Where's the Fruit? (Matthew 21.12-22)

 

Introduction

 

If you have ever visited the Sydney Opera House, or the Louvre in Paris, or the Empire State Building in New York, or the Taj Mahal in Agra, or the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, or the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, I have no doubt that you will have been impressed by what you witnessed. These are foremost among the world’s most majestic buildings, and they leave their mark on you for their scale, for their grandeur and their beauty.

 

The temple in Jerusalem, at the time of Christ, was a similarly imposing, impressive, iconic structure. It was in that league. It had a huge wow factor. Built around 530 BC, it was one of the grandest buildings in the world of that day, if not the grandest. It was breathtaking to behold. And it was the historic, beating heart of Israel's life and religious identity. 

 

When Herod the Great redeveloped and expanded it starting in about 20 BC, it became the largest building complex in the ancient world, bar none. People marvelled at it. Its total surface area was about 37 acres, into which you can fit 21 football pitches. The perimeter of the temple contained a covered portico, supported by huge columns 10.5 metres high, and so thick that it took three men joining hands to encircle one of them. And its beauty, oh my! The finest marble, polished ivory, sections overlaid with gold, sumptuous fixtures and fittings, no expense was spared.

 

The temple consisted of five separate zones; the first and easily the largest was called the Court of the Gentiles; then beyond that, the Court of the Women or Outer Court; then beyond that the Inner Court; then finally, accessible to only a few, a magnificent roofed structure called the Holy Place, separated from the mysterious Holy of Holies behind it by a curtain 18 metres high, 9 metres wide and 10 centimetres thick. 

 

But that first space, the Court of the Gentiles, was set aside for anyone, anyone, to pray and to seek God, and to approach him for the forgiveness of sins. That huge space symbolised the reality that the God of Israel was the God who so loves the whole world. 

 

It was a place where the excluded were included; Jerusalem’s sick and poor and needy and forgotten would hang out there, hundreds of them every day, hoping for a some pity and maybe a bit of spare change from passing pilgrims. 

 

And it is right here, in this sprawling Court of the Gentiles, that the events of Matthew 21.12-17 take place. 

 

Let’s read what it says:

 

Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!” 

The blind and the lame came to him in the Temple, and he healed them. The leading priests and the teachers of religious law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the children in the Temple shouting, “Praise God for the Son of David.”

But the leaders were indignant. They asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?”

“Yes,” Jesus replied. “Haven’t you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, ‘You have taught children and infants to give you praise.’” Then he returned to Bethany, where he stayed overnight.

 

Prayer…

 

Cleansing the temple

 

So Jesus enters this vast holy site, built for the glory of God, looks around and what does he see? Is it pilgrims coming before the Lord in reverence and prayer? Is it fear and trembling at the beauty of God’s majesty? Is it kneeling and bowing down and raised hands bringing a holy offering of praise? Is it worshippers being still before the Lord as they take in the public reading of scripture? Or incense rising with prayers of intercession?

 

None of that. Instead, his senses are assaulted by the sights, sounds and smells of a noisy and vulgar marketplace, hundreds of animals and caged birds, their excrement making the place smell like a farmyard. Bleating. Haggling. Chit chat. Flapping wings. Clinking coins. How is anyone supposed to pray in this irreverent environment? Everything you see and hear is wholly inappropriate and out of place. 

 

Worse still, Jesus sees money changers charging excessive exchange rates for the special temple currency required to purchase these sacrificial animals and birds. It cost half a day’s wage just to switch to the authorised currency. 

Jesus sees well-heeled livestock merchants profiteering from exorbitant prices. You can, in theory, bring your own lamb or bird, but some corrupt bureaucrat will fail its inspection at the gate, so you have to buy an officially approved one from a certified vendor. It is organised commercial exploitation. It’s an unholy racket on an industrial scale. And this in 30AD is what Israel’s religion has descended to.

 

So Jesus, grieved in his soul, starts to drive out those who are buying and selling. He overturns the tables of the money changers; coins and keys and account books are flying everywhere. 

 

And he is not finished yet. He pulls over the benches of those selling caged birds. He stops people carrying their merchandise around like it was some sort of religious megastore. 

 

You couldn’t call it a disturbance of the peace, because there’s no peace to disturb. But there is uproar. Jesus’ actions are incendiary and they are intended to be so. 

 

John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus did something strikingly similar to this towards the beginning of his ministry as well. When it comes to riotous disruption and vandalism in this iconic religious setting, Jesus has previous. 

 

But there’s a notable difference between what John and Matthew describe. In John chapter 2, Jesus says, “Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” But here, it’s worse. In three years, Jesus has downgraded the temple personnel from mere market traders to operators of an organised scam.

 

“It is written,” he says in v13, with the eyes of everyone fixed on him, “my house shall be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.” 

 

Let me help you understand that phrase in its context. On the winding road from Jericho up to Jerusalem, a road that many of the pilgrims would have trod, including Jesus and his travelling party, there are hidden caves by the roadside. You might remember the parable of the Good Samaritan which is set on that same road. Bandits would hide there in gangs waiting to spring out and mug you. This is what Jesus means by “den of robbers.” He means organised crime. 

 

Jesus is saying that these money changers and temple salesmen are actually in cahoots with each other plotting to spring nasty surprises on unsuspecting pilgrims by ripping them off with inflated prices and hidden fees.

