LESSONS FROM THE GARDEN: ASPARAGUS
Matthew 9:9-13
Sermon Objective: To help the congregation to see themselves as they really are so they can become what they really need to be.
Supporting Scripture: Isaiah 6:1-8; Luke 18:9-14; 1 Timothy 1:12-17
SUMMARY
We have begun a new series called Lessons From the Garden. As many of you are probably aware, there are characteristics of many fruits & vegetables which we can learn from and transfer in different ways to life.
Last week’s sermon was “A Lesson from the Onion” and showed us how Christ’s love saturates and infiltrates its environment just like an onion does.
Upcoming sermons will include:
• The Potato (9:14-17)
• The Garlic (9:18-26)
• The Strawberry (9:35-38)
INTRODUCTION
But there are some vegetables that I absolutely hate. One which I have detested from childhood is asparagus. Have you ever looked at asparagus? It even looks like it tastes bad. It’s green and slimy and . . . and . . . well it’s just disgusting! Even fresh asparagus is like eating a stalk!
That’s why I affectionately refer to it as “The detestable vegetable.”
A few years back, I learned some important lessons about this … detestable vegetable.
FIRST, I learned that appearance is not a very good indicator of taste (a similar vegetable is broccoli which I have learned to tolerate).
And SECOND, I learned that just because we don’t like something does not mean it isn’t good for us. Asparagus is very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Iron, Magnesium and Zinc, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Folate, Phosphorus, Potassium, Copper, Manganese and Selenium. Regardless of asparagus’ appearance or initial taste, we need to eat it. So I eat asparagus; not because I want to but because it is good for me.
SPIRITUAL HEALTH IS LIKE THAT. THERE ARE ELEMENTS WHICH GO INTO A HEALTHY SPIRITUAL WALK THAT, AT FIRST APPEARANCE, SEEM ANYTHING BUT GOOD. BUT, IN TRUTH, THEY ARE VITAL TO WHOLENESS. Matthew 9:9-13 refers to a few of these things which appear unpleasant, and may be hard swallow, but are important to your spiritual development.
THE TEXT
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples.
11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
This story gives us some insight into spiritual health. It seems to reverse some roles and, like asparagus, can be hard to swallow, but it is good for us none-the-less.
1. CONFESSION OF THE REAL SELF -- SINNER.
One element of spiritual health is an accurate assessment of the real you.
There many titles which I identify myself by. Some I like more than others but all of them make of the composite of the man known as Ken Pell. Some of those titles are like asparagus; I don’t prefer them but they are essential to who I am. And the one that tops the list of ill-preferred titles is -- SINNER.
Amy Carmichael wrote: “If I know little of His pitifulness, … if I know little of His courage for the truly humble and penitent, … then I know nothing of Calvary love.” (Amy Carmichael, “If”).
Yes, among other things … I am a sinner.
I hope that I haven’t dashed any pristine images you had of me. But I am, to my despair, a sinner.
Like asparagus, ingesting this truth is actually good for me. It doesn’t appear to be a good thing at first but in actuality it is. Realizing and confessing my depravity is essential to spiritual wholeness. WHEN I CAN’T ACKNOWLEDGE MY SIN I PLACE MY SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT IN JEOPARDY. Such denial makes me arrogant and hypocritical; excusing myself while accusing others.
Jesus makes it clear that salvation is reserved for only one type of person -- sinners. That is where He and the Pharisees differed the most. They too thought that salvation was reserved for one type of person; namely clean living, orthodox, pious people but Jesus says that, ironically, such people may be destined to torment.
It seems out of place for many but Jesus always seemed to be in the presence of the social pariah, the riff-raff of society. They are the one’s who needed Him and to them He would go. HE SURROUNDED HIMSELF WITH THOSE WHO WERE CONSCIOUS OF THEIR SIN AND IF WE WANT TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH HIM WE MUST ACKNOWLEDGE OUR MORAL FAILURE TOO.
Now I know real confession is hard. I mean we can be generic and say, “I’m a sinner” but when it comes to real confession it is humbling and somewhat demeaning. It strips us bare. It is like eating asparagus -- it doesn’t look good and we might not like it but it is sure good for us. It will make us healthy whereas refraining from it will prove to be the greater problem.
Do you want Jesus to be around where you are? You will have to acknowledge your sinfulness and come to Him for pardon and moral strength.
2. PARTICIPATION IN REAL MINISTRY -- WITH OTHER SINNERS!
Another component of spiritual health is an accurate understanding of your purpose.
Like asparagus, which is very good for me but something I really don’t prefer, the company I keep (or refuse to keep) says something about me.
Let me ask you:
WHO WAS REALLY HOLY; THE SQUEAKY-CLEAN PHARISEES WHICH NEVER SOILED THEMSELVES BY BEING IN THE PRESENCE OF SINNERS OR JESUS WHO SEEMED TO INTENTIONALLY PLACE HIMSELF IN THE MIDST OF THOSE WITH MORAL PROBLEMS?
