1 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:13,040 Rule #12 pet a cat when you encounter one on the street. 2 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:16,360 My name is Connor. I'm filling in for Tucker this 3 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:17,800 week. I'm one of the assistant pastors 4 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:20,520 here. He is at a wedding in 5 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:22,240 Washington. And so him and his family are 6 00:00:22,240 --> 00:00:24,480 there. And today we are going to be 7 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:28,360 opening up the Gospel of Luke. The rule that I just quoted to 8 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:33,800 you is from Jordan Peterson's 2018 book Here on the Screen. 9 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:37,200 It's called 12 Rules. It's the 12th rule, the final 10 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:40,480 rule for life and antidote to chaos. 11 00:00:40,480 --> 00:00:41,960 Now, you might be familiar with this book. 12 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:44,960 You some of you probably are. In the first few years, it sold 13 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:48,000 5 million copies, and by now it's sold around 10 million 14 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:50,160 copies. Many people were helped by the 15 00:00:50,160 --> 00:00:53,440 rules that he laid out, by the things that he said, by having 16 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,840 some semblance, an idea of how to live their lives. 17 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:59,520 Young men in particular took a liking to it and it caused 18 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:02,360 somewhat of a cultural phenomenon going in to and 19 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:06,760 through the pandemic, became a global bestseller and was on 20 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:10,800 audibles #1 for many weeks. It catapulted him and is 21 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:14,200 speaking to to unparallel heights for him personally. 22 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:18,520 But he wasn't the only famous American to do something like 23 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:20,960 this. In fact, Americans have been 24 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:23,680 doing this since the time America became America. 25 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:28,880 Thomas Jefferson famously had his 10 Rules for Practical Life 26 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:32,440 and if you read them, a lot of them are very helpful and good, 27 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:35,560 and he followed some of them. One of them I find funny. 28 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:38,440 He said stay out of debt as much as possible. 29 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:41,000 If you know anything about Thomas Jefferson, when he passes 30 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:44,480 away, they have to sell all of Monticello to pay for all of his 31 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:47,880 debts. Benjamin Franklin there on the 32 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:52,400 left, he famously had 13 virtues that he said were the way to 33 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:55,440 live. And the story goes that he set 34 00:01:55,440 --> 00:02:00,440 out to reach perfection by spending 13 weeks practicing the 35 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,320 13 principles, 13 virtues, and every week you practice one for 36 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:07,480 13 weeks. And in hopes of becoming perfect 37 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:08,639 and doing all the things he said. 38 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:10,880 It didn't really work, but it was helpful to do. 39 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:14,480 Now, my question for you is, have you ever written or thought 40 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:17,640 about what these rules for your life might be? 41 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:21,800 My guess is some of us have. And if you haven't, you at least 42 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:24,760 I gave you a few minutes to write out the rules for your 43 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:30,040 life, could jot down 3-4, maybe up to 12 or 13 fairly quickly. 44 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:33,480 Because we all have, whether we had consciously thought about it 45 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:37,000 or not, some rules that we live by, ways that we make decisions, 46 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:38,880 and how we decide what we are going to do. 47 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:43,280 This question, though it's not just an American question, is 48 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:47,200 actually a biblical question. When you read the Old Testament, 49 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:49,920 and some of us probably have, and if you have, you know, it's 50 00:02:49,920 --> 00:02:51,560 hard to read. And there one of the reasons 51 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:54,560 it's very difficult to read is because there are in the Old 52 00:02:54,560 --> 00:03:00,200 Testament, not 12, not 13, but 613 rules for living. 53 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:04,240 Now, you can imagine as Israelites trying to follow 54 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:08,200 this, they tried to think of some ways to simplify it. 55 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:12,640 How can we simplify all 613 of the laws and commandments given 56 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:16,520 to us by God through Moses so that it's easier to follow in 57 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:18,920 our day-to-day lives? How can we simplify it? 58 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:23,280 And so people in Jesus's day are having this conversation. 59 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,160 And we know this because there's this collections of writings 60 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:28,400 from around that time called the Babylonian Talmud. 61 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:32,400 And in there there is this quote from Rabbi Similai. 62 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:36,400 He's a teacher in Israel just before the time of Jesus, the 63 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,320 generation previous. And he says this. 64 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:44,160 He says Micah the prophet came and he reduced the law to 3. 65 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,160 So 613 down to three. That's more manageable. 66 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:50,320 Seek justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God. 67 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:55,440 That's in Micah chapter 3, Isaiah and Isaiah chapter 56 68 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:59,120 reduces it down to two. Keep justice and do 69 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:01,040 righteousness. Even more doable and 70 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:05,880 rememberable. Amos reduces it then down to 1. 71 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:11,240 He says name is chapter 5. Amos says that God says seek me 72 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:15,800 and you shall live seek me. Habakkuk also reduces it down to 73 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:19,560 1 saying the righteous will live by faith. 