Scripture: Matthew 19:13-15
We can learn a lot from these parents in today’s scripture who bring their children to Jesus: Number One: we learn about the passionate love of parents. Number Two: we learn about the priority of children. And Number Three, we learn about the power of God.
Some of you saw this photo on social media. A few weekends ago, all three of my children were home—at least for one night, on a Friday night. And we went out to dinner and to see a movie—that new Disney movie, Inside Out 2. My daughter, Elisa, who lives in Orlando and is getting married in August, was in town because the church was throwing a shower for her. You may recall that Townshend, my middle child, is also getting married in October.
With this in mind, when all five of us were together three weekends ago and went out, Townshend quickly pointed out a bittersweet fact: He said, “Just think: this will be our last outing as a family of five.”
I’m not especially sentimental, but Lisa was instantly on the brink of tears… and she jokingly said to Townshend, “Don’t say that! You know you can’t say things like that! You’ll make me cry.”
But it’s true. Our last outing as a family of five.
Now, fast forward two days later to Monday morning. It’s my day off. I’m sitting on the couch, enjoying coffee, having a quiet time. And I watch our old dog Neko, who’s 14 now, walk up to the love seat on the other side of the room… and just stare up at the seat cushions… for at least several seconds. And I know what she was thinking. She was thinking, “If I jump, will I make it… up on the seat cushions? Do I still have what it takes to perform this modest physical feat?”
Even a couple of years ago, even months ago,this would have been no problem at all, but now she’s got two bad knees, she’s got arthritis. She has slowed down considerably in a short amount of time.
Don’t worry: she made it up on the love seat, but it wasn’t graceful. And I suspect she’ll reach a point soon where she won’t even be able to do that. And then her mobility will become increasingly worse… and before long… We’ll have a heartbreaking decision to make…
But gosh… as I was watching her, I had this thought: We rescued Neko and brought her home to live with us when Elisa, my oldest, was ten years old. Her brothers were younger. Therefore we’ve had Neko throughout the time that’s corresponded to the most formative years of my children’s lives. Neko has been right there, a part of it all! And in some ways, Lisa and I have already finished doing the most important work of our lives: God has used us to play the largest role in shaping our kids into the adults that they have now become—the most important part of which is helping them fall in love with Jesus.
Whether we did a good job or not doesn’t matter now… For better or worse it’s over! You know? Can’t go back and change anything now, even if we wanted to!
And of course I’m immensely proud of the adults they’ve become—and I praise God for them!
And I get that we’re still parents… we still have grand-parenting to look forward to, God willing… But this next chapter in our lives as parents simply won’t be—it can’t be—as intense and as all-consuming and as important as the chapter we’re now finishing up.
All that to say, I had the thought, while watching my elderly dog Neko, “How fitting that as Lisa and I are nearing the end of this important chapter in our lives, our dog Neko is nearing the end of her life.”
And as I had that thought, Lisa happened to walk into the room. And I, who try so hard to be tough and stoic and unsentimental, said, “I’m sad”… and the waterworks finally started.
Listen: So many of y’all know this already… but I was sad three weeks ago not because I don’t absolutely love my future children-in-law… I do… and I look forward to becoming a family of six and then seven… and possibly more some day. Of course I do!
But I was sad because… as so many of y’all know from personal experience… that most important chapter in our lives as parents was over… in a flash!
We blinked… and it was gone… And I’ll miss it!
In today’s scripture, however, we meet some parents who haven’t yet reached the stage that I’m at now, parents who are still somewhere in the middle of that most important chapter in their lives. Verse 13: “Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray.”
By bringing their children to Jesus, they are demonstrating nothing less than the passionate love of parents for their children. The late pastor Tim Keller said that like it or not, whether we want this to happen or not, whether we’re even Christians or not… Keller said that being a parent imposes Christ-like love on nearly every parent in the world… even those who don’t know Jesus.
Think about it: What is Christ-like love? It is self-sacrificial love. It is love that denies oneself for the sake of another… for the wellbeing of someone else. It’s all about self-denial. It’s about constantly putting another person’s needs ahead of our own.
