1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:05,000 Parables are these beautiful, radical, earth changing ways of 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:07,640 teachings. Jesus doesn't just teach 3 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:14,760 parables, Jesus is a parable. It's good to see you guys. 4 00:00:15,490 --> 00:00:17,410 I missed you a lot these last couple weeks. 5 00:00:17,410 --> 00:00:20,530 It's so good to be back with you guys and back in front of you 6 00:00:20,530 --> 00:00:22,730 guys. Like like Terra said, we just 7 00:00:22,730 --> 00:00:25,530 welcomed our third kid and into the into the world just a few 8 00:00:25,530 --> 00:00:28,570 weeks ago. So little Jack is is right here 9 00:00:28,570 --> 00:00:32,210 And so you guys were kind enough to give me 3-4 weeks to do kind 10 00:00:32,210 --> 00:00:34,850 of a little bit of a maternity sabbatical or sabbatical. 11 00:00:34,850 --> 00:00:40,400 So that was awesome and I'm so grateful for that to get rest 12 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,120 these last couple weeks I kind of visited other churches and it 13 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:46,000 was great because I got to visit some of the I think of the best 14 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,760 and most faithful churches in the Des Moines area and and that 15 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:51,520 was awesome. And as awesome as it is to go 16 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:54,280 visit other churches and go worship and study at other 17 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:56,880 churches, it's a good feeling to be like man, this church is 18 00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:59,440 awesome but like I miss. I miss Frontier. 19 00:00:59,950 --> 00:01:01,110 And so it's really good to be back here. 20 00:01:01,110 --> 00:01:04,110 Our kids in particular, I mean they're, they super missed 21 00:01:04,110 --> 00:01:05,670 Frontier. There was a week, a couple weeks 22 00:01:05,670 --> 00:01:08,630 ago where I was like, OK guys, we're all going to jump in the 23 00:01:08,630 --> 00:01:10,910 car and we're going to go to this church all the way over 24 00:01:10,910 --> 00:01:12,590 here. It's a different church. 25 00:01:12,590 --> 00:01:14,270 It's not our church. It's going to be great. 26 00:01:14,270 --> 00:01:16,390 They love Jesus too. And our kids were like, hey, 27 00:01:16,390 --> 00:01:19,990 that's great. Is Asha going to be there and 28 00:01:20,390 --> 00:01:25,950 Joseph, Levi and Ezra and Zion and Malachi and Reese and Ray? 29 00:01:25,950 --> 00:01:27,630 Are they, are they going to come with us? 30 00:01:27,630 --> 00:01:31,150 I was like, no, they're part of our church. 31 00:01:31,630 --> 00:01:33,750 And Russell was like, what's the point? 32 00:01:36,150 --> 00:01:39,590 And so they really missed it. And they're really, really, 33 00:01:39,590 --> 00:01:42,070 really happy to be back in these last couple weeks. 34 00:01:42,070 --> 00:01:44,830 It just really does kind of remind me of the special 35 00:01:44,830 --> 00:01:47,870 relationship that I feel like you and me have. 36 00:01:47,870 --> 00:01:50,110 I've got other buddies who are pastors. 37 00:01:50,110 --> 00:01:52,910 We're part of other networks. So I spent a lot of time talking 38 00:01:52,910 --> 00:01:55,550 to other pastors and I hear about their relationship with 39 00:01:55,550 --> 00:01:57,980 the church. And I don't think it's a rare 40 00:01:57,980 --> 00:02:02,140 thing for churches to sometimes treat their pastors or forget 41 00:02:02,140 --> 00:02:07,490 that their pastors are also husbands and and fathers and 42 00:02:07,490 --> 00:02:09,729 first and foremost lovers of of Jesus. 43 00:02:09,729 --> 00:02:12,690 Sometimes other churches just kind of have the tendency to use 44 00:02:12,690 --> 00:02:16,010 their pastor for for ministry. And I don't feel like you and me 45 00:02:16,010 --> 00:02:20,090 really have that relationship. We feel celebrated by taking 46 00:02:20,090 --> 00:02:22,650 three or four weeks off. We feel like you're in our 47 00:02:22,650 --> 00:02:25,530 corner. And so it feels really great to 48 00:02:25,530 --> 00:02:27,570 be a part of a church that I get to lead. 49 00:02:27,730 --> 00:02:31,770 But you also know that first and foremost, I'm a child of God. 50 00:02:32,730 --> 00:02:35,730 That that means a lot. You, you see me as a human being 51 00:02:36,450 --> 00:02:42,090 with, with a wife and with kids and and with a mustache. 52 00:02:42,250 --> 00:02:49,850 Now I got to be honest with you, I when I grew, when I shaved the 53 00:02:49,850 --> 00:02:51,690 mustache. I'm just kind of doing that as a 54 00:02:51,690 --> 00:02:54,650 joke a couple weeks ago, because I had three or four weeks. 55 00:02:54,650 --> 00:02:56,090 I never get three or four weeks off. 56 00:02:56,130 --> 00:02:57,650 So I was like, what am I not going to do? 57 00:02:57,650 --> 00:03:01,010 Like not shave a mustache for these three weeks? 58 00:03:01,010 --> 00:03:04,730 So I shaved it off just for a a joke. 59 00:03:04,730 --> 00:03:07,450 And then the reviews started pouring in from you guys. 60 00:03:08,330 --> 00:03:12,730 Lots of negative ones. I started to think, oh, this is 61 00:03:12,730 --> 00:03:15,730 actually kind of fun. In fact, I wrote some of them 62 00:03:15,730 --> 00:03:19,370 down. Here's what you guys said. 63 00:03:20,850 --> 00:03:25,010 You look like the poor man's Justin Spade. 64 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:32,360 Yeah, right. I think that was it, too. 65 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:35,640 You look like a hipster Magnum Pi. 66 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:39,000 That one was actually Tracy Self. 67 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:41,000 So I think she was actually just being nice to me. 68 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,120 So that one, actually, that one kind of hit home quite a bit. 69 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:48,480 You look like a guy who gets excited about buying a minivan. 70 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:55,510 True. No, he This one's a little 71 00:03:55,510 --> 00:03:56,910 insider. I'm going to do it anyways. 72 00:03:57,110 --> 00:04:00,630 You look like a young wannabe Paul Tripp. 73 00:04:05,670 --> 00:04:10,110 Apparently that one resonated. Here's the one that really hurt 74 00:04:10,110 --> 00:04:13,110 my feelings, though, and this is what actually what almost caused 75 00:04:13,110 --> 00:04:15,990 me to shave the mustache off and just get rid of it. 76 00:04:16,470 --> 00:04:21,390 Someone in our church, I think it was, Zach said to me. 77 00:04:22,980 --> 00:04:26,420 Oh, so you're trying to be like Nick Powell. 78 00:04:30,060 --> 00:04:32,740 I was like, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna shave it off right now. 79 00:04:32,900 --> 00:04:36,700 I think that the toughest thing has been the response from my 80 00:04:36,740 --> 00:04:39,380 from my own family. Again, really, really mixed 81 00:04:39,380 --> 00:04:41,460 reviews. I I've seen the videos. 82 00:04:41,460 --> 00:04:43,260 I've had like a beard for like 10 years. 83 00:04:43,260 --> 00:04:46,020 So if you don't know me, that's it was a big deal. 84 00:04:46,020 --> 00:04:49,820 I've seen, like the unveiling videos, you know, when dads 85 00:04:49,820 --> 00:04:52,300 shave off their beards and they see their kids and their kids 86 00:04:52,300 --> 00:04:54,860 cry, you know, And I was like, oh, I want to do something like 87 00:04:54,860 --> 00:04:56,940 that. And so I didn't tell anybody. 88 00:04:57,140 --> 00:04:59,420 I shaved it all off besides a mustache. 89 00:04:59,540 --> 00:05:02,460 And I go out and look at my kids, and I think this is what 90 00:05:02,460 --> 00:05:04,420 hurt most. They looked at me and they go, 91 00:05:08,300 --> 00:05:13,100 can you get us a snack? It's like the beard meant 92 00:05:13,100 --> 00:05:16,660 nothing to him. You know, Chloe likes it. 93 00:05:18,060 --> 00:05:21,920 That's all that matters my my immediate family. 94 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:24,960 It's kind of a divisive subject. My sister said. 95 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:30,000 What is growing on your face? And again, it was all just a 96 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,880 joke until I started talking to my father about it. 97 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:36,480 And he had a mustache like all throughout the 80s and like all 98 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:38,720 throughout the 90s, like he had one of those, like thick 99 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:43,790 Caterpillar American mustaches. And I was just kind of like, I 100 00:05:43,790 --> 00:05:46,430 was just going to complain to him being like, Dad, I feel like 101 00:05:46,430 --> 00:05:49,670 I'd keep the mustache if it were like, if it were like yours, you 102 00:05:49,670 --> 00:05:52,070 know, like a thick, Caterpillar American mustache. 