Seeds for 11/21/2023 - Matthew 19:13-15

Scripture: Then people brought little children to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” When He had placed His hands on them, He went on from there.

Observation: Yet again in Matthew’s Gospel we find the disciples slow to learn the lesson. In Matthew 18:1-5, Jesus made the points that becoming like a child was vital to entering His kingdom and that anyone who welcomes a child welcomes Him. So naturally the disciples rebuke people who are trying to bring little children to Jesus. Whoops.

Jesus insists that the children be allowed to come to Him. Why? Let’s repeat the lesson from before. That time, Jesus declared, “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.” Now, He says, “the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

A journey is set before the disciples. Not geographic, but rather an itinerary for the soul. From putting up roadblocks to “do not hinder them.” From rebuking to welcoming.

When I was in the process of becoming a Methodist pastor, a mentor pastor articulated his perspective on the role of clergy in a tradition that upholds a theology and practice of an “open table” for Holy Communion. After all, Holy Communion (Mass, Eucharist, or the Lord’s Supper) is the sacrament of sanctification, or continued growth in spiritual maturity within the church, God’s people. Given that understanding, it makes sense that the sacrament be received by people who have made a decision for faith in Jesus. This raises the question of how we can know. Must they be members of our denomination? Of our congregation? Each Church has to decide how to approach this.

The mentor pastor summed up his take on Methodist theology with a simple turn of phrase: “We are stewards of the table, not guardians.” Guardians are focused on making sure appropriate hinderances exist to keep out those who should not partake. Stewards are focused on welcoming those who are ready to come and receive that which is offered. It’s no willy-nilly, “y’all come!” that disregards preparation of the soul. Part of the welcome, in fact, is helping people get to the appropriate posture of heart.

As it happens, the appropriate posture of heart is humility and childlike trust—just the sort of thing Jesus was trying to teach the disciples and anyone else in His audience on those occasions. At the same time, “stewards of the table” are not putting up hindrances but instead facilitating their removal by inviting all to confess their sin and need for grace.

The disciples thought they needed to be guardians of access to Jesus’ presence. Their calling, and ours, is to be stewards, welcoming all and helping people take whatever step is next to draw closer to the Lord.

Application:

• When do you notice yourself hindering rather than helping people access Jesus’ presence?

• What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?

Prayer: Lord, give me a heart to welcome whoever would come seeking your presence and to help those who desire to draw closer to you. Amen.

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“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)

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