(Matthew 18:3) And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Good morning little saints! I have special word for you this Lord’s Day.
Firstly, we adults are so very glad that the Lord has seen fit to bring you into our households and into this household of faith. We love hearing your enthusiastic psalm-singing and your belated amens; we love seeing your heads disappear behind the seats for the prayer of confession and your little hands lifted high as we sing the Gloria Patri. And although we are eager to see you mature in body and soul, we will nonetheless miss the way you are, and the way you worship, today.
Nextly, according to our Savior Jesus Christ, if we adults are to make it into the kingdom of heaven, then we must learn to imitate your faith. And this means that you have a very important duty to perform every time we gather together as God’s people: You must display in your life and speech the faith that saves, you must show us who are older how to trust God’s testimonies and how to receive His Son Jesus Christ. And what does this look like?
Mostly it just means that you need to keep on doing what you are already doing, but to not grow weary in the doing of it. So when people ask you why you believe in God, just keep saying “Because the Bible says so.” When people ask you how you know you are a Christian, just tell them, “Because I love Jesus and have been baptized into his name.” When people ask you why you love Jesus, don’t hesitate to reply, “Because I just do!” When people ask you exactly how the communion bread can be the body of Jesus, just tell them, “It is because Jesus said so.” When people ask you why you sing psalms, just say “God told me to and I love doing it.” Keep calling sin, sin, and keep crying over it and seeking forgiveness when you need to. Keep praying prayers in Jesus’ name (especially the ones you pray for your pastor every night before you go to sleep even though the constant repetition occasionally makes your parents a little grouchy.)
Keep listening to the sermons and asking your parents those hard questions on Sunday afternoons. Keep enjoying your inclusion at the Lord’s Table. Keep taking communion with your little eyes wide open to see the wonderful sight of Christ’s body seated all around you, and you as an important part of it.
If you will do these things faithfully, then it will make one of our duties as adults much easier. For, according to Jesus, one of our duties is to imitate your faith. We adults have a tendency to make things way too complicated, and are often embarrassed to give answers like, “Because the Bible says so”, “Because Jesus said so” or “Because I just know it’s true.”
So please take seriously your duty to model true faith, and we in turn will take our duty to acquire and teach you wisdom with equal seriousness. And all to the praise of Him who calls us by His grace, and fits us, young and old, for service in His kingdom.
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