SERMON OF THE WEEK
First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu
February 16, 2003
“Kindergarten God” (Encounters w/ Jesus Series)
Matthew 18 : 1-14
The Rev. Dr. Dan Chun
M
att. 18:1 At that time the disciples
came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
Matt. 18:2 He called a child, whom
he put among them,
Matt. 18:3 and said, “Truly I tell you,
unless you change and become like
children, you will never enter the kingdom
of heaven.
Matt. 18:4 Whoever becomes
humble like this child is the greatest in
the kingdom of heaven.
Matt. 18:5 Whoever welcomes one
such child in my name welcomes me.
Matt. 18:6 “If any of you put a
stumbling block before one of these little
ones who believe in me, it would be
better for you if a great millstone were
fastened around your neck and you were
drowned in the depth of the sea.
Matt. 18:7 Woe to the world
because of stumbling blocks! Occasions
for stumbling are bound to come, but woe
to the one by whom the stumbling block
comes!
Matt. 18:8 “If your hand or your foot
causes you to stumble, cut it off and
throw it away; it is better for you to enter
life maimed or lame than to have two
hands or two feet and to be thrown into
the eternal fire.
heaven.
to Him.
Matt. 18:12 What do you think? If a
shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one
of them has gone astray, does he not
leave the ninety-nine on the mountains
and go in search of the one that went
astray?
Then, maybe putting His hand on the
child’s shoulder says, “You, disciples,
want to be number one? You want to sit
at my right hand in heaven? Okay, listen
closely. Unless you CHANGE your way of
THINKING and ACTING and become like
children, you won’t even ENTER into
heaven.” (And the orchestra goes, “Dun
dun!”)
Matt. 18:13 And if he finds it, truly I
tell you, he rejoices over it more than
over the ninety-nine that never went
astray.
Matt. 18:14 So it is not the will of
your Father in heaven that one of these
little ones should be lost.
Sometimes the 12 disciples were
really dense. Jesus would be talking
about saving the world, loving your
brother and sister, preaching the good
news, healing the sick, casting out
demons and then they would ask Him, “If
you are number one, how can I be
number two, Jesus? How can I sit at the
right hand of God? How can I be the
greatest of all time, the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven?
“No, I don’t want to be Mr. Mediocre.
I don’t want to just be Mr. AboveAverage. I want to be ‘ichi ban,’ as they
say in Japanese, ‘dai yut,’ in Cantonese,
‘numbah one,’ ‘numero uno,’ the main
man.”
Matt. 18:9 And if your eye causes
you to stumble, tear it out and throw it
away; it is better for you to enter life with
one eye than to have two eyes and to be
thrown into the hell of fire.
One day, Jesus heard this bravado
again. They wanted to know what criteria,
what skills, talents, and job resumé they
would have to submit to beat out the rest
of the competition. Who would be the
survivor of the island? Who would be the
weakest link?
Matt. 18:10 “Take care that you do
not despise one of these little ones; for, I
tell you, in heaven their angels
continually see the face of my Father in
Jesus, seeing the disciples gathering
around Him while asking this question,
turns and sees a young child in the
distance and calls the child to come
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But Jesus is not finished. He says,
“Whoever becomes HUMBLE like this
child is the GREATEST in the kingdom of
heaven.”
This passage can be really bothersome for a lot of people.
When we think of children, we might
think of immature munchkins running
around, causing trouble, spilling things,
knocking things over and making a mess
or who are sometimes rude and whiney.
So does Jesus want us to regress? How
is it possible that being mature in Christ
means becoming like children?
Let’s try to unlock the Lord’s
meaning in all of this. Jesus is saying,
first of all, that our primary concern
should not be so much on how to be
greatest in the kingdom of heaven as it is
to simply enter the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus is worried that we may not
even get in, let alone be great. Therefore,
this is no little kid’s story. This is a
matter of life and death.
This must have been such a shock
to the people. The rabbis and religious
leaders never told them they had to be
like a child to get to heaven. But for
Jesus, children were the perfect
examples.
T
he disciples thought that the goal in
life was to be powerful, rich, popular,
strong (like my twin, Arnold Schwarzeneggar), and that God would be like
Arnold and that He would want us to be
like Arnold.
But then they discovered that this
was not a kindergarten cop but a
kindergarten God who saw that the
innocence and perspective of a five-yearold child is what we would need to enter
heaven.
A kindergarten God, a God who
would say, “If you want to be with Me,
then go back to kindergarten and
remember what it was like because
somehow the way you approached life
back then is how you must approach Me
now.”
