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Keeping Faith in This World God Loves |
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Written by Everett J. Bassett
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Sunday, 03 September 2006 |
Matthew 13: 31-35, 44-53
Today's sermon is the last in a series I've been doing all summer entitled, "Keeping the Faith in a Challenging World. They have been based on Jesus' teachings in Matthew, chapters 11-13, and as I looked back over them, I realized that they paint a picture of a rather unbeautiful world. One last time, here is the list of challenges Jesus talks about: Keeping the Faith in a violent world, a critical world, a tired world, a legalistic world, a skeptical world, a gothic world, a belittling world, a competing world, and, finally, a sabotaging world. All these things, and more, are in the arsenal the world throws at us, trying to undermine the faith that we cling to. After such a list, we might ask ourselves, "Why try? Why keep trying to bring a Christian message to a world that just wants to throw obstacle after obstacle in the way?" I suppose many people would dream up many answers to that question, but for me they all come down to one life-forming truth: Because of God. Because of the One who made us, and the One who will not give up on us. As messed up as the world can be, and us as part of it - as long and painful as the list of shortcomings in this world could grow - this is the world God loves. And so we can't give up on it. That is love. To look at a world that is so often plain, so often ordinary, so often wearing the dark stains of sin and corruption - and to love the hidden beauty - to see potential when we can't - to love unconditionally and completely.
I saw a preacher on a street comer in New York City. It was rush hour on a Friday night in the middle of Times Square. Thousands of people were walking by, paying no attention to him. The noise was unbelievable. But he stood there with an open Bible and yelled his message as loud as he could. I couldn't help but admire his devotion, and I stood next to him to hear his words. What I heard was something like this: It is a filthy, evil world, and you and I are filthy and evil in God's eyes. Even on our best days, we are filthy and evil. God is holding this world over the fire, and there is little time to jump to safety. God's judgment will come hard upon us if we don't mend our ways.
And again, when I heard his message, and saw people just rushing by him, I thought, "Why is he trying? Who is listening? If the world is as filthy as he is describing, why would he care? Why would God care?" And I was reminded of a button I had seen in a store just a few minutes earlier, that began, "Are you sure we're praying to the same God. .. ?" Because that street preacher was, indeed, giving out part of the classic Christian message since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit: we are sinners, and the world we make is sinful. But that's only part of the message. The real message is not about who we are - it's about who God is. The God who has touched my heart is a God of Love and Grace. The apostle Paul wrote, "Nothing in death or life or all creation can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord." And while I don't dismiss God as some wimpy, sentimental being who never stands up to evil, I still believe that the God of the Bible, the God who Jesus called, “Abba (Daddy)", the God who loves this world so much, is a God to be worshipped and trusted, not a God to be feared and hated.
So, intermixed in this section of teaching where Jesus talks about the violent, critical, legalistic, belittling world, he teaches about the world God is making - a kingdom that will be much different from much that we experience in this world as it is. Here are some of the beautiful images in Matthew 13. The kingdom of God, said Jesus is like a mustard seed, tiny and insignificant. But in God's hands, it grows into a great tree that shelters the birds. That seed is planted and growing around us. It is like the yeast that a bakerwoman puts in the loaf (like the loaf that is here on the Table this morning.) It's a tiny bit, but it raises the dough into something abundant and beautiful. The yeast is in the loaf - God's love is growing in the world.
God's kingdom is like a treasure that is hidden in the field. In Jesus' day, there were no bank deposit boxes. So, if you had something of value, burying it might very well be a wise course. But maybe the owner forgot it, or died, or moved on. And one day, you are plowing the field, and totally unexpected, you find this great treasure. Imagine the joy - that's what Jesus is talking about here. Or a merchant finds a pearl of great price, and sells everything else just so he can own this one. Images of abundance and joy, about a God of abundance and joy, longing to bless this world he loves.
Jesus tells these parables in an ambiguous way - he rarely explains exactly how the images apply, so many of them can be used different ways. For example, think of the man who found the beautiful pearl, and gave everything to keep it. Isn't that the way God is with the world? Doesn't He regard us as a great pearl, worth redeeming at any cost? Didn't he give his all - His only Son - to be able to possess the pearl he loved?
That's one way to look at Jesus' story - but there's another way, and that is to realize that we are the ones who have found a great and beautiful pearl - the loving grace of our Savior and Lord. All around us, people are searching for something they already have - love. I wonder if that preacher on the corner would have gotten a better response, if instead of standing there shouting about filth and evil, he had stood there giving a pearl to everyone who went by, saying, "You are beautiful. This is a gift from the God who loves you more than you could ever know. Cherish this pearl, for Jesus paid a great price so that you could have it." That's the message God wants us to grasp. I always believe that, but I believe it a little bit more this morning because of how the ending of this sermon ~ came to be. I think I should tell you about it.
As I was sitting at the computer last night wondering how to end this sermon, Sharon, who had no clue what I was preaching about today, came into my study and said, "I just took this story from the Internet; maybe you could use it sometime." And I looked at the story, and it was entitled, "The Pearls." And I looked at my computer screen, and I had just typed the words, "We are the ones who have found a great and beautiful pearl." God does not always have to hit me over the head with a 2-by-4. Sometimes I get it. So I want to share part of this story, "The Pearls." Unless a colossal coincidence took place, I believe God sent it to us. "Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere - Sunday School, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath...
“Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night as he finished the story, he asked Jenny, 'Do you love me?' 'Oh yes, daddy. You know that I love you.' ‘Then give me your pearls.' ‘Oh, daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess, the white horse from my collection. She's my favorite.' ‘That's okay, honey, daddy loves you. Good night.' And he kissed her Good Night.
"About a week later, after story time, Jenny's daddy asked again, 'Do you love me?' ‘Daddy, you know I love you.' ‘Then give me your pearls.' ‘Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Baby, my doll. She is beautiful, and you can have her yellow blanket as well.' ‘That's okay,' said her father. 'God bless you, daddy loves you.' And he kissed her Good Night.
"A few nights later, when he came into her room, he noticed her chin trembling and tears in her eyes. ‘What is it, Jenny. What's the matter?' Jenny didn't say anything, but lifted her hand up. When she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. ‘Here, daddy. This is for you.' With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny. He had them all the time. He was waiting for her to give up the dime-store pearls so he could give her the genuine treasure."
That story coming the way it did makes me wonder if God isn't trying to tell us that there is treasure to be grasped. Is God telling us that maybe we're holding on to some idea of happiness or purpose or worthiness that is a pale imitation of the real thing? A while back there was a bestselling book entitled, When Everything You've Always Wanted Isn't Enough. But maybe there is a real treasure in this world - something that is enough for our searching souls. Maybe there is a pearl that God wants us to give us that is worth giving up everything we've been holding onto so dearly. Not because we earn it or deserve it - but because our God of grace and love has to give it. It is who He is; it is the very nature of His loving heart.
What is this pearl? Jesus never said exactly. But if it has to do with God's kingdom, it is surely a place where redeemed sinners can claim without hesitation that they are beloved children of God, sent into this world to project His image. It is an understanding of grace whereby we don't need to fear whether God loves us or not; if we embrace His love, He gives us assurance and confidence in the face of every challenge. And if we have found something that affirming, that life-giving, that wonderful, - then, like that street preacher, we want every person on that corner to know it - but not as a message of fear. As a message of infinite love that transforms us and feeds this hungry world.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 05 February 2007 )
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