells us for the third and last time about His death and resurrection. His followers are scared and amazed. Yet in this context, Jesus is reminding us what it means to humbly trust God like a child. What it means to follow God, even when we don’t completely understand, even when there will be a struggle, even when we don’t want part of it. Jesus knows everything that is waiting for Him in Jerusalem and yet He moves steadily towards Jerusalem anyways and He loves the whole way.
The disciples never seem to understand. This time we see James and John vying for power. They ask to sit at Jesus’ left and right when He comes into His glory. Jesus is patient with them, he doesn’t become angry or reprimand them, because I believe it is actually good to strive to be more, to be in a closer relationship with Jesus, but Jesus knows that they need to see more, so He tries to open their eyes and challenge them. Are you willing to go through what Jesus is about to go through? What do you think your response would be? Would we humbly follow God or would we backstep? I imagine that most of us still have a way to go before we can really approach Jesus like a child or die like Him and yet as much as James and John didn’t understand they were willing and they would trust and follow Jesus unto death, so they would share in His glory. In the end, though, it would be two criminals that sit on Jesus’ right and left, as He is raised in glory on that cross and one of them would join Jesus in paradise.
All the rest of the disciples seem to see is that James and John had gone in with wrong intentions, so they go to tear them down, but Jesus reminds us, we are not to Lord it above others. Sure that is what the world does. If someone in the world has authority, or glory, or is smarter, or more right, those gifted people often use this to lift themselves up and tear others down, but that is not to be the way with us. We are meant to be servants of all. We are meant to use every privilege and gift that God has given us to lift others up, to trust, to follow, to humble ourselves in loving service. We are meant to be different. We are meant to inherit a different world. We are meant to inherit eternity. So, if eternity lives in our hearts we can’t be bogged down or trapped by these fickle things; these fickle desires and pleasures that so often consume us are relative nothings compared to what God is offering. Rather in humility, we know that we have a lot to grow into as we approach eternity, we have a lot to do, because we can never earn the glory and splendor that God has already given us, let alone what He is promising us in the life to come. How can we not be humbled when we look upon the infinite and eternal? So let us humbly approach God, knowing that we are even smaller than children when standing before the immense gifts that God is offering us in Himself, His Kingdom, and eternal life. AMEN
