SPEAKER_01 0:00

How we enter the kingdom of heaven is we ask, seek, not search for him. Right. One of the things that we miss in that is God is good to us even when we're not good. And James also talks about this. He says you don't get what you ask for because you ask amiss. Right. You ask wrong, you're missing the mark in your quest. Because God is better to you than you would be to yourself. Right. Welcome to Beyond Sunday. Let's dig a little bit deeper into the theology and scriptures from the weekend so you can become a more fully devoted follower of Jesus. Well, once again, we had a great message from Pastor Marty this week on asking, seeking, and knocking. Got our SCU director, Kirk, here to have a conversation today. Welcome. Thanks. Happy to be here. And uh we opened the message and the sermon with Matthew chapter 7. What I wanted to do for our conversation as we take this beyond Sunday is just dig a little bit into what the context of this passage might mean for the understanding of what God is saying to us. But let's just start off. I'll read it and then we'll get some initial thoughts and reaction and then we'll dig a little deeper. Sounds great. So he says, Do not judge, or you too will be judged. In the same way you judge others, you will be judged. With the measure you you use, it will be measured to you. Then he goes on and talks about the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and missing the plank in your own eye. So we go from judging others and and not judging ourselves to seeing things as glaringly wrong in others that are really minor and missing things that are are glaringly wrong in our lives that we've minimized. And then he says, you know, first take the plank out of your own eye. He says, Don't, you know, give to dogs what's sacred or throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they'll trample them under their feet, turn and tear you to pieces. Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find, knock, and the door will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives, the one who seeks finds. And the one who knocks, the door will be open. He then goes on to describe the nature of God as being so much better than our own human nature, which is sinful and flawed and evil, frankly. Yeah. And so then he says that, you know, this is what it is the law, sums up the law, do to others what you would have them do to you, what we often call the golden rule. Uh that kind of sums it up, he says, is due to others as you would have them do to you. Yeah. Another place he says the whole of the law can be summed up in love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. Right. I'm wondering what are some initial thoughts on loving neighbor as myself when it comes to this judging others or judging self or seeing a speck and not seeing the beam. Yeah. What are some initial thoughts on this, Kirk?

SPEAKER_02 2:51

Uh, I think one thing that we're seeing is I think we forget how much Christian virtue has shaped the society we live in. So when we hear that, we go, yeah, that's that's a good principle. I get that, but we don't understand that's a biblical principle. And so this is very, very foreign to the intended audience of the time. Right. So when this is being delivered, this is the people who say, Oh, you're sick or you're elderly, then you're low class. Oh, you're poor, then you don't matter. And so there are clear outcasts.

SPEAKER_03 3:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 3:22

Whereas we like to blur the line today of what an outcast is, and you may look at someone sideways, but you never want to say that outright. Here, they they know who the outcasts are, they know who the rich and the powerful are. There is no questions asked. And so to say in this context, treat everyone in this kind of way. Yeah, it is kind of a a dismantling of all of their societal norms to go, wait a second. Very countercultural, very countercultural. And uh another thing that's important too is this idea when he when he's saying to ask, seek, and knock. An important thing I always try to tell people is, and this is more so uh understanding from Old Testament, this is also a foreign idea. Any of us can go before the presence of God and ask for his presence, yeah, and and God is available to anyone who will simply ask. This is away with the the Levites and away with the inner courts, and this is understanding that we now are the temple in which the Holy Spirit can dwell. And this is this is extremely countercultural, not just to the Jewish community, but also to any other polytheistic community that could have heard this. Maybe they're recently converted to Christianity, or they are um still just kind of someone passing by and hearing the message. The the power of accessing God was for kings or for in Israel, these these priests, these anointed ones. And so this idea that anyone can call in the name of Jesus, this is or you know, call in the name of God in general, this is a ground shaking, groundbreaking kind of revelation that we look at and go, Oh, it's a good teaching. So I I think sometimes we have to put our minds in an ancient reader's perspective as best as we can, and we'll see how this is truly countercultural.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

Yeah, my friend uh Dr. Mark Turnage, who's gonna be doing a master class for us uh August 26th, that's coming up soon, you're gonna start getting information about that, so we don't miss that. But uh, you know, he often likes to draw out that you know, we have to read the Bible in in its world before we apply it to our world. Right. And you know, there really was a difference. Uh gender, race. You know, these things weren't just you know uh occasional uh differences or conflicts, they were hard barriers of social interaction.