74 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:24,600 In Habakkuk 2, it says that they might be wondering, well, I'm a 75 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:27,600 Christian and love the Bible and so I want what the Bible says to 76 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:29,560 be true for my life and I want to live it out. 77 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:34,160 And so which one is it? Because seek me and live it kind 78 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:36,440 of overlaps with the righteous shall live by faith, but it's 79 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:38,640 not quite the same. So how should I live? 80 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:42,640 How can we actually formulate this in a helpful manner? 81 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:45,920 Well, there's a famous story about this guy. 82 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:49,760 He's a gentile who went to visit a rabbi route the same time 83 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,120 right before Jesus named hello. And he goes up to hello and he 84 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:55,520 says, I want you to teach me the whole law. 85 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:57,040 I'm a gentile, I don't know any of it. 86 00:04:57,240 --> 00:04:59,960 Teach me all of the law and the prophets, all the Old Testament 87 00:05:00,280 --> 00:05:02,720 while I stand on one leg. So before I put my other leg 88 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:06,320 down, as long as it takes me to stand like this, I want to learn 89 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:10,640 the law. And LL responds, that which is 90 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:14,320 hateful to you do not do to your neighbor. 91 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:19,120 He says this is the whole Torah, the rest is just commentary. 92 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:22,960 Go and learn. So which is it? 93 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:26,520 That sounds maybe a little bit familiar, more familiar to our 94 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:28,880 ears, but which is how do we live? 95 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:31,880 It's a question that the people in Jesus's day were asking. 96 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:35,000 It's the question that we're asking, what's a way that we 97 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,640 could figure out how to live day by day in light of what God has 98 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:43,040 done and wants to do through us. And so when Jesus, as we open to 99 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:48,400 Luke chapter 6, verse 31 today in his sermon on the plane, when 100 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:51,520 Jesus tells us what he's about to say today, he's not entering 101 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:53,680 into a conversation that hasn't been had before. 102 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:57,560 He's not starting a brand new theology on reducing the law and 103 00:05:57,560 --> 00:05:59,160 trying to figure out how to summarize it. 104 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:02,120 He's answering a very common question in his day. 105 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:05,680 And likewise, he's answering a very common question in our day. 106 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:09,680 How do we live? How can you sum up what all of 107 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:13,120 God is saying in a memorable and helpful way so that we can make 108 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:17,920 decisions based on God's will? This is Jesus's answer. 109 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:25,040 Luke 6 verse 31 And just as you want men to do to you, you also 110 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:27,440 do to them. Likewise. 111 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:31,880 This is probably well known to each of us, probably maybe more 112 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:35,280 famously, do unto others as you would want them to do to you, 113 00:06:35,280 --> 00:06:37,720 but we would call the golden rule. 114 00:06:39,280 --> 00:06:42,560 Matthew adds a little bit when he quotes Jesus saying this. 115 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:45,960 He says, therefore whatever you want men to do to you, do also 116 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:49,680 to them, for this is the law and the prophets. 117 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:51,680 So he says the Old Testament can be summed up. 118 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:55,040 Law and the prophets is Jesus's shorthand for saying the Old 119 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:55,960 Testament. It's how they would have 120 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:58,720 referred to it. And he says what you want men to 121 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:04,600 do to you, do also to them. Now for you faithful and fervent 122 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:07,760 Bible readers, you might be wondering, you might have 123 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:10,440 thought before, well that's that's true. 124 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:13,480 If that is what the whole commandment is, that's what you 125 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,440 sum it all up with that, then what about what Jesus says in 126 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:21,040 Matthew 22? And he's asked by a Sadducee who 127 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:23,360 was a lawyer, and he gives a different answer. 128 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:25,440 We'll read that. He says this. 129 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:28,600 He says, teacher, the Sadducee comes to Jesus, which is the 130 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,440 greatest commandment in the law. Now you might know what he's 131 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:32,920 about to say. Jesus says to him, you shall 132 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:35,640 love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, 133 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:39,880 with all your mind. This is the first and the great 134 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,000 commandment. And the second he says is like 135 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:45,200 it. You shall love your neighbor as 136 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:49,160 yourself. On these two commandments hang 137 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:52,160 all the law and the prophets. So you might be wondering, well, 138 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:56,240 Jesus, is it one or is it 2? I thought you'd clear it up, but 139 00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:58,520 you kind of just muddied the water a little bit. 140 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:00,600 Well, here's how I think it makes sense of it. 141 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:05,560 Jesus, when he's asked by this teacher, by this yes, teacher, 142 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:08,520 how do we understand the whole lot of the prophets? 