"Challenging Our Minds"

Jesus, the Provocative Teacher Series

Sunday, August 3, 2008, Matthew 13:1-9

Introduction: When you see a magic trick, what makes it so captivating? It is the fact that they are doing something that doesn’t seem like it can be done, and you can’t figure out how they are doing it. It captures your imagination and curiosity. For example, the magician gets locked into a box, they put a covering over the box, his lovely assistant stands on top of the box, and the she lifts up a covering around her, and then when the covering drops the magician is standing on the box with his assistant nowhere to be seen. The box is then opened, and out pops the assistant!

God gave us curious minds so that we might seek to learn more. This is what happens here with the “parable of the sower.” You have a story of a farmer who is sowing seeds, and the seed fall on different kinds of soil, and the seed all dies except that which falls on the good soil. In this week’s lesson of “Jesus, the Provocative Teacher,” we see Jesus provoking people in different ways: some who don’t understand go away frustrated or thinking Jesus is crazy, but others find the teaching curious enough to ask for the meaning.

I. The Path- (Matthew 13:3-4, 13-15, 19)

a. Birds- Jesus tells a story, that in one sense should make sense,

because it deals with a farmer, seeds that are sown, and the affect of the ground on which it is grown. Jesus starts off by talking about how some of the seed fell on the path. There was probably a farmer not too far away that Jesus could point to as an example of what He was teaching; using a visual illustration to make His point. Since seed is not very heavy, it would be easy for some of the seed to be blown off the field, which some would inevitably blow onto the path.

What do we know of a path? Well, a path is the place where people would walk. In Jesus’ day the mode of transportation was primarily walking, or carts. The path would be hard from all the people who constantly walked over it, and the wheels of the cart that passedver it as well. Because of this hardness, there would be no way that the seed could find its way into the hard ground, and thus it would stay on the surface. As the birds flew around, they would see the seed on the ground swoop down and pick it up to feed themselves.

So there were 2 strikes against the seed that fell on the path; the first was that it would not be able to find a way to root, for the soil was hard, there was no water, and the birds were there to pick it up. Seed on the path would not bear any fruit, because without the ability to root, no plant would grow.

b. Explanation- Later in the chapter the disciples ask Jesus the

meaning of the parable. The people are confused by what Jesus is saying. They wonder: what does seed falling on a path have to do with Jesus, or religion, or the kingdom of God? So Jesus says to them in Matthew 13:13-15, “This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. ¹⁴In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: " 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. ¹⁵For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'” Jesus wanted the people to understand that when hearts become hard, when we lose our curiosity about the things of God, then we will not know how we are to act or what we are to believe.

So Jesus goes on to explain what the seed on the path is about. We find this explanation in verse 19, “When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.” The bird represents Satan, and the path represents this lack of curiosity. There are those who hear the Bible, and teaching about God, and they don’t understand. But instead of it making them curious enough to seek an explanation, they go away confused. Satan then can come and snatch it away, because it has not taken root in their hearts and minds, and they are led astray by Satan and by the ways of the world.

II. The Rocky Soil- (Matthew 13:5-6, 20-21; Luke 19:8)

a. Shallowness- Jesus next talks about seed falling onto rocky soil.

This soil was not ground with rocks all over it, but rather in Palestine it was common to have a thin layer of earth on top, and then an underlying shelf of limestone rock. So, the top layer of soil was just a few inches thick. Because of this, once the seed fell on the soil, it would root quickly because of the thin layer. However, the root would be very shallow because the dirt layer was so thin. Thus, when the sun would come up, it would heat up the soil. Since the plant didn’t have a solid root system, it had no strength against the sun. The plant, when it searched for nourishment and moisture, would find none, since it had been scorched by the sun and would thus wither away.

b. Explanation- Jesus also gave the disciples an explanation for the

rocky soil. This too had a point in regards to the heart and mind; the hearing and understanding of the teaching of God. Jesus likens the rocky soil to the person who hears about Jesus, who hears God’s word, and gets excited about it. On the outside it seems like the person genuinely believes and wants to follow Jesus. This person seems to want to change their life and live for God.

It is like the story of the tax collector Zaccheus, in Luke 19, where he is excited to see Jesus, so much so that he climbs up into a tree. Jesus notices Zaccheus and calls him down. Jesus then invites Himself over to Zaccheus’ house, and through this interaction Zaccheus gives his life to Jesus. This creates an immediate response, as Zaccheus says in Luke 19:8, “But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’” Now, in Zaccheus’ case the change sticks. But in the parable of the sower, the person whose heart is like rocky soil gets overwhelmed by the troubles and persecution. As they seek to live their life for Christ, they get bombarded by those who think it is foolish or narrow minded to be a Christian. Ultimately they fall away.

