I want to start out this morning by thanking everyone who worked so hard to make science camp happen again this year. I saw a lot of smiling faces this week as little scientist experimented with oxidization, strong and weak acids, and baking soda snakes. I loved hearing them all sing “Jesus loves me” and I am looking forward to seeing their volcanoes explode. It is a lot of work to put smiles on those little faces and I think I can speak for the entire team when I say we are exhausted. I imagine this is how young parents must feel every week when they chase down their children, wrestle them into their car seats, and drag them (sometimes kicking and screaming) into church.

I often get asked by parents of little children if it is really worth bringing their crying, screaming, fussing children to church when they spend most of their time trying to shush them and running back and forth from the crybaby room. I remember when my wife and I had a 2-year-old toddler and a 0-year-old baby we were bringing to church. Well really my wife brought them because I was doing my pastor stuff. I remember it was pretty hard on my wife. I used to ask her after services were over if she liked the sermon. She would look at me with this look on her face like I just asked her if she thought that the Keebler elves were really aliens from the planet Flabnar that escaped persecution on their home planet only to be enslaved here on earth by the evil Keebler corporation and forced to shoot cookie commercials from a studio in area 51. Handing me one of our children, she would say through clenched teeth “I didn’t hear your sermon.”

Why do we do it? Why do we as a church go through the effort each year of hosting a science camp for the little children in our community and why do you as parents go through the effort every Sunday of bringing your little children to church? Today three verses from Mark 10 are going to answer those questions for us.

Our lesson takes place as Jesus was making his last trip to Jerusalem. As thoughts of suffering and death no doubt swirled around his mind, mobs of people swirled about His body. Over the last three years Jesus’ popularity among the people grew as news of the miracles He performed and the lessons He taught spread. So, it is no real surprise that we read in verse 13, “People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them”. Likely these parents had heard what a touch from Jesus had done for other children. Jesus had already raised Jairus’s daughter back to life, He had already expelled one demon from a Syrophoenician woman’s daughter and another demon from a Galilean man’s son, and just a few days ago, when the disciples were arguing which one of them was the greatest disciple, Jesus held a little child in His arms and said, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me.” Jesus had repeatedly made it abundantly clear that He loves little children. Therefore, it does not at all surprise us that these parents would bring their little children to Jesus in the hopes that He might bless them.

What is surprising is the attitude the disciples had about the little children. Mark tells us “the disciples rebuked” the parents for bringing their children to Jesus. This surprises us because children in our culture enjoy an almost godlike status. Advertisers cater to them, coaches coddle them, and educators indulge them. But 2,000 years ago, children had few rights and privileges. Children in this culture had a lower status than a slave. A slave could at least offer hard labor and add to the resources of the family, a child on the other hand was too weak to work and simply consumed the resources of the family. When the parents brought the little children to Jesus the disciples determined that they were not worth the effort and attempted to shoo them away.

14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. When Jesus saw how the disciples were treating the little children, He becomes indignant. The only other time Mark tells us Jesus became angry was with the hard-hearted Pharisees. And this is the only time that this strong word, indignant, is used to describe an emotion from Jesus. I don’t imagine Jesus often trembled with rage, I don’t imagine His voice often sent icy chills down the spines of His listeners, I don’t imagine the look in His eyes often caused people to cower before Him, .... But I do imagine if ever there was a time that those things happened it was when Jesus became indignant with His disciples.

Jesus was not happy with the way the disciples were neglecting the little children and He is not exactly thrilled with the way we neglect them either. Now, you might be surprised that I would suggest we are guilty of neglecting the little children. I just said children in our culture enjoy near godlike status, but you see, that is the problem. We don’t value our children too little; we value them too much and in so doing we become guilty of neglect. Let me explain. Jesus commands us to bring our children to Him. But instead, we like to pretend we are progressive parents and delegate all the spiritual heavy lifting to our children saying things like, “I don’t believe in forcing my faith on my child. I’ll let him or her decide for themselves what they want to believe.” Further, we are so afraid of upsetting our children that our attempts to curb their sinful behavior with a correction or a rebuke is halfhearted at best. Finally, somehow, we convince ourselves that our children possess insight and understanding beyond their years and can guide themselves to God with little to no input from us. We don’t value our children too little; we value them too much and in so doing we become guilty of neglect.

The little children were brought to Jesus by their parents and Jesus commands us to bring our children to Him because our children will not come to Jesus on their own. John 3:6 tells us, “Flesh gives birth to flesh”. Our children inherited our sinful nature and in that sinful nature they cannot and do not seek God. Romans 8:7 tells us, “the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.” I know we don’t want to believe that the sinful nature of every child is bent toward Satan and damnation and away from Jesus and salvation, but in Ephesians 2:1-2 God tells us our children were “dead” in their transgressions and sins and “followed the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of air.” To believe our children do not need us to bring them to Jesus is ignorance, it is laziness, it is neglect, and it causes Jesus to become indignant with us.

Jesus wants the little children, all the little children, even little children who are guilty of neglect; even little children like you and me to come to Him. Jesus said, “15 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Jesus invites us to come to Him with childlike faith. A childlike faith is first and foremost a humble faith, It hears the admonition from an indignant Jesus and admits failures and shortcomings, it confesses sins like neglect. A child like faith is a thankful faith, it recognizes that we have not earned, and we do not deserve the forgiveness our heavenly Father gives us, and it is filled with gratitude when He gives it to us anyway. A child like faith is an obedient faith, it is not interested in being a progressive parent and it is not afraid to give a rebuke a child, when necessary, rather it seeks to obey commands like “let the little children come to me” and “do not hinder them”. Jesus doesn’t just want the little children to come to Him, He wants us to come to Him He wants us to come to Him with a childlike faith.

Jesus commands us to bring our children and He invites us to come to Him with a childlike faith so that He can show them and us how much He loves us. In Mark 10:16 tells us, “16 And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.” Just over the horizon loomed the dark shadow of the cross. This was as I said, Jesus’ last trip to Jerusalem. There was still so much to be done and very little time to do it, but Jesus made time for the little children. Jesus picked them up, wrapped His arms around them, and blessed them. I bet it was one of those big hugs that held on to those little children so tightly that for a moment they felt like they were the most important thing in all the universe. I bet when Jesus wrapped His arms around each little child and hugged them, they knew Jesus loved them.

Jesus can’t help Himself from also wrapping His arms around you and your children. The cross no longer looms on the horizon for Jesus. The dark hour that demanded payment for our sinful neglect has come and gone. Jesus died on the cross to forgive your sin and the sins of your children and He rose from the dead to secure your salvation and your children’s salvation. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, you and they are a dearly loved children of the heavenly Father. So, it comes as no surprise to us that each week Jesus invites us to come and bring our children to a place where His word is proclaimed, and His sacraments are administered. Through word and sacrament Jesus wraps His arms around all His little children. Through word and sacrament Jesus wraps His arms around you and He wraps His arms around me and makes us feel like we are the most important thing in all the universe. Through Word and sacrament Jesus assures us and He assures our children that He loves us.

The love that Jesus has for us and for our children is why we do what we do. The love that Jesus has for the little children, all the little children, even little children like me and you, are the reason why we go through the effort each year of hosting a science camp for the little children in our community and it is why you as parents go through the effort every Sunday of bringing your little children to church? We come and we bring our children, and we invite you to come and bring your children so that Jesus can wrap His arms around all of us, so that we and ours and you and yours can know how much Jesus loves us. We come and we invite you to come at the invitation of our Savior who said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Amen