 

So Jesus is upset not just because this sacred space has been trivialized and repurposed as a cacophonous livestock market. But also because it is now riddled with crooks fleecing worshippers with extortionate hidden costs. It is nowhere near fulfilling its original purpose as a place of prayer. It has not only lost its way, it has lost its soul.

 

And there is no greater proof of that being the case than what we read in v14-15. In a moment of grace and faith, Jesus brings light into the darkened world of blind beggars, and he lifts the crippled to their feet, and children begin to spontaneously and joyfully shout and sing praise to God. The power of the Holy Spirit is present… 

 

…And the chief priests and teachers of the law see these beautiful, life changing signs and wonders and they hate it. It should solicit awe and admiration from them but because of their hard, religious hearts, v15 says the opposite; they are indignant, it says.

 

These are the men who should have put a stop to this temple abomination years ago, but they just encourage it. These are the men who should be leading the people in praise and worship when God’s healing power is released, not complaining about it and shutting it down. This scene perfectly demonstrates their catastrophic failure of leadership.

 

Stephen, the first Christian martyr, in Acts 7, sums it up perfectly by telling these same men, “You always resist the Holy Spirit!” Sadly, there are plenty of clergy in our day who are just as useless as these chief priests. The healing power of God, uninhibited and joyful children, new songs, spontaneous worship in God’s house… they can’t stand it.

 

And listen, all of us who are involved in whatever sphere of Christian leadership; life group leaders, children’s and youth leaders, worship leaders, pastoral ministers, elders, trustees, Alpha team, ministry leaders of all sorts… if we’re going to resist anything, let it be stagnant, religious, dead works and not the living water of the Holy Spirit. It’s the prayer of my heart; “Lord, don’t let my heart grow cold, set my soul on fire with love for you and for what you want to do.”

 

And not just leaders, all of us. Do you need to reset this morning? Has your heart begun to grow just a little bit uncomfortable and resistant to any new thing that God wants to do, especially if it ruffles feathers and takes you out of your comfortable routine?

 

In v17, Matthew just says, “and [Jesus] left them and went out of the city.” Jesus has had quite enough dead religion for one day. 

 

But the next day, Jesus heads back into Jerusalem again and he works a miracle that is totally unlike every other we have so far seen in Matthew's Gospel. 

 

Let’s read on, starting at v18:

 

In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” 

And immediately the fig tree withered up. The disciples were amazed when they saw this and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”

Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”

 

Cursing the fig tree

 

Every miracle we have encountered so far in Matthew’s Gospel brings healing from sickness, or relief from oppression, or protection from harm (like the calming of the storm), or abundance of provision (like the miraculous catch and the feeding of the 5,000). 

 

But this one, in stark contrast, appears to bring gratuitous environmental damage and death. It’s the strangest story. This one has gardeners and ecologists and conservationists united in their disapproval.  

 

Jesus is hungry, and seeing by the road a fig tree in leaf, he approaches it, hoping to find figs. But though it is leafy in appearance, giving the impression of fruitfulness, Matthew tells us in v19 that when Jesus inspects it, he finds nothing except leaves. So he then speaks to the tree, saying, “May you never bear fruit again!”

 

You may well wonder, why are the conduct and attitude of Jesus in these two passages so unlike every previous description of him thus far in our long series in the Gospel of Matthew? First, the angry temple outburst, and now this. It’s bordering on antisocial behaviour. 

 

Jesus curses a fig tree because it is unable in this moment to supply him with a mid-morning snack. This appears sullen, even petulant behaviour. Isn’t it a bit off, we may ask, to make a tree wither to its roots and die simply because it cannot at this time satisfy your hunger?

 

And it seems to fly in the face of everything we know about Jesus' character from elsewhere in the Gospels. It even appears to bring into question his description of himself in chapter 11 as “humble and gentle at heart.” What are we to make of it?

 

It will be no surprise to most of you that I am no expert in horticulture. If you are looking for assistance to correctly identify any species of plant; moss, shrub, flower, bush or tree, I am absolutely not your go-to guy. Accordingly, my knowledge of fig trees is about as extensive as my acquaintance with hair products. But I do know this; trees can be emblematic of nations or cultures. We talk for example of English oak, Scots pine, Californian redwood and cedars of Lebanon. 

 

And in just the same way, the fig tree was a symbol of Israel in the Old Testament. Several prophets at different times spoke of the barren fig tree as a picture of God withholding his blessing from the nation. 

 

Jeremiah, for example, prophesied God’s imminent judgement upon Jerusalem around 600 BC saying, “There will be no figs on the tree, and their leaves will wither.” He was saying in effect that God will one day come looking for fruit from you and if he finds nothing but leaves you will wilt and shrivel and die.

 

With the withering of this tree, Jesus is giving us an unforgettable visual aid for what just happened the previous day in the temple.

 

This fig tree, you see, just like the temple, looks promising from a distance. But a closer examination of both leads only to frustration and disappointment. The fig tree is unfruitful and barren; it’s all leaves and no fruit. Just as the temple is ungodly and hollow; it’s all show and no substance. The one is a visual commentary on the other.