What a mystery!
The word "kindergarten" came from
Friedrich Frobel of Germany in 1835. The
original meaning was that there would be
a safe place, a garden for children where
they could learn about humankind, nature
and God!
Jesus is saying to the disciples,
there is a garden, a place called heaven,
but it’s only for those who are childlike in
their faith. Jesus is saying His heavenly
Father is a kindergarten God.
How do you approach Him? How do
you get to heaven? The criteria,
according to Jesus, is simple: it is not
that we become children or become
childish, but that we become childlike.
What then are the attributes of a child
that Jesus wants us to have?
1) Jesus wants us to be humble like
a child.
Children know how small they really
are. They do not belittle themselves.
They can see with their own eyes how
much bigger everyone else is than they.
The child in our Bible passage is
probably pint-sized compared to the
disciples; they were like Goliaths
towering above him or her.
I remember how I once walked into a
class of kindergartners and one boy
looked at me up and down and
exclaimed, “Wow, you must play football!”
I felt so good!
The point is that it is not a person’s
stature or greatness that will get one into
the kingdom of heaven (good news for
me!). It is not how big we make ourselves
out to be that is of value to God. It’s not
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the trophies or the stock portfolio that
are of true value to God.
No, it is the knowledge and belief of
how small we are before God and how big
and dangerous life is that we desperately
need Him in our lives.
“Tears filled my eyes as I looked at
Jesus through the eyes of a child in love
with Him, seeing Him for the first time. It
was so much fun. Then came the arrest
scene.
“On stage, the soldiers
shoved and slapped
Our Children’s
Jesus as they moved
Ministries Director,
“It is not the trophies or the
Him from the Garden
Vicki Wiley, was
of Gethsemane to
stock portfolio that are of true
telling me how she
Pilate. Bailey
value to God. No, it is the
always starts her
responded as if she
knowledge and belief of how
Sunday school
were in the crowd
small we are
class with prayer
of women, with
requests. Last month
before God.”
terror and anger.
a boy told her that he
‘Stop it!’ she screamed.
was really worried that
‘Bad soldiers, stop it!’
someone was going to poison the
water system here in Hawaii. Vicki took
“As I watched her reaction, I wished
his feelings seriously and asked, “Tell
we had talked to her before the play.
me, why do you fear that?”
‘Bailey, it's okay. They are just
pretending.’ But she shouted, ‘They are
And he said, “I just know that
hurting Jesus! Stop it!’
someone is going to pour Diet Pepsi into
our water!”
“She now stood on her seat reacting
to each and every move. People around
There is a freshness and innocence
us at first smiled at her reaction, thinking
in a child that we somehow lose when we
‘How cute!’ Then they quit smiling and
get older. Children don’t know the ways
began watching her watch Jesus. (They
of the world. And they don’t hold
were now experiencing the Lord through
grudges. I am amazed by that.
the eyes of a child.)
Last week, I yelled at my seven-year
old son, Quinn, which made him cry. I felt
tremendous remorse and immediately
said I was sorry and asked for his
forgiveness. Then he hugged me and that
was it. No grudges. Then we went on to
play the game “Othello” and he beat me.
Then I had the grudge!
But, boy, in the workplace or with
adults at home, you offend someone and
you can be dead meat for a long, long
time! They hold it against you. But young
children, almost like pets, don’t hold
grudges. They are innocent, ask a lot of
questions and don’t care if they sound
stupid.
They “ooh and ahh” when they see a
beautiful sunset or when something
joyous happens. They are not jaded when
they hear the stories of Jesus. What do I
mean by that?
I got an e-mail from a friend who
excerpted this story from a book. A
grandmother was taking her three-yearold granddaughter, Bailey, to see a local
church’s production of the life of Jesus
from birth to resurrection. Bailey was so
much in awe of the nativity scene with
Joseph, Mary and the angels. It was so
real to her.
Listen to the writer’s words:
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“In a most powerful scene, the
soldiers led Jesus carrying the cross
down the steps of the auditorium from the
back. They were yelling, whipping, and
cursing at Jesus, who was bloodied and
beaten.
“Bailey was now hysterical. ‘Stop it!
Soldiers! Stop it!’ she screamed. She
must have been wondering why all these
people did nothing.
“She then began to cry instead of
scream. ‘Jesus, oh, Jesus!’ People all
around us began to weep as we all watch
this devoted little disciple see her Jesus
beaten and killed as those first century
disciples had.”
