As parents, we sometimes wonder if it is all worth it. We are tired from the week of work and all the activities in which we have engaged ourselves and our children. Getting ready for worship on Sunday and actually going is a hassle. We don’t want to feel that way, but if we are honest with ourselves, we do. Not only do we have to get ourselves ready, but we also have to get our children ready. Then, when we get them there, all they want to do is squirm, color, cry, and go to the bathroom; and those are just the teenagers! We’re not “getting anything out of it” and, apparently, our children aren’t “getting anything out of it.” Do they even pay attention? Do they understand what is going on? Have they thought about what a blessing it is to be in the presence of God? Apparently not. They don’t seem to be thinking about this at all. All of this can be a bit overwhelming and discouraging at times, especially when you are worn out. Why bother?
“Why bother?” is a good question. Jesus’ band of disciples didn’t think it was all that important to have children in the presence of Jesus. Luke doesn’t tell us specifically in chapter 18 why the disciples rebuked the parents and tried to keep the children from coming into Jesus presence, but from the evidence gathered throughout the Gospel, we are on pretty solid ground to understand that they didn’t think that the children were important enough to be that close to the King. They’re not great warriors. They’re not intellectual giants. They’re not even potty-trained! They can’t possibly be useful because they are whining and crying as their parents are bringing them to be touched by the Messiah. Who has time for that? We need to make better use of our time and the King’s time. Jesus wasn’t pleased. He thought it was important that they are touched by him, so his disciples better start thinking that it is important that these children be touched by him.
We don’t have Jesus’ bodily presence with us now. He is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. But Jesus hasn’t left us without his presence. He is present with us by his Spirit in his body, the church. In the church, our children are touched, embraced, and blessed by Jesus. This happens at the font, from the pulpit, and at the Table, and when other members speak to and embrace your children … even when they don’t understand everything that is going on … even when we don’t understand everything Jesus is doing for our children there. Today, we bring our children to Jesus like those first-century parents when we bring them into the presence of his body in worship where his arms embrace them and his hands touch them.
Those parents brought their children to Jesus for him to touch them. They probably didn’t understand the depth of healing that the touch of Jesus would bring, but they had the faith enough to bring their children to Jesus in order to be touched by him, desiring for him to do his work. We bring our children to Jesus today in worship by faith, just like these parents. We don’t know all that Jesus is doing with them. They don’t understand all that Jesus is doing with them. But we walk by faith and not by sight. If we, in childlike faith, bring our children to him for his healing touch, he will touch them. He will do a work in them. He doesn’t require that we completely grasp everything before we can receive his good gifts. He only requires that we look to him with helpless dependence. When we do, he assures us that he will bless. Jesus loves the little children.
