Central Lutheran Church - Elk River

Have You Not Read? with Pastor Ben Carruthers

• Central Lutheran Church

Share episode

A single question flips the room: have you not read. We take that line from Jesus and follow it through a grainfield, a temple, and a minivan full of questions, asking why a law meant for rest became a rule intended to measure, and how compassion rewrites the script without erasing the text. With Mark 2:23–28 as our anchor, we sit with the tension between Sabbath as gift and Sabbath as performance. Jesus reminds the watchers and the weary that the day of rest was made to serve people. When hunger meets holiness, love leads the way.

We also reexamine the Pharisees. Not all were scheming; many were sincere, carried by curiosity, tradition, and the fear of getting God wrong. That makes them feel close to us. Adults have layers of influence that train us to see what fits our story and skip what doesn’t. Kids in the temple simply saw Jesus heal and sang. That contrast exposes our selective reading: we highlight comfort verses and dodge the hard calls to love enemies, forgive persecutors, and lift the overlooked. The invitation isn’t to toss the law but to read it through mercy, purpose, and the heart of God.

A personal story about a beloved children’s book closes the loop: the words do not change, but we do. Seasons of life widen our capacity to hear and obey. Have you not read becomes less of a rebuke and more of an invitation to read again with fresh eyes, to let Scripture frame our worldview instead of letting our worldview frame Scripture. You are loved and forgiven, and you are also invited to grow—into a Sabbath that restores, a faith that serves, and a life that looks like Jesus. If this speaks to you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review telling us what you’re re-reading with fresh eyes.

Join us! Facebook | Instagram | www.clcelkriver.org


SPEAKER_00:

Well, good morning. My name is Ben Caruthers. I'm an associate pastor here at Central. And we're in the middle of our sermon series, This Is Not Rhetorical, which the ironic part is, is these questions from Jesus are pretty much often rhetorical. And so this morning, before we get into it, Karen mentioned I think there is something that we really need to address, it's pretty important, that Christmas is right around the corner. And so the sermon's gonna be nice and short because we're putting up the treaty right after church today, because this is where I am at. If you want to go to the next one for me, buddy, right there. November 1st, man. It was Christmas. Here we go. So this question, have you not read? Now Jesus asked, but there's 300 questions over that in scripture that Jesus asked. This question, have you not read, is asked about seven times, five in the book of Matthew alone, and then it's repeated through some of the other gospels. So here's a question here that he brings up a lot. And another ironic point about this is that when he says, have you not read, he's asking it to people who've done all the reading. He's asking it to people who know the law, who've read the scriptures. And so what does that mean for us? We're familiar with questions, right? When we get asked questions or when we ask questions, humans is a little different than when Jesus does. When we ask questions, it's to gain knowledge, maybe to clear something up or solve a problem, be creative or innovative. When Jesus asks questions, it's to teach, it's to provoke deeper thought. Engage us in our own faith journey. So if you're like me and you've been coming to this series week after week and been diving into these questions that Jesus asks, you should leave this place feeling a little stretched. You should leave this faith or this place feeling a little bit of what's happening right now in your faith journey. Because these questions are designed to stretch us, to pull us, to grow our faith deeper in God. And that's our goal this morning. So the question is how are you going to respond to this question? Have you not read? Sometimes we get bombarded with questions and just talk. There's so much talk going on in the world. And this happens a lot for me in particular with my youngest boy, Ezra. Ezra is a talker. Especially when it's just me and him in the car. There was a week, a day this week where I drove Ezie just himself to school. It's about a 15, 20 minute drive. And the moment the door shut, the mouth stays open. I mean, it doesn't stop. And it's just questions and questions. And at first I'm engaged, I'm listening, but after five minutes, my mind kind of wanders. And then I go to dad mode where it's just like, uh-huh. Yeah. I don't even know what I'm saying a haunt to. I don't know what he's asking, but I'm like, huh? Yeah, good, buddy, good. And we get all the way down to school, the guy's still going. And but there's a little bit of a pause, and then he asks a question. He asks a question that really I had to pay attention to. And if I would have missed it, I would have missed out an opportunity with me and him. After 15 minutes of nonstop talking and questioning, asking, he he he he stops for a second, and then he asks, Dad, do I talk too much? Like, no, man. But I stopped for a second. Because somehow, perhaps in my response to him, over those past 15 minutes, that's the answer that he was getting. Was maybe I do talk too much. Maybe my dad's not paying attention to me. And so let me tell you now, when we're in the car together, and he's talking a lot, I'm listening. Because he's waiting for me to respond. This morning, we have an opportunity to respond to this question, have you not read? So before we dive into it, will you pray with me? God, we give you thanks and praise for this morning, a time to gather, a time to worship. We thank you so much for the kids and the youth that fill this place with your energy, just like the pastors this morning said, man, kids praising and singing and throwing money at the pastor and all this stuff. Man, we give you thanks and praise for the energy in this place. We pray that energy continues as we dive into your word and we struggle with these questions that you ask us today. What do you mean when you ask us, have we not read? What does that mean? Does it mean that we have the scriptures memorized, or does it mean something else? So, Lord, be in this place. Open up our hearts and our minds receive your word, and let us be open to the stretch. It's in your name we pray. Amen. Alright, so we're gonna start with that Mark chapter. We're gonna start with that Mark verse, and we'll talk about the Matthew in a little bit. So recap what she read. Mark chapter 2, 23 through 28. Now we read it from the NRSV this morning. This translation is from the message, which I enjoy a little bit, and I think you'll see why. It says this on the Sabbath day he was walking through a field of ripe grain. As his disciples made a path, they pulled off the heads of grain. The Pharisees told on them to Jesus. They were like, hey, they went and did the, you know, hey, look what they're doing. They went and told on Jesus, look, your disciples are breaking Sabbath rules. Next one. Jesus said, Really? Haven't you ever read what David did when he was hungry along with those who were with him? How he entered the sanctuary and ate fresh bread off the altar, with the chief priest Abathar right there watching, holy bread that no one but priests were allowed to eat, and handed it out to his companions. Then Jesus said, The Sabbath was made to serve us. We weren't made to serve the Sabbath. The Son of Man is no yes man to the Sabbath, he's in charge. So we have this incredible scene where Jesus and his disciples are walking perhaps probably from town to town. They're walking through this grain field. And the interesting part about this is they're they're walking, they're moving to place to place, and there's Pharisees with them. And they're whether they're hungry and they need a little something to eat, and you know, when you're hungry on a road trip, what doesn't scream better than some grain? So they just pick some grain, and whether it's the fact that they ate the grain or the picking of the grain, it happened on the Sabbath. And here are the Pharisees watching them, and they're shocked it's what's happening. Because this is Jesus. This is supposed to be a rabbi, a teacher, and what his friends, what the disciples are doing, is obviously wrong. Right? They know the law, they know what it says in Exodus, they know the law of the Sabbath. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you are shall labor and do no work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You shall not do any work. You, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your town. They know this law, and what they're seeing is someone who also knows the law, a teacher of this law, and his buddies breaking it. And so they say, Whoa, wait a second, Jesus, do you not see what they're doing? They're breaking the law that you teach. And Jesus does a couple things here. One, he brings them back to the story that they also know from 1 Samuel. A story when David is on the run for his life from Saul, him and his buddies. Saul wants him dead. He sent all these people to kill David, and he's hungry, and he has no food, and so he goes into the temple, and there's only the bread that no one is allowed to have, touch, eat except the chief priests. This is against the law. And David goes up and they have a conversation, and the chief priests see that David's in need, and he gives them the bread. He tells them this story of someone in need and he gives them the bread. But then Jesus does something else. He reminds the Pharisees what the Sabbath was all about. What this Sabbath was all about. Because, see, somehow, when it originated, this idea of the Sabbath, this was a beautiful peace and rest moment. An opportunity to be closer to God, to rest physically, spiritually, emotionally, to rest and have a Sabbath. That's what it was created for. Over time, as humans, as we like to do, we have taken something beautiful, created for us to bring us life, and all of a sudden taken it and created to be something that takes away life. And that's what they've done. Something that was meant to give us life, find rest and peace, is now something where people have to worry that eyes are watching everything they're doing on this supposed day of rest. Jesus brings them back to what the Sabbath is all about. It's about this opportunity to be with God, to be at peace, to relax. Now, here's the thing about the Pharisees: they get a bad rap. And likely so, right? We read stories in scriptures where there are Pharisees who are, they're looking for any moment to see if they can trap Jesus, to say that he's doing something wrong, that he's breaking the law. There are stories about that, sure. But in this story, we don't see that. I find it really interesting that these Pharisees are walking with Jesus and his disciples. Why? You see, we have this idea that they're always trying to get them. They're always trying, they're the villain, right? There's something like this. They're the villain of the story, right? It's low-hanging fruit. I had to do it, right? They're the villains and the bad guys, maybe more so like this, right? They're the bad guys. They're always out to get Jesus. Now let's pause for just a moment. Maybe that's true for some. But remember, these are people who love God, who were trained in the scriptures, who know the law, who are trying their best to honor God with their actions. And here comes someone who claims to be a teacher, a rabbi, it's not lining up with what they know. Maybe it's not malicious. Maybe they're following Jesus out of curiosity. Maybe they're following Jesus to see what he's going to do next. Maybe they're following Jesus just to be with him and experience him. Maybe they're not the bad guys here. Maybe they're just walking with Jesus and his disciples to be in his presence. Because these Pharisees have built up a worldview. They have built up a way that they think the world should work. And Jesus, what he is speaking and how he is living, is tearing that down piece by piece. And as the adults in this room know, change is hard. Change is difficult. And the older we get and the more we build into our worldview of what we think is right and what we think is wrong and how we should live, it gets harder and harder to change that narrative, to change our story. With kids, not so much. Ryan talked about this last week a little bit in that second passage today from Matthew 21. We see the willingness of kids to just see Jesus. In that passage, man, it's right before Jesus kind of turns the table, right after. Jesus turns the table in the temple. And so the chief priests are in there, and Jesus is healing people in the temple. And the chief priests are looking at him, wondering what is going on, and but the kids see Jesus and they sing. The kids simply see Jesus and what he's doing and how he's treating these people and healing people. They start to sing praises. Because the child's worldview hasn't had years and years and years of influence. A child's worldview, they haven't got on social media yet and scrolled to see what they think they should believe. They just see Jesus and they sing. But us adults, it's a little different. We suffer from maybe something called selective hearing, selective seeing, selective reading. Last week, we were sitting, my wife and I were sitting down in our comfy chairs in our living room, and I turned to her and I said, I'm taking all four of our kids to the eye doctor. All four of them. And she's like, why? And she's like, and I'm like, I'm just gonna do it. I'm like, and this is what's gonna happen. We're gonna go there, they're all gonna sit in the chair, they're gonna do whatever they do. I have no idea, but one or two, one or two. I don't know. They don't