III. The Thorns- (Matthew 13:7, 22; Matthew 6:24)

a. Choked off- Next, Jesus talks about the seeds that fell among the

thorns. The soil is good, which causes the farmer to plant the seeds there. So there is a deceptiveness about this ground; the farmer can’t know that the thorns exist there. The plant and the thorns end up growing together. But the problem lies in that the thorns are all around the plant. Thorns tend to grow more quickly than a plant. And so when the plant starts to grow, the thorns outnumber the plant; the thorns are all encompassing. And in time, since there is not enough room for the plant to blossom, the thorns end up choking out the plant.

b. Explanation- Jesus’ explanation for the thorns is about those who

start to live their life for God, they try to change their ways, but they get caught up in the ways of the world (the worry, problems, wealth), and turn their back on God.

There are many examples of thorns in the world. One is the example in the business world. People have rooted themselves in Christ, but then they get into the workplace. The workplace offers many challenges for a Christian. There is the temptation of moving up in the work force. It is a strong pull to want to increase your job position; to “move up” in the world, as they say. There is the temptation of being gossipy about others. There is the temptation of committing yourself too much to your work, and not finding enough time to serve God. These temptations are all “thorns” in the Christian’s life.

Another thorn is that of lifestyle. The Christian is called to give more than seek. But we live in a world that teaches independence, and seeking to fulfill your own needs. There is much in the world that calls out to us: fancy trips, cars, big screen tv’s, computers, laptops, etc… When we get caught up in the thorn of materialism, it can cause our faith to wither. We tend to forget God. As Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

A third thorn I have seen is that of relationships. God has designed for us to be in relationship with others. And when we are in healthy relationships, it is a great blessing to our lives. We have others who are there to support us, encourage us, and keep us strong. But there are times when others let us down, and when this happens, we can’t let it affect our view of God. I have seen many people get turned off to Christianity because of the sins and shortcomings of God’s people.

IV. The Good Soil- (Matthew 13:8-9, 23)

a. Fruitful- The last soil Jesus talks about is the “good soil.” Jesus

doesn’t give any question about what the good soil is. To know the good soil is to look at the results. It isn’t about what is seen as you look at the soil, it is the finished product of what the soil produces. As I said before, the soil that produced thorns looked like good soil from above ground, but it not only nurtured the good seed, it nurtured thorns as well. The good soil will be known because it will yield a healthy crop; as Jesus said in verse 8, “…(it) brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Why does Jesus use 3 different yields? Because there was not one typical yield of grain from seeds that were sown. It is not so much the size of the yield, but the fact that the seed yields grain.

b. Explanation- Jesus explains the good soil in verse 23- “But the one

who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”/ First, you need to be at a place where you hear the word of God. There are many ways to do this: church, radio, internet, Bible study, personal reading, and so on. But then after hearing the word you need to understand it. Sometimes you will hear a sermon or a devotional thought, or you will read God’s word, and it will make sense to you; you understand it.

But other times you need to seek out the understanding more. That is why Jesus said in verse 9, “ Let anyone with ears listen!” The people in Jesus’ time weren’t any different than you or me, they all had ears on the side of their head. But not everyone uses their ears all the time. I know that often I will say something to my kids, only to have them respond: “What?” On top of this, we might hear something taught, but it doesn’t make sense to us. It is okay if we don’t understand something about the Bible. Jesus says that it isn’t okay to not seek to gain understanding of it.

Third, what will show God that we not only hear, but that we also understand is that we will bear fruit with our lives. The fruit is unspecified, which means it can be seen in many varieties. It could be the fruit of people coming to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior. It could be the fruit of you bringing people to church, so they not only get plugged in to a place to worship God, but a place where they can use their gifts God has given them. It could be the fruit of you helping someone, and they in turn help someone else; kind of like a “pay it forward” Christian style. But no matter the fruit, there WILL be fruit born. If there is no fruit, then we need to seek God to affect our heart and mind; we need to ask God to give us “ears that hear.”

Conclusion: It is interesting to me to see that God wants all to come to Him, and that God wants people to know His word, and yet Jesus often talked in “parable” form. Jesus would purposely teach through parable to weed out those who were following Him simply for the “wow factor. Because of Jesus’ popularity and miracles, people often followed Him because it was the thing to do, or to see another miracle. They wanted to be wowed. But Jesus wasn’t there to be an entertainer, Jesus came to lead people to salvation. And Jesus’ style of teaching was designed for the true follower.

As a preacher and teacher, I want my sermons to be understood. I would be disappointed of a large number of people went away not understanding what I had said. Jesus was provocative in that He wasn’t concerned with this. Jesus knew that those who really wanted to understand, would stick around and ask questions. Jesus knew that those who were sincere in their pursuit of God would persevere through the mysteries of God.

