Our culture expects children to be basically and intrinsically good. That explains why parents are so shocked that their children will not stop doing evil, selfish things even when their parents give them long lectures about it. Parents approach the task of raising children in our world with very wrong expectations. It's no wonder that their methods produce a world like we're now experiencing. You would think it would have to. The Bible teaches that children are born with sinful desires that will bear fruit in evil actions if actions aren't taken to nip them in the bud. So parents that understand scripture have an advantage. Parents that understand scripture expect the job to be hard and relentless. And that's often two words that mothers use to describe their daily life, dealing with their kids, hard and relentless. And they know that they bear the responsibility for shaping that behavior when the child is young. Good behavior will not come from that child by nature. As that child becomes older, he can choose his own way. We can't determine that child's eternal destiny, but we can shape the child's behavior when the child is young, and we're completely responsible to do so, and it's a big task because they're born sinners. So Jesus is not in any way idealizing childhood as if childhood has some virtue. What he's clearly talking about is their position in life. They are at the very bottom of the pecking order. In our culture, that isn't always the case. Sometimes they seem to be the king of the world, or queen of the world. But in their world, if you were a little child, you were at the bottom of the pecking order. And it takes humility to become like a child. Think about this. We want to be first. We want to be respected. We want to be preferred. We want to be invited to parties and meetings. We want to have our voice listened to. We want people to shape their behavior in conformity to our preferences. We want to be well spoken of. We don't want to be maligned. That's our nature. Carly used to joke when we were young that she really didn't want much. She just wanted to be the queen. At least I think she was joking. But that's what we're up against. We don't want to take up the position of a child. We don't want the zero status chair. Our natural inclination is to take the stance scripture describes of the rebels of God. We naturally are prone in the direction of the people of Assyria that Zephaniah describes. In Zephaniah 2.15, he says, this is the rejoicing city that dwelt securely, that said in her heart, I am it. there is none besides me I am it and there is none besides me that is where our flesh tends to go that's how we want to view ourself I am it and there is none besides me we by nature want to be free from God's control and ultimately we want the position of God It's interesting that as people gain more and more power, they begin to expect what only God has the right to expect. After a while, these people want more than respect. They demand worship. Remember Herod and the event that caused God to kill him? That's pretty typical. We have a tendency in that direction. We want to be worshipped and given opportunity that our flesh clings to that stuff. Yet look what God says in Isaiah 45, 22. It says, look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is none besides. I am God and there is none besides. We want to say, I am, and there's no one else. But God says, no, you have that wrong. I am, and there's none else. There's only one king for that throne and it is in us. It's interesting in Zephaniah's passage to see what Zephaniah says is the remedy to this proud condition that the city's people were in. In Zephaniah 2.3 it says, Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld his justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger. Seek humility. The answer to the problem includes seeking humility. In order to find God's favor, these people had to adjust their view of themselves to the glass through which God sees them. That's always part of the repentance process. Coming to God, seeing ourselves for who we are, seeing God for who He is, and turning. So Jesus is talking to his disciples. He's explaining to them something that they had to get. They just have to get this principle. It's foundational. He's talking about a core tenant in the Christian life. And they're all jockeying for the highest position in Christ's kingdom cabinet. They're using earthly strategies to get those spots. They're using earthly wisdom to evaluate who should get them. And they're dividing their fellowship with this pursuit. So Christ brings forth a little child. This is likely one of Peter's. And he says to them, you want to be top dog? You want to be a big shot in my kingdom? You want to even be in my kingdom? Well, it's like this. First, you must be converted. In this passage, it appears to mean to change one's mind, and it could be Christ is talking about this specific change of mind of which he is speaking. He may be saying you need converted from seeing the way you see now to the way that you should see. Christ is essentially saying you can no longer think and act and be motivated like the world. You must change that thinking and accept the kingdom's rules. And the kingdom rules are that you follow Christ's leading and example, and you become the least and serve everybody else. You regard your life in such a way that you are a servant to everyone else because Christ has regarded them worthy of service. We regard them for Christ's sake. We take on the same mind as Christ. And ultimately, we are serving Him when we serve others. So both Matthew and Mark are displaying the same quality when they discuss it in two different ways. Matthew says we become like a child and receive the lowliest child. Mark simply says that we receive the child. But both actions require the same degree of humility. Both show that we've accepted the fact that we are not too good to be placed in the lowest position. and we not only don't fight it, which our flesh would do, we welcome it. Let's think a little bit more about the status of a child. I like what the New International Greek Testament commentary says. The child represents