Sermon on the Mount – Part 1 (By Ben Fronczek)
Once upon a time out in a southern prairie,
there was this huge colony of ants. In a somewhat isolated place their
colony flourished for generations. They had been there so long and
worked on their nest for so such a long time that there was a six foot
tall mound of dirt on top of the ground and hundreds of feet of caves
below. Now whether you realize it or not, most of the eggs that are laid
by the queens grow up to become wingless, sterile females who are the
“workers”. But every now and then a male comes along. In this particular
nest a young male was born, and he was one good looking ant, (at least a
lot of the other ants told him that he was). Even though he was small
he was strong and was able to do his job quite well, and very fast.
Seeing that he was so strong and moved quick, it was decide that he
would be sent out of the nest to gather food. As usual, he did this job
very well, and gathered more food than any of the other ants. The other
ants also notices that he was a fairly smart ant, and quite wise. Eventually he thought that he deserved more
recognition, he was strong, good looking, he did his job well, so he
thought he deserved more. He went to the foreman ant and demanded
better lodging, and a higher position. But the foreman could not do
anything for him and told him that he had to speak to someone higher up.
So during his free time that ant went from the manager to the
supervisor, to the boss, and even to the big boss ant and basically they
all told him the same thing, ‘that they never had anyone make such a
request and that they could do nothing about what he wanted. He would
have to go to someone higher up’. So eventually, he made his mind up to
go right to the top, he would seek an audience with the queen. And why
not, he was a good looking, hard working, and a somewhat intelligent
ant. Shouldn’t he deserve more? Well the day finally came, his audience
with the queen, his mother. Well, she was actually the mother of all the
ants. Mother of thousands upon thousands of ants in that colony. She
was very old, and wise, and she was so much larger than the little male
ant. She looked like a giant compared to him, and she seem very busy. As
the little male ant stated his case before the queen he almost felt
that the queen was just too busy, ready to lay even more eggs. She said,
“Yes I see that you are a handsome little things, and I heard that you
have done very well at your job of collecting food for the colony, and
now you say you want something more. Oh my, I’ve never had any other ant
ask for more, a promotion per say. All of us ant are born with a job to do and we simply do it, including me. My job is to bring more and more of you into the world and lay more and more eggs”. She told him, “I think you need to talk to
someone even higher up than me.” And the little male ant asked, “Is
there someone with even more power and authority than you?” And she
responded by saying, “Oh yes my dear, you need to talk to our creator
and our God. So go forth and find Him and He will help you understand
what you need to know.” As he left the queen and then left the
nest, and began to scurry away from the ant mound he wondered where He
could find the creator. He decided to go to the highest place he knew,
to the top of the big old tree on the plain. It took him two days to
climb to the top. After he reached the top he was amazed how far he
could see. So much farther than he ever saw before. At the top of the
tree, on one of the highest branches, he began to call out to the
creator. Almost all day he waited and continued to plead for an audience
with God to ask for more. And then at dusk the Lord came to him. And so the Lord spoke to the little male
ant and asked, “Tell me little fellow, what is on your mind.” And so the
little ant proceeded to tell the Lord all that was on his mind; how
because he was such a good worker, even quicker than most, and because
he was so good looking, and even intelligent and wise, he told the Lord
how he thought that he deserved a better position in the colony, better
accommodations and more. And so the Lord God spoke to the ant
saying, “So you say you are very intelligent and wise. Since you think
this, I would like to show you something.” And before he even realized
it the little ant began to move through the air somehow feeling like
he was being carried by the hand of God. The great field he knew so
very well quickly disappeared behind him. All of a sudden he began to
see things that he could not even imagine. There were all kinds of huge
animals, hundreds even thousands of times bigger than even the queen
ant. More than he could ever have imagined. The Lord set me upon the a
beautiful yet mighty beast called a horse that stood so very high
compared to an ant, and it began to run began to run as fast as the
wind. And then as he moved away from the horse,
up and up, all of a sudden he saw large buildings, so big that they
boggled his little mind. Building that reached up and touched the sky.
He thought that his ant mound was monstrous. The Lord allowed him for a
moment to place his feet on a sky scraper which was over 2500 feet
high. He wondered how anyone could build such a monstrosity. And then he
saw them for the first time, humans erecting one of those structures
and then he began to rise again.
As the Lord lifted him higher and higher
into the air all of a sudden he saw a shiny bird moving across the sky
coming toward them. The wings did not move yet it traveled faster than
any bird he ever saw. As the Lord brought Him closer he saw that it was
not a bird but a huge flying machine filled with even more humans. He
could barely fathom the size of that machine, not to speak of how they
got it off the ground. And then the Lord began to take him higher
and higher now. All of a sudden it turned dark and the stars became
brighter than he ever saw them before. He turned his head and looked
back to see the planet earth leaving them behind. He never had any idea
that he lived on a such beautiful blue ball. They were moving so fast
the earth disappeared very, very quickly. He saw that there was more
than just one planet, there so many, thousands, millions going around
billions of stars. And as they exited out of our galaxy he saw that
there were more glaxies, hundreds if not billions of them containing
trillions of stars and planets. It was more than the little ant could
fathom. And then the Lord said, “I have shown you
only a small portion of my physical creation, now I will show you more.”