143 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:11,120 What's the greatest commandment? He's responding as a good 144 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:12,760 teacher would. He's responding to that 145 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:15,200 particular question in the particular way the questions 146 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,280 asked. So when Jesus says to him, you 147 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:20,640 shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, 148 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:22,800 and strength, and your neighbor as yourself, he's actually 149 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:26,120 quoting from Leviticus. So he's giving the answer that 150 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:29,160 this man was asking for. Now, Jesus is a great teacher, 151 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:32,280 he's a great rabbi, and so he answers that man in that way. 152 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:35,840 But when he's preaching the Sermon on the Plain and also the 153 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:38,760 Sermon on the Mount, he's preaching something that he 154 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:41,039 wants people to go home and remember. 155 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:44,600 He's preaching in the mountain and then the people are going to 156 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:46,080 go home to their cities and their families. 157 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:49,680 And he wants to teach them in a way that sticks that they can 158 00:08:49,680 --> 00:08:52,400 remember because they're not going to be there with tape 159 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:55,240 recorders and you can get the YouTube video. 160 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:57,120 They don't have any of that. They had to remember it. 161 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:02,400 And So what he says to them is he sums up, you shall love the 162 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:04,280 Lord your God, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself 163 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:08,720 with something that is catchy and memorable and clear and 164 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:13,600 helpful. He says you shall love people, 165 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:17,640 shall love them by doing unto them as you would want done unto 166 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:18,840 you. That is how you live. 167 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:21,480 That is a summation of the law and the prophets. 168 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:24,000 And you know that this is a good teaching of Jesus. 169 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:27,440 You know that that's a helpful way to phrase it because you 170 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:30,480 went out to the streets of Boise and you asked most people, 171 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:34,360 probably 9 out of 10, if not ten out of 10 people, what is the 172 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:37,120 golden rule. They could probably tell you 173 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:39,880 word for word. Do unto others as you would want 174 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:42,600 done to you. Most people, certainly most 175 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:45,240 people in a in a church congregation and certainly most 176 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:47,120 people that heard Jesus teaching were going home. 177 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:51,480 They could remember this. And not only is this what Jesus 178 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,200 is saying is summing up the law and the prophets, but it also 179 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:58,760 sums up his sermon on the plane as we've gone through so far, 180 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:01,280 the attitudes and the woes and love your enemies. 181 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:05,440 This statement really sums up everything that Jesus has talked 182 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:06,800 about and is going to talk about. 183 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:11,680 Now, the way that the we've learned to read things 184 00:10:11,680 --> 00:10:13,960 throughout probably middle school, high school, elementary 185 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:17,840 school, how you probably learn to write an essay is sequential 186 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:20,240 or linear. So probably most of us, if we 187 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:22,840 had a good writing teacher in the American style, said to you, 188 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:25,360 you want to start your essay with a thesis. 189 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:27,640 And in your thesis you're going to say what you're going to 190 00:10:27,640 --> 00:10:30,000 argue for. And then you want to give like 3 191 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:33,040 paragraphs arguing for that point and make your point very 192 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:34,760 clear. And you want to make it so clear 193 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:37,160 that at the end you can give a conclusion where you sum up 194 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:41,280 everything that you said and it's clear, it's to the point 195 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:43,720 and people can know where you stand on this issue. 196 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:45,440 Probably sounds familiar to most of us. 197 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:48,800 Well, for ancient Israelites, learning to read and write and 198 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:52,840 tell a story or convince, the way that they would learn to 199 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:57,600 write is circular. So not ABC, but they would read 200 00:10:57,680 --> 00:10:59,680 something, they would write something, they would read it, 201 00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:01,840 and they would read it over and over again. 202 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:04,120 So they would read the Sermon on the Mount once it gets written 203 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:06,720 down, or they would remember over and over again in this 204 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:09,520 circular manner. And when you do it that way, 205 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:13,240 when your reasoning is circular, the thing that's at the center 206 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:14,920 is actually the thing that stands out. 207 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:19,600 And so in for Luke and for his readers, the thing at the center 208 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:21,680 was the main point. And what's at the center on the 209 00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:26,400 sermon on the plane is love your enemies and do good to those who 210 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:29,120 persecute you. And as you continue in that 211 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:32,760 paragraph, this is the summation of all that Jesus has said in 212 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:35,400 this paragraph. So the summation of the center 213 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:39,000 part of Jesus's teaching of the main point of the sermon on the 214 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:43,200 plane is this to do unto others as you would want them to do 215 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:45,240 unto you. And because that's the case, 216 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:49,200 this is how we read everything in the sermon on the plane. 