My grandson, Monty, is a real character. At nursery, he is the one who will find a way to climb up the curtains, and then he will show other children how to do it. Monty is eighteen months old. It is fascinating to watch children’s behaviour. In recent years there have been wonderful ‘fly on the wall’ documentaries that have observed four, five and six year old children interacting with one another. Are children innocent little people? It is clear that from a young age they can be calculating and manipulative. They will push boundaries and organize themselves to make sure they get what they want. And still they are cute and adorable! In training his disciples, Jesus more than once pointed to children as role models. 

In our Gospel reading this week we hear of the disciples arguing over who was the greatest amongst them. In response, Jesus holds up a child and exhorts his disciples to welcome children. By doing so, he says that they are welcoming him and his father. Well, that’s all very well and good, but what is the connection?

In other passages we read that the disciples saw Jesus as a future ruler – a king in waiting. They day dreamt about their own reward and glory when his kingdom eventually came. Understandably they viewed themselves as the future ruling elite. Now, the thing about being the ruling elite is that you have to have a view regarding who you would be governing. In any earthly kingdom the top brass would see themselves as being in charge of security, commerce, justice and the regulating of everyday life. In response to such fanciful ambitions, Jesus presents the disciples with the example of a child. I think his point was that if they wanted to govern, then they had to learn to serve. And if they wanted to serve, they had to learn how to serve the likes of children. In other words, they had to serve those who were not accustomed to power politics, and who would not play the game of boosting their egos. They would have to learn to serve those who (like children) were filled with excitement, creativity, imagination and adventure. They would have to serve those who were maybe too free-spirited to conform to prescriptive rules. To quote some lyrics from the Sound of Music, ‘How do you solve a problem like Maria? How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?... How do you keep a wave upon the sand? How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?’ 

I am sure that Jesus had no problems with his disciples discussing future leadership. But leadership is service. They would have to serve those who had next to no possessions to speak of, no tributes to offer, and yet were rich in hopes and dreams.