Tim Keller said when you decide to have a kid, like it or not, you put your own life on hold for about 20 years. That may be an exaggeration, but think about it: You simply have to set aside so many of your own hobbies and interests and free time—and not to mention a lot of money—and instead invest so much of yourself into your kids.
That’s Christ-like love, right there!
The apostle Paul said, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4. Yep! That’s parenting… and even more… that’s Christ-like love!
And I usually think I’m pretty lousy at Christ-like love… at loving others the way Jesus loves… because I am… but even I wasn’t a total failure when it came to loving my kids. Because parenting practically requires Christ-like love…so much of the time!
That’s Point Number One… The passionate love of parents…
Point Number Two: The priority of children…
I want us to notice in verse 13 that the disciples rebuked the parents who brought their children to Jesus.
Why? It stands to reason that the disciples just didn’t think children were all that important to the mission they shared with their master, Jesus. So they try to shoo them away… along with their parents.
Listen: I’m so glad and proud to be part of a church that loves children. We saw this love in action two weeks ago during VBS. Such a great volunteer effort to do precisely what Jesus says to do in verse 14: “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” These words are key: “do not hinder them.” When our very hard-working children’s director, Kayla, asked for adults to volunteer for various activities during VBS—and we see the way they responded—we can be sure that we’re being faithful to the words of Jesus Christ.
And then the very next night—parents’ night out on Friday night in McNeely Hall—we had like a dozen, including several kids who had come to VBS!
That’s a success!
So we did not hinder the children!
It would be a hindrance, after all, if we wanted to do something for children, for instance—if we knew that we ought to do something for children, or we felt like the Lord was calling us as a church to do something for children, but we couldn’t… because we don’t have the volunteers, for instance, or we don’t have the money…
Well, that certainly wasn’t the case during VBS week. And I praise God for that.
Well, this is only a couple of events I’m describing. Our work isn’t nearly finished… but this is the kind of priority on children that we should have in everything we do. And to say the least, Christ-like love for children can’t be limited to our own children.
You know… For five long years I’ve heard warnings about something that, seemingly, haslittle to do with this priority of children… But it does, I promise! Bear with me!
Ever since I got here, I’ve heard warnings from many leaders in our church about—ugh—guess what? Our HVAC system in the sanctuary… and in the adjoining education wing of the building. Even with no A/C in the sanctuary, we have continued to have Sunday school in the education wing. That’s a separate system, but that system needs replacing, too! During VBS week, in fact, we held many VBS activities in that building. And I saw teachers and volunteers fanning themselves… even setting up those great old box fans like my grandma used to use in her un-air-conditioned house near Gainesville…
But I’ve heard for five years that we’re on the brink of major trouble—major repairs—the expensive replacement of major components of our HVAC system in the sanctuary. Architecturally there are things about the sanctuary that make this repair or replacement especially difficult.
And listen: every year I’ve been here it seems like we’ve had “close calls” and we’ve ended up in Cheek Hall for 11:00 traditional worship for at least a couple or three Sundays.
And I promise, God help me, there’s an unregenerate part of me—a faithless part of my heart that still needs sanctification—which tempts me to be a worrywart. And whenever an air conditioning unit has gone out over the past five years—which has happened frequently since I’ve been here—I am like Fred Sanford on that great old Sanford & Son TV show: [grab chest and imitate Fred] “This is the big one! Elizabeth, I’m coming to join you, honey!”
Well, after five years of our HVAC problems threatening to be the “big one,” we have arrived “at the big one.” It’s here… There is some good news, possibly… the specific problem with the HVAC system right now is still under warranty for one more year, and qualified experts are working to at least temporarily fix this short-term problem and get us back in the sanctuary as soon as possible… maybe… We hope and pray that happens.
But the long-term problem remains, and even if we temporarily get back in the sanctuary—we will still need, finally, to do the long-term repair on the A/C… because that warranty expires very soon… So we want to do the work later this year… when it’s cooler… so that we’ll be prepared when things get hot again. After all, I’ve heard it said that there are only three seasons in Georgia: summer, late summer, and January.