the lowest order in the social scale, the one who is under the authority and care of others and who has not yet achieved the right of self-determination. To become like a child is to forego status and to accept the lowest place, to be the little one. To receive the child is to reverse the conventional value scale by according importance to the unimportant. Jesus is clearly trying to change the disciples' whole world view as they know it. This is earth shattering to these guys. And he did it by painting a clear and touching picture of how Christ's kingdom functions. Have you ever had someone try to correct you by only pointing out what you did wrong, but not painting a picture of how to do it right? My brother used to tell me to grow up when I was young. And he was accurately assessing the problem. But he was not overly helpful at the time of pointing me in a better direction. Well, we probably all had things like that happen to us, where we got severe criticism, but we couldn't, for the life of us, know what to do next. Well, Christ didn't do that to his disciples. In fact, what he did was heartwarming. If we had been there, I think we'd have caught this in a much more dramatic way than we get it when we read it. At first, he stood this little child in the midst of them. So here we are, we've got all these big men, these tough fishermen, seasoned guys, and this child is placed right in the middle of them. Now they're all looking at him, and we know how most little kids would respond to that. The child would be nervous and uncomfortable, and the child wouldn't know what to do and would more than likely be afraid. This is odd, all these adults looking at me, and up until now, Christ hasn't said anything. I'm sure he had aroused the disciples' curiosity by this point, because they know, I mean, they sat down, so they know that he's going to teach them something, formal teaching. He sits his child out there, silence, and they're thinking, what's going on? So what? A little kid, what does that have to do with anything important? Then Jesus takes that child, and he draws him into his arms. It's not difficult to imagine him giving the child a hug the way that we do with children that we favor. He's just taken the child out of an uncomfortable situation and he has received that child. He's brought him close. He's provided protection and fellowship. He's given the child a sense of importance and belonging. And in so doing, Christ demonstrates what he next says. He said to them, whoever receives one of these little children in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives not me, but him who sent me. By doing what he did, and by saying what he said, he just turned the disciples' world upside down. Their definition of importance is getting the most power, the most status, the most influence. Their definition is getting the best of what this world offers. They're thinking through their flesh. They've shown it time after time. It oozes from them. And Christ turns it all around. He's saying that what stands out as great in the Kingdom of God is inclusive, self-sacrificing love. The word used for receive here doesn't mean to formally greet. It's not like when somebody shakes your hand and you come in the building. What it means is to receive into one's family in order to bring up and educate. that kind of receive. That really helps us to get the meat of what Christ said and how the disciples would have taken it. He's talking about a costly commitment to that person's welfare. It's an adoption of that person into our lives. That's what he's saying. What Christ is talking about is how the church is to operate. He's talking about bringing a person into the community of believers, the family of believers. So let's paraphrase this. This is essentially what they would have heard when Jesus is talking. Whoever commits himself and his resources to the benefit of someone without status, in Christ's name, is committing himself and his resources to Christ. And if he's committing himself to Christ, he's also committing himself to God. Wow. Put yourself in the disciples' shoes here. They've got to be thinking, how is that going to free us from the Romans rule? How is that going to build a political machine? How is that going to get Christ front and center in the civil government? How will that overcome the corrupt religious leadership? In fact, how will that do anything important at all? And that's the problem. That's the problem. The disciples are focusing on all the problems that the kingdom of Christ on earth wasn't sent to solve. They're trying to repair a car that is on the salvage truck heading to the salvage yard. They don't know what the kingdom is for. They're clueless. The kingdom is for using earthly resources to prepare fellow human beings for eternal life with Christ. It's for using time, energy, money, and things that money can buy for the good of those headed to heaven. It's about appealing to God to accomplish those things through His power and through His people. It's about teaching others these same things. And it is ultimately about glorifying Christ and God our Father. That's what the kingdom is for. Not to fix politics. Christ directs the disciples here to the most important service on earth. It's to fellow humans. And he's displaying the attitude that must be present for us to do such a service. It's humility. By sweeping that child into his arms, he gives us a tiny picture of what he is talking about. Christians are to be continually looking for opportunity to welcome anyone who is willing into the fellowship of believers. So we speak the truth, no matter what their position in life, and we look for the movement of God in their lives. And if we see God drawing them, we commit ourselves and our resources to their benefit. That's the mainstay of how the ministry of the church goes. That is the mainstay of how the church of God grows. Let's take a little side road here and look at some scriptures about humility. Let's get a look at our lives from God's perspective. Have you ever heard, have you ever been taught, have you ever picked up that God needs you? Have you gotten the idea that you should do some things because God could really use your help? I know when I was growing up, I picked up that mentality that if I didn't do it, nobody would do it, and God needed it done, so John, you better get off your hands and get that thing done. Isaiah 66, 1 says this, Thus says the Lord, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. Where's the house that you will build me? And where is the place of my rest? God is basically making the point in this passage, what do you really hope to do for me? Are you gonna provide for my needs? What are you gonna build a house for me? Then let's look at the book of Job. This is one of my favorites. Job had been making his point about how God had been unfair to Job, and most of us would have a tendency to side with him. But this is what God says in return, Job 38, 1 through 10. Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? I don't know that that's the first thing I'd once said to me if I had a conversation with God, but that's what Job had coming. Now prepare yourself like a man. You've been questioning me. I'll question you when you answer me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know. Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone? When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who shut in the sea with doors When it burst forth and issued from the womb? When I made the clouds its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band? When I fixed my limit for it And set bars and doors? And the Lord went on and on in His explanation about how Job is completely unsuitable to evaluate God. But God is perfectly suitable for evaluating Job. This truth is the foundation of true humility. It's the recognition of the difference between us and God. That's where humility starts. One cannot truly be humble if he does not use a perfect standard. In 2 Corinthians 10, 12, we find some bickering going on, and we see in verse 12, for we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. Humility does not stem from comparing ourselves to each other. That's the wrong standard. Pride uses that tool, and don't we always do that? We find somebody that is not as good as what we think we are on a certain thing, and then we start feeling good about ourselves. Well, we're looking at the wrong standard. True humility only comes from seeing ourselves from the view of our maker, from a truly objective view. We're told things about ourselves that we could not know by mere human observation when we read God's Word. We see some interesting things about humility, moving on to another example of humility, in the Exodus from Egypt. Exodus 10.3 says, So Moses and Aaron came into Pharaoh and said to him, Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me. Let my people go that they may serve me." We see here that Pharaoh was proud. He stood against God. He did what he wanted to do. He didn't care what God wanted. He thought he could contend with God and win. He did not see himself from God's perspective. He did not see himself for who he truly was. Had he humbled himself, had he seen himself as he truly was, he would have adjusted his plan to God's plan, but he did not. So we know about Pharaoh that he was proud. Now, how about Moses? What did God think of Moses? Numbers 12.3 says that now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth. Well, evidently, if we want to study what humility looks like in a person, we start with Christ and then Moses is a pretty good second. It's interesting that this was said when Miriam and Aaron had risen up against Moses. They were saying essentially, hey, we're just as qualified as Moses to lead these people. We ought to be getting these top spots too. They were displaying the same mentality, the very same mentality as the disciples. They wanted to be first. They wanted a prominent seat. But they had no idea what the kingdom of God was all about. In contrast, God's man, Moses, was very humble. Even though Moses was the biggest shot among the Israelites, he limited his view of himself to only God's perspective. He didn't get full of himself. Okay, that's another player. Well, actually, two more players. We had Miriam and Aaron. They were proud. Moses, humble. And then Deuteronomy 8.2. What about the people of Israel? And it said, and you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way those 40 years in the wilderness to humble and test you, to humble you and to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. Evidently, the children of Israel weren't faring very well in their humility either. So God humbled them. He put them in a low, unfortunate position to see how they would do. And we know that they did not do well. So, Pharaoh was the top dog in Egypt, but he was proud. Miriam and Aaron wanted to be the top dogs in Israel, but they were proud. Moses was the top dog in Israel, and he was humble. And the Israelites were proud and needed humble. Let's look at a few more passages from Psalms. Psalms 9-12. When God avenges blood, He remembers them. He does not forget the cry of the humble. He does not forget the cry of the humble. I would say this is important. God remembers with favor those who adjust their view of themselves to His view. Psalms 10, 12. Arise, O Lord, O God, lift up your hand. Do not forget the humble. Psalms 10, 17. Lord, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear. Look at the wonderful promises God directs toward those who submit themselves to God, who humble themselves before God. He will hear us favorably. He will listen to us. Psalms 18.27, for you will save the humble people, but will bring down haughty looks. We will see that this is a common theme. The proud will ultimately suffer, the humble will ultimately be rewarded. Psalms 25.9, the humble he guides in justice, and the humble he teaches his way. You ever try and teach a proud person? They can't be taught. They know everything. The humble admit, God, you are God, I don't know, but I'm listening, so if you'll tell me, I will learn. The humble, God will teach. Do you want to be taught by God? Remain humble. Psalms 34.2, my soul shall make its boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear of it and be glad. The humble are