How about you? Do you pursue God and God’s mysteries, or do you allow yourself to go away with questions and not understanding? I want to challenge you to ask questions when you don’t understand; seek God with your whole being. Be a person who has “ears to here.” It will make the difference in your fulfilling God’s purpose for your life, and for your life to really count. Amen.

"Shattered Illusions"

Series: “Jesus, the Provocative Teacher”

Sunday, July 13, 2008/ Matthew 5:1-12

Introduction: Life is full of ups and downs. Times can be good, and then times will get bad. Sometimes they are from our own doing, but many times that is not the case. Right now many of you are going through tough times financially because of the gas crunch, especially those of you on fixed incomes. Money is tight, and it is affecting how you are choosing to spend your time, your travel, and your money.

One of the downs of life is shattered illusions. As we continue our series, “Jesus, the Provocative Teacher,” this morning I want to not only look at the shattered illusions of life, but also the shattered illusions that we face when it comes to Jesus and faith. There are times in our faith journey when we expect things to be different, maybe even easier, but they aren’t. In these times our illusion is shattered.

I. Let Downs-

a. Trinity Presbyterian- My ministry career has been quite the journey.

I started as a 10-hour-a-week junior high director, making $200 a month, then went to a full-time position as the high school director at Bel Air Presbyterian church, then to be the full-time Director of Student Ministries at Trinity Presbyterian church in Camarillo, CA. All the while I was in seminary; it took me 9 years to finish a 3-year program because I was involved in ministry the whole time. Once at Trinity, I had the opportunity to do the kind of ministry that helped to prepare me for an ordained position. Not only did I oversee 4^th grade – College (which required a great deal of organization and delegation skills), but I also got a chance to preach and lead in worship. While I was at Trinity, I was able to finish my seminary education. When I finished Seminary, I was excited to seek a call to an ordained position so that I could become an ordained minister. A little before this time the associate pastor had left to start a church plant, and Trinity was looking for a new associate. I was glad that my graduation coincided with their search, and I hoped to get an interview. One day I got a call from someone on the search committee telling me that they were going to be closing the period for receiving PIF’s (Personal Information Form, which is the extended resume ministers send to churches), and that I needed to get my PIF in soon. Well, I did, but I didn’t get a chance to interview for the position./ I later found out that the Senior Pastor told the committee that it wasn’t the right position for me…You would think I should be making that decision, not him; shattered illusion.

b. Ecumenical church- Fortunately, I got an opportunity to interview for

the position of Solo Pastor at Ecumenical Church of Pueblo West a few months later. I know that most of you know this story, so I won’t go into the details of the interview, just to say that it went well and I got the job. It was exciting to have this opportunity. I felt so blessed and humbled to have this position. I took it as a great responsibility to be the pastor of the church. In fact, every day I would walk into the sanctuary to practice my sermon, and before I got started I would say over and over, “I am the pastor of this church. I am the pastor of this church. I am the pastor of this church.” It took me about a year to fully have that reality sink in. But being the pastor of that church wasn’t all that I expected. It was by no means smooth sailing. Soon into my pastorate I realized that they, being an “ecumenical” church, lacked a Christian foundation, so I made sure that I stressed the “lordship of Christ” in my sermons. This caused some conflict with those who weren’t so “into Christ,” and some people left the church. On top of that I had some trouble with my custodian (who was married to my choir director, who was in cahoots with the organist), and this too caused some great conflict (especially in the end when we had to fire the custodian for lying. It was at this point that I started to realize that ministry was not what I expected, and that some churches were far more challenging to minister to than others. This too was a shattered illusion for me.

c. Expectations unmet- As I share about a couple of my let downs, I’m

sure that there are some in your own life that come to mind. The world is often quite different from what we envision, and our illusions are being shattered all the time. No one likes to feel disillusioned. Disillusions come to us when we have a dream that isn’t fulfilled the way we hope, or when we expect a certain outcome, but it doesn’t play out that way. Sometimes these “shattered illusions” are caused by an abandonment that will stay in our hearts and minds for months or years.

The truth is, in many areas of life we have some idea, some illusion in mind. We believe that we will be happily married, we believe that we will have good health, we believe that life will be smooth. When these things don’t happen it is dramatic, and a powerful negative force in our lives.

II. The Beatitudes- (Matthew 5:1-12; Psalm 37:11; Romans 12:18; Jn. 15:16)

a. Qualities of being blessed- These shattered illusions can be

disappointing, but they can also open us up to the ways of Jesus and our understanding of God. Those of us who have been through the “Focused Living” seminar have learned just this; we learned that the “pink post-it notes,” which represent what we would consider the negative aspects of our life, actually helps to prepare us for something that God will do in and through our lives. This disappointment can remove illusions that might need to be removed so that we can embrace a new reality that God has for us.