Well, two Sundays from now… You’re going to hear more about our plan. Keith Watson, our trustees’ chair, is going to begin telling you about it. Based on preliminary estimates, it will cost around $350,000 to replace the parts of the system that need replacing. To that end, a separate fund has been set up, and we will kick off a capital campaign to raise that money.
And I am asking every man, every woman, and every child in our church—both members and regular attenders—to contribute to this fund.
[transition…]
And listen… I don’t believe that anyone is going to say the following. But I’ve been warned that people might say the following…
“But I don’t worship in the sanctuary.” Or “My family doesn’t worship in the sanctuary.” Or “That doesn’t affect me and my family because we go to the 8:30 service in Cheek Hall.”
No one’s going to say that… But it’s not true anyway… For one thing, families with children do sometimes worship in the sanctuary. More importantly, I want more families with children, and more young people, worshiping in the sanctuary. Don’t you? Regardless, one way to ensure that we won’t have more families with children, and more young people, worshiping in the sanctuary is by not contributing money to fix the HVAC system there. And obviously if we struggle to raise money for for this replacement, that affects every other ministry in the church…including our efforts to strengthen our children’s ministry. Does that make sense?
So I invite every man, woman, and child at Toccoa First, irrespective of the worship service they attend, to generously give an over-and-above offering to this upcoming capital campaign!
Make no mistake: I’m not worried about the money at all. Because it’s not really about money. You know that, right? Philippians 4:19: “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” It’s not about money, it’s about God. And God will use every man, woman, and child who is a member or regular attender to supply every need of ours—including the need right now for a new HVAC system.
Of course some people will give much more than others in terms of a dollar amount. But remember Jesus’ words about the widow’s mite: “And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them, for they all contributed out of the abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on.” 1
So I want all of us to contribute the “exact same amount,” not in dollar amounts, but in this kind of spiritual sense that Jesus is talking about in Luke chapter 21.
And I’ve always heard, when it comes to financial stewardship, “Not equal gifts but equal sacrifice.”
There’s truth in that, but I don’t even want it to be about sacrifice! It shouldn’t be a sacrifice to do something that pleases and glorifies the Lord. If it pleases and glorifies the Lord, then it should be our joy to do so!
So I’m not worried about the money. And what a witness it will be, and how glorious it will be, to show our community, to show the angels in heaven, and to show almighty God where we at Toccoa First believe true and lasting treasure is found, to show them that “our life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions.” 2 To show them that our life is in Christ alone… to show them that our favorite thing to do—the very reason we exist—is to glorify God. 3
We have the opportunity to do that through the use of our money.
That’s Point Number Two…
Finally, Point Number Three… The power of God.
There are at least a few examples in the gospels of desperate parents who bring their sick and sometimes terminally ill children to Jesus, in order to be healed by him.
And we can all relate. What wouldn’t we do to get our kids a healing directly from Jesus? I mean, if Jesus were here right now—in a physical way—and we had a child who was seriously ill… we would move heaven and earth to get our children the healing they needed. Every single one of us parents would do that!
But please notice: that’s not exactly the situation that parents in today’s scripture are facing. This is not life and death. There’s no indication that these parents wanted to get their children to Jesus for emergency healings. Rather, they wanted to get their children to Jesus… for blessings. Verse 13: they brought their children to Jesus “that he might lay his hands on them and pray.” The picture here is of Jesus blessing these children.
The actions of these parents convict me, brothers and sisters…
Earlier in this sermon series, last October, I preached a sermon on the so-called “Aaronic blessing,” the blessing of the high priest Aaron, in Numbers chapter 6.4 We probably all know the blessing. I say it often as a benediction: “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” In the Old Testament, priests serving in the tabernacle or Temple would pronounce this blessing nearly every time the people gathered for worship.
Question: Did the people want to miss that blessing? Did the people believe that something happened—that God did something powerful—through this blessing, that God conveyed something through this blessing, such that if they weren’t present to receive it, they would miss out on something super important… even on something supernatural… something helpful and healing?