103 00:05:52,070 --> 00:05:56,110 I feel like I'm stuck with, like, this thin, wispy European 104 00:05:56,110 --> 00:05:58,710 mustache, you know? And I was just kind of joking, 105 00:05:58,710 --> 00:06:01,470 but my dad just kind of listened to me complain. 106 00:06:01,590 --> 00:06:05,430 And then he said, son, be patient. 107 00:06:05,430 --> 00:06:10,590 I was like, so we're doing this now. 108 00:06:12,230 --> 00:06:14,320 We're doing this. Maybe. 109 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:16,840 I know it's hard when you're an organizational leader. 110 00:06:16,840 --> 00:06:22,360 It's hard because, like, it's not just my mustache, You know, 111 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:24,960 I get up here because. Yeah, that's right. 112 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:26,800 Right. When you bring your friends to 113 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:29,320 church, they have to listen to a guy with a mustache breach to 114 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:31,120 them. So I get it's kind of hard. 115 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:33,360 It's not just my mustache. It's our mustache. 116 00:06:35,220 --> 00:06:36,380 I'm probably going to shave it today. 117 00:06:36,420 --> 00:06:38,900 I I do have. Let's get let's get the word of 118 00:06:38,900 --> 00:06:40,500 God in front of us. If you got a Bible, go ahead and 119 00:06:40,500 --> 00:06:42,740 stand. If you don't have a Bible, 120 00:06:42,740 --> 00:06:44,060 there's one right in front of you. 121 00:06:44,060 --> 00:06:49,180 We are in Mark, chapter 4, verses 21 through 25. 122 00:06:49,820 --> 00:06:52,980 I'll get those on the screen. Let's get our minds and hearts 123 00:06:52,980 --> 00:06:55,220 in front of the word of God and let's let this get into our 124 00:06:55,220 --> 00:06:58,380 souls and transform us. Jesus is in in the middle of a 125 00:06:58,380 --> 00:07:01,260 series. He shotgunning through parables, 126 00:07:01,260 --> 00:07:03,780 teaching about what life with him is like and life in the 127 00:07:03,780 --> 00:07:06,380 Kingdom of God. And I think that what Jesus 128 00:07:06,380 --> 00:07:11,140 senses right now is frustration from his disciples who probably 129 00:07:11,140 --> 00:07:14,500 wish that he would just speak and teach a little bit more 130 00:07:14,500 --> 00:07:20,620 clearly. Verse 21 And Jesus said to them 131 00:07:21,620 --> 00:07:26,780 is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed 132 00:07:27,290 --> 00:07:32,090 and not on a stand. For nothing is hidden except to 133 00:07:32,090 --> 00:07:37,010 be made manifest, nor is anything secret except to come 134 00:07:37,010 --> 00:07:40,210 to light. So if anyone has ears to hear, 135 00:07:41,290 --> 00:07:45,010 let him hear verse 24 the 2nd parable. 136 00:07:45,450 --> 00:07:49,370 And he said to them, pay attention to what you hear with 137 00:07:49,370 --> 00:07:53,730 the measure you use. It will be measured to you, and 138 00:07:53,730 --> 00:07:59,250 still more will be added to you. For to the one who has more will 139 00:07:59,250 --> 00:08:05,050 be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will 140 00:08:05,050 --> 00:08:13,930 be taken away. Heavenly Father, I pray that 141 00:08:13,930 --> 00:08:16,490 through the preaching of your word this morning you would 142 00:08:17,130 --> 00:08:26,240 reveal yourself to us. Nobody brings a lamp in to hide 143 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:30,800 it under a bed, and so you have not, you have not hidden 144 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:38,320 yourself from us. It's not hard to look into the 145 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:42,960 cosmos and to see a loving God upholding and sustaining all of 146 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:45,240 it. And yet so often we're blind to 147 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:48,640 that. And so, Lord, I just pray that 148 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:51,960 you would teach yourself about revelation this morning, That 149 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:55,830 you would show us how you reveal yourself to us, and that we 150 00:08:55,830 --> 00:09:00,710 would accept our responsibility of paying attention. 151 00:09:05,750 --> 00:09:08,710 That's my main job this morning, not to just preach and to just 152 00:09:08,710 --> 00:09:11,670 say things and they just talk endlessly. 153 00:09:13,070 --> 00:09:19,030 I need to pay attention to you, what you're doing and who you 154 00:09:19,030 --> 00:09:20,950 are. And so, Lord, would you just 155 00:09:21,430 --> 00:09:24,910 rock our world this morning? Just reveal yourself to us in a 156 00:09:24,910 --> 00:09:27,810 fresh and new way. We pray all these things in the 157 00:09:27,810 --> 00:09:30,290 precious name of Jesus and all God's people prayed. 158 00:09:31,530 --> 00:09:32,530 Amen. You have a seat. 159 00:09:36,650 --> 00:09:38,690 So we we've got to think a little bit this morning about 160 00:09:38,690 --> 00:09:43,650 the exact relationship between revelation and attention. 161 00:09:44,460 --> 00:09:46,220 OK, it's it's not science, right? 162 00:09:46,220 --> 00:09:48,220 I can't break this down into a grid for you. 163 00:09:48,220 --> 00:09:50,260 It's more more of a poetry, right? 164 00:09:50,260 --> 00:09:52,780 What's it? What's exactly the relationship 165 00:09:52,780 --> 00:09:56,940 between divine revelation, the things that God reveals to us on 166 00:09:56,940 --> 00:10:00,100 the basis of his own grace? What's the relationship between 167 00:10:00,300 --> 00:10:06,790 divine revelation and our human responsibility to pay attention 168 00:10:06,990 --> 00:10:10,310 to what God is doing? This is at the root of what 169 00:10:10,390 --> 00:10:12,790 Jesus is teaching right here, because Jesus is in the middle 170 00:10:12,790 --> 00:10:14,870 of teaching in parables. And I think what's happening 171 00:10:14,870 --> 00:10:17,830 right now is that the disciples, they're sold out on Jesus right 172 00:10:17,830 --> 00:10:20,110 now, right? They've given up everything. 173 00:10:20,110 --> 00:10:21,550 They've dropped their fishing Nets. 174 00:10:21,550 --> 00:10:24,070 They're following Jesus around. They really believe that he's 175 00:10:24,190 --> 00:10:27,230 the son of God and that he's the Messiah and they're giving 176 00:10:27,230 --> 00:10:29,270 everything to follow Jesus around. 177 00:10:29,430 --> 00:10:33,150 And Jesus heals people and he performs miracles and he teaches 178 00:10:33,150 --> 00:10:36,790 and he draws a crowd to himself. He debates with the Pharisees. 179 00:10:36,790 --> 00:10:39,350 And so he's generating a lot of buzz right now. 180 00:10:39,550 --> 00:10:42,430 And as soon as he's generating buzz, and as soon as he starts 181 00:10:42,430 --> 00:10:45,830 to get followers, he starts to teach in what appears to be like 182 00:10:45,830 --> 00:10:51,280 a cryptic way, he starts to just hammer out this blast out, this 183 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:55,760 series of parables about what life with God is like. 184 00:10:55,760 --> 00:11:00,120 And and the responses to Jesus parables are kind of like the 185 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:05,840 response to my mustache. Very mixed, polarizing, maybe 186 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:09,400 even divisive. It's drawing some people in. 187 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:14,160 It's pushing some people away. And so I think the disciples are 188 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:17,530 a little bit frustrating. They're like, Jesus, would you 189 00:11:17,530 --> 00:11:22,490 just speak clearly? There's too much on the line to 190 00:11:22,490 --> 00:11:25,610 be saying things like, oh, you know, the Kingdom of God is kind 191 00:11:25,610 --> 00:11:29,730 of like a sower with the sea. Just speak clearly. 192 00:11:30,490 --> 00:11:34,570 It's pushing people away. They're like publishers who are 193 00:11:34,570 --> 00:11:37,250 trying to get him to write for a massive audience. 194 00:11:37,250 --> 00:11:39,970 Just do that. Do that so we can get it. 195 00:11:40,250 --> 00:11:44,920 Don't be creative and don't be a cryptic storyteller. 