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Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Attitude Adjustment
Psalm 1; Mark 9:30-37
Like kids in the back seat on a long family drive, Jesus' disciples got to fighting over who-knows-what. Well, actually, Jesus knew exactly what. And he was anything but pleased. Since they were being childish, he talked "children" with them, as a firm clear reminder of how God's way with the world works.
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On two occasions Jesus used children as a test case about the character of the Kingdom of God. (Think: People and places in this world where God's purposes are recognized, honored, and obeyed.)
My recent blog post "What the Children Know" described the time he said we'd better all assume the position of a child if we want in on what God is up to. For example, a child is small and powerless, thus somewhat modest and realistic about life's limitations.
This week's story from Mark 9 puts kids front and center for a different reason.
On the road with Jesus, the disciples have been squabbling about who's going to have what kind of honor and power when Christ inaugurates his Kingdom.
I'm reminded of kids in the back seat on a long trip in the family car. "Dad, he hit me!" "Mom, she's looking at me wrong!" On and on it goes, till Dad looks over his shoulder and say, "Don't make me stop this car! You'll be sorry!!"
What Jesus does is much better. He sits down, slows the disciples down, and then he draws them out. "Tell me what you were arguing about," he says. "It must have been really important, hey?"
They're embarrassed and don't want to confess a single word of it.
Then he invites a little boy over, and tells the disciples they (and all of us) need to welcome children into our high and mighty spiritual pursuits. Especially children. "For when you welcome them," he says, "You welcome me. And when you welcome me, you're welcoming God who sent me!"
Now, is that as clear as mud or what?
Well, he also tells them that anyone who wants to be first in line will end up in last place. If you want to be served by others you'll wind up serving instead. It's a spiritual law of life.
Put that together with the accepting children part, and it comes out this way...
To get anywhere with God, you've got to adjust your attitude from grabbing after power and glory, and aim for opportunities to honor and serve each other.
So, for instance, look at anyone who comes your way as if they're a little child -- i.e., powerless, and pretty useless in terms of prestige or advantage. Just a person who can use your support, service, friendship, and such.
In Jesus' day kids were very much better seen than heard. Like the sign on the back of a coffee house highchair says: "Children should be strapped in and never left unattended."
But Jesus disagrees. He knows what happens when children, and childlike people of all shapes and sizes, are treated well.
When you honor a powerless person, you actually give that person power. You're acting as if she actually has a reason for living. You honor him, if for nothing else, simply as another valuable human being.
What happens to you when someone welcomes you with that kind of respect?
Your chest swells up with rightful pride. You stand a little taller. You smile. Because you've been reminded that you really matter.
And here's the kicker... Every time this sort of exchange happens we're dealing not simply with each other, but with God!
The world is full of myths and legends of gods walking the earth in disguise. The Bible says we humans are created in the Image of God, that in a sense God moves among us incognito. That even the least likely people we meet are carriers of God's priceless presence.
So we're simply being smart to treat every other person who crosses our path as if we're meeting God. Even, especially, when it's a little person.
posted by Jack Buckley at
10:54 AM
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