1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,240 If you got a Bible, go and get that open to the book of Job in 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:07,160 the Old Testament, specifically Job chapter 3. 3 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:10,840 As you're turning there, a couple notes are sermon series 4 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:13,760 for Advent. We're titling it stubborn 5 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:17,000 gladness. So Advent is the celebration of 6 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,000 the light coming into the darkness, right? 7 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:23,360 This symbolic analogy for God himself coming in the flesh of 8 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:26,880 Jesus into our broken world. So what we've been doing is 9 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:30,120 we've been exploring the traditional topics of Advent, 10 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:33,640 hope, peace, joy, next week, love. 11 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:37,000 But we've been exploring them in light of their opposites. 12 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:40,240 And so hope in light of hopelessness, peace in light of 13 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:44,800 anxiety, and joy in light of depression. 14 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:48,000 That's why you're turning to Job Chapter 3 this morning. 15 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:51,640 So it is about joy this morning. Well, but don't get too excited 16 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:55,760 because I think my goal is to preach the saddest sermon on joy 17 00:00:55,800 --> 00:01:00,640 possible because I'm a monster. So let me pray and then we'll 18 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:06,920 jump into that. Heavenly Father, I, I do, I do 19 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:12,400 try, I, I honestly do try to be mindful because I love the, I 20 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:14,760 love the Advent season. I love the, I love the Christmas 21 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,000 season. I, I love everything about it. 22 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:21,120 And so I, Lord, I do try to be mindful that, as I said to our 23 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:24,280 volunteers this morning, not everybody is Clark Griswold 24 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:27,640 during the season. But for some people, the bright 25 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:30,880 sparkling lights and the the presents under the Christmas 26 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:34,720 tree and the ornaments on the tree, for some people that 27 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:40,640 represents loss, loss of hope, loss of the people, a nostalgic 28 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:44,400 depression of Christmas expectations that went on that I 29 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:46,120 don't, I don't know, Lord, whatever. 30 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:49,960 I just know people can tend to experience the the Christmas 31 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:54,160 Blues in this season. And my hope this morning, and 32 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:57,160 this is, this is a hope, Lord, that can it can only be 33 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:01,920 fulfilled if you show up in a profound and miraculous way this 34 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:04,240 morning. My, my hope is that for those 35 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:08,919 who experience deep and unrelenting sorrow or sadness or 36 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:13,520 even in even depression during the season, my hope is that you 37 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:19,880 would show up this morning and help them taste joy in the midst 38 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:25,120 of it. Maybe not even joy in spite of 39 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:26,960 it, but joy in the midst of that all. 40 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:31,080 I'm always profoundly amazed when I read the New Testament 41 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:35,360 and I read the Apostle Paul describe his life as sorrowful, 42 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:41,320 yet always rejoicing. Sorrowful, like full of sorrow, 43 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:46,240 yet always rejoicing as in joy always. 44 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:55,560 And so there has to be in the Spirit this possibility that joy 45 00:02:55,560 --> 00:03:00,600 and sorrow can coexist in the Christian who has both her feet 46 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:03,120 in a broken world and in the person of Christ. 47 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:08,080 So yeah, do that. In the precious name of Jesus, 48 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:13,160 all God's people prayed, Amen. We 3 Joy. 49 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,520 One of the biggest challenges of the Christian life, I think 50 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:20,720 potentially the biggest challenge of the Christian life 51 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:28,200 is when our experiences don't line up with God's promises. 52 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:32,320 You know what I mean? Like when our felt experiences 53 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:35,680 don't line up with God's promises. 54 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:41,760 I know God promises me this. I don't feel that. 55 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:47,800 I feel this. What do you do when your felt 56 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:51,560 experiences don't line up with God's promises? 57 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:55,000 And I I didn't think there's any bigger area of struggle on this 58 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:59,960 topic than with God's promise of joy and our regular experiences 59 00:03:59,960 --> 00:04:01,360 of depression, sorrow, and sadness. 60 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:02,760 So take the Old Testament for example. 61 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,720 God in the Old Testament, he distinguishes his people. 62 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:10,640 He distinguishes Israel from all the nations of the world, 63 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:14,320 specifically by declaring them a happy people. 64 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:17,240 That's not coal. That's the Bible. 65 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:20,839 This is Deuteronomy chapter 33. I just want you to see this 66 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:26,840 Deuteronomy chapter 33. God says Happy are you, O 67 00:04:26,840 --> 00:04:31,200 Israel, who is like you? They're different from the 68 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:33,360 nations. He's saying When I compare the 69 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:37,560 people of God in Israel to all the other nations, no one's like 70 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:39,960 you. What makes them distinct? 71 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:45,680 Happy are you, O Israel, who is like you, a people saved by the 72 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:48,640 Lord. And so Israel is God's people is 73 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:51,680 to be distinct and different from the rest of the world, 74 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:56,040 particularly by their happiness that they experience in their 75 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:59,160 salvation. And the big question then, of 76 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:05,000 course, is what do you do when you don't feel that way? 77 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:10,240 Like if you know your Bible, like what do you do? 78 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:17,960 For instance, if you're Job, do you pretend? 