So last week was Thanksgiving and my dear sweet mom and mother-in-law headed out on Black Friday to do some shopping. I never heard back from them. In fact, I think they're still out there. I'm actually quite concerned...six days is just too long! They actually did come back and I'm sure our house will be even more crowded with stuff for the kids. Yes, the Christmas season is here and with it I get the joy of watching my children experience all the fun for the first time. I sat with them the other night watching "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and they were mesmerized. Remember Rudolph? All the deer hate him, Santa the bigot is ready to put him out of his misery, the coach endorses team bullying, hunters won't even shoot him because of that nose. They get his mom somewhere in the middle...wait, no that's Bambi. Anyway, I think I've seen Rudolph, Cornelius, and that Dentist Elf's adventures every Christmas since I was three years old. There's not much going on in the way of surprises. But watching my three and four year old enjoy it meant so much to me. Like I said they could not take their eyes off the screen...they didn't know what was going to happen next. I think they were quieter than I've ever seen them. All of this made me think about being a child, so engrossed and captivated by what the adults take for granted, but allowing yourself to remain focused on what was important.
You know, Jesus talked a little bit about this type of thing. In the Book of Matthew, the disciples are sitting around discussing who's going to be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Can you imagine Jesus sitting around and listening to these conversations? It had to be like me sitting and listening to my girls arguing about who was taller? "NO EMMA!!! I three and I taller...I getting bigger and bigger!" "No Piper, I'm taller because I'm the older sister. You're like a baby." That response garnered Emma a punch from Piper in the hopes that her fist might make Emma shrink a little. So Matthew 18:1-4 states: "At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Then He called a child to Him and had him stand among them. "I assure you," He said, "unless you are converted and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child—this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Jesus calls this kid up to him and tells these disciples, so eager to know who will be first in heaven, that none of them will be more than this kid in the Kingdom of God. The disciples had to be asking themselves, "Who is this kid??" In the first-century children were not thought of very highly. Jesus grabs this kid, points to him, and tells the disciples that they need turn away ("change" or "convert"...the author uses the Koine Greek term which would have indicated a severe rebuke) from their preoccupation with status and must humble themselves like children. The disciples would need to share a condition of utter dependence, in this case, Jesus is really telling them to completely depend on God. Jesus gives children great value by recognizing that the humility of children is usually not a subjective attitude (children very rarely act humbly) but an objective state (children are usually completely and utterly dependent on adults for their protection and well-being). The disciples needed to stop thinking of themselves as humble and instead to simply live humbly.
As I sat there watching my kids, focused on this show, and completely enjoying the comfort provided by their parents I realized that too often I am like the disciples, wondering what's next, intent on the future, and not simply content to be warm in the care of those who love me watching a ridiculous show and laughing out of pure joy of being alive. Often times I am so worried about praying for God to bless me and those I care about that I do not realize how much He has already filled my life with His blessings. My children are some of those blessings and I need to thank God daily for the encouragement that they bring and the lessons that I can learn from observing them. I need to allow myself to be humbled and when I do can truly understand what a wonderful life this is.
So go. Go watch Rudolph and sit in fascination at the beauty of dependence. If you have a child, hug her or him and thank God for that child daily. If you don't have a child (like many of the disciples) there is still a lot to be learned from their simplicity and innocence. Let this season draw you closer to the one who initiated it; let Jesus fill your heart with joy and don't let yourself be distracted by the commercialism and the gluttony. "Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child—this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Now go live it out and watch how God reveals to you just a little more of the Kingdom every day.
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