work. So just give me something. They're all gonna sit in the chair, they're all gonna pass with flying colors, they're gonna have 2020 vision. And then I'm gonna go in the office store. I'll be saying, I see the problem here. You're letting them look at letters. Please replace the letters with dirty clothes, uh, socks on the floor, garbages that are overflowing, a dog that needs to be let out, and they will go blind, I promise you. They won't see a thing. We had a granola bar wrapper at the base of our steps for a week. I saw my kids do this. I saw my kids make a game out of it. They didn't see it. After a week, I'm like, pick up the wrapper. And they're like, Oh, I never saw it there. Selective seeing. See, as adults, we have it. Because we've had all of these years to build up what we believe, and it's really hard when change comes around. It's really hard when the life of Jesus and his teachings of Jesus might go against what we have come to know as true. Because we have built our idea of what life is. We've built this idea of what faith should look like. We've built this idea of what a life should look like. We've built an idea of what we think a marriage should look like. Friendships should look like. What does it look like to be a brother, a sister? We've built this idea of what it looks like to be an employer. We've built this idea of what side of the political aisle we should be on. We've built this idea of who we should allow to have influence over our life. And here we are, 30, 40, 50 years old, and you're at church one day, and you hear Jesus asking these questions, have you not read? And then you dive into the scriptures, and you hear how Jesus loved his enemies, and you hear how Jesus loved the unlovable. You hear how Jesus forgave those who persecuted him, and you look at your vision of what truth is, what life is, and that doesn't fit. The whole life and teachings of Jesus don't fit, but parts of them do. John 3.16, I love that. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, I like that. I can make that fit. I can go right there. How about Jeremiah 29, 11? For I know the plans I have he declares. Good plans, really good plans, not to harm. I like that. I can find space for that. Philippians 4 13. I can do all things through him. I love that. Parents out there, how about Ephesians 6.1? Children, obey your parents. We got room for that. Pastors and preachers out there, Acts 20, verse 9. A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in the window, began to sink off into a deep sleep while Paul was preaching. Overcome by sleep, he fell to the ground three floors and died. Keep it short, pastors. Keep it short. We got room for that. We got room for that. See, and this is what our worldview kind of looks like. It's a lot of us. It's a lot of our thoughts. A little bit of Jesus in there. And then he asks, have you not read? And we start to look and we think, we think we have. But maybe we got some stuff wrong. Maybe after all of these years, Jesus is asking us, maybe just today, and give it a shot, to put that aside and let this be it. Let that be it. Because have you not read means looking at Jesus. And the way that he loved others. The things that he taught. Because he didn't go against the law. Jesus was the word made flesh. And that involves stretching. That involves change. And that's why he asked the question seven times. To those who knew the law, who knew the scriptures, have you not read? And here's the beautiful thing about this is that this model over here changes all the time. It changes with a flick on social media, it changes with a news story, it changes by something that happens in your life. This never changes. This never changes. But we do. We do. And I want to leave you with this thought. Years ago, a matter of fact, January of 2002, I received this book from my mom. And I remember it exactly January, January 12th, 2002, because it's that day where I left to go for a year-long mission trip to Australia. And I was a big mama's boy. Still am. Hi, mom, she's watching. And uh this was a big thing for her to let her boy go for a whole year. And she gave me this book, Love You Forever. Has anyone ever read this book? All right, there you go. Someone like, of course we've all read it. Just it's okay. I'm not gonna read it all for two reasons. One, it's kind of long, and two, we've done enough crying up here for the past month that we're covered. But it's a sweet book about this mother who loves her son, and every night she says words to him, I'll love you forever, my your my mommy you'll be. Or yeah, my mommy, I'll be your mommy, I'll be. Maybe I should read it. And the kid continues to grow up and grow up, and he's a teenager, and she still says this to him as he rocks him to sleep. I read it on the plane, and I thought, that's a cute book. But I was going to Australia for a year. I was pretty excited. I picked this book up in the middle of the month of January, just a couple weeks after being there, when I was feeling really homesick. When I had missed my family, where I had missed my mom. The words in this book did not change. The pictures in this book did not change, but where I was in my life did, and it meant something different. I picked this book up now with a dad of four kids, and at the end of this book, it's the son that goes over to his mother's house and rocks her to sleep saying the same words. And I read that book now, and it means something different to me. The pictures haven't changed, the words haven't changed, but I have. And Jesus turns to you and says, Have you not read? You're forgiven. That reads a little different. Because this doesn't change. We do. And so have you not read, Central Lutheran Church, that you are beloved children of God, forgiven and loved, just as who you are, but in this moment, this stretching moment, maybe God won't let you stay that way. Maybe he wants you to experience him in a new way today and know him more. Amen.

Head Shot

Ryan Braley

Host