Calgary First Mennonite Church

Like a Child

Written by Richard Gorecki

LIKE A CHILD
By Richard C. Gorecki
Based on: Mark 10: 13-16
  

INTRODUCTION

Russell stands at the door, in complete innocence and goodness of heart. He asks for the opportunity to assist the old man standing before him, excited by the idea that he will later be recognized for his efforts by the scouting organization to which he belongs.

The old man (Mr. Fredricksen) rejects him outright. Not only does he reject the boy’s offer, but he does so in a rude and harsh manner. But this does not deter the boy, who beams with a passion and persistence to be of service. Over time, the man’s hardness of heart is dramatically softened by his shared experience with the boy.

For those who may not be familiar with this scene, I am referring to the Disney movie ‘UP’. A dominant theme is how a child often displays a greater capacity than an adult for being positive, helpful and compassionate, even in the midst of danger.

In my message this morning, I want to focus on this idea and command by Jesus, that we as adults need to re-examine ourselves in the context of childlikeness; that we need to in fact be ‘like a child’ and, in the process, reclaim human qualities that are often better reflected in this phase of life.

This morning, I want to focus on Mark 10:13-16 and in particular, the words spoken by Jesus. Although there are similar texts in Mathew and Luke, I prefer the writing of Mark for the purpose of my message. Let us read it now:

I want to begin with an overview of traditional interpretations of this passage. But I would like to spend most of our time looking at it from the perspective of the mystery that it is shrouded in. Let us take some time to consider the possibilities regarding what Jesus was intending when he said "…,anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

Let’s try to imagine the scene - Jesus is sitting with a group of children gathered close to him, perhaps some who have even crawled onto his lap. Jesus’ disciples are also gathered near. And then there would likely be some adults who are associated with the children.

There is no way to know exactly what the ages of the children would be. But if we connect a common definition of ‘child’ (e.g., ‘a young person between infancy and youth’) with some general information on child development, it is reasonable to assume that the age of the children in the scene could be anywhere between 3 and 10 years.

There are several ‘traditional’ interpretations of Mark 10: 13-16. One of these is that Jesus is suggesting to his followers that they need to be receptive to powerlessness rather than seeking power. This would be consistent with some earlier passages.

Another interpretation is within the context of humility. In a parallel text from Luke, the immediately preceding passage is the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, where Jesus concludes with the words: "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:14b).

But perhaps the most common interpretation of the Mark passage is that Jesus is praising innocence and unquestioning faith. He doesn’t simply promote childlike faith and trust in children themselves but also in adults as He declares that no one will be able to enter the kingdom of God unless they receive it as a child. In summation, those who wish to enter heaven must have the faith and trust of a child.

While these interpretations should all be considered valid, the fact remains that Jesus was not specific about what childlike characteristics are necessary in order to enter the kingdom of God. There is mystery in his statement.

For the remainder of my message, I would like to explore this question: what other childlike characteristics – in addition to humility, innocence, faith and trust – could Jesus be referring to? In particular, I would like to look at the following three possibilities, the childlike capacity to:

• overcome the fear of strangers,
• for friendliness and compassion,
• to overlook negative characteristics in others and forgive, and
• to find beauty in the world, even where you would not expect it.

I do not want to suggest that these constitute the answer to the question of ‘what other childlike characteristics’. I simply want to expand the range of possibilities and, in so doing. Perhaps Jesus left His words open to interpretation because there is no one right answer. Perhaps His main purpose is to have each one of us think about His words within the context of our own life and ask ‘what is the gap in being ‘like a child’ that I need to fill’?

In looking at childlike traits that could be a response to Jesus’ statement, I would like to reference some stories from film, literature and my own personal experience.

I suspect that most of you have heard about if not seen the movie ET. In the early part of the film, we have this strange looking alien that has been accidently left behind on earth. He is frightened and goes into hiding.

Elliot – a boy about 10 years old – catches a glimpse of the alien, but no one believes his story about the ‘goblin’. As events unfold, Elliot overcomes his fears and successfully makes an effort to meet the creature.

When he and the alien do meet, they are both very frightened. Very quickly however they realize they are not a threat to each other. At the same time, Elliot instinctively realizes that his new friend would likely be harmed if he was discovered by others. So he takes measures to hide ‘ET’ and keep his presence a secret. Elliot and ET become very close, to the point where they ‘feel’ each other’s emotions.

Eventually, ET is found by the authorities. At one point, as a medical team is trying to revive him, one of the scientists (Keys) says he is happy that Elliot met the alien first, acknowledging the fact that ET would have had a much different experience if he had first discovered by adults.

As the film portrays, it is Elliot’s childlike curiosity, friendliness and ability to overcome ‘fear of the stranger’ that makes all the difference, ultimately allowing ET to survive his time on earth and ‘go home’.

In Cormack McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel ‘The Road’, we are presented with a post-apocalyptic world that is about as grim and horrific as anyone could imagine. The author conjures up a world that is gray, cold and virtually lifeless; where the few remaining people are reduced mainly to cannibalistic tribalists.