196 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:48,600 Just speak clearly. You can resonate with that, 197 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:52,680 right? I mean, it's not hard to imagine 198 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:56,160 you bringing like a buddy to church who doesn't believe in 199 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:00,960 the gospel and who you pray for. And you want them so badly to 200 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:04,200 just hear the gospel clearly, to bring them to church. 201 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:06,640 And then to have a pastor get up in front of them and be like, 202 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:11,680 well, you know, life with God is like fishing. 203 00:12:12,950 --> 00:12:15,630 Let's pray. It's like, come on, man, be 204 00:12:15,630 --> 00:12:19,070 clear. There's so much on the line. 205 00:12:19,070 --> 00:12:20,710 So let me say something this morning. 206 00:12:21,030 --> 00:12:28,670 Life with God is like fishing. I want to give you a parable of 207 00:12:28,670 --> 00:12:30,990 three different fishermen. This is a true story. 208 00:12:30,990 --> 00:12:34,070 Last year, Carlos and I go out fishing. 209 00:12:34,070 --> 00:12:36,190 I wish Carlos were here right now because I'm really going to 210 00:12:36,190 --> 00:12:37,590 pick on him in the next couple minutes. 211 00:12:38,450 --> 00:12:40,890 Yeah, Nah he's alright. Just make sure he listens to the 212 00:12:40,890 --> 00:12:42,970 recording. So Carlos and I jump in the car 213 00:12:42,970 --> 00:12:46,450 together, we're going to go fish last summer and I grew up 214 00:12:46,450 --> 00:12:49,050 fishing, love fishing. Every spare moment I had that I 215 00:12:49,050 --> 00:12:51,650 wasn't playing football or wrestling, I wanted my fishing 216 00:12:51,650 --> 00:12:54,170 pole, my tackle box and I wanted to be fishing with it. 217 00:12:54,370 --> 00:12:59,170 Carlos however, did not grow up fishing, not in the least bit. 218 00:12:59,170 --> 00:13:04,490 In fact, Carlos so didn't grow up fishing that on the drive 219 00:13:04,490 --> 00:13:06,810 over he was like, bro, I think you're going to have to tie my 220 00:13:06,810 --> 00:13:09,000 hook on. And I was like, I'm going to 221 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:13,080 slay you in fishing today. I'm going to fish circles around 222 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:17,840 you, Carlos. So didn't grow up fishing that 223 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:21,120 on the car drive over. I had heard about people like 224 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:23,080 this. I never met them before though 225 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:27,160 because on the drive over Carlos is like, look bro, if I catch a 226 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:31,640 fish, I need you to take it off the hook because I don't want to 227 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:36,020 touch a fish. And I was like, oh man, I'm 228 00:13:36,020 --> 00:13:37,940 going to show this dude what's up. 229 00:13:38,140 --> 00:13:40,940 I love fishing. So we get there and I'm just, 230 00:13:40,940 --> 00:13:45,100 I'm ready to just just, you know, show off. 231 00:13:45,100 --> 00:13:47,580 And so I'm like, yeah, man, like I'm just, I'm, you know, I'm 232 00:13:47,580 --> 00:13:49,700 just me. I'm like life fishing is like 233 00:13:49,700 --> 00:13:52,140 life with God, bro. Because sometimes you right. 234 00:13:52,380 --> 00:13:55,820 And I I get out like the most expensive lure and I tie it on. 235 00:13:55,980 --> 00:13:59,700 I'm hitting like my best cast that I can cast that I think are 236 00:13:59,700 --> 00:14:00,940 going to like impress Bill dance. 237 00:14:00,940 --> 00:14:05,410 I'm like trying to like cast the lure around logs, like trying to 238 00:14:05,410 --> 00:14:07,570 cast it and hard to reach places. 239 00:14:07,850 --> 00:14:11,930 And despite all of my amazing cast, which if you would been 240 00:14:11,930 --> 00:14:15,050 there, you would have said Cole. That's an amazing catch cast. 241 00:14:15,290 --> 00:14:19,610 I literally caught nothing all morning, like showing off 242 00:14:19,850 --> 00:14:23,370 nothing, showing off nothing, didn't catch anything the entire 243 00:14:23,370 --> 00:14:27,810 morning. Carlos on the other hand, he 244 00:14:27,810 --> 00:14:30,990 takes his fishing pole and he does this thing. 245 00:14:31,190 --> 00:14:33,230 It's a total rookie thing, right? 246 00:14:33,230 --> 00:14:37,150 He tries to cast way out far, but he lets go of the release 247 00:14:37,150 --> 00:14:39,990 way too late and so it just splashes right in front of him, 248 00:14:39,990 --> 00:14:42,150 you know? It's like splashes it like 2 249 00:14:42,150 --> 00:14:44,190 feet out there. I'm over there like under the 250 00:14:44,190 --> 00:14:47,990 trees catching nothing. Carlos light accidentally 251 00:14:47,990 --> 00:14:52,030 splashes it in front of him and bam, a fish hits it and he reels 252 00:14:52,030 --> 00:14:54,710 it in. And I'm like, I hate fishing. 253 00:14:56,830 --> 00:15:00,970 Give it your best efforts. Cast it under hard to reach 254 00:15:00,970 --> 00:15:04,970 streets and catch nothing. You can splash it right in front 255 00:15:04,970 --> 00:15:07,210 of your foot in a stupid fish bites it. 256 00:15:07,410 --> 00:15:10,890 Why do I even do this? Well, the next week I took 257 00:15:10,890 --> 00:15:13,010 Joseph with me. I said a tale of three 258 00:15:13,010 --> 00:15:15,170 fishermen. So let me explain that. 259 00:15:15,530 --> 00:15:18,050 Next week I take Joseph with me. Here's the thing about fishing. 260 00:15:18,370 --> 00:15:19,530 Well, here's the thing about Joseph. 261 00:15:21,050 --> 00:15:24,210 You guys know him as our worship leader and he's a great worship 262 00:15:24,210 --> 00:15:28,870 leader, right? He's like, he's like the the the 263 00:15:28,870 --> 00:15:31,390 Hillsong Bethel guy who accidentally wound up at 264 00:15:31,390 --> 00:15:34,590 Bethlehem Baptist Church right here, the resident charismatic, 265 00:15:35,470 --> 00:15:38,550 great singer. But if you know him really well, 266 00:15:39,590 --> 00:15:44,350 you know that he's just like, I don't know, an Auburn football 267 00:15:44,350 --> 00:15:46,190 fan, hillbilly Hick, who grew up fishing. 268 00:15:47,350 --> 00:15:49,750 And so we go out fishing the next week. 269 00:15:49,870 --> 00:15:53,630 And here's the thing. You can do impressive casts and 270 00:15:53,630 --> 00:15:57,990 catch nothing. You can do horrible casts and 271 00:15:57,990 --> 00:16:02,190 somehow catch things, but you know where you can't catch 272 00:16:02,190 --> 00:16:04,750 anything. I've been holding on to this 273 00:16:04,750 --> 00:16:08,590 video for a year now, and I'm not the kind of, hey, let's 274 00:16:08,590 --> 00:16:10,070 watch a video in the middle of the sermon. 275 00:16:10,070 --> 00:16:11,710 Let's watch the video in the middle of the sermon. 276 00:16:12,110 --> 00:16:13,990 Here's where you can't catch fish. 277 00:16:13,990 --> 00:16:17,310 Go ahead and hit the video. What are you doing up there, 278 00:16:17,430 --> 00:16:19,550 man? There's some fish up there. 279 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:38,760 I want you to burn that image into your mind. 280 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:42,800 Not because it has anything to do with the sermon, but just 281 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:44,000 because I want to embarrass them. 282 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:50,440 Burn that into your mind. I like this video, and I like 283 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:53,760 this analogy because I think it's a great example of trying 284 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:57,280 to nail down the exact relationship between divine 285 00:16:57,280 --> 00:17:01,000 revelation and human attention. Because for as much as I'm 286 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,440 making fun of myself, life with God and life in the Kingdom of 287 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:07,240 God is actually quite a bit like fishing. 288 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:11,359 As you give your attention to God, as you seek to get to know 289 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:15,520 God, a lot of times you're going to feel like Fisherman #1. 290 00:17:16,079 --> 00:17:20,480 You're given your best efforts. You're going to prayer retreats. 291 00:17:20,839 --> 00:17:25,880 You're carving out hours to pray to God, doing your best casts. 