I’m not sure if you’re as big of a “reality television” fan as I am, but this season a new show on television has completely captured my attention. It’s called “Kid Nation”. The premise for the show is fascinating…they took 40 kids aged 8 to 15 from all walks of life, all areas of the country and stranded them in a ghost town in New Mexico for 40 days with no adult supervision or interaction (other than the camera crew of course). This group of intrepid explorers is led by 4 kids…the town council. These kids stepped off a bus in the middle of the desert and faced the challenge ahead of them with optimism, excitement, and awe. Admittedly, when I saw the show for the first time I was excited too. I was anxious to see how 40 kids left alone would really handle things. Unfortunately, the producers of the show had something different planned. Each week, they town council is given a “suggestion” from a pioneer book that will help them create order in the town. What happens however is as more of the “adult world” gets introduced into the lives of these kids, the less like children they become. It seems to me that day by day the kids in this microcosmic world become less like the children pioneers that started with optimism, excitement and awe and become more like miniature adults.
Jesus knew this tendency. He understood that societies tend to try to impose adult ideas and values onto children…even in his own time he could see that the world was trying to place rules and restrictions on children that ultimately would turn them into miniature adults. In today’s scripture we get a picture of exactly how Jesus feels about children. Jesus was gathered with his disciples and a crowd of people (as was usually the case) when suddenly a group of children tried to get closer to him. I imagine these were typical kids…running, screaming…jumping up and down “Look! It’s Jesus…lets go check him out” and of course the disciples reacted like typical grownups… “Hey don’t get too close…keep back…quiet down…stop screaming and jumping”. Jesus heard all of this and stopped the commotion immediately. Not only did Jesus insist that the children be allowed to come closer and visit with him, he turned to admonish the disciples and onlookers, telling them… “Unless you have faith like a child you will not enter the kingdom of heaven”.
Why did Jesus react this way? Well, first, we should understand that Jesus grew up in the Jewish Tradition and in that tradition, children are seen as a divine gift and a sign of God’s blessing. If you were lucky enough to have a child and have that child live, you were considered favored by God. Infant males in the Jewish tradition received the sign of the covenant through circumcision and Jewish parents were told again and again the importance of teaching the faith to their children. Jesus understood all of this, probably better than anyone. Jesus knew first hand that God loved humanity enough to enter the world in the form of a child—the most vulnerable form a human can take. Jesus also knew what it meant to have a childlike faith that others did not quite understand. Remember, this was the boy who was teaching the Rabbis in the temple! Jesus understood that children are indeed an expression of God’s reign on earth and so, “the one who had time for the least and the greatest and for everyone in between took those children into his arms and blessed them.” (Elizabeth Caldwell, Making a Home for Faith, 30)
But beyond welcoming the children, Jesus tells everyone who is around “Unless you have faith like a child, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” Faith like a child? What does Jesus mean when he says this? What does this mean for us? How can we have faith like a child and still be grownups at the same time?
A childlike faith has some pretty major characteristics. A childlike faith is optimistic, excited, and full of awe. Now, while these are pretty “typical” descriptions of children in general, these three areas are vital when it comes to having faith like a child. But beyond all of these things, a child like faith has a fervent belief that God loves us and will do anything and everything possible to keep us happy, healthy, and safe.
Children are optimistic. Children look at the world with so much optimism that sometimes, we as adults are hard pressed to understand. Children honestly believe the best about everyone and believe that good things will happen. Like the children in Kid Nation, most kids face the world thinking only of the possibilities for success and fun. Unfortunately, there are so many in this world that would hurt our children that the very optimism that we find so endearing in children is the same optimism that puts them in harms way. It is our job as adults to keep our children safe so that they can continue to demonstrate that childlike optimism. A childlike faith is also full of optimism. A child’s faith believes whole heartedly in the good of God and God’s people. Children look at the future and say “wow, we get to do that?” or “yes. We can do that” or even, like the children’s story of the little engine that could, they might say with fervent belief… “I think I can I think I can I think I can”. What if we faced the challenges in our own faith and church life with this kind of optimism? What if instead of giving a litany of 42 reasons something WON’T work, we instead give a list of 10 reasons why it might work? What if, instead of saying “I HAVE to go to church today, tonight, or tomorrow” we say, “I GET to go to church”. And what if, we looked at the future of this congregation as a child might…with the kind of belief that says… We think we can. We think we can. We think we can? That is the kind of optimistic faith a child has…that is the kind of faith we should have!