 

This is, you may be interested to know, the last miracle Jesus ever does in Matthew’s Gospel. That is significant. No one will eat from that tree ever again. It’s over. And Jesus is saying here, just days before the cross, that God is done with the temple. His verdict on useless religion is final. 

 

40 years later, in 70 AD, this magnificent temple will be razed to the ground, never to be rebuilt, and all that remains of it today is a small section we call the Wailing Wall. 

 

Are you troubled about the death of this tree? Does it disturb you a bit that Jesus isn't appropriately concerned about the environment? Is this miracle offensive to you in any way? Then I invite you to consider the alternative view that Jesus actually honoured this fig tree, making it spiritually one of the most fruitful trees that ever grew.

This a tree from which many, over centuries, have learned something about themselves, about their hard heart, about their lives being all show and no fruit, about God’s displeasure with useless religion. This tree has led thousands of sinners to repent and turn back to the living God. 

 

In Revelation 2 and 3, Jesus walks among churches, looking for fruit. He might well find busyness and activity and projects and meetings and a nice building, but that is not at the heart of what he is looking for. 

 

He is looking for faith. He is looking for prayer. He is looking for worship and true worshippers. He is looking for love. 

 

Michael Green, in his commentary, says this; “God is no more bound to Christian churches with a long pedigree than he was to Israel with an even longer one. If there is no fruit (in prayerfulness, in evangelism, in love and ministry to the community), God will judge such churches and they will die.” 

 

Phil Moore says the same thing another way; “Looking back on history,” he says, “it is easy to see that those congregations that have remained obedient to God’s word have tended to grow and expand while those that show… selective commitment to scripture… have tended to be cursed with a famine of converts, dwindling congregations and eventually closure.” 

 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; there is no example anywhere in the Bible of Satan closing churches. He has no authority to do so. Jesus is building his church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail, shall not stand, against her advance. Only Jesus closes churches, and if a church rebels against his word it is only a matter of time before he will.

 

God deliver us from exchanging the eternal truth of his word for a lie. The day we do is the day we set King’s Church Darlington on a path of relentless decline into irrelevance.

 

Ending

 

As I end, I want to just underline again that this withered tree, drooping and limp - just picture it - is a vivid image of God’s settled decision to bring the temple to an end. God’s intention was that this magnificent structure should be a bridge between heaven and earth. A place where sinners find forgiveness. Now, there is only one bridge between heaven and earth, and it’s his incomparably more magnificent Son, Jesus. He is the new temple.

 

But this passage also supplies us with an undeniable proof of the power and authority of Jesus' words.

 

He speaks and it comes to pass. He says, “let there be light” and stars and galaxies burst into life for all things, the Bible says, were created by him and for him. He gives the word and a centurion’s servant is instantly healed. He calls out, “Lazarus, come forth” and a man, four days dead, emerges from his tomb breathing and walking. He says, “may no one ever eat your fruit again” and a fruitless fig tree, nothing but leaves, withers to its roots.

 

We sometimes sing, “These are the days of Elijah, declaring the word of the Lord.” 

 

So I say, in the name of Jesus, you despairing ones, lift your heads for the Lord, the mighty one, is with you. 

You who are plagued by doubts, open your heart and receive a gift of faith, the assurance of things hoped for. 

You sick, be healed today; Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever and he has authority over every disease and sickness. 

You broken-hearted, listen; there is a new day; the old has gone, the new has come, today is a day of hope and renewal for you. 

 

Let’s stand to pray...

Sermon preached at King's Church Darlington, 3 November 2024.

Raising Up a Next Generation of Leaders

My name is John. I am one of the elders at King’s Church Darlington. I have about 35 years’ experience of church leadership; firstly, as a church planter in Paris, France and latterly as a pastor in England. 
 
Here’s a question for you. How does this rough stone become like this shiny stone? They are made of exactly the same material. But this one looks better. It is much smoother and has a lovely shiny surface. The reason it looks better is that it has been polished. It takes a little bit of toothpaste and lots and lots of rubbing with a denim cloth. But when you are ready to do the work, this can become that.
 
Raising up and releasing leaders is very much the same. Taking ordinary raw material and, through an intentional process, making it better. And raising up new leadership is one of the most important aspects of a leader’s role. This is what we are going to talk about in this session.
 
All leaders have followers. If no one ever follows you, you are not really a leader. But the best leaders are never satisfied in just having followers. The best leaders create other leaders.
 
Nic Harding (Kairos Ministries) says, “A disciple is not just someone who is becoming more personally mature, it is someone that is becoming more personally mature and who is making other disciples.” 
 
In the time I have available, I am going to spend the first half showing you the biblical basis for raising and releasing leaders. This is a key aspect of what the Bible has to say about leadership. It shows that this is on God’s heart for his church.
 
In the second half, we’ll look at some practical issues. What are the obstacles to avoid when releasing others? How do I identify the right people? What qualities am I looking for? How do I go about it in the best way?
 
And then there’ll be time for questions at the end.
 
1. Biblical basis
 
So, first the biblical basis. We see examples of raising up and releasing leadership all the way through the Bible. There are many more examples than the ones I am going to speak about, but… 
 
Moses

Moses was a great leader. He heard from God. He spoke God’s word. He confronted Pharoah. He did great miracles. He led his people. And he raised up a successor – Joshua. 
 
