The Dangers of "Close Enough"

Psalm of the day: Psalm 134

Psalm 134 ESV

A Song of Ascents. Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord! May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth!

Scripture Reading: Psalm 145:4-7

Psalm 145:4–7 ESV

One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

Sermon

Good Morning Church! I was Glad when they said to me let us go and worship in the house of the Lord!

Well this morning we turn our attention to Matthew chapter 13. We will be looking at verse 53-58. And before we read it, before we dive in I just want to remind us, because I think this important every time we go through a book, but I want to remind us of the general stricture of Matthew, because it helps us out a lot here. if you remember, and i have said this a lot of times and will say it multiple times more before we are done with this series, but Matthew is structures such that he has a discourse, or a teaching section of Jesus, followed by a narrative section, a portion of the book that will sort of move the story along. So Jesus will teach then events and events will happen and Jesus will teach then events will happen. So though we are still in chapter 13, we are no longer in the parable discourse, and instead we are starting the next large section of narrative.

And what is interesting in how Matthew has structured this portion is that in many ways he is picking up right where he left off. If we were to flip back to Matthew chapter 12 We will remember that it ended with Jesus asking a question: who is my mother and who are my brothers? The point Jesus was getting to ere was that those closest to me, those who are intimately familiar with me are those who do the will of my father. and THOSE are my mothers and brothers and sisters, those are my family. And so from that idea of family we have the parable discourse, Jesus was teaching what the kingdom was like and therefore those who are in the kingdom what they are like, and I would argue the ones closest to him. And now as we come out of that parable discourse and Jesus will again be confronted with people that SHOULD be close to him, but we find out are not.

This time instead of directly being family, he is here going back to his hometown. He is going back to people who know him, they saw him grow up, they know of his family. they know who he is KINDA, but they relay have no idea. Today we will be talking about what I have called the dangers of close enough. This passage is in many ways a difficult one. not because it is hard to understand, but rather it can hit very close to home for many of us. The Church that Desiree and I met in, the pastor would often joke: As a pastor you have to be careful what you preach on on Sunday because whatever you get ready to preach on God will be sure to test you and try you on on the week leading up to the sermon. So if you are going t be preaching on patience God is going to give you a lot of chances during the week to be patient. and here is the truth about that statement. I don’t believe that God EXTRA tests me most of the time in whatever subject I am teaching on, rather two other things are true. One, if you are diving into it and spending your whole week contemplating and dwelling on one sort of thought about spiritual life and what God is doing than of course your eyes will be more open to see that in any given week. It is not that I am being extra tested on patience, it is just that my eyes are opened to see I am just not really that patient to begin with!

But there is also a thought that sometimes you preach passages that you see a little too much of yourself in, and that can be difficult. Well as someone who sort of grew up i church, who spent most of their life knowing all the right answers, having verses memorized, spent a lot of my life having a sort of external righteousness, having a life that, form all accounts looked good but there was no heart change, there is a lot of ME in this passage, and as such it is a little difficult. ti maybe stings a little bit to reflect on the times of my life when this was true. and so even before we dive into this passage, before we read it i want to start with this. In all the things that we will talk about today there is hope. In all the things that we will talk about yes there is danger, that is the title of the sermon, but even in that danger we can be made safe and secure in Jesus Christ - if we trust in him. With that thought lets read our passage for today, Matthew chapter 13 verses 53-58.

Matthew 13:53–58 ESV

And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.

These are the words of the Lord for us this morning, lets begin with a word of prayer.

PRAY

So this morning, normally we just sort of walk thorough and get our pots as wee walk through a passage, but today it is a little different. The outline and the flow of this passage is fairly simple. And the profound truth that hits us, there are not three points to this. The truth is this, in Jesus’ hometown he is not recieved, and so he leaves. Right? Jesus goes to his hometown and we are all sort of familiar with this thought. You go home and you are going to the people who know you best, and that can be for better or worse. I think of my little sister. My little sister who is now almost 32. My Little baby sister who is now getting her second post graduate degree. My little sister who will always in my heart be 12 because that was how old she was when I left home. Any time I see her there is this sort of underlying thoughts of this is Erin, sure she’s all grown up and married and stuff, but I remember hiding under her bed and grabbing her ankles and scaring her too!

Well Jesu wen he goes home will always be the carpenters son. He will always be Mary's son. they know his family. They know who he is. They are close enough to Jesus to know who he is, but not so close that they can truly know him. They are close enough to Jesus that they can recognize partially who he is, and they may even feel like because of their closeness and because of their familiarity they have certain rights and privileges. they may feel like because they are close enough they can say and do certain things, but yet, when it comes to Jesus “close enough” is not close enough at all. And so today instead of just walking through this passage I want to draw out what I see to be three exchanges that happen.

You are left with:

When we talk about salvation, when we talk about what it means to be a Christian and be saved one of my favorite ways to preach this is what I call the great exchange. We read about this in all of Scripture. We bring to God, WE bring to Jesus our ashes our mourning our brokenness and our sin, and he gives us joy righteousness forgiveness holiness and salvation. The imputed righteousness of Christ. WE bring to him our frailness and brokenness and he gives to us empowering and strength through the Holy Spirit. WE bring to him a heart of stone that is wretched and evil and he gives to us a heart of flesh with his law written upon it. We bring to him brokenness and he gives us wholeness. This is the great exchange.

