Expository Sermon on Matthew 19 and others
by Maylan Schurch
Bellevue Seventh-day Adventist Church 8/10/2024
©2024 by Maylan Schurch
(To watch this entire worship service, click the link just below.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtA1BqUPNvU
Please open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 19.
Just a reminder about what I’m doing with the sermons this summer. Annicia Geddes has been scheduling children to read or recite the Scripture reading during the worship service, and I have decided to preach each sermon this summer on that day’s Scripture passage.
I’ve chosen scriptures that young people will be probably very familiar with. And as I mentioned last week, you and I dare not simply store these important passages up in an inaccessible part of our mental attics. We need to take a fresh look at them every once in a while, and that’s what I’ll be trying to do this summer.
(By the way, if you happen to be diligent sermon-point-taker-downers, today’s sermon won’t have sermon points. They just didn’t seem to work with what I was doing with this week’s verses.)
Back in mid-June of this year, Shelley and I were taking our usual walk through our neighborhood. Down at the end of one of its cul-de-sacs we saw a rather heart-tugging little scene.
In fact, you can see this same picture if you take your phone and go to our church website, which is bellevueadventist.org, and once you’re there, click on the “Daily Photo Parable” icon. What you will see there is today’s photo parable, but that’s not the one I’m talking about. Simply scroll down into yesterday’s (Friday’s), and there you will see the scene I’m about to describe.
There, sitting side-by-side on the sidewalk, were three plastic toy vehicles, plus a couple of other toys.
One of these vehicles was a red wagon, with a canopy over the top, sort of a covered wagon. This had seats inside it for a couple of kids, and a handle mom or dad could use to pull them along.
Another of these vehicles was tiny, just big enough for a very small child. It looked a bit like an SUV. It had a seat, but there was no floor, so that the child could dig his heels into the sidewalk and power himself or herself along the cement.
The third vehicle was large and fancy. It was a pink-and-purple plastic four wheeler, which probably ran by electricity.
It was easy to see what had happened. The child arrived in the family, and a parent pulled him or her proudly through the neighborhood in the covered wagon. The child got bigger, and wanted to do some driving, so mom and dad got him a little foot-powered SUV. The child grew, got too big for the SUV, and the parents provided the electric four wheeler.
But then the child grew still larger, and turned his or her attention to other pursuits, and mom and dad dropped a couple of nostalgic tears, and rolled those vehicles out to the sidewalk, and put a large sign on them which said “Free.” As I remember it, we saw those vehicles on display only one or two days at most. I’m sure they were swiftly snapped up by other parents, so that their kids could delightedly drive them around.
That’s classic parenting, right? Mom and Dad want their kids to be happy, and within their resources they will supply what they hope can do this. And since a parent’s love never stops, they keep on giving, switching out the happy-makers the bigger the child becomes.
Can you imagine what it must’ve been like to have been a parent when Jesus came to town? Mom and dad probably grabbed their kids by their hands and rushed them over to where Jesus was teaching. And every once in a while, He would stop, notice a sick person, and would reach out His hand and touch that person, and that person would be healed.
And the more mom and dad watched this, the more they decided that nothing could be better for their children at that moment than a touch from the hand of Jesus. And would He be willing to pray for these little ones as well?
A no-brainer, right?
So as soon as there was some kind of a pause in the action, or at the conclusion of the sermon, that’s what happened.
Matthew 19:13 – 15 [NKJV]: Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.
And the moms and dads were overjoyed.
May 22, 2021 was a happy Sabbath here in this room. On that morning, not only was Courtney Van Hise baptized, but both Sofia and Nathan Velasco were dedicated to the Lord. And a moment ago we heard Sofia herself tell us this story about how Jesus welcomes the children and their parents.
But the disciples were stunned. They were shocked to learn that God’s kingdom was made up of not just grown-ups but of the children which some of these grown-ups try to shoo away.
Many years ago Christian songwriter Ralph Carmichael wrote a song called “Something Good is Going to Happen to You,” and one of its most tenderhearted stanzas goes like this.
“They were only wee children, so happy at play, and told to stay quiet and out of the way. But then came the Savior with arms open wide. They’re part of His kingdom; make room by His side.”
But even that is not the whole story. Glance back to the previous chapter, Matthew 18.
Matthew 18:1 – 3: At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
I wonder if anybody really caught what Jesus was saying right there. He’s not saying, “Sure, we will allow adults into God’s kingdom, and if the children behave and don’t make much noise, we will let them in too.”
