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"Trash Cans or Treasure Chests" Page 2  | 1 | 3 | |
Leonard Sweet  With his refreshingly unconventional approach to Christianity, Len comes from Madison, NJ where he serves as dean of the Theological School and Vice President of Drew University. Len speaks from a unique perspective as one of the few who really have a finger on the spiritual pulse of the nation. Author of numerous books, including the critically acclaimed FaithQuakes, Len uses wisdom and wit to challenge us to examine ourselves as Christians in a postmodern age. |
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 Isn't it amazing how God works!
See, in nature you see this over and over again. What is honey? The nectar of nature. But
what? Bee Shih Tzu. That is what honey is. In Asian cultures Geishas spend days trying to
look beautiful with this white paint.  Do you know what this white paint is that they put on their faces?
Nightingale Shih Tzu - you got it! What do mushrooms grow in? What makes them so succulent
and tasty? Well, you know what it is! I want to challenge you to go to the fish market at
Meijer and ask the guy behind the  counter for a sardine. They will laugh in your face. You see, there is no
such thing as a sardine fish. Sardine is a name that we give to trash fish that they put
together in a can. There is a halibut, and there is haddock and salmon, but no sardine. It
doesn't exist. My favorite way of expressing how God works and bring nature and theology
together is in the dove.  The
dove does not exist. It is a poetic name for a trash bird called a pigeon. And God chose
as the symbol of the Holy Spirit a trash bird. We prettify it by calling it a dove, but
really it is a pigeon. Isn't it amazing how God works! Jesus had a mustard seed. I have a
coffee bean today. But the whole gospel is right in this coffee bean. It is all right here Where was Jesus born? Jesus
comes to this earth and is born in a trash place of the planet called the city of
Bethlehem, the city of David. And where was he born? In a stable. What goes on in a
stable? More Shih Tzu. And so what were  Jesus's first smells as he was born into this world? What were Jesus's last
smells as he exited this world? Where was he crucified? A place called Golgatha, which was
the garbage dump for the city of Jersalem, the trash place. |
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| I Corinthians 1:25-31 25: For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. 26: Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27: But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28: He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, 29: so that no one may boast before him. 30: It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31: Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." |
I want us to read I Corinthians again. I want us to hear the power of these
words. Let's start with verse 1:25: Divine folly is wiser than human wisdom and divine
weakness stronger than human strength. My brothers, consider your call, my sisters,
consider what sort of people you are whom God has called. Few of you are people of wisdom,
by any human standard. Few are powerful or highly born. Yet to shame the wise God had
chosen what is foolish in the world. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the
strong. God has chosen things low and contemptible. Things that are not, to overthrow
existing order. And so there is no place for human pride in the presence of God for you
are in Christ Jesus by God's act. For God has made Him our wisdom. He is our
righteousness, in Him we are consecrated and set free. And so, in the words of scripture,
if you must boast, boast of the Lord."The gospel is about the
way in which what is most weak, what is most despised, what is most contemptible in your
life, in this world, can become, through the power of the Holy Spirit, what is most
beautiful, what is most radiant, and what can be most a blessing. You see, we have a
topsy-turvey upside down, inside out gospel. Like you do to a sock, you turn it inside
out, upside down, topsy-turvey. And that is what the values of the gospel does to the
wisdom of this world. If you want to be first, you have to be willing to be last. I am so
sick of First United Methodist Churches! When is the last time you heard of a church
called Last United Methodist Church? But, that is theologically correct. Because in God's
eyes the first will be the last. So why aren't we calling ourselves the Last United
Methodist Churches? Do you want to be strong? You have to be willing to be weak. Do you
want to win? You have to be willing to lose. We have an upside down, topsy-turvey gospel
that says whatever is buried trash in your life, God can turn into buried treasure.
Whatever you think are the trash cans of your existence, God can turn them in to treasure
chests. The Hebrew word for hell was Sheol. Heaven was Shiloh. God can turn any Sheol into
a Shiloh if you will only let the spirit of God take that pain, that suffering, that
ugliness, that contemptible, and let the Spirit turn it.  I am thinking of a composer named Ludwig von
Beethoven. What is the worst thing that could happen to a composer? You become deaf. The
last twelve years of Beethoven's life he was deaf. Think of the pain, think of the agony.
And yet, of these last twelve years Beethoven composed four of his five greatest
symphonies. You see, he allowed the compost of his suffering and his despair to become the
humus out of which God's Spirit grew. . . some of the most beautiful music that has ever
been composed. Treasure chests and trash cans. |
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