In Need of God

Coming to the end of another school year. And at the moment in our church, we actually have a few year twelves that are sort of coming to the end of school life. And, you know, they're going at this time through all the awards nights, speech nights. They are, you know, going through the final musicals and doing the formals. And as the kids are doing this at year twelve, there are a set of parents that are attached to those kids that are also journeying through this time with them.

And I have a lot of them on my Facebook account. And I see a lot of very, very sentimental photos and messages coming up around this time about the final award night or the final presentation or, you know, whatever. And these gooey messages just fill up my news feed. Now these parents are gonna go to these school functions over the coming weeks, and you'll see all these misty eyed mums and dads watching their child perform on the stage for the last time, getting their final award or driving off to the formal, all grown up. And what is the overriding emotion in this time for these parents?

Well, obviously, you'd have to say there's joy and there's a sense of pride seeing their children finish this particular stage in life, but I would suspect and you may prove me wrong, Anika. Come talk to me afterwards and say yes or no. But I suspect some of them would also say there's a bit of emotion coming from the fact that their kid, their child is now grown up. They're not babies anymore. Soon they'll be at uni or at work.

Soon they'll be moving out. They might be moving away, very far away. And mum and dad's function in their life is now going to go through significant change. The need for mum and dad is going to be changing. This morning, we're going to look at a parable where Jesus uses the example of a child, a very young child, in fact, in telling and conveying a very important message.

And it's exactly with this idea of a child's dependence and need that Jesus wants to make a very important point about the Christian life. And the point is this, that those who want to truly see God must realise their utter need of Him. Those who want to truly see God must realise their utter need of Him. Let's turn to Matthew 18, and we're gonna read the first six verses there this morning. Matthew 18:1-6.

At that time, the disciples came to Jesus saying, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me. But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

So far our reading. Not unlike our year twelves finishing school this year, this morning we see Jesus also putting a young person in the spotlight. Matthew, in his account, calls them a child. The wording there suggests that it was a very young child. So we're talking maybe, you know, Elijah's age, maybe something five or six or seven, something around that age.

And Jesus brings them, the Bible says, and holds them in the midst of the circle of disciples. And he makes this child stand in the spotlight. Why? Well, it comes off the back of a question, doesn't it, in our text? And we see the disciples around this time asking Jesus, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And I dare say, at one point or another, that this is something that we have thought about. Now you may disagree with me, but have any of you ever thought about where you would rank in the great men and women of the church? How you would stand in the ranking of the kingdom of God and stack up against these greats? Have you ever considered the person sitting next to you or in front of you, the person that may have it all together while you have a life that's pretty rocky at this stage, have you considered, you know, that they might be closer to God and you may be further away from Him?

I dare say, many of us have thought that way. Some of us think very low of ourselves and say that we're far down that list. We are not close to God at all. We cannot be. And then some of us might think, well, I think I'm up there.

I come to church every Sunday. I am an elder in this church. But one of the first things that we see Jesus do in answering this question of ranking, who is the greatest? What we see Jesus doing is actually redefine the question. Instead of asking who is the greatest, Jesus asks the question, what is greatness in the kingdom of God?

What is greatness in the kingdom of heaven? We see the disciples asking the question, Jesus, who is the greatest? Assuming that Jesus is gonna say, James, you are the greatest. You have served me so faithfully. You are the greatest.

Peter, you have served me with all your heart, with all your emotion. You, Peter, are the greatest. Greatest. But Jesus doesn't give them that satisfaction. Instead, he knocks the wind completely out of their sails by taking a five or a six year old and he says, verse three, unless you turn, unless you change and become like little children, you cannot even enter the kingdom of God.

Your entire concept, your entire premise of the question is wrong, guys. So what does Jesus mean by saying unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven? Well, the disciples, we understand clearly, thought of qualifications. They thought that they could attain a special privilege position by power. Even today, we keep comparing ourselves to each other, trying to lift ourselves up away from others or some of us feeling terribly inadequate in comparison to those who may seem to have their faith, their life together.

