Receiving Children: Mark 9:33-37

          This week's text is from one of Mark's calls to discipleship. It gives us a real window into what the heart of a disciple should look like. Mark 9:33-37 says:

33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
36 He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

          Here, we see an argument erupt among the disciples because they are trying to figure out who the most spiritual disciple is. One can only imagine the criteria that they had laid forth: Understood the most lessons? Most compliments by Jesus? Most popular with the crowds? There doesn't seem to be any solid way of settling the point, so most of the disciples must have imagined that they had some chance at the top spot. After Jesus gives a direct rebuke for their way of thinking, he puts a child in front of them and asks them to receive him because it means the same as receiving Jesus and His Father. So, what does the child have to do with being the very last and servant of all?
          An insight that I've recently gained about this passage is the role of the child in ancient society of Jesus' time. Nowadays, we look at childhood as something to cherish and lavish with love and gifts. Back then, however, children were viewed as non-persons with little value outside of what they could contribute to work. If they ever get in the way of a lesson or meeting, the first thought was to kick them out, without regard for the feelings of the child. Here, in the deepest moments of Jesus' training, the child would seem to be out of place, especially during a moment of rebuke. There is serious work to be done and no one has time for a child. However, Jesus points out that being a good disciple requires receiving children, otherwise known as the non-persons of our own society. So, a more modern interpretation of this passage might have Jesus putting a prisoner or homeless person on his knee and telling us that we must receive them and that we also receive Jesus and His Father when we do so. 
           When we see that even children are supposed to be seen as contributors to our community, we stop worrying about who contributes the most to the bottom line. Value and membership in our churches and social groups should not be based on who has the most to contribute. In fact, how we view contribution should be radically different. God requires us to value people with new eyes. We are no longer to look for the smart, religious, well-dressed or popular people to pay the most attention to in our social settings. This implies that these people are less in need of God's grace or can somehow add value to themselves outside of what God has done for them. When we make time for the social outcast among us, we make a value statement: we accept you because God accepts you. Any lack on your part doesn't take away your value, but is an opportunity for us all to grow in love and compassion.
            This, then, should also reflect on how we value ourselves in addition to other people. Jeremiah 9:23-24 affirms this:

23 This is what the Lord says:
“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
    or the strong boast of their strength
    or the rich boast of their riches,
24 but let the one who boasts boast about this:
    that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
    justice and righteousness on earth,
    for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.

             We are not to value anyone based off of wisdom, strength, or riches (even if this is spiritual wisdom, strength, or riches). Each person is fully able to contribute to the kingdom of God. This can be seen even more if we look at the Beatitudes in Luke 6:20-26:

 20 Looking at his disciples, he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
    for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
    for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
    for you will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when people hate you,
    when they exclude you and insult you
    and reject your name as evil,
        because of the Son of Man.
23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich,
    for you have already received your comfort.
25 Woe to you who are well fed now,
    for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
    for you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
    for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

          There is more at play here than just the possession or lack of money. Here, we are seeing God rescuing and valuing the people that society would normally cast away as worthless. Don't be fooled into thinking I'm asking you to do something simple, like volunteering for an hour or two to serve homeless people behind a barricade (as good as that actually is). Instead, the people you see and come into contact with on a daily and weekly basis need to be valued and loved. God calls us to look on the outcasts of our own circles with new eyes of love and acceptance. Let us move forward in God's way.
           In conclusion, let us meditate on Psalm 86:11-13:

 11 Teach me your way, Lord,    that I may rely on your faithfulness;give me an undivided heart,    that I may fear your name.12 I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart;    I will glorify your name forever.13 For great is your love toward me;    you have delivered me from the depths,    from the realm of the dead.

Peace of Christ to you,
Simeon Snow