Approach God Like a Child

[00:00:01] Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our father and from our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Amen. [00:00:13] In our gospel reading this morning, Jesus is telling his disciples very important things, but they don't hold on to those things. [00:00:26] Jesus is saying to them, the Son of man is going to be delivered into the hands of men and they will kill him. And when he is killed after three days, he will rise. [00:00:37] Now these are words about the most important things that happened ever. [00:00:43] That Jesus died on the cross for us and rose from the dead for us and for our salvation. [00:00:52] But they did not understand the saying and were afraid to ask him. [00:00:57] You know, when somebody says something that's over our heads just kind of goes right by and we don't grasp the significance. [00:01:07] And then if we're afraid to ask what we missed, it's gone forever. It's just kind of the way it, the way it works. [00:01:15] So the disciples, they, their ears receive the words, but they don't receive the benefit of them and then they're gone. [00:01:27] Well, then we almost humorously find out maybe a little bit of why they miss it. [00:01:35] As Jesus says to Peter, when Peter says, oh no, you're not going to die. Surely not. In another gospel, Jesus says, get behind me, Satan, for you're not thinking the thoughts of God, but you're thinking like men. Okay, well, here they are thinking like men, like they're merely human and not receiving from God. [00:02:04] Jesus asks them when they arrive at their destination, what were you discussing on the way? They're a little embarrassed. [00:02:10] They kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. [00:02:17] You see, they're occupied with earthly considerations. [00:02:21] Jesus is telling them, I'm going to die and rise from the dead. And of course the significance of that is they're going to receive everything from Jesus through his death and resurrection, forgiveness of sinse life, the cure of death, life forever with God, perfect restoration of their nature. [00:02:44] All these things they're going to receive in Christ, but they miss it. They miss it because they want something else. Their attention. We think about what we want or what we desire. Their attention is elsewhere. Their attention is on getting for themselves what they think they need. In this case, greatness. [00:03:06] They kept silent for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. Now they want a good thing. They want to be exalted and God is going to exalt them, but not the way they think. It's not going to be something that they can get themselves or that they already possess. You know, they're saying I'm the greatest. No, I'm the greatest, right? [00:03:29] They're focused on getting a greatness that they already have. I mean, that can't be very great compared to what God's gonna give them. But they have no idea. [00:03:40] So they foolishly are latching onto this lesser thing. [00:03:46] So far lesser. When. If they're open to receive, if they're ready to receive by faith, if they ask Jesus even what he means by that, they don't even ask. They're afraid to. [00:03:59] But ask the question and receive from God everything. More than you can imagine. [00:04:07] It makes me think of a soccer game that I played in elementary school. And who knows? Maybe some of you were there. I don't know. [00:04:16] This was in Denver, at Denver Lutheran High School. [00:04:22] I suppose I was probably in middle school, but we would have a tournament at Denver Lutheran High School every year. [00:04:30] So there I was in the middle of a game, and, I don't know, I was kind of spacey. We'll just blame it on that. [00:04:40] But there was a foul. Somebody fouled me in the box. In the penalty box. [00:04:48] What that means is a penalty kick. And I had never. I don't know if I ever did get to shoot a penalty kick ever in my life, for real, in a game. Okay, but a penalty kick is where you've got the ball there and you're. I think it's 18ft, 12ft, maybe. Twelve yards. [00:05:05] I don't know. [00:05:08] Yeah, you can't trust anything I say. I don't know what I'm talking about. [00:05:12] Anyway, there you are, real close to the goal, and it's the goalie and you. And it's just on you to shoot. You just get a shoot at the goal. Okay. [00:05:22] What a great opportunity to score. Well, in the moment when I got fouled, all I could think was, this is great. We're close to the goal. I put it on the ground and I kicked it to a teammate, thinking this was going to be a direct kick or an indirect kick or that kind of thing. Not a penalty kick. For whatever reason, the referee let me do it. He just let me do it. And I missed out on a penalty kick. That could have been my glorious moment, but I had in my head like, this is great. I'm going to take the gift. Here it is. But there was a much better gift