Our scripture reading today is Mark 9:33-37.
Then they came to Capernaum. While Jesus was in the house, He asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest.
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the last of all and the servant of all.”
Then He had a little child stand among them. Taking the child in His arms, He said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in My name welcomes Me, and whoever welcomes Me welcomes not only Me, but the One who sent Me.”
May God bless the reading of his word.
Among the many wonderful lessons to be learned in these words, I call your attention to Jesus and the child.
Once, when my oldest girl was about ten and in the Girl Scouts, she wanted to sell cookies door-to-door. She walked around the neighborhood. Later, as we were driving around, I asked her if she had any luck. She said that only the kids were home. My response was, “The people weren’t home?” Out of the mouth of a child came words of wisdom: “Kids are people too,” she said.
In this text, Jesus is telling us the same thing. At that age, children were almost non-persons. Truly, they were to be seen and not heard. By taking a child into his arms, Jesus was saying that everyone is important in the kingdom. He is equating welcoming a child in His name to welcoming Him.
This teaches us the importance of embracing those who may seem unimportant by the world’s standards and recognizing the image of God in everyone. One area church around me is involved in trying to get its members into higher political positions. This is foolishness for a church mission. It’s fine to be a governor or a senator, but it should not matter to the church whether you are a governor or a bus driver.
In the kingdom, rich or poor, famous or obscure, are all the same. There is no earthly status that should matter to the Kingdom.
Lonnie Davis