Transcript:
Speaker 1:
Our scripture reading for today comes from one kings three, five through 10. Hear the word of the Lord at Gibeon. The Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream and God said, ask for whatever you want me to give you. Solomon answered. You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, but I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen a great people, two numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong for who is able to govern this great people of yours. The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have you asked for the death of your enemies, but for discernment in administrating justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart so that there will never, never have been anyone like you nor will there ever be. This is the word of the Lord.
Speaker 2:
Be careful what you wish for. That's something you've ever heard. That line is actually taken from a collection of fables known as Aesop's fabless, and it is a ancient piece of wisdom that has been passed down through the ages warning us that being able to get what we want could have disastrous results. Now, maybe that defies some logic, but I think we are all aware of the stories of those who strike it rich, whether they've had some sort of startup company that has just taken off or they've won the lottery or something like that, or an athlete who has earned their way into a lot of money and they have all of this money, and the problem is the money accentuates the brokenness. And so even with the new found freedom they have with gaining the riches of the world, it only magnifies their brokenness until it all comes crumbling down. But what we read in Solomon's case defies that ancient wisdom with some even more ancient wisdom. Or if you're from Texas, you could say ancient or wisdom if you'd like. But when faced with the opportunity to ask for whatever he wished, Solomon shows what it means to live in sync with the heart of God. Solomon's request is as Carly read, to give your servant, this is a Solomon speaking to God. Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and distinguish between what is right and wrong.
Speaker 2:
God is pleased with Solomon's request. And before we move on to God's response to his request, we need to first pause and reflect on what is happening here. Because in our society, almost every Disney movie, almost every movie of someone making a big begins with this sort of question of what do you want? And it's like this coveted thing that if we could just get a blank check, if we could just find someone who would be able to make all of our dreams come true, then everything would go the way that we want it to. But we know deep down that that is a false premise. But nevertheless, if someone asks you, what do you want? In most situations, the implication is that the person who asked you what you want is able to give you what you want, right? That's kind of part of the deal of asking that question. It's really cruel to say, what do you want? And then somebody tell you, and then you'd be like, well, good luck, right? That's not a very good movie. That's not something that we would value if you did that.
Speaker 2:
But it's important to note though that God is not showing up to Solomon like a genie in the bottle, right? This isn't the genie popping out of the lamp for Aladdin. God is not saying to Solomon, your wish is my command. That's not what's happening. God simply says, ask for what you want me to give. And what we understand as we look with this scripture and study what's going on around it, and the way that this is used in the Bible is that this question is a window into a person's heart. A person's answer to this question tells more about where they are and what are their motives than almost anything else. This is not only a question that God asked Solomon. It's a question that Jesus asked people several times his disciples when they were trying to sign up to follow him. He says, well, what do you want?
Speaker 2:
When there were some people seeking healing and wholeness, Jesus pauses and says, what do you want? This is a question that reveals whether a person's motivations are from the kingdom of heaven or if they are motivated by the patterns of the world. So God comes to Solomon says, what do you want? Solomon says, give me this, a discerning heart to govern your people and distinguish what is right from wrong. So then we find God's response. As we read a bit ago, it says, the Lord was pleased that Solomon asked for this. So God said to him, since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have you asked for the death of your enemies, but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, a wise and discerning heart, not riches, not fame, not your enemies getting what they deserve, but a wise and discerning heart.
Speaker 2:
Now, what's interesting about Solomon asking for a wise and discerning heart is that it seems like you would have to be a person of wisdom to be wise enough to ask for a wise and discerning heart, right? If you weren't a person of wisdom, if you weren't thoughtful in your response, you might just blurt out something like riches or fame or your enemy getting what you want. But he had enough wisdom to stop and to request more wisdom, to possess enough wisdom to ask for wisdom over riches suggests that God had already been forming Solomon into a person of wisdom. So the question then for us today is would we possess, would you and I possess the wisdom to ask for the same, or would we fall to the allure of something less? Now, this is not only a question for me as an individual and you as an individual.
Speaker 2:
This is also a question for us as a church. If this morning God showed up and said, ask me for whatever you want to give your church, what would our response be? A bigger building today? I'm sure it would be a working air conditioner, right? Or drop the temperature outside so it's not nearly as hot, at least on Sunday morning, right? Maybe we would ask for more people or more money, or would our request be something like to have the wisdom to follow Jesus and be present in our neighborhood like Solomon being formed in wisdom prior to this question, how we respond to this question says a lot about who we are, not when we get what we want or what we're after, but who we are in this present moment. So if we together have settled on our collective wisdom on this premise, that our desire with God's question of what do you want as a church is we want the wisdom to know what it means to follow Jesus and be present in our community, then the question that we have to answer is, what does that look like for us?