Jesus tells His disciples and us, you have to change this mindset. You have to change this mindset. In fact, unless you change, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Literally, the word here is to convert. You must be converted.

And pointing to a five year old, Jesus says become like him. Now the child, we can imagine, was probably running around with this whole crowd that was following Jesus. Running between people's legs, you know, you know, that sort of age. And no one, or the majority of people would not have even noticed this little kid running around. No one paid them any attention.

This child had no authority. This child had no power, no influence to direct attention to him. He was weaker than any adult there. This child could not make their own money. They had no exceptional abilities.

And because of their powerlessness and their vulnerability, they would have been completely dependent on their parents or on the adults. And it is to this point that Jesus makes reference. Jesus said to even enter the kingdom of heaven in the first place is to realise our utter powerlessness. See, some people think that Jesus placed this child here as a sign of innocence, that you must become and be innocent, like this little beautiful baby boy, to enter the kingdom. But Jesus is not pointing to that.

In fact, the Bible has said it from the beginning. Psalm 51, we've been born into sin. The Bible indicates that we have inherited the sin of Adam and Eve. There is none of us, whatever age, that is innocent. Jesus is pointing to utter inability, powerlessness, and the difference between a child and an adult in Jesus' eyes is that the child at least knows that they are powerless.

The child knows their need. One of my earliest memories, and I should ask my mum exactly when that would have been, one of my earliest memories is of being in our church in South Africa. It was a massive congregation, thousands of people. It was still in the school hall, mum, not the other one. And I remember I was already walking by then and I walked out with my dad at the end of the service and as the crowd came to the doors to exit, the crowd became really dense.

You know when people try to squeeze through a narrow gap? And I remember, you know, confidently walking besides my dad independently of him. He didn't have to carry me. But as soon as we got to the doors and the crowd sort of started squeezing in, I grabbed what I thought was my dad's hand. Instinctively, I needed to hold on to him because this was a little bit scary.

This was a little bit intimidating, and we've all seen it probably before. I grabbed a complete stranger's hand in the moment, and quickly realising I dropped the hand and my eyes started around and I saw dad and I ran after him and held on to him. Now we've all seen that. But why? What happens in that moment?

Because often at that point, having been happy and confident in doing our own thing, when the crowd gets bigger, when the context changes a little bit and becomes uncertain, when the circumstances become unknown, I need my dad. I needed to know that I was going to be led out. Okay. To change and become like children means you come to know your need. But do you notice how strong Jesus' language is here?

This is not a suggestion. Unless you change, you cannot enter. You cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. It's not a good, healthy recommendation, part of the top five things to have an abundant lifestyle. Unless you become a child, you will not be part of God's people.

It is more than simply knowing your need. It is experiencing the gut wrenching reality that you are impossibly lost, absolutely incapable of helping yourself and reaching out. You know, in that moment, when you become a Christian for the first time, that not in a million years within a million attempts could you be good enough? Do you have it together enough to be acceptable to this holy God. It is to know our utter neediness when we are children, spiritual children, and then to look out for the hand that saves.

And friends, I want to ask you this morning, are you looking for the hand that saves? Have you looked for that hand? I want to encourage you to find His grip because it's a strong grip. It is a faithful grip. It is a grip that once you are found, will not let go.

This idea of becoming like a child is very similar to another parable, isn't it, or another bit of teaching that Jesus gave in John 3. Remember that? Nicodemus comes in the middle of the night and says to Jesus, what must I do to be saved? Jesus tells him, I tell you the truth. No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.

And Nicodemus says, teacher, I'm a fully grown man. How can I enter the womb of my mother again? How can I be born again? And we can ask the same question here. How can I become a child again?

It seems impossible for us to become like little children because little children are simple and we are very, very complex. And if you've lived a little bit, life makes us complicated, doesn't it? We have things in our lives that are complex. Our lives have been so independent for so long. We get an education.

