“Dare to Play”
Sunday, 5/25/08- Matthew 6:25-34
from Dangerous Wonder by Michael Yaconelli
Introduction: One of the most memorable years of my schooling was when I was in fourth grade. My teacher let the students build forts around their desks. So my friend and I constructed an enclosed fort around our desk, complete with a door to enter, and a window to see out to the teacher. We also had to install our own light so that we could see, and my friend brought in his sister’s easy bake oven and coke dispenser. It was pretty cool. Needless to say we were very popular in the class with that easy bake oven.
Now you might think that this would be a bad strategy for a teacher; that the forts would keep the students from focusing on school. But as far as I can remember, we all did fine. And of course there was the threat that if we didn’t pay attention and do our work, we would have to take down the fort.
Could you imagine doing something like this in a business office? Of course we laugh at that, because a grown adult would never do anything like this! As we continue our series from the book “Dangerous Wonder,” I want to talk this morning about how we as adults need to dare to play a little more.
I. Jesus’ Playfulness- (Matthew 6:16, 28, 7:9-10, 26)
a. Playful words- Illus. Craig McNair Wilson for years had a one-man
drama show. He would travel around performing what he called “The Fifth Gospel.” Craig would play all of the characters himself (the disciples, Jesus, Pilate, the blind man…). And one of his favorite parts was reenacting what he thought might have happened when Jesus and the disciples took a break to wash off in the Jordan River. As they were washing off, John reaches down to the riverbed and picks up a handful of mud. He then precedes to throw it at Peter. SPLAT; a direct hit! So Peter picks up his own mud pie and throws it at John. But John ducks and it hits Jesus right in the middle of his forehead. At this point everybody freezes. Thomas leans over to Peter and says, “Now you’ve done it, you just hit the Son of God in the head with a mud pie.” Jesus looks at each disciple, but when he gets to Peter, Peter refuses to look Jesus in the eye. Then to everyone’s surprise, Jesus picks up some mud and throws it at Peter, and everybody breaks into laughter.
Of course we have no record of anything like this taking place, but it could have, because Jesus knew how to play, as well as pray. Jesus knew how to laugh, as well as cry. Jesus didn’t take Himself too seriously. You cannot read the Sermon on the Mount without getting a hint of Jesus’ playfulness:
· In regards to fasting, Jesus says in Matthew 6:16- “Do not look somber as the hypocrites do.”
· He also had comments about worrying; Matthew 6:26-28, “Look at
the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.”
· In talking about prayer, Jesus said in Matthew 7:9-10, “Which of you,
if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?”
· In regards to building, Jesus talked about how a foolish man was one who would try and build a house on the sand.
b. Playful stories- Jesus’ words are filled with playfulness, irony,
metaphor, and hyperbole. Many times when He was talking in this way, there must have been a twinkle in His eye. Jesus’ words were not somber, smothering, or threatening; they were colorful with fun stories that left His listeners wanting more.
In His book “Living the Message,” Eugene Peterson points out how powerful a playful parable could be:
“Jesus’ favorite speech form, the parable, was subversive. Parables sound
absolutely ordinary; casual stories about coin and seeds, meals and coins and sheep, bandits and victims, farmers and merchants. And they are wholly secular: of his forty or so parables recorded in the Gospels, only one has its setting in church, and only a couple mention the name of God. As people heard Jesus tell these stories, they saw at once that they weren’t about God, so there was nothing in them, threatening their own sovereignty. They relaxed their defenses. They walked away perplexed, wondering what they mean; the stories lodged in their imagination. And then, like a time bomb, they would explode in their unprotected hearts. An abyss opened up at their very feet. He was talking about God; they had been invaded!” (p. 13)
In the midst of talking about serious issues of salvation, and sin, and hell, and discipleship, Jesus did it with fun and playful stories. I know that this concept is hard for some people. People have difficulty thinking about Jesus as anything but serious. They think that Jesus was here with a purpose, and therefore had no time for play. But if Jesus was fully human, along with being fully God, there had to be playfulness in Him. God has created us with a spirit of fun, and the ability to laugh. There is no reason why this wouldn’t be true of Jesus as well!