292 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:29,040 Sometimes it's going to feel like you don't even get a bite. 293 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:32,920 But a lot of times, life with God is going to feel quite a bit 294 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:36,720 like Fisherman #2. All you're going to be able to 295 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:39,600 do is splash the lure 2 feet in front of you. 296 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:43,320 All you're going to have is a spare moment here or there to 297 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:46,590 devote your attention to God. All you're going to have our 298 00:17:46,590 --> 00:17:50,990 shower thoughts, right? But in those moments, God 299 00:17:50,990 --> 00:17:54,110 perhaps will give you life changing revelation. 300 00:17:54,670 --> 00:17:58,150 But whether you're fisherman #1 or #2, I think we can all agree 301 00:17:58,510 --> 00:18:01,030 that we shouldn't aim to be fisherman #3. 302 00:18:02,070 --> 00:18:05,750 Well, you know, it's the relationship between divine 303 00:18:05,750 --> 00:18:10,190 revelation and human. I mean, if God's revelation 304 00:18:10,190 --> 00:18:14,610 depends on his grace alone and nothing else, then why even 305 00:18:14,610 --> 00:18:16,170 cast? I'm just going to cast it into 306 00:18:16,170 --> 00:18:18,850 the treat right? Sometimes it's possible to just 307 00:18:18,850 --> 00:18:24,770 give your attention away to places and things that God never 308 00:18:24,770 --> 00:18:27,170 reveals himself to. Right? 309 00:18:28,490 --> 00:18:33,490 Internal arguments. People pleasing. 310 00:18:34,650 --> 00:18:40,410 Constantly wondering what people think about you internally. 311 00:18:40,410 --> 00:18:45,260 Criticizing people all the time, mindlessly scrolling away, hours 312 00:18:45,260 --> 00:18:48,580 of your life. It's like casting a lure into a 313 00:18:48,580 --> 00:18:51,820 tree. There's no fish there. 314 00:18:54,180 --> 00:18:56,220 So here's what I want us to see this morning. 315 00:18:56,980 --> 00:19:01,620 There's a relationship between revelation and attention. 316 00:19:02,460 --> 00:19:10,380 Yes, God reveals himself on the basis of grace alone, but our 317 00:19:10,380 --> 00:19:15,610 job and responsibility is to position ourselves in such a way 318 00:19:15,850 --> 00:19:18,210 that we are paying attention to Him. 319 00:19:18,330 --> 00:19:23,250 Our job is really to just get the lure in the water. 320 00:19:23,970 --> 00:19:26,730 Let me show you how Jesus is teaching this. 321 00:19:26,730 --> 00:19:29,370 Right they're frustrated. Just speak clearly. 322 00:19:29,530 --> 00:19:33,050 Parable #1A Lamp under a basket. Verse 21. 323 00:19:33,050 --> 00:19:36,370 He said to them is a lamp brought in to be put under a 324 00:19:36,370 --> 00:19:39,530 basket or under a bed and not on a stand. 325 00:19:40,650 --> 00:19:47,250 Nothing is hidden except to be made manifest, nor is anything 326 00:19:47,250 --> 00:19:53,370 secret except to come to life. So what Jesus is saying is 327 00:19:53,770 --> 00:19:59,850 nobody brings a lamp into a room just to hide it under a bed. 328 00:20:02,530 --> 00:20:05,620 You get it. The first thing we have to do is 329 00:20:05,620 --> 00:20:07,020 we have to talk about the nature of parables. 330 00:20:07,020 --> 00:20:08,860 OK, so here's the way that a parable works. 331 00:20:09,020 --> 00:20:11,260 Since Jesus is explaining parables in the middle of 332 00:20:11,260 --> 00:20:13,660 telling parables, we need to talk a little bit about what 333 00:20:13,660 --> 00:20:15,460 parables do. So parables were a pretty common 334 00:20:15,460 --> 00:20:17,260 form of teaching back in Jesus's day. 335 00:20:17,460 --> 00:20:21,460 What they were is they were a way of teaching about realities 336 00:20:21,460 --> 00:20:24,460 like the Kingdom of heaven and the Kingdom of God in a way 337 00:20:24,460 --> 00:20:28,980 that's hidden in like everyday items, everyday, ordinary 338 00:20:28,980 --> 00:20:32,380 situations, right? So like, on the surface these 339 00:20:32,380 --> 00:20:38,060 stories, they appear to be just about seeds and farming and soil 340 00:20:38,260 --> 00:20:42,060 and lamps, just everyday objects. 341 00:20:42,580 --> 00:20:46,820 And yet when you look inside of them, and when you crack them, 342 00:20:47,020 --> 00:20:50,700 when when parables open themselves to you, you realize 343 00:20:50,700 --> 00:20:55,200 that they're actually about reality and the Kingdom of God 344 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:58,200 and relationship with God. They're kind of like a Riddle. 345 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:02,280 I'm uncomfortable calling it a Riddle. 346 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:05,160 And some theologians would call it a Riddle because there's some 347 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:07,520 similarities there, right? Like, it's it's hard to figure 348 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:08,840 out. There's something kind of hidden 349 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:11,080 on the inside. But here's the thing about 350 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:12,760 riddles. How do you open a Riddle? 351 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:20,920 Intelligence, cleverness. That's not how you open a 352 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:24,310 parable. But if intelligence opened a 353 00:21:24,310 --> 00:21:30,110 parable, then the Pharisees would have gotten it right. 354 00:21:30,110 --> 00:21:33,030 I mean, these these jabronis, these Pharisees, these were some 355 00:21:33,030 --> 00:21:36,510 smart blokes, OK? These dudes had the first five 356 00:21:36,510 --> 00:21:39,070 books of the Old Testament memorized. 357 00:21:39,070 --> 00:21:41,670 These are some smart guys. And yet when they hear the 358 00:21:41,670 --> 00:21:46,230 parables, they're like, so it's not intelligence that opens up a 359 00:21:46,230 --> 00:21:47,990 parable. What is it? 360 00:21:50,190 --> 00:21:56,180 These ordinary stories. And yet on the inside, just 361 00:21:56,500 --> 00:22:01,020 glorious realities. It's kind of like earlier this 362 00:22:01,020 --> 00:22:04,820 week. Couple days ago, Della and I in 363 00:22:04,820 --> 00:22:07,580 the rest of the Family, we fell in love with a TV show. 364 00:22:07,580 --> 00:22:10,940 And this is embarrassing to say out loud because the first time 365 00:22:10,940 --> 00:22:13,900 I ever saw the title of the TV show, I was like, that's the 366 00:22:13,900 --> 00:22:16,780 worst premise in the world for a TV show. 367 00:22:17,140 --> 00:22:18,900 But Della wanted to watch it a couple days ago. 368 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:25,480 So there we are like 3 episodes later, laughing, crying, arguing 369 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:28,840 about the Netflix special. Is it cake? 370 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:35,600 Are we the only ones? Oh my gosh, we have to talk 371 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:38,960 about this Okay. So the the premise of the show 372 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:41,960 is exactly the title is it cake? They bring in the best cake 373 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:44,840 bakers in the world and they make these incredibly realistic 374 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:46,360 looking cakes. And then they bring in a panel 375 00:22:46,360 --> 00:22:48,800 of people. And the panel of people, the 376 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:52,920 experts, the judges have to be able to decipher is it cake or 377 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:55,960 is it not? It's, it's, I'm telling you, 378 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:58,600 it's actually riveting. Don't look at me like that. 379 00:22:59,550 --> 00:23:02,070 It's actually riveting. So there Della and I are. 380 00:23:02,070 --> 00:23:05,030 We're watching the first episode a couple days ago, and there's 381 00:23:05,030 --> 00:23:08,590 this room filled with everyday ordinary objects. 382 00:23:08,590 --> 00:23:11,150 And then they say, OK, there's three objects in here that are 383 00:23:11,150 --> 00:23:12,670 cake. You've got to guess them with 384 00:23:12,670 --> 00:23:15,390 one guess. And so I was like, OK, if I were 385 00:23:15,550 --> 00:23:18,110 OK, I think it's probably the book because I think that'd be 386 00:23:18,110 --> 00:23:21,150 the easiest shape to make a cake into. 387 00:23:21,150 --> 00:23:23,470 OK, my final guess is a book. I was like, what about you, 388 00:23:23,470 --> 00:23:25,510 Della? And she's like the flower. 389 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:29,840 It was in my mind, I was like, what a horrible guess. 