Our Beautiful Mess.

Again, a great night at KAMP's. Thanks to my friend Ryan Gikas for jumping into the Mars Hill community with such wide-eyed wonder. Check out Ryan's stuff and support at www.myspace.com/gikasmusic.

A bit of a confession on my part...
I felt a bit scattered, which brings about a choice in me. Hang my head because I didn't deliver my A game OR remember that the church and kingdom of God is not contingent upon my stage performance. I choose the latter.

This Beautiful Mess #6 – July 29th, 2007

A working definition for the kingdom - How things really are & how things should really be.

Welcome The Child

Matthew 18:2-3 says, “Jesus called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”.

What is it about kids anyway? They’re innocent and selfish, sweet and annoying, mysterious and simple. Back when you were a preschooler, you knew stuff that you’ve forgotten now. But how exactly did you see and experience the world then? And if you could recapture it now, could it help you see and experience the kingdom Jesus preached?

Jesus thought so. In fact, on 3 separate occasions in Matthew’s account, children take center stage. I think you’ll discover that children provide us with something like a portal into important truths about the kingdom experience.

Scene #1

The disciples come to Jesus with very adult question: Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

We might be tempted to say, “Obviously the guys were just being competitive and immature again,” and dismiss the question. But we might also hear their concern as a step of faith – because they were thinking seriously about the kingdom, they cared about how Jesus measured success.

We want to be a community that is guided by the RIGHT kinds of questions. Not puffed up, arrogant, cynical types.

Jesus answers one of the key question Mars Hill has been asking from the beginning, “How do we measure success? For us to BE the church, success looks different than DOING church.”

In reply to their question, Jesus calls a little child to stand among them. “I tell you the truth,” he told his followers, “unless you CHANGE and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The word change here actually means to be converted – to become a different kind of person with a different worldview OR to repent - to turn around and walk the new way.

Matthew 18:4-14 says, “4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. 6But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
10"See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.[a] 12"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.

Jesus answers the disciple's question. There is a greatest...it just looks different than we thought it might...the last are first...the least are most...the weak are strong.

Go after the little ones, the kids and the "little ones" that our societies in an earthly kingdom say do not matter. The broken, marginalized and forgotten.

I’m reminded of the many other times when the “religious” are on the verge of really blowing this thing and taking it in all the wrong directions.

Want to really take in My Kingdom? Jesus says to His followers. “Become like this child standing in front of you.”

Don’t try to grow up so fast AND don’t let these “little ones” around you grow up so fast either. Let them remain and exist, BE.

Change. Humble yourself. Become like you were those summer evenings you played on and on in the shadows.

Become like Joseph, my neighbor. Joseph is 18 months old, and one of his favorite things to do, as far and Jeanne and I can tell, is to go flying down the driveway naked after a bath. He holds himself inappropriately and giggles and grins from ear to ear. Joseph – fat, freshly scrubbed, and gleeful. Joseph galloping naked across his own personal planet. You oughta see it. ‘Course if I saw Jeff, his dad, behaving that way, I’d think he needed help. But with Joseph it’s different. The kid is innocent. He’s the prince of bathlings, the great khan of his own driveway, and he knows it. Plus he knows that mom is watching out for him, joyfully watching. Why not take a butt-naked risk? No wonder he wears a perma-grin. I’ve noticed that beautiful look on Jeff and Shanti at times, but only in their best moments. They’re grown ups, after all, like you and me, not toddlers. Life usually isn’t cute for grown ups.

So what could Jesus mean? We wonder. We don’t quite get it and the disciples didn’t either because after Jesus’ teachings about such adult topics as forgiveness, divorce, and remarriage, the toddlers show up again to provide another learning opportunity.

SCENE #2

Matthew 19:13-15 says,” 13Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." 15When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

Notice that the disciples see the children as intruders. But Jesus says, “Don’t hinder the children. Forget your schedule and everybody else’s expectations. Just let them rush inappropriately right into the middle of things and stare rudely up into My face.”


I think of all the ways I hinder my kids. I hinder them by thinking I need to teach them, and teach them now, all the things they don’t know about, including God. This passage suggests a bigger picture than most of us parents have most of the time. This passage is saying that kids already understand something about the kingdom that I don’t get. I need to humbly learn from them.

What do you need to learn from the kids around you?

This is why kids worship with us at KAMP’s. They are messy and noisy and wonderful and inspiring. And we have something to learn from them in their worship.