That is exactly NOT what Jesus said, not by a long shot. Instead, He said, and I quote, “unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
In other words, God’s kingdom is for kids only. Some of these kids will be older than others, but only kids will be allowed into the kingdom of God.
And of course, this needs a bit of unpacking, doesn’t it? How literal is this? How figurative is it? It can’t be literally an “age-level” thing, of course, so it must be something else.
It’s probably a bit too easy to quickly say, “Oh well, this means that you need to have childlike qualities if you’re going to get into heaven.” I think there’s a whole lot more to it than that. Let me show you what I mean.
Have you ever thought about the idea that God may define “children” differently than we might? Nowadays we have children, and their parents, and their grandparents, and their great-grandparents. But after that, the older generation probably dies out, and great-grandma becomes just a sweet but swiftly-fading memory.
But that’s not the way things were back just after the departure from Eden. Back then, parents lived hundreds of years right alongside their children. So kids could grow up, and eventually have children, and their children could have children, and so on, and the original parents would just live on and on. Adam, and probably Eve, lived more than 900 years.
So this means that you can be born, and you would have hundreds of years with your parent. You spent hundreds of years as the child of a vigorous set of parents.
And another thing – back in those days people tended to stay in the same area. Nowadays we get married, start to have kids, and suddenly a job opportunity in Texas becomes available, and we go there. And grandma and grandpa have to be content with Facetime or Zoom meetings with their progeny. And maybe once or twice a year, they actually fly down to Texas for a reunion.
Back in Bible times, people weren’t so mobile. It was almost unheard of, for example, for someone like Abraham to relocate hundreds of miles away. And when he did, he took his father and most of his family along with him.
And another difference between right now and back then was that back then, your ancestry was very important. Jewish people in Jesus’ time, and long before that, knew how to say all of the names of their ancestors back to Adam. Both Matthew and Luke record Jesus’s ancestry, and He could have certainly recited those lists by heart if somebody had asked Him to. That means that this long line of parents were never far from your mind.
So, to God, children aren’t simply little half-human sprouts who will eventually grow up to be worthwhile enough to enter God’s kingdom. No, Jesus wanted to make sure His disciples knew how incredibly important even the tiniest child is. It was so important to Him, and became so important to His disciples, that this story about parents bringing their children to Jesus shows up not only in Matthew 19, but in Mark 10 and Luke 18. And in each of those parallels, Jesus uses pretty much the exact same Greek verbs when he says, “Let the little children come to me and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
And can you imagine how encouraged the parents were who heard this? “My child is close to the kingdom of heaven? How many times have I despaired at her behavior. Will she ever lose that little sassy attitude she has? Can I have faith that I can help her mature into a true follower of God?”
Jesus’ comments, about the value of each child, must have given parents greater courage, and more prayer energy, day by day.
But now, let’s turn to the other big question. If God’s kingdom is truly for children only – or children-at-heart only – what can you and I do for this to happen to us? Does Jesus have a plan for us to become children of God?
He certainly does. In John chapter 3, Jesus told a grown-up Pharisee, Nicodemus, that he needed to be born again. Nicodemus sputtered and stammered when he heard that. Be born again? How could this possibly happen?
Well, in Matthew 18, Jesus spells it out, step-by-step.
Matthew 18:1: At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
Talk about crazy questions. And Jesus could have treated it like a crazy question. He could’ve snapped, “Forget that. Don’t go there. That’s crazy talk.”
Instead, Jesus glanced around. He thought He had seen a little kid wandering around somewhere. Aha! There’s the kid!
Verse 2: Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them,
The little kid must’ve been hanging back shyly, looking at all these huge masculine strangers. Maybe Jesus actually had to go get him, and bring him over, and stand him right in the middle of the group.
So here’s this little kid, staring up with his big eyes, wondering why everybody is suddenly looking at him. He gazes uncertainly at Jesus, and Jesus winks at him.
Verses 2 – 3: Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
Do you see that word “converted”? That’s the Greek word strepho, and it means to “turn.” The New International Version here uses the word “change.” The English Standard Version actually uses the word “turn.” In other words, pivot.
If you look at all the different times this word is used in the New Testament, it’s most often talking about a physical turning around. Jesus Himself does some physical turns, using the same word. In Luke 22:61, just after Peter had publicly denied Jesus three times, it says that “the Lord turned” and looked at him. Same word.
So here in Matthew 18:3, when Jesus tells the disciples the first steps to entering God’s kingdom, He tell them to “turn,” to “pivot.”