390 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:35,160 How are you going to make a cake into a a flower? 391 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:37,520 I was like, good job, sweetie, let's lock that guess in. 392 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:40,520 But inside I was like, oh, I'm going to slay her at this. 393 00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:44,560 And then the judges, right, that the the host comes out and he 394 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:48,520 goes over to the book, right? And he lowers the knife onto the 395 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:51,120 book. They slow down and freeze time. 396 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:57,010 Is it cake? And it goes, no, it's a real 397 00:23:57,010 --> 00:23:58,730 book. I was like, no, that was my 398 00:23:58,730 --> 00:24:01,090 guess. At least it wasn't as bad as 399 00:24:01,090 --> 00:24:03,570 Della's guess. And so they go over to the 400 00:24:03,570 --> 00:24:06,370 flower, right? They hold the knife above the 401 00:24:06,370 --> 00:24:09,370 flower in the flower pot and they go, is it cake? 402 00:24:10,090 --> 00:24:13,650 They start to lower it, right? Is it cake? 403 00:24:14,210 --> 00:24:16,170 Right. They show the, the, the judge's 404 00:24:16,170 --> 00:24:19,210 response, right? Everybody's guessing every leans 405 00:24:19,210 --> 00:24:20,290 in. Is it cake? 406 00:24:20,950 --> 00:24:26,070 And all the sudden the knife begins to cut through the flower 407 00:24:26,070 --> 00:24:29,550 pot like butter. Is it cake? 408 00:24:30,510 --> 00:24:35,150 And then the flower pot falls away and sure enough, inside of 409 00:24:35,150 --> 00:24:38,390 the flower are beautiful layers of a cake. 410 00:24:38,390 --> 00:24:40,630 I couldn't believe it. I turn over to Della. 411 00:24:40,630 --> 00:24:43,190 I'm like, how did you know that was the cake? 412 00:24:43,510 --> 00:24:45,070 And she was like, I love flowers. 413 00:24:50,900 --> 00:24:53,860 This is the way the parables work, though, right? 414 00:24:53,860 --> 00:24:57,620 They appear to be everyday ordinary objects, stories. 415 00:24:58,020 --> 00:25:04,340 And then inside of them, hidden to adults like us but revealed 416 00:25:04,340 --> 00:25:09,540 to children, are these delicious realities about the Kingdom of 417 00:25:09,540 --> 00:25:12,060 God and what life with God is like. 418 00:25:13,380 --> 00:25:16,980 And these parables, they don't open themselves up to people who 419 00:25:16,980 --> 00:25:18,700 are just smarter than other people. 420 00:25:18,820 --> 00:25:23,570 What makes them open up? OK, so here's Jesus. 421 00:25:25,330 --> 00:25:29,930 He's saying, hey, nobody brings a lamp in to just hide it and 422 00:25:29,930 --> 00:25:33,290 put it under a bed. I think the lamp here is a clear 423 00:25:33,290 --> 00:25:35,410 reference to Jesus for a lot of different reasons. 424 00:25:35,410 --> 00:25:38,730 I'll give you one. In the Old Testament, light and 425 00:25:38,730 --> 00:25:41,810 lamps are very frequently metaphors for God. 426 00:25:42,450 --> 00:25:46,210 So what I think Jesus is saying is, hey, I didn't come into the 427 00:25:46,210 --> 00:25:50,060 world to just hide myself. It looks like it. 428 00:25:51,060 --> 00:25:56,460 He's telling parables. So how does God reveal himself? 429 00:25:56,460 --> 00:25:58,460 So we have to talk a little bit about the doctrine of 430 00:25:58,460 --> 00:26:00,580 revelation. I need you guys to put on your 431 00:26:00,580 --> 00:26:03,420 thinking caps really quickly. We're going to do 5 minutes of 432 00:26:03,420 --> 00:26:06,540 academic stuff and I think the payoff is going to be huge. 433 00:26:06,540 --> 00:26:08,900 Okay. So this is the way that an old 434 00:26:08,900 --> 00:26:11,420 dead theologian named her Herman Bavink. 435 00:26:11,420 --> 00:26:14,220 He was a Reformed theologian from the late 1800s, early 436 00:26:14,220 --> 00:26:16,580 1900s. This is the way that he talks 437 00:26:16,580 --> 00:26:18,540 about the doctrine of Revelation. 438 00:26:18,540 --> 00:26:21,060 This is going to pay off, even though he's hard to follow along 439 00:26:21,060 --> 00:26:23,060 with. So the first thing that Bavink 440 00:26:23,060 --> 00:26:28,740 does is he shows how knowledge of God you gotta get this, how 441 00:26:28,740 --> 00:26:33,220 knowledge of God differs from knowledge of everything else. 442 00:26:33,220 --> 00:26:34,900 I should have that on the screen, Jay. 443 00:26:35,700 --> 00:26:39,560 He says. The knowledge of God differs 444 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:42,520 from the knowledge of created things in every sense. 445 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:46,520 It differs first of all in its origin, For it is wholly owing 446 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:48,640 to Christ. We get all of our other 447 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:53,880 knowledge by reason or insight or judgment, our own effort and 448 00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:56,960 study. But As for the knowledge of God, 449 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:02,650 it is nowhere outside of Christ, neither in schools of learning 450 00:27:02,690 --> 00:27:05,130 nor among philosophers of distinction. 451 00:27:05,450 --> 00:27:09,770 Christ alone knew the Father. Christ alone was with the Father 452 00:27:09,770 --> 00:27:13,370 in the beginning, and nothing in the being of the Father is 453 00:27:13,370 --> 00:27:17,050 hidden from the Son. Therefore, As for the knowledge 454 00:27:17,050 --> 00:27:23,410 of God, we must let Christ give it to us. 455 00:27:24,610 --> 00:27:27,410 I want you to hear what he said when it comes to knowledge of 456 00:27:27,410 --> 00:27:30,600 God. What Bhavink is arguing is that 457 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:34,840 knowledge of God is entirely dependent upon revelation. 458 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:39,640 Jesus has to give it to us. They're just sitting around and 459 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:45,400 guess what God is like. Or worse, follow our stomach 460 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:47,200 feels or what we wish you were like. 461 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:52,250 We have to let Jesus tell us what God is like, and that means 462 00:27:52,250 --> 00:27:56,050 that knowledge of God is entirely relational rather than 463 00:27:56,090 --> 00:27:58,770 academic. So we have to pay attention to 464 00:27:58,810 --> 00:28:00,930 Jesus. Listen to him, listen to him in 465 00:28:00,930 --> 00:28:02,330 the scriptures, listen to him in prayer. 466 00:28:02,490 --> 00:28:05,530 So this is how Bobbing finishes his section on revelation. 467 00:28:05,930 --> 00:28:09,890 Revelation is based on grace and relationship, right? 468 00:28:09,890 --> 00:28:13,490 So he goes on to say. Therefore this knowledge in 469 00:28:13,490 --> 00:28:17,210 distinction from all other forms of knowledge is called the 470 00:28:17,210 --> 00:28:20,610 knowledge of God. It is the product not of 471 00:28:20,610 --> 00:28:25,490 scientific study and reflection, but of childlike faith and 472 00:28:25,490 --> 00:28:28,690 divine grace. Only those who become like 473 00:28:28,690 --> 00:28:30,770 little children enter the Kingdom of heaven. 474 00:28:31,050 --> 00:28:33,530 Only those born of the Spirit can enter the Kingdom. 475 00:28:33,770 --> 00:28:35,890 And here's the line I really want to hammer into your heart, 476 00:28:35,890 --> 00:28:42,450 Bobink concludes by saying. Therefore, God is known in 477 00:28:42,450 --> 00:28:48,210 proportion to the extent that he is loved. 478 00:28:52,380 --> 00:28:58,020 God is known in proportion to the extent that he is loved. 479 00:28:58,020 --> 00:29:01,220 So there's a difference between knowing about somebody and 480 00:29:01,220 --> 00:29:03,860 knowing somebody. I had Ken Griffey Junior's 481 00:29:03,860 --> 00:29:06,100 baseball cards memorized when I was little. 482 00:29:06,220 --> 00:29:08,940 I knew about Griffey. But if you went to Ken Griffey 483 00:29:08,940 --> 00:29:10,660 Junior and were like, hey, what do you think about cold Nike? 484 00:29:10,660 --> 00:29:14,140 He'd be like what? Knowing about somebody is 485 00:29:14,140 --> 00:29:19,900 different than knowing somebody. If you're married, you know that 486 00:29:21,540 --> 00:29:24,100 you don't get to project yourself onto your spouse. 487 00:29:25,500 --> 00:29:29,620 If you want to know her, if you want to know him, you have to 488 00:29:29,620 --> 00:29:34,100 let her reveal herself to you, right? 489 00:29:34,100 --> 00:29:36,580 This is the way that revelation works. 