Jump Start # 3372

 Matthew 18:3 “and said, ‘Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of Heaven.’”

I was preaching in another congregation recently. At the end of the sermon, I told the story about Jimi, the powerful example of a man on death row who read the Bible on his own and wanted to become a N.T. Christian. Jump Start #3348 tells Jimi’s story.

We sang an invitation song after I told Jimi’s story. It was a hymn I had never sung before. It’s called, “Praise the Lord, I’m coming home.” The ending chorus says, “…with each day I get closer to Heaven; praise the Lord, I’m coming home.” Tears were running down my cheeks. I was thinking about Jimi. The next morning, I wrote Jimi and told him about that church service and I referred to those powerful words in that chorus. My letter to him ended with “Praise the Lord, I’m coming home.”

Today, Jimi is to be executed. Forgiven by the grace of God, Jimi will sing hymns with the Heavenly Host. My heart is heavy thinking about Jimi. He wrote a letter that he wanted me to read to our congregation, thanking them for thinking about him. He was amazed how far and wide and touching his story became. He said that he looked forward to standing before us and thanking us in person. He wasn’t thinking about getting out of prison. It wasn’t a dream to come to Indiana and stand before our congregation. He was thinking about Heaven. He was anticipating thanking us when we see each other in Heaven.

Now, some thoughts:

First, the love and faith and courage found in Jimi is so fresh and impressive. There are so many things that Jimi doesn’t know or understand. He hasn’t sat in Bible classes for decades as many of us have. He has never heard a sermon before. He never sang with other Christians. He never took the Lord’s Supper. Locked away in solitary awaiting his execution, Jimi prayed and read his Bible. His faith is like a child’s. His heart is as big as the universe.

Sometimes we get down into the weeds and argue about the meaning of words and the applications of passages, and that simplistic, child-like faith, found in Jimi and longed for by the Lord, is often missing among us. The “lawyers” that often tested and challenged Jesus, were not the kind found in courtrooms. They were “experts” in the law of God. They knew the law and they knew meanings of words. Some of the modern commentaries are written that way. This word comes from that word which means this and is a form of that. And, after about three paragraphs of that stuff, one is so confused that he is none the better before reading those pages. A simple, trusting heart that may not know where the root words come from or how it is connected here and there, but simply believes in Jesus, like Jimi, catches the eyes of God. In lowering our nets so deep into Scriptures, I wonder if we have forgotten the qualities of a child-like faith. A child will ask, “Why is the sky blue?” You answer, “God made it that way.” And, before you can say anything about light rays and reflection and atmosphere, the child has gone on his merry way. He doesn’t understand or even care about light rays. God made the sky blue. Cool. That’s all he needed to know.

Second, how many among us have a gold mine of Bible classes, blogs, podcasts, sermons and so many resources that we let slide by because we are “too busy.” Too busy may well be our curse. Too busy to learn, when Jimi would love to have what you have. Too busy to connect, when Jimi would love to have a fellowship of believers. Too busy to attend. Too busy to pray. Too busy is just too busy. Jimi’s situation is very unique. Even when Paul was in prison, he had fellowship and worshiped with the people of God. Not Jimi. His conversion came while behind bars. Except for a few Bible studies once a week and some Jump Starts that I mailed to him, he was alone. No one to encourage him. No one to ask questions to. But, with that wonderful faith, he longed to see the Lord.

Third, I think of all the fussin’, gossipy ways that some spend their days engaged in, while a man sitting in prison is thinking about going to Heaven. It’s shameful the way some act these days. Give me a dozen Jimi’s. Innocent. Naïve. Pure. Trusting. Just wanting to go to Heaven.

Today, Jimi dies.

Praise the Lord, I’m coming home.

Roger

Jump Start # 3213

Matthew 18:3 “and said, ‘Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of Heaven.”

This is Thanksgiving week. It’s nearly swept away because of all the hype around Christmas. Being thankful is in the DNA of a disciple. And, this week, we want to share several aspects of thankfulness in our Jump Starts. We hope these will propel you to be thankful and maybe even share these with others and use these as starting points for family discussions and devos.

In our verse today, Jesus tells the disciples that they need to be converted. That word  means to change. And, right there, something we take for granted, is what we need to be so thankful for. You and I can change. What a wonderful blessing that is. The old hardcore Calvinistic doctrine taught that only certain people could change. Only the ones that God chose could change. Unless you were one of the lucky ones, or elect, as they would formally call them, you couldn’t change. But thanks be to God that such isn’t the case. Whosoever, surely meanth me, as the hymn states.

You can change. Think about that.

First, some of us have not grown up in good homes. Maybe neglect and sin were as common as the morning breakfast cereal. Maybe angry words filled the air every day. Your home doesn’t have to be like that. You don’t have to keep the broken cycle going. You can have a home filled with Christ. You can have grace and forgiveness. Your marriage doesn’t have to be diseased and selfish. You don’t have to repeat the patterns that you have witnessed in the past. You can change.

