Sermon - St. Michael and All Angels 2019 - Matthew 18:1-11

“Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” The answer to that question is really quite obvious and even the simplest person knows that the greatest in heaven is God. But that’s not the question, is it. The question is “Who after God is the greatest in heaven?” Or, more accurately yet, “Am I the greatest in heaven?” This is what the mother of James and John was inferring when she asked Jesus to set her boys at His right hand. She wanted them to be the greatest in heaven. This is why the other disciples were upset with James and John, because they wished they had asked Jesus first so they could be the greatest in Heaven. This is what all the disciples want in today’s lesson, they want to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven!

 But Jesus turns the whole thing on its head, and probably utterly confounds and shocks the disciples and the crowd listening. Jesus makes the least to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. In order to be greatest you really do need to be the least.

Jesus’ answer confuses us today as well. If someone were to ask you who’s the greatest in heaven, aside from God, how’re you going to answer? Probably, you’re going to say that the angels are the greatest in heaven aside from God. That’s probably a common belief among people today, at least based upon the television shows and movies with angels and demons in them. In popular culture angels are extremely powerful beings and nearly on par with God Himself. Many people care nothing for God, but they put a lot of hope in angels. There are even heretical religions that consider Jesus to be an angel, instead of God. 

But angels are not in the slightest the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. The writer of Hebrews rhetorically asks, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” The angels aren’t the greatest in heaven, in fact they’re the servants and slaves of God and God’s people who will inherit salvation. 

So who is the greatest in heaven? Jesus explains, “And calling to Him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’” So Jesus doesn’t yet answer the question about who’s the greatest in heaven, first He answers about who will even get into heaven! 

Here Jesus sets up a child as an example. I know typically when we interpret this verse, we say that it means we just need to have childlike faith to get into heaven. We just need to be simple minded and not think too deeply, then we can go to heaven. But that’s not really what is going on here. 

In the first century children were not considered examples to emulate. Afterall, little children are incapable of rational thought like an adult, thus they behave very foolishly. They’re temperamental, ignorant of important truths, unfit to rule a country, cannot differentiate between good and bad, can’t defend themselves, are easily deceived, and the littlest can’t even count yet. This isn’t to say that 1st century people didn’t love children very dearly, they just didn’t consider them good examples to emulate. Children were needy and dependent, not virtuous examples.

So when Jesus tells us to become like little children, is He really saying we should have a simple faith? Because do children actually even have this simple happy faith we portray them as having or is it just a caricature? While they may sometimes be overly trusting, more often than not little children are incredibly rebellious and would rather do things their own way! Parents often have to “fight” with their children when they try to take care of them. It’s not uncommon for parents to wrestle their children to the ground to change diapers or brush teeth. Kids rebel with all their might to avoid going to bed when they need sleep. Parents nearly have to force feed children just to get them to eat something healthy. To be honest, children aren’t so much trusting as they are just plain gullible.

So if it’s not about having simple childlike faith, what is Jesus getting at when He says, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven”? Like I already said, one simple fact about kids which is true is that they’re needy and dependent. When Jesus tells us to humble ourselves like children, He’s telling us to repentantly turn from our sinful pride and self-reliance, and confess that we are like little children who’re weak, needy, and entirely dependent upon Him for salvation. 

Thus the greatest in heaven aren’t those who consider themselves to be the greatest! But isn’t that what we see here on earth. The self-help advice you receive from pop-psychology today is that you need to have pride in yourself and then you’ll succeed. If you just believe in yourself, then you will go places. If you trust in yourself, then you’re going to rule the day. If you love yourself and treat yourself like a king or queen, then you’ll become one. If you think you’re the greatest thing ever, then you will become the greatest person on earth. 

Isn’t that precisely the sin which apparently caused Satan to fall from heaven? Now we don’t know exactly what happened, but based upon the interactions in the Bible with the devil, we see that He would like to make himself God. When He tempts Jesus, who is God, He implores Jesus to bow down and worship him! Thus Satan is regularly tempting us to trust in ourselves, glorify ourselves, so that we might make our own success.

In response to our sinful pride and self-glorification, our Lord commands us with such starkness, “turn and become like children… humble yourself like this child.” Jesus isn’t commanding you to be gullible like children and have a baby faith, He’s commanding you to repent of your wicked propensity towards pride and acknowledge that you’re a poor, miserable sinner. 

For indeed we are all like children! We’re irrational and can’t comprehend on the same level as God. We’re rebellious every time God speaks to us. We fight with Him when He wants to give us good healthy gifts. We misuse the gifts anyway we can. We’re not filled with simple trust towards God, we’re just gullible and tend to believe every lie from satan. So in humility, let us confess our pitiful weakness, our lack of faith, our neediness for God’s care, and our utter dependence upon Him for everything we need.

Then let us marvel at this profound and glorious truth, that Jesus, our God, was born of the virgin Mary and became, not an angel, but a man. He took on human flesh and became a little child for us, humbling Himself to become needy and dependent with us. Not only did He become a little crying needy baby who nursed at Mary’s breast for His survival, but on the cross He became a sinner with us. In truth, on the cross Jesus took the sins of all the world and became the neediest, most sinful man of all. From Gethsemane, from the cross, He cried out to God in His greatest need, begging not to be forsaken. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, humbled Himself to become like us children and so redeem us from our lowly bodies to make us like Him in His glorious resurrected body.

Everytime Satan begins to asail you with temptations of pride and self-righteousness, just point to the crucifix! Point to Jesus! Satan means nothing because God would rather become a lowly mortal human in Jesus instead of an immortal powerful angel. Oh how Satan must hate the crucifix, how much it must irritate him beyond measure! So wear the crucifix, point to the body of Jesus, and shout all the more loudly that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary and took flesh, humbling Himself so that we would be made higher than the angels, higher than Satan!

Everytime we confess in the Creed, that Jesus, “who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man;” every time we confess those words, let us shout them all the more boldly and gladly that Jesus humbled Himself for us and lifts us up from our gloom! For centuries the tradition has been to bow at those words, for in those words we poor humans are brought up to heaven, where we will one day with the angels see our Father face to face, knowing the full glory of what it means to be a little needy child and receive everything from God for all eternity. 

Let us shout those words gladly! Let us stick it to Satan, bury the hatchet, the cross, which crushes his head! Every time satan tempts us, let us dig the knife of the cross a little deeper, giving it a twist, as we humble ourselves like little children, and through Christ who humbled Himself for us, receive the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. 

So let us have a happy Michaelmas today and celebrate the defeat of that ancient dragon who has been thrown down from heaven! “The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down.” The ancient serpent has been conquered by the blood of the lamb! “Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them!” For we are who the least and the neediest in this world, shall be the greatest in the one to come.