st thomas' weekly bulletin letters
This is an archive of the St Thomas' "Weekly Bulletin" letters, written by Simon Manchester and other St Thomas' ministers.
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Dear Friends, What does “become like a child” mean in Jesus’ command of Matthew 18:3? Is it
None of the above make sense says Christopher Ash (Director of Cornhill in London). Children are far from innocent, can be very suspicious and are perfectly good at advancing themselves. No, when Jesus calls for a child it is in response to the question “who is the greatest in the kingdom?” And because the Kingdom of God [living under the rule of God] is a great reality in Jesus’ preaching and in God’s plans it makes some sense to know how it works. And the answer to the question of ‘greatness’ — according to Christopher Ash — is “become a nobody”. The child has no status in society and that is how we must begin to perceive ourselves if ever we are to enter God’s Kingdom. All the lead up to this moment in Matthew has reinforced that “it is the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness who are blessed. It is the blind, the lame, the leper who is healed. It is the tax collector the obvious sinner, the prostitute who repents and enters the kingdom.” So when you are ready to be a nobody you are ready to enter God’s Kingdom — through the door marked ‘grace’. Ash goes on to say if your education makes you a somebody — beware! Run the film backwards till you are a child. If your wealth makes you successful and highly regarded run the film backwards till you are a child. If your religious pedigree is impressive remember Paul (Philippians 3) who counted his pedigree as rubbish in terms of salvation. And this explains why Jesus goes on to say that (Matthew 18:5) “whoever welcomes a little child welcomes Me”. Only when we think rightly about ourselves will we be able to welcome rightly. That is why it is “so desperately important that a church be a church of ‘children’, a church in which status is zero and agreed to be zero and proclaimed to be zero”. Ash concludes by saying that “by nature every human community places a barrier around itself saying ‘you may join us but only if you become like us’ ... but Jesus’ community means nobodies welcoming nobodies”. Timely words? Yours in fellowship,
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