15One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But when the disciples saw this, they scolded the parents for bothering him. 16Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. 17I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”
Today we are looking at (a fictional) letter from a Jesus’ disciple after the event from Luke 18:15-17 above.
Mother,
Today, I witnessed something that has deeply moved my soul, and I felt compelled to share it with you. As we were walking with Jesus, families approached us, their young ones in tow, pestering and boisterous. “The Master has greater tasks,” we reasoned. But Jesus, full of grace and love, corrected us. “Let these little ones come,” He said. He held them, blessed them, and in that moment, the kingdom of Heaven felt near.
This event brought to mind the story of David you often told me, the youngest son of Jesse. When Samuel was sent to anoint Israel’s next king, all eyes were on Jesse’s older sons. But God’s wisdom defies human expectations. He chose David, who was out tending the sheep. Samuel’s words echoed in my mind, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Today Jesus illuminated the deeper meaning of the old story you taught: God values those whom the world often disregards. Jesus saw the children as worthy of His time and love. God saw David as a man after His own heart, not just a mere shepherd.
So, as I sit here, I find myself wrestling with a question: Who have I overlooked that God sees as precious? We thought we had been embracing all, just as Jesus did—from the sick to the lame, from sinners to prostitutes. Yet, we overlooked the children. It’s a question I believe we all should ponder, to ensure we are truly seeing people as God sees them.
May the Lord’s peace be with you.
Your pondering son,
Nathanael, a disciple of Jesus
Share with your group your answers to either of these questions, “Who have I easily overlooked that God sees as precious?” or “What steps can we take to be more inclusive in our community?”
[Do you know?] David lived 1000 years before Jesus, and he was the great-great-great (10 times more) grandfather of Jesus.
I had lunch with my senior pastor yesterday at my regular restaurant where I meet with the guys that I disciple when it occurred to me that I don’t even know this server’s name.
He’s very friendly and knows me by name.
So I asked him (Nhat) and delved a bit into his story.
We often overlook the people who serve us maybe because they’re getting paid to serve us, but I hope I’ve just made a new friend
Good m good morning everyone. Growing up, I was taught to always do good. I have to do good in school. I have to be somebody. I have to get into college. Be a doctor a lawyer. My parents always said that if I do drugs, I’ll become homeless. Just all those bad things negative things. So I would think that these people that are out in the streets doing drugs are bad. I overlooked them, not even knowing where they came from and who they are. What kind of struggles they were going through until I became one myself. I became an addict in my early 20s all the way to my 30s. The one person that I believe that I overlooked was myself. I felt the guilt the shame, but you know today I know that God has a plan for me. It’s a matter of time when I let God into my life as his precious child. Like I said before God never left me, but I’ve left him for a very long time. So I got the help that I need. I surround myself with like-minded people. So now when I see a person that’s homeless that’s outside the street that’s on drugs I try to help. I can’t help everybody. But all I can do is pray for them, if I have extra change I would give it to them. I Pray for them for them to see that God has better plans for them and hopefully they’ll get help themselves. They don’t know better because they are in their disease addiction.
I don’t judge anymore because I was once an addict. I didn’t become homeless but I just think that they’re the worst of the worst. But not all.
In terms of human characteristics, in the past, I used to overlook and judge people who had tattoos on their bodies. I thought they were not good and dangerous. However, one day at my church, I saw a man with tattoos worshipping. My initial assumption was that he wasn’t genuinely here but just curious. However, by the end of the worship service, I saw him praying, asking God to be the king of his life. At that moment, I changed my perspective and no longer wanted to judge or overlook someone based on their appearance. As 1 Samuel 16 says, ‘People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.
This is from sister Teri
I think it’s not my place or anyone in the church to be judgmental of of our brother and sisters in Christ. We are all sinners, so what makes one’s sin worse than another? The ultimate judge is God so who are we to judge others? Our judgment of others may not be at all how God sees that individual. With that, we should be reminded not to treat others less because they may not be in the same economic or educational status or does not share all our beliefs. I see this is how cliques develop in churches and also in other settings resulting in people feeling excluded. I pray that I am able to remember that God is the ultimate judge when I am on either end of this scenario.
The beauty of Christ’s love is that he accepts all as they were. In whatever state they are in as long as they recognize their need for him. Surrendering fully to him. I was once in this position and truly experienced the Lord’s grace and mercy on me. As I continue to be molded into the likeness of Christ I shall consider this of Christ. How he looks at all and loves them. Like the women with the son that passed away. Jesus went straight to her. This is the same way we shall approach new comers at church. Completely open and accepting them for who they are, free of judgement. So with this we should immediately speak to new comers and find a time to speak intimately with them aside from just speaking at church. This would be a more genuine move that would display God’s love.
(from Steve)
Who have we overlooked that God sees as precious? For me that question alone hit home because there has been time that I see people struggling with the same diseases as my addiction where I don’t know if I overlook them or not, but I tend to steer clear of them because I’m afraid of getting sucked back into that darkness of addiction so I stay away, but as I progress in recovery I’m now able to see a better light and discern the differences and actually pull closer to those who are struggling and I’ve able to share the love of God with allot of people and bring them closer, so I guess you can say I no longer judge or over look anyone if I’m making any sense
This is a tough question, honestly not so sure. I work at a school district & at my workplace they offer continuing education courses. I’ve been noticing that a lot of the students that attend need support due to a disability. However, I feel like they’re often overlooked. God sees them as precious and anyone can know God. God looks at the heart and he loves us all. I think it would be cool to be more attentive to how they could be supported or included in activities.
I think often times I over look people who are homeless. I think often times I am quick to judge and think those people chose those life styles, but honestly lately I’ve been realizing that everyone has a story and sometimes the cards that life dealt them or the challenges they faced were so hard that there is a reason they are homeless or they turn to drugs as an escape. I think it’s important to see people from where they are at meaning realizing that people have a story and it should be heard rather than just judging them off first appearances.
From Johnny:
I overlooked my friend named zach. Although, we are best of friends sometimes I get annoyed at him and push him on the side. Failing to notice anything about him. A few steps that we can take to be more inclusive in our community is that being involved in more events to be aware of what’s going on around your local community. And also volunteering would be a helpful way to give back.
To be more inclusive in our community, and I know this is a really small thing, like help Jenney to cook meals for church every week. Set the table at church, prepare the food, smile and talk to everyone when l serve foods. These are just a few of the small steps that I think of.