Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Mark 9:38-50
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  October 3, 2021

A movie came out in 2005 called “End of the Spear.” It is based on true events which took place in Ecuador in the 1950’s. Five Christian missionaries were attempting to reach an isolated tribe. The tribe was struggling as they fought with oil companies moving in on their land and they were also killing each other. One scene in the film depicts this terrible cycle of killing. A man named Mincaye is on a revenge raid through a rival village. They are running through the huts in the jungle hurling spears at each other. The moment that finally breaks through and shows him how bad things are, is when he realizes that the mayhem is about to harm the children. Mincaye, in a moment of clarity, stops and says, “Not the children.”

It reminds me that, if there’s one thing that is still agreed upon by all people, no matter how different we may be, it’s that children should be protected. And here in America we are quite blessed. Once a child escapes the horrific possibility of abortion, our society works to keep them physically safe. We have laws against abuse. We have a foster care system and adoption clinics. Child protection services save many children from harmful situations. Yes there is no guarantee of safety, but we don’t have to worry about our children getting caught in the middle of tribal warfare, at least physically. But physical protection is not the only type of protection our children need. 

It is not a simple thing to protect your child’s heart and mind. Try as we might, the mayhem sin brings into our lives often harms our children mentally and spiritually. And biblically, we know that there are also spiritual forces that seek to prey on God’s little ones. Today we turn to God’s Word to see how Jesus speaks about protecting children. What advice does he have for people living in a sinful world who want to make sure that mayhem doesn’t harm their kids? How much does he care about protecting the faith of his little ones? Today we continue our sermon series on “Family Values” and consider how Our Family Protects Children.

As we come to the end of Mark 9, Jesus is talking about the seriousness of any sin which causes another to stumble in faith. His language is extremely strong. In fact, I think this chapter contains the most graphic warnings Jesus ever used in his teaching. I’ll touch more on that in a bit, but let’s look at what he says about protecting children first: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall into sin, it would be better for him if he were thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around his neck.” When Jesus says “little ones”, he is really referring to anyone who is new in faith—including but not limited to children. But for our purposes today, I’m going to focus more on actual kids. Jesus knows that just as little ones are defenseless against physical dangers, they are also defenseless when it comes to spiritual dangers. Sinful people often cause them to fall into sin.

A man once shared with me his struggles as a child. His father had a temper and would blow up at home. His anger really hindered the faith of his son who brought to church every Sunday. As an adolescent, this man said that his father’s inconsistent behavior between the altar at church and the kitchen table at home, was a great stumbling block to his young faith. He grew up constantly tempted to fits of rage himself. Protecting children spiritually is often a matter of setting a genuine example of faith for children. If we aren’t invested in worship or Bible Study, they won’t be either. Faith is often more caught then taught, as they say.No, I’m not saying you have to be a perfect parent. No one is. But today our Savior asks us to consider what sinful habits we display which could harm the faith of our children or lead them into that same sin. What actions or words of yours could cause a little one to fall into sin? 

But spiritual protection isn’t just a matter of our example, it also is a matter of setting limitations. I know that my Mom used to set up a playpen in our living room so that as a baby I couldn’t crawl out and hurt myself. There are a lot of limitations we give to children physically, whether it be a gate in front of the stairs, or telling them not to get too close to the road when playing outside, or curfews at night. We know these are loving limitations which protect our children. But oftentimes, parents fail to set limitations mentally and spiritually.

We can’t let our kids simply watch random entertainment and expect it to not influence their faith. We can’t just let the sitcoms play and figure it won’t affect them. It’s not just entertainment. It shapes the way they see the world and how they fit into it. And how many parents today allow their children unsupervised access to the internet or have no idea what’s happening on their kids smartphone? I spoke to a mother who was sad because all her son wants to do is play videogames. “I just don’t get it!” She said, “It’s like he’s addicted to them!” I told her, “He is. I’m sure of it.” They pour a ton of money and research into video games to addict users. The same goes for phone apps, both games and social apps. It’s the same reason the average Facebook user checks their feed 15 times every day. It’s the reason your teenager doesn’t want to talk much. It isn’t just that they are teenagers, it’s that they have a device which has been calibrated to captivate their attention.

