LutheranLectionary.org

Reflections on Scripture with Dr. Leins

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:00	the darkness
0:07	[Music]
0:16	hello
0:17	today
0:19	let’s talk about little children
0:23	Our Gospel text is from the 18th chapter
0:26	of Matthew’s gospel
0:28	it begins with the disciples asking
0:30	Jesus who is the greatest in the Kingdom
0:32	of Heaven
0:34	I imagine that they were thinking about
0:35	themselves which one of them was great
0:39	like Moses the law Giver or great like
0:41	David the warrior king which one of them
0:44	was the greatest
0:47	once again
0:49	Jesus gave his disciples an unexpected
0:52	answer it must have come as quite a
0:55	shock
0:56	Jesus called a little child to himself
0:58	and he set the child before them
1:01	in New Testament Greek this word child
1:03	is paidion it is a general term for an
1:08	infant or a toddler or a very young
1:11	child Jesus uses this word four times in
1:15	four verses to talk about greatness in
1:17	the Kingdom
1:18	Matthew 18 verses 2 through 5.
1:22	and he called a child to himself and set
1:25	him before them and said truly I say to
1:27	you unless you are converted and become
1:31	like children you shall not enter the
1:33	Kingdom of Heaven whoever then humbles
1:35	himself as this child he is the greatest
1:38	in the kingdom of heaven and whoever
1:41	receives one such child in my name
1:43	receives me
1:46	so what does Jesus see
1:50	yesterday was my wife’s birthday we went
1:53	out to dinner at a family restaurant and
1:55	I spotted a young family
1:57	with little children Oh paidea I thought
2:01	to myself the parents I think were in
2:05	their 30s they had three children one
2:07	was a newborn who wanted to be held and
2:10	fed the whole night
2:12	mom and dad took turns holding and
2:14	feeding him
2:16	the next was a three or four year old
2:18	this one got ice cream all over her face
2:21	after eating with a spoon there was
2:23	still some left so she picked up her
2:26	bowl and began to lick it
2:28	but her face and her hands became
2:30	covered with ice cream she was wet and
2:33	sticky and she dropped and broke her
2:35	glass bowl
2:37	so she got up to retrieve the pieces but
2:39	dad jumped up and told her to stay in
2:42	her chair
2:43	he did not want her to get cut by the
2:45	pieces of glass
2:48	the third child was five or six she
2:50	amused herself with crayons coloring a
2:53	children’s menu that she had been given
2:54	but evidently she had a rash because she
2:58	often scratched herself and seemed
2:59	uncomfortable
3:01	what does Jesus see when he looks at his
3:04	children
3:06	what he sees that we need his help
3:09	children are needy
3:11	the very youngest ones are completely
3:14	dependent they cannot even feed
3:16	themselves they must be held and loved
3:18	changed and fed they require constant
3:21	attention
3:23	and it doesn’t get much easier as the
3:25	children get older when a child becomes
3:27	mobile she or he really starts getting
3:29	into mischief
3:31	of course when children become sick they
3:34	absolutely need a parent’s care
3:37	in this gospel lesson Jesus is telling
3:40	us that we are his spiritual children
3:43	before coming to Faith we were
3:46	spiritually unborn we could not birth
3:48	ourselves we could not save ourselves we
3:52	come to faith not by ourselves
3:55	God births Us by his word and holy
3:59	baptism God creates faith in our hearts
4:04	after we’re born by water in the spirit
4:06	we depend upon God to protect us and
4:09	provide for us our enemy the devil
4:11	prowls around like a roaring lion
4:13	seeking someone to devour but we Are
4:16	Spiritual sheep we wander and stray we
4:20	get lost and hurt
4:22	spiritual sheep are not too bright
4:26	but they are very vulnerable
4:29	all of this Jesus sees clearly but this
4:33	truth is counter-intuitive to us it’s
4:37	hard for us to admit that we are merely
4:39	children spiritual toddlers frequently
4:43	needing to have our diapers changed that
4:45	is we need to get washed up by baptismal