SPEAKER_02 5:45

Very much so.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

You know, Jesus talks to the woman at the well, right Samaritan woman, he's crossing nearly every line possible. Rabbi, like you know, yeah, he's crossing every line possible. And so just recognizing that that Jesus' favorite topic, what he taught on, was the kingdom of God. Right. So let's put this back in context. This is in a segment of scripture we call the Sermon on the Mount. Yeah. Jesus sits down, you know, Matthew 5, 6, 7, yeah, and he begins to teach the people, and and he know he opens with, you know, uh, blessed are the poor. I mean, in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, but it could also just be the the the impoverished, the desperate, those who have no other recourse. Right. Uh and so again, right there, you're elevating the people that were literally lower than the slave class in the first century. Wow. And you know, the poor were were the lowest of the low. Yeah. Jesus says the poor you'll always have with you, right? So we struggle to deal with some of these things. But what he says is the kingdom of heaven is this is he's presenting a kingdom that's not external, but it's internal. Right, right. And so I keep wanting to focus out. I want to focus on you. I want to fix everybody else instead of God, you know, search me, know me. Right. Uh, see if there's any wicked way in me. And so we get this in this context of here's how the kingdom of heaven operates.

SPEAKER_02 7:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:15

Is that don't judge others, judge you. Right. And then he goes on and says, Ask and it will be given to you. Ask for what? Well, James tells us if any of you lacks wisdom, yeah. Right. And James is parroting, you know, his his brother, yeah, uh, Jesus, and in in this conversation, he says, Because the one who asks receives, the one who seeks finds. Finds what? Finds the illumination, the answer to David's prayer, search me, know me. Right. So that then, because if I ask you for that, God, you will give it to me. You will lead me in the way that is everlasting. He goes on, enter through the narrow gate, you know, wides the gate, broads the road. Everybody finds the other path. Yeah. But the path to saying, God, search me, be with me, right. Change me so that I see rightly and can be a blessing and a benefit to others. And that way, then I come under the rule of your kingdom.

SPEAKER_02 8:14

Right.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

The kingdom of heaven. Yeah. And not just operating in the kingdoms of the culture. Absolutely. A few more thoughts on what it means to ask of God for wisdom to judge self and what it means that this is a really a relational conversation. Again, we get the golden rule out of it. Right. So apparently how we treat others matters.

SPEAKER_02 8:36

Right.

SPEAKER_01 8:37

Love God with all your heart, love neighbor as yourself. The kingdom is is both internal and external. Right. But it's not about fixing everybody, it's about serving everybody.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

Absolutely. And the thing I try to say is when when we say it's important to know the context, like we kind of introduced in this podcast, is that we're not saying be a scholar. We're just saying see outside of yourself. Yes. And I think that one of the things that I've seen a lot lately for myself personally, of this exact passage, is that just being born and raised in America, I can see this as a consumer of things. And so ask, seek, and knock, that's about what God can do for me. And that's 10% a spiritual conversation.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

The parity gospel loves that verse.

