Divine Stories - Children in the Marketplace | Sunday Message

We continued our Divine Stories series by looking at one of Jesus' most challenging parables in Luke 7:31-35. Why is it so easy to become critical? Why do we pray for God to move, only to criticize the way He moves?  Through this powerful story, you'll discover how our preferences, expectations, and opinions can keep us from recognizing God's work right in front of us.

If you've ever wondered why God isn't answering your prayers the way you expected, or found yourself becoming more critical than curious, this message is for you. Follow along as we learn how to trade criticism for curiosity, surrender our expectations, and become people who recognize God's work wherever and however He chooses to move.

Transcript

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Welcome to the Do Life Different Podcast by 1128 Community. Today you're listening to our most recent message. We are a church community in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, led by co-pastors Mike and Colleen Francisco. 1128 is about helping people do life different by setting rhythms and values with Jesus at the center. If you want to connect with us, text the word podcast to 414-441-1128. We hope today's message helps you in your faith journey.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

I realized recently that uh that I've kind of sort of turned into my dad. It wasn't the the new balance, the white new balance that gave it away because I'm not a white new balance kind of guy, but it happened later or earlier in this year and then last fall as well. I was at my son's flag football game over at the park over there, and he was running, he was catching, he was pulling flags, he was diving, he was doing all the things, playing an awesome game. And I heard myself in the middle of the game yelling out and trying to coach him. Any other parents do that regularly? Right? And and you just know, like I flashed back because I heard this voice yelling, like, hey, next time do this, and hey, next time try that, or hey, good play. And I heard myself yelling, and I thought, is my dad here? Like I heard my voice, but it sounded like my dad, and immediately I like flashed back to my elementary, middle school, and high school days, where I could pick out my dad's voice in the crowd of thousands because our you know elementary school team was that awesome. Uh, I could pick out my dad's voice above the rest. Any of you students, uh, you you know what I'm talking about? Waterfill boys, you guys like you could pick out they're like, no, but you know what I mean? Like you you just you know your dad's voice or maybe your mom's voice. You know that one voice and and you hear it and it sticks in your mind. I heard it again uh earlier this year when I was sitting at Julia's basketball game over at Forest Ridge Elementary School, and again, she's like dribbling. She made a really great rebound, she took off down the court dribbling, and we're talking like third grade girls' basketball. So, like, took off down the court dribbling, and she got to like the lane, which is about as close as you can get to the basket, and she stopped and she looked to like pass it to somebody, and and I'm I'm like, oh no, just go for the layup, you know. And so she she ended up passing it, and it was a bucket. Either way, it worked, it got in the in the basket. But I said, Hey, next time just take it to the hoop. And again, I'm like, where is my dad? He's got to be somewhere. Like my voice, I heard it, and I just knew, like, oh man, I'm turning into my dad. Have any of you had that experience where you've been like, I'm turning into my dad, I'm turning into my mom, I'm turning into some version of myself that I don't think I really want to be. And I realized in those moments that I was really offering my best encouragement. I was coaching them up, I was wanting to help them be better, to play better, to improve, to make the most of the opportunities in front of them. And as I sat there hearing myself, I understood that's what my dad was intending. My dad wanted me to improve. He wanted me to be encouraged, he wanted me to get coached up and to be able to do all the things really, really well. But in that moment of hearing my dad, I also remembered how I felt sometimes hearing those things. Oh, I didn't do that right. Oh, I could have done that better. Oh, I messed up that play. Yeah, I should have taken it to the hoop. Why didn't I just uh and a lot of times I felt like I just couldn't impress my dad. I couldn't do enough to make him be like, hey, awesome play. Great job. No matter how awesome my dad's intentions were, I felt like when it came to sporting events in particular, he was just a little hard to please. Maybe some of us feel that way as well. Like we relate with that. Our parent was a little hard to please. Maybe we even feel like our parents were impossible to please. We could do nothing, right? Like we we would mow the lawn and be like, oh, there's a little zig or a zag right there. And it's like, ah, next time we go this way and then that way, and we go over it by a couple inches, or whatever. Like maybe it's like, hey, this coffee is a little bit too strong, or there's not enough creamer, right? And we we're trying to be helpful at home, and our parents might have just been a little bit hard to please. And I know I'm not the only one here. I know