"Faith Like A Child"

Dangerous Wonder Series

Sunday, June 29, 2008; Matthew 18:1-5

Introduction: Children are amazing! As we watch children grow, it is interesting to see how they make decisions and how they act. In his book, Dangerous Wonder, the book we have been using for this sermon series the last few weeks, author Michael Yaconelli tells of a Christmas that he got an electric train when he was four-years-old. He was so excited to have this new toy he so much wanted. But as family came over, his train got hogged by all the men; he couldn’t get in to play with his own present. So he tried to figure out what he could do. He decided to call the police and report a hijacked electric train….When his dad found out what he was doing, he got on the phone, explained it to the operator, and then made all the men back away so he would play with his own present!!

It is important for us to discover our childlike faith; the passion, curiosity, wonder and grace of a child. The willingness to live with abandon; the desire to listen to the thin silence of God. It is not easy as an adult, but it is possible.

I. Pray like a child-

a. Genuine speaking- Have you ever heard a child pray? Their

prayers are very simple, but honest. Illus. You might have heard these prayers

before, but even still, they are a good reminder of how kids pray… Dear God, maybe Cain and Abel would not have killed each other if they had their own rooms, That’s what my mom did for me and my brother… Dear God, is it true my father won’t get into heaven if he uses his bowling words in the house?… Dear God, I went to this wedding and they kissed right in the church. Is that ok?..Dear Jesus, I want to thank you for going up there on the Cross for us every Good Fridays. You must be real happy when the weekend is over…

Children tell God what they are genuinely thinking. They are honest, simple and direct. They understand that God is listening, and they understand that prayers are very important. Somehow when we become adults, we forget how important praying is. We start to think we have to pray with fancy words, and with a certain formula. SO, first, to have faith like a child, we need to remember our prayers. And our prayers need to be direct, honest, and sincere.

Story: About 10 years ago, Billy Graham came to Sacramento to hold one of his Crusades. The night before the Crusade was to start, one of the choir members was driving home after a long rehearsal. As he was driving through the downtown area, about midnight, he noticed a man slumped over the steps of the capitol building. It was cold outside, and the choir member was moved to help this poor, homeless man. The man was a little nervous, not sure what he might do, and so he carefully walked up behind the man and touched him gently on his shoulder. “Sir, can I help you? Are you okay?” the choir member asked. As the man looked up, he noticed that it was Billy Graham! Billy Graham was praying for the city of Sacramento.

Like a child who really believes in the power of prayer, Billy Graham knows where the power of his Crusades comes from; from God through prayer. Billy Graham knows that there will not be power in his words without prayer. Billy Graham knows that hearts won’t be softened and changed without prayer. Billy Graham knows never to start a Crusade without prayer.

b. Limited Vocabulary- As I have talked to people about prayer, I

know that one of the things that holds people back is vocabulary. If you have ever heard those who are accomplished prayers, pray, you know that there is a certain vocabulary that comes with praying. Those who don’t know this vocabulary feel intimidated when it comes to praying, especially praying out loud. But think of this, children don’t have a large vocabulary. But yet they still pray. Why? Because they don’t know to be embarrassed by their lack of vocabulary. Which is how it should be!

But even beyond words, children pray through hugs, winks, tears, squeezes, laughter, screaming, dancing, and silence. When you and I decide to pray like a child, we can learn that praying is more than our words. For example, let’s say that my daughter hurts herself, and comes up and gets in my lap with tears streaming down her face. Without saying any words, she is asking me: “Daddy, will you please comfort me, and help me through this pain?” That is how we can pray like a child without any words. We might be sitting silently with God, but God sees the pain in our heart, or He sees our tears, or He sees us struggling along, and without us saying any words, as we come quietly to God, WE ARE PRAYING!

Then, as time goes on, the more we pray, the more comfortable we get, and just like a child’s vocabulary grows, our prayer vocabulary will grow. As this happens, we will rely less on our non-verbal prayers, and be able to verbalize our prayers more. It will come will consistency and practice.