79 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:23,000 Do you act? Do you put on a face? 80 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:27,040 What do you do? And if you're able, let's go 81 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:29,600 ahead and stand together for the reading of God's Word and see 82 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:35,960 what he does. All of chapter 3. 83 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:38,840 I won't have time to expose it every single verse. 84 00:05:38,840 --> 00:05:41,680 That would take a long time, but let's blast through this 85 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:44,320 together. Job chapter 3 after this, I'll 86 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:45,960 explain what happened leading up to this. 87 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:49,720 After this, Job opened his mouth and he cursed the day of his 88 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:52,160 birth. And Job said, this is ugly 89 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:55,640 stuff. Let the day perish on which I 90 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:59,000 was born, and the night that said a man is conceived. 91 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,880 Let that day be darkness. May God above not seek it, nor 92 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:09,400 light shine upon it. Let gloom and deep darkness 93 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,240 claim it. Let clouds dwell upon it. 94 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:14,440 Let the blackness of the day terrify it. 95 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:20,040 That night where I was born, let thick darkness seize it. 96 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:23,440 Let it not rejoice among the days of the year. 97 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:26,600 Let it not come into the number of the months. 98 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:30,200 Yeesh. Behold, let that night be 99 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:33,960 barren, let no joyful cry enter it. 100 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:39,040 Let those who curse them, who curse the day, who are ready to 101 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:44,040 rouse up leviathan chaos. Let the stars of its dawn be 102 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:46,120 dark. Let it hope for light, but have 103 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:51,240 none nor see the eyelids of the morning, because it did not shut 104 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:55,520 the doors of my mother's womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes. 105 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,760 It gets worse. Why did I not die at birth, come 106 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:03,400 out from the womb and expire? Why did the knees of my mother 107 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:06,720 receive me, or why the breast that I should nurse for? 108 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:09,160 Then I would have lain down and been quiet. 109 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:12,120 I would have slept. Then I would have been at rest 110 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:16,000 with kings and counselors of the earth who rebuilt ruins for 111 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,200 themselves, or with Princess who had gold, who filled their 112 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:23,280 houses with silver. Why was I not as a hidden 113 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:26,400 stillborn child, as infants who never see the light? 114 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:31,600 There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary 115 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:34,320 are at rest. There the prisoners are at ease 116 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:36,880 together. They hear not the voice of the 117 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:38,920 taskmaster, the small and the greater. 118 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:42,080 There, and the slave is free from his master in the grave. 119 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:47,880 So why is light given to him who is in misery and life, to the 120 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:51,280 bitter and soul who long for death? 121 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:56,120 But it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures, 122 00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:03,120 who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad when they find the grave in 123 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:06,360 light. Why is light given to a man 124 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:10,120 whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? 125 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:15,640 For my sign comes instead of my bread, and my groanings are 126 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:20,080 poured out like the water. For the thing that I fear comes 127 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:23,080 upon me, and what I dread befalls me. 128 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:27,360 I am not at ease, nor am I quiet. 129 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:33,760 I have no rest. But trouble comes chapter 3 of 130 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:36,440 Job. You know that old classic Advent 131 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:40,240 text? If you're able, you can be 132 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:49,080 seated Week 1 of Advent. The first candle. 133 00:08:49,680 --> 00:08:52,320 Tell yourself this. Tell your children this is for 134 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:59,160 hope, the hope of Jesus. Week 2 of Advent is for peace, 135 00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:05,760 the peace of Jesus and week 3 of Advent. 136 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:09,120 Tell yourself this, this week as you light this candle. 137 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:12,920 If you have kids, tell them it's for joy. 138 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:16,280 But you read a text like this and I think the most natural 139 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:18,880 question is where? Where is that? 140 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:21,160 Where's the joy? Where's the joy? 141 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:24,640 God promises the distinguishes people from the nations by their 142 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:27,720 happiness in him. Job is a part of the people of 143 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:28,840 God. He's part of Israel. 144 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:32,240 That means he is by virtue of extension of that promise. 145 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:34,480 He is a recipient of that promise. 146 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:37,760 But where's the joy? Well, it would be helpful to 147 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:39,560 know what happened in chapters 1 and 2. 148 00:09:39,560 --> 00:09:41,480 So here's what comes before Job Chapter 3. 149 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:44,400 Essentially, Job loses everything. 150 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:46,360 You should read chapters 1 and 2 this week. 151 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:50,280 It's essentially progressive overload of tragedy. 152 00:09:50,560 --> 00:09:52,800 Every time you think that's got to be the worst thing that could 153 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:55,360 happen, another thing that's bad happens. 