If I threw my son Bryce into an algae-ridden pond, he wouldn’t want to leave. He could be there for eight hours capturing pollywogs, poking insects, collecting sticks, happily carried along on the pulse of creation. Afterward if I asked him, “Bryce, what did you learn about God?” he’d probably say the obvious: “God is big” OR “God likes bugs.” But maybe I should play with him and then ask, “What did I learn about God?” Because Bryce isn’t missing God. I am the one who should be a careful student in this moment.

We need to quit DOING church FOR kids and start BEING church with kids.

I am beginning to dream about our children here and the children of OKC each having a family or mentor to walk with, learn from, teach and share the ups and downs of life of many years. Don’t you think that each family or person has room for one?

The Boys & Girls Clubs of OKC really have my attention these days and I'm wondering and exploring what it might look like to jump into where God is already at work there.

According to a recent community needs assessment, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County serves an inner-city area that is home to more than 32,000 children and youth, a large number of whom spend hours alone or on the streets with little or no adult supervision. This assessment indicated area growth would continue for the foreseeable future. Our membership demographics reflect the great need for our services and programs. Eighty two percent of our members are from single parent homes; eight-five percent are minority ethnicity.

There are 3 clubs and 32,000 kids and youth represented within 3 miles of where we Gather on Sunday evenings at KAMP's. I'm reminded of why God has led us to Becoming A New Kind of Church IN THE CITY.

Memorial Park Club @ 36th & Western / McKinley Park Club @ 13th & McKinley / Taft Teen Club @ 23rd & May – ALL WITHIN 3 MILES OF WHERE WE SIT TONITE.

Interestingly, right after Jesus calls children to Him and blesses them, He meets a candidate for Mr. Perfect Disciple. He’s a poster adult for adultness. This guy has it all – he’s rich, educated, unfailingly ethical, and extremely devout. He wants to know how to live forever in the kingdom of heaven. “What good thing must I do?” he asks.

But Jesus tells him that to find treasure in heaven, the man must first put down all his accomplishments and all his possessions. Strip down to just him. “Then come, follow me,” Jesus says.

At that, Mr. Perfect turns away sad. It’s not what he was prepared to hear.

Do you see the contrast? To the little ones who bring nothing, Jesus says, “Come to Me just as you are.” To the adult arriving with everything, Jesus says, “First drop all that. Then come.”
If you had been a disciple that day, watching the kids playing happily in Christ’s presence and watching a man who had everything leaving disappointed, how would you have responded?

The disciples that day were confused, they asked Jesus, “Who then can be saved?”

Two kingdoms collide with Mr. Perfect Disciple and the children that day.


Scene #3


Jesus is just days away from His death on the Cross. Jerusalem is swept up in the celebration of Passover, and Jesus is making a scene in the temple courtyard. He has just kicked out all the money changers and peddlers. Everybody’s yelling, running around. Tables upside down, papers blowing, coins rolling everywhere. Escaped doves all over the place. Security guards in a huff.


And Jesus is standing there with a message. “My house will be called a house of prayer. But you are making it a den of robbers.” Matthew 21:13-16 says, “14The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant. 16"Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him. "Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read, " 'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise'[g]?"

I love that scene. Upset capitalists. Upset clergy. Upset tables and birds. In the middle of it all, I can hear shuffling. It’s the marginalized people of the city getting closer to Jesus for His healing touch.


Turn the church upside down and the marginalized, broken and forgotten are given space to come.


And we hear another sound rising above the noise. The voices of children worshipping God. They are the only ones who get it. We need to follow children into worship.


What point of pride is keeping you and me from seeing a kingdom that is already here, right next to our skin? What invulnerability?


What silly fear is keeping us from rushing into His inner circle OR doing cartwheels for His pleasure?


What religious pose is passing for authentic spiritual connectedness?

Let us more carefully consider the children who stand among us.
Let us more thoughtfully listen.


These little ones are mysterious beings who, in important ways, are already living what you and I long for. When we want so much for God to come and connect with us that we make sure to leave the kids in the pink room downstairs. That way we can pay attention.


But Jesus flips the whole thing upside down, like He did with those tables in the courtyard. “My kingdom is already here,” He says. “Check out the pink room.”


What qualities best describe some of the kids you know?


What kinds of attributes or values will you need to lay aside before you can learn from a child?


How could you create an intentional connection with a child or children so you can learn with them?


Where can you give your time in your community that could allow that kind of connection to happen?


How could the kingdom break into your community where kids are in the most need?