II. Ask for help-

a. Over your head- A second aspect of having faith like a child, is

that of asking for help. Children are not afraid to ask for help. They have no problem admitting they are in over their heads. Although, there comes a time when the child will say to you: “I can do it.” During this time, they are trying to learn some independence. But as they try to do it, after they have struggled for a while, they come to you and ask for help.

But we adults have trouble asking for help. We think that once we have become a so-called adult, we have to do it on our own. We have to be independent and self-reliant. We think that if we call for help we will be humiliating ourselves by saying that we are not capable. We think that asking for help is a sign of weakness.

Story: There is a story of a very independent woman who was vacationing in Hawaii. One day, while laying of the beach, she decided it was time to go in the water to cool off. She took her mask along to look at some fish. Fascinated by the fish she began to lose track of where she was swimming. She began to follow a school of very colorful fish. Without realizing it, she began to swim out far from the shore. When she finally looked up, she discovered that she had been caught in a riptide. She then began to swim hard for the shore. It didn’t take her long to realize that she was in trouble. Despite how hard she was swimming, she was actually getting pulled out farther from the shore, but being the determined woman she was, she would not give up; she would not be defeated by the current and the riptide. Finally admitting that she was close to drowning, she began to wave her arms and yell. Fortunately a lifeguard heard her just in time, and was able to drag her back to the shore. It took her almost an hour before she gained enough strength to sit up.

b. Giving in- How many of us are like this woman, independent and

not willing to call for help? How many believe that faith is for saving us from our sin, but then after that we don’t need anyone else? Too many Christians think they don’t need the church. Too many Christians think they don’t need help from other Christians. Too many Christians think they can do it without any help from Jesus.

Faith is not religious positive thinking. It’s not a motivational course, a pep talk, or an exercise in positive self-imagining. Faith is for the helpless. And because of our sinful nature, we all fall into this category of the helpless. We do not come to faith to find a little extra help. We come to faith because without the help of Jesus, we will become exhausted, weakened, ready to give up, and ready to drown.

Faith is not giving up, it is giving in. Giving in to the One, Jesus Christ, who can save us. We cannot LIVE this life God has given us, the way He wants us to live it, without the help of God’s Spirit leading us and empowering us. We cannot LOVE the way we need to love. We cannot SERVE the way we are called to serve. We cannot FORGIVE the way God commands us to forgive. We cannot GIVE with the generosity with which we are directed without God’s help. We must ask for help. And to do this we have to take on the attitude of a child.

III. Embrace your ordinariness- (Matthew 18:1-5)

a. Living the simple- Have you ever noticed that children are taken

by the ordinary as well as the extraordinary. In fact, often times they like the ordinary more. I remember when Tyler was a small child, about 1-year old, he had as much, if not more fun playing with the pots and pans as he did with his fancy toys. Children are not overly impressed with power, or unimpressed with the ordinary. Faith allows us to recognize the indiscriminate power of God that takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary.

EX. I don’t know if you have ever participated in a Taize service, but they are very basic worship services. A Taize style of service is primarily meditative but blends music, word, and silence together. The songs used are often chant-like, and very repetitive. However, it is difficult to worship in this style and experience the presence of God if you have a cluttered lifestyle, because you will find it difficult to slow down and release yourself to God. You will find it difficult to focus, and maybe even become bored. You will not draw from the service what is designed, and will probably walk away disappointed that you didn’t experience more.

We live in a world that is fast paced. We live in a world that is high-tech, with many fancy gadgets. We live in a world that has become disconnected from one another in many ways. We live in a world that has airplanes, and submarines, and flies rockets into outer space. So the ordinary of our world can seem out of place.

I love it in those times when we tell our children that they can’t watch the TV, or play on the computer, or play with their game-boys. I love it, because I watch as they make-up their own games, or as Tyler builds with his Legos, or Tiffany plays with her dolls. You watch how what is now considered more ordinary takes on significance and meaning. You see how they can become fascinated with the simple.

b. Ordinary living- Our faith is to be like this. Faith is not about

always seeing great miracles or experiencing overwhelming feelings. Faith is about living the ordinary, day-to-day life, where we see how God walks with us and guides us each step of the day. Faith is about seeing God in the mundaneness of life, knowing that God can work in the ordinary as well as in the extraordinary.

