Childlike Maturity

The disciples came to Jesus. We have no reason to believe that they were anything but sincere in their desire to do God’s Will. The Greek is often translated, “So then, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” When we approach someone and say, “So then…” there might be a little acerbity, a little bitterness, some edge to what we are about to say. But, in Greek, the word a-ra, that is translated “so then” also means “truly.” Sounds a little different, the disciples asked Jesus, “Truly, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And Jesus calls a child over, they probably hadn’t even noticed that it was there before Jesus beckoned it.

We cannot understand what Jesus says about becoming like this child until we really understand what it was like to be a child in the 1st Century. Children were cared for, their needs were met, they worked from the age of 8 and contributed to the household until they reached adulthood, 12 years old for girls and 14 for boys. But, they were not the center of attention or the apple of anyone’s eye. No one sacrificed for a child. Children’s worth was their potential contribution to the family. They had no intrinsic worth or status in a family. It wasn’t that people were terrible parents who didn’t care about their children, they did. But, they also knew the statistics. 30% of children died at birth, another 21% would die before they turned 6…only 40% of children born made it to adulthood. Childhood was risky. Children were weak, vulnerable to disease, so parents didn’t invest or attach to their children like we do today. Like the animals and slaves, they were an obligation for which parents were responsible.

It is in this context that Jesus called a child who happened to be nearby to him and set the child in the center of the gathered disciples. “Truly, I tell you,” Jesus said, “unless you turn and become like this child, you will not enter the kingdom. Whoever become humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom. And whoever welcomes a child like this one, welcomes me.”

Jesus says to his inner circle, you have to turn and step out of the circle…and that’s where you’ll meet me. When you have a group of people and you want to make one big circle, what do you do? Everyone takes a step back, and then another, and people keep taking steps back until there is room in the circle for everyone. So then, what does that look like in real life? We back away from being the center, we take a step back and make room for everyone. Children in Jesus’ day knew that it wasn’t all about them. They were part of the family; they did their part in the family. The world didn’t revolve around them. Nothing revolved around them. In the paradox of reaching maturity as disciples by becoming like children, this is the first lesson we must learn. We are not at the center of our lives. Our lives are not about us.

They weren’t so different in some ways, though. Infants were born, just as we are, completely dependent. All an infant can do is make known that it needs something. A baby needs food, it needs sleep, it needs changing, it needs nurture. In the first two years of life, the foundation for faith is laid as an infant’s needs are met. From the time we are born until around the time we turn 2, we are learning love, trust, hope, and courage through our experiences with those who care for us. Those who do not experience love, who learn that they cannot trust, those who cry and lose hope when no one responds, those who are not encouraged to risk and try to stand and walk, find it incredibly hard to have faith. God designed the relationship of parent and child in the first 2 years to teach us how to be in relationship with God. We are dependent on God. God loves us. We can trust God. Because God is trustworthy, we have hope and can step out into the world with courage. In the paradox of reaching maturity as disciples by becoming like children, this is the second lesson we must learn. Unless we become dependent on God, we cannot enter the kingdom.

If you want to welcome a child, you get down on their level, you kneel down and get eye to eye…and they will let you into their world. It’s a world of wonder – filled with new discoveries in things that as adults we have seen countless times, but not really seen – the wonder of the way a worm squirms when you touch it, the sound that a bottle makes when you blow across it, the smell of mint when you pick a leaf…and then you can eat it, the intricacy of a spider’s web– children who are free from fear or threats wake to the world every day filled with curiosity. When a child lets you into their world, it’s a world of joy – as the predictability of the world proves that a piece of macaroni dropped from the high chair will fall and the dog will jump to eat it over and over again, towers knocked fall down, matchbox cars pushed will go, and the harder it’s pushed the faster it goes – squeals of laughter ensue, – the predictability of cause and effect frees children from worry, and when we are freed from worry, we have space for joy. Children enjoy life; they have fun. In the paradox of reaching maturity as disciples by becoming like children, the third lesson we must learn is to see the wonder and experience the joy of living in this incredible world God has made with these incredible people God has breathed life into for the purpose of relationships.

Anyone who does not turn and live like a child will never experience God’s kingdom, because entering God’s kingdom is living the life God envisioned as God breathed life into us. We come to understand the paradox of childlike maturity as we realize life is not about us, but about relationships and we become intentional about developing the relationships we were made for – with God, our Divine Parent on whom we are dependent, and with our brothers and sisters that occupy this planet of wonder and joy with us. Nothing is more important in life – in fact it is truly the only way to truly live.