These parents in today’s scripture were willing to suffer the rebuke of Jesus’ disciples because they were desperate to see Jesus, desperate to meet Jesus, desperate to get a blessing from Jesus!
And here’s my question: Do we believe the same about what we do here on Sunday morning? Do I believe it?
I’m preaching to myself!
If we actually believed that we were going to encounter Jesus Christ, that we were going to meet him, that we were going to get a blessing from him here in worship on Sunday mornings—the way the Bible promises that we will… through the power of the Holy Spirit… as his people gather here for worship on Sunday morning… If we believed that, if I believed that, then why aren’t we more like these dear parents in verse 13… so eager, so desperate,so hungry to encounter Jesus, to meet Jesus, to get a blessing from Jesus?
Why aren’t we more like them?
Jesus is no less present to us than he was to these first-century parents. He doesn’t love us less than these children he blesses in today’s scripture! He doesn’t want to bless us less than he wanted to bless these little children. In relation to our heavenly Father, we are like little children. Just as helpless, just as in need… but also just as loved by our heavenly Father!
And if Jesus is who he says he is, and our heavenly Father is who Jesus has revealed him to be, and the Holy Spirit has breathed out only truthful words about the blessings that God wants to give to his children—especially as we gather in worship on Sunday—then we need to raise our expectations about what God wants to do for us here at Toccoa First on Sunday mornings and expect Almighty God to do powerful things for us here! Even miraculous things, even supernatural things… And through us to do mighty things for Toccoa, and for Georgia, and for the United States, and for the world!
I still remember growing up in the Briarcliff Baptist Church in northeast Atlanta. I remember one particular married couple in church… Every week, they would noisily get up out of their pew near the back of the sanctuary and head for the exits… in the narthex… the moment the pastor spoke the last word of his sermon. They were like, “Shoop… We’re out of here!”
I was just a little kid at the time, so they were like role models to me, you know… They taught me at least a little—unfortunately—about what we Christians do when we gather on Sunday morning for worship. Among other things, they taught me something about how important the invitation to the altar was… and how important singing praises to Jesus and glorifying him through the closing hymn was… and, yes, even how important the blessing that the pastor pronounced at the end of the service was.
And you know what they taught me? It’s not very important! They said, through their actions, “We don’t need it. Our lives are not going to be changed by whatever that pastor, and that music minister, and those choir members, and my brothers and sisters in Christ in the pews—all of whom have the Spirit of God living within them… but our lives are not going to be changed by anything they do in these minutes ahead… so let’s just skip it… and that way, we can beat the Methodists and the Presbyterians and all the other Baptists to the cafeteria.”
That couple… I don’t know who they were… But they taught me something… As I say, they were role models to me… and probably to other young, impressionable children in the church… Week in and week out, month in, month out… for years… this couple got up and left the moment the sermon was done.
I wish somebody in that church, if not the pastor himself, would have had the courage to say—and it would have taken courage—but I wish they would have said, “Shame on you. Because you’re not mostly walking out on the pastor and the music minister and the choir and your brothers and sisters in Christ… You’re walking out on Jesus! Because he’s here in this place in a powerful, supernatural way… in a way you’re likely not going to experience watching the Falcons play later this afternoon on CBS. Jesus has got something for you here in this place… something that you need. Why have you decided that you don’t need the blessing that Christ wants to give you when you’re here in this place… a blessing that he’s not necessarily going to give you if you’re not here to receive it… So is there something more important than being here for that… if it all physically possible?”
Remember poor Esau back in Genesis: He was so heartbroken to miss out on the blessing from Isaac that he vowed to murder his brother Jacob. I don’t condone breaking the sixth commandment, but to Esau’s very small credit, at least, in that moment, he really wanted that blessing!
Dear Lord, let us raise our expectations about what you’re doing here on Sunday mornings!
Expect him to answer your prayers! Expect him give you good things! Expect him to show up for you, even in worship on Sunday mornings, and do powerful things for you here!