490 00:29:37,700 --> 00:29:40,300 We don't get to be like, well, I think God is like this because 491 00:29:40,300 --> 00:29:44,260 my dad sucked. Or I think God is like this 492 00:29:44,260 --> 00:29:45,540 because. But no, no, no. 493 00:29:46,670 --> 00:29:49,750 We have to let Jesus reveal himself to us. 494 00:29:49,990 --> 00:29:53,990 So we pay attention to him and allow him to reveal himself to 495 00:29:53,990 --> 00:29:57,670 us in love. God is known in proportion to 496 00:29:57,670 --> 00:29:59,910 the extent that he's loved. OK, so think about that. 497 00:30:01,750 --> 00:30:07,230 Here's the way this works. It's possible to know this much 498 00:30:07,230 --> 00:30:13,550 about God, but if you only love him this much, then you only 499 00:30:13,550 --> 00:30:18,640 know him that much. You see that it's possible to 500 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:25,040 know this much about God, but if you love him this much, you know 501 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:29,560 him that much. God's known to the extent that 502 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:33,560 he's loved. And So what opens up a parable? 503 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:38,920 It's not intelligence. It's not worldly cleverness. 504 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:44,440 What opens up a parable? Affection. 505 00:30:46,310 --> 00:30:50,070 Love for God, right? There's Jesus saying, hey, 506 00:30:50,070 --> 00:30:53,150 nobody brings in a lamp to just hide it. 507 00:30:56,030 --> 00:31:02,230 You get what he's saying. This is why parables are just an 508 00:31:02,270 --> 00:31:08,390 absolutely perfect form of Jesus revealing himself to us, because 509 00:31:08,390 --> 00:31:14,970 it pushes away those who don't love him and it draws people who 510 00:31:14,970 --> 00:31:18,530 do love him to him like an absolute magnet. 511 00:31:18,770 --> 00:31:20,770 This is the way that parables work. 512 00:31:20,770 --> 00:31:23,930 OK, got to hear me say this? OK? 513 00:31:24,690 --> 00:31:32,370 Jesus is not hiding himself from people who want him. 514 00:31:37,290 --> 00:31:41,010 Jesus has never, ever, ever, ever. 515 00:31:42,230 --> 00:31:46,870 Jesus has never hidden himself. Jesus has never pushed somebody 516 00:31:46,870 --> 00:31:53,430 away from himself who wants him. But he will use a parable to 517 00:31:53,430 --> 00:31:56,470 push away those who don't want to pay attention to him and to 518 00:31:56,470 --> 00:31:58,750 draw in those who do want to pay attention to him. 519 00:31:59,150 --> 00:32:02,150 He's not hiding himself. He's on full display. 520 00:32:02,230 --> 00:32:04,630 And he does. He does give one caveat there, 521 00:32:04,630 --> 00:32:08,090 right in verse 22 he says nothing is hidden except to be 522 00:32:08,090 --> 00:32:11,370 made manifest, nor is anything secret except to come to light. 523 00:32:11,370 --> 00:32:14,290 And so there are going to be times where you really want to 524 00:32:14,290 --> 00:32:19,730 know something from the Lord, and he strategically doesn't 525 00:32:19,730 --> 00:32:23,490 reveal it to you. He makes you wrestle for it, he 526 00:32:23,490 --> 00:32:27,570 makes you grapple with it, and then in due time he he reveals 527 00:32:27,570 --> 00:32:29,410 it to you. It does work that way, but he 528 00:32:29,410 --> 00:32:32,510 does not hide himself from those who love him. 529 00:32:32,510 --> 00:32:33,630 Because you can look at a parable. 530 00:32:33,630 --> 00:32:37,870 You can say Okay is, is Jesus hiding himself or is he 531 00:32:37,870 --> 00:32:42,510 revealing himself? And the answer is yes. 532 00:32:44,230 --> 00:32:50,590 The difference is who's willing to pay attention to Jesus, 533 00:32:52,110 --> 00:32:53,390 right? That's the second parable. 534 00:32:54,070 --> 00:32:57,550 Look at verse 24. And he said to them, this is the 535 00:32:57,630 --> 00:33:00,580 only commandment in this entire section. 536 00:33:00,660 --> 00:33:06,420 And he said to them, pay attention to what you hear with 537 00:33:06,420 --> 00:33:09,700 the measure you use. It'll be measured to you and 538 00:33:09,700 --> 00:33:14,100 still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more 539 00:33:14,100 --> 00:33:16,500 will be given. And from the one who has not. 540 00:33:16,820 --> 00:33:18,540 He's not talking about material goods here. 541 00:33:18,540 --> 00:33:22,580 Okay, this is not like some people twist this. 542 00:33:23,020 --> 00:33:25,100 They're like the reason you're poor is but no, no, no, that's 543 00:33:25,540 --> 00:33:26,380 that's baloney. Okay. 544 00:33:26,380 --> 00:33:29,100 He's talking about revelation. OK? 545 00:33:29,260 --> 00:33:32,300 For the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who 546 00:33:32,300 --> 00:33:36,900 has not, even more will be taken away. 547 00:33:37,620 --> 00:33:42,740 So what's what's going on here? Well, the the measure here, they 548 00:33:43,060 --> 00:33:45,980 they didn't use, you know, teaspoons and tablespoons back 549 00:33:45,980 --> 00:33:48,500 in the day, but they had their own measures. 550 00:33:48,500 --> 00:33:50,900 But just think of it in terms of teaspoons and tablespoons. 551 00:33:51,020 --> 00:33:54,380 What Jesus is saying is if you give him this much attention, 552 00:33:55,660 --> 00:33:57,580 he'll fill you with that much revelation. 553 00:33:59,150 --> 00:34:02,070 What he's saying is that you if you hold out a teaspoon of your 554 00:34:02,070 --> 00:34:05,710 attention, he'll give you a teaspoon of revelation. 555 00:34:06,470 --> 00:34:08,230 This is a proverb, not a promise. 556 00:34:08,230 --> 00:34:09,989 Sometimes it's not an exact science. 557 00:34:09,989 --> 00:34:14,030 If you hold out your hands to him, he'll fill them with 558 00:34:14,030 --> 00:34:18,710 knowledge of yourself. If you knock, he'll open. 559 00:34:19,630 --> 00:34:22,389 If you give him your heart, he'll feel it. 560 00:34:22,550 --> 00:34:24,750 And some. Did you notice that right? 561 00:34:24,870 --> 00:34:26,150 He? It's not just a one to one 562 00:34:26,150 --> 00:34:28,969 ratio, right? With the measure you use, it'll 563 00:34:28,969 --> 00:34:32,690 be measured to you and still more will be added to you 564 00:34:32,690 --> 00:34:34,330 because our God is a God of grace. 565 00:34:34,330 --> 00:34:36,969 Amen. So you give him this, he's going 566 00:34:36,969 --> 00:34:38,889 to give you that. And top it off, Give him a 567 00:34:38,889 --> 00:34:40,650 teaspoon. He's going to fill the teaspoon. 568 00:34:40,650 --> 00:34:43,850 But like a heaping teaspoon. That's the way he That's the way 569 00:34:43,850 --> 00:34:47,409 he is. And so what's why does Jesus use 570 00:34:47,409 --> 00:34:49,889 parables? Why does he speak in riddles? 571 00:34:50,130 --> 00:34:52,889 What's the point of all of this? Well, look at the one 572 00:34:52,889 --> 00:34:55,050 commandment in this entire section. 573 00:34:56,960 --> 00:35:06,530 Pay attention. Jesus is not like gravity. 574 00:35:08,690 --> 00:35:11,450 Sometimes we treat him as just an impersonal force. 575 00:35:13,130 --> 00:35:14,690 Well, he's sovereign over anything. 576 00:35:14,690 --> 00:35:16,450 He's he's sovereign over everything. 577 00:35:16,450 --> 00:35:18,610 He's going to do what he's going to do whether or not I 578 00:35:18,650 --> 00:35:21,330 contribute or chip in. And anyway, he controls the 579 00:35:21,330 --> 00:35:22,930 cosmos. So what's even the point? 580 00:35:23,210 --> 00:35:27,090 That is not the way that Jesus talks about being in 581 00:35:27,090 --> 00:35:30,650 relationship with him. I love the sovereignty of God. 582 00:35:31,310 --> 00:35:35,470 I love his control over every square inch of the cosmos. 583 00:35:35,910 --> 00:35:40,750 But Jesus talks about being in relationship with him as a 584 00:35:40,830 --> 00:35:46,110 relationship. He's not just gravity going to 585 00:35:46,110 --> 00:35:47,750 be there, whether or not I'd do anything. 586 00:35:47,750 --> 00:35:52,270 No, no, no, no. There's a relational dynamic 587 00:35:52,270 --> 00:35:55,470 here, right? What's the relational dynamic? 588 00:35:56,030 --> 00:36:04,000 He reveals you. Pay attention, he reveals you. 589 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:09,440 Pay attention. He reveals you. 590 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:14,200 Pay attention. Pay attention. 591 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:20,600 We have this phrase in the Dikey house when sometimes the kids 592 00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:25,320 aren't listening to Mom or dad. We got it from Proverbs chapter 593 00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:28,060 one, right when when the kids aren't listening and they're 594 00:36:28,060 --> 00:36:30,340 just doing their own thing and our words are going in one ear 595 00:36:30,340 --> 00:36:33,060 and out the other going over their heads, we'll ask the kids 596 00:36:33,060 --> 00:36:35,740 this question. Hey, what are mommy's words? 