(Only) Children and Beggars Welcomed

Luke 18:15-30, 35-43

Different people have different mindsets, different worldviews.

I heard about this book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, where the author grew up with a poor dad and was kind of embraced by his friends’ father, who was a very successful businessman.  He describes how the rich have a different mindset, a different worldview.  They see money in a different way from the way middle-class see money.  The subtitle is What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money—That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not.

Well, I think we can also say that the way middle-class have a different mindset and worldview than the lower-class, the poor.

If we don’t have a job, what do we do?  We send out our resumes, try to make contacts, visit job fairs, maybe get some kind of specialized training.  We can do something, so we do what we can.

But what if you’re a crippled beggar in Bangladesh?  What can you do?  It’s a completely different mindset/reality.  There’s no illusion that you can send out resumes and get yourself a job.  It’s not about trying.  You need mercy.

I’d like us to consider these categories, the mindset of those who “have” and the mindset of those who “don’t have” as we look at 3 different stories today.  Some of our people were weak and poor, some were wealthy and powerful.  Though we have different stories and different characters, I think they work together to present a unified theme.

Tax Collector & Blind Beggar

What did the tax collector and blind beggar have in common?

They both cried out for mercy, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  The beggar’s cry is loud and persistent.  Even when those around him try to quiet him down, he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Jesus says, “Your faith has made you well.”  Literally, that means, your faith has saved you.  That is, Jesus wasn’t just pronouncing physical healing.  He was pronouncing spiritual healing, salvation.

Last week’s tax collector cried out for mercy because he saw his guilt and condemnation.  This week’s beggar cries out for mercy because of his blindness.  One saw his need for forgiveness, the other saw his need for healing, but I’d like to suggest their “posture” was the same.  They had the same posture:  they came weak, undeserving, and bankrupt.  They had no claim on God, nothing they could use to argue their case, nothing to offer God in return.  They came bankrupt and were asking for mercy, charity.  Think about this “posture.”  Have you ever felt this? 

Do you remember doing something for which you feel really guilty?  Maybe in a moment of anger or lust you made some big mistakes.  Maybe you’ve done or said some things to your kids that you really regret or you completely disobeyed and defied your parents or you violated a trust with your spouse.  You’re caught and found guilty.  You’re in the doghouse.  You know you’re in deep trouble.

Do you remember being really sick or injured, where you were in misery and completely helpless?

Our family had their share of sickness.  I think I had H1N1 without knowing it at the time.  I was bedridden for days.  I was moaning, “God, please, help me!”

That’s the posture, the feeling: weak, powerless, undeserving.

Children

Hold that thought and consider what Jesus said about the children (18:16-17).

Remember that in this society, children didn’t count for much.  They were weak, uncounted, unimportant.  Like the tax collector and beggar, they too were disregarded by society.

“Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

What does it mean to receive the kingdom of God like a child?

I think it refers to their humility, their weakness, their insignficance.  They have no money, no rights, nothing.  Nobody owes them anything.  They too are bankrupt.  They have no money or market skills.  Children have to receive kindness and mercy all the time.  That’s their whole existence.

I have 4 little boys.  Every meal, every piece of clothing, every toy, doctor’s visit, zoo or museum admission—I pay for.  Never has Elijah stopped me, pulled out his wallet and said, “Dad, I’ll take care of this one.”  Janette and I cook their meals, do their laundry, supervise their play and activities, borrow library books, bath them, brush their teeth, change their diapers, wipe their noses—and they never give us a dime.

They have nothing to give us.  There is nothing that can use to say, You owe me.  They can only receive kindness, grace, mercy all the time.  That’s their whole existence—dependency.

The tax collector, beggar and children are illustrations of the posture, the attitude, the way we must relate with God. 

We come before God like a child, tax collector, beggar: We come weak, powerless, helpless, undeserving, empty, and bankrupt.

Jesus says unless we receive the kingdom of God like a child, we cannot enter the kingdom of God. 

I venture to say that all of us have money, abilities, strength, and some “goodness.”  We’re not gang member convicted of crimes or the orphan in Haiti with no money, no family, and no hope.

We probably relate better to the next character, the rich ruler.

Rich Ruler

We see this difference in the 3^rd story.  This rich ruler stands in contrast to the children and blind beggar.

The rich ruler knows the law and claims that he’s kept it since his youth.

Jesus tells him to sell all he has, give the money to the poor, and come follow him.

And he went away sad, “for he was extremely wealthy.”

Where children and beggars had nothing, this guy had everything.  He had money, power, privileges.  He was religious, “righteous,” probably a respected man in his community.  Some people seem to have it all: money, power, good morality, he was probably good-looking too.

Jesus makes that comment about how difficult it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God.  It’s easier for a camel to through the eye of needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God.

Jesus is making it clear that being rich is a distinct disadvantage in finding eternal life.  In Luke 6, he says “Blessed are the poor.”

Why does Jesus see wealth as a disadvantage?  What is the danger of wealth?

There is the danger of loving money and possessions too much, more than God.  I want to dig a little further.

Last week we mentioned the Pharisee had the danger of “being good.”  This “goodness” blinded him from the fact that he was sinful and condemned, he just didn’t realize it.  Being “good” can be a spiritual disadvantage.  The rich ruler had this problem too—he thought he kept the law, that he was good.

