Humility = Greatness in The Kingdom

Verses for this morning - Matthew 18:1-6,10-14 NASB:

[1] "At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 

[2] "And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, [3] and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. [4] Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. [5] And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; [6] but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea." 

[10] "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. [11] [For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.]"

[12] "What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? [13] If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. [14] So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish."

The verse that caught my attention this morning was verse 10, specifically about despising little ones.  Jesus is talking about a Kingdom reality here, for that was the context of the question from the disciples.  I just love this whole section, for Jesus absolutely flips their understanding, and does the unexpected.  

It is important that we understand His comments about children here, and figure out how to put them into our context today.  The Greek word translated despise is the word:    "2706 kataphronéō (from 2596 /katá, "down, according to," intensifying 5426 /phronéō, "regulating behavior from inner mind-set") – properly, view down, i.e. with a negative (hostile) outlook; to despise, thinking down on (thinking little of); esteem lightly, seeing as insignificant or detestable; to treat with contempt or disregard (BAGD); devalue; to depreciate (scorn); pay no regard to (because something seems of no account); " 'despise, scorn,' and show it by active insult" (Souter).

[2706 /kataphronéō (literally, "think down") refers to holding someone in contempt, deeming them unworthy and hence despised (scorned).]"

We understand culturally that children were considered lower than servants at this time, and were certainly not considered great, and yet Jesus holds them as an example of the greatest in the Kingdom.  Specifically Jesus says we should humble ourselves as a child, which is, at least in our day, a bit difficult to understand.  The Greek word used is: "5013 tapeinóō – make (become) low, to humble. See 5011 (tapeinos).

With the believer, 5013 /tapeinóō ("show humility, true lowliness") happens by being fully dependent on the Lord – dismissing reliance upon self (self-government) and emptying carnal ego. This exalts the Lord as our all-in-all and prompts the gift of His fullness in us."

This is really helpful to my understanding, its not about becoming child-like, its about total reliance on our Father, and rejecting our own self reliance.  This is how one gets to be great in the Kingdom!  It seems the exact opposite of what we would expect.  Its NOT about doing great things for God:

1) its about obedience

2) its about servanthood 

3) its about doing what we are asked without asking why

4) its about reliance on the Father

5) its about embracing the dominion of the Father for our world--view

I love the last line of the word-help, "This exalts the Lord as our all-in-all and prompts the gift of His fullness in us."  Lord, we need Your fullness in our lives!!

Greatness isn't about our abilities, its about God's ability to work through us!  It is about our willingness to lay down our self, our will, and embracing His!  We are called to embrace this path, and it can't be a false humility as a way to achieve greatness!  

It can be quite troubling to our sense of self when we encounter someone who is pressing into this place of humility and trust of the Lord in all things.  It seems like a weak path, and certainly an unattractive path!  Also, from my self, it is HOPEFULLY one that the Lord would never call me to!

For example, at one time my honey felt called by the Father to stop using makeup for a period, to embrace her true identity and experience His pleasure in who she was, not in who she made herself to look like.  Some of the other women in our church were REALLY uncomfortable with this, and essentially tried to talk her out of it.  It seemed to me that their "self" was very uncomfortable being uncovered... for that is part of this call to humility.

Lastly, I think it is of critical importance that we understand the value the Lord places on His little ones!  They are of up most value to Him, both our actual children, and those who embrace this call to humble servanthood.  There are several stories of holy people who have embraced humble positions, and seen the Lord absolutely bless others through them and given them the opportunity to minister to 1000s effectively!  It was often so unusual that their leaders called them forward to see why so many people wanted to talk to them, and often the one being questioned had no idea, so complete was their simple obedience and humility.  

My encouragement today is to embrace the invitation to become like a child in humility, relying on the Lord in all things!  I am encouraged to allow the Lord's words of valuation to wash over me and help me understand my value to Him.  Lastly, I am encouraged to place greater value in my mind and heart on those that seem lowly, those that are children, and on those that have obeyed into weakness, into a place of humble reliance on the Lord!

Oh Lord, help me!