Speaker 2:
So sidebar real quick, over the next, well, actually several months from now until the end of November, we are going to be in two sermon series. The first one, we are going to spend eight weeks looking at who is God. And we're going to start by God saying, I to Moses, I am who I am, and we're going to talk about that. And then we're going to move to the New Testaments to listen to what Jesus has to say and the seven times when he says, I am blank. So we're going to spend some time looking at that. And then after that, we're going to take all that we learned as we're discovering who God is and talk about how do we hear from this God, how do we know when we are doing what this God is asking of us? And then it's going to be advent and celebrating the arrival of Jesus.
Speaker 2:
So during this time over the next several months, we are going to be asking this very question of what does it look like for us to have wisdom to follow the way of Jesus, and B, present? Of course. First of all, we have to know who Jesus is and then we have to know how to listen. But that's first we'll start next week, and today we'll keep going with what we have for this morning. So over the past few weeks, we've been looking at a few of the parables that Jesus taught in Matthew's Gospel. Sergeant Carly started it out several weeks ago talking about the parable of the sower. Last week Jeremy talked about the parable of the wheat and the weeds, and today we're going to look at the next, actually two parables that are packed into one. It's in Matthew 13. If you want to turn there, we'll read it in just a minute.
Speaker 2:
But the parables that we read in the New Testament are truths that are couched in story. So Jesus is communicating a truth and he's using a story to communicate that truth to the people. And his goal in sharing these parables is to describe what it looks like to live according to the kingdom of God in the midst of patterns of brokenness. Okay? Now, these truths that Jesus is teaching through these stories are sometimes, I remember that word, sometimes are sometimes offered for the people in the crowd who are just happen to be around Jesus and listening, but all the time they are directed to his closest group of followers that we now know as the disciples, right? Sometimes the truth was intended for the people in the crowd to hear all the time it was intended for his disciples to hear. Now, why is that important?
Speaker 2:
Because for us today, we need to recognize that the parables are best understood when we as God's people wrestle with them in our own lives instead of rushing through them to use them as a tool to judge others or to put other people in their place. It is wise for us to first consider how the parables affect our lives before we look at anyone else's life. And we know that Jesus intended parables primarily for his followers because oftentimes after he offers the parable to the crowd, he's found in private with his disciples talking through the specific meaning of it or covering the depths of it or the detail of it. And so we need to learn to read the parables In the same way, if we fail to read these as if we fail to read these truths as formative in our lives as followers of Jesus, then we will drastically miss the point interacting with these parables in this way will afford us the opportunity to be fertile soil in which Jesus can plant the seeds of his kingdom in us, both as individuals and collectively as a church.
Speaker 2:
And as these truths slowly fertilize our lives, we slowly and more fully mirror the life of Jesus, just as if you were to go to the store and buy seed today and plant it in the ground. First of all, the little bit I know about gardening would tell you that's a bad idea because there's no not enough moisture that you can put on there for them to grow at this point. They will just die in the hot oven that is the ground right now. But if it was planting season, if you planted a seed, those seeds are not going to mature overnight. It takes time for the plants to grow. And just in the same way, the kingdom of God won't mature fully in us instantly. The kingdom of God unfolds through our lives moment by moment day by day. So with this in mind, I want to read these words from Jesus and Matthew 13 beginning in verse 31.
Speaker 2:
But before we do that, we need to remember that we are asking the question of what does it wisdom to follow Jesus and be present in our neighborhood look like? What does that look like for us individually? What does it look like for us as the church? And I want to read this parable of the mustard seed and the yeast. But before we do that, I want to offer us to take a moment to just take a deep breath in and out. I know it's hot, there's things to distract us from this moment, but this what we are reading is the words of Jesus, and I want us to be able to hear what the spirit of God has to say through these words. So take a breath. I'm going to take a drink and then we'll read. So Jesus then told them another parable. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree so that the birds come and perch on its branches.
Speaker 2:
He told them still another parable. The kingdom of heaven is yeast that a woman took and mixed into about 60 pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.
Speaker 2:
The kingdom of heaven is like, now, I don't know a lot about mustard trees. I know that I like mustard, and mustard comes from the seeds of a mustard tree all ground up and combined with other seasonings, but I, I'm not really sure about even what a mustard tree looks like. If there was one right here, I don't think I could tell you what if it was a mustard tree or not. Okay? Now, I did do a little bit of research into mustard trees, and there's a little bit of debate about it. Oftentimes, mustard trees are viewed as weeds until they grow into large enough to be a tree because they spread so fast and so rapidly, their little seeds go far in the wind and they just kind of take over. And then once, a lot of times they're just picked and discarded rather than being able to take root.