There is also a danger of wealth and power.  Wealth and power can make us feel we have something.  We have the resources within ourselves to solve our own problems.  It can blind us from our bankruptcy and weakness before God.  We live and operate with a “can do” mindset.

Again, if we don’t have a job, we send out our resumes, try to make contacts, visit job fairs—we do something.  We don’t feel like the crippled beggar in Bangladesh.

The attitude with which we’re to come to God is a bankrupt, weak, poor spirit.  We come as children and beggars.  This is the only way we come to God.  It’s not about trying, it’s about mercy.

Giving up our Possessions and Family

In our passage there is the interesting issue of giving up all our possessions to follow Christ.

Jesus calls the rich ruler to sell all he has, give it to the poor and follow him.  He walks away sad.

Peter says “We have left all we have to follow you.”  Jesus replies that those who have left their homes and family will surely receive many times more, and in the age to come eternal life.

At one level, it sounds like those who give up everything find eternal life and those who aren’t willing to do that do not find eternal life. 

Some of us might recognize that this doesn’t quite fit with the rest of the Bible.  We are not saved by giving up all that we have.

Do we have to give up everything?  If this is not how we’re saved, then does that mean we don’t have to give up everything?  Did the rich ruler have to leave sad?  Why did Jesus encourage Peter’s response with the promise of blessings and even eternal life?

Let me tie this together with what we’ve been saying already.

It seems to me that the attitude of the weak, poor, bankrupt are more than willing to give up all they have to follow Jesus.  Beggars don’t negotiate their terms.  They’re not weighing the cost/benefit.  They know they have nothing and so giving up all to find mercy and kindness is a pretty obvious choice.

But if we feel it’s hard to give up what we have, that only proves that we’re not bankrupt.  We have something, something we don’t want to give up.  We’re not coming as powerless children and bankrupt beggars.

The powerless and bankrupt have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Those who have trouble giving up what they have show that they are not, in fact, bankrupt.

The only way we come to Jesus is as powerless and bankrupt.

This is the danger of “goodness,” wealth and power.  It keeps us from the broken, humble, emptied posture we should have.  We think we have something but in fact we are bankrupt and empty before God.  We actually have no righteousness, no rights, no ability, no power, no possessions.  We are weak, poor, bankrupt.

This is a difficult passage and strong warning to us, where we live in the richest country in the world.  Most of us are educated, upwardly mobile professionals who live in comfortable suburbs where we shamelessly pursue wealth, prestige and comfort.

Most of us probably see the attractiveness of wealth far more than the “spiritual disadvantages” of it.

[       Most of us probably do not feel like powerless children, condemned tax collectors, or penniless beggars.  We are unfamiliar with that posture, we’ve never related to anyone on those terms.  We don’t see ourselves this way, and we don’t think anyone else see us this way (God included).  This is a spiritual danger.

Jesus is not offering a can-do religion (and middle-class kind of road). He is offering hope to desperate and hopeless sinners in need of divine mercy.

The Gospel is humbling.  It requires you recognized yourself as empty and bankrupt.

Some of us probably do not see ourselves this way.  Some of us don’t want to see ourselves this way.  And perhaps, like this rich ruler, some will walk away sad.

But if, by God’s grace, we see that we are in fact weak, poor, powerless, hopeless and bankrupt, then we see good news!  Insignificant children are welcomed, blind beggars find mercy and kindness, despised and condemned tax collectors are accepted by God.  This is good news for the poor, the weak, the sinful.

I’m not a Bollywood fan but I heard a story about Salman Khan [picture], a big Bollywood movie star.  Apparent while shooting for a movie, he saw a beggar lying on the street.  He took a closer look and recognized this beggar from his childhood.  He went to him, confirmed that he was the same beggar, and bought him some food and new clothes and gave him Rs 25,000 (about $550).

That’s the story of the Gospel.  If you’re not a Christian, the Gospel says we are beggars with nothing.  We don’t come to God with positions, possessions, talents and abilities.  We don’t come with goodness or credit.  Everyone comes penniless and condemned.  But God, in His mercy, doesn’t just give us Rs 25,000.  He gives us riches beyond our imagination, love beyond measure, forgiveness, adoption, glory, and an eternal home with Him.  That’s the good news.

The only way to receive this is to come like a child, a beggar, weak and bankrupt.  We renounce our righteousness, wealth, power, strength, ability and humbly come, clinging not to anything in ourselves but clinging to the mercy of God.

A couple more points.

Weakness and troubles can help us learn this humble posture.

Even though we may not like sickness, weakness, unemployment, failures—these can be spiritual blessings.  Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor.”  Let the difficulties and struggles of life point to our greater spiritual weakness and bankruptcy.  Learn this posture.

This is the posture with which we enter and live in the Kingdom of God.

This is not just the posture we have to enter the Kingdom of God.  This is the posture we have as we live in the Kingdom of God.  God is always strong, and we are always weak.  God is always rich, and we are always bankrupt.  We don’t just start by His mercy, we live by His mercy.

The good news is, He is such a merciful God.  There is mercy to be found.