Let the children come to me. Read Mark 10:13-16. When the original Star Wars movie came out in the movie theaters, I went to see it seven times. I loved it. It was the only movie I ever remember going to in an indoor movie theater as a family. It was perhaps my fifth time seeing the movie when I went with my mom, dad, and two sisters to the Showcase Cinemas. The theater was packed and we sat in the front row. My dad loved it and I remember his commentary: “You could tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys.” Over the years, I have felt the same way about the stories in the Bible. The good guys are the disciples of Jesus. The bad guys are the Pharisees. My opinion of the disciples of good guys was so ingrained that I found it astonishing when I noticed for the first time the disciples were the bad guys in the passage where Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me.” I knew the story well from childhood. We use it to emphasize how important children are. Jesus doesn’t want any obstacles or hindrances between the children and himself. I was a pastor before I saw it. The obstacles in the story are the disciples. They were hindering the moms from bringing the children to Jesus. Ouch! Not only did I see it, I had to stop and reflect on my own life. I identify as a follower of Jesus, one of the good guys. But have I ever done anything to hinder the children? Am I doing something right now that makes it harder for children to come to Jesus than it needs to be? At the time, I was serving a church that was preparing for Vacation Bible School. The church was charging for the children to attend VBS to cover the expenses. Although the fee was minimal, was it hindering parents from signing up their children? Was it keeping children from hearing about Jesus? I pushed hard to drop the fee and the next year the church folks agreed. At Wesley Chapel, we are preparing for VBS and we are hoping that children will not be hindered to attend. We want children to come to Jesus and know that they are loved.

Let’s join together to be the people who bring children to Jesus and avoid being the obstacles that are hindering them from coming.