Fortunately, the Resurrection scene
came later. The author continued:
“I prayed that she wasn't going to be
traumatized by this event, but that she
would remember it. I shall never forget it.
I shall never forget seeing Jesus'
suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection
through the eyes of an innocent child.
“Following the pageant, the actors all
assembled in the foyer to be greeted by
the audience. As they passed by some
of the soldiers Bailey screamed out, ‘Bad
soldier, don’t you hurt Jesus.’
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he actor who portrayed Jesus was
some distance away surrounded by wellwishers and friends. Bailey broke away
from her grandmother and ran toward him,
wrapping herself around his legs, holding
on for dear life.
leads to my second point.
“He hugged her [back] and said,
‘Jesus loves you.’ He patted her to go
away. She wouldn't let go. She kept
clinging to Him, laughing and calling His
name. She wasn't about to let go of her
Jesus.” (Author unknown).
What does it mean to be a Christian?
Simply to admit that we need to be fully
dependent on Jesus to make it every day
in this life. And I know that is hard for
adults to live out, even for Christians.
Great story. But will Bailey someday
grow up and be like us and no longer ooh
and aah when she hears the Easter or
Christmas story? We’ve heard the
Christmas and Easter stories enough
times that we can get ho-hum about it.
We think we are such big, mature adults
who are so sophisticated and cool.
When we win that award or get that
big business deal, it’s easy to forget how
small we are before God. We want to
take full credit leaving little to the Lord.
Being small, children know how vulnerable they are. Adults, on the other hand,
oftentimes use masks or put on airs.
2) Jesus wants us to realize and
acknowledge that we need to be
dependent upon God just as a child is
dependent on his/her parent.
Everything in us says we should not
be dependent on anyone. But notice what
Jesus is saying. He is not saying we
should be dependent on everyone,
especially sinful people, but rather we
should be dependent on God like a child
would be for his or her parent.
A state of dependence is a natural
state for young children. They never
think they can face life by themselves
and for themselves. Kindergarten
children can’t shop or cook for themselves. They are perfectly content to be
utterly dependent on those who love
them and care for them.
Humility is hard for us adults. We
think we have all the answers to life. And
if we don’t, we fake it. We try to make
our self-esteem based on whether we
have things or accomplishments.
In a sense, Jesus poses the
question to us: “Could we, adults, be
totally dependent on Him?” If we could,
He says we would get a new strength and
joy and peace. We will enter into heaven
if we are dependent on Him as our Lord.
But possessions or accomplishments
are deceiving because they don't always
help us when we face medical problems,
depression, or rejection in relationships.
Life is a lot bigger than what one person
can do and we forget that so easily.
We can get dependent on imperfect,
temporal things such as status, sex,
money, or sinful people. And that’s where
we mess up. After we achieve certain
things and please certain people, we find
it is never enough. We want more.
As one church elder said to me, “We
are all just one tragedy or trauma away
from being totally vulnerable.”
We must realize, however, that
although we stop depending on our
parents for the provision of basic needs,
we need to remain dependent upon God
for our basic needs.
However, many of us rediscovered
that truth of vulnerability when 9-11
happened, and unless we had our heads
in the sand for the past two years, we
realize that we are very vulnerable
economically, physically, and homeland
security-wise.
We discovered that vulnerability
when our marriages became rocky, or
there was a rejection in a relationship, or
there was a serious illness or family or
money problems.
We are a lot more fragile than we
would like to admit. And when we forget
that, it always leads to trouble. That
fragility in life is reality. We mustn’t deny
it! We are never self-made men and
women. We always need help from a
higher power. Children know that, which
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independence means dependence on
God.
But dependence alone is not enough.
We must adopt a third attribute of a child:
3) We must trust God.
Dependence can be without trust,
but dependence yoked with trust? Wow,
that leads to love.
Children by nature trust their parents
when they are young. They trust that
their parents will take care of them; that
they will always be there for them; that
they will always love them.
When we were young children, some
of us idolized our parents. There was
nothing that they could do wrong. As we
get older, however, we become less
dependent upon our parents. We start
taking things into our own hands, start
doing things on our own.
We then realize that our parents are
not gods, that they, like us, are fully
human and capable of error and sin and
failures. And some of us, perhaps have
stopped trusting our parent due to the
hurt they have caused us.
Sometimes children have been hurt
by adults. And in this passage, more
clearly than others, Jesus draws the line
in the sand when it comes to hurting
children.
