Matthew 18

It is not an easy thing for us to think about the kingdom of heaven. Every breath that we have ever taken has been on an earth where there is much sin and misery. What might it be like to breathe the air of a place that is fully captivated by the holiness and glory of God? What would it mean to be great in such a place, even the greatest?

This was the question that the disciples brought to Jesus. His answer to them had to be surprising. He called over a child, someone who would not have been thought of as the greatest in their culture in any sense of word. Did the disciples want to even enter the kingdom of heaven? Then they would have to be like this child.

Of course there would be many things about a child that would have nothing to do with heaven and might not be worthy of imitation in any way. His specific point was that they needed to humble themselves before God. This is closely connected to true faith. They needed to hear God's Word and believe. The posture of humility is so different than that of pride, pride that will not hear, pride that knows better than the Lord God Almighty and refuses to obey.

Those who humble themselves before God will receive their brothers and sisters in Christ as beloved children of God. People who would take advantage of the weak and the ignorant and lead them astray are of a very different spirit, and are acting as if the Lord does not see what they are doing, or does not care for His own. This kind of way of life is diametrically opposed to the life of faith. It is unbelief working itself out in actions of great ugliness. These kind of impulses rising up within us must be dealt with according to the greatest severity, since we know that they are utterly inconsistent with the kingdom of heaven.

God who reigns in heaven over men and angels will use all His resources for the ultimate vindication of those who belong to Him. He is like a shepherd who knows every one of His sheep well, and will rescue the one who goes astray. It is not His will that any of those who belong to Him shall perish. This is the value system of heaven, and it informs the way that we are to care for one another within the church on earth.

Our Lord is more aware than anyone in the church that His body is comprised, not of those who are already perfectly righteous, but of those who easily go astray. He faced the wrath that was due against us in His death on the cross. He has felt the eternal consequence of our sins in ways that we never will. He is the one who tells us what to do when one of the beloved sins against us. We are to address these matters as personally as possible, working toward the most blessed resolution possible in this world of misery and trouble here below, seeking both the peace and purity of the Lord's house.

As God will not quickly abandon those who are weak and broken, we are to be those who keep on forgiving, knowing that we have been forgiven by one who had a very good case against us, but was unwilling to give us over to hell. He has released us from such an overwhelming debt. Will we then be quick to condemn one another for smaller offenses, whether real or imagined? This is the attitude of ungrateful servants, not of the sons of God.

Our willingness to forgive is a testimony to our understanding of what Christ has done for us. This is the only way for forgiveness to be a delightful privilege for sinful people. We must see it as our testimony to the greatness of the cross. Our Savior has loved us, and He loves us still. It is not a pleasing thing for Him to hear of small-minded and petty grudges that we hold against others.

The thing that we must increasingly resolve in our hearts and minds is that we wish to live on earth even now as those who believe in heaven. If we truly believe in heaven then we can show that faith by honoring the God of heaven through the pursuit of the ethic that He commands. Then we will seek the humility of faith as the wonderful gift granted to all of heaven's children, a humility that hears and believes; a humility that believes and follows. If we believe in heaven then we will love the weakest ones who have the songs of heaven in their hearts and on their lips, and we will care for the child of even one believing parent, for we look to see each of those little ones claimed by the same Father who has captivated our hearts. If we believe in heaven we will seek peace and purity in the Lord's house on earth, and we will thank God for every opportunity that we have to forgive.

To live this way now, is to believe now. The one who pursues this life with humility and mercy will not always be considered to be great by some on earth. Nonetheless, such a person need not regret a life lived in grateful imitation of Christ, the greatest Son of the Father in the kingdom of heaven.