[MUSIC] Who is Jesus? What is his mission? As the story moves and Jesus moves beyond the region of Galilee, the miraculous signs all point to his identity as the promised Messiah and King of God's kingdom. What miracle will happen next? What do the miracles mean? Will the disciples understand where all of this is leading? Let's pick up where we left off in this story. Hey everyone, I'm so glad you're with us today. My name's Scott, I'm one of the pastors here at Grace. And here's a little known fact about me. At the age of six, I had it all figured out. You see, I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to be a mailman. Why? Because my uncle was a mailman. And you see, I thought it was so cool that he got to meet so many different people and have conversations with them. Like get to know their stories. When I was a six-year-old, I may have also been influenced by all the Christmas cards full of money he got every year, but that's beside the point. But what Captain made it be most were the stories that he would tell and the joy that he had all the time. And I just equated that to him loving his job. And I was enamored with how it lit his face up. And as I got older and went through elementary school, the idea of being like Mike crossed my mind, till I realized that I wasn't. And then I got to high school. And I had this amazing high school literature teacher called Mrs. Nific, and the passion with which she taught. She just had that same look on her face that my uncle did. And then there was the way that she could just bring the text to life, and books like The Grapes of Wrath and Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, The Scarlet Letter, authors and poets like Hemingway and Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe and Harper Lee and Maya Angelou. And she just taught us so many different things. One of the things she taught us was the art of character development. And it opened up my eyes and imaginations to the different ways authors leveraged language and writing style to invite the reader in to discover the story within the story. And she encouraged me to take AP literature, and I fell in love with the idea of how authors used problem and resolution to develop the various characters in their stories. I learned about the narrative arc, a literary tool used so often to reveal the character's flaws and failures as well as their development and growth. Then I can come in various forms as well. Here's just a couple of examples. There's the person verse self. You see, person verse self conflicts are always great at making a story feel personal and deep. Think Frodo caught between wanting to destroy the ring and being tempted to keep the ring. There is person verse society, and the character in this instance will be different from the collective in a significant way. And the collective will usually try to get the character to bend to their will. Think Hunger Games and Catness, ultimately refusing to be a piece of the Hunger Games. And then there is person verse person. This is what people think of when they think conflict. And in this one, most often the protagonist and the antagonist will be embodying opposing belief systems. So their person verse person conflict is an example of these two belief systems clashing and trying to claim dominance. Think Batman fighting the Joker or Jim and Pam arguing how to deal with Michael from the office or Brown's fans versus Steelers fans. And we know when a story concludes and the conflict is resolved, characters often react in diverse ways. Their responses may either align with their actions and values established at the beginning of the story or deviate from them, offering insight into their character, whether it's positive or negative. And two of the ways this is often achieved is through what characters say and what they do. So to illustrate this, let's just use one of our examples above. For giggles, let's use the Brown's Steelers one. So here's the scene. It's pre-season. And each fan is wearing their team's jerseys, and they engage in an exchange. I can already feel the tension of the conflict in the room at this moment. The Steelers fan starts off by saying, "We're going to stomp all over you Brown's fans again this year." Yin's guys are a joke to which the Brown's fan pauses for a moment, gives a simple grin, a rolling of the eyes and a shaking of the head, turns around and walks away. And while the Steelers fan watches him walk away, he turns to his buddies and says, "Typicals Brown's fan can't handle the truth." Now, think about what we learned about these two simply through their words and actions. And while this is just a hypothetical situation, think about what just transpired, a conflict is presented. You have two fans with differing reactions. And the response of each fan gives you insight into their personalities and their character. And in our example, the Brown's fan's action of walking away speaks louder than words, doesn't it? Their refusal to engage in further argument or escalate things shows the maturity only a Brown's fan can achieve. "Typical Steelers fan, am I right, Brown's fans?" Okay, okay, okay, it's all in good fun, simmer down. But it's also a literary tool you can use when you read the Bible. And it's actually something Jesus did quite often in his teachings if you read about him. In fact, we're going to use it as our framework to analyze our passage today. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to start off by identifying the conflict in this passage. And then next, we're going to take a look at the characters in the story and how they respond to the conflict. In this case, what they say and what they do. And then we're going to look at the resolution and what we can do with it in our lives today. And we're going to be able to do all of that in very short verses, four, actually. So open up your Bibles to Mark 10, recover in verses 13 to 16. I'll be reading from the NIV version today. Here we go. People who are bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly, I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them, and blessed them. Okay. So what's the problem you see here? Right. There's a line of parents that seem pretty persistent in their desire to bring their infants to Jesus. And on the surface, this doesn't seem like a big deal. I mean, it's just a simple hand on the head, right? But to the parents, it was big enough deal for them to persist. Here's a little bit more context to help with our like 21st century brains in understanding this. You see, back in the day, it was custom of Jewish leaders, especially rabbis, to pray a special blessing over young children. And this extended far back into their Jewish history. There are Old Testament illustrations of how fathers bless their children. All through the patriarchal period, fathers bless their children, Noah, bless Shem and J. Beth, Abraham blessed Isaac, Isaac blessed his sons, and Jacob blessed his sons. For parents, you see, it was a desire for the blessing that God would show favor on their kids. And it involved more than just a hand on a head or some cute words. You see, it was seen as a sacred and special moment. And as it continued on in Jewish custom, the elders and leaders of a synagogue would often have children brought before them to pray a blessing over the child. And in their book, the blessing, John Trent and Gary Smalley, note that there were five components of this Hebrew blessing. And first was this, meaningful touch. And there was a spoken word of blessing. Then there was this attaching of high value of worth on them. And the fourth was there was this a picture of a special future of service in God's kingdom. And then there was an active commitment of the father's leaders to guide their children the way that they should go. And you see this prayer of blessing, mimic the priestly blessing, recited in number six. Where God actually instructs Moses to tell Aaron and his sons how to go about blessing the people of Israel. Here's what this verse says. It says, "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Tell Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing. May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace. Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them." I love the picture this conveys. That whenever the priest would place a hand and bless them, it was as if God himself was placing his hands on them. See Jewish fathers still do this very thing today during their weekly Shabbat dinner. I've heard stories from people who spent time in Israel and stayed with the Jewish family during their time there. And to listen to how moved they were when they described the experience of watching these fathers, these uncles and rabbis, placed their hands on the children of the home and speak a blessing over them, it's just so powerful. You see, they speak life into them, they encourage them, they prophesy over them, they remind them where they came from, that they were tied to a ritual that their fathers had done to them and by their fathers who had it done by their fathers, of how it spans thousands of years, generations and giants of the faith, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and Elijah and David and Joseph, even Jesus himself. That's why this was so important to the parents, especially given the fact that Jesus was rumored to be in town. I mean, how could they not take advantage of that? And we learn an awful lot about two very different responses between the disciples and Jesus. So let's look at the disciples response first. You see, it seems pretty clear that the disciples see this more than just a bit bothersome, so they rebuke the parents. But it begs the question, why doesn't it? Now before we go about criticizing them, we should note that their intentions on the surface at least seemed pretty good. They seemed like they wanted to protect Jesus, guard his time from what they perceived as least important matters of the kingdom of God. I mean, they were far more important, doctrinal matters that needed to be discussed and intended to, right? Maybe it also had something to do with the fact that infants were seen as a burden to society. You see, in that day and age, they just carried no worth or value. They were completely dependent on parents. They were needy and it was even worse if you were a girl in that day and age. If a family couldn't support or even care for them, they would literally toss them out on the curb. Maybe it had something to do with this coming on the heels of Jesus having just traveled from Capernaum to the region of Judea. That's a ballpark distance of about 60 miles or so. By foot, that's a couple days' journey. In addition to that, we learn from the beginning of the chapter that Jesus is met with a large crowd the minute he gets there and the Pharisees engage in a philosophical debate about divorce. I'm sure it's an all day thing and as evening sets in, it says this in verse 10 that they had settled into a house. Finally, be the disciples for a second. They have their teacher to themselves and we learn that the disciples are asking Jesus some more questions about his teaching on divorce. We don't know what we just read about the parents. We don't know if this happened the same evening or not but I'm