597 00:36:36,620 --> 00:36:41,180 What are daddy's words? And Proverbs one says, well, 598 00:36:41,180 --> 00:36:43,500 here's the way our kids say it. Hey, what are daddy's words? 599 00:36:43,500 --> 00:36:48,780 And they'll say a crown. So Proverbs one says, God's 600 00:36:48,780 --> 00:36:50,580 words. A mother's word, a father's word 601 00:36:51,020 --> 00:36:53,620 is a crown, right? What do you do with a crown? 602 00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:59,800 Well, I think there's two ways to pay attention to God. 603 00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:02,920 Here's one. You 604 00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:20,720 see where my joy is, right? That's the 1st way to pay 605 00:37:20,720 --> 00:37:23,720 attention to God. There is a second way to pay 606 00:37:23,720 --> 00:37:25,470 attention to God. This way. 607 00:37:25,470 --> 00:37:31,670 Get out of there. Right. 608 00:37:42,300 --> 00:37:43,820 That's what you do with the crown, right? 609 00:37:45,100 --> 00:37:46,260 That's what you do with the crown. 610 00:37:47,780 --> 00:37:50,420 You admire it. Pay attention to it. 611 00:37:51,540 --> 00:37:54,220 Then you wear it. That's what you do with the 612 00:37:54,220 --> 00:38:04,470 crown, right? Pay attention Mary Oliver. 613 00:38:05,390 --> 00:38:08,150 One of the best living poets, right? 614 00:38:08,150 --> 00:38:12,510 I mean, maybe next to the 2 W B's, right? 615 00:38:12,710 --> 00:38:20,030 Wendell Berry and Will boards. Here's what Mary Oliver says. 616 00:38:20,390 --> 00:38:25,630 She's just brilliant. She says Attention is the 617 00:38:25,630 --> 00:38:34,110 beginning of devotion. Whatever you give your attention 618 00:38:34,110 --> 00:38:38,310 to, right, that's going to be where your affection is. 619 00:38:39,190 --> 00:38:43,550 Whatever you give your attention will be your affection. 620 00:38:46,350 --> 00:38:51,790 Pay attention. I mean, isn't that just a great 621 00:38:51,790 --> 00:38:56,830 phrase? Pay like it's a limited 622 00:38:56,830 --> 00:39:00,850 resource. Like it's a finite resource like 623 00:39:00,850 --> 00:39:02,730 money. You only have so much of it to 624 00:39:02,730 --> 00:39:04,850 give, so don't throw it over you. 625 00:39:04,850 --> 00:39:07,170 Don't throw it over there. Don't mindlessly give it away. 626 00:39:07,170 --> 00:39:10,090 What do you do with it? Pay it. 627 00:39:11,130 --> 00:39:17,410 Pay attention to Jesus in prayer, in church, at at your 628 00:39:17,410 --> 00:39:20,530 work and meditation and reading the scriptures. 629 00:39:20,770 --> 00:39:23,250 Pay What's it mean to pay attention? 630 00:39:24,270 --> 00:39:26,430 Here's the way that Oliver Berkman not a Christian, but 631 00:39:26,430 --> 00:39:28,350 man. He's a social commentator and he 632 00:39:28,350 --> 00:39:31,270 just nails it in this book. Here's the way that he says it. 633 00:39:31,270 --> 00:39:32,950 All right. And I've got this on the screen 634 00:39:32,950 --> 00:39:37,750 because you have to reckon with us, He says, quote, you've heard 635 00:39:37,750 --> 00:39:39,590 it. Say you've heard it said that 636 00:39:39,630 --> 00:39:42,270 attention is a finite resource. And finite it is. 637 00:39:42,510 --> 00:39:44,990 According to one psychologist, we're capable of consciously 638 00:39:44,990 --> 00:39:52,150 attending to about 0.0004% of the information bombarding our 639 00:39:52,150 --> 00:39:56,040 brains at any given moment. But to describe attention as a 640 00:39:56,040 --> 00:40:01,240 resource is to misconstrue its centrality in our lives. 641 00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:04,000 Most other resources like food, money, and electricity, are 642 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:07,840 things that facilitate life. In some cases, it's possible to 643 00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:09,920 live without them, at least for a while. 644 00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:19,360 Attention, on the other hand, just is your life, your 645 00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:22,200 experience of being alive consists. 646 00:40:22,630 --> 00:40:27,350 Of nothing other than the sum of everything to which you paid 647 00:40:27,350 --> 00:40:30,710 attention to at the end of your life, looking back. 648 00:40:30,710 --> 00:40:34,270 Whatever compelled your attention from moment to moment 649 00:40:34,510 --> 00:40:37,870 is simply what your life will have been. 650 00:40:38,750 --> 00:40:41,790 So when you pay attention to something that you don't 651 00:40:41,790 --> 00:40:46,910 particularly value, it's not an exaggeration to say that you're 652 00:40:46,910 --> 00:40:55,780 paying with your life. So when you pay attention to 653 00:40:55,860 --> 00:41:01,740 Jesus, you're giving him your life again. 654 00:41:01,740 --> 00:41:05,420 That's why the parables are like such a perfect example of God 655 00:41:05,420 --> 00:41:08,700 revealing himself to us, because it weeds out those who want to 656 00:41:08,700 --> 00:41:11,260 pay attention to Him from those who don't really care about 657 00:41:11,260 --> 00:41:14,900 paying attention to him. It's a way of weeding out those 658 00:41:14,900 --> 00:41:21,170 who want to give their lives to God from those who really don't 659 00:41:21,170 --> 00:41:24,890 want to give their lives to God. Parables are they're brilliant, 660 00:41:24,890 --> 00:41:31,010 their way of telling the truth and slant hear this truth said 661 00:41:31,010 --> 00:41:33,210 over and over again your entire life. 662 00:41:33,210 --> 00:41:36,250 You know something and someone tells it to you in a parable and 663 00:41:36,250 --> 00:41:39,330 it's like Bam tells it and slant knocks you over. 664 00:41:39,570 --> 00:41:44,510 Parables are these beautiful, radical, earth changing ways of 665 00:41:44,510 --> 00:41:47,830 teaching and I think one of the reasons why Jesus teaches 666 00:41:47,830 --> 00:41:51,470 parables is because Jesus doesn't just teach parables. 667 00:41:52,350 --> 00:41:57,550 Jesus is a parable. Jesus is a parable with arms and 668 00:41:57,550 --> 00:42:00,790 legs on him. It's it's what he is. 669 00:42:00,790 --> 00:42:04,950 Some people look at Jesus and all they see is an ordinary man. 670 00:42:06,250 --> 00:42:07,610 Right? Well, you know, he lived 2000 671 00:42:07,610 --> 00:42:10,290 years ago. He was a pretty good teacher and 672 00:42:10,290 --> 00:42:12,930 then he died. All of those things are true. 673 00:42:13,050 --> 00:42:17,250 But when you look at him, you see that and something, don't 674 00:42:17,250 --> 00:42:18,290 you? Right. 675 00:42:18,290 --> 00:42:21,690 Well, the the biggest question you have to reckon with in your 676 00:42:21,690 --> 00:42:24,810 entire life is the one that Della and I have been reckoning 677 00:42:24,810 --> 00:42:27,930 with for the last couple days. When you look at Jesus, you have 678 00:42:27,930 --> 00:42:30,450 to ask yourself the question. Is it cake? 679 00:42:32,290 --> 00:42:35,210 Is he just another historical figure right up there with 680 00:42:35,490 --> 00:42:38,570 Socrates? And you know, although is is he 681 00:42:38,770 --> 00:42:41,610 or is he cake? Right? 682 00:42:41,610 --> 00:42:44,330 Is it? Does he satisfy my soul? 683 00:42:44,970 --> 00:42:47,010 Right? Is he my fullness of joy? 684 00:42:47,170 --> 00:42:51,410 Is he my pleasures for evermore? Can I just pay attention to him 685 00:42:51,610 --> 00:42:54,210 and get nourishment from him? Is he cake? 686 00:42:54,250 --> 00:42:55,930 Right. He's he's a parable. 687 00:42:56,860 --> 00:42:58,700 He's a parable with with skin on. 688 00:42:58,700 --> 00:43:01,460 Some people look at him and you know the the Pharisees look at 689 00:43:01,460 --> 00:43:04,340 him and they see a human being and they're right. 690 00:43:04,620 --> 00:43:08,380 I mean, Jesus had body odor, right? 691 00:43:08,380 --> 00:43:11,100 If he rolled his ankle, he would limp. 692 00:43:12,380 --> 00:43:14,780 If he got hungry, his stomach would growl. 693 00:43:14,900 --> 00:43:19,900 He is 100% human. And yet that's not the only way 694 00:43:19,900 --> 00:43:22,460 you see him. You look at him and on the 695 00:43:22,540 --> 00:43:28,260 inside you see not just 100% human, you see 100% divine. 696 00:43:28,460 --> 00:43:31,660 You look at him and you think this is what God is like. 697 00:43:31,820 --> 00:43:36,140 This is who God is. This is the king of the cosmos. 