And then something happened. He was in a totally different kind of
place. I believe it is what one would call the spiritual realm. There
was bright light that seem radiate love. And the sound of music and
praise resounded everywhere and through everything. He heard many other
wonderful sounds that he could not even imagine hearing. And the colors,
nothing like he ever saw before. There were large and beautiful winged
creatures, everything seemed solid yet transparent. It was sensory
overload for the little ant. He saw thing so glorious it would be
impossible for any earthly being to put into words, yet here he was. But
it was too much. He closed his eyes, and then all of a sudden the music
stopped, and when he opened his eyes he was again sitting in a safe
place atop that tall tree close to his home. And then he heard the Lord speak and say,
“Now little wise ant let me ask you a few questions. After seeing the
other creatures on your world, the animals small and large, and the
humans with their building and machines, where were you when I created
them? As you left the planet so beautiful and blue seeing the untold
number galaxies and stars did your wisdom help me create them? And when I
created the unseen spiritual realm with all its wonders, let me ask
you, how did I do it? And how do I hold it all together so that
everything works with such harmony? Tell me ol’ wise one, how and why I
should honor you?” The little ant on top of the tree all of a
sudden felt very, very, very small. Less than a speck in the universe;
small, trivial, and powerless in the presence of the One who created so
much. What was he compared to those beasts of field he saw, or compared
to a planet, or stars or a galaxy of stars?He told the Lord, “I did not know what I
was talking about. I feel like less than a speck in the grand scheme of
things my Lord. I am so sorry for thinking that I was so important to
this world. Surely I spoke of things I did understand, thing to
wonderful for me to know. You have shown me great wonders and now I feel
like a fool and am sorry for being so arrogant. I humbly bow before
you.” And then he bowed as low as an ant could bow.
And then the Lord said, “One day My Son
stood on a large hill to teach those who would hear Him. He began His
lesson by telling them something which is fundamental and needed by
anyone who wants to learn more, and become a child in my kingdom. Jesus
said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
In other words, it is not the haughty,
boastful and proud that will be happy and blessed by Me with true wisdom
and life, rather it will be the humble individuals, those who are not
puffed up and stuck on themselves. The only way that the mighty horse
that I set you on can be trained and taught is to break his spirit,
because he is a proud animal. I hope that this has taught you something.
The ant returned to his home with a totally
new perspective. Over time he did get a promotion but it was more
because of his hard work and experience in his field. It was not because
of his good looks or because of how smart he thought he was.
Another thing he noticed about the other
ants in the colony, they all just seem so grateful for what they had.
They never sought after more because they were simply thankful for what
they had. He also learned to become thankful for what the creator had
given him. In the great scheme of things and considering what the
creator had showed him, later he often thought,‘Who are you little
ant to demand anything?’
In Proverbs 16:15 it says, “The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.”
Isaiah 2:12 says, “Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.” NAS
James 4:6 says “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
In his last letter
Paul wrote of the future, it may even be our present time, he wrote in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People
will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud,
abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”
From the very beginning of scripture to the
end we see God’s intolerance for those who think they are some kind of
big shot, those who think they know it all and deserve so much more than
others. Rather we see God wants to bless those who are poor in spirit,
those who have a humble heart.
And so what can we do to prevent us from falling into this trap.
There are people in this world who are a
bit diluted and are trying to convince us that we deserve more. Just
watch the ads on your television. You need, even you deserve a new car,
and not just any car but rather a expensive designer car. And furniture,
and a cruise, and the latest I-Phone, and I-Pad, and the list goes on.
You just deserve it.
And don’t settle for what your parents had.
Go for the gusto! You deserve it, you are smart, and educated, and good
looking. Don’t settle for less. And that line of thinking has led to
unrealistic debt and why I think there are so many today going around
feeling depressed; because there are too many that don’t have the means
to acquire what we are told people should have.
The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12:3 “Do
not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of
yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has
distributed to each of you.”
I can’t help but think that in many ways we
are like that little ant who did not realize how small and obscure he
was in grand scheme of things, compared to all creation, and compared to
a God that can create and manipulate it all. For example, in recent years whith help of
the Hubble telescope, scientists have learned much about the universe
which we live in. We are all familiar with our solar system and stars,
and even a grouping of stars called a galaxy. But did you know this;
that the smallest galaxies observed contain over a 10 million stars
each? They probably each have their own planets circling them. Our own
Milky Way Galaxy has an estimated 200 billion stars. Our closest
neighboring Galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy contains an est. one trillion
stars. And there are some larger galaxies out there that contain up to
100 trillion stars. That a lot of stars and solar systems.
Now what really blows my mind is the fact
that some scientists estimate that there are possible more than 500
billion Galaxies, and there is a design and order in each and every one
of them. And that’s just the physical universe that we can see. What
about that unseen spiritual realm, how vast is it? Nobody knows.
I often wonder, ‘Who do we think we are to make demands of God the creator, or even think that we are smart enough to doubt His existence.’
Paul said, “Do
not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of
yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has
distributed to each of you.”
Like the ant, God has communicated with
mankind and has given us not only glimpses of His glory, but also what
He desires from us, because He loves us. And it all begin with a humble
heart; one not so full of self that we can’t see beyond our own nose.
Even though we are small compared to the
vastness of all creation God has let us know that He love us and wants
up to be part of His eternal realm. He loves us so much that He was
willing to send His one and only Son to show us what he is like, he also
sent him to deal with our impurity and sin, that is if we would only
believe in Him and accept this wonderful gift. But the choice is ours.
So my encouragement is this today:
“Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment. Don’t
let yourself become so proud, or arrogant that it blinds you to the
truth. Come to appreciate what you have, and don’t worry about what you
don’t have. If you are meant to have something down the road, you will
get. In the mean time, be thankful and enjoy what you have today!