Children are full of excitement. I doubt I even have to tell you this; it’s so obvious when you are around kids. Everything is exciting to them…toddlers playing in boxes, teenagers bouncing up and down over the latest thing, elementary kids screaming and laughing over something they find intriguing. Kids get excited about everything! When the kids come up for a children’s sermon or gather for an activity, do they drag themselves up here? Do they frown and complain all the way up to the steps? Do they look at their watches over and over to see when they might be done? No! They come running! They hear the familiar music playing and know that it is THEIR time and they are excited to be here. They gather with excitement, seeing just what might come next. Look at our youth…who literally come screaming into the building on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. They are so excited to be here, to see each other, to fellowship, and to learn. And if you ask them about what is going on? They’ll start talking and might not ever stop! What a perfect example of faith! A childlike faith is excited to be at church, excited to share with others, and excited to learn more about God and about Jesus. This kind of excitement is contagious. Can you imagine what would happen if we spoke of Court Street with this kind of excitement every time someone asked us about church? How’s church? Oh my goodness we have so much going on...we have wonderful worship services, and a beautiful choir and these great classes you can go to and all of my friends are there and… Can you imagine how people might react? Excitement is contagious, and that’s another hallmark of a child like faith…a childlike faith is excited!
Children look at the world with awe and wonder. They see a cloud in the sky and stop to look at it. They see a flower growing and pick it and talk about how pretty it is—even if it’s something we adults would call a weed. They wonder why god made the sky blue or the grass green. They look at the sunset and say, “God, I didn’t think orange went with purple until I saw the sunset you made on Tuesday…that was cool!” They look up at the stars and just say, “Wow”. Children see the beauty of creation all around them and don’t hesitate to think that something is wonderful just because God made it that way. This spirit of awe and wonder allows children to be surprised by things and accept new opportunities wide eyed and open armed. Most children I know will try anything once just to see what it is like, and while that can be dangerous, it’s also amazing. Kids let their sense of wonder override their sense of fear. What if we approached faith and church in this way? What if instead of saying “I’m too scared to try that” or “I’m too old to do that” we said, “I wonder what that would be like”. What if we approached God with that kind of wonder and awe every single time we encounter God in worship, in nature, and in our every day lives. What if we stopped to pick dandelions or stand barefoot in the grass and just be in awe of God’s beautiful creation? What if every single Sunday we stepped into the chapel or sanctuary and said, “Wow, What a beautiful place to worship.”? How would that change us? That kind of wonder and awe is present in a childlike faith, and we too can demonstrate the awe and wonder that our children so graciously demonstrate.
Most of all though, above the awe, above the excitement, above the optimism… children just believe. Children don’t get caught up in questions of “why should I believe?” rather, they ask “why did God make the sunset so pretty?” Children believe in all sorts of things and only stop believing when they are told something “doesn’t exist” or they are given reason NOT to believe. Unfortunately we adults are the ones who give our children reasons to not believe. We shatter their dreams with offhanded comments and inconsiderate words. Fortunately for us and for them, though, children lack the cynicism of adulthood and therefore believe in possibilities that we as adults are quick to dismiss. Their belief is so pure, so precious and so strong that they see things we can’t even imagine with our adult minds.
So, how can we have faith like a child? We can be optimistic- look for the good in everyone and everything. We can get excited about church and about learning about God and Jesus. We can develop a sense of awe. And most of all, we can believe. Believe that God will do anything possible to keep us happy, healthy and safe.
In this spirit…this spirit of childlike faith, I’d like to close today with a children’s story: The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown. This is one of my favorite stories because, well, I’ve learned over time that it’s not just about a mommy bunny and her little bunny…it’s about God and us, but it wasn’t until I began to look at this story through my own childlike eyes that I truly understood. So, with faith like a child, please listen as I share this special story with you:
The Runaway Bunny, by Margaret Wise Brown.
Once there was a little bunny who wanted to run away.
So he said to his mother, “I am running away.”
"If you run away,” Said his mother, “I will run after you. For you are my little bunny.”
"If you run after me,” said the little bunny, “I will become a fish in a trout stream and I will swim away from you.”
"If you become a fish in a trout stream,” said his mother, “I will become a fisherman and I will fish for you.”
"If you become a fisherman,” said the little bunny, “I will become a rock on the mountain high above you.”
"If you become a rock on the mountain high above me,” said his mother, “I will become a mountain climber, and I will climb to where you are.”
"If you become a mountain climber,” said the little bunny, “I will become a crocus in a hidden garden.”
"If you become a crocus in a hidden garden,” said his mother, “I will be a gardener. And I will find you.”
"If you are a gardener and find me,” said the little bunny, “I will be a bird and fly away from you.”
"If you become a bird and fly away from me,” said his mother, “I will be a tree that you come home to.”
"If you become a tree,” said the little bunny, “I will become a little sailboat and I will sail away from you.”
"If you become a sailboat and sail away from me,” said his mother, “I will become the wind and blow you where I want you to go."
"If you become the wind and blow me,” said the little bunny, “I will join a circus and fly away on a flying trapeze.”
"If you go flying on a flying trapeze,” Said his mother, “I will be a tightrope walker, and I will walk across the air to you.”
"If you become a tightrope walker and walk across the air,” said the bunny, “I will become a little boy and run into a house.”
"If you become a little boy and run into a house,” said the mother bunny, “I will become your mother and catch you in my arms and hug you.”
"Shucks” said the bunny, “I might as well just stay where I am and be your little bunny.”
And so he did.
"Have a carrot,” Said the mother bunny.
Amen.