And now a word from the land of Hermeneutical Irresponsibility...
The Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost Fountain of Youth Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen. Christ our Lord says all sorts of things in today’s Gospel, but He keeps returning to the littlest children of the Church: verse 3, “Turn and become like a child”; verse 5, “Do not cause these little ones who believe in Me to sin”; verse 10, “Do not despise—do not overlook, neglect, or fail to take seriously—these little ones”; finally, verse 15, “It is not the will of My Father in heaven that even one of these little ones should perish.” Dear Christian friends: When Jesus told Nicodemus, “you must be born again” (John 3:3), He was talking about the new birth, the birth of “water and the Spirit” (John 3:5). He was talking about becoming a child again. When Jesus said to Nicodemus, “you must be born again,” He was talking about Baptism. We should consider the possibility that Jesus is talking about the very same thing here in today’s Gospel. “Unless you turn,” says the Lord; “unless you become like a child,” says the Lord, “you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” • What is this turning that the Lord requires, if not the turning—that is, the repentance—that God Himself creates in Baptism? John the Baptist came, “proclaiming a Baptism of repentance—that is, a Baptism of turning—for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3). “Repent, that is, be baptized” is also how Peter likewise later preached (Acts 2:38). • Again, how can we “become like a child”—how can we become “one of these little ones” who believe in Jesus—unless God Himself first gives us “the right to be called a children of God; children born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). So there are very strong baptismal possibilities for us in today’s Gospel, and that is a good thing. If today’s Gospel is not a baptismal Gospel, then it is a brutal Gospel. If today’s Gospel is not a baptismal Gospel, then it swings like a club and bites like a dog. • “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin,” says Jesus, “it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” According to these Words, we each should be looking at the world from the bottom of the lake. Sinning against a baby is as easy as approaching with a big smile and a friendly, “goo, goo,” only to end up making the baby cry for fear of you. If today’s Gospel is not a baptismal Gospel, then the only sounds coming out of your mouth right now should be “glug, glug.” • Again the Lord says in today’s Gospel, “See to it that you do not despise one of these little ones.” Despising something can be as simple as neglecting or overlooking it. Who among us bypassed a child for the sake of focusing attention upon his parents? Who can even remember? If today’s Gospel is not a baptismal Gospel—that is, a Gospel that intends to put you in mind of your Baptism—then there is not much comfort here for us. Stated another way, if this Gospel is not a baptismal Gospel, then it is not really a gospel, but a law: instruction and demand and warning and threat. In order to survive this Gospel, we should give careful consideration to its baptismal possibilities. We should place our Lord’s Words in today’s Gospel right next to our Lord’s Words to Nicodemus in John chapter 3. We should do this because Jesus says virtually the same thing in both places—and we know John chapter 3 speaks about Baptism. • Jesus says here, “Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” • Jesus says nearly the same thing in John chapter 3: “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Once again, • What is this turning that the Lord requires, if not the turning—that is, the repentance—that God Himself creates in Baptism? • How can we become children again, unless God performs a miracle? Now we should take another run through today’s Gospel and we should do so with our Baptisms in mind. If we do, the Words that once bit like a dog will suddenly transform themselves. In your Baptism, the threats in this Gospel turn into divine promises of great, eternal security for you. Each and every baptized Christian—including you—each and every baptized Christian is what Jesus calls “one of these little ones who believe in Me.” Here is why that is good news for you: • Christ Jesus your God has so closely identified Himself with you that He considers Himself to be you and you to be Him. Your body is His body and His body is yours. Your mind is His mind and His mind is your mind. Your sins are His sins and His perfection is your perfection. Jesus so closely identifies Himself with you in Baptism that He says about you here in today’s Gospel, “Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me.” • Christ Jesus your God also jealously watches over you, carefully guarding and protecting you. He will act very aggressively against those who might tempt you and lead you into sin. As you heard concerning yourself and all the baptized of Christ, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to be drowned.” • Jesus so earnestly wants you to be included in the preaching of His Gospel and in His forgiveness of sins that He sternly says to His disciples, His apostles, His New Testament writers, “See that you do not despise one of these.” Do not overlook them. Do not neglect them. I am sending you Twelve Disciples out into the world with My life-giving Words of forgiveness upon your lips and with My life-strengthening meal of Holy Communion in your hands. See that you do not despise one of these. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father. These, too, will one day see the Father’s face.” • Jesus desires your eternal life. Jesus desires your bodily resurrection from the dead. Jesus desires your forgiveness of sins. His Father in heaven desires the very same things. That is why Jesus also says concerning you in today’s Gospel, “It is not the will of My Father who is in heaven that even one of these little ones should perish.” • The best thing about a baptismal approach to today’s Gospel is that it helps us avoid idealizing children. The Scriptures teach us to believe that our sons and daughters are just as sinful as we are. That is why we bring them to Baptism in the earliest days of their infancy. Child-like innocence is NOT what saves people. The child-like innocence of sins washed away in Baptism IS what saves. Children are not born innocent, but are soon made innocent in “the washing of rebirth and renewal in the Holy Spirit,” as Paul says in Titus chapter 3. That same innocence has been likewise given to you by your Christ. Jesus commands you to “turn and become like children so that you may enter the kingdom of heaven,” but then—as always—Jesus fulfills for you the very thing He requires of you. You are each the littlest children of the Church. Baptism is your fountain of youth. In it you will never die. “It is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that even one of you little ones should perish” and your heavenly Father always gets His way. _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list Sermons@cat41.org http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