Second, you can change your thinking. The old say, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” might be true, but you and I are not old dogs. We are made in the image of the living God. We can be kind. We can be thoughtful. We can swim against the current culture. We can be holy. We can be filled with Christ. We can be as strong spiritually as we want to be. There are no limits.

Third, we can drop old habits and create new ones. For some, lying as been a part of their life as long as they can remember. Others have been offensive and mean. Some have been lazy. Some have not had a spiritual thought in their head for a long, long time. It doesn’t have to stay that way. You can change. You can get down to the church house every time the doors are opened. You can memorize God’s word. You can get busy helping others. You can please the Lord. You don’t have to stay the way you are. You can change.

Fourth, you can change the way God sees you. This is most remarkable. We have sinned against Heaven. We have disappointed the Lord. We have let the Lord down. Every sin is a sin against God. We have chosen Satan over our Savior. We have chosen self over God. We have chosen the world over Heaven. We have chosen now over eternity. We have lived as if there was no God. But, we changed. We were converted. We can please the Lord. We can become like children who are trusting and believing.

A sad moment in our culture today is that people want to change anything and everything but their hearts. They want to change what gender they are. Before long, they’ll try to change their race. After, that, their species. Before long, someone will declare that he is a “trans-alien.” In all of this nonsense, what needs to be changed are our hearts. And, thankful to God, we can.

You can be as spiritual, positive, thoughtful and kind as you want to be. In a dark world, you can choose to be light. In a lost world, you can be saved. In a world that is confused, you can be certain. The freewill given to us by God allows all of that. We can reject the false things that we have been told. We can see ways that are not working towards Heaven and turn from them. Change, what a blessing that is. You don’t have to be wealthy to change. You don’t have to have an arm full of college degrees to change. Any of us can. All of us can.

This works not only in us, but in our families and in our congregations. Churches do not have to be lukewarm like Laodicea. They can change. Our families do not have to be negative. We can be a blessing to one another.

And, the best mechanism to change us is the word of God. Get that word deep in your heart, look at the example of Jesus and see what can take place. You’ll find yourself thinking, “I shouldn’t say that,” so you don’t. You’ll think, “I ought to pray for that person,” so, you do. And, the more and more you allow God’s word to actively work on your heart, the greater changes that will take place.

Be converted as children. I’m thankful we can do that. What a blessing!

Roger

Jump Start # 1690

Matthew 18:3 “and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of Heaven.”

  Jesus said the words of our verse today as he called a child over to Him. The Lord did this to answer the disciples question about position. They wanted to know, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?” This will not be the only time that they wonder about this. We want to be # 1. We want to be recognized, praised and paraded about as the greatest. We want to believe that the company, the church, or, even the world, can’t function well without us. As famed boxer Ali proclaimed, “I am the greatest.” That thinking doesn’t work in the kingdom. Jesus doesn’t have any place for that. Become like a child, that’s what impresses the Lord.

Last week, I got a great lesson in this verse. My wife and I went with our daughter and her husband and their two-year-old to Disney. We spent three days at Disney. It was crowded. It was hot. It was Disney expensive. But none of that mattered because we were more excited to see the expression on a two-year-old’s face and her experience than anything else. There was one ride that we rode over and over because that’s what she wanted to do. We met so many princesses, I didn’t know who many of them were. We ate in the Beast’s castle for dinner and had Mickey Mouse waffles for breakfast. Our little two-year-old did great. She went to sleep in her mother’s arms and never had any melt downs. All through those three days at Disney, I kept looking at the little two-year-old and thinking about this verse. Be like her.

Here are a few things I learned.

Adults worry too much. At the end of the day, tired of a full day, the two-year-old could go to sleep. I found myself waking up at five in the morning, thinking about Jump Starts to write, sermons to preach, up coming presidential election, things I need to do at home, money, and people. It’s hard for adults to let go. It’s hard for us to sleep well. We can’t live like a two-year-old and just play every day. Some try that and it doesn’t work. We have to be responsible. We have to live in a grown up world, but there is an innocence that we seem to lose because of all the problems in the world. More shootings. More racism. More things wrong. Those thoughts keep us up at night and they bring fear and misery to our days. They keep us from enjoying the simple things. We worry too much.

  Adults lose the sense of awe. I think this is one reason why everyone loves Disney. It is a magical place. It brings the child out of us. There was a moment, standing in a long line waiting to meet a princess, that we saw a group of ducks walking about in the grass. Our two-year-old was fascinated by those ducks. She pointed, talked to them and was amazed. She did the same thing when she saw princess. She pointed, got her picture taken and was amazed. It makes me wonder if we have lost the sense of awe when it comes to worshipping our God. Have we seen everything? Has it become normal or even old to us? Is there nothing that makes us point in amazement. I think one memory from this trip that I will never forget, is the expression on the two-year-old’s face and the sparkle in her eyes when she saw things for the first time. There was nothing like that. I hope that I will have that same look when I see Heaven. The Psalmist spoke of the awe of God. We can get so wrapped up in the mechanics of worship that we fail to see who we are worshipping. What an amazing God that we love and follow. Have you considered just what God has done to your life? It doesn’t matter how hard you have had it, God has been there. You have been blessed. Prayers have been answered. He has never left you. He has never given up on you. He has loved you even when you were out in the wilderness of sin. Then there is that cross—that old rugged cross. What He did for you is amazing.