154 00:09:55,360 --> 00:09:59,160 It starts with Job losing his oxen and his servants are struck 155 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:02,080 dead. That is financial insecurity. 156 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:05,000 Where's the joy? Then it gets worse. 157 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:10,440 He loses his children. Then it gets worse, his health 158 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:13,160 is taken from him. Then it gets worse. 159 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:16,600 Even his wife curses him. Where's the joy? 160 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:22,160 And the worst part is, if you read chapter 1, all that's 161 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:25,400 befalling Job, all these, these losses, these things are 162 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:29,120 happening to Job. It's all taking place based on a 163 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:34,480 cosmic bet between God and Satan that even if Satan takes 164 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:38,000 everything from Job, Job won't curse God. 165 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:44,440 That's the big question in in Job chapter 3 is, is he going to 166 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:48,520 do it? Is is Job going to raise his 167 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:50,080 first to the heavens and curse God? 168 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:52,560 There's a lot of cursing in this chapter, right? 169 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:54,760 A lot. It's uncomfortable to read, 170 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:58,040 parents. I bet if somebody made a song 171 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:01,720 out of Job 3 and you heard it on the radio, you'd be like this. 172 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:04,360 I don't want my kids to hear that right. 173 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:06,640 You would turn it off. So much cursing. 174 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:11,320 The question is, does Job curse God? 175 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:13,800 If you have a Bible open, look closely at chapter 3. 176 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:15,000 I'm not going to have this on the screen. 177 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:18,560 Let me just read it out loud. Job curse is the day where he 178 00:11:18,560 --> 00:11:20,160 was born. He says let the day perish on 179 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:23,640 which I was born in the night that said a man is conceived. 180 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:27,560 Let that day be darkness like this. 181 00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:30,600 He's like this close to cursing God. 182 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:35,400 Does he do it? He goes on by saying, May God 183 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:38,320 above not seek it, nor light shine upon it. 184 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:40,440 Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. 185 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:44,120 Let clouds dwell upon it. Let the blackness of the day 186 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:45,840 terrify it. What's Job doing? 187 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:49,080 This is poetic language. But essentially what what Job is 188 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:51,960 doing is he's cursing the day of his birth. 189 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:55,640 Notice this. He's cursing out loud. 190 00:11:55,640 --> 00:12:01,040 This is an important textual observation, but not to God 191 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:06,960 about God. But he's not addressing God. 192 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:09,160 He's just cursing out loud. This is important. 193 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:11,880 So if you look at all the angry Psalms, and there's a lot of 194 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:15,280 angry Psalms, one thing you notice is that the psalmist, 195 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:18,760 they always address God. They, they pray to God. 196 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:22,720 You read a Psalm and it's like, how long, O Lord, until you do 197 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:25,960 this or God, what are you doing up there? 198 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:29,280 How long until this happens? They're addressing God. 199 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:31,520 That's not what's happening with Joe. 200 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:38,000 He mentions God, but he does not greet God in chapter 3. 201 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:42,720 That's why some theologians refer to chapter 3 as praying 202 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:48,120 into the void, which would make an awesome name for a metal 203 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:51,080 album. Praying into the void. 204 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:57,600 This is not Job praying to God, this is Job kicking and punching 205 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:00,640 in his bed sheets, screaming into his pillow. 206 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:07,200 Job is the Old Testament figure who experiences the felt, not 207 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:12,920 the objective, the felt absence of God more than any other Old 208 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:16,000 Testament figure. You could even say that Job. 209 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:22,440 Many people do say that Job is the most God forsaken man in the 210 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:28,880 Old Testament in these chapters. But does he do it? 211 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:34,160 He curses. But does he curse God? 212 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:37,040 Not yet. But look at verse 11. 213 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:41,400 Job continues by saying why did I not die at birth, come out 214 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:44,200 from the womb and expire? Why did the knees receive me? 215 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:46,760 Why the breast that I should nurse for? 216 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:49,040 Then I would have lain down and been quiet. 217 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:51,920 I would have slept, he's saying. It would have been better to 218 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:55,080 just be dead with kings and Queens than to be alive, he 219 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:56,520 says. Then I would have been at rest 220 00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:58,920 with kings and councillors of the earth who built ruins for 221 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:02,200 themselves or with Princess who had gold, who filled their 222 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:05,040 houses with silver. What a terrible thing to say. 223 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:09,480 Like imagine you're a small group, community group this week 224 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:18,400 and somebody says that, right? You would be like, you ever do 225 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:21,320 that? Like somebody asks who you how 226 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:22,520 you are and you're like, I'm good. 227 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:23,960 And they're like, no, how are you really? 228 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:29,520 And you're like, OK. And they're like, and then 229 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:34,240 you're like, OK, I feel worse now because not only do you know 230 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,240 how I'm doing, I still feel that way. 231 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:38,160 And now you're walking away from me. 232 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:46,840 But does he curse God? He curses life itself. 233 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:49,360 It's bad. It's a bad thing to say. 234 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:51,760 God says life is good, existence is good. 235 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:54,120 It was God's idea. Terrible thing to say. 236 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:57,960 But sometimes the interior life of a faithful Christian is ugly, 237 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:01,680 am I right? A faithful Christian can have an 238 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:05,200 ugly interior life. Sometimes I think Iowan 239 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:09,240 Christians struggle with this. And by Iowan Christians in 240 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:12,440 general, I mean me in specific. I'm talking about myself. 241 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:15,920 Sometimes when when people experience deep sadness and 242 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:21,240 sorrow or depression, it freaks us out and we say cliches to 243 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:23,320 them because it makes us uncomfortable. 244 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:26,200 And I think one of the reasons why we struggle with this is 245 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:29,240 because as Christians, something that we fail to reckon with is 246 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:35,080 the fact that God actually created us with the capacity for 247 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:40,080 sorrow. That was God's idea, and the 248 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:43,920 capacity for sorrow is intrinsically good. 249 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:46,720 You could try to make the theological argument that the 250 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:49,240 capacity for sorrow is a result of the fall. 251 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:51,800 If you made that argument, you would be stupid and you'd be 252 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:54,200 wrong. Why do I know that? 253 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:56,400 It's really simple. How do I know that? 254 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:59,880 Because God himself experiences and expresses sorrow. 255 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:04,960 And if it's part of the Nate, the fundamental nature of the 256 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:09,480 perfect and holy One, then it is objectively good to have that 257 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:12,840 capacity for sorrow. And so the implication there is 258 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:16,720 that if we are unable to experience appropriate sorrow in 259 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:21,360 life, then we actually fail to image God accurately to the 260 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:24,720 world. Did you hear that? 261 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:30,520 Like when Job freaks out in chapter 3. 262 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:39,680 My read on that is not oh, Job's spiritual health is in danger. 263 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:44,280 You know what would make me think that though? 264 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:48,120 If Job lost all of that and he felt nothing. 265 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:53,200 I think the older I get as a Christian, the more I believe 266 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:57,160 that the opposite of joy is not sadness. 267 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,120 The I don't think depression is the opposite of joy. 268 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:06,200 I think the opposite of joy is apathy. 269 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:10,520 Like I'm going to try to put something to words here that's 270 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:17,680 hard for me to explain. When you experience the 271 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:22,960 appropriate amount, appropriate amount of sorrow in relation to 272 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:27,880 the amount of loss, you experience that sorrow. 273 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:32,400 You experience it as though there were kind of a joy at the 274 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:34,520 bottom of it. Like there, there's a dark 275 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:38,640 pleasure in experiencing the appropriate amount of sadness 276 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:43,040 and sorrow. And so I think the problem is 277 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:48,880 that if our capacity for sadness is good, and Job's intense 278 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,480 sadness here is actually something of a bittersweet 279 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:55,840 consolation for him, then to try to tell him to just cheer up 280 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:58,400 would mean that you're not actually making his life better, 281 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:01,360 but actually just taking another thing away from him. 282 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:07,000 So not only would he lose his wife, his wife's love, his kids, 283 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:10,840 his health, his financial thing, but you would also make him lose 284 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:15,120 his heart. And so Job, caught up in this 285 00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:19,640 furious tornado of depression, he starts to say some scary 286 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:22,440 things. Christians say scary things. 287 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:27,160 Job is saying some scary things. He's cursing life itself. 288 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:31,680 Yikes. But did he do it? 289 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:37,240 Did he curse God? And the answer, of course, is 290 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:41,640 no, close, but no. Look at verse 20. 291 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:48,240 Look at verse 20. Verse 20 says he goes after 292 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:50,520 light after going after his own life. 293 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:55,480 He says why is light given to him who was in misery and life 294 00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:59,400 to the bitter and soul? Verse 23, why is light given to 295 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:03,200 a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in right this? 296 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:05,560 This is very close to cursing God. 297 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:10,680 When God creates light in Genesis, God says it's good. 298 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:15,360 Genesis saying, or what Job is saying is no, curse it. 299 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:19,000 God says it's good. Job says curse the light. 300 00:19:19,120 --> 00:19:21,680 What a brutally atrocious thing to curse. 301 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:27,120 But did he curse God? No. 302 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:30,640 And this, this is the key observation in all of Job three. 303 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:33,080 I think this is the central point of chapter 3. 