Exodus 33.11 says that when Moses came out from the presence of the Lord, he would return to the camp, but Joshua did not leave the presence. Moses thought it was important for Joshua to stay there. So Joshua was given an apprenticeship in God’s presence. 
 
And Deuteronomy 34.9 says that Joshua was full of the Spirit and wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him.
 
Because Moses spent time investing in Joshua, because Moses exposed him to important things, Joshua was able to lead his people into the promised land. 
 
Elijah

Elijah was another great leader. He heard from God. He spoke God’s word. He confronted King Ahab. He did great miracles. 
 
But the day came when Elijah was exhausted after defeating the prophets of Baal. He was burned out from ministry on his own. God gave him a bit of rest and relaxation, and then told him to go and invest in a young leader. “Go and anoint Elisha.” And from that day on, Elisha became his apprentice, raised up to be a successor. 
 
Interestingly, Elisha went beyond Elijah. Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. He had the ambition to surpass his mentor in anointing and impact. 
 
The Bible records that Elisha did exactly twice as many miracles as Elijah. A double portion. Let’s not limit our expectations for those we invest in – pray instead that they go beyond our own sphere of influence and surpass us in their effectiveness and anointing.
 
Paul

Paul was another great leader. He heard from God. He spoke God’s word. He travelled internationally and planted churches. He did great miracles. But he hated working alone. He insisted instead on working in teams and he raised up a number of successors – including Barnabas, Timothy, Titus and Silas. 
 
And he expected them to invest in others after them. In 2 Timothy 2.2 he writes this: “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”
 
Jesus

Jesus is undoubtedly the greatest leader ever. He spoke God’s word. He confronted the Pharisees. He touched untouchables. He forgave sins. He did great miracles. He initiated the new covenant. He could do everything better than everyone. But even he raised up many successors; Peter, James, John and many others. 
 
He patiently taught them. He told them off. He challenged them. He empowered them. He sent them out two by two and told them to report back. 
 
If the greatest leader who ever lived made time to invest in others, what excuse do we have for not doing so? So, throughout the Bible we see a pattern of training and releasing. Identifying future leaders and investing in them.
 
But the Bible also shows us what happens when we don’t invest in other future leaders. 
 
Joshua

Think about Joshua. The one who came after Moses. One of the striking things about the book of Joshua is that after reading all the way through Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy about Moses’ assistant Joshua, when we get to the book of Joshua, Joshua has no assistant by his side. 
 
Joshua has no successor. He has no assistant. Joshua invests in nobody. And the consequence of that is when Joshua dies, there is no one to step into his shoes. There’s a leadership vacuum. 
 
And it leads to a chaotic period of decline and moral decay. It leads to the period of the Judges where, the Bible says, “everyone did what they thought was good in their own eyes.” All the leaders at this time are isolated and directionless. It’s a mess. One generation after another, things go from bad to worse. All because Joshua never raised up leaders.
 
So the Bible shows time and time again how good leaders shape younger or less experienced leaders to be able to carry the flame further and brighter. And it also shows us what happens when they don’t.
 
Equipping for Service

Finally, Ephesians 4.11-12. This is a key passage of scripture. It taks about “equipping God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up.”
 
Bill Hybels used to say, organisationally speaking, all over planet Earth, there are basically two different categories of church. The first, is the most widely reproduced church leadership model in the western world. It has been the dominant model for the last 150-200 years or so. 
 
Here’s what it looks like: Once a newly-planted church gets to about 100 people, the members get together and say, we need a full-time pastor now. So they pool their money and draw up a job description of all the things they want the new pastor to do. 
 
Their basic idea is that the pastor does all of the ministry in the church.
·       He does all the preaching and teaching
·       All the dedications, baptisms, weddings and funerals
·       He visits the sick in hospital
·       He has the keys to open up and lock up
·       he does counselling for people with problems
·       He organises all the rotas from children’s work to serving coffee
·       He changes all the lightbulbs
·       He paints the car park lines and mows the lawn
·       He sets all the heating controls
·       He write hundreds of emails and packs endless mail envelopes
·       He has to be available 24/7 in case of pastoral emergencies
And on and on and on. 

It’s a long list. It’s an impossible list. So the church hires a pastor and he looks at the job description and says, “Oh man, I can hardly wait!” 
 
As soon as he starts his job, he is of course quickly overwhelmed, while the 100 people who pay his salary are now practically unemployed. 
 
In this model, you have 1 minister and 100 idle people. This is widely practiced because it is widely expected. 
 
But this way of doing church, Hybels would say with passion, is totally absent in the Bible. There is no trace of it anywhere from Genesis to Revelation. 
 
The biblical model is totally different. In the Bible, if you have 100 members, the leader’s main job is to equip these 100 people for works of service so that the church is strengthened. 
 
Here, the leader’s consuming focus is to help everyone else to discover their spiritual gift and empower them so that they thrive. When that happens, this church has not 1 minister, but 101 ministers.
 
What model do you want? Do you want a church with one exhausted minister and 100 bored, inactive members? Or a church with 101 effective ministers, each doing what they do best for God’s glory and with no one inactive?
 
How many church members do you have here in Brasov..? So, biblically speaking, how many ministers should you have? 
 
