I was Once a Crying Baby in Church

“Let the children come to me and do not hinder them,

for to such belong the kingdom of God.”

Mark 10:14b

I was once a crying baby in church. I know that may surprise you but it’s true. According to my mom, there was one time when this high powered preacher came to town.  Mom really wanted to hear him.  In fact, she wanted him to pray for me, her little boy.   Dad was working, so we went, just the two of us.  Mom says there was a huge crowd.  This preacher had quite the reputation.  Somehow mom got a seat down close the front.  She said the man was giving a wonderful, powerful sermon.  But then I started cry.  Nothing she did would calm me down.  People were turning around and staring at her, looking disgusted.  I was oblivious to that.  I just kept crying.  Knowing me, I was probably hungry.  Finally, a couple of the elders came up to mom and told her that I was making too much noise.  We would have to leave… or at least go outside.  Well, according to mom, she was about to get up and leave, when the preacher himself intervened.  He told the elders to leave us be.  Then, mom says, he did the most wonderful thing.  He invited mom to bring me forward.  He wanted to pray for me.  Mom has treasured his words ever since.  “Let the little children come to me,” He said, “and do not hinder them, for to such belong the kingdom of God.”

Yes, you guessed it.  The preachers name was Jesus.  I just told you a fictional story built around a something that really did happen in Scripture.  The disciples really did try to shoo away some mothers who were bringing their babies to have Jesus bless them.  Jesus really did intervene.  He really did invite the mothers and their babies forward. 

There is another true aspect to the story I told.  It’s absolutely true – I was once a crying baby in church.  In fact, I think it’s a pretty safe bet, that all of us who were raised in the church were at one time crying babies in church.  It’s what babies do.  Babies get hungry and they cry.  Their diapers get soiled and they cry.  The get tired and they cry.  Sometimes they cry and nobody know why.   I don’t really know what my mom did when I cried in church.  When I was little our church didn’t have a nursery.  There was no cry room.  I am sure she or dad took me out to get me to calm down.  But the only place they had to take me was a narthex that was only a hallway at the back of the church.  With my loud voice, I am pretty sure people could still hear me. 

One thing I do know however.  I am so thankful to God that my mom and dad took me to church.  They brought me to Jesus to have Him bless me.  They lived through the time when I was a crying baby because teaching me about Jesus, was so very important to them.  And God used all of that.  He blessed me with His grace.  In baptism, He adopted me as His child.  In worship, in Sunday school, in VBS, in confirmation and at home, I was taught about Jesus.  Jesus used all sorts of people to bless me – Pastors, Sunday School teachers, parents and others.  I know Jesus and believe in Him… I am a pastor today because my parents took me and the church welcomed me – a crying baby in Church.

Truthfully, that’s why I am writing this.    How you and I as believers react to and care for crying little babies and their families is so important.  I know of moms who regularly avoid bringing their little babies because they are afraid of being judged by others.  That should not be the case.   Pastor Miles taught a lesson in my confirmation class that I will never forget.  He said, “If I hear a crying baby in church and see any of you turn around to look at that mom and baby, you will have to deal with me.  That baby and that mom (or dad) has as much right to be in church as you do.”  To this day if I hear a crying baby in church I will purposefully look the other way. I know Pastor Miles is still watching. 

What should we do when we hear a crying baby?  Rejoice!  Rejoice that there are moms and dads bringing their babies to your church.  Rejoice, because their presence will give Jesus the opportunity to bless those little babies and their families.  If you have a chance get to know those families.  Befriend them.  Offer to take a turn manning the nursery so that if the parents wish, they can bring their child to the nursery.  If they are new, welcome them and give them a tour.  Ask them if there is anything you can do for them.  Always remember that places like cry rooms and nurseries are not there for us to send parents and babies to. They are there if the parents decide to use them. 

Before you get annoyed by a crying baby – stop yourself.  Remember that like me, you were most likely once a crying baby in church.  Then thank God that your parents brought you and that the church welcomes you.  You are in church today in part because of how Jesus blessed you when you were a crying baby.  Then pray for those families and pray that God would make you to be His living breathing invitation to all with crying babies – “Let the children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belong the kingdom of God.”  Amen.