We get a job. We get an income and we buy toys and then we have to start paying bills to pay off those toys. We make friends and we make enemies. We make wise decisions and then we make terrible decisions. And life gets complex.

And when Jesus says you must become simple like a child, we think there is no way I can become like that anymore. The fact that you don't think you are needy or simple doesn't mean you are not. It's exactly to those who are willing to shed this delusion, to shed the illusion of having it all together, right, or at least having the ability to one day scrape it all together. Jesus says in verse four, whoever humbles himself like this child, they are the greatest in the kingdom. There's a sense here that Jesus indicates that just being in the kingdom of heaven means that you have received the reward in full.

Just by being in the kingdom means you are the greatest. But we both enter the kingdom and we gain its highest honours and privileges in the same way, Jesus says, it's humility. It's the simplicity of humility. To enter the kingdom, to be considered great is based on a humble faith that trusts. In a world that is very complex, a world that might be increasingly complex for you, friend, hear this.

The one who simply trusts in God and in the Son Jesus Christ for their salvation and their assurance. To them, the kingdom of God is given. To a complex adult with grown up responsibilities that might lead you to believe in the illusion of self assurance, I urge you to simply come. Nought do I bring, but my heart as an offering. Jesus taught about the heart of God one time saying, at another time, if a son asked their dad for a loaf of bread, would that dad give their son a stone instead?

And the obvious answer is no loving dad would give their son a rock instead of a stone, a bread. Bread? Could a dad be so cold hearted? And the answer is, of course, no. Very few dads could be like that.

And Jesus responded, your heavenly Father likewise will give you what you need. You simply need to ask. What is it you need then, friend? What is your greatest need? What is your greatest need? Do you sense a need for all the things that have complicated your world to be cleansed, to be fixed?

Do you have a guilt that clings? A guilt that sticks? Do you have a heart that is heavy? Reach out for that hand. Will your heavenly Father give you a stone when you need bread?

A few years ago, my little sister, and I'm glad she's not here because now I can tell an embarrassing story, she was in a musical for her drama school, her drama class at school. And she may have been year 12 by this time, but the musical was called Annie. The story of a fiery red headed orphan looking for her parents, but finding a home in a very unlikely place instead. And the cutest part of this musical was the fact that my sister played Annie running around with this bright red wig on and trying to sing. It was hilarious.

In fact, I haven't paid her out for a while about that, so next time we have a family lunch, I'll make sure to mention it. But there was a part in this story which was just fascinating, wonderful. It was this moment or this comparison that was drawn between the very evil, chaotic headmistress, alcoholic headmistress of the orphanage on the one hand, and the kind and gracious and very wealthy Mister Warbucks who tried to help Annie find her parents. Mister Warbucks was a man with incredible wealth and also incredible patience for this rascal of a little girl. But the story ends wonderfully when Mister Warbucks adopts poor Annie into his home and the future of Annie is changed forever now that she has come to understand what true love is and to be looked after.

In a similar way, the gospel holds out the hope that we are like orphans that have been adopted into Buckingham Palace. Who is the greatest in the kingdom? Well, it is the person who belongs to the family of the king. And that's why Jesus says in verse five, whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name also welcomes me. And Jesus has moved on from talking about literal children here.

He is talking about Christians, about believers. He's not giving a nice little mission statement here about our children's ministry. Whoever welcomes these little ones in my name welcomes Christ. Although that's also true. That's a great principle.

Jesus is saying here that those who simply trust in faith in the promises offered in Christ, we are to celebrate with them. We are to welcome them as our own because we are like them in every possible way. If we understand the gospel, if we understand the great reward we have received in Christ, we'll understand that we have all wound up in the palace of the king. So why then would we treat one another badly? Why would there be disunity in a church?