In fact, things get even more sinister when you consider the ways that many social apps encourage anonymous connection. When you’re speaking anonymously to users you do not know or people who have no connection to you, you are bolder in what you share because there are no supposed repercussions. The result is that kids end up sharing some of their deepest feelings and creating some of their strongest bonds with people they’ve never met. And certainly people who often influence them in destructive ways spiritually, wittingly or not, and most of the time parents are completely unaware. Social “influencers” can completely distort the morality of their fans. There are also many of these “anonymous” relationships that are simply traps. 

The Human Trafficking Institute published its annual eport in June 2021—shining a light on the reality and scale of human trafficking in the United States. Look at these stats: 83% of active 2020 sex trafficking cases involved online solicitation. One professional from the study commented, “These guys, they learn about the girls and pretend to understand them, and so these girls, who are feeling not understood and not loved and not beautiful…After trust is built, traffickers will convince the potential victim to meet up with them or may even coerce the potential victim to send a risky picture, which the trafficker can then use to extort the potential victim. This stuff is hard to talk about, but we need to be aware of the enemy if our family protects children. I’m convinced that much of that protection today happens through preventing our children from becoming prey to others and their own sinful nature online.

Perhaps the paramount example of online danger is pornography. Some parents desperately want to avoid the topic, but studies point out that the average age a child will see graphic pornography online is six or seven years old in America. That’s the average. Parents, we may want to have these conversations earlier than originally planned. According to some recent surveys by content filtering companies 50% of adult Christian men will struggle with this destructive addiction and 25% of Christian women. Failing to prepare children from these dangers is to be guilty of leaving them helpless against it.

This almost seems overwhelming, doesn’t it? The Devil employs so many tactics to entrap our children, to pull them away from faith in God. So what did Jesus say about this? Jesus says that if you don’t protect God’s “little ones” you’d be better off—you would prefer, that is—to have a millstone around your neck and be thrown into deep water, rather than to stand before God, responsible for causing spiritual damage to any of his little ones. That would be the best case scenario for you, rather than face God’s wrath.

And Jesus is only getting warmed up. He goes on to warn every believer of the danger of sin with graphic pictures. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,  where “‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ These are shocking words, intended to wake us up to the real spiritual consequences that disciples invite when they abuse one another or become enslaved to sin themselves. Jesus uses hyperbole to shake us out of our contentment with sin and he clearly warns us of the reality of hell. It almost seems too harsh, but do you realize what Jesus is doing? He’s trying to protect his children.

Have you ever seen a parent grab a child because of immediate danger? Like when a mother or father screams and grabs ahold of their child’s arm before they run in front of a car? It sometimes shocks the child because they don’t realize the danger they were in. They may wonder why their parent is speaking so intensely. “Don’t you ever do that again!” The mother says as she holds her son close to her chest. 

That’s what our Savior is doing here. He loves us so much that he wants to wake us up to what’s at stake. The truth becomes clear. We hear these shocking words and realize just how fiercely Jesus loves us.  We realize that he sees each of us as his dear little children, whom he was willing to die for. Jesus did far more than just us warn of its danger. He faced sin’s destruction for us. Jesus faced the torments of hell on the cross for us. In the darkness he shouldered the curse of our neglect and abuse. He, God’s Son, was blamed for every sin committed against a little one; he was forsaken by his Father in order to declare us children of God. He did it to forgive my sins and yours, to make us beloved and protected “little ones” of the Almighty God. It is in love that Jesus speaks so intensely. It is in perfect love that he calls on us, earnestly, to protect his little ones.

You know Mincaye, from that tribe I mentioned at the beginning of the sermon? He and a few others from his tribe ended up killing the missionaries who first tried to reach him in Ecuador. He speared them. But after they died, and this actually happened, can you imagine his surprise when the widow, the sister, and the son of one of the men he had killed came to Ecuador to share the Word their loved one had died for? How would he treat them when they helplessly approached his tribe? They came to bring him the gospel. He heard of the man who was pierced with a spear on a cross so that his children—all believers—would be protected eternally. Mincaye became a Christian and is now a preacher. His tribe was changed too. They stopped killing each other and their children are now more than physically safe, they know Jesus. He and they have become part of our family. Praise God, because by his Grace, our family protects children.

Amen.