6/29/08 - Pentecost 7 - Matthew 11:25-30

THE GOSPEL IS POWERFULLY SIMPLE
- It is hidden from the wise
- It is revealed to children

Carl Braaten is a leading theologian in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of American - the ELCA. He has written dogmatic volumes and theological books, and he has even taught doctrine classes to ELCA seminary students for many years. But Carl Braaten denies the virgin birth of Christ. He considers Jesus’ death more symbolic than anything else, and he doesn’t even seem to think that Jesus is truly God himself. The simple gospel has been hidden from a learned theologian like Carl Braaten, and yet it has been revealed to the youngest children in this room. Albert Einstein, a popular pick for one of the smartest people to live on the face of this earth, believed in a god of some kind, but definitely not in Jesus. The simple gospel was hidden from this brilliant physicist as well, but it has been revealed to the least educated people in this room. Stephen Hawkings, probably the most famous scientist of our day, a well-known professor, a best selling author who has sold millions of copies of his book on cosmology, claims there is no room for a Creator in this world. The simple gospel has been hidden from famous and honored man, and instead has been revealed to someone like me. Many of the smartest people in this world do not believe in the simple and powerful truth that Jesus died for their sins. And what is true today was also true in Jesus’ time. And that is why Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.”
The faith of a little child is a beautiful thing. It is unquestioning, it is unwavering. It is uncomplicated. Because the gospel is that simple. It is so simple that a child who cannot yet add or subtract, who cannot tie a shoe, who cannot even speak intelligible words, believes it! A child believes the gospel! A child believes that Jesus died on the cross to save the world from its sins. A child believes because of Jesus believers will go to heaven. A child believes that Jesus will take care of them in any situation. A little child has no problem believing that these things are true. Not because the gospel makes any sense to them, but because the Gospel is the power of God himself. The powerful simplicity of the gospel truly is a remarkable thing. So simple it can work even in the heart of a child and so powerful it can work even in the heart of a child. And the Lord has revealed this powerfully simple gospel to the youngest and the simplest of them all. And we are all included.
All of us here are included with those little children because he has brought us to faith and has convinced us that what Jesus did for us on the cross and out of the tomb is true and effective and complete. No degree necessary. No diploma needed. No title in front of your name and no initials after it are required. Because the Lord doesn’t work through the brains and the intelligence of his people here on earth; rather he works through their hearts with his Word.
Whether the Lord brought you to faith in his powerfully simple Gospel when you were a little child, or as a teenager, or as an adult, he still worked through your heart and not your mind. Because your “intelligence,” the logical thought processes of your mind, and your reasoning capabilities - although blessings from the Lord - are directly contrary to faith. “Reason most violently resists faith and the Word of God,” Martin Luther preached in 1525. “No one can come to faith or put up with God’s Word unless reason is blinded and put to shame. A man must die to reason and become a fool, so to speak, yes, and must become more unreasoning and irrational than any young child if he is to come to faith.” Luther understood that the intelligence of the mind has nothing to do with faith in the heart. Because the mind can never understand what the heart believes. And so it is no wonder that the Lord hides his powerfully simple Gospel from the “wise” and “learned” of this world and reveals it to his little children.
And so we must be careful. Because as we get older, as we get “smarter,” as we gather knowledge and experience from our observations and actions in this life, the powerfully simple Gospel that the Lord has revealed to us is in danger. The danger starts during high school or college age and it never really ends. Because as we begin to figure out things in this life, the Gospel starts to make less sense. And as our opinions and decisions start take shape from our experiences, the Gospel starts to seem less likely. We start to ask “Why, Lord? How, Lord? When, Lord? Where, Lord?” We become unsatisfied with what God tells us in his Word. Because the “smarter” we get - and I say that in quotes - the “smarter” we become we are no longer satisfied with the “what.” We want the reason why and how and when and where. Because that’s what this life has taught us. That’s how our minds work.