always glad when that position is shared by others. It's a wonderful like-mindedness when we all see ourselves as being God's in control. We were talking in Sunday school about people who will submit to God's Word because they understand. I don't know anything, but God knows everything. And then you have the alternative of people who come up with stuff out of the blue, and they're going by it, and they have no idea what they're talking about. But they're proud. So it's sweet to be around people who recognize God's authority over their lives. We have so much in common when that's the case. Then Psalms 147.6, the Lord lifts up the humble. He cast the wicked down to the ground. Psalms 149.4, for the Lord takes pleasure in his people. He will beautify the humble with salvation. beautifying the humble with salvation. That's what we're after. And just for good measure, two more passages. Isaiah 57, 15. For thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy, I dwell in the high and holy place. All right, we've got that perspective, who God is, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit. to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. If we will humble ourselves, God will lift us up. If we will humble ourselves, God will teach us. If we will humble ourselves, God will lead us and he will bless us. 1 Peter 5.6, therefore humble yourself under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time. All of this was to make the point that humility is not some optional trait that some wonderful self-effacing Christians might someday reach. Humility is a condition of one's heart that is foundational to one's salvation. A person in their pride will never see nor admit to their need for salvation. It's only in humility, only as we see ourselves from God's perspective, that we can cry out for salvation and humbly receive it as the wonderful gift that it is. Now back to our text in verse 37, there's just one more point. Noticing the wording that Christ couches this all in, he says, whoever receives one of these little children in my name, in my name, Now, just like in prayer, in Christ's name isn't like some kind of stamp that we use to assure that we're going to get what we ask for. I want a new Cadillac, and to make sure I get it, I'll put it in Jesus' name. No, in Christ's name means in His stead, according to His purpose, according to His plan, according to His designs and His restrictions. So what He is saying is that we must be doing this inclusion of the least without status in the way He wants it done and for His ultimate glory. In other words, the only reason we're doing evangelism, the only reason we're doing discipleship, the only reason we are ministering to other believers is because it pleases Him and we want to please Him. We aren't doing it because it sure would be nice to have another tithing member. We don't do it because we have some idea of what a growing church ought to look like and we've read enough paperbacks that we want to look that way. We aren't doing it because this gives us another person we can somehow use to look better or gain strokes for our flesh. Remember, everything about the kingdom of God is ultimately about the glory of Christ. It is by Him and through Him and to Him. And that's why our humility is so necessary and so fitting. So how about us? How about us? Are we humble? Do we regard it as our lot in life to serve others for Jesus' sake? Or do we regard it as our right for them to serve us? How do we react when we're not dealt with as if we are the most important? How do we respond when we're overlooked and even treated as if we're not so very important? That's really how we find out where we stand in our humble meter. We usually learn about pride when it spews out of us in reaction to a slight. We display pride when we take everything personally, instead of realizing everyone has their own issues to deal with. We display pride when we know what God says, but we're gonna do it our way. We display pride when we use words like, how dare you, when someone criticizes us. We display pride when we want the top seat. We display humility when we deal with each other with a genuine concern for the other's best interest, even when that will cause us to sacrifice. We display humility when we're treated like a servant and it doesn't offend us. We display humility when we realize that any slight done to us at all only has importance because of God's perspective. None of us can say that we don't deserve bad treatment. All we need to do is look at what we did to Christ, what we did to God in our lives, in our rebellion, in our sin, and we know we can't say, I don't deserve bad treatment. We deserve God's judgment. Fortunately for us, Christ has taken it for us, but we can only say that another human being doesn't have the right to give it. It's not that we have a right for great treatment. It's just they don't have the right to give us bad treatment. That's what humility says. That's how humility looks at it. What we've seen these last two weeks is what it takes to enter the kingdom of God and what it takes to excel in that kingdom. And it isn't at all to our flesh's liking. It's living in congruence with the real truth, the in-our-guts truth about ourselves, and that's humility. And we stand in very good stead when we come before God with that kind of honesty because He responds so well by giving us His grace and mercy when we come to Him as we truly are. Let's close in prayer. Lord, we thank you. We thank you that you value humility and you value the least of these because we are them. We come to you from your perspective as the least of these. We have nothing to ascribe to our value or our worth. We bring nothing to your picnic. We come before you with no merit whatsoever of any kind to win your acceptance and your approval for you to receive us. But receive us, you do. And we are so very, very thankful for that. Help us to flesh this out, to show our appreciation for your love for us in our treatment of others and in our view of ourselves, and that we would see ourselves as you see us, so we can act toward others the way you want us to. And we ask all this in Jesus' name, amen.