And, if you’re a leader, your most important job is to mobilise and release those around you to be effective in what God has gifted them to do.
 
Imagine! That many ministers, all thriving and excelling in their spiritual gifting. The church would be an unstoppable force in every town.
 
The question is how? What, practically, should we do to raise up and release ministry around us?
 
Church leader David Pytches once watched a prophetic minister called John-Paul Jackson give an extraordinarily accurate prophetic interpretation of a tongue. He went up to him afterwards and said, “That was amazing, how did you do it?” Jackson said, “I don’t know, it was the Lord.” Pytches said, “I know it was the Lord, but how do did you do it?” Again, Jackson just shrugged his shoulders and said, “I don’t know, I just do it, it comes naturally, it’s God.” And Pytches said, “What a tragedy. Your gift will die with you.” 
 
So, practically speaking, how do we pass on to others what we have been entrusted with?
 
2. Practical considerations
 
Be aware - what are the obstacles?

The first thing is we need to be aware. Raising up leaders doesn’t just happen on its own. One of the things we need to be aware of is that I might be the biggest obstacle.

Many people I speak to, who find raising up new leaders difficult, say to me, “Who do I start with? Everyone around me has some sort of problem. One might be gifted but never available. Another one might be always available but with limited Bible knowledge. Another might know the Bible well, but be quite rude or immature. Another might have a pleasant personality but very little charisma; when they speak in church everyone falls asleep.
 
We need to understand that Jesus chose 12 no-hopers. They fought among themselves as to who was the most important. They failed to drive out demons because they had so little faith. They never caught a single fish without Jesus doing a miracle. One denied the Lord. Another betrayed him. All ran away at his arrest. None believed the women when they said he was raised from the dead.
 
But Jesus patiently taught them and corrected them and released them two-by-two – and he never gave up on them. 

One of the biggest obstacles to releasing is knowing that I know I do the job well, and if I give it to someone else it will be done less well. We are tempted to control everything because we care about things being done properly. 
 
A third obstacle that prevents us from bothering to invest in others is that it’s time consuming. I need to show the person what I want. I need to explain to the person how to do it. I need to correct them if they make mistakes. I can do it quicker if I just do it myself.
 
Two weeks ago, Michael and I spoke with Joe about a sermon we asked him to preach. A year earlier, we did the same with David. We had to explain what we wanted. We had to read their drafts. We had to explain what we thought didn’t work and suggest improvements. It was a lot of work. It would have been easier just to do it ourselves. In my case, the sermon would have been better! (Both sermons were a big improvement on what Michael would have said)! 
 
But both spoke really well. We extended our preaching team. David and Joe both learned a lot. And, most importantly, people heard from God. Perhaps in a way that they wouldn’t have if Michael or I had spoken instead.
 
This is what it means to “equip God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up.”
 
I have given you an example from preaching, but it is true if you are a home group leader, a worship leader, a welcome team leader, a pastoral leader, a youth leader or whatever. 
 
Very rarely will we look around and think we have the ideal person to invest in. There is always something - sometimes more than one thing - that is not 100% ideal. But if we never start we will never finish.
 
Be wise - how do you identify the right people?

All that said, the second thing is we do need to be wise. I have invested much time over the years in people who promised much but proved to be disappointments. That should not stop us though! Paul invested in John Mark and later regretted it when John Mark deserted him in the middle of a critical mission trip. As I said earlier, Jesus invested in men who crashed badly.

One of the most important issues is comparing character with giftedness. Sometimes, you come across someone with fantastic gifting; they might be a great speaker, a brilliant musician, or an effective evangelist. They might be very good at drawing a crowd. They might naturally attract young people. They might even hear from God and be prophetic.
 
But whenever the New Testament lists the qualities necessary for church leadership, it is always character rather than giftedness that features most. Are you teachable? Do you drink too much? Do people speak well of you? Can you control your temper? Do you treat members of the opposite sex appropriately and with respect? Are you sober minded?
 
Church leader Paul Harcourt says, “Anointing will get you on the stage but only character will keep you there.” In other words, if you have many gifts, you will usually have many leadership opportunities. But if you are immature in character, it will not last long.  
 
Samson in the book of Judges is a classic example of someone who was strong in the anointing of the Holy Spirit, but weak in character. And his life was a tragic failure.
 
One of the things I always look for is a servant heart. Christian leader Bill Donahue says, “A Christian leader who is not willing to serve is not fit to lead.”
 
I once asked a Christian in his early 20s to lead worship meetings and preach. And I noticed that every time I did, he would arrive early and clean the church toilets beforehand. One day I said to him, “Why do you always clean the toilets before you lead the meeting?” He replied, “I felt God say to me, if you aren’t prepared to serve in unglamorous ways when no one sees you, you shouldn’t accept the more prestigious roles when people do.”
 
What else am I looking for when I am selecting people to invest in for leadership? I want people who love the Lord. Do they have a heart for God? Do they come to prayer meetings? Are they engaged when the church is at worship? Is there evidence that they love God’s word?
 
I look for people who are eager. When I ask them to do something, are they responsive. Remember when Jesus speaks to Peter in Luke 5. Jesus is preaching. Peter is fed up. He has caught no fish all night. Jesus says, “push your boat out and let down your nets.” Peter is an experienced fisherman. He has been up all night. He is ready to go to bed. Most people would say, “Get lost, I’m busy.” But Peter is action-oriented and eager. “Because you say so, I will do it.” Peter is a doer, not a talker.
 
