Episode 33: 3/23/09

Readings:

Psalm 89:1-18
Jeremiah 16:10-21
Romans 7:1-12
John 6:1-15

Sermon:

“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”
First Peter 2:2 and 3

Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

For them he had so much work to do, so much work left to do…

As the word of his miracles spread from place to place the crowds would grow, people would come from far and wide, in multitudes that seemed to be just beyond comprehension, to touch his robes, to lay their hands upon him, to have him touch them and feel the power of his healing overtake them. For a simple teacher of the word, it seemed incomprehensible. His work, it just never seemed to be done, there was always one more.

Willingly Christ would give of himself, willingly he would sacrifice of himself, always placing those needs of those people at the forefront of his thoughts, offering unto those who came before him, the healing that they so longed for, granting them the peace and the comfort that so often seem to allude them. He would go to their homes, he would make his way through the crowds, all to find that one person who needed a miracle that would come to encompass their lives, and he would grant it unto them, making the lame walk, raising the dead, showing love to those who had lived their lives met with nothing but scorn and contempt. He would give until the average person could not have given any more and still he would offer a little bit more of himself.

Protective of him, his disciples would try to spare him from what they considered to be needless wastes of his time, realizing just how demanding everything had to have been for him.

So when the children would come to Christ, when they would line up to see him, to be with him for even a moment, the disciples would turn them away, telling them that the Savior, he did not have time for childish things, he did not have the time to spend with them, there was so much more that he could do and needed to do, there were just better uses of his time.

Yet hearing this Christ would admonish them, telling them to bring the children unto him, and then, with his voice of wisdom he would teach them a little bit more about faith. “2And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:2-4)

Throughout the bible and, in our text today, we are given the same imagery… children…

Why though?

Faith is a mystical thing, it is beyond description, beyond most human understanding, it is a force in this world that us to a greater awareness and appreciation of God’s great love for us. After all, In the Epistle to the Hebrews we are told “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) How can we then put a human definition to it?

Yet as we grow older, as age and time seems to catch up on us, we need to understand, we need to comprehend, we need to just get it. Those things that we can’t quite seem to grasp or that seem to be beyond logic and reason we tend to dismiss or make light of, pretending as if it doesn’t quite matter. After all, we outgrew leprechauns and unicorns and mystical beings when we were still children. Many times we put faith and God in that same category, those things that we have outgrown. We can’t look upon it with those same eyes or with that same heart, too much of the world has revealed itself to us and it has opened our eyes far too wide, there we just can’t see things like we once did.

But God… God doesn’t reveal Himself like that to us. Ever present, He is everywhere around us, shining forth in the miracle of all creation but He only reveals Himself in certain ways and in certain places within our lives. Often times it’s in ways that we perhaps don’t see at first or that don’t make a lot of sense to us to begin with but with time and faith it reveals itself unto us to show us the fullness of His divine plan within our lives. We then have to put the wisdom of this world, the knowledge of this world, aside and find ourselves abiding in a deeper sense of trust in Him.

The faith of a child…

Children may not understand all of things of this world, looking upon it with fresh eyes, with new eyes that are opened for the first time, they see things as miracles. They don’t necessarily know how their needs will be met but they do know that they will be and that they will be provided for. They believe because it’s natural for them to believe, because they are inclined to see the wonders of all creation for what they are… wondrous and astounding, amazing and marvelous. They don’t try to explain away that which has no explanation nor do they seek to use the wisdom of this world to define that which transcends this world.

No, they just marvel and belief.

When Christ tells the disciples to bring the little children unto him, when St. Peter tells us to desire the word of the Lord as the babe desires the milk of his mother that it may make us strong they say it unto us so that we can understand that our faith, it must be seen as miraculous, it must be understood as something that rises above the wisdom of this world and that will provide for us always the sustenance that we need to survive and to live our lives. We are told this so that we can see the signs and the wonders for what they truly are, and for what they can and will do in our lives, so that we don’t just live in a cold world where everything has to be placed in a box and labeled, then put on its right shelf for us to take down when we want or when we need or when we are seeking an explanation.

The faith of a child dwells in a deep and lasting sense of trust and so to must our faith abide in the same if we truly are to be the children of God.

Therefore seek not the wisdom of this world to define you or to define your knowledge or your reason, seek instead that unchanging, unwavering, inalienable love of God that grants peace and comfort, assurance and security to even the most hurt and the most wounded of souls. Trust in the healing power of Christ to grant the contentment that often times seems so elusive in this world around us, knowing that through it all he will be there for you, seeking to draw you closer to him. Know that the Spirit of the Lord is there for you always as that ever existing, ever comforting presence that calls you to the true wisdom, the true knowledge that unlocks the keys to the mysteries of life.

Lord, grant this trust unto us all.

Now may the peace of the Lord, that peace that transcends all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus even unto life everlasting, Amen.