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Hi, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Real Faith in the Real World, a ministry of Normal First United Methodist Church in Normal, Illinois. Let's listen to hear what Pastor Kent King Nobles has to say today.

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So let me start by saying this. This may surprise some of you, but I used to be a child. It was a long time ago. It was before I wasn't a pastor in those days, but I did. Miss Pam, did you used to be a child?

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I was.

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Okay, all right. Everyone was. Oh, okay, good. Well, when I was a child, I realized that some adults, some grown-ups, made children feel welcome, and some didn't. And you could tell the difference almost immediately. Some adults would smile whenever children came around. And there were a few adults who would frown when they saw children. I don't know if any of you have ever experienced this. Some acted like children were important, and others acted kind of like children were in the way, or maybe even invisible. But I wasn't invisible. Now, fortunately, when I was a child, I got to go to church a lot. And at church, almost all the adults smiled at me when they saw me. I remember one man in our church that we called the candy man. And I don't know how big his pockets were, but he had every Sunday a pocket full of candy. And we learned as children pretty quickly that if we went up and said hi to him, that he would reach in his pocket and he would give us a piece of candy. And to this day, if you give me a Jolly Rancher, it makes me feel warm and fuzzy all inside. The candy man. At church, I knew they wanted me there. And this reminds me kind of what was happening in this story with Jesus and the children that we heard about. People were bringing children to Jesus. Now, when the Bible says children, I assume that means like babies and like toddlers and like older children. So, children, I want to ask you a question. All the children here. Children, are you ever noisy? Just raise your hand if you're ever noisy. Some of you are okay, all right. Yeah, big kids too. I get it. Yeah. You know, I bet some of the children there with Jesus that day were noisy children. I bet they were. Um, children, do you ever wiggle and have trouble sitting still? Show me how you wiggle. Show me how you kind of, all right. Yeah, the adults do this every week. It's true. I bet there were wiggly children there with Jesus. Children, do you ever have a lot of questions? Are you curious? You know, my mom told me once that when I was younger, she waited until I was older to tell me, she said, when you were young, you drove me crazy asking all kinds of questions. She said, you know, you'd point to your head and said, and you'd say, Mom, what's up there and how does it work? And then you'd look at your arm and say, How does the blood work in my arm? And you'd look at the car and you'd say, How does the car go? Then you'd look at the moon and say, What keeps the moon up there? She said, You just never stop asking questions. Any of you ask a lot of questions? Why do you ask questions? Because that's the way we learn, right? I think I ask questions because I just wanted to learn things. Do we have any children here who can be shy sometimes? Anybody? I bet there were Thai children with Jesus there too. And children there with Jesus who ask a lot of questions. I bet there were children there who were like interrupting their grown-ups. Do we ever have any? Do you have any children here who ever get in trouble? I used to get in trouble sometimes. Yeah. I bet there were children there with Jesus who got in trouble sometimes. And I know there were adults there with Jesus who got in trouble sometimes because the Bible tells us about them. And what did Jesus do with these people who got in trouble? Well, Jesus loved them. He told them to come and join the party. He liked to have them with him. In other words, hi Bonnie, you gonna help me with the sermon? In other words, there were real children there with Jesus, not pretend she children or fake children, but children like we have here. Now, I'm sorry to say this, but there was at least one time when the disciples didn't like it that there were children around Jesus. The disciples thought Jesus was too important to spend time with children. They thought he was too busy or too tired or too serious. And what do you think those disciples did when parents were bringing their children to Jesus? I bet they frowned. I bet they had big frowns. They pulled parents to take the children away from Jesus. They said things like, Not now. Leave Jesus alone, go somewhere else. How dare they? Right. And that's kind of what Jesus said. That's what happened. Jesus got upset, but he didn't get upset with the children. He got upset with the grown-ups, and especially with the disciples. And Jesus said, No, let the little children come. Don't stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to them, to people like them. Now, what could Jesus have meant by that? The kingdom of God belongs to children like these. Then Jesus took the children in his arms, all the little ones who wanted to, and he gave them a nice big hug and he blessed them. And I love that image of Jesus with children climbing around him, children laughing, children asking lots of questions. Jesus stopped everything to pay attention to the children and to bless them. Because in that moment, Jesus was teaching a very important lesson that children aren't a distraction from the kingdom of God. In fact, children help us understand what the kingdom of God is all about. Now, I don't think Jesus was saying that children are perfect. After all, children have to learn things and children have to grow and become stronger and more capable. Children have to learn to follow important rules. Anyone who's ever raised children, anybody here? You know that children are wonderful, but