II. Is Play Frivolous- (Mark 2:1-12)
a. Play breaks down barriers- When I meet someone, I usually don’t
tell them I am a minister at first. This is because people tend to act differently once they find out I am a minister. They start to be careful how they talk and how they act. Sometimes they exhibit guilty behavior, or they just avoid talking to me, afraid that I might confront them. I like to let people get to know me first before I share with them I am a minister. When I do it this way, people can experience me as a normal person; a person who loves to have fun, and laugh, and play.
Just like people think that Jesus was always serious, many people think that ministers are always serious. But anyone who knows me knows that I love to laugh and play. I enjoy getting to know the children and youth of the church, and finding fun ways to interact with them.
EX. There have been several times when some of the high school guys have challenged me to an arm wrestling contest. And they are surprised at first when I accept the challenge. And they are even more surprised when I beat them! J Not too long ago, at the picnic we threw for the women and children of the Women Shelter of Long Beach, I had a chance to play with them as well. It was after the picnic was over, and we were getting ready to wrap everything up. Some of the youth were playing football. And so I walked over to them and asked if I could play. Not really dressed to run around, I became the permanent quarterback (which meant I was the quarterback for both teams). I had a great time with them, and I think they enjoyed my playing with them as well!
I hope that these times of play helps me to have opportunity to be a friend and maybe a confidant to the youth. I hope they see me as a person who enjoys life, and wants to share my love and wisdom with them.
Play can change the environment so that you have better connection with
people. Going back to that picnic, it was fun to see the moms come and bring their kids. We had lots of food, and the people enjoyed that aspect of the picnic. We had face painting for the kids and a couple of others kinds of games. So the kids were playing and enjoying the park. But then we had some time for family games. They weren’t anything fancy, just the spoon and ball relay, the balloon toss, and a scavenger hunt. But as the games went along, you could sense a different feeling take place. People were laughing and smiling and interacting more. And after the games, there was more talking and connecting with people!
b. Play is an expression of God’s presence- People in Jesus’ time
knew how to play. Play isn’t a new concept. In the second chapter of Mark, verses 1-12, we find a delightful incident in the life of Christ. Jesus was teaching at a person’s house, and Jesus had attracted so much attention, that the house was full. Verse 2 tells us: “there was no room left, not even outside the door.”
A group of men had brought their friend, who was a paralytic, to Jesus so that he could be healed. But of course they saw that there was no way to get to Jesus. Not wanting to let their friend down, they decided to try and go in through the roof! (They were going to tear apart someone else’s roof to get to Jesus). This action could be seen as immature, irresponsible, silly. But when they get the man to Jesus, Jesus doesn’t rebuke them for their actions, he honors their behavior. He was impressed by their faith and their ingenuity.
Now think of it in this way: what if our church was so full that people couldn’t get in, but they really wanted to get in? And what if they cut a whole in the roof and repelled down? Most of us would be upset that they destroyed our roof, as opposed to being concerned with the fact that they wanted in that badly. We would get upset and rebuke their behavior and chastise them instead of desiring to minister to them.
We need to take life less seriously, and understand that play is an expression of God’s playfulness in the world. The opposite is that a lack of playfulness and laughter is a clear sign that God is absent in our lives. Play shouldn’t be seen as an escape; it is a way to release the life-smothering grip of busyness, and, stress, and anxiety.
Have you ever wondered why God gave us a spirit of playfulness? Have you ever wondered why God has given us the capacity to laugh? And further more, have you ever wondered why we squander these opportunities away? While it is good to have serious discussions, and deal with issues, and take care of business, it is equally important to laugh and play.
