There Is No Spoon

Scripture Reading

Matthew 13:44-46; Mark 8:34-38

Matthew 13:44–46 NLT

44 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field. 45 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. 46 When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!

Mark 8:34–38 NLT

34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. 36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? 37 Is anything worth more than your soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Focus Statement

We live life in the fast lane, keeping what we believe to be important in front of us...

But today we learn to discern what we believe to be valuable from what is ULTIMATELY VALUABLE.

Series RECAP

Last week we learned that for Neo, the Matrix was a computer software that is uploaded into people’s brains so that they believe they are living in a “real world”...

When in reality, they are slaves inside synthetic embryo sacks, being used to generate energy for machines run by artificial intelligence.

Creepy right?

We also learned last week that for us, the MATRIX is the current world order…and all of it’s ways....

That we are living their lives according to this world order, believing that is all we are here to do...

You know...God, Country, Guns...

Success, prosperity, NUCLEAR family values…THE AMERICAN DREAM

Etc.

When in reality, we are just slaves to a system that is going down in the end…a system that keeps us from truly knowing and FOLLOWING God.

Of course, I am using “We” collectively...

So unless the shoe fits…don’t take it personally.

Point of Relation

After Neo wakes up to the reality of the Matrix, he is then shown what the world really looks like.

A world that had been ravaged by war, by climate change, and by technology...

A world that is uninhabitable, but underground...

navigated by huge ships or vessels.

Neo, upon being pulled from his Embryo Sack Prison Cell...

Wakes up aboard such a ship…Morpheus’ ship…this one called The Nebuchadnezzar …

which should remind those of us who have read the Bible…and I quote Chris Seay and Greg Garrett in their book The Gospel Reloaded...

of “the powerful Babylonian King who oppressed the people of Israel, conquered many nations, and ruled with an iron fist. Yet, his empire eventually fell while Israel found restoration.”

It is on this ship that Morpheus and the other “hackers’ operate their mission…their war against the Machines.

And it is here where Neo will learn not only what that operation is…but who he is in the grand scheme of that operation.

Before any of that can happen, though, Neo must face the ultimate question that I think any of us have to face...

Who am I?

For real....Who am I?

Really....who am I really?

In order to do so, Morpheus takes Neo into the Matrix to see The Oracle...

A woman who has a propensity to see into one’s soul and guide them to the truth of who they are.

She’s a mysterious woman who abstractly more than she gives direct answers...

When they arrive at the Oracle’s place, Neo enters and sees a child is holding a spoon.

Suddenly, the spoon starts to bend like it is made out of liquid metal. It bends and continues to stay bent…

…and then it returns back to its normal upright position.

The boy then holds up the spoon to Neo...

Sitting down, Neo takes the spoon and inspects it curiously.

“Do not try and bend the spoon”, the boy interjected suddenly, “that’s impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth.”

“What truth?” Neo asked.

The boy answered, “There is no spoon.”

“There is no Spoon?” Neo pondered.

“Then you will see,” continued the boy, “that it is not the spoon that bends it is only yourself.”

Things to Consider

What could that possibly mean...

For Neo, that means that though he thinks he sees a spoon, there is really no such thing there....

Remember, the matrix tells him what to see…it is fake…it is an illusion…is is NOT REAL.

Therefore, if he merely accepts the fact that THERE IS NO SPOON...

He will see, or “BEND HIMSELF” past the illusion.

For us, as Christians, we do not fall into Gnosticism and think that this physical world is illusion...

No, we know it to be real…and we know GOD created it to be beautiful and good and ETERNAL...

How do we know this?

Paul reminds us in Romans 1:20,

“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

No, we recognize this world to be real…to be God’s creation...

Even though we also know that it has fallen into sin...

And has become less than God created it to be.

So, for us Christians, the illusion…is the WORLD ORDER…the state we find the world in now…

The world that tells us to worry only for ours and our own…

The world that tells you that meritocracy is the only way to equality.

And that people need to do the impossible…to PICK THEMSELVES UP by the bootstraps…in order to be of any worth of value.

What Scripture Says

In our Scripture readings today, we come across two rather obscure illustrations of the Kingdom of Heaven...

And one rather frightening image of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ’s...

One that involves a cold-stark look at reality, sacrifice, and the willingness to give up all…even life in this world.

