A Childlike Faith

Mark 10:13-16

How many of you, as parents or grandparents, rediscovered the joys – and the frustrations – of learning? You took tying your shoes for granted until you were faced with the prospect of trying to teach a child to tie their shoes – from the other side of the leg and while dealing with a foot that will not keep still. In my own life, I can’t remember being taught the alphabet or how to count to ten, but it takes patience to teach a child whose favorite word is, “Why?” or who has the attention span of a gnat. Why is the sky blue? I don’t know. I know the answer has something to do with science – and that the sky isn’t blue, but only looks that way because of waves of light and colors in the spectrum that are more visible to the human eye. Why is the sky blue? Because when God created the sky that’s the only crayon he had left. Why can’t we see a dinosaur at the zoo? I know the answer has something to do with climate change, maybe an asteroid, failure to adapt, and proof that the world around us is continually experiencing change, but I also kind of like the answer, “Because they didn’t eat their vegetables,” or from The Far Side cartoon, “Because they smoked cigarettes.” Why do I have to go to sleep now when you get to stay up later? Because I said so, that’s why! Jesus, in Mark 10:15, tells a crowd of adults, “Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” Today’s Scripture has three implications when it comes to faith and the kingdom of God (the restoration of this world – the new heaven and the new earth – that has yet to come). The first implication concerns who will be part of the kingdom. The second has to do with what children can teach us about faith. And the final implication has to do with faith and aging because, as all parents know, children age … and that process is often difficult for both the child and the parent.

The first point draws on the role of children in the first century compared to today. I wouldn’t say that first-century parents didn’t love their children, but we know from our far more recent past there was a time when childhood was very different from today. In Jesus’ time, children were – literally and figurately – non-persons. They had no legal standing, they were socially invisible, and educational opportunities were minimal and geared toward learning a trade so they could contribute to the family income. When our Gospel writer says that people were bringing children to Jesus to touch, to bless, that very act would have been hard to imagine. The key to these verses is to understand what happened at the end of the preceding chapter. Jesus and his disciples were walking along a road and the disciples began arguing about which of them would be viewed as the greatest of the twelve. Jesus made his point with the assistance of a child by taking a child in his arms and telling them, “Whoever welcomes one of these, welcomes me.” Now more children are being brought to Jesus and the disciples’ immediate reaction is to send them away. Jesus stops them and says these children are part of my kingdom. What Jesus is saying for today is, “Don’t try and exclude people from being part of me, my movement, my church, based on your standards because my kingdom is inclusive, it’s open to everyone who comes to me.”

The second implication has to do with faith, with our response to Jesus. When Jesus tells his disciples you won’t get to heaven without becoming like a child, what does he mean? There are certain qualities of faith that are childlike … which is not, by the way, the same as being childish. How can faith be childlike as distinguished from childish? 

First, a childlike faith looks at the world with wonder and curiosity. Children are amazed by things we miss entirely or take for granted. What are some of the firsts you recall seeing through the eyes of your children? A first rain or snowfall, a first bite of bacon or ice cream, a first word, or a first step? When a child sees a new or interesting thing and their curiosity kicks in, the thing might end up in their hands … or their mouth. Cockroach, flower, piece of popcorn that’s been hiding under the couch. Children love to sing and dance and paint and will do so freely … until they get older and begin to compare themselves to others. Children don’t see boundaries they see possibilities. The young boy in the first video seems happy sitting on a pier with a cheap toy fishing pole probably incapable of catching anything, eating a bologna sandwich, and proudly spelling a difficult word.

Our lives, as adults, would be much richer if we kept some of that sense of wonder and curiosity, and the same is true when it comes to faith. God wants us to enjoy our lives and the world around us. From the book of Ecclesiastes: “Be joyful and do good as long as you live; also eat and drink and take pleasure in all that you do. This is God’s gift to you.” Ps. 118:24: “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Numerous times in the Bible God says he will send us wonders in the heavens and signs on earth. How many do we miss rushing from one thing to the next or being too adult to look? God knows our lives won’t be one wonderful event after another, but God has given us human qualities such as love, joy, friendship, and laughter to offset the reality of living in an all-to-human world. 

