Patience is a virtue, without doubt. But in these verses, we have the evidence that even Jesus could lose his patience. As I have said before, we sometimes forget that he was fully human. And humans sometimes run out of patience.
The evidence here is in the word indignant. Jesus was indignant.
He’s in the middle of teaching, and he looks over to his leadership team and sees them standing in front of the little children blocking their way to the Lord. They seem to think they are the bouncers at the door of Jesus’ club. And he’s like,
What part of “whoever welcomes a child in my name welcomes me” did you not understand?
What part of “if you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you to have a millstone hung around your neck and be thrown into the sea” did you not understand?
What was it about the many times you saw me heal a sick or dying child that didn’t seem important to you?
What did I ever do that convinced you I would like you to stop the children from coming to me? No, let the little children come to me for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.
And he took them in his arms and blessed them.
And then he sent them off to the nursery.
Oh, that’s not in there, is it?
Of course, there are arguments to make in the disciples’ defense, if we want to. We could consider the fact that caring for children, throughout most of human history, has been women’s work. As a man, Jesus would have been assumed to have much more important things to do; surely there was a woman somewhere who could have dealt with these children and their needs. His disciples were simply trying to help him delegate and prioritize. Although, if they were watching him and listening to him they surely would have known he didn’t share their priorities.
It really is a matter of priorities, how he measured value. And how difficult it was for his followers to get that.
For us, having the benefit of the written gospels, and two thousand years to absorb them, we are in a better place to be able to understand it. Most of us can easily cite the words he said about how the last should be first and the greatest take their place at the end of the line. We know that humility is a Christian virtue and pride is a sin.
If we have heard enough sermons and attended enough Bible studies, we are probably aware that Jesus did nothing less than turn the social and economic order upside down with his words and his actions. And that this played an important part in the events that led to his death.
Jesus had different priorities than the world around him did. Jesus measured value differently than society did. And he wanted to teach his followers to have the very same priorities and values he did.
When Jesus spoke, his words meant something real – real enough for him to put his life on the line. The challenge for us as his followers is to understand what his words mean for us.
What does it mean to bless the children in Jesus’ name? At the very least, wouldn’t it mean checking to see if the kids are alright? Are they alright?
I need to tell you I am not at all sure that they are. Too many of the kids are not alright.
During the last year and a half of pandemic our children in America have lost a lot. Not being in school for so long, they have lost out academically, socially, emotionally and psychologically – even economically. The children have paid a price and continue to pay a price.
Parents have told me how hard it was for children to engage with teachers and classmates on a screen. How hard it was for them to carry out their independent work, on their asynchronous days. Some children had trouble attending their online classes because they were also responsible for helping younger siblings while their parents were at work.
Some high school students were trying to attend class on their phones while they were working shifts in warehouses, supermarkets, or in their delivery jobs. One principal said she called local businesses and begged them to stop scheduling her kids during school hours.
We have heard stories from people in rural areas about the challenge of participating in virtual school when there is inadequate cell or internet service. School districts tried to provide families with hot spots, which may or may not have been adequate. I spoke with one teacher in a rural part of our county for whom no hot spot could do the job she needed. She made the hard decision to quit her job and homeschool her kids.
We have heard about the challenges of ensuring that kids in poor families have the computers they need to attend virtual classes. Our district was mostly successful in that. In other parts of our nation, the schools simply did not have enough money to get the kids what they needed.
The kids are not alright. We know from early test results that they underperformed last year. Parents felt helpless as they watched their children failing – not because they lacked the ability but because they lacked the resources.
Kids are mostly back in schools now, thanks be to God. But it is clear that the troubles are not finished. They have lost a year of all the things school provides for them. They are far behind in too many ways. They are suffering from the emotional and psychological wounds, the academic failures, and for many, the economic losses. You might say, “Kids are resilient! They will catch up.” But only if someone gives them the resources they need to catch up.
The kids are not alright. Some were in abusive homes and there was no escape. Some felt ashamed because the computer screen allowed other people to see the conditions in which they lived. And some of them, too many of them, disappeared. School personnel simply could not find them.
Children who lived in poverty before COVID-19 are in even worse straits now. Families in poor districts, in states that undervalue, underfund schools, are in worse conditions now than they were before, the little hope they might have once had is dwindled to nothing.
And Jesus is indignant.
The whole of the scriptures, from beginning to end, tells us that if we are not putting actions with our words we are not in accordance with God’s desires. We hear it from the prophet Jeremiah, who says, “They have treated the wounds of my people carelessly, saying ‘peace, peace’ when there is no peace.” We hear it from James, who says, “If a brother or sister lacks food or clothing and you say to them ‘go in peace,’ and do not supply their needs, what is the good in that?”
What does it mean for us to commit ourselves to Christ, to be a faithful disciple of the Lord? Today I say to you that it means taking a hard, honest look at our values. And the measure of our values is where we place our resources – spiritual, intellectual, and material.
Jesus showed us very well that his values are different from the values of the world. It is time for us to ask ourselves: How do we measure value? As the world does, or as Jesus does?
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