“人也不得说：‘看哪，在这里！看哪，在那里！’因为神的国就在你们心里。” – 路 17:21
一首Bob Dylan旧歌的歌词这样说：“以前我曾苍老，现今却更年轻。”
听到这两句歌词时，我想像到一个愚蠢的年轻人，他深信自己是万事通。我也联想到一个明智的老人，像小孩那样，他接受他不明白的事物其中的奥秘。神的国有没有可能也是这样呢？
人们带了小孩子 － 有些甚至是婴孩 － 来见耶稣，这些父母希望耶稣为他们的小孩祝福。然而门徒最清楚当时的情况：耶稣正忙于处理重要的事，成年人的事，衪没有时间浪费在小孩身上。
啊，耶稣指正了他们的看法。衪说：“不要这样！让小孩子到我这里来。你们岂不知道，神的国就是他们的国、神就是他们的神吗？
神的国本来属小儿科。倘若不是我们成年人添上一些深奥的字眼和挑剔的规条，小孩子是能够看到神国的真象的，而他们也会像欢喜迎接嘉年华会或下雪天那样迎接神的国。当有如此出人意料和如此美妙的事情发生时，他们必定会希望有份参与！
我们成年人对神的国若不是有同样的感受，便可能仍然不理解这个国度是怎样的。
祷告
耶稣啊，求你快点赐下你的国度，我们很想白白得到它啊！阿们。
路加福音 18:15-17
15有人抱着自己的婴孩来见耶稣，要他摸他们，门徒看见就责备那些人。
16耶稣却叫他们来，说：“让小孩子到我这里来，不要禁止他们，因为在神国的正是这样的人。
17我实在告诉你们：凡要承受神国的，若不像小孩子，断不能进去。”
Kids’ Stuff
“People [won’t] say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” – Luke 17:21
Here’s an old Bob Dylan lyric: “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.” When I hear that, I first picture a foolish young man. He’s sure he knows what’s what. Then I picture a wise older man. Like a child, he embraces the mystery of what he doesn’t understand. Is that maybe how it is with the kingdom of God?
People were bringing little kids—even babies—to Jesus. Parents wanted Jesus to bless their little ones. But the disciples knew better: Jesus was busy with important stuff, grown-up stuff. There was no time to waste on little kids.
Well, Jesus set them straight, didn’t he? “Cut it out!” he said. “Let the kids come right here to me. Don’t you know that the kingdom of God is their kingdom? That God is their God?”
The kingdom of God is kids’ stuff. And if we grown-ups don’t add a bunch of big words and picky rules, then kids will see the kingdom for what it is. And they will welcome it the way they welcome a carnival or a snow day. When something so unexpected and so wonderful comes along, of course they’ll want to be a part of it!
If we grown-ups don’t feel the same way about the kingdom of God, we’ve most likely missed the point.
Prayer
Come on, Jesus. Bring your kingdom. We want to ride all day for free! Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳
