Election results are in: there is a red tide rising. Some are happy. Others are wondering where they went wrong. Still others are deeply worried. But the kingdom of God is neither shaken nor shored up by our elections.
Matthew 18:1-6
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6but 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 to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
The question of greatness comes into sharpest focus when the context is not just the kingdoms of this world, but the kingdom of heaven. There are so many candidates: Elijah, Moses, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, John the apostle, Peter, Paul, Augustine, John Huss, Martin Luther, Tyndale, Wesley, Mother Theresa; the list of likely candidates is long. But Jesus chooses no spiritual celebrity. He chooses a child.
A child doesn’t need to humble himself (in most cases). He is already small and dependent on the good will of others. A child doesn’t need to acknowledge her need for protection. She is is a perpetual state of needing to be protected. A child more easily trusts others because he or she has no other choice.
When we humble ourselves before God, seek protection from him, and put our faith in our heavenly Father, we are fit subjects of the kingdom of heaven. God’s kingdom is built in the hearts of people who are willing to be humbly great. It is entered by those who are willing to rely on the King. It is experienced by those who receive the King’s children as though they are the King himself.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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