217 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:52,160 So you want to understand what Jesus is saying when he's giving 218 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:54,520 the beatitudes of the woes. Go back to this. 219 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:57,800 It brings it to light. We'll take verse 30 right before 220 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:01,040 this as an example. Jesus says give to everyone who 221 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,640 asks of you and from him who takes away your goods, do not 222 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:07,600 ask them back. Now, we were just to try to live 223 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:10,080 that this week. It'll be incredibly difficult, 224 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:12,480 right? In fact, if we set that out as 225 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:15,280 the way that we were going to govern a nation or rule a city, 226 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:17,280 it probably wouldn't work, right? 227 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:20,400 Most of us recognize that's just the way towards anarchy. 228 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:23,480 So how do we make sense of this? Well, let's put this into 229 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:25,800 practice. Jesus says the center of this, 230 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:27,880 do unto others is you want done unto you. 231 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:33,440 So give to everyone who asked of you, OK, if I'm somebody who is 232 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:37,160 asking something of someone else, if I need something, what 233 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:38,440 would I want someone to do for me? 234 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:41,520 So the teaching of Jesus is to say, let's put myself in that 235 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:43,240 person's shoes. Let's think about what it would 236 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:46,360 be like for a moment. I was that person and I came to 237 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:49,680 me with a question of can I have that or can you help me with 238 00:12:49,680 --> 00:12:51,960 this? Well, I would, it probably would 239 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:54,800 have been hard to get to that point and to admit that I need 240 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:57,080 help. It probably would have been a 241 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:01,200 kind of show of humility to, to even ask the question. 242 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:05,360 And I'm probably hoping that that I respond with kindness and 243 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:07,040 give a yes. And then I help them 244 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:10,040 begrudgingly, kind of hoping that that person would take me 245 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:13,000 into consideration and see my need and, and not ask me any 246 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:15,720 questions, whatever it might be. We're going to put ourselves in 247 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:18,960 that person's shoes. And all of a sudden this becomes 248 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:21,440 truly a way to live and begins to make sense. 249 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:24,480 Then the second part gets even harder because it's talking 250 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:27,800 about those who steal from you. He says from him, who takes away 251 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:29,200 your goods. Do not ask them back. 252 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:32,920 So Jesus is saying put yourself into their shoes due to them as 253 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:35,480 you'd want done to you. If I'm somebody who is needing 254 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:39,360 to steal at the point of theft to make my life make sense and 255 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:41,880 work, what would I want someone to do for me? 256 00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:45,120 Well, I'd probably want them to allow me to take the the thing 257 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:49,360 that I took and maybe even find me and forgive me and give me 258 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:54,640 more and answer the root problem of why I have to steal begins to 259 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:57,400 make more sense as we think about all of Jesus teachings in 260 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:01,200 light of this, the thing that all the law and the prophets 261 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:03,360 hang on. Now, Tucker's made a point 262 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:07,640 throughout this sermon series to point out that the way of love 263 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:10,160 is ultimately the way that we have to make decisions. 264 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:12,640 He's pointed out that if a friend comes to you and says, 265 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:15,720 Hey, I'm asking of you for 40 bucks, but last week I asked you 266 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:18,600 for 20 bucks and that 20 I spent all of my addiction and this 40 267 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:20,160 I'm going to spend also on my addiction. 268 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:24,000 Then the loving thing is not to to say here, take all that I 269 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,320 have, take 40 bucks and go and, and spend it on your addiction. 270 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:30,520 The loving thing is to think, well, what would I want done for 271 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:34,280 me if I was addicted and spending money on tons of money 272 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:35,800 on my addictions? What would I want someone to do? 273 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:38,560 I'd want them to step into my pain, my brokenness and actually 274 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:42,240 fix the root of that problem. And so this teaching of Jesus to 275 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:45,360 unto others as you would want them to do to you, helps us to 276 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:49,440 make sense of everything that is in the Bible, but in particular 277 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:52,520 everything that's in his sermon on the plane. 278 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:56,280 So let's take a look at what he is saying by this and to look at 279 00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:59,240 that, we'll look at what he's not saying first. 280 00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:02,920 So the first one, I actually got this one from my dad. 281 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:06,600 I was home in Colorado this week visiting my parents, my sister. 282 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:09,880 And we, I was chatting with him about preaching this Sunday. 283 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:10,960 And he said, oh, what you're preaching on? 284 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:15,280 And I said the golden rule. My dad said, oh, I love that 285 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:18,400 rule due to others before they do to you. 286 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:22,680 And we laugh, right? Because that's obviously not the 287 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:25,480 golden rule. But if we're honest, that's how 288 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:27,880 a lot of the world functions. That's how a lot of workplaces 289 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:29,800 function. I want to look good before the 290 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:32,720 boss before you, so I get the raise or promotion. 291 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:36,120 I want to slander you before the boss so that I look good so that 292 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:38,640 I can get the raise or promotion before you slander me. 293 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:41,840 So what happens in politics? We're going to drag your name 294 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:43,720 through the mud before you can drag our name to the mud. 295 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:45,960 We're going to do this before you can do that. 296 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:50,080 It's the way that in, in, in, in many of our families that have 297 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:53,560 brokenness and betrayal in people act. 298 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:55,960 I'm going to do to you before you can do to me so that I can 299 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:58,240 feel comfortable in this home or this marriage or this 300 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:02,080 relationship. It's the way that it's kind of 301 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:04,080 summed up. It's a dog eat dog world, right? 302 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:06,040 We're going to do to you before you can do to me. 303 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:10,120 Now, that's obviously not the golden rule, but as we go down 304 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:11,640 this list, it gets a little bit closer. 305 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:15,720 So the next one is do more, a little bit better than doing 306 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:18,040 before someone's hurt you. So you're going to do what 307 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:21,280 you're going to do just a little bit more because you need to get 308 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:23,920 even. But they also, they started it. 309 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:26,960 So you just a little bit more to, to make amends. 310 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:30,000 And then what happens, right? They, they say, well, you, you 311 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:32,360 did a little bit more to me and so I need to do a little bit 312 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:34,880 more to you. And the, the cycle of revenge 313 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:38,400 kicks in. One of the the best movies to 314 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:40,200 illustrate this point. And it's definitely not a 315 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:42,400 Christian movie because it's illustrating this point, but 316 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:45,320 it's the movie John Wick, right? If you know the movie, The start 317 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:49,040 of the movie is him with his dog that his late wife gave him and 318 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:51,200 his enemies. His enemies killed the dog. 319 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:54,040 That's that's pretty. It's pretty bad. 320 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:58,320 Well, John Wick's response, you might think, OK, we can kill 321 00:16:58,320 --> 00:16:59,760 their dog or kill two of the dogs. 322 00:16:59,920 --> 00:17:03,320 His response is to go and kill everybody in that organization 323 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:05,599 and everybody they know, like the rest of the movie is just 324 00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:08,240 John Wick killing people. And it's the law of revenge. 325 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:11,480 You hurt me, so I will do more to you. 326 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:17,680 The next law that we often live by and that gets us a lot closer 327 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:20,000 is do no more. Do you know more? 328 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:22,480 It's actually this law comes from the Law of Moses. 329 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:27,560 Moses lays out the 10 commandments and the 613 laws 330 00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:32,560 and commandments, and one of them, one of them is an eye for 331 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:35,600 an eye and a tooth for a teeth. In other words, if your tooth 332 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:38,840 gets knocked out by somebody, then the right response is for 333 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:42,000 their tooth to get knocked out. Tucker's pointed out that in our 334 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:43,840 hearts, we want to do more. Their tooth gets not. 335 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:45,800 Our tooth gets knocked out. We want to knock out their whole 336 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:47,480 mouth. But Moses says the right thing, 337 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:51,040 the just thing is a tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye, a life 338 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:52,400 for a life or whatever it might be. 339 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:55,680 And this gets us closer, doesn't get us quite there. 340 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:58,560 This next one is going to sound familiar. 341 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:03,960 It's going to sound like Hillel. He says do no harm, Do no harm, 342 00:18:04,360 --> 00:18:06,720 or don't do to others what you don't want done to you. 343 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:09,400 This is getting a lot closer. We're going to think about other 344 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:10,480 people. I'm not going to do to them what 345 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:14,320 I don't want done to me. This is, if you know anything 346 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:16,920 about Buddhism, this is kind of the, the, the principle that 347 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:19,800 Buddhists live by is do no harm, not going to do anything wrong 348 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:21,760 to other people. And it's, it's OK, It gets us 349 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:25,680 close. But Jesus summing up all the law 350 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:28,800 in the province, giving the summation for what he is about 351 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:31,400 and the people he's trying to create, the people group, the 352 00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:33,880 church that he wants to to create and how they're going to 353 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:38,760 live. He says do unto others as you 354 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:44,200 would want done to. You see how big of a step 355 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:48,600 forward that is, Not just don't do or do no harm or get even. 356 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:53,240 Jesus is saying proactively and regularly think about other 357 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:57,400 people and what is going on in their lives and then do to them 358 00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:00,800 what you would want done to you. Do the good thing to them before 359 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:02,880 they do a good thing to you, do a good thing to them. 360 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:05,080 If they could never do a good thing to you, and if they've 361 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:08,800 never done anything good or have always done bad, look to others 362 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:12,520 and ask what can I do for them that I would want done for me? 363 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:16,320 When author sums it up this way, he says think of the best thing 364 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:18,520 you can do for the worst person and go ahead and do it. 365 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:21,360 Think of what you'd really like someone to do for you and do it 366 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:23,840 for them. Think of the people to whom you 367 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:27,080 are tempted to be nasty and lavish generosity on them 368 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:30,160 instead. These instructions, he says, 369 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:32,560 have a fresh spring like quality. 