going to take a little liberty with it and assume that it did. Instead of having Jesus' undivided attention, they're interrupted by these parents and their kids. I can just imagine the annoying looks on the disciples' faces, the disapproving thoughts that must have been running through their minds. They obviously are annoyed enough to literally scold the parents for wasting Jesus' time with such insignificant matters. But when Jesus sees all of this transpiring, his response is vastly different. He was just as annoyed with his disciples as his disciples were with his parents. That's the second response. Jesus rebukes his disciples. The Bible says that when Jesus saw what his disciples were doing, he was indignant. When response Jesus says this, he says, "Let the children come to me, don't stop them. For the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter in it." The clash is obvious, isn't it? The disciples held one perspective while Jesus held another. Their eagerness to protect Jesus' time clashed with the essence of what Jesus thought his kingdom was to be. It begs the question, what exactly is Jesus wanting to highlight here? So often this passage has been used as a reference for Christians to describe what type of attribute it takes to receiving the kingdom. We often reference those attributes like those of a child, like childlike innocence and wonder and simplicity and trust or faith. While many of those attributes are helpful in our receiving of the kingdom of God, none of those ideas are explicitly stated in this teaching. It's frankly just speculation. You see, it just doesn't line up because the parents are the ones bringing the children. The parents are the ones who the disciples are annoyed with and it's the disciples that Jesus is annoyed with. So then it actually begs the question, what's Jesus annoyed with? So after taking some time and reading up on this, here's what I think. I think Jesus is annoyed because he's talked to them about this very issue already and they still don't get it. If you flip back and you look into chapter nine and Mark and specifically in verses 33-37 that we covered a couple of weeks ago, here's what it says. They came to Compernum when he was in the house and he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus called the twelve and said, "Anyone who wants to be first must be very last and the servant of all." He took a little child whom he placed among them, taking the child in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." Now Pastor Derek taught about this very passage a couple weeks ago, remember? Jesus takes which is considered of most insignificates and places them in front and center. And Matthew even records this episode or one very much like it and the point of his object lesson is even clear. Listen to the words of Matthew. "At the time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, 'Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' He called a child to him and placed the child among them and he said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven and whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." So when you take a look at the context of chapters 8 through 10, especially from the disciples' actions and their conversations, you see the disciples routinely seem to be holding on to this popular notion that the kingdom of God was about strength and glory and independence. But in connecting the kingdom to children, you see Jesus was connecting it to just the opposite, to weakness and insignificance and dependence. So I actually don't think this passage is about childlike faith. It's about embodying childlike status. And unlike the first conversation about greatness that Pastor Derek taught on a couple weeks ago, Jesus does rebuke the disciples this time in our passage. Why? You see, I think it has to do with the fact that the disciples were still embodying the prevailing worldview of rank and status. And Jesus was growing tired of it, tired because he knew that in a very short time from now they would be entrusted with the keys to the kingdom of God, that the disciples would be responsible for representing and embodying the image of Christ to the world. And once again, we see the theme of a discipleship failure, and once again, the disciples show mistake and zeal. And once again, they are looking at people through worldly eyes, which begs the question, where are you doing the same thing in your life right now? Maybe stated a different way. How are you representing the kingdom of God to those you come in contact with, the people you live with, those you work with, to those you spend time hanging out with or learning with? Like, do they feel seen by you? How about welcomed? Do they feel valued by you? Valued by what you say or how you act towards them. Well, they consider you being open and approachable by what you post on social media. Think back over the last month or so. Where have you tried to line up with the cool crowd at the expense of someone? Where have you made a power play at work and at the detriment of someone just as deserving? How have you belittled someone by continuing to gossip about them to others? Where have you sized up the crowd and looked for that person who wasn't quite as smart as you or good-looking as you or whatever? When did you see someone in need by the world's standards considered an outcast and significant and consequential and turned to more important matters? You see, Jesus was upset because the disciples not only were parodying a worldview, but by doing so, they were sending the message that Jesus felt the same way. And that was a gross misrepresentation