304 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:37,000 Job is consumed by depression, a never ending pit of sorrow in 305 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:43,640 fact, And Job raises a fist at everything and everyone and 306 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:50,640 curses everything besides God. So I'm going to say something 307 00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:53,160 that is, I think it might, I'm going to quote something that I 308 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:55,480 think might make you nervous. I'm reading a book right now by 309 00:19:55,480 --> 00:20:00,080 a Christian who experiences intense mental health issues, 310 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:01,640 bipolar and a lot of other things. 311 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:03,880 And he, he says his name is John Bryant. 312 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:06,560 And he says something that's almost alarming, but I think 313 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:10,280 it's worth your consideration. I wrote it down right when I 314 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:14,000 read it. He says I love Jesus. 315 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:21,320 And I'm still very much mentally ill and my love for Jesus has 316 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:32,520 not fixed that. How he goes on to say this, this 317 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:36,600 is so critical. He says, look, the saddest thing 318 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:40,040 in the world isn't to have bad thoughts or feelings. 319 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:45,440 Has anybody ever told you that the saddest thing in the world 320 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:47,680 is not to have bad thoughts or feelings? 321 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:51,800 What is it? He says The saddest thing in the 322 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:56,600 world is to believe things that are not true. 323 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:02,400 The saddest thing in the world is not to experience or have 324 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:09,240 depression. You need to hear me say that the 325 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:13,560 saddest thing in the world is to believe the lies that your 326 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:19,040 depression tells you. Those are two distinct things. 327 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:25,240 You can be in the midst of deep depression and still reject the 328 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:29,760 lies that your depression is telling you and still keep your 329 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:33,280 feet planted in the promises of God. 330 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:36,680 And if you can resist the lies that your depression tells you, 331 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:39,360 something amazing happens in this moment of Job, for 332 00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:41,480 instance. What is happening, I think, is 333 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:45,560 that Job is simultaneously the happy one of Israel. 334 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:47,920 Deuteronomy 33. He has not forfeited that 335 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:51,440 identity. He is simultaneously the happy 336 00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:55,600 one of Israel, the blessed one of Israel, and a man of great 337 00:21:55,600 --> 00:22:00,800 sorrows. Not one or the other, both at 338 00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:02,680 once. This is key. 339 00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:06,520 Biblically, joy is not the absence of sorrow. 340 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:13,040 It can't be, the New Testament says sorrowful, yet always 341 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:15,680 rejoicing. Joy is not the absence of 342 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:18,040 suffering. Scripture, in fact, commands us 343 00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:21,840 to count our suffering as all joy. 344 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:26,520 So it can't be that. And so if joy is not this toxic 345 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:30,680 positivity, if joy is not the absence of sorrow or the absence 346 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:34,120 of suffering, then what is it? And I'm convinced that what joy 347 00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:40,680 is joy is a stubborn refusal to not worship our sorrow even when 348 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:45,880 we experience it, and instead a dogged determination to worship 349 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:48,000 God alone. I'm telling this is going to be 350 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:49,800 a hard pill to swallow. I think it's true, though. 351 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:54,160 I think, I think that it is better to be depressed in the 352 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:59,560 presence of God than to be chipper outside of the presence 353 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:02,600 of God. Which one's more joyful? 354 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:08,880 The person with deep sadness and sorrow that's in Christ or the 355 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:13,320 Super happy clappy person who doesn't know Jesus, the 356 00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:15,800 depressed person in Christ has more joy. 357 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:21,440 It's wild. It's wild. 358 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:23,840 This is why we're using the phrase stubborn gladness for 359 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:25,760 this series. I'm actually ripping off from a 360 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:28,840 Jack Gilbert poem where he says something incredible. 361 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:30,720 Gilbert says. The first time I read this a 362 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:33,520 couple of years, I underlined it and highlighted it and I was 363 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,640 like, that's got to go on a sermon. 4 years later, here it 364 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:39,000 is baby Gilbert. In this poem. 365 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:43,240 He says we must have the stubbornness. 366 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,840 I like that Our mission statement is fight for joy. 367 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:52,360 It's not act happy or act joyful. 368 00:23:52,360 --> 00:23:56,400 It's a stubborn fight, he says. Gilbert says we must have the 369 00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:03,520 stubbornness to accept our gladness even in the ruthless 370 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:10,840 furnace of the world. Come on, does that hit dude? 371 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,840 We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the 372 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:20,640 ruthless furnace of this world. And this is the turning point in 373 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:22,800 the sermon, right? This is where, this is where, 374 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:26,080 this is the moment where this sappy text in Job 3 actually 375 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:28,960 becomes an Advent story. Because what we recognize in the 376 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:31,960 Advent story is that God is not merely the God who stands above 377 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:34,840 sadness and sorrow as he does in Job chapter 3. 378 00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:38,760 God is the God who descends into sadness and sorrow. 379 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:41,680 Because one of the things you got to reckon with is that when 380 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:45,120 Jesus comes, there is one who comes and fulfills the story of 381 00:24:45,120 --> 00:24:50,120 Job better than Job. The first advent of Jesus is the 382 00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:52,920 advent of a truer and better Job. 383 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:56,520 Jesus experiences everything that Job experiences. 384 00:24:57,520 --> 00:24:59,760 Read the gospels in light of the book of Job. 385 00:25:00,120 --> 00:25:02,880 Jesus experiences everything that Job experiences, but to the 386 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:06,440 10th degree, right? Like Job, Jesus loses his 387 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:09,400 friends. Like Job, Jesus loses everything 388 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:11,760 that belongs to him, which is not just a couple cattle and 389 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:14,840 oxen like Job, but all of creation turns against Jesus 390 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:20,400 like Job, his bride, his wife. The church curses him on the 391 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:23,080 cross. It's exactly parallel. 392 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:27,640 And ultimately, like Job, it's Jesus who screams into the void 393 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:31,680 on the cross. Jesus, the advent of God 394 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:35,040 himself. Jesus experiences a felt absence 395 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:38,040 of God. My God, my God, why have you 396 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:41,200 forsaken me? It's extraordinary. 397 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:43,720 Job is not the most God forsaken man in the Bible. 398 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:47,840 Jesus is the most God forsaken man in the Bible. 399 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:58,720 This is extraordinary fullness of divinity made to feel the 400 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:02,240 absence of divinity, right? The in the modern world we have 401 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:03,800 a word for that kind of experience. 402 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:08,920 When Jesus is in Gethsemane and he says my soul is sorrowful to 403 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:12,840 the point of death. That's poetic language for what 404 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:14,680 in the modern world we call depression. 405 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:17,320 Like you have to reckon with this, this, just think about 406 00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:20,760 this. Jesus experienced a chemical 407 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:25,680 imbalance in his brain. If you could take an MRI of what 408 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:29,240 was going on in Jesus brain in Gethsemane, you would see a 409 00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:34,840 chemical imbalance and he's perfect for God himself in the 410 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:37,320 flesh. God experienced a chemical 411 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:41,760 imbalance in his brain. What I mean, what God does that? 412 00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:47,600 Only Jesus, Amen. Only Jesus, only the Christian 413 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:51,800 God, only Jesus can catch one of your tears in his hands and say, 414 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:56,000 I know what that feels like. I cried that exact same tear. 415 00:26:56,920 --> 00:27:00,480 And this is so important to know because it helps you recognize 416 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,800 something so important, which is so simple, which is this God's 417 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:08,400 not afraid of your depression. Your friends, even some of your 418 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:11,120 Christian friends. When you go into deep seasons of 419 00:27:11,120 --> 00:27:14,360 darkness and you say things like Job three, sometimes your 420 00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:24,480 Christian friends will go, well, God's got a plan for your life, 421 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:29,080 so you just act happy. Even our Christian friends won't 422 00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:32,320 do that sometimes. Does God No. 423 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:36,160 And you're God does not do this when you're in depression, when 424 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:39,760 you're in deep seasons of darkness and sorrow, God does 425 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:50,160 this. He knows it's felt it not afraid 426 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:52,360 of your depression, not afraid of your sorrow. 427 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:57,040 He knows what it feels like. And so when it's so life giving, 428 00:27:57,040 --> 00:28:03,000 because when I experience sadness and sorrow, do you feel 429 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:06,040 this way ever? I don't know if I've ever been 430 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:07,680 through a season that I would call depression. 431 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:09,000 And so I don't. I have, I don't think I've 432 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:11,680 tasted that if you've experienced that or in that. 433 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:13,840 But I've been in seasons of sadness and sorrow. 434 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:18,320 And when I'm in those seasons, what I don't want people to do 435 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:24,240 is cheer me up. I don't. 436 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:30,360 What I want people to do in those seasons is I want people 437 00:28:30,360 --> 00:28:40,360 to dignify my sorrow, to grant it dignity and worth and value. 438 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:48,720 And for Jesus to experience sorrow means that he has made 439 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:54,960 sorrow holy. By tasting sadness in the flesh, 440 00:28:55,760 --> 00:29:00,920 Jesus has transfigured our sorrow and he has infused our 441 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:03,880 sorrow with a type of, and I mean this when I say it, 442 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:09,240 reverence. Do you find that beautiful? 443 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:16,480 Like, I don't even want, I don't even want a Jesus who's not the 444 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:20,360 Man of Sorrows. I don't want a Jesus who looks 445 00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:23,360 at my sadness. And it's like, what's that like? 446 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:29,680 It's profound. Jesus, God in the flesh, the man 447 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:32,880 of sorrows. Job was just a man who felt 448 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:36,800 sorrow. Jesus was the Man of sorrows. 449 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:40,360 I mean, Job just cursed the day of his birth. 450 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:44,640 Jesus was cursed from the day of his birth. 451 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:49,360 There's a difference. Job just cursed his birthday. 452 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:52,120 Jesus was cursed from his birthday. 453 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:55,120 Galatians chapter 313. Argue with the wall if you don't 454 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:56,720 like that. Christ redeemed us from the 455 00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:00,040 curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. 456 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:05,120 He took on the curse that we deserved. 457 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:07,640 That's what makes him the Man of Sorrows. 