Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest. Jesus holds up a child as the model of greatness, and he equates welcoming the child with welcoming God.
In a culture obsessed with status and achievement, that's absurd. Children have no power, no influence, no resources. And Jesus says they're the model. And more: when you welcome them, you welcome God. So God's presence is identifiable through how you treat the powerless. That's a profound political claim wrapped in spiritual language. How you treat those with no leverage is how you actually relate to God. I've been sitting with how little I've actually paid attention to children in my community, how I've talked over them, dismissed their perspectives, treated them as not-yet-adults instead of full persons. If God is recognizable in welcoming children, then my carelessness toward them is a spiritual problem.
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