Mark 9:36-37 Then He (Jesus) took a little child and put it among them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not me but the One who sent me.”
The picture of a blonde, blue eyed Jesus surrounded by angelic well-behaved children sitting on a green grassy slope is very familiar. We’re very used to the idea that Jesus loved children and was kind to them. We are shocked, not when people are nice to children, but when they are cruel to them but in the time that Jesus lived, this couldn’t be taken for granted.
No doubt children were loved by their parents much as they are today but if you were born in the first century, it would be much less certain that you would live to adulthood – the hard realty was that many babies died in the first hours, days, years of life. They didn’t have the luxury of a childhood – their best chance of survival was to be as useful as possible as soon as possible and grow up quickly. Children were not valued in themselves – if their parents were important, they were but they had no rights of their own and were at risk of being surplus, a drain on resources and of being dumped literally.
This is the background to Jesus’ sayings about children – he wasn’t responding to their cuteness or a presumption that they were precious or special. Maybe only their mothers (or fathers) would think that then. He was taking those who were considered ‘nobodies’ and declared, ‘If you welcome these, you are welcoming God.’ Jesus stood by them and said ‘These are the ones God loves. These are the ones God is blessing. These are the ones you need to be like.’
So, where would Jesus go today if He wanted to say the same thing to us? Who are the nobodies in our society? The filthy smelly homeless man sleeping in a cardboard box? The asylum seeker landed on the beach after days in a crowded boat open to the elements? The drug addicted sex worker? The incontinent dementia sufferer drifting in and out of consciousness in her smelly armchair? The one-time celebrity who said the wrong thing at the wrong time to the wrong person? Jesus valued those who were low in His time and lifted them up. He brought them into the centre from the edges. He turned things upside down.
We may have different nobodies, but we still have them. Those are the people God asks us to serve, stand with and make welcome. There are times in all of our lives when we experience what it feels like to be a nobody. But the gospel is for all of us. Jesus takes us into the centre, stands will us and shows us that we are welcome in His Kingdom – whatever others may say. Christ identifies with us – we remember especially in the run up to Easter – that is the way we become somebodies – through God’s love for us shown through His Son Jesus. He invites us to find the nobodies of our time and welcome them – showing them His love – it won’t make us popular with others but we will be acting like Him on earth.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, as we think about parents and children as we consider Mothering Sunday, help us to identify and stand with the ‘nobodies’ in our society. Show us how we can demonstrate your love for them and empower them, transforming them into somebodies living to praise and give You glory. Amen