Tag Archives: accept

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – DON’T GET BETWEEN THEM AND ME

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DON’T GET BETWEEN THEM AND ME

“People brought babies to Jesus, hoping He might touch them. When the disciples saw it, they shooed them off. Jesus called them back. ‘Let these children alone. Don’t get between them and me. These children are the kingdom’s pride and joy. Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.'” Luke 18:15-17.

There are so many things that Jesus said and did that startle us because they are so different from the way we think and from the culture of the people of His day.

This little interlude tells us a whole lot about the disciples, about Jesus and about little children.

Women and children occupied the lowest rungs in society and were treated accordingly. It was quite natural for the disciples to be offended by these mothers’ audacity to bring their children to Jesus for a fatherly blessing. Jesus was an important person in their culture – a rabbi with authority. It was surely their duty to protect Him from them and to screen those who took up His time.

The disciples were still very much part of their own culture. Although they had been with Jesus for some time, they had not yet absorbed His kingdom perspective. They thought like the rest of their people, and to them, children were a nuisance and in the way. Jesus had more important things to do than to be bothered with a bunch of kids!

But Jesus was always the perfect representative of His Father. He was first and foremost the Son of God. Not to accept and welcome children, no matter how insignificant they were in His society, was to betray the passionate love of the Father for all people, big and small. He was not only true to the character of the Father; He was true to Himself because He and the Father are one.

As always, Jesus’ vision was long-term. He saw the end from the beginning and recognised potential rather than actual. To Him, babies and little children were not snot-nosed brats to be tolerated but people with potential to fulfil the Father’s purpose for them; they were worshippers-in-the-making, and to get between them and Him in this early, formative part of their lives was to hinder God’s working in them. To Him, that was a far more serious issue than the immature behaviour of the little ones.

To Jesus, children were adults-in-formation, at the beginning of their journey towards fulfilling their purpose in God. Any adult attitude or behaviour which interfered with their natural disposition of trust, simplicity and helpless dependence on Him would put obstacles in their way which they would have to, and some might never, overcome. Both the circumstances of their lives and the way they were treated by those who influenced them in any way, would determine their understanding and belief about God.

Jesus’ attitude to all people, women and children included, was to recognise their place in the kingdom of God, and His treatment of them was always to remove whatever hindered them from taking their place in the kingdom, whether it be physical, emotional, intellectual, relational or any other issue that clouded their understanding of the Father’s love for them.

All children have two characteristics that need to be developed and can easily be squashed by their misunderstanding the circumstances of their lives and by those who are placed in their lives as mentors and guides — potential and helplessness. It is the role of parents to recognise and nurture potential and to train their children for responsible adulthood.

We raise our children to be independent, and that is good if we remember that it is important for them to become independent of us but not of God. The father’s primary role is to represent the Father by teaching their children obedience so that, as they grow up, they transfer their obedience from their earthly to heavenly Father.

Too many children are abused, harassed or neglected by their fathers so that they cannot wait to go out on their own and do their own thing. No wonder the world is full of messed-up adults who have no idea of who the Father really is, and who hate God so much that they do everything they can to defy the very conscience He put inside them as their basic guide in life.

The first step to healing our world is to acknowledge our ‘father’ issues, forgive those who have got between us and Jesus, and to go back to where Jesus is, receiving us as little children, recognising and cultivating the potential in us, and teaching us to rely on Him as closely as a baby at its mother’s breast.

He Deserves The Praise

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HE DESERVES THE PRAISE

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other than Christ Jesus had so that, with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” Romans 15:5-7.

Once again, as he always did, Paul came full circle back to God as the one who works in everything and who deserves and must receive the credit for doing the work.

Our study of the Old Testament has many outcomes.

We gain an understanding of the roots of our faith. It is not a human philosophy spawned in the fertile imagination of some mystic. It is the revelation of God to real people in real human circumstances in a real geographical place through real human experiences.

We watch and listen to their responses and learn how to interact with the same God through faith and obedience. Just as He met with them then, so He meets with us now and treats us with the same mercy and compassion He had towards them. We discover that His passion for our wellbeing is the same as it was for them. We learn to hear His voice and follow Him just as they were supposed to do but failed because of their stubborn rebellion. When we obey Him, we find that His promises are true.

