In the gospel, the disciples ask Jesus, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Jesus uses the example of a child. Why a child? Jesus sees three qualities in a child that a disciple should imitate.
The first is humility. Most children at some point tend to be shy, they don’t push themselves forward but instead tend to remain in the background. It is only in the world of grownups that he or she learns how to be competitive.
The second is the child is dependent. To the child a state of dependence is natural. They never think that they can face life by themselves. They are dependent on those who love them and care for them. Jesus challenges us to be dependent on Him.
Third, a child trusts. They trust their parents that their needs will be met. It is that attitude that Jesus asks us to adopt in or lives. A trust in God, that God will respond to our needs.
If we are lucky, we will know someone like New York Columnist David Brooks describes in his book, “The Road to Character”.
“Occasionally, even today, you come across certain people who seem to possess an impressive inner cohesion. They are not leading fragmented, scattershot lives. They have achieved inner integration. They are calm, settled, and rooted. They are not blown off course by storms. They don’t crumble in adversity. Their minds are consistent and their hearts are dependable…
“Sometimes you don’t even notice these people, because while they seem kind and cheerful, they are also reserved. They possess the self-effacing virtues of people who are inclined to be useful but don’t need to prove anything to the world: humility, restraint, reticence, temperance, respect, and soft-self-discipline.
“They radiate a sort of moral joy. They answer softly when challenged harshly. They are silent when unfairly abused. They are dignified when others try to humiliate them, restrained when others try to provoke them. But they get things done. They perform acts of sacrificial service with the same modest everyday spirit they would display if they were just getting the groceries. They are not thinking about what impressive work they are doing. They are not thinking about themselves at all. They just seem delighted by the flawed people around them. They just recognize what needs doing and they do it.
“They make you feel funnier and smarter when you speak with them. They move through different social classes not even aware, it seems, that they are doing so. After you’ve known them for a while it occurs to you that you’ve never heard them boast, you’ve never seen them self-righteous or doggedly certain. They aren’t dropping little hints of their own distinctiveness and accomplishments…
“These are the people who have built a strong inner character, who have achieved a certain depth. In these people, at the end of this struggle, the climb to success has surrendered to the struggle to deepen the soul.”
These people are the example of the greatest in the Kingdom of God. Their lives are marked not by honors and rewards and fame but by humility, compassion, and generosity
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Image: Anne Roberts “children on a slide on Colva Beach 1” by Openverse is licensed under 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).