370 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:34,960 I love this. They're all about new life, of 371 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:38,200 bursting out energetically like flowers growing through the 372 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:42,840 concrete and startling everyone with their color and vigor. 373 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:45,920 The picture of walking down the streets of downtown Boise and 374 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:48,520 there's flowers poking through the concrete, poking through the 375 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:51,640 sidewalk. That's what it's like to live 376 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:54,560 this way, to do unto others as you would want done to them, 377 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:58,800 done to you. Living that way in a world that 378 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:04,160 does no harm or gets even or gets revenge shines. 379 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:07,200 It shines in the workplace. It shines as you talk about 380 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:09,200 politics. It shines in the streets of the 381 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:11,480 city. People take notice of that and 382 00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:14,040 they say that is beautiful, that is good. 383 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:17,760 That is the way to live. So the big idea I think that 384 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:21,320 Jesus is getting that is that doing to others as you would 385 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:25,280 want done to you. Is the guiding principle, the 386 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:28,880 guiding rule for our lives. It's not the 12. 387 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:31,440 It's not the 13. It's not the 613. 388 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:36,560 It's not the 10, three, the two. It's this one. 389 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:39,720 Do unto others what you would want done to you. 390 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:43,080 Now, this doesn't give us every single answer. 391 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:47,160 Do unto your spouse as you'd want done to you. 392 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:51,280 Doesn't tell you exactly what to do, but it does point us in the 393 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:53,240 right direction. It's like a compass. 394 00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:57,160 My wife and I recently have been rewatching the Pirates of the 395 00:20:57,160 --> 00:20:59,520 Caribbean movies. We had a couple over from our 396 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:01,840 community Group A few Sundays ago. 397 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:03,480 We watched the first one and they were like, you should just 398 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:05,080 watch all of them. I think there's like 5 or 6 of 399 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:07,120 them. And so we're on like 3 or 4 400 00:21:07,120 --> 00:21:09,240 right now. And if you've watched them, you 401 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:12,200 know that Captain Jack Sparrow has a compass. 402 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:14,960 And you know that it's a strange compass because it doesn't point 403 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:16,680 north. And everybody at the beginning 404 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:18,280 of the movie thinks that it's broken. 405 00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:19,760 In fact, you kind of think that it's broken. 406 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:23,480 Like, I just have this broken compass that can't point N It's 407 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:25,720 a strange thing to have as a pirate who's sailing the seas 408 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:27,200 who needs to know where he's going. 409 00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:31,200 But you begin to figure out that this compass, well, it may not 410 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:34,160 point N it does work. And it actually works really 411 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:36,680 good. Works really quite better than 412 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:38,400 any other compass that there was. 413 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:42,480 This compass points whoever's holding it to the thing that 414 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:48,040 they want to the thing that they want most for Jack Sparrow might 415 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:51,280 be treasure, might be rum. And I think this is how it 416 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:54,560 functions for us. This rule that Jesus gives 417 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:58,400 functions like this compass, it may not seem to work at first. 418 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:01,240 You think due unto others as they, as I would want done to 419 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:04,240 me, it seems like a broken compass doesn't seem like it's 420 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:07,120 going to create flourishing. And in fact, as you live this 421 00:22:07,120 --> 00:22:09,480 out, people will look at you and say, why would you do that? 422 00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:13,640 Why would you go there? And it doesn't give us the exact 423 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:17,480 particulars about how to get to the end destination of doing for 424 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:20,480 them what needs to be done. But it points us in that general 425 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:23,000 direction. Might have a million things you 426 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,280 could do and it eliminates 900,000 of them. 427 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:29,520 It gives you just a handful of things to choose from. 428 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:32,520 I'm going to do the thing that I'd want done for me. 429 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:38,240 Now, odds are that your compass doesn't always work this way. 430 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:41,280 I know that there are though, in our community, in our church, 431 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:44,960 there are people who's this is the guiding principle by their 432 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:48,120 life and it like never fails. And we are so thankful for you. 433 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:52,480 We need you as role models and models and people that are doing 434 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:54,720 this in our church because we are so blessed because of you. 435 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:56,080 So thank you. Continue on. 436 00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:59,080 But if you're like me, your compass isn't isn't there yet, 437 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:01,880 and you need to work on it and it needs to be fixed so that it 438 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:05,640 can reorient itself to the ways that Jesus's compass works. 