You are in Good Hands

“No one can snatch you out of My hands”

John 10:28b

Have you ever noticed that Jesus never refers to us as “my lions,” or “my tigers” or “my bulls?”   He doesn’t want to leave the impression that we can handle life on our own.  He wants us to understand that we need Him.  For that reason Jesus calls us, “my sheep.”   Sheep are among the dumbest and most helpless animals there are. I read of one big old fat ewe that each day would lay itself down and get stuck in the same ditch.  Each day the farmer would have to pull it out with the truck.  How much is that like you or me – committing the same sin again and again and again?   At one of the church’s I served in Nebraska, I remember coming out of the church one afternoon to find a little flock of 8 sheep following each other in a circle.  3 hours later they were still there, walking in that circle. They would never find their way home on their own.  On our own we would never find our way home to God.  Sheep are defenseless.  A sheep can do nothing to fight off a wolf.  Even so in our spiritual enemies – sin and death and Satan you and I face enemies far greater than we are.  Like sheep, you and I need a shepherd.  That’s who Jesus has been for you and me since baptism.  Listen to His promise. “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” 

Think for a moment about our Shepherd’s hands. His hands are first of all strong hands.   Jesus was a man’s man.  Working as a carpenter with Joseph, He knew hard work.  He has hands strong enough to reach out and rescue us in need.  Remember the story of Peter walking on the water. When Peter began to sink, Jesus reached out His strong hands to catch Peter and bring him back into the boat.  Those hands are also strong enough to catch you no matter what you face – the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, a divorce, an illness.  Remember the poem footprints?  A man looking back over his life sees two sets of footprints as the Lord has walked with him.  He is puzzled by the fact that in the worst moments of life there is only one set of footprints. The Lord says to him, “That’s when I picked you up and carried you.”  The Lord’s hands are strong enough to carry you through anything.

His hands are compassionate hands.  Because he was tempted in every way as we are Jesus is able, the Bible says, to sympathize with our weaknesses.   When they brought little children to him, He took them up in His arms and blessed them.  Or think of the ten lepers.  Yet Jesus didn’t just heal these men. He did what no Jew would do. He reached out his hands to touch them.  That’s the tenderness and compassion our shepherd has towards you and me.  He’s walked around in our shoes and knows what we face every day. So in compassion He reaches out to touch us.  He takes us in His arms at baptism. He feed us at His table in Holy Communion.  He gives us family, Pastors, friends with a hug and a listening ear.

He hands are scarred and yet living hands.  This may be the most important thing of all about the hands of Jesus.  Think of how those scarred hands transformed the doubts of Thomas to faith.  Those wounds are there because nails were driven through His hands into a cross.  Those wounds are there because Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins!  He was wounded for our transgression.”  Yet those hands are living hands because our Lord rose from the dead.  He is alive.  Our sins are paid for.  Death has been defeated.  You and I are forgiven.  In Jesus we will live forever.  One of the constants of my life, and of ministry is to encounter in myself and in others a struggle to believe that God could really love someone like me!  His scarred living hands leave no doubt.  God really does love you and me!”

Too often we forget about all of this.  Too often we focus on our weak hands holding His rather than His strong hands holding ours!  That’s why I love the story of the little boy and his father walking down an icy sidewalk.  When the father wants to hold his sons hand, the little boy insists, “No daddy, let me hold your hand.”  With little fingers he can barely grab his father’s big hand.  So when they come to this ice, the little boys grip isn’t strong enough.  He slips and falls.  Then the father says, “Now let me hold your hand” and wraps his big hand around his son’s hand.  This time when they come to the ice the boys feet slip and slide, and yet he doesn’t fall.  Why? Because the father’s hand is strong.  That’s the assurance here – our shepherd’s hands and our Father’s hands are strong.  They have hold of us.  And just as Jesus has promised, “No one can snatch us out of their hands!”  Amen.

Your Best Defense for Your Mess

If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

 1 John 2:1b

As a young boy, I hated cleaning my room.  When I was told to clean up my room I tried to get away with only making it look like I had cleaned.  Sometimes I would take the piles of clothing and move them around to new places.  Sometimes I would try to hide things under my bed sheets.  At other times I would shove things under the bed.  Or I would just throw the whole mess in my closet.  None of it worked.  None of it fooled her.  I never got away with it.