In our scripture reading this morning, we hear Jesus asking the people this question: “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Now, before Jesus answered this question, the people probably misheard the question, just hearing the words “Who is the greatest?” And the answer for them would be someone of power, or nobleness, or great talent. But Jesus’ answer stuns them, as He says: “Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” The ordinariness of a child; the ordinariness of the humble. This is what is great.

Childlike faith is for ordinary people. People like you and me who know our flaws too well. We know our inconsistencies and understand that the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ liberates us from the oppression of our ordinariness and gives us permission to trust God to make us extraordinary.

IV. Don’t stop playing- (Matthew 21:16)

a. Don’t stop- Story: You might have heard this story before, but it is

fitting for our talk this morning. It is the story of the well-known pianist Ignace Jan Paderewski. Paderewski played a concert in New York one time, where the concert had been sold out 6-months prior to his playing. On the night of the concert everyone came all dressed up (tuxes and fancy dresses). A mother brought her 9-year-old son because she wanted to get him excited about the idea of playing the piano. She believed that if he heard Paderewski play, he would want to do well in his piano lessons, instead of always complaining. She wanted him to see what he could become. As the story goes, right before the concert was to start, the boy wandered away from his mother. The next thing she knew she saw her son sitting at the Steinway piano on the stage. Then, even more to her surprise, he started to play chopsticks on the piano. The people in the audience were furious, and yelled out: “Get that kid off the stage.” “This is an outrage.” “What is this boy doing here?” The startled ushers began to move toward the stage to remove the boy, but then Paderewski himself appeared on the stage. (The boy was oblivious to all that was happening, enjoying his opportunity to play what little he knew). As Paderewski came up behind the boy, he whispered in his ear: “Don’t stop. Keep on playing. You’re doing great.” While the boy continued to play, the great pianist put his arms around the boy and began playing a concerto based on the tune of “Chopsticks.” While the two played, Paderewski kept saying to the boy: “Don’t stop. Keep on playing.”

There will be many times in life where what we do might not be seen to be extraordinary. There will be times in life when we will get frustrated with God. There will be times in life when we might seem to lose faith. There will be times when others are coming down on us, and we get discouraged. In those times, we need to have faith like a child, because God will come up behind us, and whisper to us, “Don’t stop. Keep playing. You’re doing great.”

b. Keep playing- As you look at your life, as you look at your faith,

where do you stand? Some of you may feel strong and secure. Some may have times of strength, but also times of great weakness. Some may feel like they are needing a great boost to their faith. The great college basketball coach, John Wooden, once said: “You are never as good as you think you are, and you are never as bad as others think you are.”

I think this relates to our faith as well. Our faith is not our own, it is a gift from God. But for us to rely on God, we must humble ourselves like a child, and give ourselves over to God. We have to be able to admit that it is not what we can do, but what God can do through us. We don’t have all the answers, and we don’t have all the strength. That comes to us by God, through the Holy Spirit, because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross.

On the front of the bulletin you see a verse from Matthew 21:16, which says: “From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praises.” For God, the praise of a child, is as good, if not better, than the praise of someone who is powerful or holds a position of honor. We have to get it into our understanding that God turns things upside down, and brings honor to those who humble themselves like a child.

Conclusion:

In a Barna survey, the question “What do Americans Want?” was asked. There were six specific conditions that at least 75% of all adults want. The six are: “having good physical health (listed by 85%), living with a high degree of integrity (also 85%), having one marriage partner for life (80%), having a clear purpose for living (77%), having a close relationship with God (75%), and having close, personal friendships (74%).” 75% of Americans say that they want to have a close relationship with God. The problem is that adults let too many issues come between them and God. If we could only have “faith like a child,” then we might be able to let God have a greater role in our lives, and we might trust God more, and we might ask God for help more, and we might actually discover the joy that God has for us to experience. Commit yourself today to let yourself trust God as a child trusts his or her parent. Commit yourself today to humble yourself before God like a child. And by doing this, you will experience a greater relationship with God. Amen.