458 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:10,800 And so every year when we celebrate Advent, we are 459 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:13,960 celebrating the advent of the Man of Sorrows. 460 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:17,240 He is the Man of Sorrows and the happy one of Israel. 461 00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:21,320 And there will be a second Advent, right? 462 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:25,760 He's coming back, Amen. And when he comes back in the 463 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:29,080 second Advent, that gap is going to be gone. 464 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:33,720 The one we talked about, that gap between your felt 465 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:38,120 experiences and the promises of God during the second advent of 466 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:42,000 Jesus, it it'll be gone. There will no longer be any gap 467 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:45,280 between his promises and our felt experiences. 468 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:49,320 That gap will be thrown into the lake of fire and our experiences 469 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:53,560 will finally be brought fully into complete union with his 470 00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:57,720 promises. No gap, not even a millisecond 471 00:30:57,720 --> 00:31:00,960 between God promises this and then we experience it there. 472 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:08,160 It'll just be 1. You won't have to wait for the 473 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:11,600 needle to drop the needle to drop. 474 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:20,520 I I don't struggle with a lot of devices of the world, but I do 475 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:24,000 have addictions. For instance, my addiction 476 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:25,720 currently is in the middle of the day. 477 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:30,840 Yesterday I ran out of my house in order to drive over to the Hy 478 00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:33,520 Vee Wine and Spirits where Joseph works because I needed to 479 00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:36,080 have some more. And what I needed to have more 480 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:40,160 of was they had a record pop up store and I'm addicted to 481 00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:45,640 records. And so I got there and you know 482 00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:48,320 what, like a like a typical, I just like it all. 483 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:50,240 I like the the shape of the records. 484 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:54,040 I like the heaviness of it. I like the artwork, design, all 485 00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:55,880 of it. And like a typical addict, I'm 486 00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:57,520 going to blame somebody else. It's not my fault. 487 00:31:57,640 --> 00:31:59,760 It's Andrew Johnson's fault he's not here, right? 488 00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:01,480 Good. I'm going to blame Andrew. 489 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:05,520 So the reason why I'm so addicted to records right now is 490 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:08,480 he you should go check it out. In my office after church, he 491 00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:12,280 brought in this amazing record player that he had that he's 492 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:14,880 letting me borrow and these massive speakers. 493 00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:17,240 And so I listened to like one of my favorite albums on it. 494 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:20,520 And I was like, I have to hear every one of my favorite records 495 00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:24,640 on this. And so it was like the week 496 00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:27,280 after Andrew brought his new fancy record player and put it 497 00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:30,320 in my office. And I there one of my favorite 498 00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:35,080 records this year was written by a punk band called Military Gun, 499 00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:37,240 not a Christian band. I'm not recommending it to you 500 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:41,560 know that I know as a pastor, I'm only allowed to listen to 501 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:45,840 Hillsong on my spare time. Which if you, which if you 502 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:48,720 believe that, do not look at my Spotify rapped for the year. 503 00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:52,320 But there's this band called Military Gun and they're like 504 00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:55,200 profoundly this punk band, like you listen to it and they got 505 00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:57,680 this punk sound, but they also infuse it with this 506 00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:00,880 extraordinary sound of joy. And so I was like, man, I got to 507 00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:02,280 hear that. I was kind of feeling down that 508 00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:03,760 week. I was like, I got to put on this 509 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:07,000 this record. And so I turned it on, turn the 510 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:09,760 speaker on, press play. It started spinning and I 511 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:13,120 couldn't hear it. So I checked again. 512 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:22,400 The record player was on, the speakers were on, the record was 513 00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:26,200 spinning. I couldn't hear the music. 514 00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:31,320 You know what happened? Andrew has a really fancy record 515 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:34,080 player, mine at home. You just press a button when you 516 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:38,200 press start and the needle naturally lifts up and goes 517 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:39,720 right down on the record where it's supposed to. 518 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:41,080 That's not the way Andrew's works. 519 00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:44,640 It's a fancy one. You've got to manually lift up 520 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:47,920 the needle and then put it to the right spot and drop it. 521 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:51,960 I didn't know that. And so the record player was on, 522 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:55,080 the speakers were on, the record was spinning. 523 00:33:55,160 --> 00:33:56,200 I couldn't hear it. Why? 524 00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:58,200 Because the needle hadn't dropped. 525 00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:02,280 And this is where records get really interesting. 526 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:04,960 OK, This is, I think that this is fascinating when when they 527 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:07,960 make a record, what they do is they etch the music. 