439 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:09,880 So I want to give us to that. Give us that in three simple 440 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:17,280 practices as we close. The 1st is to see one writer 441 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:21,880 famously said the first act of love is always the giving of 442 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:24,960 attention. I just love that the first way 443 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:28,360 that you love someone, the first act is to give them attention. 444 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:33,920 A while back, number of years ago, my I went on a high school 445 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:36,480 mission trip for the first time and we went down to San 446 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:39,680 Francisco and went to the Tenderloin in San Francisco. 447 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:42,440 And if you know anything about the Tenderloin, it's this place 448 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:45,120 that it's kind of hard to believe that it exists in such a 449 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:48,400 well off city. There are people who live on the 450 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:50,600 streets addicted to all kinds of things. 451 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:52,680 And they prepare you for this before you go out. 452 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:55,360 We're going to work with this organization called City Impact 453 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:58,200 and they take you out to hand out some food and to invite 454 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:00,880 everybody to this block party. And they said we want to prepare 455 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:02,120 you. You're going to see a lot of 456 00:24:02,120 --> 00:24:04,200 crazy stuff today. You're going to see people using 457 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:06,280 the bathroom on the street because this is their home, they 458 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:08,400 live there. You're going to see people using 459 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:12,000 hard drugs on the street. And we know that you are going 460 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,720 to be tempted to try to look past them and to think of them 461 00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:19,000 as something less than human. But our challenge for you is to 462 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:22,560 with each person, as you walk by them, do your best to look them 463 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:27,520 in the eye and remind yourself that they, although broken, are 464 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:31,320 made in the image of their creator And see how they might 465 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:34,160 change the way that you talk with them, the way that you 466 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:36,200 invite them. And it and it does it did. 467 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:40,120 This is changes the way we relate to one another here in 468 00:24:40,120 --> 00:24:42,880 Boise and community and in church and our families. 469 00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:46,960 When we look at one another in the eyes and and we see each 470 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:50,480 other truly see each other as image bearers of our king. 471 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:55,560 It changes the way that we think and act towards one another. 472 00:24:56,160 --> 00:25:01,000 Now that's a great first step. Second step is to begin to feel 473 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:04,280 what they're feeling, to think about what would it be like to 474 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:05,920 be them? What would it be like to have 475 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:10,920 that to do that or to live here. This is often called sympathy or 476 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:14,160 empathy, and some of the the most sympathetic, empathetic 477 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:17,800 people that you'll meet are the most curious people. 478 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:21,400 Developing a heart of curiosity about other people is one of the 479 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:24,880 greatest and most helpful ways to feel what they're feeling. 480 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:27,080 What would it be like to live here? 481 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:29,960 Would it be like to go through that, to ask yourself those 482 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:32,280 questions and allow for yourself to sit with that? 483 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:35,320 I can't imagine what it'd be like to go through that 484 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:39,480 brokenness or for that person to leave or for that to happen to 485 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:43,000 me and I end up here and begin to feel what they're feeling 486 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,840 now. Jesus doesn't leave it there. 487 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:52,080 Jesus says not feel what they're feeling, says do to them what 488 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:54,760 you want done for you. And the final act is to do so 489 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:58,040 with that in mind, with how you feel about them, how you feel 490 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:01,880 about being in their shoes, do what you would want done to you. 491 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:07,080 Now, while practicing this may get us some results, it's not 492 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:11,920 ultimately enough. One commentator says this. 493 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:14,720 There are two particularly astonishing things about these 494 00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:17,640 instructions. First, there's simplicity. 495 00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:20,080 And you've already noticed that do unto others you want done to 496 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:22,600 you. That is so simple, he says. 497 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:24,920 It's obvious, it's clear, it's direct, and it's memorable. 498 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:29,360 But the second thing that is surprising is their scarcity. 499 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:31,720 They're simple, they're clear, they're memorable, but yet 500 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:34,520 they're not lived out. How many people do you know who 501 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:37,800 really lived like this? How many communities do you know 502 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:39,560 where these guidelines are? Rules of life. 503 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:43,920 He asks what's gone wrong? Has God changed? 504 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:47,200 Has God changed since Jesus spoke these words? 505 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:50,160 Has God changed since Luke recorded them? 506 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:55,760 Or, he says, have we forgotten who he really is? 507 00:26:56,600 --> 00:26:59,760 He gives the answer. Only when people discover that 508 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,680 this is the sword of God they are dealing with, will they have 509 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:06,600 any chance of making this way of life their own. 510 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:11,360 The first step in doing unto others as you would want done to 511 00:27:11,360 --> 00:27:15,880 you is to recognize that that is the God that we serve. 