Jesus is still holding onto the child.
There is no indication that the child has been set down at all since Jesus picked up the little toddler and told his disciples that those who seek to be great are those who give attention to the children...those who welcome the children.
Now, the disciple John seeks to move onto other subjects. John has already dismissed the child in Jesus’ hands. John has already, in a matter of mere seconds, failed to pay attention to the most vulnerable. But, Jesus still holds onto the child.
I am not going to stand here and lambaste poor John, because he is not alone. We do it all the time.
As I sat, drinking my coffee, I scrolled across a headline on my phone that said something to the effect of, “Child Left in the Middle of the Street Dies.” I kept scrolling.
I just could not bring myself to read the story. Sometimes the pain of the world…the pain of the children...is just too much to bear. So, we just keep on scrolling.
We keep scrolling past those who have been sexually abused.
We keep scrolling past those who suffer starvation.
We keep scrolling past those who have been abandoned.
We keep scrolling past those who should have had a better life but were not given the chance.
We keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling, and in all of that scrolling we start to forget.
I stopped on a story about mathematics and prime numbers and the one million dollar reward that you can get if you can come up with an easy proof that predicts all prime numbers.
It was not a fascinating news story, but at least it was not about a child with whom I could do nothing about. In that moment, I made the choice to forget. Jesus does not forget. Jesus still holds onto the child.
Now, it is not that the subject matter that John raises lacks importance. He tells Jesus, I assume quite proudly, that he and the disciples tried to stop a guy who was casting out demons in Jesus name. The guy was not a part of their group and did not actually follow Jesus. What if the guy ruined their reputation? In other words, the guy was doing ministry without the approval of the church leadership…so to speak.
During this discussion, do not forget that Jesus is still holding onto the child. What is that child hearing? What is that child learning from John? Is the child learning that followers of Jesus are an “in” group, and everyone else in the world is in the “out” group and is of less importance? Maybe the child wonders if she is included in the “in” group?
Sometimes I wonder if children automatically consider themselves in the “out” group unless they are intentionally invited in. After-all, they are regularly told to “wait” and “be quiet” and “stand over there” and other appropriate lessons needed to lead a civilized life. There is nothing wrong with that. Though, sometimes I do wonder if that means they ever so slightly learn that they are always “out” until invited “in.”
As I listened to my 4 year old girls playing in their toy kitchen the other day, I overheard this comment:
“We are making pizzas because we saw a girl making pizzas and so we can make pizzas!”
Yes, girls are free in this great nation to strive to become anything...even pizza makers! But, I wonder what in the world ever made them think that maybe they could not be pizza makers in the first place? Why did they ever feel as if they were outside the realm of that possibility? Why did they ever feel like they were outside, set down, and set aside? But, Jesus is still holding onto the child.
Jesus is still holding onto the child when he tells John that if someone is doing something good, then they are not doing something bad. “Whoever is not against us is for us,” Jesus exclaims.
John had completely missed the lesson on greatness. Those who care and put others first are the great ones, not those who are the “in” crowd. The man who was casting out demons was caring for others and doing a good thing!
The child hears this teaching of inclusion, love, and serving. Do not forget, the child is still being held by Jesus, not forgotten in any sense.
My seminary youth ministry professor Paul Hill once famously said something to this affect:
“Since children always look up to those who are bigger than they, we are all youth ministers…no matter who we are or how old we get. We are all youth ministers. The only question is if we are good youth ministers?”
It seems to me that those who minister the best to the "little ones," or to any of those who are easily forgotten (like the poor or the abused) are those who act as if they are holding onto a child at all times. They are those people who care and pay close attention, they do not just scroll by. They are those people who are careful and compassionate to the little ones. They are those who assume that they are youth ministers our entire grown up life.
After-all, Jesus is holding onto that child. There is no indication that he ever set the toddler down. And, there is no indication that Jesus desires to set any of his children down.
In fact, Jesus is so passionate about caring for the little ones that he says stuff like, “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.”
And, he says, “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.”
And he continues, “If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.”
He even says that “if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell.”
This cutting off of limbs is harsh stuff, but forgetting about the little ones is even harsher. If those who are around the little ones will not stop scrolling by, and will not stop to be the love of God to that child, who will? Therefore, if you do anything to harm that little one, cut it off so that it can never happen again. It is better to lose a hand or a foot than to lose a little one.
Remember, Jesus is still holding onto that child. That child just heard that they are more important to Jesus than some adult’s hand or foot. That is the message to the child. That is the message to us.
There is an elementary teacher who is a beloved teacher by the children. She loves them, and they love her.
A curious thing about her though is that whenever she corrects a child, she always squats down to their level with her hands clasped behind her back in order to talk.
She was once asked why she took this pose every single time she corrected a child in her class. After-all it seemed to be somewhat of an awkward and unbalanced stance.
She recounted: “There was day, years ago, when my own children at home were driving me insane. They would not listen. They would not do what they were told, and I had had enough. When my oldest talked back at me one time too many, I slapped her across the face.
I immediately felt like I had to throw up when I saw the flash of fear and that sickening look of abandonment on her face. I vowed that I would never do that again. So, from now on, whenever I deal with a child and my anger flares, I act as if I have no arms. You cannot hit a child when you have no arms.”
I guess, sometimes the best way to hold a child close is to not use your arms. The important thing is that we hold the little ones close in one fashion or another. There is no indication that Jesus has set down the child. There is no indication that Jesus has set us down.
We were held tight by Jesus as he passed from death into new life. We were held tight as the tomb was opened and Jesus pulled us up with him into the day.
Jesus has not let us go. That seems to be the good news that Jesus wants all the little ones to know.
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