children can also be loud and messy and chaotic and stubborn and emotional. At least my children were. But children often have qualities that we adults can lose. Important qualities. So what did Jesus mean? What are some of the ways that Jesus wants us grown-ups to be more like children? So it's a good question to think about. Here, let me give you four things that I think Jesus meant by this. You can add yours. Number one, children know how to trust. It seems to me like most children are just come with that default setting of trust. Something that children do naturally. A child jumps into someone's arms. A child believes someone will catch them. I remember when my boys were little, they'd climb a tree and they would just jump out, assuming that I could catch them. And there were a few times I thought their trust is way overrating me. But they trusted. A child reaches for a hand across the street, trusting that they'll be safe. Sometimes trust gets harder as we get older. Life disappoints us, people hurt us, we become more cautious. But faith means trusting that God loves us even when life feels uncertain. Faith is not knowing everything. Faith is trusting that God walks beside us on the journey. Jesus said, the kingdom of God belongs to people who know how to trust God. Number two, children ask questions. I think you're supposed to ask questions. Why? Because that's how we learn. Why? How? What does that mean? Why is the sky blue? Why do people die? Where is God? These are important questions. Sometimes we adults stop asking questions because we're afraid of looking foolish or getting embarrassed. We think we're already supposed to know everything. Children remind us that curiosity is holy. Children help us remember that faith is not pretending that we know everything because we don't. Faith means continuing to seek, to question, to wonder, continuing to learn. God's not afraid of our questions. In fact, I think God welcomes our questions. And questions often help us grow closer to God. Number three, children usually forgive quickly. You've noticed this, haven't you? Sometimes children get into fights, don't they? Children can get mad. Sometimes children can even be mean, right? Sometimes. One moment though, children can be really angry at each other, and then like 10 minutes later, they're playing together like nothing ever happened, right? I've seen this. Adults are not always so good at that. At that 10-minute thing. Sometimes we adults can carry anger for years and years. We replay hurts over and over in our minds. We build walls between ourselves and others. And children can remind us what a soft heart looks like. Jesus calls us to live life shaped by grace and forgiveness. Not because forgiveness is easy, not because hurt is not real or difficult or important, but because bitterness can take over our hearts if we're not careful. Children remind us that relationships matter more than winning. And number four on my list, children typically live with wonder and joy. Children often notice things that adults miss. So, children, I want you to raise your hand. How many of you ever stop to watch a bug crawl? Children, anybody stop to watch a bug crawl? Yeah. Or to look at a rainbow or jump in a puddle, or watch the moon, or look at clouds and find funny shapes. Children stop and stare at the world with wonder. And sometimes adults do this, but I think too often we adults hurry through life. We check our schedules. We worry about what's next on the list. We rush from one thing to another and we miss so much that's crawling right in front of us. We forget to be curious. We forget about awe and wonder in creation. But Jesus says the kingdom of God belongs to people who can still see wonder. When you think about it, how can you look at creation and not feel a sense of awe and wonder? How can you know anything about love without a sense of deep curiosity and appreciation? Jesus is saying, I believe that the kingdom of God belongs to people who can still laugh even in the midst of the difficulties and pain of life. People who can still notice beauty. People who can still be amazed by love and grace and the beauty of creation. Children can remind us that the world is filled with gifts from God. And maybe that's one reason Jesus welcomed the children so warmly. Children help the church remember what matters. Children can remind us how to trust, how to wonder, how to ask questions, how to forgive and play nicely, how to live with joy. Maybe that's why Jesus said, Let the little children come to me. Not because children are the future of the church someday, but because the children help the church today be who God wants us to be and follow Jesus right now. So today we are worshiping across generations: children and youth, parents and grandparents, teenagers, senior adults. And I think this is a wonderful opportunity because the church is healthiest when we come together, when we learn from one another. And we want to continue to find ways in this church to be more intergenerational in our activities. Children need adults who love them, who guide them, who encourage them, who notice them. And we adults, we need children who remind us to trust more deeply, to love more freely, to see the world with wonder and awe. So today, may we hear Jesus speaking not only to the children, but to all of us, saying, Come, you belong here. You're welcome with me. Come. Amen.

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Thanks for joining us for this episode of Real Faith in the Real World. We hope that this message helps you grow in your understanding and sparks new insight on your journey of faith. If you found this episode helpful, don't forget to subscribe and share. And as always, if you have questions and want to dive deeper into today's topic, please feel free to reach out to us by going to normalfumc.org, click about normal first, and click contact to leave us a message. We would love to hear from you. And until next time, keep seeking, keep questioning, and keep going.