SPEAKER_02 9:24

Correct. You know, your Bentley's on the way, right? And and the idea is saying, no, this is the presence in the Spirit of God, which is richer than anything you can hold in your hands, can fill your heart. Yeah. If you would simply ask, seek, and knock. And this is reminding me of something Pastor Marty said, where he said, a lot of times this is an issue that we're not even asking the question. We're not even asking God to enter, but we have an expectation for him to do so. And so I always have jokingly kind of said, you cannot expect to hear from God when you're never speaking in the first place. And so prayer matters here, it's important. And also to realize that in a way, it's gonna sound a little tricky, but you have to kind of see outside of yourself first and see how God moves through this context to then see what that means for you internally, which is God, this is not about what things I can gain in possessions, but this is about possessing and own and and being fulfilled by the Spirit of God, which is the greatest, most fulfilling thing we can experience. And so the unfortunate thing is, is the prosperity gospel has taken this and empowered this verse in its weakest form. God, if I just ask, you'll grant the thing that I think I want. And the redirection that God will do in prayer is God, turn my eyes to the things I should be asking for that you desire me to have, that I don't currently possess. That's wisdom, that's discernment, that's just simply knowledge of the word of God. What are the things, God, that you're trying to have me ask into because your spirit wants to turn me to this?

SPEAKER_01 11:03

I love another thing Pastor did this week, which he said that sometimes we don't get what we ask of God because he has something better. Absolutely. Yes. And so I just want to play a little with the text. It's okay, it's okay to do that. Yeah. But if you go down to verse 9 of chapter 7, which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone, or if he asks a fish, will give him a snake?

SPEAKER_03 11:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

If you then, though you are evil, there's an assumption, right? You're evil. Yeah. Um, but that's you know, we don't see that because there's a plank in our eye. Yeah. He asked the spirit to reveal the evil with us, uh, or we don't even believe it's there. If you then, who are being evil, know how to give good gifts, how much more will your father give good gifts? And this is the thing faith begins with believing God is and that he's rewarder.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

Right.

SPEAKER_01 11:53

So, in other words, another way to say that is that God is and God is good.

SPEAKER_02 11:57

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

God is and God gives good. Right. So if we ask for bread, he's not going to give us a stone. Right. But what if we ask for a stone? If we ask for fish, he's not gonna give us a serpent. What if what we're asking for is the serpent? Absolutely. Right. Here's where I think God is better to us than we would be to ourselves. Right. If you ask for that, you're not gonna get that. He's still gonna be God. Because when we're faithless, he remains faithful. He cannot deny himself. We can deny him, but he cannot deny himself, Paul tells Timothy. Right. And so ask and it will be given. Seek and you will find. And then Pastor brought us back to that Old Testament passage, you will seek me and find me in Jeremiah when you search for me with your whole heart. Yeah. And so this is how we enter the kingdom of heaven is we ask, seek, and knock to search for him, right, to possess him, right? To possess his spirit, for his spirit to dwell in us is the greatest possession. Yeah, absolutely. And I think one of the things that we miss in that is God is good to us even when we're not good. And James also talks about this. He says you don't get what you ask for because you ask amiss. Right. You ask wrong, you're missing the mark in your quest. Because God is better to you than you would be to yourself. Right. It's like the whole testament, right? Pretty much. Right. You know, sometimes we're praying, God give people what they deserve. And I pray we never get what we deserve. Right. I thank God that Jesus took everything I deserved. Absolutely. And this is what we can have. We can have that which nourishes our spirit, that which transforms us so that we interact with the world outside of us differently. Yeah. It doesn't change our situation, it changes us.

SPEAKER_02 13:56

Absolutely. Absolutely. Closing thoughts. My closing thought is be intentional about prayer. Um that is not the hack to get everything you want, it's the realignment to take you where God wants you to be. And so be a person of prayer. Um, that is the thing that I urge people to see about this text. And that does not mean you're simply just taking a wish list to God. Yeah. But it means that you are communing with the presence of the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

It means you're inviting the kingdom to dwell in you. Right. So that you can dwell in the kingdom. And taking on a new citizenship, right? And that's how we take it beyond Sunday. Absolutely. Thanks for joining us, Kirk. Thank you. Thanks, everybody.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

Hey, thanks so much for joining us today. We do this to help you grow in your faith journey. And if you ever have any questions, see the link below, fill out the QR code, and we'll get back to you soon. And if you like this content and want to see more, feel free to follow, like, and share. But most of all, we want to encourage you to take the word of God and apply it to your week beyond Sunday. We can't wait to see you back soon.