698 00:43:36,140 --> 00:43:39,780 This is the Son of David. This is the Savior, the Messiah, 699 00:43:39,820 --> 00:43:42,060 the Lion of Judah. This is everything I've ever 700 00:43:42,060 --> 00:43:45,780 waited for. Same person drives one person 701 00:43:45,780 --> 00:43:50,850 away, compels one person in. And Jesus doesn't just live as a 702 00:43:50,850 --> 00:43:54,970 living, breathing parable. He acts out parables and that's 703 00:43:54,970 --> 00:43:58,690 why his life climaxes and the greatest parable that's ever 704 00:43:58,690 --> 00:44:02,810 been told, the cross of Christ. The cross of Jesus is the 705 00:44:02,930 --> 00:44:06,450 ultimate parable. Some people look at it and all 706 00:44:06,450 --> 00:44:11,970 they see is another ordinary zealot being crucified on a 707 00:44:11,970 --> 00:44:14,410 cross because of Rome. They look at Jesus and they 708 00:44:14,410 --> 00:44:17,340 think, oh poor Jesus. They look at Jesus and they see 709 00:44:17,540 --> 00:44:19,300 a victim. They look at the cross and 710 00:44:19,300 --> 00:44:22,380 they're like, well, that's where an otherwise good teaching 711 00:44:22,380 --> 00:44:24,620 ministry came to an end. They look at the cross and they 712 00:44:24,620 --> 00:44:26,900 think that's where the Kingdom fails. 713 00:44:27,100 --> 00:44:28,620 That's not how you see it, though. 714 00:44:29,380 --> 00:44:32,140 You see the parable. You look at the cross and you 715 00:44:32,140 --> 00:44:35,180 think, no, no, no, that's not where the Kingdom of God fails. 716 00:44:35,660 --> 00:44:37,780 That's where the Kingdom of God is launched. 717 00:44:38,500 --> 00:44:40,500 You look at it. It's not just a historical 718 00:44:40,500 --> 00:44:41,950 moment. You look at it. 719 00:44:41,950 --> 00:44:44,310 It's not just 2000 years removed. 720 00:44:44,510 --> 00:44:46,390 You look at it. It's not just the beginning of 721 00:44:46,390 --> 00:44:48,590 another calendar. You look at it and you think 722 00:44:48,910 --> 00:44:51,590 that's where all of my forgiveness comes from. 723 00:44:52,030 --> 00:44:54,750 You look at it and you say that's where my mistakes and my 724 00:44:54,750 --> 00:44:57,430 sins go to hell. You look at it and you think 725 00:44:57,670 --> 00:44:59,590 that's where I'm covered in righteousness. 726 00:44:59,750 --> 00:45:02,110 You look at it and you think that's where the Kingdom of God 727 00:45:02,110 --> 00:45:04,230 has launched. You look at it and you say 728 00:45:04,350 --> 00:45:08,270 that's cake. It's not just a removed event. 729 00:45:08,390 --> 00:45:13,300 I can bite into it by faith, and God opens it up to me, and 730 00:45:13,300 --> 00:45:14,580 that's the way that parables work. 731 00:45:16,020 --> 00:45:22,900 So let me end by coming back to my parable of three fishermen. 732 00:45:22,900 --> 00:45:26,060 I want to come back to this parable once more, and then I'll 733 00:45:26,060 --> 00:45:28,300 pray and get out of your way. When you think about that 734 00:45:28,300 --> 00:45:31,340 parable, I think, I think it's a perfect description because it 735 00:45:31,420 --> 00:45:34,180 it shows you exactly what your responsibility is in terms of 736 00:45:34,180 --> 00:45:37,580 giving God your attention. Your job as a follower of Jesus 737 00:45:37,580 --> 00:45:41,310 isn't to be so smart that you figure out Jesus, or to be so 738 00:45:41,310 --> 00:45:44,870 spiritual that you hear the voice of God in audible English 739 00:45:44,870 --> 00:45:49,150 every time you close your eyes. Revelation isn't your job. 740 00:45:49,790 --> 00:45:52,910 You don't have to force any super spiritual moments. 741 00:45:52,910 --> 00:45:56,270 You don't have to coerce God into talking to you because 742 00:45:56,270 --> 00:45:59,830 revelation isn't your job. Revelation is God's job. 743 00:46:00,870 --> 00:46:06,350 Your job is to just pay attention, right? 744 00:46:06,350 --> 00:46:07,870 Think about our three fishermen, fishermen. 745 00:46:07,870 --> 00:46:12,230 Number one tries really hard and executes the perfect cast only 746 00:46:12,230 --> 00:46:15,630 to catch nothing. My dad used to say a good day of 747 00:46:15,630 --> 00:46:17,470 fishing is just getting the lure wet. 748 00:46:18,310 --> 00:46:21,510 Any fish is a cherry on top. You have to approach God like 749 00:46:21,510 --> 00:46:24,670 that. Just giving God my attention is 750 00:46:24,750 --> 00:46:27,750 a good day. Any revelation is the cherry on 751 00:46:27,750 --> 00:46:30,190 top, because sometimes you're going to be like Fisherman #1, 752 00:46:30,190 --> 00:46:33,510 giving God your best efforts and it doesn't feel like you really 753 00:46:33,510 --> 00:46:35,190 got a bite. But sometimes you're going to be 754 00:46:35,190 --> 00:46:37,430 like Fisherman #2. He doesn't have impressive 755 00:46:37,710 --> 00:46:41,310 casting skills, but even when he splashes the lure 2 feet in 756 00:46:41,310 --> 00:46:44,390 front of his face, the river provides him with a fish. 757 00:46:44,390 --> 00:46:47,710 The Lord of Grace provides you with a revelation, even if all 758 00:46:47,710 --> 00:46:49,790 you have is a spare moment to give. 759 00:46:49,790 --> 00:46:53,510 So here's the point. Just get the fishing lure wet. 760 00:46:55,070 --> 00:46:59,250 Just get it in the water. Just give your attention to 761 00:46:59,410 --> 00:47:01,770 Jesus. Just hold out the measuring 762 00:47:01,770 --> 00:47:04,090 spoon. And in the same way that the 763 00:47:04,090 --> 00:47:06,570 river gives you the fish out of its own grace and not the 764 00:47:06,570 --> 00:47:09,450 efforts of your casting. Just give your attention to 765 00:47:09,490 --> 00:47:11,970 Jesus and receive whatever grace he gives to you. 766 00:47:12,570 --> 00:47:14,890 Here, see us, Lewis, summarizing what I've been trying to say for 767 00:47:14,890 --> 00:47:16,650 40 minutes. Way better and way quicker in 768 00:47:16,650 --> 00:47:19,050 one paragraph. I'll have it on the screen for 769 00:47:19,050 --> 00:47:25,890 you, he says, an impersonal God. All well and good. 770 00:47:26,650 --> 00:47:30,610 An impersonal God does nothing, demands nothing. 771 00:47:31,130 --> 00:47:33,330 He's there. If you wish for him like a book 772 00:47:33,330 --> 00:47:36,770 on a shelf, He will not pursue you. 773 00:47:36,770 --> 00:47:39,650 A subject of God, of beauty, truth and goodness inside of our 774 00:47:39,650 --> 00:47:43,890 own heads. Better still, a formless life 775 00:47:43,890 --> 00:47:48,610 for surging through us, a vast power which we can tap. 776 00:47:48,850 --> 00:47:50,890 Oh, isn't that just the best of all? 777 00:47:52,610 --> 00:48:01,270 But God himself alive pulling at the other end of the line? 778 00:48:03,110 --> 00:48:04,590 Well, that is quite another matter. 779 00:48:06,910 --> 00:48:11,150 Maybe the reason you give him so little attention isn't because 780 00:48:11,150 --> 00:48:13,350 you're afraid that you'll be met with silence. 781 00:48:15,950 --> 00:48:19,710 Maybe the reason you give him so little attention is because you 782 00:48:19,710 --> 00:48:26,110 fear he will speak and then everything will have to change. 783 00:48:28,690 --> 00:48:36,290 So pay attention, pray with me, Heavenly Father, even though 784 00:48:37,410 --> 00:48:41,690 this is just made, these are amazing parables and stories and 785 00:48:41,690 --> 00:48:46,050 and what they do is they drive us to give all of our attention 786 00:48:46,050 --> 00:48:48,090 to God and and that's an amazing thing. 787 00:48:48,690 --> 00:48:53,050 But there are going to be many days and many times where we 788 00:48:53,050 --> 00:48:57,580 just throw our attention away when we fail to be in communion 789 00:48:57,580 --> 00:49:00,100 with God and we fail to think about the glory of God. 790 00:49:00,420 --> 00:49:04,060 And what we need to know is that there's grace for us in Jesus. 791 00:49:04,780 --> 00:49:07,980 And not only is there grace for us, but I think the most amazing 792 00:49:07,980 --> 00:49:11,900 thing for us to realize is that Jesus isn't asking us to do 793 00:49:11,900 --> 00:49:14,220 anything that Jesus is unwilling to do. 794 00:49:15,300 --> 00:49:19,100 When he tells us to pay attention to him, it's because 795 00:49:19,100 --> 00:49:27,770 he already pays attention to us. He loves us, knows us, is in 796 00:49:27,770 --> 00:49:31,290 relationship with us, and listens to us. 797 00:49:31,530 --> 00:49:35,130 We can pay attention to him because he first paid attention 798 00:49:35,130 --> 00:49:38,370 to us. So here's what we do, church. 799 00:49:38,370 --> 00:49:40,890 We're going to transition into a time of communion together. 800 00:49:41,170 --> 00:49:43,930 And as we do, this is just a perfect opportunity for you to 801 00:49:44,330 --> 00:49:48,330 pay attention, right? You look at the bread and the 802 00:49:48,330 --> 00:49:50,650 wine. Is Jesus hidden or revealed? 803 00:49:51,370 --> 00:49:54,130 The answer is yes. Do you see him? 804 00:49:55,370 --> 00:49:57,890 Do you hear him? Do you want him? 805 00:50:05,270 --> 00:50:06,990 And I'm like, I hate fishing.