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Not Called to Be An Adult

I’m really very grateful for this opportunity to be in chapel this morning, but speaking to adults is not particularly comfortable for me. If you all were under 12, we could make this work! We’d start with a game (I’m thinking a mini treasure hunt where the final clue points to a small object that is itself a clue to our topic for the day). Once we had popped open that treasure, we could move on to our memory verse, pairing it with an activity to make the memorizing part happen without intimidation. Then we’d be ready to sit down, just in time to tell the Bible story, but you can’t do that be still for that! The Bible is alive and tactile, so we’ll act it out together or tell it in a way that has everyone laughing or jumping with surprise or maybe chewing a fingernail in concern.

But you aren’t all under 12, so we shall have to adjust. 

Last Saturday, my family got together at my parents’ house for supper. We grilled hamburgers and chicken and added a few sides. While we were prepping, my eight-year-old niece was helping in the kitchen – including dicing up the onions! She was a great helper. The meat came in from the patio, we gathered around for prayer, and then dug into some very good food. 

While we were chatting and munching along, my niece thought of something we’d forgotten and went to the kitchen. Somehow, she caught her fingers between the door of the fridge and the door of the freezer and got badly pinched. For a minute, she paced back and forth in the kitchen, trying to shake the pain out of her hand. Then her dad noticed what was happening, reached out toward her, and called her name.

She immediately bit her lip and rushed to him. He wrapped her up and started saying things like “It’s OK to cry” and “Can you tell me what happened?” He pulled her onto his lap while she sniffled and got to feeling better. 

Please note: God didn’t call us to be adults in His kingdom. Jesus very specifically told us to be like little children.

Bible Verse – All Grown Up

The Bible verses for today are Matthew 18:2-4. “He called a little child to him and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” 

You know how kids often want to be grown up? Ask one how old she is, and the answer might include “AND A HALF!” Or head toward the car with an early teen, and he might be begging to hop in the driver’s seat. 

Kids grow up wishing they were already older, not quite willing to acknowledge how dependent they really are. 

John Wesley wrote that this “become like little children” means being “lowly in heart, knowing yourselves utterly ignorant and helpless, and hanging wholly on your Father who is in heaven for a supply of all your wants.” Whew. “Utterly ignorant and helpless.” That’s not a happy thought. 

But that’s not the picture Jesus created for us. He said “change and become like little children.” When my brother gathered his daughter onto his lap, he wasn’t thinking of her as “ignorant and helpless.” He could have! She pinched her own fingers in the refrigerator door. But that didn’t matter to her dad. All he saw was a precious, hurting child. That seems to be more how Jesus treated those who were ignorant and helpless around Him. Such people were so dear to Jesus He regularly reached out to touch them. 

Bible Story – Trusting and Giving

And that brings us to our Bible story. This story comes from John chapter 6. This is not one of the stories that Jesus told – it’s something that really happened, and one of His disciples – students – wrote it down for others to read!

Jesus decided he needed to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. As Jesus went a huge crowd of people followed him because they had seen the amazing things he had done – like healing people who were really sick. The people wanted to see what else he might do!

Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. And as Jesus looked up, he saw this huge crowd coming toward him, and he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?” Now, do you think Jesus really wanted to buy bread for thousands of people? Think of how much money that would cost! No. The Bible says Jesus only asked to give Phillip a chance to respond – and maybe to learn something.

So Philip answered, “I would have to work for 6 MONTHS to have enough money to buy enough bread for every person in this huge crowd to have just one bite!” Are you crazy?

Then another one of Jesus’ disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” Maybe that will give a snack to the front row of this little group right here?

Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, so the disciples scurried around hollering and motioning for people to sit down and to pass the message along to the folks in the back. Soon, they were all sat down – all these thousands of people. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and passed them out to the people who were seated closest to Him. They took what they wanted and passed the rest along. He did the same with the fish – gave thanks and began passing it out to people he could reach. But it didn’t stop with just the people in the front rows. It was like it just kept expanding in their hands! Somehow, all those thousands of people got to eat – not just one bite each – but a whole delicious meal that made them full and ready for the long walk home!

Not just that. When they had all had enough to eat, Jesus said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let’s not waste anything.”  So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the leftovers from one little boy’s lunch.

You see, being like a child in the kingdom of God might also mean getting to offer what you have - no matter how small - to Jesus, with the understanding that He gets to choose how it will bring Him glory. 

So this is my offering for today. A reminder that Jesus didn't ask us to be adults. He called us to be humble, dependent children, always ready to offer whatever we have to Him. 

Ms. Michelle Avery serves as Executive Assistant for Finance and Communications at Nazarene Bible College

Published: 10/11/2024

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