Speaker 2:
But once it takes root, it becomes this very large tree, as Jesus said, it's like the kingdom of heaven. This small little thing goes into the ground and puts out these big roots in this big canopy for these animals and creatures to find rest, which is important for us when we are thinking about the wisdom to follow Jesus and to be present in our neighborhoods. I do know a little bit more, not a whole lot more, but a little bit more about yeast and dough because I like to make my own pizza crust. Now, I make my own pizza crust for my family. I use about three to three and a half cups of flour. If it's just the five of us eating. If we have company, I use between six and seven cups of flour to make this pizza dough, and then I put yeast in it and try to make it rise.
Speaker 2:
A cup of flour or three cups of flour is about a pound. So when I make just a single serving of pizza dough, it takes me approximately 12 to 15 minutes of kneading the dough. If you've ever made bread, you know what kneading the dough is? Basically, you take the dough and you fold it and you push it down and you take it and you fold it and you push it down until you get the bread into the right consistency, right? It's a lot of it's hard work and it's a lot of motion. It takes a lot of patience. If I double the batch of dough, it takes me from 15 to 20 minutes to sometimes 25 minutes to get the right consistency in the dough in order for the yeast to rise. Now, what Jesus says here is 60 pounds of flour. Now, I'm not a mathematician, but I do have a calculator, and I did figure it out earlier this week that it would approximately take for someone who knew what they were doing, 15 hours of needing 60 pounds of flour and needing the yeast into it.
Speaker 2:
Okay? Now that is a long time to be kneading dough. 15 minutes for me is enough to not want to do it for a couple more months, right? So imagine what Jesus is saying here. Now, using yeast to make dough is a very tricky thing. And this, if you've ever done it, it takes all the right scenarios in order to make it work as it should. Now, this is a description from someone who dabbles in making dough. So if I say something wrong or if I don't give a full depiction of it, you'll just have to say, that guy has no idea what he's talking about, and I'll accept that because it is just a little bit of experience. But in just a little bit that I know about adding yeast to dough, you have to have warm water, but it can't be too hot.
Speaker 2:
You have to have the right amount of water because if you don't have the right amount, you can either, the yeast either won't activate or you can drown the yeast. I'm told, and maybe I've done that a few times, you have to have fresh yeast. If the yeast is old, it doesn't work in the right way. And the recipe that I use, you have to add the right amount of sugar to the yeast. You have to have the right amount of whisking for the ye yeast to mix it together. You have to have the right room temperature, and it has to be in a dark place to really, really work. And then once the yeast has activated and the dough is risen, then you have to can only work with it a certain amount before it just goes flat and out of all of these things that you have to pay attention to, the most important thing that you have to have when you are working yeast into dough is patience, right?
Speaker 2:
You have to allow the time for the yeast to do its thing and to make the process even more maddening, at least for me. So if you could tell me what I'm doing wrong, I would really appreciate it. But even with the right conditions and everything done perfectly, sometimes the yeast is active and it expands just the way that you want it and sometimes not. Lemme just tell you when your five-year-old daughter helps you and you get so excited to show her this big balloon of dough, that the yeast rose perfectly, and it's not any bigger after you waited an hour as it was, when you put it together, you have to try to make them excited about the fact that it didn't work.
Speaker 2:
Understanding this about yeast reminds me of something that Jesus said when he was talking to Nicodemus and telling him to be born again. He says this, that the wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear it sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the spirit. I am a rule follower. Okay? Kelly and I got to go on a trip last week to Portland, Oregon for her work. She was being recognized for her accomplishments last year. There was a recognition dinner. There were specific instructions on how you were to dress for the recognition dinner. So I followed the instructions, and I will say I looked a lot nicer than I normally do. I had on a nice pair of slacks and a nice sports coat and a shirt and nice shoes, and I looked, looked like I knew what I was doing because I was following the rules. So I was walking to the banquet and there were a group of other people that I've kind of gotten to know through Kelly's work. And one of 'em said to me, wow, you went all out. You're wearing a jacket. And I said, yeah, I'm a rule follower, right? It's said for me to dress this way, and I did it because that's what's expected, right? You have a rule, I can follow it.
Speaker 2:
But this isn't how the kingdom of God works because we aren't in control of the kingdom of God. We can follow the steps to the recipe. We can follow the step-by-step in instructions, but what that produces in our lives is not up to us. We have to wait on the Lord to mature and lead us to where God desires us to be. Right? This is what Paul was talking about when he talked about the thorn in his flesh and the struggle that he constantly has in his life. We have to wait on God. We do the things that God instructs us, but God decides how we grow. And when we grow into Jesus's image, so many people settle for illusions of control and low lying spiritual tropes because waiting on God is too difficult. We would much rather be in control and make things happen at our pace or when we want it to happen.