Our scripture reading this morning (on the front of the bulletin) is from Matthew 5:1-12; better known as the Beatitudes. They describe to us the qualities of those who are blessed. Now if God were to ask you to make a list of qualities of those who are blessed, you might have written the list a little differently. But let’s break this down a little:

1. ³"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…” The

“poor in spirit” is actually referring to those who are God-sufficient, as opposed to those who are full of themselves or feel that they are self-sufficient. Those who acknowledge that they need God in their life are the ones who will see and experience the kingdom of heaven (even here on earth).

2. “⁴Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Those who are

willing to mourn, willing to allow their sad emotions to come forth, will be the ones who are not only comforted by others, but comforted by God. If you can’t allow yourself to be comforted by another person, then you won’t know how to let God comfort you either.

3. ^“5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” This verse is taken

from Psalm 37:11, which says: “But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.” The word “meek” here is not referring to our disposition toward other people (meaning that we are quiet, unassuming, or weak), but rather it refers to our disposition toward God; that we are humble. In response to this idea of inheriting the earth, theologian William Barclay says: “It is the fact of history that it has always been the men with this gift of self-control, the men with their passions, and instincts, and impulses under discipline, who have been great.”

4. “⁶Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be

filled.” In Jesus’ time, the religious leaders were thought to be righteous. They said the right words, dressed the part, and put on the show. This can be true in our time too, where people might “appear” to be righteous. But righteousness comes from having the desire to be righteous, which leads you to live a life of righteousness.

5. ^“7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” The Bible

constantly reminds us that as we act, so it will be shown to us. We are told that we will be forgiven based on how we forgive; if we forgive others, we will be forgiven. And Jesus continues this way of thinking here with the aspect of mercy. But the mercy referred here is not just being kind to someone who is ill or is having trouble. The mercy referred to here is that of empathy; getting into someone’s skin and feeling their pain and walking with them through the pain.

6. “⁸Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Jesus then tells us

that it is the pure of heart who will see God. We are called to “be holy as God is holy,” and so the purer of heart and mind that we can be, the more we can break away from the distractions and actions of the world, and see the things of God.

7. “⁹Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” The

Bible is full of statements of love and unity. God sent His Son Jesus to reconcile the world to Himself. God desires us to live in peace. So to be children of God, we need to live as God calls us to live. When we are in conflict with another, we need to seek reconciliation so that we can be at peace. As Paul said in Romans 12:18, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

8. “¹⁰Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs

is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” You might not think it a blessing to be persecuted, but if we are persecuted for following Jesus, then it is a blessing, because Jesus Himself tells us in John 15:16, “…If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” To be persecuted shows you that you are living in the right way.

b. Disturbing words- Jesus is being provocative in His teaching here

because we see that these words have a disturbing side to them. First, they are disturbing to the people, because they wouldn’t normally think of being poor in spirit, being meek, being persecuted as ways to have a blessed life. If most people were to write a beatitudes, they might write something like this: Blessed are the strong; blessed are the independent; blessed are those who are financially secure; blessed are those who have no problems.

Second, it is provocative because it is a new kind of teaching. It is a new way to relate to God; a personal way to relate to God. Be God-sufficient and you will experience the kingdom of heaven. Be merciful to others and experience God’s mercy for you. Seek God, and you will find God. Live the way God calls you to live regardless of what others think of it and you WILL be blessed.

Third, it is provocative because it isn’t just teaching information, Jesus is teaching how we are to act and live. It is helping us to have a new “worldview” (a frame of reference on which all other thoughts and decisions are based).

Fourth, it is provocative because it goes against the teaching of the religious leaders of the day. They walked around all arrogant and showy; they were not poor in spirit. Their mercy was not real, it was legalistic. They were not peacemakers, but rule keepers. They were provoked to anger because Jesus’ teaching was so different, so beyond them, that they could not relate to it or support it.

Lastly, Jesus is provocative because He challenges us in our own faith and thinking. So many believe that once they follow God whole heartedly that their life should become easier, that their problems should dissipate, that they should have a “happier” life. Jesus shatters our illusions by teaching us that it is in the midst of trials and struggles and hurts that we find blessing.

Conclusion: Having our illusions shattered is initially painful, and can create confusion in our faith and in our lives. But it actually is a way to free us up to participate in a whole new world of experiences that God has for us, His people. How do you respond to the Beatitudes? Hopefully not like the Pharisees, who were angered by them. Hopefully it is with curiosity and a willingness to see what God can actually do in and through us if we follow His teaching. So let us seek to be more God-dependent, more real with our emotions, more meek, more hungering for righteousness, more merciful, more pure in heart, and more the peacemaker. Let us give thanks to God that He opens our eyes to the truth by the poking and prodding, by the teaching of Jesus! Amen.