But today I would like to talk about a different exchange. And we see this happen so very often., It is the exchange where, instead of taking all these precious gifts ad promises that we are offered in Christ. Instead of laying hold of the life that we have been offered IN CHRIST, we settle for close enough. And we trade all these wonderful blessings and privileges of being in Christ for something so much weaker and so much less. And so I just want to use this text , this passage as a sort of Guide to see what the consequences of this sort of life may be. and so the first thing that I want us to see, is that if we are just close enough, if we are just sort of close enough to know who Jesus is kinda. Just close enough that we can want to claim some of his benefits, but not so close that we submit everything to him we are left with AMAZEMENT, may sound good, but we don’t have BELIEF

AMAZEMENT not BELIEF

Jesus in this passage, walks in and begins to teach them in their synagogue. So much so that we read that they are ASTONISHED (verse 54) they were amazed. And rightfully so. I was thinking about this in this way this week. Every time I begin to get ready to preach a passage I pull up my Bible software, my sermon writing software, and I have access to every sermon Charles Spurgeon preached. and So if I am going to preach on any text one of the first things I do after I do all my exposition and outlines and stuff I pull up and see, did Spurgeon preach on this text, probably yes, and then I read his sermon. I just want to be amazed at his teaching. And I sometimes think, wouldn't it be awesome. Wouldn't it be great to hear him preach, and yes it would be. But these people get to hear JESUS. in the flesh. That is infinitely better.

We have see this elsewhere in Scripture, in fact, in Luke we know exactly WHAT he preached here. He walks up, stands up there, pulls out the scroll of Isaiah. Captives are freed, The spirit of the Lord is upon me, basically I AM THE MESSIAH and today this passage is fulfilled in your hearing. He taught them the secrets of the kingdom he taught them what the kingdom of heaven is like. here these people hear direct teaching. not just from a good teacher, but directly from the mouth of one who was fully God and fully man. and they are amazed, but not for all the right reasons.

Wow this Jesus is saying some crazy stuff. This jesus is saying some really crazy difficult things. But you know what is amazing: we know him. We know his dad. Hes the carpenters son. wait! Isn’t this guys mom Mary? And truly we could read into this, isn’t this Mary who, we can do some quick math and the marriage to the birth, this math does not add up.

Don’t we know your brothers. James Joseph Simon and Judas? We know his sisters! we know Jesus, so where in the world does he get off teaching us these things. Where did this man get all these things? Who is he to say these things?

and so they are amazed at Jesu, but not amazed at the heart of what he says, but more so amazed that he would have the audacity to say these things. So thy will not believe. Instead it is crazy that Jesu would dare teach these things. I mean, I am not going to believe them, but are you hearing this stuff? that he would say this, that's nut-so.

There is a danger that we get so close to jesus that we are amazed at some of the things that he says and yet we will not believe them. You often find people that are often amazed. that's Crazy, Jesus taught that we had to live a holy life. Have you heard that Sermon on the Mount stuff? its crazy. He taught us not to worry. He taught us blessed are you when people persecute you. He taught us, you have heard it said, do not commit adultery, but I say that anyone who looks with lust has committed adultery in their heart. He would say things like, you have heard it said do not murder, that's good, but I say to you don’t be angry, don’t call your brother a fool. It is amazing he would say that stuff, I mean, i don’t really believe it. But amazing nonetheless. I mean come on, is it really he same thing? IS Lust and adultery really the same heart issue. I mean anger and murder, are those really gonna carry the same weight? Jesus says so!

These are amazing things he says, but will you believe? Do not be so close that you understand and are amazed sometimes at what he says, but not close enough to believe. Set your heart on these things. be conformed by his teaching. be changed and shaped by these things, Lay hold of the truths that Jesus has said. Believe in your heart all these wonderful gifts.

Don’t trade belief for amazement, secondly don't trade your faith for familiarity.

FAMILIARITY not FAITH

There is a danger in being “close enough” that you ca n be familiar but not have faith. That was thee people’s problem. Here comes jesus, and we know this guy. We know you Jesu. We have bee hearing you say crazy things since you were like a kid getting lost at the temple. WE have heard all this before. We are familiar with you Jesus, we know you and your family, we know your dad. WE know these things. IN FACT for some of thee people They lived in houses that Jesus’s dad did the framing for, or sat around a table built by him every night for dinner. They knew him at least with some familiarity. But yet… no faith

there is no ability to see past what the eyes can see and look upon this savior as he truly is. there is n ability for these people, because i would argue they are so familiar, but there is no ability to see past all that and see that the one that stood before them, the one that taught them in their synagogue was their Messiah, was their Lord, was their God. There was no faith

and this is where, as i contemplated this I see for us the most danger. This is where, in may ways I see the dangers of my own life coming to fruition in this passage. It is good to be raised in the church. It is good to be trained from a young age in the truths of Scripture. it is good to hid God’s words in our heart, these are all good and right things. and yet there is a danger. there is a danger when we think growing up in church is “close enough”. there is a danger where we think I got some verse memorized so I am OK. there is a danger when we think: yeah I know the bible, I know all the right answers. There is a danger when we think that those things replace faith.