Speaker 2:
But the trouble is that when we try to skip the line and jump ahead, we end up contributing to the brokenness rather than the beauty that God promised. Think about all the examples in scripture where this is true, where someone received a promise from God and they were so excited about it and they waited and they waited and they waited and things stayed the same, and they waited some more, and then they were like, I can't wait anymore. We're going to make this happen. And every single time they ended up adding to the brokenness like the broken lottery winner or the broken athlete that comes into money, the money accentuates the brokenness, the pursuing, doing, trying to make God's promises come into fruition, accentuates the brokenness. Think about a Abraham and Sarah. Think about the Israelites with Moses. Think about Peter. He often had this problem. There are many examples of people being impatient and acting to try and receive God's promises before they have time to mature in our lives. People who grew weary of waiting for the seed to sprout and to take root and to mature people in too much of a hurry, to need the dough and to the correct consistency. People who are most likely well intended, but don't have the discipline to wait and allow to perform his deep and maturing work.
Speaker 2:
We say around here a journey that God moves at the pace of slow. There's nothing that God does in a hurry. There is no hurry in the kingdom of God. So I want to say this next part with all of the kindness and sympathy that I can muster, no pun intended to the mustard tree. I want to say that for myself and for all of you. But when we are hurried, when the panic sets in, when everything is urgent in our lives, we are operating at the pace of brokenness, not the pace of the kingdom of God. And the reason why I say that with compassion is because this is currently my greatest struggle in life. I am often tempted into this frenzied state, but the problem with being hurried is twofold for me. Number one, it makes me move into the place where I'm the one on whom the outcome of the situation is dependent.
Speaker 2:
And number two, I can't be present. I'm so focused on getting something done that I can't be present to what's going on around me. Now, I don't know if you celebrate or partake in Shark Week, but this past week on the Disney Channel, they have all these glorious shows about sharks. I love sharks. Jonas love sharks. My family loves sharks. So we watched all we possibly could about sharks. Sharks are just fascinating creatures, but it's fascinating as sharks are, they are susceptible to being caught up in what's called a feeding frenzy. And if you've ever seen this, it is crazy. And anything that is in the midst of this feeding frenzy is going down. When sharks enter into this frenzied state, they essentially start biting anything and everything that is in range. It doesn't matter if it's another shark, it doesn't matter if it's a fish. It could be some sort of object in the bottom of the sea. They just go crazy biting everything. They don't necessarily need the food. It's just there. And they are in a frenzied state and being overcome by that. When sharks enter into this frenzied state, it's one thing.
Speaker 2:
But when people enter into this frenzied state, it might not be that we are biting everyone around us, literally, but the outcome of destruction isn't that different. Dallas Willard is a great philosopher, and theologian was once asked, if you had to describe Jesus in one word, what would it be? That as a terrifying question. And I'd rather somebody ask me, what do I want than describe Jesus in one word? Both are intense questions, but this one describe Jesus in one word as a pretty tall task, but with a great amount of wisdom. Dallas Willard responded, relaxed, relaxed. One word to describe Jesus, relaxed. Now to be honest, that doesn't make my top five, probably not even my top 10 of descriptions that I would use to describe Jesus in one word, but it's perfect because it describes Jesus moving at the pace of God. Jesus saw and was present to what was right in front of him, whether it was a little child, a dignitary, a religious leader, a teaching moment, or someone in need of healing or wholeness, or if it was pausing for prayer, Jesus was present. In order to be present, one must be relaxed.
Speaker 2:
And in order to share love and grace and peace with another one must be relaxed. When we are in a hurry, the seeds of grace and peace can't take root in our lives. And furthermore, we won't even notice our neighbor much less be able to patiently share with them the truths of Jesus, that they might take fruit in their lives. So the question we asked earlier is, what does the wisdom to follow Jesus and to be present look like?
Speaker 2:
Well, it looks like a tree that provides safety and shade and food and space to be for all the creatures near. And it looks like yeast bubbling up in a person's life to offer the bread of grace and peace to the community. Let's pray together. Jesus, we are grateful today for your challenge for us. We are grateful for your care to speak truth to us. We're grateful that even in the midst of a hot room, that we can encounter the living God, that Jesus, we trust that you have spoken. We pray that you would give us all the wisdom to follow after you, whether that be as individual people or as a church. We ask these things, Jesus, in your name and for your sake, amen.