I look for people who are available. I need people who I can count on. I might notice someone who is gifted and who has fine character, but if they are never around, it’s not going to work. Sometimes, people need to be challenged. “I could really invest in you, I want to do it, but I need to be able to count on you. Are your priorities in the right place?”
 
Be intentional - how do you release?

Finally, how, practically speaking, do we release people?
 
I would recommend assigning small tasks first, then if the person is faithful, entrust them with more and more responsibility. How do they respond to being asked to do something small and unimportant? Are they offended? Are they just pleased to be asked? Do they take it seriously? Do they do what is asked with all their heart, or do they act like it is beneath them?
 
Secondly, set clear expectations. In the parable of the talents in Luke 19, the master gathers ten servants, he divides up a sum of money and he instructs them to invest the money while he is gone. They have a resource, a clearly defined task and a timeframe to work to.
 
When asking someone to preach for the first time, for example, I will say “you’ve got 30 minutes. Not 35. I want you to study and pray over the text. I want you to identify the main point of the text. I want you to steer the congregation to a decision. I want you to tell stories to illustrate the point you’re making. You need to look at people, not at your notes. You have to sound like you’re interested in what you’re saying.”
 
People need to work to clear expectations.
 
Then it’s really important to give feedback and encouragement (and correction) afterwards. 
 
Again, the parable of the talents is very helpful here. The master comes back and rewards good performance with greater responsibility. And those who do nothing, what little responsibility they had is taken away and given to those who take the ministry more seriously.

3. Questions...

Talk given at Central Crestin, Brasov, Romania, 19 October 2024

The Kingdom of Heaven Belongs to Such as These (Matthew 19.13-15)

Introduction

 

One of my earliest memories is from when I must have been about three years old. My little brother would have been one, perhaps just under. And I clearly remember, in the middle of the night, lying awake and suddenly feeling inspired. 

I crept into the kitchen, filled a jug with cold water, went back into the bedroom and tipped the lot all over my baby brother as he slept. I have no idea why I did that. I can only say that it seemed like a tremendous idea at the time. 

Anyway, Richard shrieked and pulled himself up on the bars of his cot, dripping, and blinking water out of his big brown eyes. It was then that I heard the ominous sound of my dad’s footsteps. So I hid under my brother’s cot. 

He walked into the bedroom, saw my drenched little brother, and the empty jug, and then noticed my feet sticking out from under the cot. So he pulled me out to face the music. “What is all this?” he said. I looked down at my soaked and shivering little brother. And I looked up at my dad. And all I could think of saying was, “he must have wet himself.”

Most of my earliest childhood memories are of similar misdemeanours. Like the time I tipped a pack of flour out of the upstairs window intending to trick my mum downstairs into thinking it was snowing. Amazingly, that didn’t work. She wasn’t fooled at all.

Or the time I brought a dead mouse I had found outside into the kitchen. And digging it up again and keeping it as my secret pet after my mum had buried it in the garden. 

Or when I put a drawing pin on my sister’s chair. I don’t want to talk about how she took that. I’ve still got the scars.

I’m sure you can point to similar transgressions from your own childhood. Children can be, and often are, quite naughty. 

So what did Jesus mean when he said “the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are like children”?

Let’s read the passage and see if we can get to the bottom of it. We’re looking at just three verses today; and it’s Matthew 19.13-15.

 

One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could lay his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” And he placed his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left.

Prayer...

 

The disciples – off message again

So this is a pretty straightforward account of parents who are approaching Jesus with their little ones. Matthew begins with the words, “One day…” So this is a different occasion altogether from the tense confrontation over divorce and remarriage that we looked at last week. This is a much happier scene.

Jesus’ charisma is attracting parents with their children in the hope that he will even briefly interact with them. You can easily picture the mums and dads with their children hovering around Jesus and his entourage. You can almost hear the sounds of children playing as they wait. 

Those of you who are parents, wouldn't you be eager for the Lord to give some time and attention for your children? Of course you would. Wow! 

 

And this seems like the perfect moment. There is not a Pharisee anywhere to be seen, so no one is expecting a bitter argument to break out and escalate. There are no demon-possessed individuals shrieking and making a scene today. There is no disturbed herd of pigs waiting to stampede off a cliff. All is calm. It’s a great day. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. What could possibly go wrong?

And just as we might be wondering about this, Matthew makes this ominous observation; ah yes, but the disciples are there. And instantly, the atmosphere is spoiled by these jarring words, “but the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.” 

These unsuspecting mums and dads find themselves on the receiving end of a frosty reprimand, an unfriendly rebuke, by Jesus’ hapless followers. These are not the guys you want anywhere near your welcome team. 
Standing between these children and Jesus, like the Berlin Wall, are twelve self-appointed bouncers. 

They know that children cry easily and they cry a lot. They know that kids ask you to read them stories when you’re busy. They’re messy eaters. They want you to play with them when you’re exhausted. They are always wide awake inconveniently early. They generate seepage from every conceivable orifice, and you have to clean them up.