Amy Carmichael wrote: “If I belittle those whom I am called to serve, talk of their weak points in contrast perhaps with what I think of as my strong points; if I adopt a superior attitude ... then I know nothing of Calvary love.” (Amy Carmichael, “If”).
Who is most effective for the Kingdom, those who only associate with other holy people or those who take the Gospel’s spiritual medical bag and go to the morally depraved?
Jesus’ mission is predicated upon mercy not merit. Therefore, no one is outside the sphere of love regardless of how outcast they are from society.
This meal at the tax-collector’s house is a model of the Gospel itself. The unworthy are graced by the presence of Jesus; he has called such people to the Kingdom.
I AM OF THE OPINION THAT SACRIFICING PREFERENCE, CONVENIENCE, AND COMFORT FOR THE SAKE OF BRINGING JESUS’ HEALTH TO OTHERS IS WORTHWHILE. ALTHOUGH, LIKE EATING ASPARAGUS, IT MAY NOT SEEM TOO GREAT AT FIRST.
There are practical ways that this expresses itself:
1] The Children’s ministry modeled it when it left the four walls of the church and took Bible clubs to the apartment complexes
2] Others are modeling it by giving time and effort to evangelize the sub-group of our community called “deer hunters”
3] The youth department participated last year when they went to Nashville and worked with the under-privileged
4] Mike does it each week when he goes into the prison
5] Others have helped build houses for those who had no place to call their own
6] Some in our congregation give time to Helping Hands of Potsdam to provide necessities to the working poor.
7] I am looking at teaching parenting and marriage classes in the community center at Racquet Acres.
8] Others met this week with a Christian agency and are praying about starting crisis pregnancy center.
YOU, TOO, CAN HAVE IMPACT ON YOUR COMMUNITY IF YOU CHOOSE TO IDENTIFY WITH CHRIST. IT WILL TAKE YOU OUT OF THE COMFORTABLE AND SANITIZED ENVIRONS AND PLACE YOU SQUARELY IN THE CENTER OF REAL MINISTRY.
I mean, don’t we sing songs with lyrics like “Rescue the perishing, care for the dying”?
I know that it’s more comfortable and more enjoyable to be around people who are whole and spiritually healthy. But it certainly isn’t more Christlike!
The youth will soon be studying a very provocative book in Sunday School called, “Do Hard Things.” It falls in the category of “eating asparagus.” The premise of the book is that one does not need to succumb to the low expectations offered them but can choose to do things that advance humankind and the Gospel … and these things, albeit worth it, are hard and require hard choices. It has chapters in it that address issues like:
o How to do hard things that take you out of your comfort zone.
o How to do hard things that go beyond what is expected and required.
o How to do hard things that are too big for you to do alone.
o How to do hard things that don’t pay off immediately.
o How to do hard things that go against the crowd.
This is a very powerful yet simple book!
AND I ASK MYSELF; IS THIS STANDARD ONLY APPLICABLE TO OUR YOUTH? Why are we not challenging each other the do the right (and hard) things even though it is hard to swallow and, at some points, unpleasant!
Incidentally, Scott * has been working on as list of things that we, as a congregation, could do that, albeit, “hard” would advance oneness, mission, and love for each other and neighbor. I am going to ask him to come and read that list for us. …
I know how pleasant it is to be in a sanitized environment -- but we are called to be servants of the sinners and into their presence (their environment), we must go.
It is like eating asparagus; it doesn’t look like a good thing and it is hard to swallow, but it is good for you and you should do it anyway.
CONCLUSION
The self-righteous religious leaders were:
o More concerned about their own appearance of holiness than helping another out of sin. They forgot that the preservation of their soul was the surest way to lose it. It’s like a doctor who refuses to help the sick because he/she does not want to risk an infection themselves.
o Prone to give criticism rather than encouragement. Condemnation of others is easy - rescue is a volitional, intentional, sacrificial choice.
o Orthodox but not useful. They knew all the right stuff but it did not affect the way they interacted with humankind.
o Condemned by Jesus and excluded from the Kingdom. In spite of looking right, thinking right, and acting right they weren’t right and no amount of argument would change God’s mind. Only confession and repentance.
I don’t like asparagus but I eat it. It’s good for me.
o I don’t like the awareness of my sin either, but if I refuse to acknowledge and confess it, I cannot be in Christ’s presence.
o I don’t like where ministry sometimes takes me either but I know that obedience requires I must abandon comfort and go to those with spiritual need.
You either identify with the defiled tax-collectors or the squeaky clean religious people in this story. It seems odd … but the preferred choice is the sinner.
God’s Holy Spirit is speaking to you. God is drawing you to confess your sin and/or abandon your demand for convenience. Doing so will be hard but it is essential for good health and that is what Doctor Jesus wants for you.
Just as no one can make you eat the detestable vegetable. And just like no doctor can make you follow his orders, so no one will make you become spiritually healthy. You must choose to -- and God has already made the prescription plain.
It all begins with a simple prayer that says, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13)
This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
Potsdam Church of the Nazarene
Potsdam, New York
www.potsdam-naz.org
