Jesu Juva
St. Matthew 18:1-14
September 10, 2023
Proper 18A-Christian Ed.
Sunday
Dear saints of our Savior~
Jesus loves me. This I know for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong. They are weak; but He is strong. I’d venture a guess that most of you have known that song for a long time. Ever since you yourself were a “little one,” you’ve been singing that little ones to Him belong. Little ones belong to Jesus. Oh, sure, they’re on loan to us for a little while. We care for them and nurture them—manage them. We teach them the fear of the Lord. We do a lot for little ones. But we cannot forget this truth: Little ones to Him belong. They belong to Jesus—claimed and cleansed in Holy Baptism.
And not only that, it turns out that little ones are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. The little ones aren’t the least, but the greatest. Even a quick reading of today’s Holy Gospel makes it clear that our life together in the church should be ordered around—not the big and the powerful—but around the ones who are little and weak and helpless. On this Christian Education Sunday we would do well to pause, and ponder what it means that little ones to Him belong.
The disciples had apparently been discussing (and perhaps arguing about) who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. How would you answer that? How do you measure greatness? We usually think in terms of achievement and accomplishment. Great men and women accomplish great things, they make a great difference. In sports the great ones are the ones at the top of their game, the ones who dominate, the ones who make the difference between winning and losing. In business the great ones are the titans of industry, the ones who build huge companies, employ thousands, and earn billions. In politics the great ones are the ones who change the course of history, the ones who make history. Great people don’t simply live in the world, they rearrange the world. That’s greatness, at least among the kingdoms of this world.
But what about in the kingdom of Heaven? What about this kingdom where the last come in first and the first wind up dead last? What about this kingdom that starts off almost imperceptibly small—like a mustard seed? How do we measure greatness in the kingdom of heaven?
Jesus calls over a little child. We tend to think of children as cute and innocent. We idolize childhood. But in Jesus’ day, children were mostly regarded as liabilities until they could start working and earning—or if you were a girl, get married and have babies. In Jesus’ day childhood was apprenticeship—just a time of training to get to the serious business of adulthood—and the sooner the better. There was no time to waste on childish fun and games.
It must have struck the disciples as very odd to have Jesus stick a little kid in their midst and say, “Here’s greatness for you. This little one. And unless
Clearly, greatness in the kingdom—greatness in the church—isn’t about achievement. It’s not about your religious works and accomplishments. Little children don’t have achievements or works or accomplishments. Little ones live by grace. Little ones live by faith—that is, by trusting in somebody else, namely mom and dad. Little ones don’t have anything much to give, but they are “giveable to.” They are eager to take and receive what you have to give them. And that makes them the perfect pictures of faith. And faith is the point in all of this. The greatness of faith, which trusts in Jesus and what He has done for you and what He gives you here and now—that’s greatness in the kingdom.
The faith of these little ones matters much to Jesus. Jesus speaks with dire warning toward anyone who would cause one of His little ones to sin. Jesus says that whoever would cause one of the little ones who believe in Him to stumble in their faith would be better off having a large millstone tied around his neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea. So much does the faith of His little ones matter to Jesus. After all, little ones to Him belong.
The implications for us on this Christian Education Sunday are obvious. If the faith of the littlest among us is of such great value, then that faith needs to be fed and nourished. That faith needs to be grounded in the Scriptures—in the commandments and the promises of God. And parents, this must begin at home. Parents, do you talk about the faith with your children when you sit in your house, when you go out walking, at bedtime or at breakfast or in the car? We parents often think that our children are God’s gift to us; and that’s certainly true. But it is equally true that you are God’s gift to your children. God has given you to your children so that their faith—which is of greater worth than gold—might be strengthened and deepened by what you teach them and by how you model the faith for them.
What begins at home continues here in the church. Here we bring our little ones to Jesus; and here Jesus washes them in Holy Baptism, forgives them and blesses them. And especially in Sunday school the littlest are able to soak up the Scriptures—to learn those Scriptures by heart. As I talk with my fellow pastors, it’s easy to conclude that these aren’t good times for Sunday schools. And the biggest problem generally isn’t that they can’t find Sunday school teachers or a good Sunday school curriculum. No, the death knell for a lot of Sunday schools is lack of attendance—not lack of children, but lack of attendance. It’s a sad fact that Sunday morning is no longer sacred time; but prime time for all kinds of children’s activities. And parents, you know that there are sometimes difficult decisions to make. Do the decisions you make on Sunday morning reflect the truth that little ones—your little ones—belong to Jesus?
After all, Jesus gets fairly possessive about those who belong to Him. You certainly get that sense in the parable He tells about a man who, out of a hundred sheep, has one single, solitary stray. This man leaves the 99 to go and rescue the one. That doesn’t make any sense to us. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. 99 safe and secure sheep are worth a lot more than one chronically wandering sheep. And yet it’s the joy of Jesus to seek and save the lost. To use a double-negative, Jesus can’t not go after and pursue when one of His little ones is absent. Jesus always takes attendance!!
And this is good news! This is the gospel! This is what Christian Education is all about. It’s learning the love of God for sinners as seen in a shepherd who is willing to lose everything, in order to save one sheep who doesn’t deserve to be saved. You are that sheep. Jesus came to save you. You specifically. You in your lostness, your helplessness, your sin and death. For the joy set before Him—for the joy of returning you to the fold, for the joy of forgiving you all your sins, for the joy of your salvation—Jesus endured the cross and scorned its shame. He became sin for you. He died a cursed death so that you—one of His precious baptized and believing little ones—might enter the kingdom of heaven to live with Him forever. Jesus sought you and found you. He baptized you. He absolved you. He feeds you. He sustains you. He carries you to the flock of His Father’s kingdom with the joy of a shepherd who has just found his favored, lost sheep.
Little ones to Him belong. Only, it’s not being little that Jesus finds so appealing (otherwise my fellow six-footers wouldn’t have much hope). It’s turning—repenting of all the pride we have in all our accomplishments, and becoming like a child—being “giveable to,” eagerly receiving the gifts of Jesus, learning of Him, and living in His love. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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