If I came up to you after the service today and told you to walk down to the end of the block, you would ask, “Why?” You would want to know the reason why I wanted you to walk down to the end of the block. You wouldn’t trust me enough to just blindly and without question get up, go out the door, and walk down there without knowing the reason why you are doing it. And that’s exactly what it comes down to: trust. Trust in the Lord that he knows what he’s talking about - even if he doesn’t always fully explain things to you. And trusting in the Lord is harder and harder to do when our “intelligence” keeps getting in the way. “Why is this happening, Lord, if you love me? How do these things in your Word match up, Lord? It doesn’t make sense! When, Lord, are these things you promised going to happen? Where, Lord, are all these joys you’ve told me about? I don’t see them. And I’m starting to wonder if I ever will.” All of us question the Lord, if not out loud then at least in our own minds. All of us become unsatisfied at times with the information God supplies for us in Scripture. And it’s not a good thing. It’s arrogant even! To think the Lord owes us an explanation! To think we could actually understand or comprehend the why or the how or the when or the where if God were to tell us! He reveals to us everything we need to know - nothing more and nothing less. “Or don’t you trust me?” the Lord says to you. “Don’t you trust that I will take care of you? Don’t you trust that I know what I’m doing? Don’t you trust that I can handle things without your knowledge or advice?” Our intelligence and reason and logic don’t like God’s Word and whenever we begin to question our Lord because of those things we are acting as if we don’t trust his powerfully simple Gospel at all.
And, of course, that never happens with little children. Little children, with undeveloped minds, without the capability of extensive logic or reasoning, do not question God. They hear the “what” and they believe it. They don’t try to figure it out. They don’t try to understand why or how or when or where. They simply believe his words and trust that the Lord knows what he’s doing. They hear what he says in his powerfully simple Gospel and that’s all they need.
And be thankful that’s all there is. Understand what a tremendous act of love it is that the Lord has made his Gospel so simple. It is so simple that a child knows it after hearing it for the very first time. It is so simple that it can be summed up in one word: “Jesus” or “cross” or “forgiveness” or “life” or “heaven” or “grace.” It is so simple, and yet it is completely unexplainable. And because this simple gospel defies logic, it is rejected as ridiculous. And so understand that it is also a tremendous act of love on the part of the Lord that he has made his Gospel not only simple but undeniably powerful. Because if it were up to us to figure out even the simple Gospel we have in front of us, then we would be completely lost. If faith meant we had to explain the Gospel or completely comprehend the Gospel; if faith meant we had to earn a “Gospel” degree, gather a certain amount of knowledge about the ins and outs of the Gospel, or pass an entry exam to determine if we intellectually grasped the Gospel well enough - no one would believe! Our sinful, imperfect minds cannot fathom the unsearchable heights or the unreachable depths of God’s simple Gospel. Because it doesn’t make sense to our logic or reason or intellect. It doesn’t coincide with our experiences in this life. So thank the Lord that his simple Gospel is a powerful Gospel that can work on our sinful hearts.
And this is why it is significant in our text that Jesus says the Gospel has been “revealed” to little children. He didn’t just help us understand it. He didn’t allow us to accept it. He didn’t give us a hint or a nudge or a clue so that we would be able to figure it out. He fully revealed the Gospel to us with his almighty power. By his own doing, he somehow convinced us that the consequences of our sins are somehow completely paid for by a few drops of blood on a couple pieces of wood that stood on a hill 2000 years ago. By his own doing he somehow convinced us that we don’t have to do anything to earn his favor - he has already done it all so that we don’t have to pay him back in any way. By his own doing, he has somehow convinced us that the things in his Gospel that don’t make sense, that don’t scientifically match up, that don’t logically connect with anything else, are still 100% true. That is a powerful Gospel! That is a powerful Gospel if it can convince logical and reasonable creatures that logic and reason must be put aside. But the Gospel has to be that powerful, otherwise no one would believe. No one would come to the conclusion by themselves that a man named Jesus that an ancient book talks about is actually the true God and has saved the entire world from their sins past, present, and future by dying in their place and rising from the dead. No one in their right minds would believe that! And so it’s a good thing it’s not a matter of the mind, but a matter of the powerfully simple Gospel working on the heart. It’s a matter of our heavenly Father revealing his Gospel to the hearts of his little children.
What a blessing it is to be the little children to whom the Lord has revealed his Gospel. And so keep being childish. The more childish you are the better when it comes to your faith. Lay aside your reason and your logic. Forget what this life and your experiences have taught you when it comes to the Bible. And simply trust in the simple and powerful words of God. You may not understand it all. You may not be able to explain it all or even prove it all. But it doesn’t matter. Because God himself says it’s true. And as grateful children of our heavenly Father, that’s all the proof we need.
Amen.

“Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen!” - Rev. 7:12