The Wrong Kind of Childish

Remember all those Bible School pictures of Jesus and the children you saw as a child? Something has always bothered me about those pictures. Now I think I know why. In the pictures, Jesus is sitting on a rock under a tree with happy children pressed around him. He is teaching and they are listening attentively. Now, Jesus is doing what I always imagine Jesus would be doing. But these children are not like any children I know. Kids don’t sit attentively. The children in those pictures don’t act like children. They act like little adults. There are a lot of qualities of children that we don’t want to copy. When Jesus said we should be act like children, the disciples were already acting childishly. Jesus said this in Matthew 18. Like most of Jesus’ sayings, it came as an answer to a problem. Matthew 18 opens: “At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" The disciples were acting like spoiled brats. They had been told that they all would be given thrones when the kingdom comes. Yet they were fighting over who would be second in command. If Jesus is in charge, does it really matter who is second in command? This was childish. In response, Jesus had a child stand in front of the group. He said” "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 18:3-4) Jealousy and bickering was a problem in the early church. However, today we seemed to have overcome it. At least, that’s the way we report it. I did a Google search on the subject of jealousy. I found lots of sermons and teaching on the subject, but very few examples. Most of the examples that were admitted to were either hundreds of years old, or they were about crazy people, Few examples came from ordinary churches like ours. I am being facetious, of course. There is a lot of jealousy and bickering, even in churches like ours. Much of it, though is quiet bickering. We don’t say it, but we think it. Jealousy is a hidden sin, and the mischief which arises from jealousy is hidden, too. It comes in subtle forms, barely visible. Even so, it is devastating. Jesus did not tell to release our inner child. He referred to a child’s humility. Humble yourselves like a child. A child had no status in the world of Jesus. He wanted them to trust themselves completely to the leadership of Jesus, following like a toddler follows his mother. But the argument continued. It was an ongoing argument that went even during the last supper. Peter thought James was trying to upstage him. Judas thought John was getting uppity. The natural tensions of men travelling together had took its toll on the disciples. Matthew 18 is Jesus’ answer to the childish tensions in the church. First, Jesus says don’t hurt each other. If anyone hurts one of His children, it would be better for a millstone to be put around their neck and they be thrown into the depths of the sea. It is not physical children He is talking about. It is believers who follow Jesus with childlike faith. Notice also to whom Jesus is speaking. He is not speaking to unbelievers, but his disciples. If you ever come to the place of actually hurting each other--watch out! You’re hurting one of God’s children. The problem of family abuse is huge. It is estimated that one out of three women in America will experience some form of physical or sexual abuse before they are grown. The prevalence of domestic violence against women and children is actually greater among religious people. Anyone who strikes a woman or abuses a child or physically or harms any member of the church will be dealt with harshly by God. We cannot help what unbelievers do, but we can punish abusive or violent behavior. Christians can be among the cruelest people in the world. They can always justify their behavior as defending the kingdom of God. But the next time you want to burn a brother at the stake, remember who his Father is. His Father will not take kindly to us mistreating his children. But what do you do with the person who gets abusive? You try win them back. In vs. 16, He gave them a parable about a shepherd with a hundred sheep, who leaves them in the field to seek one who is lost. In context, this is about reclaiming our own. If a fellow believer has gone astray, try to reclaim them before you do anything else. He gets practical in verses 15 and 16. Go talk to him in private. If he refuses to listen, take someone else with you. If that doesn’t work, take it to the elders. If he refuses to listen, then let him go. After this, Jesus gives us a positive reason for learning to get along. We have authority when we are united. In verses 17 and 18 he says if we bind something in earth, it will be bound in heaven. If we loose something on earth, it will be loosed in heaven, and that if two or three agree on earth, it will be done for them in heaven. Being disagreeable will hinder our prayers, but being united in a single cause will loosen the doors of blessing in heaven. But the disciples kept quarreling. The Devil attacked the kingdom from the inside, stirring up their petty bickering and jealousies. Peter started getting nervous. “Lord, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven times?” It’s not hard to imagine why Peter said this. There were some people around him who he having to forgive all the time. There must have been someone who was constantly needling Peter. This childishness goes on, even among disciples. Peter was ready to haul off and hit him, but if he did, according to Jesus, he might have a millstone put around his neck. Then he would be sent to have to bring the guy back. Jesus’ response is clear. “No, seventy times seven.” In other words, however long it is n necessary. He explains why in verses 23-35 "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. "The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." The man owed “ten thousand talents.” Or literally “A myriad”--the largest number possible. Adam Clarke notes that the amount is the equivalent of 67,000,000 pounds, the annual income of the British Empire in his day. Today, it would be close to a billion dollars. A hundred denarii in our money would be worth about seven dollars and fifty cents. One billion dollars. Seven dollars and fifty cents. See the difference? We owe a debt that we cannot pay. “The wages of sin is death.” God forgave us and granted us eternal life with Him. So how can we bear grudges? The things that separate us are so petty—a forgotten birthday card, a small promotion, a dirty look. Even large things seem small by comparison. How can we take so seriously money taken from us, if God has given us so much? I once was approached by a choir member to go rebuke another member, because she thought the woman in the congregation was looking angry whenever they sang! Are there are any conditions of God’s forgiveness? Only one--that we forgive others. “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” God expects us to forgive as we have been forgiving. Forgiveness is not easy. Forgiveness does not begin with somehow wishing away our anger towards a person and acting nice to hem. Forgiveness simply means to forego retribution. When we are hurt, we do not hurt back. Someone hurts us, and we feel they should be hurt in return, to even the scales of justice. We forgive when we decide not to settle the score ourselves. Forgiveness progresses to treating the one who has hurt us no different than we would treat another, Then in time, we may reconcile with our brother—or not, if he will not reconcile with you. We cannot practice retribution without deserving it ourselves. Without forgiveness, there can never be reconciliation. If we do not reconcile, our petty grievances will mount until they become a mountain of bitterness, obscuring the light of God. Getting along with flawed, sinful people is a like dancing with a porcupine. We’re going to get stuck, no matter how careful we are. But the Kingdom of God makes it worth it for us to climb above our vindictive natures and forgive each other. One of my favorite stories of forgiveness is that of Elizabeth Elliott. Her husband, Jim Elliot was one of a group of missionaries who flew into a remote region of the Amazon to evangelize the Aucas, an isolated tribe. Before the could begin, the Aucas ambushed them and killed them all. Elizabeth Elliot, after she had grieved for her husband, went to the Auca tribe and continued her husband’s work. At the Lausanne Conference on World Evangelism in 1974, Elizabeth Elliot showed up with an Auca tribesman. She introduced him by saying. “This is my dear friend and elder of the Auca church. He is also the man who killed my husband.” Her forgiveness of the Aucas enabled her to win the tribe. When we act like Jesus, we make Him visible to the world. When we get wrapped up in personal disputes, we show ourselves to be childish. But God forgives children, too.