  Adults have issues with trusting. Princesses are beautiful but to a two-year-old they can be overwhelming. She would point to them and get excited, but when one actually came over, immediately our granddaughter would turn to her mommy and want her mommy to hold her. Most of the pictures with the princesses have my daughter holding the two-year-old. She wouldn’t stand there on her own. But in her mommy’s arms, everything was ok. The world was fine in her mommy’s arms. In the airport, on the plane, on the bus to the park, as long as mommy was right there, all was ok. She had no idea what state we were in. She didn’t know anything about the costs of this trip. She didn’t even know that the princesses weren’t real princesses. None of that mattered. She was having a great time and all was ok, because mommy was right beside her. Wow! If we could only live that way with God. Fear. Worry. Unsure. Just reach out to God. We feel that we have to know everything. We want to figure things out. We want solutions. We have to know why. And in thinking this way, we eliminate the need to be close to God. Become like a child. I wonder if Jesus was driving at this trust factor. A rich kid and a poor kid can play together and they don’t care about or even understand who has what. A black kid and a white kid can play together and they don’t get bogged down about racism. Kids can get upset with each other, say mean things, and within the hour are back playing together. They don’t keep things in. They don’t hold a history. There is something there that adults simply can’t get. We remember. We get bothered. We separate because of differences. Someone says something mean and you won’t find us sitting down together an hour later. We’re done. It’s over.

Become children. That’s the greatest in the kingdom. It would do well for all of us to spend an afternoon with a two-year-old. You don’t have to go to Disney. You can just walk about in the backyard. So pure. So trusting. So innocent. So kind. Become like that.

Thanks, Brynnlee, you helped me see some things that I had forgotten!

Roger

Jump Start # 64

Matthew 18:3 ‘Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of Heaven.”

  This passage speaks of two important concepts: change and conditions. The change is found in being converted and becoming like children. The condition is found in that unless we do this we cannot be in the kingdom of Heaven. Both of these concepts are hard. We fight change. We generally are creatures of habit. Many of us drive the same roads, go to the same places to eat, order the same thing on the menu on a regular basis. Even when we are told of other options we stick with what is comfortable. The hardest thing to change is self. It’s a whole lot easier to point out what the other guy needs to change than it is to fix our self. Sometimes change is costly and painful. After a person has been doing things for a long time, it is just hard to stop and change. The doctor may change our diets, such as no salt, even though living longer demands that change, some fuss and fight it. The reason is simple, change is hard.

  Jesus wants us to change. He wants us to be converted and become like children. There is a reason Jesus said this. The chapter begins with the disciples arguing about which one was the greatest in the kingdom. Many thoughts may have entered this debate. Who did Jesus pick first? Who spent most time with Jesus? Who sat with Him last night at dinner? Pride drives such discussions. It is easy to dismiss this by saying “it doesn’t matter,” but actually it did! Such talk illustrates that they weren’t headed for the kingdom. Jesus wanted them to be humble. He wanted them to have the heart of a servant. The best illustration stood right before them and they never saw it.

  Jesus said become like children. There are two sides to that thought. The negative is not what Jesus intended. Some are like children, in the negative way. We use the expression, “they need to grow up.” Childish thinking. Childish behavior. Fits. Pouts. Tantrums. Selfish. Crying if they don’t get their way. This is not what Jesus meant. Some excel in such behavior. They are hard to work with. They ruin marriages. They strain church relationships. These kinds of “children” have never learned that “it’s not about them.”

  What Jesus has in mind are the adorable and positive attributes of children. We can be surrounded by adults so much, especially “childish” adults, that we forget to notice children. They have a sense of awe and excitement about them. They get excited and it’s easy for them to show love and joy. I’ve seen them run in airports and restaurants to give grandpa’s a giant hug. Children love to ask questions. They are curious. They want to know. I wonder if adults either have all the answers, which I doubt, or their curiosity lamp is turned off. Ever see kids at a zoo? They run from exhibit to exhibit. They shout, laugh and basically enjoy life. Ever notice kids playing together? Sometimes they get mad at each other. Tears flow. One runs to find mom. But after a while they are back playing as if nothing ever happened. That’s hard for adults, isn’t it? We remember. We hold grudges. Words are said and we can’t let them go. Children are humble. They don’t understand value and prestige. Economics means nothing to a child. And so they play, the poor child with the rich child. I’ve seen children willing to give away their toys to a neighbor friend who didn’t have that particular toy. Their heart speaks of love and sharing.

  If the disciples spent a day at the park watching children they’d be better off. They’d learn cooperation, sharing, trust and humbleness, the trademarks of the kingdom. But then, what about us? Maybe the same would help us. It’s ok to act like a child, Jesus said so.

 Roger