of the heart of Jesus. And when you and I do things like that, when we do those things, what we say or what we do or even what we think, we are guilty of the very same thing the disciples were, misrepresenting our King. Church, if we are being honest far too often, we forget how we receive the kingdom of God in the first place, empty, weak, broken, helpless and needy. And here's the thing, I am at the front of the line on this, because it's far too easy to get caught up in doing things myself without consulting God, or trying to position myself to be seen and taking credit for things, or worse yet, thinking I'm better than the person next to me or that I deserve this or that. And when I get in that headspace, I forget that I need God. I forget that Jesus said that apart from the Father, He could do nothing. I forget that my soul needs a maker. I forget how I received the kingdom of God and how Jesus received me. How about you? Remember what I said earlier about character development? Like when a story concludes, the character's responses offer insight into the character development, whether positive or negative. And so instead of a big idea, I'm going to ask you to ponder this question as we continue on. Does the way you receive the kingdom of God mirror how you live it out every day? And it's okay if the answer is no. It's okay because God does not sit on a throne of guilt and shame. He sits on a throne of grace. He knows you're going to fail just as he knew the disciples were going to fail. And here's the thing you need to hear today. He still chose them anyway, and he still chose you. And because of that, there is still work to do. That's the beauty of our passage today. It reminds us that there isn't a hierarchy of good enough or those who have it all together, because none of us are good enough. It's not about outward appearance or status. You see, rather it's about approaching King Jesus the same way a child would with nothing to offer, empty handed, total dependence. It's like the old hymn says, "Nothing in my hands I bring simply to thy cross, I cling." That's the qualifying conditions for the kingdom of God. That is the kingdom you are invited into, and that is the kingdom that you are to represent to the world. And it's not a one-time thing, you see, it's a daily thing. All right, let's finish this thing up by taking a look at the resolution of our passage. Jesus seems to bless the infants. Verse 16 says this, "Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them." Now, just imagine the scene here. I don't just imagine like a couple of parents or a handful of parents. I imagine that they are like lined up out the door, down the street, kids in hand. It's the end of another long day, and Jesus spends the time needed with each child and their parents. And it's a picture of massive grace, isn't it? I mean, in a moment where he easily could have said, "You know what? I'm tired. Come back tomorrow." He chooses to be tender-hearted. He chooses to see them as deserving of his time. And one by one, he probably asked, he probably did it this way. He asked the parents. He's like, "What's this child's name?" And this one here, what's her name? Anne? Oh, and he takes Anne into his knees. Hello, dear Anne. And he picks her up and holds her in his arms and smiling as he looks into her eyes almost like he knows her. He places his hand on her forehead ever so tenderly and begins to speak a word of blessing over her. "May the Lord bless you and keep you. May his face shine upon you, daughter. You see, you are dearly loved by your Father in heaven, and he has designed you with great intentionality. Do not let the world tell you that you have no worth or value or that no one sees you. He sees you because he saw you in your mother's womb. He placed within you a set of gifts and abilities and passions unique to you. Seek those out as you grow, trusting that burning desire deep inside your heart that you were made for more, and as long as you follow him, he will be with you wherever you go, dear child." And with that, he closes in prayer over them as parents, reminding them of their commitment to raising their child up to know and serve the Lord, and he leans down and whispers something in the child's ear and then hands her back over to her parents with a smile. And then turning the next set of parents, he continues on until each one has received what they came for. Can you imagine, Church, the meaningfulness of a moment like that, the very Son of God holding each child in his arms and praying a blessing over them to be a blessing to those that they would come into contact with, to be prayed for by Jesus? May I remind you, you have been prayed for by Jesus. It was a part of his farewell discourse the night before he took on the cross, and as I read these words, imagine with me, Jesus looking you in the eyes as he prays this prayer over you, says these words, "I am praying not only for these disciples, but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one, as you are in me, Father, and I am in you, and may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you gave me so, so they may be the one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began. Righteous Father, the world doesn't know you but I do and these disciples know you sent me and I have revealed you to them and I will continue to do so and then your love for me will be in them and I will be in them." You see, he prayed for you and he also prayed for those who he has placed in your path to be a blessing to. Remember the question I asked earlier, "Does the way you receive the kingdom of God mirror how you live it out every