Mark 9:30-37
One of my favorite images of Jesus
is a picture that I have had hanging on my wall since I was a child. I do not remember a time when that image of
Christ was not in my head. In the
picture Jesus is seated with children all around him. He is smiling and the children are smiling.
When I look at that picture I imagine children swarming to Jesus as he leans
down to speak with one. He plays with
them and talks to them. There are
several stories of Jesus with children and today’s Gospel is one of them. It reminds me of the popular children’s song.
Jesus loves the little children.
All the children
of the world
Red, brown, yellow,
Black and white
They are precious
in His sight.
Jesus loves the
little children of the world
There is
no wonder why Jesus loves the children.
Most people like children, especially when they can return them to their
parents when they get cranky. Jesus
takes it a step further in the Gospel.
It’s not just about loving the children, it’s about welcoming the
children. He said, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and
whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” Jesus loves the little children. When we hear these words, we probably think
of the children who we know…children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. And it is no wonder why Jesus welcomes
them. We are reminded that we too should
welcome the little children. Most
churches are pretty good about that.
But that is not what this Gospel
is actually about. Children today are
treated differently than they were in Jesus’ day. In our culture children are important. People
orient their lives around their children.
Parents say that their children are the most important part of their
lives. But this was not so in Jesus’ day. Children were ignored. Sure, most parents loved their children, but
children had no rights. They were expendable.
There was a letter found from this time period from a Roman soldier to his
pregnant wife. He wrote, “If you have a
girl, take her outside and leave her.” Children were expendable.
Jesus was saying something
new in this Gospel, something very countercultural. By welcoming children, he was welcoming those
who were expendable. Not only that, he
was telling his disciples that by welcoming those who were expendable, they
were welcoming him. This was in response
to an argument that the disciples were having.
After Jesus had once again shared with them that he would be crucified
and then resurrected, he heard them arguing in hushed tones. They were arguing about who was greater. It
seems like madness, doesn’t it? Who does that? But it’s not that hard to
imagine. Most of us probably don’t have
those kind of arguments out loud, but we have them inside. In our heart we wonder why we are not as good
as that person…or why if we are as good as that person…why we are not treated
any better.
I can just hear Peter and John saying,
“Well we were the ones he brought on top of the mountain and got to see Moses
and Elijah. Clearly he likes us better.”
Then maybe another disciple would counter with, “Oh really Peter….who was the
one he just called Satan? Whose is
favorite now… satan?” I find it easy to
imagine this conversation because that is what I would have been saying. It is what many of us would say or think,
because we have a tendency to compare ourselves to one another especially when
we are anxious or afraid. The disciples
let their fears and their insecurities take over. Arguing about who was better was easier than
coming to terms with the fact that Jesus would suffer and die.
Jesus asked what they were arguing
about, but he did not wait to hear the answer. He knew because he knew his disciples. He knew that it was and is human nature to
argue about petty things because it is easier than discussing weightier
matters, like the death of their friend and the danger that might pose for
them. He knew. Jesus also knew that giving them a lecture
would not make a difference. So he sat
down and he called a child to him. And
he said (not in so many words, but it was understood): “This is who matters. This is what matters. It’s not your fears and insecurities. It’s not your petty arguments. It is the least of these who matter. It is the children who no one else cares
about. It is the child who is left on a
rock to die. That is who matters to me.
That is who we are called to welcome.”
Thank goodness our world is
not like that anymore. Thank goodness we
welcome children and love them. Surely
Jesus would be proud. Or would he…Just a few weeks
ago, the refugee crisis became very real for people when a small child was
found dead on the coast of Turkey. Images of that dead child went viral. There was video footage of someone carrying
the limp body out of the water. It was
heartbreaking. The media went
crazy. Why weren’t we doing more? We knew that these rickety boats in dangerous
waters were full of families and those families had children! Didn’t we know
that? And we did. It’s true. It took a
dead child washed up on a beach to wake us up.
There were articles casting blame.
People debated who was and who was not doing enough. It’s human nature,
when we should be talking and trying to work together, we bicker. Unlike the disciples, we don’t talk about who
is greater. We talk about who is worse.
It is ironic. 2000 years ago a dead child would not have
gotten anyone’s attention. Today it
does…but dead adults don’t seem to get our attention. Today, anyone can be expendable. If Jesus
lived today and found his disciples arguing about who is greater—I wonder who
he would call to sit among them. Who are
the expendable ones in our midst? Who are those who we do not notice until they
end up on our beaches? There are many…so
many. That picture hanging on my wall of
Jesus with the cute children would look different if it had those who were
expendable today.
It’s time to stop arguing and grand
standing. It does not matter who is
greater. It does not matter who is
right. All that matters is who is the
least of these. All that matters is what
we can do to welcome them, to love them as Jesus loves them. Jesus loves the little children….all the
children of the world. What we must
remember is that we are all God’s children, no matter the age, no matter the
color or creed. We are all God’s
children. None of us are
expendable.
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