that you've experienced that as well. Uh, we've all kind of done it though, at one time or another, whether we were on the receiving end or we were the one that was hard to please. We've said, man, that food is a little bit too hot for me, a little bit too spicy. It's got a little bit too much salt. Or then we say, like, oh no, this is just a little too cold, a little too soggy, a little too crunchy. It really hurt my teeth when I bit into that. Like, I don't know what you did. Like, maybe you've done that. Maybe you've said, like, man, I really wish summer would warm up. Did anybody say that like back in May and early June? Yeah, and now here you are, and it's like 125 degrees and smoking, and you're like, man, I wish summer would cool down a little bit. Man, we're hard to please. Uh, we want our kids to grow up, like be more mature, be a little bit independent, but then they get there and we're like, man, I wish that they were so small and they needed me for something. I want more free time. And then we get free time and we're like, man, nobody wants to hang out with me. This sucks. We want honesty, we want people to tell us the truth. And then we get it, and we're like, ah, I didn't really actually want that truth or that honesty. I wanted something that felt good. I want you to say nice things. We want to be different, but we don't really want to change. We want everyone to have an opinion because everybody has an opinion, but we want to know their opinion until they share their opinion. And you're like, hey, that opinion's not cool because I don't agree with that opinion. And so, like, maybe let's just stick to not sharing opinions. We pray for God to move in our lives, but then we don't like how he moves in our lives. We criticize the movement we see in our lives. We don't like it. I think ultimately, if we're gonna sum up like who we are as people, we are picky, we are finicky, we are opinionated, preferenced people. We all have our opinions, we all have our preferences, and we're not ashamed to share them at times. And apparently, this is nothing new. Apparently, this has been going on for years and years and years and years. And today we're gonna get into Luke chapter 7, where there's some pretty picky people. Now, if this is your first week with us this summer, we're in a series called Divine Stories, a summer with the parables of Jesus. And uh, if you don't know what a parable is, it's really just a story that Jesus would use, a metaphor or an example that Jesus would use to communicate a point, to communicate a principle or a truth. These stories were meant for teaching all kinds of people because Jesus had all kinds of people that would sit with him, that would follow him, that would come and listen to him. He had disciples, those that were closest to him and knew who he was intimately, and he had the less committed followers, the ones that would show up on Christmas and Easter. He, well, maybe not at that point then, but he had the interested crowds, those that liked what he was saying, but they weren't sure they wanted to stick with him every single day. And then he had even the hardcore opponents, those that disagreed with him, those that were frustrated by him, those that ultimately wanted to put him to death. And so he spoke in these parables to teach principles about the kingdom of heaven, the goodness of God, and how it could change your life. And so today we jump into this parable in Luke chapter 7, the children in the marketplace. It's interesting, this parable is also in Matthew chapter 11. We're not going to go back and forth today, but I'm going to reference that there's some things we learn in Matthew that help us understand the context of Luke chapter 7. John the Baptist, to get us up to speed, he is sitting in prison. He'd been arrested. He was there. We learned that in Matthew chapter 4, that John the Baptist had been arrested. He's in prison. And so now he's sitting there and he's thinking, What's going on? Here I am in prison. The kingdom, the ministry that I was proclaiming and talking about and baptizing people into. Like it doesn't feel like it's progressed a whole lot. Like, what's going on? Why hasn't Jesus overthrown the government yet? Like, why haven't things changed drastically? Uh and John was a Jew. And so John understood the Jewish kind of mindset or had the Jewish mindset about this kingdom of heaven. He was expecting a Messiah that was going to make drastic political changes and economic changes and all kinds of changes that would be really seen really quickly. And so John, in the midst of like wondering what's going on, like, is Jesus really the guy? I'd baptize this guy. We heard this voice come down and speak. This is my son with whom I'm well pleased. But what's going on? This looks so much different. So John the Baptist from prison, he sends some of his own disciples to ask Jesus a question. And they they're like, uh, hey, bro, hey, Jesus, are you the Messiah? Are you really the one that was to come? And Jesus answered them. Go and tell John what you have seen and heard. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. At first glance, just reading this, it's it's really pretty straightforward and simple. Like, look at all the things Jesus has done. The deaf have heard, the blind have seen, the lame walk. Like, it's slowly kind of progressing. Like we're getting a little bit bigger and bigger. The lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised. Like, that seems pretty significant. And then we get the poor have good news preached to them. You might not know it just reading it here in Luke chapter 7, but John would have known it hearing this reply from Jesus. This is a reference to Old Testament prophetic works. This is the stuff that they said the Messiah would do. And so Jesus doesn't just say, like, yeah, hey, I am the Messiah. He's never, he has not taken on that title publicly yet, but he gives an answer that John and any Jew would have known as like, yes, he's the one. But maybe not in the way that you'd expect. The crowd that was kind of there and hearing this conversation with Jesus and the disciples of John, they're like, okay, that's awesome. Some of them celebrated, we read in here, and some of them disagreed and were angry and maybe even a little bit annoyed. And so Jesus sees this crowd and sees the mixed bag of like, yay, he's the Messiah, and boo! We don't like that. And he says, hmm, what should I compare you all to? What are you like? Oh, I got it. You were like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another. We played the flute for you and you did not dance. We sang a dirge to you and you did not weep. Ultimately, if we were reading this in the original text, we would understand that it says one group plays a wedding song and another group refuses to dance. One group is celebrating while the other says, no, we're not going to celebrate. And then this other group, they play a funeral song, a dirge. I think that's how you say that. And this group's like, this is not a funeral. It's a mixed bag. You guys are confusing. You're finicky, you're picky, you're opinionated, you're preferenced. Ultimately, what Jesus is saying in this particular passage here is that nothing is gonna please all of you. Their issue wasn't the music, their issue wasn't the setting, the issue was actually their attitude. It was internal. Here's something hard that maybe some or all of us need to hear this morning. Sometimes you become so critical that nothing satisfies you. We criticize, we criticize the way people do things, we criticize churches, we criticize leaders, presidents, opportunities, God's timing. And there's room and time and space to criticize and to have feedback and to think like I might do it differently. But uh, you know what Christians like to call criticism? We like to call it discernment. Uh, because that cynical heart, that critical heart, it often, it often disguises itself as discernment. It often leads to me saying, like, I'm just discerning if this is the right place for me, or if that's the right group of people for me, or what my next step is. And it's because we're we're getting critical and it doesn't fit and it doesn't match with who we are, what we're doing, what we're about, what we care about, the opinions we have, the preferences we have, all of those kind of things. And so ultimately, the first thing I want us to hear this morning is that when criticism becomes our default setting, we lose the ability to recognize God's activity in our lives and in the lives of those around us. Let me say that again. When criticism becomes our default setting, we lose the ability to recognize God's activity. For John the Baptist, Luke continues, has come, this is in verse 33, has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, He has a demon. The Son of Man has come, eating and drinking, and you say, Look at him, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Who is John the Baptist again? He was the one that prepared the way for Jesus. He lived in the wilderness, he fasted often, he ate gross things like locusts, he called people to repentance, and their response upon seeing him and hearing him and watching him, that guy is messed up. That guy is possessed, that guy has a demon, he's crazy, he's a lunatic. Jesus. He eats with people, he sits at the table with people, he drinks wine, he makes his own wine. He has meals with sinners, tax collectors, the worst of the worst. What'd they say about him? He's a glutton and a drunk. Complete opposite John and Jesus in a lot of ways. But both were rejected. Both were laughed at, mocked, ridiculed, told that they were doing it wrong. The deeper issue that these people had that Jesus is talking to in this particular passage, it's not that they were rejecting the messenger. It's not that they were rejecting John or Jesus. It's that they were rejecting the message that they both had. A message of repentance. A lot of times we do this as well, right? Like we have expectations for how God should work, we have expectations for how a message should sound, we have uh things that they should be said a certain way through certain people, through certain methods, through certain traditions, through certain personalities, and we reject the message that's ultimately being communicated because we don't necessarily like the way that it's being communicated. It doesn't fit our opinion, our preference, our wants, or our desires. Second thing I hope we learn here this morning is that when we become committed to our preferences, we miss out on God's messages. When we become committed to our preferences, we miss out on God's messages. And Jesus wraps up this little parable in Luke chapter 7, verse 35, saying, Yet wisdom is justified by all her children. What the heck does that mean? Yet wisdom is justified by all