Sermon prepared for
by Gregory S. Kaurin
Texts:
Matthew 13:10-17
The
Sermon--
Fatty Hearts
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You
can hear the frustration in the disciples’ question. They pulled Jesus aside and asked, “Why do you
always speak in these parables?” I like
the Living Bible’s interpretation; it catches their meaning, “Why do you use
all these hard-to-understand stories?” Why
not speak plainly?
So
Jesus answered them, but—I don’t know about you—I find Jesus’ answer even harder
to follow than his stories. He seemed to
say that he did it to confuse people, to harden their hearts, and to fulfill
some ancient frustrated words spoken by God through Isaiah. And Jesus inserted something else. He said, “To those who have, even more will
be given, and from those with nothing, even what little they have will be taken
away.”
…I
know exactly what those around Jesus were thinking at that moment: “Woh,
dude! Sorry we asked!” However, there is something deep and meaningful
that you and I can take from this passage today: powerful warnings to all Christians,
and powerful blessings, for you.
First, the warnings. Let me teach
you a couple Greek words from the New Testament. Jesus said that the hearts of some around him
had become “dull” or “hard,” and that their ears were “hard of hearing.” The Greek words were even more descriptive. Their hearts had become “pachus.” Say that once, [pachus]. It meant fatty, saggy or gross. Elephants and creatures like them are called
“pachyderms,” which literally means “thick,” or “baggy-skinned.” Pachus
hearts, fatty hearts.
Jesus
wasn’t talking about high cholesterol…He was talking about the sad and ugly
state of their hearts. You can almost
see them laid out like those yucky dissecting health ads: Here’s a healthy,
happy, merciful heart, full of blessing and grace. And here’s a saggy, ugly heart, loaded down
with curses and grief.
And
then Jesus said their hearing had become “baros.” Say that once, [baros]. It meant, “weighed
down” or “heavy.” We measure the weight
of atmospheric pressure with a baros-meter, a barometer.
But baros
had an emotional impact, too: weighed down, burdened, or depressed. Their hearing was burdened and shut down by
their attitudes. Saggy
hearts and sad ears.
So,
who were these people? Around Jesus, I
think these were the people that refused to repent of their judgmental
attitudes. These were the people that couldn’t trust God to love them unless
they felt more clean and less sinful than someone
else.
And what about Christians? Are there
people with saggy hearts and sad ears who claim to be Christian? (Don’t misunderstand me—I’m not just talking
about the dour-faced Germanic and Scandahoovian Christians. Some of them have hearts that can rejoice and
love without ever cracking a smile; I’ve heard them sing!)
Some
saggy-hearted Christians come even across very powerfully, full-of-fire,
insistent. It makes them infectious…and
not in a good way.
I
want to tell you about an experience I had with some very determined
saggy-hearted Christians. It happened
while I was in college. I went on a
weekend retreat with a few other friends.
It was with some Christian group. I honestly don’t remember what affiliation or
denomination it was; doesn’t matter.
At
this retreat they gave us small meals, got us up early, and sent us to bed late,
so that we were soon very tired and hungry.
I realized much later that these are the tactics used for brainwashing,
(and that’s why—when planning retreats—I try very hard to schedule a good
balance of rest, food and study).
Anyway, they had us carefully studying our scripture in group Bible
study. There were times of intense
prayer. Sometimes they were very
confrontational with us.
By
the end of the weekend, nearly all of us had been reduced to tears, including
me. We were in tears about how lukewarm
our faith had been, how pitiful our prayer life was, how distracted by all the
worldly temptations we were, and how pitiful our church backgrounds were. Many of us came from churches that seemed to
preach just about the love and grace of God, and not enough about our
responsibility, and the need for our fruits of faith (the fruits of faith,
things like prayers, Bible study, and inner thoughts) all needed to prove that
our faith was real. That weekend, they had
convinced me that (at least up until that moment) I was a little man with a
very little faith.
And
so, with tears and arms around each other, many of us resolved that we would be
different. From then on, we would
maintain our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We would be faithful in our prayers, and
Bible study. We would keep our inner
thoughts pure.
Well,
finally the weekend was over, and we returned to our classes. I got some sleep and food, and started to
return to the real world, but I was determined to follow through on my
resolutions to Christ. I was reading the
Bible, praying, and memorizing scripture.
Things
were going along fine, and then it happened:
I had a bad thought about someone!