So what are they supposed to turn to, or pivot to?
Verses 2 – 4: Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
There it is! Did you catch the pivot? What Jesus is telling His disciples to do is to pivot away from asking who’s going to be the greatest, and pivot toward humility.
So in order to become the children who will inherit the kingdom, you and I need to be born again (which Jesus told Nicodemus is the work of the Holy Spirit). And then we need to pivot the way Lucifer should have but didn’t, pivot away from pride and toward humility. We need to humble ourselves.
Notice what else Jesus wants us to do.
Verses 5 – 7: Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!
This is one of Jesus’ most terrible threats, and it has to do with the treatment of children. We need to welcome children in Jesus’ name, and keep them safe, which is what our congregation tries to do.
But now I’d like to pause and express my gratitude to everybody in this room, or if you’re listening to this on YouTube, anybody who has worked with children in our church. If you’ve ever been involved in a children’s Sabbath school class, as teacher or helper or music provider, or in some other way, please raise your hand.
How about Vacation Bible school? Have you worked in any capacity with VBS? Have you donated to VBS?
How about Pathfinders? If you helped in Pathfinders, raise your hand. By now you’ve probably heard that the prediction of a threatening storm this afternoon has caused the 60,000 Pathfinders near Gillette, Wyoming, to cancel the Sabbath activities they had planned, and to start to leave for home. This includes our own Sojourner Pathfinder group.
So I thank all the children’s leaders our congregation has been privileged to have.
Downstairs on the door of the kindergarten room is a perfect example of what Jesus wants to have happen for our kids. On the door, someone has mounted a smiling picture Jesus. But what tugs at my heart is where that picture is posted. It’s not at adult eye-level, where an adult would normally place it. No, that picture is right down at the very eye level of any child who walks through that door. They see Jesus, down on their level, smiling welcomingly at them.
I would imagine that if we got all of our Sabbath school teachers and VBS crew leaders and Pathfinder leaders in one room, and asked them “What qualities of a child do you think Jesus wants us to have?” I’m sure we’d get some interesting answers.
No kid is perfect, of course. There are good days and bad days, good Sabbath school periods and not-so-good. But I imagine we could come up with some great qualities which, even though the children are human, reflect the attitudes of heaven.
Yesterday noon Shelley and I drove down to the nearest Winco Foods, and did some shopping. Winco is fun, because most often you see entire families shopping together.
Yesterday I saw a mom and her three daughters roving up and down the aisles. Actually, the youngest of the daughters – who must’ve been about one or maybe a little older – was sitting in that kid-carrier part just up close to the handle.
This little girl had in her hand a small bottle which was about the size of a baby bottle, but which seems to have contained flavored milk, such as chocolate milk. The bottle hadn’t been opened, so she wasn’t drinking anything out of it, she was just sitting there in the cart waving that bottle around.
She had a huge smile on her face, and she was babbling something which no doubt made perfect sense to her, but which nobody else could understand. And when somebody came close to this girl she would cheerfully offer them the bottle, chattering all the time.
Nobody took her up on her offer, and neither did I, but we all grinned at her and waved.
Right then, right there, this little girl seemed like the perfect candidate for heaven. Here she had been given something, and had it in her possession, but she was freely offering it to those around her.
At that moment, I think she was a citizen of heaven. I think she was a little kid whom Jesus would smile at, like His picture on the door, and reach out and use her as an example of someone who belonged in God’s kingdom.
Our closing song is a children’s song, a Sabbath school one, which talks about something close to the heart of God – an invitation to come and join Him. As we sing this together, let’s try to sense the overwhelming joy the song talks about, the joy that filled that generous little girl in the cart.
Let’s stand together as we sing.
Come and go with me to my Father’s house,
To my Father’s house, to my Father’s house.
Come and go with me to my Father’s house;
There is joy, joy, joy!
Peace and love abide in my Father’s house,
In my Father’s house, in my Father’s house.
Peace and love abide in my Father’s house;
There is joy, joy, joy!
I will wear a crown, In my Father’s house,
In my Father’s house, in my Father’s house.
I will wear a crown, in my Father’s house;
There is joy, joy, joy!
No more dyin’ there, in my Father’s house,
In my Father’s house, in my Father’s house.
No more dyin’ there, in my Father’s house;
There is joy, joy, joy!
Sweet communion there, in my Father’s house,
In my Father’s house, in my Father’s house.
Sweet communion there, in my Father’s house;
There is joy, joy, joy!