"What do you want?" | Nathan Scott preaching | 07.05.26

"What do you want?" | Nathan Scott preaching | 07.05.26

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Good morning, Westminster. Happy 5th of July. I hope all of you are enjoying the holiday weekend in all of the celebrations. It is a joy and an honor to get to be with all of you today. It has been such a gift to me for getting to have been here for the past year on youth staff in all the ways I've been loved well by this church. Our passage for this morning comes at the end of a conversation Jesus is having about John the Baptist. John had sent messengers to Jesus to ask him if he truly is the Messiah. Jesus' response is Go and tell John what you hear and see. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with a skin disease are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me. When John's disciples leave, Jesus begins a conversation about who John is. John is the one who has prepared the way. He is the new Elijah, proclaiming God's word with a prophetic voice. And that is where we find ourselves this morning, with questions about who Jesus is and with the way prepared. Today we'll be reading from Matthew 11, 16 through 19, and then 25 through 30. Hear the word of God. But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another. We played the flute for you, and you did not dance. We wailed and you did not mourn. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say he has a demon. The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds. At that time Jesus said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent, and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and any to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me all you who are weary in carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. The word of the Lord. To what will I compare this generation? It's a question humanity is always fascinated by. Earlier this past week I was getting dinner with my parents, and the topic of AI came up. It is impossible to get through a conversation about AI without people making comparisons of what this generation is like. We are all deeply concerned with understanding this generation and letting people know how we understand it. Jesus seems to share in our humanity in this way. And so he explores the topic through one of his favorite means, a parable. The parable is based around these children who play a game of call in response. At a Presbyterian church, I expect that we are all familiar with call in response. You guys have been doing great at it this morning. The way our liturgies function is only through if people engage with them. The church can't be the church if we don't engage in call in response. And you can imagine what it would look like on a Sunday morning if no one engaged. If after the call to confession we remain silent, if at the passing of peace nobody turned to one another, if when Jane plays the flute, nobody sings. It would be terrible. And if you're ever interested in seeing what it would look like, I would encourage you to try it on a week when Donovan is leading. So this is the comparison Jesus makes. This generation, that generation, does not respond. Jesus has come playing the flute. He's at parties, he's turning water into wine, and what do they say? He's a glutton and a drunkard. And then John takes a different approach. He wails, he cries out against sin and injustice. And what do they say? He has a demon. What do you want? Jesus is asking, what will be good enough for this generation to respond? They won't dance, they won't mourn. What do you want from me? This is what Jesus is asking. It's how he views that generation. And for them, the answer is clear. Nothing will be good enough. It doesn't matter what instrument or what tune, that generation was never going to accept Jesus. No matter God's approach, they were going to reject him. Because it wasn't about how Jesus or John ministered to them. They were always going to have them both killed. What does God have to do to get you to participate? This generation, what do you want from God? We've all prayed some version of the prayer. Dear God, if you do this one thing for me, I promise I'll do this or I'll stop doing that. What do you want? It's a dangerous question. First, it requires some real honesty. If you catch me on the right day, or rather the wrong day, I'm not particularly proud of what I want. I want that person to be quiet. I would like more money. I would love total control over all the relationships in my life. And sometimes we answer it and it hurts because we realize we're not going to get what we want. John sends these messengers to Jesus, and John wants something. He wants to be freed from prison. And he's not going to get that. He's going to get killed. It's a dangerous question because we can get a little bit too attached to our answers. Jesus never actually asks this generation what they want. But wow, that generation is eager to answer the question. They are ready to tell John and Jesus how to behave and what to do. Because there's another way to read Jesus' parable. Instead of that generation being the ones who won't dance or mourn, that generation has the flutes. They're playing the song and they're getting upset. Jesus and John won't get in line. The religious leaders, the Pharisees, they have sung a tune, and God doesn't seem interested in playing their game of call and response. And we do the same thing. We grab the flute from God, we play our own song, we go by our own rhythm. And then we get upset when God doesn't dance for us. We call out to God, I said the right prayers, I made the right sacrifices, but you didn't show up the way I told you to. It's the answer we discussed on the youth mission trip to Jamaica, and it's the answer that Jesus gave earlier. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the deaf hear. Go do that. And if you aren't a doctor, or maybe charismatic healing isn't your thing, don't worry. I think Jesus also had us in mind. And the poor have good news brought to them. Are you hearing the music? There are real responses. Go find the poor, find the sick, be with those who are without, and make some good news for them. The lectionary cuts out the next few verses, and in some ways it's understandable, but it is a fun few verses. Essentially, Jesus calls out a bunch of cities where he had performed miracles and where they did not respond. He gets real fire and brimstone on them. There's a woe to in references to the day of judgment. It's Jesus expanding on what he just said. The Lord called out to them and they did not respond. Woe to those who do not respond. And then Jesus makes a sharp turn. He goes from woeing to thanking. He begins to thank God for who he has chosen to make these things known to. He thanks God for how he has revealed the kingdom to infants, not the wise and intelligent. Both Jesus and the Father seem to have a special heart for those of low status, the infants and the poor. And they seem to have some harsher words for those with power and the wise. And it creates a moment of pause for someone like me. I'm in youth ministry. There is no doubt in my mind that there is a unique way God loves young people. It is beautiful and it is a gift to witness. However, I am also someone who is currently pursuing a master of divinity. I think that may put me closer to the camp of the wise and the intelligent than the infant, though surely there are people in my life who would disagree with that assessment of my wisdom. And I don't think it condemns me, but it does cause me some caution. It's a dangerous camp to be near. It might mean I have to listen extra hard to hear God's music amidst the noise of my degrees and comfort. And it certainly means there is a greater responsibility to respond. In talking about who the Father has revealed the kingdom to, Jesus says, No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal. Who will the Son choose? Yes, I know the infants, but is there anyone else? Well, Jesus continues. Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens. Who does Jesus choose? In this passage, it is those who are weary in carrying heavy burdens. If you are carrying a heavy burden, this is an invitation to you. It is an invitation to rest. What do you want? It's a good reflective question, but it's not what Jesus is asking here. He's making an offer. It doesn't matter what you want. Jesus is not trying to negotiate with us in terms of our wants and desires. Instead, he's extending out a hand and saying, take this. And the crazy thing is, we don't do it. I do not understand my own actions, for I do not do what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate, for I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. There's this incredible offer on the table, and we don't seem to take it. Why don't we take it? Isn't it a free gift? Well, in one sense, it is free. You don't have to purchase it, you don't have to earn it, but in another sense, it's not free. It takes up space. The offer on the table is to take up Jesus' yoke. The yoke is easy, the burden is light, but the yoke is still there. A yoke is used to guide animals to work. There is an expectation of work to be done. Let us not forget this is the same teacher who a few chapters later will say, If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. You can't have two yokes. You can't walk two ways of life at the same time. You cannot have your hand clenched around something else and then extend your hand to grab Jesus' hand. And we seem to love our other yokes, or at least we are deeply attached to them. What do you want? Our actions often say we want a heavy burden. We go through lots of sleepless nights and mental gymnastics to stay under yokes that are not of Jesus. Paul in Romans 7 calls it a slavery to sin. It's a spiritual affair for him. And for many people, it is physical and tangible. What is it for you? What do you seem to want more than Jesus' yoke? What is making you weary and with a heavy burden? And while there is certainly a call for self-reflection here, we cannot ignore the ways that we, both individually and communally, put other people under heavy burdens. It's a mundane example, but last week I was ordering two books off of Amazon because they were on sale. When I got to the shipping section, there were three options. There was the standard option, the eco-friendly option, and then there was the overnight option. This was at 4 p.m. And I had the power to get a package at my home between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m. Someone would have had to deliver that overnight. The way we exist as consumers can put heavy burdens on other people. The ways we exist, when we find ourselves on the inside, both on the inside of the good life of society and on the inside of the church, Jesus' words become a call to share his invitation with others, to share the good news, to bring other people into the dance. I am very excited that I got to preach on this particular Sunday because it is a communion Sunday. Communion is a moment where Jesus sets the invitation. Come to me. God calls out and we get to respond. We are invited to hold our hand open and receive an easy yoke. And in communion, we find that we are not alone. If I am in Christ and you are in Christ, we are together. And then your heavy burden is a call for me to help ease it. Communion is a radical thing. Christ gives himself for us. He not only invites us into remembering him, but to be brought into him and changed by him. And all are welcome, both the wise and the intelligent and the infants. Communion is where we hear Christ say, Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. That sounds like something I want. Do you want that?