Like King, Like Kingdom

Matthew 18

May 16, 2010

A few years ago the Discover Channel came up with a list of the 100 greatest Americans.[1] Six of the top ten were presidents. Five of the 100 were First Ladies. Twenty-three were stars of television, cinema and radio. Nine were scientists. And another nine were sports heroes.

Tiger Woods was on there. He can hit a little ball in a hole better than Marge or Bill. And he has money than all of us put together. Those two things put him in the company of George Washington, Helen Keller and Thomas Edison.

To be on this list of the greatest American, you have to be super rich, powerful or famous. That eliminates more than 99% of people. It’s a very exclusive and closed group. That’s not good news because it puts greatness out of our reach.

What constitutes greatness in God’s kingdom: knowing the Bible inside and out, giving a lot of money, doing more than your share of good deeds, being a great neighbor and helping people? None of the above!

Matthew 18:1-4

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, asking, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” So Jesus called a child to come and stand in front of them, and said, “I assure you that unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven. The greatest in the Kingdom of heaven is the one who humbles himself and becomes like this child.

So who does Jesus consider to be the greatest in his kingdom, his greatest follower, his greatest disciple? 

Before Jesus can answer that question, he has to clarify which people are being compared – only those in the kingdom. They have to enter it and before they can enter it they have become like children and before they do that they have to turn away from their current way of life and worldview.

It’s like that scene in Dirty Harry. Harry is in a helicopter. The bad guy is on top of a building shooting people. Harry says, “You, on the roof! You, there! Yes, you. Stop what you’re doing. Turn around and put your hands in the air.”

Those of us who have stopped what we’re doing – sinning, rebelling against God, being selfish and proud – and turned around toward the direction God wants us to be moving in and put our hands in the air to praise him have entered the kingdom of heaven. 

According to Jesus, the greatest is the one who is humble like a child. If we are all humble like a child, greatness is not an issue. 

The question about greatness gave Jesus the opportunity to promote the quality most valued in the kingdom: humility. We have to be humble to handle all the issues relating to sin. Sin has to be dealt with. It can’t be ignored in God’s kingdom.

Matthew 18:5-7 

  And whoever welcomes in my name one such child as this, welcomes me. “If anyone should cause one of these little ones to lose his faith in me (sin), it would be better for that person to have a large millstone tied around his neck and be drowned in the deep sea. How terrible for the world that there are things that make people lose their faith (sin)! Such things will always happen (must happen, are necessary) — but how terrible for the one who causes them!

 This passage is about believers, children of God or disciples. Welcoming or receiving one of Jesus’ followers is equivalent to receiving him. And causing one of them to sin or stumble is the worst possible offense in the kingdom of God.

 The translators had a problem because they didn’t think sin is that big a deal. In their minds they had to substitute something worse so they used losing faith. They were trying to make the crime fit the punishment. They didn’t understand that in the kingdom of heaven tempting someone to sin is about as bad as it gets. Sin is anti kingdom in all conceivable ways.

  You see the kingdom values here. A lot of bad things can happen to Jesus’ followers, but the one he singles out is causing them to stumble. It’s such a grievous offense that it would be better for them to have a millstone tied around his neck and dropped into Cranberry Lake.

 Matthew 18:8-9.

“If your hand or your foot makes you lose your faith (cause you to stumble or sin), cut it off and throw it away! It is better for you to enter life without a hand or a foot than to keep both hands and both feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye makes you lose your faith (sin), take it out and throw it away! It is better for you to enter life with only one eye than to keep both eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

  Again the translators of the TEV don’t see that sin is serious enough to contemplate cutting off a hand or foot. Of course Jesus wasn’t giving literal advice. He was making a point that is well explained by blog, Breakthrough to God.[2]

The eye, the hand, or the foot cannot sin of and by themselves. Sin originates in the mind. A person who is totally blind, for example, or one who is missing a limb can still sin.

Jesus was simply using parts of the body to illustrate an important principle. Christians should not tolerate sin.

If, for example, an individual has a sinful habit, he ought to totally eradicate that habit even though the process may be as painful as losing an arm or a leg. What Christ is saying is that it would be far better to give up a sinful pleasure than to lose out on salvation.

Jesus expands the kingdom value. Don’t be a stumbling block to another person’s morality and take whatever measures are necessary to protect yourself from temptation. If you want to enter life, don’t sin. Choose life not sin and death.

Matthew 18:10-14.

 “See that you don’t despise any of these little ones. Their angels in heaven, I tell you, are always in the presence of my Father in heaven. “What do you think a man does who has one hundred sheep and one of them gets lost? He will leave the other ninety-nine grazing on the hillside and go and look for the lost sheep. When he finds it, I tell you, he feels far happier over this one sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not get lost. In just the same way your Father in heaven does not want any of these little ones to be lost.