It is imperative in life that we not let ourselves get overwhelmed by the demands of life. It is imperative that we not forget that while we must be responsible as adults, we don’t forget that there is another important side to life; play. But not just play as an adult would play, but play with the reckless abandon and silliness of a child. No holds barred play where you can laugh, and joke, and not even necessarily follow all of the rules.
III. Make Room for Play- (Isaiah 59:2; Matthew 27:46, 18:12-14;
Hebrews 4:16; Luke 19:10)
a. Playing people into the kingdom- While it is very true that people
need Jesus, if you have noticed, people don’t seem all that willing to talk about this need. Maybe a better strategy would be to find ways to play with our neighbors and friends and thus build relationships with them. I have seen this strategy work well for churches. I know that when I was at a church in Camarillo, we had a softball team from the church. Some of the players on the team were not a part of the church, but in time many of them came to be a part of the church.
While it probably wouldn’t be fitting to break out in a game of “Capture the Flag” here during worship, it is important for us as a church to find ways to play together. Don’t you think people want to hear laughter as well as “Amen”?
As a parent, if I made my children always be serious, and spend all of their time on schoolwork and study, and never let them play, what do you think would happen with them? There would probably come a time when they would rebel and would disassociate themselves from me. I think the same is true of God. If people think that God always wants us to be serious, and study the Bible, and not laugh and play, then they disassociate themselves from us.
I know that my relationship with my children grows deeper and stronger when I spend time playing with them, and going for bike rides, than if we just sit and talk or watch TV together. Play allows us to interact and have fun and enjoy each other. And when this happens, it is more likely that the serious talks and the time for work will happen more readily.
EX. There is a story of a family that was going through some financial struggles. As Christmas was approaching, they decided that they couldn’t afford to buy gifts for each other. So they decided to do gift coupons for each other; coupons of service. And so they wrote things like this: “This coupon is good for one time of doing the dishes when you don’t feel like doing the dishes.” OR “Behind on your laundry? No problem. Present this coupon to me and I will gladly do your laundry (good one time only).” And from the parents: “Anti-grounding coupon. Good one time only, present this coupon and your grounding will be forgiven.” The family says that this was the best Christmas that they ever had. In this family’s playfulness and creativity, they discovered that God was hiding in the “poverty” of their financial situation.
b. God plays hide and seek- You might have felt like God is hiding
from you from time to time. And in a sense this is true. Our sin can keep God from our presence. As we are told by the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 59:2, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” Our sin creates a barrier, a wall, between us, and God because God cannot be in the presence of sin. And so our sin causes God to hide His face from us. Just like with Jesus, when He took our sin upon Himself when He was on the cross, and God hid His face from Jesus. That is why Jesus cried out in Matthew 27:46, “… ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’”
To overcome this, we must admit that we have sin, so that we can then move to confess our sin. When we confess our sin, God cleanses and removes the sin and the guilt, and brings us to a place where we can come into the presence of God. That is why the writer of Hebrews can tell us in Hebrews 4:16, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
And yet, the struggle can be that when we are in our sin, we find it hard to seek after God. So along with hiding from us, God also seeks us out. God actually plays a little hide-and-seek with us! The Bible is clear that this is true. In Luke 19:10 we read these words from Jesus: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Jesus made it clear that one of His purposes of coming to this earth was to seek out those who are lost.
God does not like it when His children are lost. That is why He told the parable of the lost sheep. Let’s hear Jesus tell it in Matthew 18:12-14, “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.”
I don’t mean to make light of this subject of sin and salvation. But I do think that in the midst of all that goes on, there is a playfulness about God as He reaches out to us in love. God isn’t just a serious God. If He were a serious God, then He wouldn’t have humbled Himself and taken on the form of human flesh and live among us, and put up with us!
Conclusion: Later today a number of us will be going to see the movie “Chronicles of Narnia.” You might wonder why the evangelism committee has encouraged these “movie outings.” It is because it is good to have fun together; and movies can be fun and adventurous. But there are also times of good discussion when we meet afterward and share a cup of coffee together.
posted by Logan's Blog at 1:22 PM
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