to be received. [00:06:00] And since I overrode even what the referee would have done, I suppose, because I wasn't receptive, I just had that going on in my head, and I just went with it, and I missed out on what could have been amazing, could have been the highlight of my brief and underwhelming soccer career. [00:06:23] So maybe a silly example, but on a more common, frequent level, if you're having a conversation with somebody and you're thinking about something at the same time, you're not going to hear what the other person is saying, right? [00:06:38] Or if you're a student and you think you already know what the teacher is going to teach you, then you're not going to learn from the teacher. You're not going to receive it. [00:06:49] That's one of the wonderful things about children, is that children ask questions. They ask questions all the time. And that's the key. Like we said in the last couple weeks, that's the key to receiving an answer, is asking the question, being open to receiving an answer. [00:07:06] So in the context of faith, this is being open to God, ready to receive from him what he has to offer, rather than thinking we already have it by ourselves, the disciples, they're thinking, this is the pinnacle of what we're going to achieve. Now, which one of us is at the top? [00:07:24] They have no idea that they haven't gone anywhere yet, that Jesus is going to lift them up into his own life. He who has the name that's above every name, who's been exalted above every earthly and spiritual power, who's been given all power and authority in heaven and on earth, and who alone can give forgiveness, life, salvation, righteousness, every spiritual good that we could receive. [00:07:56] Jesus responds so kindly to the disciples in a way that they're ready to receive. He doesn't just throw them out or something like that. He gives them an object lesson. He teaches them in a way that they can receive. They have to watch what he's doing here. He's taking a child before them. [00:08:18] And so I have to figure out, well, so what's going on here and why are you doing this? It gives them a little moment to think about it and then to be receptive about his teaching. Then he offers them a little puzzle, right? Takes the child in his arms. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me. And whoever receives me receives not me, but him who sent me. [00:08:40] Children were not exactly at the pinnacle of society, you know, back then. I mean, we kind of. We lift children up, hopefully not always. Right? But. But we should recognize the value of children. [00:08:54] Not, not lit, not puff them up, but, you know, discipline them and such. But we should. We should value them highly, right? [00:09:05] Well, in the ancient world, just like today, nobody wanted to be called a child. [00:09:10] And so Jesus sets the child before him and says, gotta receive. Like if you receive children, you receive me. [00:09:20] Humble yourselves. [00:09:23] As James says, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. [00:09:35] Don't try and be an all knowing adult with God. [00:09:40] Consent to be his child and to receive from him. [00:09:46] Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. [00:09:54] Humble yourselves, skipping to the end. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. The exaltation comes, the gift is coming, but it's to be received by faith. [00:10:10] I want to draw attention to the beginning of the intro it delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. [00:10:19] Delight yourself in the Lord. So set aside earthly desires, an earthly mindset. Set aside the desire to be at the top or to make yourself great by your own strength or by what you possess. Now delight yourself in the Lord. [00:10:39] That is to say, get excited about God and what he has to give and offer and teach. [00:10:48] And then a funny thing happens, he will give you the desires of your heart. [00:10:53] Well, at first glance I used to think like, well, I just didn't know what to do with this verse, you know, he'll give you the desires of my heart like, well, but the desires of my heart aren't good, you know? Don't give me what I want, give me what you want. [00:11:13] But delighting in the Lord then we receive his mind, right? The mind of Christ delighting in the Lord, then we come to want what he wants. He works that in us as we look to him in faith, he conforms us to his will, so that we delight in his will and walk in his ways to the glory of his holy name. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. [00:11:40] What a gift that God would teach us. What is truly worth desiring. [00:11:45] That he would not leave us in selfish ambition to try and get for ourselves or conceited self confidence like we know it all. [00:12:00] But that he comes to us, shows us our ignorance by his spirit, and then fills us with his gifts as we repent and look to him in Jesus name. Amen.