Dear Family at Christ Community,

            This Sunday we will be in Mark 10:13-16 where Jesus yet again uses the least of these in their society to reveal truths about the Kingdom of God. As we know from our time in Mark 9:36-37, children were the most vulnerable and marginalized group at that time—the truest least of these. Jesus again emphasizes His hospitable reception in and entrusting to the least of these the Kingdom of God. In 10:15, He expands the image to declare that ALL who enter the Kingdom of God must do so with the trust and dependence of a child. To receive the Kingdom of God is to release one’s claims in and to every other sphere. William L. Lane captures this beautifully in The Gospel According to Mark:

The Kingdom may be entered only by one who knows he (or she) is helpless and small, without claim or merit. The comparison “receive…as a little child” draws its form from the nature of a child to take openly and confidently what is given. The unchildlike piety of achievement must be abandoned in the recognition that to receive the Kingdom is to allow oneself to be given it.

            However, all of this proves easier said than done for many of us. Too many of us bear the scars of trusts broken and misused, of dependence manipulated and abused. Of even greater difficulty is if your trust and dependence were violated by those who claim to be in union with Christ. Trust and dependence issues prove the sum for many as a result making it difficult to live as trusting and dependent children as Jesus calls us to.

            But God doesn’t allow this to be the end of the story for us! Through His means of grace, He faithfully calls for us to be healed of our distrust and self-reliance in Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Through His patience and kindness, He repeatedly proclaims His unchanging steadfast love for us. Jesus invites us to His table this Sunday to come and receive as a gift much needed nourishment from the bread and cup for our struggles with trust and dependence. Please come trusting that you are beloved of God on who’s goodness you can dependently rest in Christ.

In Christ,
Cameron