Both are challenging passages in their own right, and both beg us to dive deeper for a clearer understanding.

In our first passage, Matthew 13:44-46

Matthew 13:44–46 NLT

44 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field. 45 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. 46 When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!

Jesus tells us that “the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered in a hidden field.”

I mean, GOOD NEWS!!!! Whoohoo! Right?!?!

Now, if that were you…what would you do?

[Pause]

But that is not what this particular man did.

Nope. This man decides to bury the treasure in the field he found it in...

And if that isn’t crazy enough...

He then sells off everything he owns…I’m hoping he at least didn’t sell the clothes he was wearing…

And then purchases the field so that he can OWN the treasure.

That sounds nuts? Right?!?!

Why not just take the treasure and to heck with field?!?!?!

Ah…but the key word is OWN.

If he followed the worldly way…finders keepers losers weepers, so to speak...

He would be nothing more than a thief who stole something he never owned.

But, knowing how precious this treasure is…

he buries the treasure back in the field, sells everything he has, and purchases the field.

Now when he “finds” the treasure, it will be HIS…he will own it because he found it on HIS OWN PROPERTY.

You see, this parable is not just about owning the treasure…but more than that. It is about the VALUE of the treasure...

And how all other pursuits besides pursuing the treasure seem meaningless…frivolous, trivial.

In terms of the Matrix, once this man recognized the value of the TREASURE...

He realized THERE IS NO SPOON when it comes to the rest of the world...

Nothing else truly existed but THAT treasure.

Again, Jesus continues his illustration of the Kingdom of Heaven...

...”It is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything and he owned and bought it.”

Again, why would anyone sell EVERYTHING for a valuable pearl.

Sure…pearls are rare and expensive...

But for a merchant…to sell everything for a single pearl...

MAKES NO SENSE. Why do that?

Just like the man who found the hidden treasure...

This man becomes obsessed with this pearl to the point where NOTHING ELSE BUT THE PEARL EXISTED!!!

Outside of the Pearl, there is no spoon.

NOTHING ELSE IS REAL…NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.

Jesus is telling us something here...

That the world we cling to…the ideals we hold…the things we idolize…THEY’RE NOT REAL.

There is no spoon. And, in a somewhat Buddhist turn…though still Christian as well, the things you cling to cause you more pain and suffering and needless hurt.

They keep you imprisoned…enslaved to the world order…the Matrix

So, how then do we discover the Kingdom of Heaven?

Simple, we read and study the Gospels…we worship…we fellowship…we serve...

We, as Wesley put it, attend to the ordinances of God.

But how is this possible to do if we are already enslaved…if we are blinded by the Matrix…by this current world order.

Jesus has an answer for that too:

John 14:1–6 NLT

1 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

Jesus said. I AM the way, I AM the truth, I AM the life.

Jesus is the treasure, my friends…and once you recognize the VALUE of that TREASURE...

the TREASURE that LITERALLY SAVED YOUR SOUL

Then you will realize that outside of Jesus…there is no spoon.

Jesus is what is ULTIMATELY REAL. Jesus is WHOM WE SHOULD FOLLOW.

Our identity is IN JESUS…not the world.

What This Means for You

As a Christian, let me ask you a question that John Wesley used to ask:

How goes it with your soul?

Have you discovered Jesus as both THE WAY to and THE TREASURE...

Has Jesus been the FRONT and CENTER in your LIFE...

Your ULTIMATE REALITY?

None of us are perfect, and none of us get it right all the time...

but what are you going to do to draw yourself closer and closer to Jesus.

What This Means for Us

Remember: THERE IS NO SPOON...

This world order and all it offers is a LIE.

It sells us what we want to hear so that we can spend all of our money, energy and lives being cogs in that numbered wheel.

And yes…the days of that wheel are NUMBERED.

As a congregation, what can we do to embrace and teach the fact that THERE IS NO SPOON...

That the world order is not truly ORDER…but chaos.

That the only true order…the only true reality…is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Remember, right here…right now....we are Kingdom Preparers...

We are preparing the way to the KINGDOM by following and proclaiming Christ, and Christ risen from the dead.

And we need not only do that in words...

But through living out our faith in the community through presence and mission.

As, opportunities arise, and they will...

I pray you will choose JESUS over the SPOON. Amen? Amen.