We uncover some of the nuances of their culture and lifestyle. Against that backdrop, His word begins to make sense, even for us with a western, Greek-based mind-set. Middle Eastern cultural practices, and especially Jewish beliefs and behaviour take on new meaning and Jesus begins to emerge from the pages of the New Testament as a flesh-and-blood person with a real family background and history.

As we blend into the body of Christ from all nations and walks of life, we learn the meaning of unity. Everything God does is to restore unity between us and Him and between one another because unity is the essence of His image. Everything God made was intended to work together in unity to reflect the oneness in the Godhead.

He created the universe as a unit; every star, planet and heavenly body was meant to interact in harmony across space.  Sin disrupted the unity, but it will be restored when all imperfection is removed at Jesus’ return.

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

“And He is the head of the Body, the church, He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood,  shed on the cross.”  Colossians 1:15-20.

Jesus removed the reason for the disruption of unity through His death. It is up to us to live out in practice what He achieved through the cross so that the world may see the miracle of restoration in the fellowship of the church. Unity is impossible in the world because human beings are irreconcilably alienated from one another by their selfishness.  Only through God’s power at work in us by the Holy Spirit can our hearts be transformed and the image of God be restored in us.

As we reflect God’s nature by our willingness to accept one another and live in harmony, God is glorified because it can only happen through His power at work in us. Jesus said:

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35.

“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one – I in them and you in me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:22, 23.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

Small Is Great

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SMALL IS GREAT

“They started arguing over which of them would be the most famous. When Jesus realised how much this mattered to them, He brought a child to His side. ‘Whoever accepts this child as if the child were me, accepts me,’ He said, ‘and whoever accepts me, accepts the One who sent me. You become great by accepting, not asserting. Your spirit, not your size, makes the difference,”’ Luke 9:46-48 (The Message).

This issue of who would be the greatest was on-going with the disciples. Being a disciple and follower of Jesus didn’t cure them of their power struggle. What was it that drove them to want the highest position in the kingdom He kept talking about? What did they understand by the “kingdom of God” anyway?

From the beginning of His public ministry, Jesus’ teaching was aimed at loosing both His disciples and the people who came to listen to Him, from their old ideas about the kingdom of God. They still equated the kingdom with their national boundaries and their national pride. David was their greatest king. He was a warrior and a champion. Under his rule, the boundaries of their territory were extended to the greatest Israel had ever been. They were a free people. Their enemies had all been defeated and they were safe and at peace under their own king.

Roman occupation with its oppression and cruelty aroused a fresh expectation of the Messiah who would deliver them from their enemies and re-establish a golden age of peace and safety. In this kingdom, their king would need a council, and they were surely to be it, but who would be top dog in that council? Each of them wanted the glory that went with the position. James and John even involved their mother in their ambition to be at the top. Perhaps her influence would count for something!

Imagine how shocking and revolutionary His solution was to their squabbling. But, like the issue of His crucifixion, everything He told them about greatness fell on deaf ears. It clashed with their ambition and they dismissed it without another thought. To be really great, Jesus told them, was to stoop down and recognise the value and potential of the smallest and least, a little child, but they would not see it that way.

Children had their place in society but it was at the bottom of the pecking order. They had no authority and wielded no influence. They were there, in the family, waiting to take their place when they became useful as partners in the family business, for example. Until that time, they were irrelevant.

What’s the real issue here? To acknowledge a child is to put oneself on his level, to recognise his worth and to see his potential. That means climbing down off one’s high horse and being willing to look beyond the end of one’s own nose. Jesus was insisting that His disciples foster the same attitude towards a child as He wanted them to have towards the outcasts of society.

It’s not about who performs the best for other people to see and congratulate, but it’s about who can see the potential for greatness in others and do what we can to nurture them towards fulfilment. When we can come down to the level of a child, we are putting things in their correct perspective.

It’s more about cutting ourselves down to size than it is about cutting others down to size. It’s about taking authority over our own hearts rather than having authority over other people. Jesus said, ‘If you want to rule, rule over yourself first. When you can do that, you are qualified to have authority over others because your humble attitude will enable you to act with grace and mercy towards them.’

Helpless people, especially children, need protection, not exploitation. Whatever position we occupy in society, it is up to us to take care of those who have no voice or power to protect themselves. How will irresponsible people, both mothers who make the decision to get rid of their offspring and those who perpetrate the evil deed, answer for the wholesale slaughter of unborn babies in the light of Jesus’ attitude towards little ones?

How do you measure yourself in the light of Jesus’ standard?