These things can strengthen our faith, these things are foundational in many ways to our faith, those things are the good soil I would say to plant our faith in and yet they are not faith. and Scripture is very clear

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

And so when we begin to think that our ability to say all the right theological points, our ability to answer all the Sunday School Questions, we begin to think that all of that is what saves us and it is not. Because I stand before you today as one who has for a long time prided myself (in all the wrong ways) in having all the right answers. In being able to say all the right things. I was intimately familiar, yet for a large portion of my life there was no faith. And so what do you do? it turns out this familiarity not faith looks like a self made external righteousness Or some sort of legalism. but at some point the facade begins to crack. At some point you realize that familiarity will not work. At some point you realize… this is the realization I had, was the only difference between me and the sinners around me is I feel bad after we do all the same things. And you learn that familiarity will not save. And these people's familiarity with Jesus prevented them from trusting in him.

SO ultimately the end result I would say of this idea of being Close enough to Jesus, but not so close that you trust in him with all your heart soul mind and strength; To be close enough to him that you know all the right answers but no so close that you have surrendered everything for the sake of following him. To be close enough to be aware of this Jesus guy, but yet not so close to love him, cherish him, to be his, we talked about this before, his brother his sisters mothers. Is that you are left with JUDGEMENT AND NOT HONOR

JUDGEMENT not HONOR

AS I thought through this passage this way this week, I was sort of struck. WE should give all glory honor and praise to Jesus. It is our duty to glorify him. It is our Joy and privilege to honor him.

One of the most incredible portions of the book of revelation comes early in the book. It is the sort of opening throne room scene. We have the letters to the churches then John is take up int the throne room of heaven. And among other thing John sees this scroll. and it seems like, for maybe just a second there is no one to open this scroll. This is the scroll that has the judgement of God, someone has to open this, something has to be done to make the word right, what are we gong to do? What is going to happen? and there in heaven John is told not to cry, pay attention. And all the angels worshipping around the throne of heaven. John you don’t need to weep, no need to be afraid, because there is one who is worthy to open the scroll. Glory honor and praise is due to the lamb who was slain.

Revelation 5:9–10 ESV

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

The song continues and changes

Revelation 5:12 ESV

saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

Finally the song of heaven reaches its glorious climax as the EVERY creature in heaven and on earth and in the sea proclaims

Revelation 5:13 ESV

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

It is our duty, responsibility and our joy to honor the Lamb. But that is not what these people do. They are so familiar, they are so close to Jesus that they cannot get over their offence. This is what is incredible about this passage. they are being taught by Jesus, and even he is doing mighty works. this is their first thought, look at verse 54 again: where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works. but that becomes more like: where in the world did Jesus get all this? How is he doing all these things and teaching these things? but instead of taking a step back and thinking: he must be worthy of glory honor and praise and instead they begin to judge. Hows that for irony? these people are judging the only righteous judge of all people! And they take offence

Wait a second Jesus. How dare you! You think you are so much better than us Jesu? Where do you get off saying what is right and wrong. Where do you get off telling us what is righteous and holy and how we ought to live? We know where you’re from, we know your parents, we know your brothers and sisters. Where do you get off telling us how to live. So they JUDGE him. Which is a dangerous place to stand. For what makes this interesting is that they in their judgement and not honor are setting themselves up to receive the same in return.

Jesus will not do mighty works here. W don’t have recorded in Matthew that when Jesus goes to his home town all the same miracles we have read before. We don’t get to read that Jesus goes to his hometown and says: rise and walk your sins are forgiven. We don’t read any stories of demons being cast out the lame leaping, we don’t read them because he didn’t do them!

Instead of seeing more and more works and miracles, instead of receiving a changes heart, instead of receiving forgiveness of their sins, they receive judgement. It is as if Jesus is acting out what he commanded his disciples earlier in Matthew: If they are not going to receive you kick the dust off your shoes and keep on walking. They will not honor him, no they receive judgement.

This is the ultimate danger of being “close enough.” I had an Epiphany a few years ago. There is no more accursed lie than the one that makes someone think they are OK when they are not. And so one of the worst lies that you could believe that you are close enough to Jesus to be saved while refusing to give him your all. One of the worst lies you could believe is that you are close enough to know all the right answers, have all the right thoughts and yet you will not believe in him and be saved. There is a real danger, and one of the worst lies you could believe is that because you are familiar with who Jesu is but won;t have faith in him that you will be OK.

But the solution to all this, As i mentioned in the beginning, is to repent and believe in him. To trust in the one who saves. It is to give him all glory honor and praise. May we not just be close enough, but may we be found IN and be tied to our Lord and our savior Jesus Chrsit. Lets Pray

PRAY