512 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:23,000 You can imagine Jesus looking at us and seeing us and saying, 513 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:26,760 What would it be like to be separated from the Father? 514 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:31,640 What would it be like to live in eternal disconnection with God? 515 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:35,120 And you can imagine him feeling that pain and saying, well, I 516 00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:39,000 know that if that were me, I would want somebody to bridge 517 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:42,720 the gap, to do something that could offer me forgiveness. 518 00:27:43,360 --> 00:27:47,360 I would want somebody to step in and make that relationship 519 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:50,440 right. And that's just what Jesus does. 520 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:54,760 It's just what Jesus did. He stepped in, He lived a 521 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:56,600 perfect life. He died the death that we were 522 00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:58,600 supposed to die. And he defeated death. 523 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:02,400 He defeated sin. And he offered us his spirit and 524 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:04,840 new life so that we could be connected to the Father again. 525 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:09,160 Jesus did to us what he would have wanted done to him. 526 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:13,400 And as people who want to live in light of what Jesus has done 527 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:17,760 as a community that hopefully can embody this rule, I think 528 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:21,760 one of the best places to do that is in a Calvary community. 529 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:23,840 And we can do this in all of our lives. 530 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:27,040 But one of the best places to just practice this, to see 531 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:29,360 people, to feel their pain and to do to them what you'd want 532 00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:33,000 done to you is week by week, gathering around a table, eating 533 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:36,400 a meal, discussing scripture, praying with one another, and 534 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:38,600 then doing all the things that flow from that throughout the 535 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:40,760 week. It's a great practice. 536 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:45,320 As we close, I want to share a story from one of the Calvary 537 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:48,720 communities. And this last year there is 538 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:52,040 this, this guy who had gone through, he's going through, 539 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:53,840 he's been a part of the group for a couple years. 540 00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:56,280 And they knew that he was going through this, this divorce. 541 00:28:56,720 --> 00:29:00,680 He'd been long, he'd been drawn out, he had a son and they knew 542 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:02,480 that. He's going through this. 543 00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:05,360 And one night he shows up and he says, hey, guys, thank you for 544 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:07,600 praying. Continue to pray. 545 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:11,600 The divorce has been finalized and I want to be kind to my wife 546 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:15,960 and generous towards her. So I've left her and my son the 547 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:17,680 house and all of the furnishings. 548 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:20,440 And so I'll be fine. I have work, but I'll shut to 549 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:22,640 save up to get a place and to furnish it. 550 00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:27,280 And so he he goes away and a couple weeks later he comes back 551 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:29,400 and he says, hey, guys, prayer, praise report. 552 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,440 I found a place that I can afford and I move in and it's 553 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:34,640 going to be a couple months, though, before my son can visit 554 00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:37,160 because I want him to have a bed to sleep in and a table to eat 555 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:40,160 at and a couch to sit on. We probably want to watch some, 556 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:43,000 some football. So it may be ATV and and his 557 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:44,560 community. You might see this was going. 558 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:47,400 They heard that and he said, well, how close are you? 559 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:49,520 And he said, well, I probably about half of what I need. 560 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:51,040 And there's a couple ladies in the group. 561 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:54,800 He said, you know, we are incredible with Facebook 562 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:56,560 Marketplace. We know how to get all the best 563 00:29:56,560 --> 00:29:58,960 deals and we know all the best places to look. 564 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:00,560 And so can we help you with that? 565 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:04,520 And actually, we've talked to the, the community and we, we 566 00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:06,520 would love to take what you've saved up. 567 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:09,800 And then whatever that doesn't cover, we, we'll buy all of 568 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:11,520 that. We'll buy all of that for you. 569 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:16,160 And I saw that man a few weeks after that story got shared with 570 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:20,080 me by the community leader at church, sitting in the front row 571 00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:23,640 with his son who had spent the night the previous night. 572 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:27,280 And this is the way, the small example, right? 573 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:32,120 Few 100 bucks helping out a dad in need, Small example of doing 574 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:34,480 unto others what you'd want done to you. 575 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:38,560 But that small example, it shines, it's beautiful. 576 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:42,800 It's the way of Jesus. And so this week, for our lives 577 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:48,160 together, how can we be people who live this out that do to 578 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:51,320 each other, that do to the people in our city what we would 579 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:56,080 want done for us? Thanks for joining us today. 580 00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:59,120 If you would like to watch the full service, check out the link 581 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:01,960 in the description. For next steps and to learn 582 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:04,240 more, visit calvaryboise.com.