4:48	Waters and then we need to be cleaned
4:51	repeatedly by confession of sins and
4:53	God’s forgiveness also we need to be fed
4:57	regularly that is we need to be
4:59	nourished by God’s word and His holy
5:03	supper
5:04	this is what Jesus sees where he sees us
5:07	spiritually and no matter how long we’ve
5:10	been Christians we’re still his needy
5:13	children so who are the greatest in the
5:16	Kingdom of Heaven the greatest disciples
5:19	humble themselves and see themselves as
5:22	they are children needy and dependent
5:26	upon the heavenly father
5:29	well there’s one more step
5:31	and we may not like this one
5:33	children are needy and the greater their
5:36	need the greater they are in the Kingdom
5:39	that is the greater their spiritual
5:41	deficiency the greater their need for
5:43	attention and Care from the heavenly
5:46	father and from the other children of
5:48	the Kingdom you see the family in the
5:51	restaurant was lovely and precious but
5:54	if
5:55	the three-year-old had fallen on the
5:58	glass and gotten cut
5:59	their situation situation would have
6:02	changed dramatically
6:04	in the same way some of God’s children
6:07	experience spiritual cuts and crises
6:12	they need emergency care too from God
6:15	and from his people these injured
6:17	children of God may be kind of prickly
6:20	and offensive because they’ve been
6:21	spiritually hurt
6:23	but to God that means that they’re even
6:25	more precious
6:27	they are among the greatest in the
6:29	Kingdom
6:30	0.2
6:32	what do we see
6:34	from this perspective
6:36	all of Matthew chapter 18 is a
6:39	commentary on becoming like little
6:41	children paidia
6:43	and seeing others as little children too
6:46	so
6:49	verses one through five give Christ’s
6:52	initial teaching that we are God’s
6:54	precious children Jesus is teaching us
6:57	to see that we are spiritually in need
7:00	because of our spiritual weakness we
7:02	need a loving heavenly father and by
7:04	God’s grace we have one also we should
7:06	be humble in our relationship with other
7:09	children
7:10	with a heart of forgiveness and love we
7:13	can act as little Christ’s caring for
7:15	other children as our heavenly father
7:17	cares for us
7:19	in verses 6 through 10 Jesus teaches us
7:22	that sometimes we have especially poor
7:25	spiritual eyesight when viewing
7:28	ourselves and others
7:30	we do not see that they are spiritually
7:32	hurting children
7:34	as a result we sometimes ignore and even
7:37	harm those around us we do not see them
7:40	as vulnerable spiritual children
7:42	so we can be especially selfish and
7:45	sinful
7:46	we can be insensitive and damage their
7:49	hurting places after all their spiritual
7:51	pain is invisible to us
7:53	it’s even possible that we can injure
7:56	them spiritually and never even be aware
7:58	of what we’ve done
8:00	some children need emergency care but we
8:03	may leave them bleeding at the
8:05	restaurant so to speak
8:08	verses 11 through 14 explain that some
8:11	of God’s precious children wander away
8:12	and get themselves lost
8:15	how easily we isolate ourselves how
8:18	quickly the lonely child hears the wrong
8:21	messages and believes the lying voices
8:25	it’s possible to lose sight of how
8:28	precious this little child is to the
8:30	heavenly father
8:32	listen carefully When you pray it may be
8:34	the Heavenly father’s will to call you
8:37	to help that lost sheep and bring that
8:40	child back to the family table
8:43	in verses 15 to 20 Jesus explains how
8:47	quickly we get offended with one another
8:50	it’s sad to see how easily things get
8:53	out of control with tempers flaring and
8:55	emotions rising and relationships
8:57	getting damaged
8:59	when that happens we typically want to
9:01	justify ourselves
9:05	many people will read these verses in
9:07	Matthew 18 as a playbook for Revenge
9:10	but remember that this chapter is about
9:12	hurting children and how their Heavenly
9:15	Father desires that they be brought back