The story centers on a man and boy (father and son) who are traveling along ‘the road’ in the faint hope of reaching a warmer and perhaps safer place on the coast. They travel in constant fear of freezing to death, starving and, worst of all, being captured by the ‘bad people’. It is a truly nightmarish and seemingly hopeless situation for the boy and man.

Yet, at various points in the story there are glimmers of hope. The man and boy are themselves examples, embodying the ‘good guys’ who have a responsibility to ‘carry the fire’. The father struggles to protect his son from the constant threats as well as from what he perceives as the boy's innocent well-meaning intention to help others.

In one scene, the man and boy come across an old man who is near death due to starvation. The father’s impulse is to horde their provisions and not offer any assistance to the old man. The boy however convinces his father to put themselves at some risk and show compassion in the form of food and warmth. In deed, it is as if the last substantial degree of compassion left in the world is contained in the form of a single child.

‘Anne of Green Gables’ by Lucy Maud Montgomery is a novel that virtually every child who has grown up in Canada knows. The story centres on the life of an orphan girl - Anne Shirley – and her relationship with Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert who she comes to live with in rural Prince Edward Island.

As many of you will recall, the book is filled with many interesting characters. But what strikes me most is the imagination, optimism and resilience of Anne Shirley.

Some of this is certainly defined in her personality type, but I believe that a good measure is due to her childlike abilities. Anne is a model for withstanding cruel circumstances and seeing past the sometimes harsh treatment she receives simply because she is an orphan. She demonstrates a great childlike capacity to respond to the unfairness of life with optimism and hope; to see past the negative and find the goodness in others; to forgive.

Finally, I want to share a personal example with you. I was driving my son Ricky to VBS just last month. We were stopped at an intersection right beside some road construction. As we were waiting for the light to change, Ricky suddenly asked, ‘Dad, can you hear the laughter’?

I listen hard but couldn’t hear anything the resembled laughter. ‘No’ was my reply, ‘what are you talking about’? ‘Dad, why can’t you hear it; it sounds sort of like music.’

I did a 360 degree scan and strained to find the source of what he was talking about. But I just couldn’t find any evidence – visible or audible – for this ‘laughter’.

Then he pointed - to a machine operating right beside us. Finally it dawned on me that he was referring to a piece of construction equipment that was rhythmically pounding a hole into the ground. To me the machine produced only a loud irritating noise, but to the child sitting behind me it was something musical; something pleasant; something beautiful.

This morning I wanted to talk about being ‘like a child’ - because Jesus has clearly stated in Mark 10: 13-16 that we need to do so in order to receive the kingdom of God. The thing that is not clear is what childlike characteristics in particular He wants us to model!

A number of traditional and commonly accepted interpretations of this text exist, indicating for instance that Jesus is praising childlike innocence and unquestioning faith. While there is no reason to dispute these interpretations, it also seems reasonable to consider additional possibilities. In my message, I have attempted to do this by referring to examples from film, literature and personal experience where childlike attributes play an important role in the outcome, attributes such as overcoming fear of the stranger, compassion and the ability to find beauty in the mundane.

It is important to remind ourselves that none of these attributes – including innocence and faith - are the domain of children and children alone. The point is that children are often better at modeling these characteristics. We grow up and somehow lose a measure of our ability to exhibit the characteristics that Jesus wants us to have. What He seems to be telling us in the Mark text is that we can and should reclaim the measure of these attributes that we had as children.

So how do we reclaim our childlikeness? I am no expert on the subject but it seems that there are a few obvious things to do. First, one can simply make time to be with children - whether they be your own, your grandchildren, those of friends, neighbors, within a community program and so on – just be intentional about spending time with children.

Second, we can practice being observant and open to what children have to teach us, as opposed to focusing entirely on what we want to teach them. As in the case of the experience with my son and the ‘laughing machine’, there are some things that perhaps we can only learn though being open to a child’s thoughts and imagination.

My last suggestion might get me into some trouble, but I think it is not so bad if we make the effort to ‘act like a child’ from time to time. (And I’m talking here about appropriate forms of childlike behavior.) Support for this suggestion can be found in our reaction to people around us who are more ‘gifted’ in childlike ways. Isn’t it true that, regardless of our tendency to be critical of childlike behavior in adults, deep down we are often attracted to these people and appreciate what they do that helps us to reconnect with the experience of childhood?

The main point I hope to communicate today is that there may not be one specific characteristic that Jesus is referring to when he talks about being like a child. Because He was not specific in his wording, it is reasonable to conclude that Jesus may be asking us to consider a range of childlike attributes and to identify those in our own life that we need to work on. Each one of us then, as a follower of Jesus, should discern and determine what gap in ‘childlikeness’ we need to fill.

Just as Jesus took the children of His followers into his arms and blessed them, we need to embrace the children around us, observe how they act toward others, listen for their ‘wisdom’, learn from their example and do so with an attitude of gratitude and joy.