An eight-year-old boy was away at summer camp for the first time. His parents did not receive a card from him for a whole week. So, they telephoned to check on him. Frankly, they were a bit disappointed to discover that he hadn't really missed them at all. He was just very busy having a wonderful time. His mother asked, "Have any of the other kids gotten homesick?" He replied, "Just the ones who have dogs back home."

Children will almost always tell it just like they see it. The candor and unpretentiousness of children is charming, most of the time. However, if you are a father tending to the children while Mom is away, and if you happen to break a small vase, don't say to the children, "Now, let's not tell Mom about this little accident." Forget it! The children will have signs out on the lawn when Mom returns---"Guess who broke a vase." And if you buy a birthday present for Mom, don't let the kids in on the secret. Keeping secrets just runs counter to a child's natural inclination to tell it all.

When Jesus said that we must become like little children, he did not mean for us to be childish. Repeatedly, the Bible urges us toward maturity, to grow up. "When I was a child," wrote Paul, "I thought and acted like a child. But when I became a man I put away childish ways."

There are lots of characteristics of children that should not be imitated. The temper tantrums so typical of "the terrible two's" are one example. People who never outgrow such behavior become baseball managers.

To understand what Jesus meant when he urged us to become like little children, we must look at the context. Jesus and his disciples were making that last journey from Galilee to Jerusalem where he would be executed. On the way Jesus tried to prepare them for those awesome events. He talked at length about the coming Kingdom of God. When the disciples heard the word "kingdom" they thought of King David's mighty empire a thousand years earlier. They hoped that Jesus might lead a revolutionary army to free Israel from Roman domination. Then perhaps the twelve disciples would be his Cabinet or regional governors. These thoughts set their ambitions to soaring. Even the disciples' relatives got into the act. The mother of James and John asked Jesus to look out for her boys in the coming glory days.

Finally, when competing ambitions were creating tension, Jesus called time-out and gathered the disciples around him. Jesus, always the master of the object lesson, called a little child to him. Can't you see it now? They're sitting on rocks, perhaps in the shade of a tree. Jesus takes a little four-year-old girl on his lap and says, "Unless you become like this little girl, you'll never make it to the Kingdom."

The context shows us that there were two qualities of children that Jesus was praising, and in fact he called these qualities essential for Kingdom membership.

First, He commended the humility of children.

In verse four, Jesus actually said, "Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

A child does not usually brag or make himself look important. When he does, he is usually trying to fill a void created by a lack of loving affirmation.

By way of contrast, we adults often have ego problems. Either we are genuinely big-headed and self-centered or often we are trying to cover our inferiority complexes with a layer of cockiness. The junior senator from South Carolina, Ernest F. Hollings, has such an oversized ego that he himself makes jokes about it. He claims he once failed a lie detector test when he said, "In my humble opinion..."

When Jesus called us to be like little children, he meant that we should feel so secure and affirmed in God's love that we won't need to brag or put somebody else down. That is authentic humility.

Some years ago St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City was seeking a new president. Over one hundred candidates applied for the position. The search committee narrowed the list to five eminently qualified persons. Then somebody came up with a brilliant idea: let's send a person to the institutions where each of the five finalists is currently employed, and let's interview the janitor at each place, asking him what he thinks of the man seeking to be our president. This was done and a janitor gave such a glowing appraisal of William MacElvaney that he was selected President of St. Paul's School of Theology.

Somebody on that search committee understood, in a flash of genius, that those who live close to Christ become so secure in his love that they no longer relate to other people according to rank or power or money or prestige. They treat janitors and governors with equal dignity. They regard everybody as a VIP. Children seem to do this intuitively; adult Christians have to relearn it.

There is a second quality of childrens that we Christians should emmulate.

It is their ability to trust so completely.

When I was sixteen years old, my little brother Joe was just four. He was my favorite little buddy and went with me lots of places. Now, my judgment at age sixteen left a lot to be desired. I would take my little brother up on a high diving board, drop him off, and then jump in and retrieve him. Joe could not swim. Nevertheless, as I pulled him from the water, he would beg me to do it again.

If you're a teenager, please don't do that with your little friend or brother. It's dangerous. I share that adventure with you only because it reveals the amazing trust of my little brother. He knew I would hit that water right after he did and would retrieve him. His faith in me banished all fear.

A little child places his life completely in the hands of others; his dependence is utter and complete. Only later do we unlearn trust and become skeptical of almost everything and everybody.

A little girl named Mary was in bed one night preparing for lights out. Prayers had been said and Mom had hugged her. Perhaps in an effort to put off sleep-time, Mary asked her mother why God created nighttime. "Why didn't he make it daytime all the time?" Her mother mumbled something about how it's easier to sleep in the dark and we all need rest. But Mary interrupted, saying, "I know why it gets dark at night. That's when God puts the world in his pocket." What a brilliant statement by a little person of faith. What a comforting thought...to be in God's pocket as we sleep.

Jesus is not calling us to be naive or simplistic. He is calling us to trust in God as completely as a little child trusts a parent. Jesus wants us to be confident that when we read the Bible intelligently, it means what it says and it says what it means. He calls us to trust our brothers and sisters in Christ unless and until they prove unworthy of that trust.

Perhaps the most unsettling part of today's text is Jesus' statement in Matthew 18, verse 3: "Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven." He was saying to the disciples, "You are on a track now that will lead you away from the kingdom. All your bragging and self-seeking is the opposite of kingdom behavior. You must repent, make a 180 degree turn, if you want to head toward God's kingdom."

I have a friend who was once a white House advisor for President Nixon. His name is Harry Dent. Today he is a prominent Baptist layman, respected around the world for his Christian leadership. Harry says that he thought he was really somebody when he was President Nixon's advisor. He hobnobbed with famous people, rode in chauffeured automobiles, and sat at the hub of power. But, says Harry, I was really nobody. Because at that point I was not in a personal relationship with the only one who can make a nobody into a somebody--Jesus Christ.

You see, I am not God's child simply because I am created in his image. Original sin was also part of my nature from birth. The only way for me to become a child of God is through adoption. God wants that to happen. He sent Jesus Christ to make it possible. At my baptism he submitted the application forms. But the transaction could not be completed until I give permission. I did that by expressing faith in Christ.

Most adopted children are placed in homes as infants, before they are old enough to make any choices. God reaches out to us that early, as infant baptism celebrates. But our adoption by Christ is never finalized until we affirm it through faith in Christ. As the Bible says, "In Jesus Christ you are sons of God through faith."

A little child once wrote a letter to God which asked an important question: "Dear God, I am adopted. Is that as good as being real? Love, (signed) Brian." My message to Brian is this: all of us who love Jesus Christ are adopted. And that's better than being real. Only after we are adopted into Christ, only after that glorious moment when his grace meets our faith, only then can we know abundant and eternal life, only then can we have that childlike humility and trust.

Therefore, the most helpful thing I can do for us this morning is to help us experience or celebrate adoption. I'm going to do that by inviting you to pray a child's prayer with me. This prayer, offered sincerely, in the only requirement for adoption and eternal salvation. "Into my heart, into my heart, come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Come in today, come in to stay. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus."

After a few moments of silence, I will pray that prayer again. If it expresses what is in your heart, I invite you to pray it aloud with me in unison. "Into my heart, into my heart, come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Come in today, come in to stay. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus."