What do you think

Good morning, and welcome to One Hope Community Church. We are convinced that nobody is here by accident today, and that the Lord has something specific for us. My name is Derek, one of the elders, and it is my privilege to give Stephen a week off every once in a while.

I’ve been working on this morning’s message for several weeks. Our text covers three separate, brief teachings of Jesus that Matthew ties together—not just in their text proximity, but in what appears to be a single scene with Jesus and His disciples.

The challenge I faced in putting this together was figuring out what ties these three stories into a cohesive whole. After initial study, prayer, and pondering, I became convinced that what held them together was the object lesson Jesus uses: a child. Jesus uses this child to encourage us toward childlike faith.

I finished writing my original message on a Saturday afternoon after spending much of the day on a soccer sideline—which is what you do when you’re a grandparent. But I had a distinct lack of peace about what was on the page. I had a killer introduction, but the rest of it felt a bit "meh." It wasn't because what I had written was wrong, but because it felt like the Holy Spirit was prompting me to take another look—that I hadn't yet reached the center of what He had for us.

Late that night, after having our son and his family over for dinner, a kernel of an idea started forming in my head around 9:00 PM. I went to bed, set my alarm for 5:00 AM, and promised myself I'd make adjustments in the morning. Instead, I woke up at 2:00 AM unable to sleep. I finally rolled out of bed at 4:00 AM and essentially rewrote the sermon.

Looking back, it felt like a bit of a spiritual battle. Beyond the late-night rewrite, our air conditioning broke down—bringing real environmental heat, financial concerns, and emotional frustration. My car alarm went off mysteriously in the driveway, and my knee was acting up due to the uninteresting realities of aging. Yet, whenever you preach the Word of God to the people of God, spiritual friction is bound to happen. That’s partly what makes it worth doing.

"What Do You Think?" Jesus’s Invitation to Reflect

While the child Jesus uses as an object lesson runs through these verses, Jesus also makes dramatic statements with eternal implications:

• Verse 6: "It would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea."

• Verse 8: "It would be better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire."

• Verse 9: "It would be better for you to enter life with one eye than two eyes and be thrown into the hell of fire."

• Verse 14: "So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish."

At the center of these teachings is our understanding of the gospel and its implications for how we live. In verse 11, at the beginning of the third lesson, Jesus asks:

"What do you think?"

This is His invitation to His disciples to stop, reflect, and consider what it truly means to follow Him. As spiritual descendants of those original disciples, we hear that same invitation today: What do you think?

One of my seminary professors used to say that sermons fall into three categories:

1. Think Sermons: Asking us to think differently about what we are learning.

2. Feel Sermons: Asking us to respond emotionally to the Lord.

3. Do Sermons: Asking us to adjust our conduct and actions.

Today’s message is primarily a think sermon, though rarely does a think sermon arrive without a call to respond with our hearts and feet. How you individually respond to the Word of God is the work of the Holy Spirit, not mine. My role is simply to be a conduit, to preach the text, and to invite you to do business with the Lord.

1. The Wrong Question: Who Is the Greatest? (Matthew 18:1–6)

"At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, 'Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.'"

The disciples come to Jesus with a specific question: Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

Later in Matthew, the mother of James and John comes to Jesus asking if her sons can sit at His left and right hands in the kingdom. It makes you wonder if James or John were behind this initial question, trying to settle a family concern!

As good Jewish youths of their day, their understanding was that the Messiah would re-establish an earthly kingdom and restore Israel to its rightful position. Jesus had been teaching them about a very different kind of kingdom—through parables of the mustard seed, the sower, and the hidden treasure—yet they were still missing the point. Otherwise, they wouldn't have asked the question in the first place.

Jesus responds by calling over a child. Imagine twelve grown men standing in a circle, and Jesus kneeling in the dirt with a young child. The disciples were likely confused, perhaps even frustrated, that Jesus wasn't directly answering their debate about rank and position.

While the scene focuses on the child, Jesus’s message is directed straight at the disciples:

• Turn and become like children: Culturally, a child in the ancient world was included but held no position, status, or independence. Jesus calls them to abandon their pursuit of status.

• Humble yourselves: They needed to strip away their world-learned perspectives. These were ordinary fishermen and tax collectors from Galilee; without Jesus, they had no social standing, yet here they were arguing over heavenly promotion.

• Understand Grace: To ask "What's my position?" is to ask the wrong question entirely. The right questions are: "How am I even here?" and "What would You have me do?"

When we ask God, "Why do I deserve this?" or "Don't I deserve better?", we make a fundamental error. We fail to see God as big and holy as He is, and we see ourselves as bigger and more deserving than we are.

The Standard of Christ's Humility

In Philippians 2:5–11, Paul captures the posture Jesus was demonstrating:

"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross..."

Jesus—the only One truly deserving of honor and position—humbled Himself. For us to stand around asking, "Where is my recognition?" reveals a core misunderstanding of the gospel. To understand the gospel is to recognize that we deserve nothing; apart from grace, we bear the weight of our own sin.

2. Taking Sin Seriously and Seeing "Little Ones" (Matthew 18:7–10)

"Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away... And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away... See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven."

We intuitively know Jesus is not commanding literal self-mutilation here. Rather, He is commanding us to take sin seriously—to make radical life changes to eliminate temptation rather than passively struggling through it.

Most sin originates in the mind. As a ministry leader once told me: "It isn't the first look that is sin; it's the second look and the imagination that get us into trouble."

Seeing Others Through the Heart of Jesus

Jesus transitions from speaking about a literal child to warning against harming "these little ones"—referring to those without social status, power, or honor.

There is a deep human tendency throughout history to look at certain groups and view them as "lesser." Yet throughout the Gospels, Jesus consistently crossed societal barriers:

• He spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well.

• He healed the Roman centurion's servant.

• He received and affirmed the worship of Mary Magdalene.

When Jesus says, "Woe to the one by whom temptation comes," He reminds us that harboring sin in our lives doesn't just harm us—it impacts others. When we reduce human beings to economic metrics, political arguments, or social statuses, we allow the culture to shape our values instead of the gospel.

On a cosmic scale, every human being shares one fundamental reality: we are all sinners condemned before a holy God. In that sense, we are the little ones who stand in desperate need of care and mercy.

3. The 99 and the One: Do You See Yourself in Grace? (Matthew 18:12–14)

"What do you think? If a man 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? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish."

When reading this parable, there are two distinct ways to respond:

1. With Humility and Gratitude: It is deeply comforting to know that Jesus pursues the lost—especially if you have a friend or family member who has wandered away.

2. With Frustration: Humanly, we might wonder why the return of one wandering sheep generates more celebration than the ninety-nine who stayed. It can feel unfair—much like the elder brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son.

Your reaction to this parable depends entirely on which group you identify with.

Do you view yourself as part of the "perpetually faithful 99," feeling cheated out of a celebration? Or do you see yourself as the lost, helpless sheep that God actively pursued and rescued?

Here is the truth: Every single one of us is the lost sheep.

If you view yourself as one of the 99 who never needed chasing, you have missed the point of grace. God pursued you not because you earned it, but because of His mercy. Realizing that you were the lost one changes how you relate to God and how you view the people around you.

Three Key Takeaways for Everyday Faith

How do we apply Jesus's question, "What do you think?" to our daily lives? Consider these three responses:

1. Preach the Gospel to Yourself Daily

God is holy, and we are not. We are separated from Him by a gap that can only be bridged by the grace, mercy, and love demonstrated on the cross. A pastor in Spartanburg used to close every service with these words:

"You are worse off than you ever thought you were—but take heart, because God's grace is greater than you could ever imagine."

2. View Others Through the Lens of Grace

We share a common identity with all of humanity: we are sinners in need of a Savior. If you struggle with feeling unredeemable or undeserving, know that you are in good company—none of us deserve it. If God can find, redeem, and restore one lost sheep, He can redeem you too.

3. Live Intentionally in Light of the Gospel

Seek to align your mind and actions with Christ. Instead of drawing convictions from social media, news channels, or cultural tribes, seek to form your heart directly from the heart of Jesus.

A Closing Prayer

Father, we come to You recognizing that the call in Today’s text is to understand the gospel more fully. Help us recognize that, apart from grace, we have no hope—but because of grace, we have eternal hope.

May this truth transform how we view You, how we view ourselves, and how we treat those around us. Keep our hearts humble, like little ones resting in Your arms. Speak to our hearts today, and leave us transformed. In Jesus' name, Amen.