528 00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:13,000 They etch the songs into little tiny grooves, and then they they 529 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:17,400 press it into plastic and they press those songs into the 530 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:21,280 plastic until the record eventually goes perfectly flat. 531 00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:26,679 And what that means is that the music is objectively there when 532 00:34:26,679 --> 00:34:30,199 it's spinning, because it's etched into the record, it's 533 00:34:30,199 --> 00:34:33,199 objectively there. But if the needle isn't dropped, 534 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:38,239 can you hear the music? No, that doesn't mean the 535 00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:41,360 music's not there. It is. 536 00:34:43,719 --> 00:34:45,679 You just have seasons where you can't hear it. 537 00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:50,880 And what record players teach us is that there can be a profound 538 00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:56,400 gap between an objective reality, like a song etched into 539 00:34:56,400 --> 00:35:01,760 the very record itself, and our subjective experience of hearing 540 00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:04,240 that song. And that's helpful to know 541 00:35:04,240 --> 00:35:06,320 because that's most of the Christian life. 542 00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:09,920 You are declared. If you're a believer in Jesus, 543 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:13,480 you are declared sinless objectively, even though 544 00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:15,760 subjectively you still struggle with sin. 545 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:19,080 You've been covered in the righteousness of God. 546 00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:22,720 Even though sometimes you practice unrighteousness. 547 00:35:23,720 --> 00:35:26,560 Your sins are forgiven. You're covered in Jesus right 548 00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:29,000 righteousness. And in your union with God 549 00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:34,160 through the work of the Spirit, a joyful song has objectively 550 00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:38,360 been pressed into your heart and grooves. 551 00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:45,160 And sometimes as a Christian, the speakers are on, you know, 552 00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:50,560 your Bible, the record players on, you go to church and you 553 00:35:50,560 --> 00:35:54,720 worship with people. The record is spinning like 554 00:35:54,720 --> 00:35:57,240 you're practicing the spiritual disciplines and you're going 555 00:35:57,240 --> 00:36:00,120 through the motions. You're doing all of that and you 556 00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:03,240 can't hear the music. You can't feel the joy. 557 00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:07,240 And the big question is, what do you do in those seasons? 558 00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:12,720 And the biblical answer to that, the answer of Advent, is simple. 559 00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:17,560 What do you do? You keep spinning the record and 560 00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:19,800 you wait for God to drop the needle. 561 00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:23,600 That's what you do. You keep spinning the record. 562 00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:26,120 Read your Bible. You keep spinning the record. 563 00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:28,840 Keep going to church, You keep spinning the record. 564 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:33,480 Fast, repent of sin, pray, get help, encourage other people, 565 00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:36,280 and you wait for God to drop the needle. 566 00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:39,720 You practice what theologians call holy discontentment. 567 00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:42,320 You ever heard that holy discontentment? 568 00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:45,320 It's it's this term where whenever God promises us 569 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:48,600 something that we don't experience, it's our job to 570 00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:53,800 practice holy discontentment. Do not be cool with that gap. 571 00:36:54,640 --> 00:36:58,760 It's like if you go through a season of, of, of joylessness of 572 00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:03,080 sadness and sorrow, that's OK, but be discontent in a holy way 573 00:37:03,080 --> 00:37:09,360 with it, right? Our, our job is to say, God, you 574 00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:13,560 promised me joy. I don't feel it. 575 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:18,520 Would you give it to me? And then if you don't experience 576 00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:20,720 it, you know what you should do? Keep asking. 577 00:37:21,720 --> 00:37:25,000 Keep spinning the record. Keep reading your Bible, say 578 00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:26,840 God, I still won't experience it. 579 00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:29,440 I don't feel the joy. You promised me joy. 580 00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:33,080 Would you do it? And if you don't, you know what 581 00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:36,040 you do. You keep asking, you keep 582 00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:38,680 spinning the record. You keep praying, you keep 583 00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:41,960 worshipping, you keep reading your Bible, you fast, you get 584 00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:43,520 help. You talk to other Christians, 585 00:37:43,680 --> 00:37:45,840 you wait. You keep spinning the record. 586 00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:48,720 You fast. And you say, God, I want the joy 587 00:37:48,720 --> 00:37:50,760 of salvation. I don't feel it. 588 00:37:50,880 --> 00:37:54,040 Would you give it to me? And if you still don't get it, 589 00:37:54,240 --> 00:37:57,960 you keep doing that on a daily basis, even if you have to do it 590 00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:01,760 every day until you die. You keep spinning the record. 591 00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:03,960 Amen. Keep spinning it. 592 00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:05,840 You keep asking. You don't quit. 593 00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:13,080 You don't just quit. You don't just give up and curse 594 00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:18,920 God and be done with it. No, you keep asking, you keep 595 00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:23,160 fighting and you keep banging on the door and you keep saying, 596 00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:26,360 God, I don't feel it. Would you help me experience it? 597 00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:30,400 You keep stubbornly asking, God, where's the joy? 598 00:38:34,360 --> 00:38:40,640 Where is it? Heavenly Father, would you help 599 00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:42,880 us practice that holy discontentment? 600 00:38:44,240 --> 00:38:51,760 Stir in US just the spirit given desire to continue to ask and 601 00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:55,440 ask and ask and ask and fight and fight and fight and fight. 602 00:38:56,120 --> 00:39:00,560 And if you don't give that to us in this lifetime, help us wait 603 00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:07,720 for it because it is coming. Maybe some of us will experience 604 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:10,680 the lifting of the sadness and sorrow right now. 605 00:39:12,920 --> 00:39:17,080 Pray for that if you haven't. Some of us will experience the 606 00:39:17,080 --> 00:39:19,000 lifting of that sorrow next week. 607 00:39:19,320 --> 00:39:21,360 Some of us will experience it next year. 608 00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:24,640 But all of us will experience it in our next lifetime. 609 00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:29,560 And so, Lord, stir in us a desire to taste the joy 610 00:39:29,920 --> 00:39:35,200 subjectively that is objectively in us because of the person of 611 00:39:35,240 --> 00:39:37,920 Jesus. So it's in his precious name 612 00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:41,400 that all God's people prayed. Amen.