He says if you are ever tempted to
put a hurtful hand on a child, if ever you
are ever tempted to look at a child with
lust, it is far better for you to cut off your
hand or pluck out your eye than to have
two hands or two eyes and be thrown into
hell.
If ever we are a stumbling block to a
child, Jesus says it would be better for
us if a great stone were
Many of us
fastened around our
are fearful during
neck and we were
Although we stop depending
this time because
thrown into the deepest
on our parents for the
of possible
part of the ocean, than
provision
of
basic
needs,
conflict with Iraq
to harm a child or be a
we need to remain dependent
and North Korea,
stumbling block
on top of the
upon God
preventing him or her
economy being
from knowing Jesus. If
for our basic needs.
bad. For such a
your child wants to go
time as this, we
to church, never tell
must have the faith
them no. Drive them
of a child and know that God is with us.
every week.
When people are striving to maintain
liberty and freedom, it will always be a
Sisters and brothers, hear this. If
struggle.
you have ever been hurt or molested as
a child and you wondered what God
So, I tell you all to keep the faith,
thought, He was grieved and it made his
and keep pressing on. And as you feel
blood boil. He has zero tolerance for that
the fears crop up, turn to God. True
and we should, too.
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nd if you were hurt by a parent or a
relative or some person, know that God
is working overtime to give you strength
now and to bless you and heal you if you
will just receive it. He can make you
strong in spite of your past.
"I still have hope in God because He
gave me all these handicaps to show
other people about Him. Even when I
didn't feel like overcoming, He brought
people to visit me and pray for me. He
gave me a new strength each time.
And if you have felt alone and
abandoned, know that Jesus will never
abandon you. For He said in today’s
passage that if He, as a shepherd, had
100 sheep and one was missing, and you
were that one, He would go searching for
you high and low and bring you back into
the flock. He would leave the 99 for the
one lost.
"I wanted to share my poems with
other people. I thought it could help other
people to know God. And here is one of
them called ‘Glory Place.’
You see, God is not like a hurtful
parent. He is perfect and fully trustworthy. Jesus is calling us to Him. He is
someone we can trust. To trust God, we
will need to rekindle that childlike trust
that we had once but now buried due to
the hurt in our past.
Children believe that what is told
them is true. If we know that God is love
and truth, then we need to trust Him as a
child would. Oh, if only our lives, our
prayers could believe that!
“I'll tell you a story
Of a place of all glory
A place where rivers run,
A place beyond the sun,
A place after death,
After a life of struggles and strife.
And no one knows where it lies;
It's a place where no one dies;
It's a place where God is alive."
( from “Walking with My Lord,” by
Stephanie Sakuma; Family Media
Publishing of California)
And Jesus said, “Unless you become
like a child, you will never enter the
kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus was calling us back to a
childlike trust of God for anything less
will be a life of anxiety and death without
heaven. But if we trust Him, we will have
strength and peace even in the midst of
death.
You see, heaven IS a kindergarten,
a garden for childlike people. Jesus knew
what He was talking about. It is that
genuine, humble, dependent and trusting
attitude of a child that allows one to enter
the kingdom of heaven and become great
and courageous here on earth.
Is this just a child’s fable? No, let me
tell you a child’s true story of one of my
colleague’s friends. It’s a story I have
shared before with some of you.
The next time you worry, TRUST
GOD like a child and feel His love and
strength. For He is trustworthy! Amen!
Stephanie Sakuma dreamed of
becoming a doctor and going to thirdworld countries to heal people while
spreading the Christian gospel. Her
aspirations were cut short when she died
in 1989 at age 11 after contracting AIDS
from a blood transfusion during treatment
for hemophilia. According to her parents,
Stephanie is believed to have been the
first Japanese American child to have
died from AIDS.
Let us pray. Dear Lord, we as youth
and adults so often try to put on masks
and put up false fronts and try to be what
we are not. We fake strength when we
are weak.
We do want to enter heaven. May we
be humble, and dependent and trusting of
you. May we be like a child so open and
free, as if running on an open beach,
joyous in your presence and breathing
the fresh air of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Before Stephanie died she wrote a
letter and a poem about heaven, God's
kindergarten. And this is what she wrote:
"If I didn't know God, I'd have been
ready to give up a long time ago.
Sometimes, I wonder if I fear death, but I
know I don't because life after death is
better than life on earth.
“The painfulness of my body will be
gone. Sometimes I think the pain will
never end or a bloody nose will never
stop.
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