We handle the messes we make in life in many similar ways.  We are a lot like our first parents Adam and Eve.  They tried everything to cover up, to hide their sin.  First, they sewed fig leaves together to cover their nakedness.  The problem with that was that fig leaves dry up and crumble in a couple of days.  When they heard God coming, they tried to hide from Him. We are no different.  Every one of us has secret sins we don’t want anyone else to know about.  While we can maybe hide things from each other, God is not fooled.  He knows.  He knew exactly what Adam and Eve had done.  He knows all of our secrets.  Hiding the mess in the closet doesn’t clean it up.   When that didn’t work, they tried blaming each other. Adam blamed Eve who gave him the fruit.  Eve blamed the serpent who tempted her.  When I was young I was playing with my sister’s new camera.  I ended up using up all her film.  I tried to blame it on my mentally challenged oldest sister.  I got caught when they developed the film and found that there were pictures of my oldest sister on the film.  They didn’t take selfies in those days.  Blaming others just makes the mess worse.  Sometimes we deal with our sin by not dealing with it.  If we ignore it.  We pretend it didn’t happen.  Maybe it will fix itself.  That’s didn’t work any better than waiting for my room to clean itself.   Sometimes we try to downplay the seriousness of our sin.”What’s the big deal?  Everyone does it. No one got hurt.”   “It was just a little harmless lie?”  Yet even a small chip out of the corner of a window breaks the whole window.  

None of these clean up your mess.  None of these get you off the hook. As John wrote in His first Epistle, If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves… Yet we never deceive God.  The truth is - no excuse, no denial, no fig leaf or lie will get rid of the mess we make of life. 

What you and I need is someone to speak in our defense… to serve as our heavenly lawyer.    I was once asked in Bible Class if there were any lawyers mentioned in the Bible.  I had no answer at that time.  Fortunately, a lawyer in class did. The next week he brought all sorts of bible passages that he said mention lawyers.  One of them was from 1 John 2.  “If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.  He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”    Yes we have an advocate – someone who speaks to the Father in our defense – Jesus!  He is our best… no our only defense.  John gives three reasons.

First, there is His name and title.  Jesus, his name tells us why He came.  Jesus means “God saves.” In the same way that Pastor is my title and not my name, Christ is His title, not His name.  Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Word Messiah.  It means “the one chosen or anointed.”  To say that Jesus is the Christ is to say that He is the one chosen by God to be the savior of the world.   In America if you are in trouble with the law and can’t afford a lawyer, the government will provide one for you.  That’s what has happened here.  We cannot afford the cost of our sin.  We have no ability to mount a defense.  So God provides an advocate for us.  He provides the very best, His own son, Jesus the Christ.   He is our advocate.  He speaks to the Father in our defense. 

Secondly, John calls Him the righteous.  We often talk about how Jesus died in our place, for our sins.  What we fail to remember is that Jesus also lived for us.  In the face of the same temptations we face, He lived the perfect life we fail to live.  Then He offered that perfect life on the cross as payment for our sin.  There on that cross God made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.   As the righteous one, Jesus stood in our place both by his life of obedience and His death on the cross.

That’s why John could write of Jesus “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”   Don’t you love that word – propitiation?  That word means that in Jesus the Father’s demands are completely satisfied.  It’s a little like what Linda would do for me after we got engaged.  My room was an even worse mess in College.  When mom came to visit, Linda didn’t want her to see it that.  She stepped in… cleaned my room for me.  She didn’t just hide the mess.  She cleaned my room so that even my picky mother was satisfied.  That’s what Jesus did.  He cleaned up our mess.  He paid our debt.  He satisfied the Father’s demands… so that when we confess our sins, we can be sure that God is faithful and just… and because of Jesus will forgive our sins… There is no other defense for you or me… We need only one – Jesus Christ, the righteous one. Amen. 

God's Answer to Life's Sinkholes

“Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here.”

Mark 16:6-8

Have you ever heard of a sinkhole?  This is a hole in the ground that suddenly appears where before there was solid earth.  Well a man from Florida was driving home when a large sinkhole opened up right where he was driving.  It swallowed his car.  He didn’t get hurt but he was dazed and confused.  For a while he didn’t know where he was or what had happened to him.  He later said, ‘One moment I was driving in my neighborhood on a bright sunny day.  The next minute I was at the bottom of a deep, dark hole with the world caving in on me.’”  