day?" because living out God's kingdom means living it out just like you did when you first believed which means just as you received grace with an open heart you should really give grace to others and just as he forgave you you should keep forgiving others, just as he loves you you should love others and just as he didn't see based on status, on status, neither should you. You know at the beginning of my message today, I talked about my fascination with the different ways authors would use literary techniques to develop the characters in the story, how they would use things like conflict and life circumstances and trials and hardships to reveal insight into the character of their characters. That much of this insight was gained through how characters would respond to the various circumstances of their life and in their story. We saw it here in our passage today with the disciples and with Jesus. There's another place you can find it as well. The greatest and grandest story of all, God's story, a story that you are a part of. I wonder if someone were reading that story, what would they know about your character thus far? Would they see someone who walks humbly before their God? Would they see someone who walks submissive in some areas but defiant in others? Would they see someone who in the midst of severe heartache and tragedy has learned to cling to God's hands to guide them? Would they see years of faithful service to the purpose in which you were designed for? Would they see someone who does the church thing on Sunday and the worldly thing Monday through Saturday? Would they see someone who has been hurt and burned and no longer has the will to forgive? Would they see someone who extends such a kindness that it takes your breath away? Would they see someone who has been so hardened by the trials of their life that they've lost the ability to feel emotion? Would they see someone who has tried doing their life their way for so long, looking for fulfillment in all sorts of ways and today finds themselves absolutely empty? Would they see someone who has learned what it means to see the people God has placed in your life the way he sees them? Has children in need of a father, a soul in need of a savior? I don't know what your story is, but I do know mine. I was the all-American guy, had the girl, the house, the kids, even the dog. I tried to forget about the cat. I was highly thought of in my professional field and on the surface it looked like I had it all together, but I was so broken on the inside. I didn't know who I was because I was so busy trying to be whatever or whoever everyone else wanted me to be. You know how exhausting that gets to be? And then just at the right moment in my life, God used my brother to open my eyes to God's grand story and how in that great story I was known and seen and loved by a God who made me. Do you know what that does to someone who was trying so hard to be what everyone else wanted him to be? It breaks you, dismantles all the walls, all the masks, it's so freeing. And ever since that day I've tried learning more about his story, how he made me and wired me. It's taken a lot of time and effort and frankly failure and I've had to unwind and unlearn some things. I still have to remind myself of who God is and who I am and him because I still get tripped up by what others say about me, but here's what it is. It pales into comparison to that first moment where I felt so loved by God, so seen simply for being me. No one else could write a story like that that included a knucklehead like me. No one else could write a story that had all of you in it either. And if you're here today and have never heard God's story before or don't know what that means and you're curious, please reach out, let us know because we would be so willing to talk with you. If you're in one of our live rooms, come down after the service and ask your site pastor. See because knowing God's story is so essential. It's why we have it as our central part of our dream disciple that we've been talking about and preparing for, for the launch of things this September to help each of you know God's story and your place in it. We're so excited to share more of what that looks like and the stuff we've developed to help with that thus far. See church, he is the greatest author who is writing the greatest story ever told and he invites you to be a part of that. You know, I actually believe Pastor Sarah is the broadcast host for the month of July online and for TV and for those of us who share that responsibility of hosting online, we typically read through the sermon outlines to prepare for what we say and how we tie it to the message of the sermon for each week. And I wanted to share the message that she sent me after reading through my outline because I cannot think of a better way to end. Here's what she sent me. She said, "Scott, after reading through your outline, I had a very clear image come to mind of the huge smiles on the faces of those babies Jesus took the time to bless. You know how babies smile when they are held by someone who loves them? Imagine what the smiles would look like on the faces of those with whom we live, work, learn and play with. Imagine if they knew that we love them simply because God made them. Can you imagine what God can do with a church full of people like that? Remember that your journey with God is not just a one-time decision but a daily commitment to walk in his ways, reflecting his love and grace to a world in need. May we be a church that lives out the kingdom of God in the same way that we received it. Go be awesome for Jesus this week. [BLANK_AUDIO]
