7/6/25 Matt. 11:16-19, 25-30 “Some Great Wisdom!”

03 Jul 7/6/25 Matt. 11:16-19, 25-30 “Some Great Wisdom!”

7/6/25    Matt. 11:16-19, 25-30      “Some Great Wisdom!”

I hope you all had a wonderful 4^th of July.  It is a good time of year for a celebration.  I cannot help but think of my dad during this time of year.  Usually, it was a little quieter around July 4 because the crops were in and sprayed.  We would have finished the first cutting of hay.  So, we usually had the day off on the farm.  I remember once when one of the neighbors came over to talk to my dad.  It was not my conversation so I just vacated the area.  This happened often on our farm.  The neighbor and dad would lean over the box of the pickup and talk.  They would talk for half an hour or so and leave.  It would be a little later in life that I realized what was going on.  People would come and ask my dad for advice on different things.  People came for his wisdom.  Now you know that I talk about a lot of things from the Bible and I am probably pretty qualified to talk about many of them.  But this is one are where I’m not so sure I have the wisdom to talk about wisdom.  I’m going to give it a try and let’s see if I can help you find some wisdom, the wisdom that only comes from God.

It has been said that if you want knowledge, go to more schooling.  If you want wisdom, go to your knees. This is very sound advice.  I think the following story will help understand better.  When Corrie Ten Boom of the Holocaust and The Hiding Place fame was a little girl in Holland, her first realization of death came after a visit to the home of a neighbor who had died. It impressed her that someday her parents would also die. Corrie’s father comforted her with words of wisdom. “Corrie, when you and I go to Amsterdam, when do I give you your ticket?” “Why, just before we get on the train,” she replied. “Exactly,” her father said, “and our wise Father in heaven knows when we’re going to need things too. Don’t run out ahead of Him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need–just in time.”  God will be there helping.  This is just another example of you needing to be in prayer on a daily basis.  That way God will help you.

Most of you probably know that the Bible is full of wisdom.  In books like Proverbs, we find that wisdom is talked about openly and often.  In other books like Matthew, we talk about it in a round about way.  The thing Matthew talks about today and just about any other day, is wisdom.  Matthew did not get his wisdom from school.  He got his wisdom from Jesus Christ.  And that is the way we get it today.  If you are truly a wise person, then this comes from Jesus.  He is the only way to wisdom.

So how does Jesus start the day in our reading.  It almost seems like He is having a bad day but I don’t think that is possible.  But I do think that the people around Him could be having a bad day.  He says they would not dance to the music or mourn for a dirge.  This is pretty basic stuff.  He is trying to tell them that He has done all these wonderful things for their lives but they do not see it.  They do not acknowledge it.  He has been with them for a while and they still don’t understand who He is!  As a matter of fact, they see just the opposite.  John The Baptist came and they could only see some sort of deranged man and not a precursor to Jesus.  Then Jesus came and they all said he was a glutton and drunkard.  These types of lies and innuendos remind me of what is happening today.  This is crazy stuff.

At least after 2000 years we are a lot better.  Or are we?  I remember that before I was a pastor, I was attacked far more often than after I became a pastor.  I think that this is because people thought I was just as ignorant as they were before becoming a pastor.  After I became a pastor people felt that I must know something because they sure didn’t.  But now with over 90,000 followers on social media, things have changed again.  People have no respect for me or for God.  They will talk like God does not exist or that He is the god that they have defined or they are better, stronger and smarter than God or just about any derogatory remark about God.  There is just no respect.

And all of this clearly shows up in our society.  There really is no place that you can look, and this includes churches, that are not inundated with sin! Then we find what Oswald Chambers was really talking about in his quote, ”Sin destroys the capacity to know what sin is!”  Think about that for a minute.  We have so much sin around us that most people do not know what sin is anymore.  I dare you to take your Bibles and compare them to what is happening in this country.  We are doing so many things that are totally against the Bible.  They are everywhere.  The thing about this that is sure is that God will not put up with this forever.  Please make sure you are on the right side with God.  Confess you sins to Jesus and ask Him to live in your heart as your Lord and Savior.  This may be the only thing that saves you if Jesus comes back tomorrow.

So far, we have not been wise when this was written or today as we rejected Jesus.  We also have to remember that Jesus is far more intelligent than we are.  He knows what we will do next.  He knows that the more learned we are, the less we will accept what He is telling us.  Therefore, He hides this message from the scribes, scholars and learned people.  He knows that they will not get it anyway, so He hides the message.  At this point the learned probably don’t even realize that they don’t know the key part to all of this.

Jesus makes this easy.  He does this so that everyone will have a chance to come to Him.  Being He is God; He could have made requirements all over the place.  He could have said that you have to witness to so many people.  He could have said that you needed to come down really hard on the infidels.  He could have said that you had to be able to read and understand the Bible.  But He did not do any of these things and more.  Instead, He made it so simple that even a child could follow Him.  His only rule is that you must believe in all that He has said and done.  Simple belief was all you needed.