9:18	into communion with him read these
9:21	verses as instructions for care and
9:24	Reconciliation and notice that there is
9:27	no time limit on any of these steps in
9:31	the process so be patient
9:33	even if the person is six feet tall and
9:36	200 pounds remember this is God’s
9:39	precious little child by Dion
9:43	the final section of the chapter is the
9:46	assigned Gospel reading for next week
9:48	it’s a doozy
9:50	we will review it carefully next time
9:53	conclusion
9:55	a new pair of glasses
9:57	I don’t know how many of you saw the
10:00	movie National Treasure starring
10:01	Nicholas Cage
10:03	at one point Cage’s character finds a
10:06	pair of special glasses supposedly made
10:09	by Benjamin Franklin Now Franklin did
10:11	invent the bifocal but he did not invent
10:14	these movie glasses the special
10:17	spectacles operated as a decoder by
10:20	using some special colored ink on
10:22	parchment and some special colored
10:24	lenses in the glasses some words and
10:27	images became visible that people could
10:30	not see without the glasses
10:33	in other words the glasses enabled the
10:35	wearer to see what other people could
10:37	not see
10:39	in this gospel passage Jesus is giving
10:42	you a pair of God’s special glasses
10:46	God’s glasses help you to see yourself
10:49	as a pideon a child of God and to know
10:53	that his hand of blessing is upon you
10:55	and His holy spirit is within you when
10:58	you see yourself as his child Jesus says
11:01	you are among the greatest in his
11:03	kingdom
11:04	for you recognize your spiritual
11:07	weakness and sinfulness and spiritual
11:09	foolishness this helps you to receive
11:13	God’s forgiveness and love this also
11:16	helps you to be humble and understanding
11:18	in your relationships and to give God’s
11:21	forgiveness and love to other people
11:24	also God’s special glasses help you to
11:28	see others as God’s precious paidea who
11:31	are children of God too
11:33	the more prickly and offensive they are
11:36	the more needy and distressed is their
11:39	spiritual life and the greater they are
11:42	in God’s kingdom did you see that
11:45	they may have endured any kind of
11:47	spiritual sickness trauma or chronic
11:50	disease
11:52	they need your care enhanced by God’s
11:54	spiritual glasses that is the word of
11:56	God you can be more aware of his or her
11:59	tendency toward isolation and loneliness
12:02	you may become
12:04	used as the hand or heart of Christ and
12:08	the instrument
12:10	for the word of Christ to be shared
12:13	through you the lost one may find his or
12:15	her way back to the family of God and
12:17	the table of the Lord
12:19	finally you may find yourself dealing
12:22	with an aggressive and angry personality
12:24	their pain May spill out all over you
12:27	and make you uncomfortable and want to
12:29	run away
12:31	if you can
12:32	allow the word of Christ to give you
12:35	God’s glasses to see their hidden hurts
12:38	oftentimes a person will appear hard or
12:41	hot tempered
12:42	it’s no surprise when you have a wound
12:45	it often gets a hard scab over it to
12:48	protect it and when it’s covered with a
12:51	bandage it’s often hot and sensitive to
12:54	the touch can you see that this person
12:56	may be greatly in need
12:59	do you also see that this person is one
13:01	who is precious to the heavenly father
13:05	remember that the one who has the
13:07	greatest need is one who is among the
13:10	greatest in God’s kingdom perhaps you
13:13	can be part of the emergency care that
13:16	God sends to help
13:18	the Disciples of Jesus once came to the
13:20	Lord to ask who is the greatest in the
13:23	Kingdom of Heaven
13:25	Jesus offered them a new pair of glasses
13:29	he placed a little child before them by
13:32	Dion
13:33	they saw one who was needy and weak
13:37	and precious
13:38	this one is the greatest in the Kingdom
13:41	of Heaven
13:43	does this child
13:45	remind you of anyone else you know
13:50	amen
13:54	all right
13:57	[Music]
14:05	[Music]
14:09	[Applause]