And this was just my second day out!
It happened again, so I prayed, “O God I’ll do better. Don’t give up on me!”
Then,
I dropped one of my Bible reading and memorization goals. I was sure that Jesus was standing there
beside me with his arms crossed, shaking his head at me. I was failing him; I was letting this
newfound relationship slip away.
By
the second week, I almost gave up on the whole thing. I couldn’t keep up with all these things that
were supposed to be the fruits of a real faith.
And this was God who was looking at my results; it wasn’t like I could
fake him out like my philosophy profs!
Before
that weekend, I had been thinking about the seminary and the possibility of
going into the ministry, but considering how poorly I was doing in those weeks
that followed, I realized that it was a ridiculous idea for someone like me,
and instead I started thinking about becoming something really sad and low, a
Latin teacher. (Don’t tell Professor
Nelson I said that.)
But
worse, I began to doubt my Christianity: that I didn’t have what it took, that
I wasn’t capable of real faith. At the
retreat they had made it clear that Christ had no interest in lukewarm
Christianity. He certainly had no use
for me, then. So, I almost gave it up.
Out
of desperation, I did something: I went to church! I even went back to one of those “lukewarm”
Lutheran churches that they’d warned me against. I heard the pastor talk about the love of God
again, and the sacrifice of Jesus, the same message I’d heard thousands of
times for years before. There, I saw the
congregation, still listening politely or snoozing quietly.
One
side of me was critical, “Here we are, the same ‘ol, same ‘ol!” But another side craved what I was hearing
and feeling. So I went again. And I went to the college chapel services,
and heard that same message again, and again.
And slowly, I healed.
So… (besides the brainwashing technique) what did they do wrong
at that retreat? Why am I calling them
saggy-hearted and sad-eared Christians? What
was wrong with what they were teaching us?
Don’t we talk about the fruits of faith, the need to pray and read your
Bible and act on your faith?
We
certainly do. But here’s the
problem. They talked about our personal
relationship with Jesus Christ, but they hinged that relationship and centered
it on the fruits of faith. They
convinced all of us there that these things—what we were doing, and how we were
doing—defined our faith. I let them
convince me, that if I failed at these things, without these perfect fruits, I
had nothing. And, as that sunk in, even
what little I had left seemed leaking away from me. My heart was deflating into a saggy mess, and
my hearing was closing down with weight and sadess.
Let
me make it plain: our relationship with Christ is not centered on the fruits,
it is centered on him, and how he reveals the forgiveness and love of God! It is not on how we’re doing or failing, not
on the winds and waves out here, not on the personal struggles going on in
here, and not even on how good or bad we are in the disciplines of prayer and
Bible study. All these things are meant
to support or come from our faith, not define it.
So
here’s what I want you to take home with you: don’t let any anyone try to
define you or your Christianity or tell you that the promises you received at
your baptism are not strong enough to save you.
They are God’s promises; open your ears and listen to them, because there
is nothing stronger than what God says and does.
When
you see and grab hold of that grace, you will hear and see all the more grace
on top of it. The mark of Baptism, the
cross that is sealed onto your forehead, is not just God’s claim on you; it is
his promise to you, forever. So wear it
like it’s your life-line to forgiveness, salvation and love.
Yes,
read your Bible, and pray to him, …not because you’re
trying to make your faith more real, or to prove it to God, or to anyone
else. Instead, read your Bible and pray
because God has promised to speak to you through both of them!
Don’t
just slog through the book of Numbers,
or any other book in the Bible, just because you’ve set some personal goal. Bible reading is not supposed to be an inner
contest; it’s supposed to be a conversation with God. Let the Spirit guide you through the
Bible. Follow your curiosity. Dig deeper. Enjoy the stories.
Don’t
run through tedious rituals and long prayers just because you’ve promised
yourself to be more religious! Enjoy
this relationship that God has given you.
One of the most repeated commands in the Bible is the commandment to
rejoice!
Those
that have and feel God’s love and grace in their lives, end up finding it all
the more. No more saggy hearts or sad ears:
the grace and love of God gives you a heart-lift and an ear-boost.
You
have more love, patience and forgiveness from God than your little heart can
hold, so give it out to others. Give it
especially those people you run into that have pachus hearts and baros ears. Pass on your freedom to them, and then let
God’s Spirit do the rest
“To those who have [and know they have the grace and love of
God], they will [see and] receive all the more.” Amen.
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