It doesn’t take long for us to become jaded and cynical, for us to become the ones shoving the Life cereal at Mickey to try because we’re too skeptical to try it ourselves. Somewhere along the way, we heard the message that the Christian faith was all about rules, judgment, and fear while the Bible’s primary message is one of love, grace, and acceptance. A childlike faith focuses us on the basic truth of the Gospel message: We were created by a loving God who wants us to live an abundant and joy-filled life.

Second, childlike faith is honest. I’m not saying that children won’t lie or try to get away with something but, in general, small children tend to tell it like it is. As adults, we know we need to be careful with the questions we ask a child. We give ourselves permission to tell “little white lies” to avoid hurting the feelings of others; young children haven’t always developed that filter. If you ask a child if they like something or someone, don’t be surprised or angry when they tell you what they really think. I have a vague memory, as a young child, of my aunt Clara. She may have been a perfectly wonderful person, I don’t recall. My memories of her, even decades later, are of a kind of musty smell, black dresses, and shoes that looked like they had been worn by the wicked witch from The Wizard of Oz. If asked about her, the adult me would try and come up with something positive to say. I don’t remember if the young me said anything or not, but if I did odds are that my parents were mortified. When it comes to faith, God wants our honesty. Somewhere along the way, the church has bought into the message that true Christians are always confident, or perhaps complacent is a better word, in the will of God. I don’t know about you, but my life isn’t always perfect, and I don’t always have all the answers. But my faith tells me I can be honest with God – when I’m angry, when I’m frustrated, when I’m hurt, when I’m disappointed, when I’m uncertain.   

This leads to the third point about a childlike faith, which is, it asks a lot of questions. We are back to the “why” questions we began with. Almost daily in this church, I hear questions being asked and see raised hands, and I hear teachers patiently trying to answer. The Christian theologian and philosopher Paul Tillich said, “Faith isn’t the absence of doubt; doubt is an element of faith.” Faith isn’t about certainty. If we were certain, then there would be no need for faith. Faith is, by definition, a leap beyond logic and reason. Faith is an admission that human knowledge has limitations; it’s a choice to believe in what cannot be proven. 

People who say they are 100% of the time 100% certain of their faith scare me a little. I wonder if they’ve ever really struggled. I wonder whether their faith is real or simply a platitude, a mantra that they are hoping if repeated enough times will come true. When it comes to my own understanding and intellect, if I believe I fully understand and know God then I am forced to admit that I have made God too small. I have so many “why” questions about God, about this world, about humanity, and about certain things that have happened or continue to happen. But I have found in my life that my questions and doubts are freeing. The questions I have remind me that God meets me where I am. I am reminded of my need to depend on others. I am reminded that if we are going to fight corruption, injustice, oppression, and other human systems that subvert the teachings of Jesus then we are going to have to work together and place our hope in something, or someone, bigger than ourselves.

Finally, what follows from a childlike faith? The answer is, of course, an adult, mature faith. Matthew’s Gospel, in chapter 11, tells the story of how John the Baptist, when he was in prison, sent his followers to Jesus with a question: “Are you the one that was to come, or should we look for another?” Now, John knew Jesus. They were cousins. John knew about Jesus’s miraculous birth. John baptized Jesus and acknowledged him as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” So, why the question? John has been imprisoned by King Herod and is about to be killed. There’s no more time for sermons or studies or philosophical discussions of what might be. There’s no time for anything but the truth. Jesus doesn’t fault or ridicule or condemn. He says, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” Questions are not only okay, they’re also a sign of an adult, mature, growing faith.  

Robert Fulghum, an American author, and pastor wrote: "Most of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery school! These are the things I learned: Share everything. Play fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody. When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.” Fulghum has captured a part of what Jesus meant when he said, “Unless you become like little children, you can’t enter the kingdom of Heaven.” The other part comes from Jesus’s answer to John’s question: Look at me and report what you see and hear. I am the answer to your questions, I am the Son of God, and I offer amazing grace that leads to forgiveness of sin and eternal life. Amen.