Child-like trust
The period of Lent is traditionally the time of humbling oneself expressed through the ‘giving up’ of something, an act of self-denial. Humility before God is what it should really be about. Allow me to explain…
‘Children should be seen and not heard’ was a term the older generation used. It dates from the time when children were expected to know their place; a father’s discipline was feared; the teacher’s word carried the day and, if, as a child, you were stuck, ‘Ask a policeman’!
I have always imagined that the position of children in the culture of Jesus’ day was not dissimilar. When some mothers wanted to bring their little ones to Jesus for a blessing, his disciples first reaction was to shoo them away, a thing Jesus countermanded.
With this in mind, it is interesting to see how Jesus used a child in order to illustrate a pressing point.
This arose on one occasion when his disciples were arguing amongst themselves as to which of them was the top of the pecking order. Aware of what was going on, Jesus called a little child and placed him in the very midst of them. Here was this small chap, seemingly of little consequence in this gathering of grown-ups, and now Jesus was elevating him, making him the centre of attention. ‘Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’ The self-promoting disciples must have felt pretty small at this point.
All who want to start experiencing life as God intends it to be are being told here that the humbling of one’s self is necessary. Jesus’ words will touch a sensitive spot for each of us. For some it will address intellectual pride; for others their self-sufficiency. A natural response to the call of Jesus is a reluctance to trust and the felt need to keep control of how one chooses to live both morally and ethically. This is why he pointed to the child by way of example. Jesus had called the child and he responded, coming forward in innocence and trust.
I believe that the key phrase in all of this is, ‘Unless you turn and become like children…’. A turn towards God, asking him to get to work on our objections, questions and other issues, will be an expression of childlike trust in God, as well as humility.
Have you given up anything for Lent? First and foremost, it seems to me that Jesus is calling us to ‘give up’ our hearts to God by turning from self-trust to child-like trust. Then we can really know him as our Heavenly Father.