Yes, sin is a big deal in the kingdom but that doesn’t give us permission to look down on those who have strayed. Sin is serious business but we don’t have the right to sneer at people or shun them.

The reason we don’t is because they are extremely important to God, just like a lost lamb is important to the shepherd.

Look at the indications of how important the lost one is compared to the 99:

1. The shepherd leaves the 99 to find the one.

2. He uses time, energy and supplies in the search.

3. Finding the one is the source of his happiness.

We dare not despise any Christian. Our disdain might drive them away and cause them to sin. And that would be a big deal in the kingdom.

Matthew 18:15-29.

15 “If your brother sins against you, go to him and show him his fault. But do it privately, just between yourselves. If he listens to you, you have won your brother back. 16 But if he will not listen to you, take one or two other persons with you, so that ‘every accusation may be upheld by the testimony of two or more witnesses,’ as the scripture says. 17 And if he will not listen to them, then tell the whole thing to the church. Finally, if he will not listen to the church, treat him as though he were a pagan or a tax collector. 18 “And so I tell all of you: what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven. 19 “And I tell you more: whenever two of you on earth agree about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, I am there with them.”

Even though humility and a proper attitude toward sin are extremely important in the kingdom, it’s inevitable that we will still sin. We have to be careful not to cause others to sin and we have to not despise those who do. But what happens when someone sins against us. We can’t throw the book at them and we can’t simply ignore it. 

There is a wealth of information here on process but we only have time to look at the objective and that is to restore the person who has sinned. That person is like the lost lamb in the parable that we just read. And it is our duty, just like the shepherds, to go after them. Restoring them and reconciliation are what we’re after.

Sin is a loose end that must be tied up in the kingdom. It’s a loose cannon that has to be attended to. And if it isn’t, the person who won’t deal with sin in their life is unwelcome. Yikes.

 Matthew 18:21-35.

  21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven times?” 

22 “No, not seven times,” answered Jesus, “but seventy times seven, 23 because the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who decided to check on his servants’ accounts. 24 He had just begun to do so when one of them was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. 25 The servant did not have enough to pay his debt, so the king ordered him to be sold as a slave, with his wife and his children and all that he had, in order to pay the debt. 

26 The servant fell on his knees before the king. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay you everything!’ 27 The king felt sorry for him, so he forgave him the debt and let him go. 

28 “Then the man went out and met one of his fellow servants who owed him a few dollars. He grabbed him and started choking him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he said. 

29 His fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!’ 

30 But he refused; instead, he had him thrown into jail until he should pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very upset and went to the king and told him everything. 

32 So he called the servant in. ‘You worthless slave!’ he said. ‘I forgave you the whole amount you owed me, just because you asked me to. 33 You should have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you.’ 34 The king was very angry, and he sent the servant to jail to be punished until he should pay back the whole amount.” 

35 And Jesus concluded, “That is how my Father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

Sin will be a continual problem even in the kingdom of heaven. Going to someone who has offended you more than once will happen. For example, take the average family. Or this one.

Especially at home, forgiving spouses and parents and children for the same offense could easily require forgiving and forgiving and forgiving. If your family is like mine and you’re like me, seven times, thank you, Peter, just wouldn’t be enough.

Whenever I get put out about a family member that just isn’t getting it, I am sometimes reminded of what God must be thinking about me when I don’t get it. But, oh it’s so fortunate, God forgives me over and over and over and over.

In the kingdom of God, forgiveness is absolutely indispensible.

So we conclude with where we began: Jesus said that the greatest in the kingdom were the humble. You and I need humility to handle all the issues relating to sin. Sin has to be dealt with. It can’t be ignored in God’s kingdom.

It takes a humble person to look out for interests of others to protect them from sin.

It takes a humble person to guard against the temptations we’re particularly vulnerable to.

It takes a humble person to have compassion on the sinner even when it costs us.

It takes a humble person to properly confront the person who has sinned against us.

It takes a humble person to forgive and forgive and forgive and forgive again and again.

Like King, like kingdom. Jesus was without sin but he died for ours. Let us have his attitude toward that for which he died.

Youth Message

Cooking for the King

 Who’s the most important person you’ve heard of? The President of the United States. Who else? In many parts of the world the most important person is the King. So today we’re going to make some cookies for the King.

 So here goes. We’ll mix all the ingredients in this bowl. 

· Dirt

· Grass Clippings

· Wood Chips

· Dirty Socks

· Vinegar

· Pepper

That sounds pretty good right? No! You’re right. What kind of cookies would you want to make for the King. That’s right. You’d want to use all the very best ingredients. The best chocolate in the world. The purest milk. The sweetest sugar. The richest floor.

It the same when we do something for Jesus.  Only the best. Only in love. Only humbly.