We understand that experience. A husband comes home from a business trip, happy to see his family.   He has no clue that a sinkhole has opened beneath him until his wife says to him, “This isn’t working anymore. I’m not happy.  I want a divorce.”   A woman goes to her Doctor for a routine checkup.  A sinkhole appears.  We found something. You have a tumor.  Death happens that way.  You are just going about life.  The phone rings. “Dad’s gone.”  But I just talked to him last night.  “I know.  He didn’t wake up this morning.”  There are all sorts of sink holes – You lose a job.  You fail one exam and you are out of the program. The world caves in.  It’s overwhelming.  “What just happened?” you wonder.  “What’s going on?” 

I wonder if that’s how these two women felt that morning as they walked out to the tomb.  They had believed Jesus was the Messiah.   A week earlier, they had entered Jerusalem in triumph.  Three nights earlier they had celebrated Passover with Him.  Then on the way out to the Garden - the sinkhole opened.  Soldiers arrested Him. By 9 the next morning He was nailed to a cross.  By three in the afternoon he was dead and they were rushing to bury him.  Now, Sunday morning, on their way to finish the embalming, they had to be dazed and confused.  A sink hole had opened beneath them  They had to wonder, “What just happened?  How had it all gone so wrong so fast? 

Easter is God’s answer to that confusion.  On their way to the tomb, those women had no idea that yet another shock awaited them – an unexpected, logic defying, life changing shock!  Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.  And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. It was so unexpected.  His death was so real. to them.  They just couldn’t quite grasp what the angel has told them.  “Not here?  Risen from the dead? How? What was going on?”  So “they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”  Even we who know the story so well have trouble really grasping what Easter means for us.   Sometimes the grief... the shock… the pain… the trial we face is so “in Your face” real that Easter’s answer seems hard to believe.   Yet I would tell you that in the good news of our Lord’s resurrection, here is God’s Easter Answer to our shocked and dazed question, “What’s going on?  What do these trials and struggles mean?  What is God doing?”

First, Easter assures us that even when we are disoriented by life’s crosses, God is not!  Even as life crashes down around us, and spins out of control, Christ’s resurrection assures us that God is still in control.  Though we cannot perceive His plan… He does have one.  He was working His plan all the way through.  At his birth Simeon warned Mary of the cross, á Sword will pierce your own soul.”  Jesus had told His disciples again and again, “the Son of man must suffer many things, be delivered over to sinful man, be crucified and on the third day be raised to life again.”    Confident that His Father was in control Jesus prayed in the Garden, “never the less, not my will but Thy will be done.”  His last words from the cross expressed that confidence.  “Into Thy hands I commit My Spirit.”  All of that is confirmed by the news of the angels.  “He has risen.  He is not here.”  I love a text message Ben sent me. “Dad, Kyah just gave me the best signal yet that I ain’t too terrible a dad.  She was teaching her stuffed bears to go down the slide.  ‘Don’t be afraid, she told them, ‘Don’t worry.  It’s okay.  Your daddy has you.’”  That’s God’s Easter answer.  When you find yourself at the bottom of sinkhole God speaks through the resurrection.  He says, “It’s okay.  Don’t be afraid!  Your daddy has you.”

Second, in the resurrection of Jesus God has given us a glimpse at what lies beyond life’s sinkholes.   Christ’s resurrection is God’s promise to us of the victory that He has already won.   The empty tomb is all the assurance that we need that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose... Think about it.  How is it that a man could raise his fist in triumph even as his wife… the woman he had loved for 30 years died of cancer? How could he, with tears streaming down his cheeks, shout with joy to their son, “The cancer didn’t win!  The cancer didn’t win?”  How could He believe that, when staring him the face was his wife’s lifeless body – enough evidence for most people that the cancer had won?   He and His wife knew God’s Easter answer..  They had journeyed in faith to the empty tomb.  There in Christ’s victory God had shown them their victory… the victory that He had already won over sin, over death, over cancer… over whatever sinkhole comes our way.  Because Jesus lives, we know this about all our sinkholes - that our light and momentary afflictions are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  If Good Friday is Jesus crawling down into our hole with us, then Easter is Jesus lifting us up on His shoulders and out of that hole.  This is God’s answer to our sink holes… this great good news - “He is not here.  He is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia.  Amen.