her children. I think what we read here is that time reveals what is truly from God. Time reveals what's truly from God. The evidence is in the fruit, and fruit takes time. John, he produced repentance. People repented and came into the kingdom because of what he was doing. Jesus produced transformed lives, transformed hearts, people that gave up some of their traditions and their religiosity to follow him and live out this new way of kingdom life. Jesus' challenge for us this morning is to stop judging what we see in the moment, but look at the big picture, look at the outcomes, look at the fruit, give it time. Because the proof of God's work isn't whether it fits our preferences, but whether it produces fruit. And that's the third thing I hope we we jot down here this morning. That the proof of God's work isn't whether it fits our expectation, whether it fits our preferences, but whether it produces godly fruit. The religious leaders wanted a Messiah on their terms. John wasn't what they expected, Jesus wasn't what they expected, the kingdom wasn't arriving how they would hope it would arrive. And the problem wasn't that God had failed to speak, the problem was that they were committed to their expectations, to their preferences, to their opinions, and they missed out on what God had for them. To sum up this little parable in Luke 7, 31 through 35, you might say, if your mind is closed, no message will ever sound right. If your mind is closed, no message will ever sound right. So here's the question or questions for us this morning. Where have you, where have your preferences become louder than God's voice in your life? Where have your preferences become louder than God's voice in your life? Maybe you've been asking God to move, to do something, to change something, to work something out in you, but you've already decided in your mind this is the answer God's going to give. This is how God is going to move. This is how God's going to work it out. And we've closed our minds off to whatever it is that God actually has for us. Maybe you've been praying for a new opportunity. You've dismissed every opportunity that's come your way because you think, man, I'm praying for this specific opportunity. It's going to look exactly like that. And all these other things that have been presented before you, they haven't fit that thing. And we've missed the opportunities that God has for us because our mind is closed off. The message hasn't looked right. The package didn't arrive the way that we'd hope it would arrive. Maybe you've been asking God to change your marriage, to change your kids, to change your job. To move and work in your circumstances. But ultimately, I think what we need to understand is that God is wanting to work and move and change us first. Some of us have been so committed to our preferences that we've stopped being teachable, moldable, changeable. We're so convinced that we know what God should do, that we miss what God is doing or what God is going to do. Maybe our problem isn't that God's not speaking. Maybe our problem is us. Maybe our problem is that we've become too difficult to satisfy. Maybe we've become too picky, finicky, opinionated, and preferenced. So what if this week we became people who were easier to amaze? Wonder if we opened our minds up and said, you know what, I'm gonna just push my opinions, preferences, and expectations to the side. And I'm gonna be amazed by God. How would that change things? Wonder if we were people who stopped asking, is this how I would have done it? I ask that question a lot. Is that how I would do it? I'd probably do it this way if it was up to me. But wonder if we stopped asking those questions and we just allowed God to work around us and in us and through us. What if instead of leading with criticism, we led with curiosity? Instead of assuming the worst, we we looked for the fruit and we assumed that give it time. Something good will come out of this. Instead of demanding that God fit our expectations, we surrender our expectations and say, God, it's all open. It's all yours. So let's do this this week. Let's open our minds, push out the expectations, the opinions, and the preferences. Let's soften our hearts, let's keep our eyes open, our hands ready to receive what it is that God has for us and what it is that God wants to do. Because it's probably going to look completely different than we imagined. Most of the time, the greatest miracle isn't that God changes our circumstances, it's that God changes us. And the way that we are changed is by opening our minds to be amazed by what God has for us. Let me pray for us, and then we'll step into what's ahead for the rest of our morning together. God, thank you for having grace for us. Thank you for changing our hearts. Thank you for working in us. God, this week, would we let go of our preferences, our opinions, our expectations so that we can be amazed by you? God, would we set aside those things so that we see you differently. God, would you challenge us in the next little bit of time together here this morning? And would that impact our Monday through Sunday this coming week? We pray this in your name. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 26:07

Thank you for listening to today's message. We hope you had a meaningful moment with Jesus. You can join us on Sundays at Oak Creek High School at 10 a.m. for our in person gatherings. Hope to see you soon.