So why don’t we have more people following today?  There could be many answers to this but I would like to go into one.  We don’t follow because we are free.  As I said earlier, we really are not free at all but we think we are.  Therefore, others had better not be telling me how I think because I know I’m right and you are wrong.  Do you understand that?  How many of you like to be told that you are wrong?  That is not how we are taught to operate in this country.  When it comes right down to it, we are wrong far, far more than we like to believe.  I really don’t think we are any better at this and we might even be far worse.  It’s a problem.

So, what does God do in His infinite wisdom?  Well, He tells the children and not the wise people who think they are always right.  Just to prove this, I will tell you a little about children’s time at our churches.  I have done children’s time for many years and I always really enjoy it.  Some Sundays it is the highlight of my day.  Anyway, I want to tell you that these little children cannot wait to tell me about Jesus, God and angels.  That is because they have seen them and remember them.  All you have to do is ask them.  They will tell you.  Now let us turn that around a little.  How many of you have seen God or Jesus or angels?  When was the last time that you saw a miracle?  It is no wonder that God chose to tell the little ones because their minds are not cluttered with all of our grown-up thought garbage.  God has the wisdom to tell the people who really believe in Him.  He tells the children.

We know that God chooses who He will use and tell His plans.  It usually is not us.  Therefore, listen to the children.  Now, Jesus shifts gear a little.  He tells his listeners and us that all, all things have been committed to Him by the Father.  He tells the crowd, the people who have been following Him since the beginning, that no one knows the Son except the Father.  This works the other way also.  No one knows the Father except the Son and those the Son chooses to reveal things.  Hopefully, we are all wise enough to see how this works.  It works because God set it in motion through the Son and the Holy Spirit.  There were also some select people who Jesus helped to know this better.  This is why the disciples had so much power after Jesus had left.

Now there may be some of you who think that being a pastor is a pretty easy job.  Basically, all your pastor has to do is show up on Sunday with a new service in hand.  You often fail to realize that maybe he has had a long week.  Maybe there was a funeral and a wedding.  There are confirmation classes and youth groups to get ready.  There are numerous visits that have to be made.  Plus, he has to be ready for someone to come and put all their problems on his shoulders.  In addition, there are many other things that are day to day.  By the time I used to get to Sunday morning, I was tired.  I was worn out but not many people seemed to notice.  I was privy to every little dirty secret of the congregation.  It was tiring.  Even today, when I’m only filling in for the service, I’m very tired after I get done because I take this responsibility very seriously.  But I will keep urging you to show Jesus Christ to all you know.  If you do this, then He will give you the power you need.  His formula is very simple but in a world that does not believe, it is very tiring.

So, now Jesus urges you to “come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  This statement is wisdom at its finest.  This was the first thing and last thing and the middle thing that I used to do every week.  Talking with Jesus is what gets most pastors through their days and weeks.  I try to tell you that I don’t come up with ideas for sermons, Jesus does.  I don’t know who needs visiting, Jesus does.  And most of all, I don’t know how to rest but Jesus does.  He takes me by the hand and leads me to quiet waters.  It is absolutely amazing how much Jesus can do for you if you just let Him.  Talk to Him in prayer.  Talk to Him when you are driving.  Talk to Him as much as you can and He will give you all you need plus way, way more.

Now you may be thinking “what about me?”  I’m not a pastor and I get tired also.  So, what about you?  Where are you at today?  One of the problems we have in today’s society is that we have so many lukewarm Christians or they also might think they are Christian but they really are not.  Most of the Bible is written for Christians.  Much of it is written so that people will know what goodness lies ahead for them in their walk with Jesus.  But most of the things will not come to pass unless you take care of one detail.  As I said earlier, you need to confess, repent and ask Jesus to live in your heart.  Then and only then, you become eligible for wondrous things like love, peace, hope and as we are discussing today, rest.

Those who have not done this will not have real rest.  I have been a Christian for many years.  I have never been able to understand why people don’t come to Jesus.  He offers the best life possible and the price is basically free.  Maybe that it is free is our hangup.  I don’t know.  But what I do know is that I had a terrible life for many years before I found Jesus.  He has turned me around and given me far, far more than I deserve.  And I know that he is always near for me when I need Him.  And He is there for you also.  He will give you real rest.

My problem is that I forget to call on Him.  I get tired from trying to fend off Satan all the time.  You get tired from whatever obstacles that you fight.  No matter what, we have to, have to remember this.  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

You live in a world that is so busy and active.  You get tired.  I dare you to find better news than this.  This is wisdom to the nth degree.  People, quit trying to do everything yourself.  There is no way that you can out God God.  So quit trying.  Go to Him for rest.  The rest that you so desperately need.

Then He will give you rest and much more.  He will give you His love, peace, joy, patience and so much more.  He is waiting for you to come to Him.  Many things He will not do unless you ask.  This is why you need a daily prayer life.  This is why you are to pray continuously.  Jesus paid a huge price so that you would not have to pay at all.

Jesus Christ is our wisdom for today and every day.   Please remember that He loves you beyond your capacity to understand.  That is why I say, go to Him and go to Him often.  He is waiting.  He loves you and loves you.  And thank you, Jesus, for first loving us.  Let’s pray.