Ezekiel 33:7-9; Romans 13:1-10; Matthew 18:1-20

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Who is the greatest? It’s a question that we are somehow fascinated with. We love talking or even arguing about who is greater than all the rest. Whether it be in sports, in business, at school, or even at home, there seems to be this need for people to rank themselves and figure out where they stand in that line-up. 

Indeed, be it pride or something else, we all wish to be at the top of that list. Perhaps, we feel that if we are the best at something, we’ll be immortalized because of our accomplishments. Maybe it’s just for the sense of accomplishment itself. Maybe it’s the capability of bragging to others. 

It’s this very question that we find in our Gospel reading this week. The disciples for whatever reason inquire of Jesus about who is the greatest (Matthew 18:1). For so Jesus responds, “And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,” Matthew 18:2-3. The greatest isn’t Peter who makes a bold confession. It’s not the disciple who performs the most miracles. It’s not the one who converts the most people either. For you see, our measures of greatness are out of place in the kingdom of God. 

Even still today, society at large looks down upon children and considers them too burdensome. Many people think children are a hindrance to their life rather than a blessing. We all like to think that we are better than small children. We’re smarter, stronger, wiser, better in every way. But in this, we place our value, our worth upon our utility. We like to measure greatness by what we can do. And dare I remind you… all we do is sin.

It would be better to cut off a hand or foot than be found in hell (Matthew 18:8-9). It would be better to ruin our usefulness, give up our place at the top, than to be cast into eternal fire. It would be better to become like a child so that we may receive the greatness of the kingdom of God! For the greatness of God isn’t found in what we do, but in what God has done for us. God calls us to humble ourselves by confessing our sins, by plucking out the sin from our body, by being reproved by one another and called back into the holy assembly. For a child is one who receives. They are powerless to provide for themselves yet trust they will be cared for. So too the child of God. We trust that we are incapable of earning our place in God’s kingdom, but that on account of Christ’s death on the cross, God shall give to us our place. Like a child, we come before God helpless only to receive the greatness of Christ! 

Pastor Sorenson

Prayer:

O God, from whom all good proceeds, grant to us, Your humble servants, Your holy inspiration, that we may set our minds on the things that are right and, by Your merciful guiding, accomplish them; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen!