Children Simply Receive
[Then Jesus] said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” Mark 10:14-15
For the first few months of street ministry, I was caught up in a whirl of anxious intentions. I thought I had to go out and give my friends on the streets something. I felt the urgency to bring joy to these souls, to bring consolation, to say that one phrase that would suddenly open their eyes, or to hand them some resource that would alleviate the suffering before my eyes. That’s a lot of pressure, right?
I began to notice myself going out with a heavy feeling. This pressure to give was weighing me down, and thoughts of self-doubt and doubt in God’s presence began to fill my mind. I was having a hard time being fully present in encounters because I was thinking of the next right thing to say. One sunny day on the East side, I couldn’t hold in the heaviness anymore, and I shared with my street partner the burdens I was going through. He questioned my mindset and the posture of my heart. I remember him asking me, “Julie, what about your own conversion? Have you ever had someone say or do one thing that completely changed the course of your life and gave you faith?” I decided, no, this was not the case. It’s been a slow history of God speaking and revealing His love through various instances, that’s led me to this place of Relationship. So, no, it wasn’t a phrase or prayer that made my world come crashing down. It was a continual presence. It was the presence of God over time – in holy and sinful people – loving me into a purpose. Can it not be the same for those on the streets? A continual presence of love.
The truth is, I've realized I can’t bring my friends on the streets anything. I’m not going to solve all of their problems (I just sighed in relief, typing that last line!) because I'm not supposed to. I’m not Almighty God. What I can bring, however, is a child-like presence of curiosity and receptivity. You see, children don’t walk into a space thinking they’ve got what everybody needs. They don’t seek to provide for others or fix things. No, children simply receive.
Children absorb, wonder, question; they seem to soak up the world around them like a sponge. Can I not do the same thing with my friends on the streets? Or with you and I, can we not do the same with each other? Can we not receive one another, ask questions, listen and ponder? Can we not soak up the mystery that is before our eyes in the other person?
I have found that God blesses the encounters which I approach with a posture of receiving rather than giving… because it’s God who’s doing the giving. It is in receiving each other, that God gives to us through one another. Every encounter adds a new facet to the image of God, because his presence is in each person, created in His image. Each one of us has something to unveil about the mystery of God’s kingdom. This reality brings about an incredible dignity to the human person, and reminds me that each person I encounter is worth receiving exactly as they are. They are worth being seen and being heard, and they are worth loving.
I turn this thought over to you. If you’re not going out to the streets to encounter God in the face of the poor (and it’s great if you are, but if not), who is in your midst? Is it your spouse, your daughter, your boss, your grocery store clerk, your father-in-law? There is someone in your midst; actually, there’s a plethora of souls around you, each one holding the mysteries of the Kingdom right before your eyes. They are waiting for your curiosity. They are longing to be seen, heard, and known. They are waiting to be loved, by you and by God. And God is longing to love you and unveil Himself to you through them. Are you ready to receive?
Julie Spencer