Important Questions

Mark 9:30-37

 “Important Questions”

20 September 2015 St. Andrew’s Chapel Singapore

Have you ever been scared to ask someone a question? Maybe it was your first crush and wanting to know if he/she liked you back? For those that are married, I’m sure the one asking the question was scared out of their ever loving mind, no matter how sure you were of the answer. What if you froze at the idea of asking someone about career advice, taking a specific job, or asking about getting a raise or promotion? Well, today we see a group of men scared to ask a question about where they rank on the hierarchy of status within their merry band of brothers.

Today, Mark passes along Jesus’ words saying not only are we to care for the least of these, but “whomever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” He then says that by welcoming children we welcome not only Christ, but God as well. Sometimes I really want to just tell Jesus to stop with the demands.

So why does he hold up children as the example in this passage? Probably because they have no fear in questioning everything while the disciples preferred to quarrel with each other rather than risk the chance of asking a stupid question.

Like our disciples, I know I hold back on complaints and questions knowing that Christ is convicting the selfishness inside. And who really wants to ask Jesus selfish questions? Even the disciples showed trepidation in asking Jesus to clarify a statement, so I don’t feel too alone in fear of looking dumb in front of the professor. But, what are we afraid to ask Christ?

Of course he knew the disciples didn’t want to show ignorance in front of each other after Jesus predicts his death and resurrection. Who really wants to be the one that asks the stupid question? Plus, when you’re competing to be the #1 EP on that eval or FITREP you can’t show any chinks in the armor. So it’s interesting that Jesus uses children as the example in this passage.

Now before we get totally enthralled with children, I will make this disclaimer: children are broken sinners just like us. They aren’t perfect angels and idealizing them is just as dangerous as ignoring them. We all know I don’t have any, so someone like me doesn’t have to live with them 24/7. Neither did Jesus, but he doesn’t put children on a pedestal.

Why would Jesus pick children as the example of least to first in this passage? Why not focus on the same groups he mentioned in Matthew 25? What else is there about children and their faith that is drawing Jesus’ attention?

Jesus picks children because they had a tough go back in the first century. Children could just be left on the road to die of exposure. Children were considered property of the parent and how you raised them, if you sold them to slavery, if you let them die were all the sole decision of the father. Back then children had no rights. They were thought of as a burden first, future income second, and never really considered as a blessing to the world.

So, Jesus is showing children as an object lesson in how what the world considers the least, the lowest on the social ladder is actually a beautiful gift in the heavenly economy. What all can we learn from children and what makes them an example of least to greatest, especially after learning that the disciples were scared to ask Jesus a question they were obviously having heated debates over?

Compare our adult fear of asking questions with the inability of children to hold back in their questioning of everything. They always ask questions. About. Everything. They want to know why. About. Everything. To paraphrase the GEICO commercials: It’s what they do. The disciples were afraid to ask Jesus who was the greatest. A kid wouldn’t hesitate. Then they’d ask fifty times to make sure Jesus kept his story straight. And woe upon Jesus if the story changed in the slightest.

            Children ask questions and in the life of faith, that is an important trait to have and practice. As a recovering Nuke, I still remember the mantra that we needed to have a questioning attitude beat into my vocabulary from day one of Nuke School. What is interesting is that as I grew out of childhood through High School and college, I had lost the ability to question those in authority. And, in a broken and hurting world, maybe we need more people to question why things are the way they are rather than lemmings following the crowd. Hence the reason Jesus raises ever questioning children as an example of faithfulness.

We all need someone around to question us, to make sure we are following Christ and keeping ourselves on track. Many in this room participate in a small group of some kind throughout the week. That is where most of this process of iron sharpening iron occurs. Those questions make us take a look at how we are living out Christ’s call on our lives and how we interpret Scripture. It takes a lot of faith in yourself to stand up and question what the world considers normal. Kids do this regularly, adults not so much and when we are questioned, we tend to get a bit defensive. That’s a natural reaction, but we follow a supernatural being.

While it may just seem that a child is asking questions due to stream of consciousness and that it isn’t really thought through, those questions help them learn where they stand in the world. Their questions force us to explain sometimes complex topics in ways that not only do they understand, but in language we can express. Our faith requires us to ask questions of ourselves and each other in order to understand what we believe about God. Sometimes in the answering, we are forced to put the answer in terms the other will understand, which deepens our own understanding.

People may feel uncomfortable with questioning what Jesus said in the Bible because it can feel like a lack of faith. But, Jesus mainly taught through parables which are designed to make us question how we see the world through countercultural and counterintuitive stories. Personally, I have to sit for a few minutes scratching my head after reading a parable asking what just happened. Through those questions and the challenge to how I live out the specific parable, my faith deepens, even if just a tiny bit.

Our questions aren’t a lack of faith, but a deepening and strengthening of our faith. If, as children, we had blindly accepted everything that we were told we would never personalize our learning. Answering our own questions allows us to internalize and own our learning. The harder and more important the subject, the tougher and deeper the questions. Because this story is so important, we should expect tough and life changing questions as we digest what Christ means in our lives.

So, if we are to have the faith of children who ask questions when the disciples (and us adults) are afraid of looking stupid, what questions should we ask of the world? How do we treat the other, the immigrant, especially in light of the fact that we are the other here in Singapore? Who is my neighbor? Why do bad things happen to good people? How do we balance national security with accepting refugees from a place dominated by a religion we don’t agree with? What do we mean by national security?

How do we better reflect Christ in all we do? Are we welcoming to all we meet throughout the week? How can Christ sustain us on our bad days? Do we use Christ as an ATM of grace? Do we look at children as a burden or a joy (and yes that probably changes from minute to minute)? What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow? What am I being sent into the world to accomplish for Christ this week? Who has the church ignored or forgotten for social or selfish reasons and how do I show them they matter to Christ?

How deep and wide is our forgiveness? How do we speak the grace of Christ into difficult situations? How do I navigate following Christ in the military? What defines who I am? My job, my money, my status, my accomplishments, my children, my ability, my deficiencies, or being named a wonderfully made child of God? How do I help the world elevate the least of these to those worthy of God’s promises? What else can those I consider the least of these teach me about my faith?

Our questions matter, just like the questions of the least of these matter, because we all matter in the eyes of God. So let us go forth questioning the world like a child to strengthen our own faith while we show Christ to those who think he has forgotten about them.