It is to receive those who know that they are beggars, asking one another where to find bread. Greatness in the kingdom of heaven, therefore, is not a pecking order that we might seek to one up one another, to outrank one another. Greatness in the kingdom is to understand that we have all received an incalculable, undefinable, great gift, the salvation of God for eternity. And therefore, we welcome and we honour and we respect one another in greatness this church because we are so blown away and we are so delighted that Brendan has been saved. We are so delighted that pastor James knows Jesus Christ as his Saviour.

We cannot think of why we would degrade them. We cannot think why we would think lesser of them. This is the greatest thing that could ever have happened to them. But ultimately, greatness in the kingdom was emulated and shown physically and literally in Jesus Christ, wasn't it? He was a servant of all, the Bible says.

The servant of all. The prophet Isaiah said that there was nothing great about him from an earthly standard. Nothing that would have drawn our attention to him. If someone would have asked in that day, who is the greatest in the kingdom? They would not have pointed to Jesus.

But even today, many, many people around us would not say that Jesus is great. But there is something about him, isn't there, that we just cannot ignore. I still ask myself the question, why do we use Jesus name as a curse word? The Greek philosopher, Socrates, taught for forty years and his disciple, Plato, after him taught for another fifty. But the teacher named Jesus of Nazareth taught for only three and a half years.

Yet arguably, the teaching and the influence of his ministry has outweighed and impacted far more people than those two lives of Socrates and Plato put together. Jesus painted no pictures. And some of the finest artists in the world, Michelangelos, the Da Vincis painted the greatest portraits and pictures and paintings from the inspiration of Him. Jesus wrote no poetry. The likes of Dante, Milton and Morris wrote poetry in His honour.

Jesus composed no music and still Haydn, Handel, Beethoven and Bach reached the heights of musical perfection in honour of His name. How is it that a man with such little greatness that would have seen him go to the cross, a man with such little greatness by all measures and metrics of human greatness could unflinchingly pronounce that those who would see the kingdom must become like little children to truly receive greatness. But it all came together that one day on a hill outside of Jerusalem where incredible humility met astounding glory. The two came together on the cross. And in that moment, in that moment, my swept away into one singular simple equation, my sin for His righteousness.

My brokenness for His perfection. Where Jesus laid down His life for mine for eternity and He in true humility, in the exemplification of perfect trust, showed Himself to be the Son that I could never have been. The Son that would not hold on to that hand for very long. And in that moment He said, Father, this mission that You have sent me for, it is finished. Accept my spirit.

I entrust it to You. Friend, I want to finish with this. Christ is worth placing your trust in. He absolutely is. And Jesus tells us three things in order to do this.

It's to accept that the world and the way that you think needs changing in the first place. You have to be converted to little children to enter this kingdom. You have to truly know your helplessness and your absolute need. But whoever would admit that they need Him, whoever would reach out their hand to Him, they will receive an adoption into the kingdom, into the household of the king that will make you truly great for all eternity. Let me pray.

Father, we thank you for this message that really is very simple. There is nothing about it that needs to be made more complex. There is nothing in here that none of us could really have understood if we had read it ourselves. We need You. And Lord, we know that the times where we have thought we can do and act and live independently from You in some way or another, it has left us very disappointed.

It has left us empty. And so, Lord, for those of us who are believers who know You, I pray, Lord, that we may walk in humility, we may walk with gratitude and love for one another. We may welcome and we may love those who have also been saved and blessed. Then for those who don't know You this morning, those who are still sceptical, those who are still wrestling with this truth. Father, I pray the harsh sounding prayer that they will realise their utter need for You, their utter helplessness, that they have absolutely no influence or control over this life at all, and that eternity lies in the balance.

Father, may You move in their hearts, may they know that it is from You, not from a passionate sounding guy up the front, but that it comes from You, the only one that can save, the only one that can convince. Thank you that we may hear these words, may you impart its truth and its weight on us. And Father, may we have great joy knowing that You have graciously loved us, saved us, and have this gift available to all of us. May we thank You and praise You as long as we live for it. In Jesus name. Amen.