 
So the disciples think they are doing Jesus a big favour when they speak harshly to these parents, saying, “Get these brats away from here.” If it were today, I reckon they’d be saying, “What do you think this is, mate, Santa’s Grotto? Get lost, Jesus is a VIP. He hasn’t got time to waste on your snotty offspring.” 

As far as they are concerned, Jesus is not going to be inconvenienced by hyperactive kids on their watch. 

As Michael explained a few weeks ago, in those days and in that culture, children were not valued at all. There is no Walt Disney or Peppa Pig in Jesus’ world. There are no play areas with swings and slides and seesaws. Children are disparaged as silly, easily-led and messy. Until their Bar Mitzvah at the age of 12 they go completely unnoticed. No self-respecting rabbi would waste his time on them. 

But, as usual, Jesus takes the cultural expectations of his day, and he hammers them to a pulp. Verse 14; “But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are like these children.”

And Mark adds another detail, not present in Matthew. When Jesus sees that they are shooing the kids away, Mark says, “he was indignant.” There is something conspicuous about how this incident annoys him. It really ticks him off. This is the only time in all four Gospels when Jesus is described as being indignant. This particularly exasperates him. 

When he sees what is going on, he says, “No! The children stay. Let them come. Don’t stop them.” Jesus is once again setting culture. And it is radically different to anything anyone has seen before. 

“You think that the kingdom of God is only for sophisticated grown-ups? You’ve got it so wrong. I want to see them and I want them to see me because the kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like them.” 

Which raises an important question. Is Jesus really saying here that all children naturally belong in the kingdom of God? It seems that's what he's saying. 

Many people read this statement and think that Jesus, with these words, is drawing attention to the many and diverse virtues of children. Qualities like innocence and humility and trust and purity. Is that what he is saying? 

What it means to receive the kingdom like a child is actually not obvious for us, because generally, in our society, we tend to idealise children as innocent little angels. 

But, lest there be any doubt, my observation is that the tendency to romanticise small children for their innocence and goodness is virtually never found among their parents.

We have four children, and all of them learned the word “no” some time before they learned the word “yes.” It wasn’t their willpower that summed up the toddler phase; it was their “won’t power.” They all had it in spades.

We never had to teach our children to lie but they all got the hang of it no problem. We certainly had to train them to tell the truth, and it was hard work. We never had to teach them to be rude; that seemed to come naturally. We did have to patiently train them to be polite. “Say please, say thank you…” We never had to teach them to fight and snatch toys from each other. But we did have to train them to play nicely.

All parents have the doctrine of inherited sin and human fallenness, displayed and confirmed for them on a daily basis by their kids. All children can be, without a doubt, sweet and adorable. But they are a consistent, living reminder and proof of what the Bible affirms when it says, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” 

Nevertherless, Jesus needs to correct the disciples’ wrong-headed belief that children cannot grasp anything spiritual until they become adults. It’s the exact opposite. The truth is that we adults will never grasp anything spiritual unless, in some ways, we become like children.

So what is it about little ones that Jesus says is so necessary to imitate? Jesus is not drawing our attention to their righteousness or their goodness. He’s drawing our attention to their neediness. To their utter dependence on another. To the self-evident truth that they are weak, with no sense of their own importance. 

New Testament scholar James R. Edwards says it so well; “A little child has absolutely nothing to bring,” he says, “and whatever the child receives, he or she receives by grace on the basis of sheer neediness rather than by any merit inherent in him or herself.” 

Children, in Jesus’ society, as we have noted, had no status. The first century world was not child oriented in the way ours is. Children in our own society are not earners. Children earn nothing and need everything. That is why the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are like small children.

A pastor in Kent was speaking in church a few years back on the theme of healing. And as he was in full flow, talking about the healing power of Jesus Christ, a small boy about four or five walked up to the pulpit and looked up with his big brown eyes. 

So the preacher paused, and crouched down and asked the little boy if he’d like to say anything. “Yes,” he said. “I hope Jesus can heal Derrick.” So the pastor said, “O.K., who is Derrick?” “Derrick is my hamster. So I’d like you to pray for him.” “Oh!” says the pastor, “All right. And what is wrong with your hamster?” “Well, he’s dead!” 

And so, thinking on his feet, he quickly prayed along the lines of “Lord, thank you for this creature and for the joy it brought to this family. Thank you for this little boy who wants to talk to you about it. Help him to find another pet that will be just as nice.”

You see, pastors anointed with great faith for hamster resurrections are hard to find!

But that little boy brought nothing and needed everything. We fit in the kingdom of God when we live fully aware of our desperate need of grace. 

 

Jesus said, “Without me you can do nothing.” I’ve looked up that word in the Greek; it means nothing. In fact, literally, it means absolutely nothing. 

The kingdom means I say “no” to my impulse to earn spiritual points and exalt myself. I think that you will find this innate neediness and helplessness in most children and without it there’s no way into the kingdom of God.

 

1. An open hand 

 

Now, I have a bar of chocolate here. And it’s free to anyone who comes up here and asks me for it... Cue general reluctance and awkwardness…

A child who is aware of his or her neediness will tend to have an open hand. I mean by that that they are not embarrassed to ask and receive. 

The Bible says, “God gives good gifts to those who ask.” If I want to receive anything from God, I have to take it, open handed like a child. 

