Do not despise the little ones

Matthew 18:10-14

10 ‘Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven. 12 What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.

Before we are too quick to say we know this parable and move on, we should pay attention to vs. 10. The verse references despising “one of these little ones.” Which would take us back to vs. 6 – not putting a stumbling block before one of these little ones. To despise is to write off, saying that “one of these little ones” is not worth the effort the shepherd puts into finding the sheep that has gone astray.

Jesus is not saying children are perfect, or youth are always right. He is aware children and youth get off the track, ending up in difficult and dangerous places “on the mountains” of life (vs. 12). But those who have gone astray, those young people who drive us to distraction with worry and frustration, we are not to despise them, nor can we say they are lesser. They are always worth seeking out, searching for, in the hopes that we will find them. Jesus the good shepherd never despises them, never gives up on them, and neither should we.

It is easy to say that about our children and grandchildren, but Jesus has in view all the little ones, all the children, all the youth. Including the neigbourhood kids who drive us crazy, including the young people who seem to do nothing but violate what we think of as the proper way of being. (Again this is not saying we are to condone their actions, their attitudes, their words, but it does say we never despise them, never treat them as lesser, never say they are not worth searching for and finding.)

We are to be the embodiment of God, whose will, whose heart, is that not one of the little ones should be lost. As much as it depends on us, we are to never stop searching for, never stop seeking for, just as Jesus the good shepherd never stops searching for them.   

PRAYER:

O Lord, your Son the Good Shepherd never stops looking for, seeking for, those who have gone astray into places of danger. Teach us, like him, to never give up on, to never despise any, including the little ones, who have become lost on the mountains of life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.