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Amen? Amen! And that is not April Fools!!! Snow, snow,
snow. I have had enough. You too? But did you notice how the
kids responded last Sunday when I asked them if they had had
enough snow this winter? NO-O-O-O!!! Ugh!
Why the difference of opinion? Simple. Adults look at snow
and see all the images such weather conjures up - dangerous
driving, accidents, heart attacks, cancellations...trouble! But
what do the kids see? Sleds, snowmen, snowball fights, laughter.
It is a different perspective. And I am not about to say ours is
better than theirs.
Jesus didn't. In fact, he was quite clear in our lesson in
saying that youthful view was crucial when it comes to the life
of faith: "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the
kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
Why would Jesus say such a thing? To come up with an
answer, I think we would have to look at what makes children and
adults really different, and then hone in on that. There are
lots of choices, but the one that jumps to my mind right now
comes from all the snow. The kids look at the snow and see a
wonderful time, while ol' stick-in-the-mud me looks at snow and
sees shovels, frozen feet, an aching back, and spinning wheels.
Here is surely one way that kids and grown-ups are different:
children look at something and see fun while adults can look at
the SAME thing and see trouble.
"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the
kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he
took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed
them.
One of my cyber-friends has come up with a list of some of
the reasons Jesus loved the children:(1)
Children are imaginative. A boy came home from Sunday
School where they had just had a lesson on Adam and Eve. He was
especially amused by the fact that Eve was said to be created
from Adam's rib. Later that day he came down with some sort of
intestinal bug and said to his mother: "Mommy, my side hurts. I
think I'm going to have a wife."
Children bring us smiles as they learn. For example, one
child prayed, "Our Father, who art in heaven, how do you know my
name?" Another, asked to describe love, answered, "comforting
your puppy when there is a big storm outside and he is full of
slobber."
Children know exactly where to go when they need something.
They know who provides supper and who needs to be around if they
need a ride to soccer practice, and so on. And, as most parents
know, children do not hesitate to ask...and ask, and ask, and
ask...when they have a need.
Children understand faith. A little boy was told he could
not go to the family picnic on Sunday because he had been
naughty. But along about Saturday his mother relented and told
him he could go after all. "It's too late," was his reply, "I
have already prayed for rain." Faith!
A young lady was soaking up the sun's rays on a Florida
beach when a little boy in his swimming trunks, carrying a towel,
came up to her and asked her, "Do you believe in God?"
She was surprised by the question but replied, "Why, yes, I
do."
Then he asked her: "Do you go to church every Sunday?"
Again, her answer was "Yes!"
Then he asked: "Do you read your Bible and pray?"
Again she said, "Yes!" But by now her curiosity was very
much aroused. At last the lad sighed and said, with obvious
relief, "Will you hold my quarter while I go in swimming?"(2)
"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the
kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
There is a wonderful story around these days about a mom who
took her children to a crowded restaurant.(3) Her six-year-old son
asked if he could say grace. He prayed: "God is great and God is
good, Let us thank him for our food, and God I would thank you
even more if Mom gets us ice cream for dessert. And liberty and
justice for all! Amen!"
Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby, the
woman at the very next table growled loudly: "That's what's wrong
with this country. Kids today don't even know how to pray. The
very idea...asking God for ice cream! Why, I never."
Hearing this, the little boy burst into tears and he asked
his mother: "Did I do it wrong? I'm sorry. Is God mad at me?"
Mom pulled him over into her lap. She hugged him tightly
and assured him that he had done a terrific job with his prayer
and God was certainly not mad at him.
Just then an elderly gentleman walked over to the table. He
winked at the little boy and he said, "I know God really well.
We visit every day and I happen to know that God loved your
prayer. It may have been the best one God has heard all day."
"Really?" the little boy asked.
1. Doug Behm, via Ecunet, "Illustrations for this Week," #447, 9/28/97
2. James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988)
p. 285.
3. I have seen this story in a number of places so the original source has faded into the ether.
The telling here comes from James W. Moore in a sermon entitled, "Jesus and the Man Born Blind,
http://www.esermons.com.
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