I find that the older we get the more reluctant we become to get out of our chair, hold out our hand and receive a free gift. We feel awkward. We worry there might be a catch. We wonder if we might be expected to give something in return. Sometimes, we even refuse assistance when we know we need it. “Oh, no thanks, I’ll be all right!” 

Children don’t think that way. No child I know will ever say, “Thanks for offering me those sweets, but I don’t need your charity.” Children have nothing so are more willing to receive - and that is a must in the kingdom of heaven.

 

2. An open heart

 

Secondly, a child who is aware of his or her need will tend to have an open heart. Children need to be loved, and if you love a child, they will naturally love you in return. 

The children want to come to Jesus in v14. Mark adds another detail that Matthew left out; that Jesus takes them in his arms. Children are often more tactile than adults.When you show love to an adult, you sometimes get the response “So what’s he after? What’s the catch?” 

Life changes us and as we get older, the heart hardens. People let us down, so we learn to stop trusting. We become cynical and wonder if people are trying to use us. Children don’t think that way. They have open hearts.

Here’s a true story - a man was flying from Atlanta to Dallas and it just so happened that in the seat next to him was a little girl with Down’s Syndrome. 

After a while she turned to him and said, “Do you smoke?” He was a little uncomfortable, but he told her that he didn't. She said, “Good, because smoking will make you die.” (Children tell you the truth in ways that adults don’t)!  She nudged him, pointed to the guy across the aisle and said, “Ask him if he smokes.” And so, good-naturedly, he did, and the man said that he didn't smoke either.

Then she said, “Mister, do you love Jesus?” He smiled and said, “Well, yes, I do.” The little girl smiled and said, “Good, everyone should love Jesus.” Then, a little later, she nudged him once again and said, “Ask him if he loves Jesus. Ask him!” He thought, “Oh no,” but he swallowed hard and turned to the guy again and said, “Now she wants to know if you love Jesus.” His expression became serious. He said, “You know, in all honesty, I can't say that I do. I've wanted to be a person of faith all my life, but I haven't ever taken that step. 
But now I've come to a time in my life when I know I should.”

And so Milton Cunningham, a preacher on his way to Dallas, Texas, led that stranger to faith in Christ on that airplane all thanks to one little girl’s open heart and eagerness to ask that simple question, “Do you love Jesus?” Isn’t it beautiful to have an open heart?

 

3. An open mind 

 

I wonder too if the kingdom of heaven belonging to those who are like children has something to do with children having an open mind. Children have big imaginations. If my dad had told me he could fly I would have believed him. Children have open minds, and although that means they accept things that are not true, it also means they’re ready to receive things that are. That’s why they can have amazing faith. 

I know I’ve told this story many times, but when our daughter Anna was about 3, she was buckled up in the back of our old Citroen 2CV one damp, misty morning. I tried several times to start the car, but to no avail. I must have tried for about 10 minutes, but it wouldn’t start. I got out and looked under the bonnet – nothing obvious. I tried again, failed again, and slumped in the driver’s seat, feeling helpless. 

Then, from the back seat, a little voice squeaked “Come on Jesus, start the car!” My mind was closed, and I confess that I felt a bit sad that Anna’s open mind and simple faith would be crushed by our useless, unreliable old banger stubbornly refusing to start yet again. 

But anyway, resigned to the inevitable disappointment, I put the key back in the ignition. I turned the key. It started perfectly. 

As we get older, we close our minds, we shut off our imagination, we complicate everything and say, “I can’t believe that.” But, because of their neediness, children’s minds are open to believe God for great things.

 

Blessing

 

Matthew then records for us in v15 that Jesus placed his hands on these children’s heads and blessed them. You can add children to the list of all the supposedly unimportant people that Jesus notices and cares about.

He is counter-cultural in approaching and touching lepers, cleansing them instead of shunning them. He is counter-cultural in welcoming foreigners, including them instead of rejecting them. He is counter-cultural in respecting and speaking with women, taking them seriously instead of ignoring them. He is counter-cultural in elevating the poor, having good news for them instead of despising them. And he is counter-cultural in receiving children, blessing them instead of looking down on them. 

 

Ending

 

As I end, how might you become more like a child? Are you coming to God, bringing nothing? 

The gospel is not about what we have achieved; it is about what we have received from Jesus Christ. Becoming like a child means I know I cannot supply God with anything he needs. He is almighty and all-sufficient.

In this short, 3-verse interlude, Jesus challenges our proud instinct to earn and achieve, and ultimately to applaud ourselves. 

And it is surely intentional that, as we’ll see next Sunday, these verses are followed immediately by the story a rich young man who comes to Jesus with his long list of good works, rather than an acknowledgement of his neediness.

Let’s this day acknowledge our neediness like a small child. Just as Naomi is wholly dependent on her parents for feeding, changing, bathing, clothing, love, protection and everything else… just as she is able to contribute nothing by earning… may we all today be like her in simply receiving the Lord’s gracious gifts of faith and grace.

Because Jesus said, and he meant it, “Anyone who will not receive the kingdom of heaven like a child [aware of his or her neediness, leading to an open hand, an open heart and an open mind] will never enter it.”

Let’s stand to pray…

Sermon preached at King's Church Darlington, 29 September 2024