1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:02,360 Well, I don't have the pleasure of knowing you. 2 00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:05,120 My name is Brandon Delage. I'm I'm the teaching team here 3 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:06,960 at Saint City. We're going to be teaching from 4 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:09,320 the Bible today in Genesis chapter 38. 5 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:11,560 So you have a Bible. Go ahead and turn. 6 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:13,000 There's the first book of the Bible. 7 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,400 I think it's on page 32 of 1 of the Bibles in front of you, Remy 8 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:19,120 in Genesis chapter 38. I'll meet you there in just a 9 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:23,400 moment. Now there's a story in the Bible 10 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:29,080 that if I were to ask you to read of people, you would not 11 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:34,760 want to do it. It is a story of betrayal, a 12 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:41,760 story of lies, of cheating, sex, death. 13 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:47,760 That is not like the tagline, no, no, no. 14 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:51,720 That is Genesis 38. That is Jesus's family tree. 15 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:58,960 Matthew chapter one verse one when describing Jesus, his 16 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:01,880 genealogy says this, that the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the 17 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:04,120 son of David, the son of Abraham. 18 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:08,920 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, 19 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:12,520 and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the 20 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:15,920 father of Perez and Zerah. By Tamar. 21 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:20,960 At Christmas, we celebrate the arrival of Jesus through that 22 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:23,920 family line, through that family tree. 23 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:29,080 But for us to understand why Jesus came for Christmas, we 24 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:32,760 must understand whose family he came from. 25 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:37,560 And in Matthew chapter one, we just read a few names. 26 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:41,840 We read the name of Jesus, David, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob 27 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:45,560 and Judah. And then there's a woman there 28 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:52,400 by the name of Tamar that's curious. 29 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:56,880 You see, Matthew didn't list I, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob's 30 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:59,680 wives, Rebecca, Rachel and Sarah. 31 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:04,240 No, no, no, he listed, the first woman he listed was Tamar. 32 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:09,360 This month we're looking at the women in the genealogy of Jesus, 33 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:14,000 the five mothers of Jesus going back up his family tree. 34 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:16,680 We're kind of going to ancestry.com up in Saint City 35 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:21,000 for the next month, looking deep, deep into Jesus's family 36 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,480 line and story. What we'll find in Jesus family 37 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:28,000 tree is what you might find in many of our lives. 38 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,920 A broken family, a redeeming God. 39 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:38,880 And you'll discover that it was a sovereign Christmas. 40 00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:45,280 Christmas changed everything because there might be some 41 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,720 skeletons in your or your family's closet today. 42 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:52,520 And how is it that you go about life? 43 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:54,680 How is he going to go through this Christmas season cleaning 44 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:58,960 up the wickedness that you've experienced or the wickedness 45 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:01,560 you've done in your life? How are you going to clean that 46 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:04,720 up? And I want to share with the 47 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:10,840 story of a woman in Genesis, Tamar Jesus is 35 times great 48 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:13,360 grandmother, by the way. That's how far back in the 49 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:17,120 family tree we went. We're here in Genesis. 50 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,200 We're right smack dab in the beginning of the story of 51 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:22,560 Joseph, the guy who you might know is the guy with the big 52 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,160 colorful coat that they made a Broadway play after. 53 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:30,880 We're two chapters in and this guy, Judah, is the fourth born 54 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:34,760 son of Joseph's dad, Jacob. His name is Judah. 55 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:36,680 It's about 500 years before Moses. 56 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:41,760 And as much as this is a sermon about Tamar, we can't miss that 57 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,960 before this chapter ends, Judah becomes the most morally 58 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:48,280 compromised person, the most morally compromised character in 59 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:50,320 the story. I want to read the stories for 60 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:52,040 you once, and then I'm going to help you understand what it 61 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:54,880 means for your life. Genesis 38 says this. 62 00:03:55,920 --> 00:04:02,080 It happened at that time, at that time that Judah went down 63 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:05,120 from his brothers and turned aside to a certain, a dolomite 64 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:09,200 whose name was Hira. There Judah saw the daughter of 65 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:13,280 a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua, and he took her and 66 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:16,519 went into her and she conceived and Boris son and he called his 67 00:04:16,519 --> 00:04:19,440 name, uh, she conceived again and Boris son, and she called 68 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,160 his name Onan. Yet again she bore a son and she 69 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:26,240 called his name Shayla. Judah was in Chezib when she 70 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,920 bore him. And Judah took a wife for uh, 71 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:31,720 his first born and her name was Tamar. 72 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:35,920 There's our main character, but uh, Judah's first born was 73 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:42,000 wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. 74 00:04:43,280 --> 00:04:46,480 Then Judah said to Onan, go into your brother's wife and perform 75 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:49,760 the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for 76 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,040 your brother. But Onan knew that the offspring 77 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:55,520 would not be his. So whenever he went into his 78 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:58,120 brother's wife, he would waste the seaman on the ground so as 79 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:00,280 not to give offspring to his brother. 80 00:05:00,840 --> 00:05:05,560 And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he 81 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:09,200 put him to death also. Then Judah said to Tamar, his 82 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,120 daughter-in-law, remain a widow in your father's house till 83 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:16,520 Shayla, my son, grows up. For he feared that he would die 84 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:19,360 like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in 85 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:22,960 her father's house. In the course of time the wife 86 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:24,800 of Judah, Shua, Shua's daughter died. 87 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:28,120 And when Judah was comforted, he went up to Timna to his sheep 88 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:30,640 shearers, he and his friend Hira the Dolomite. 89 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:33,760 And when Tamar was told, your father-in-law is going up to 90 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:37,440 Timna to shear his sheep, she took off her widows garments and 91 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:41,640 covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at 92 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:44,960 the entrance to Anayam, which is on the road to Timna. 93 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:48,640 For she saw that Shayla was grown up, and she had not been 94 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:52,400 given to him in marriage. When Judah saw her, he thought 95 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:55,680 she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 96 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:58,960 She turned to her. He turned to her at the roadside 97 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:00,640 and said, Come, let me come in to you. 98 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:02,600 For he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. 99 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:05,960 She said, What will you give me, that you may come in to me. 100 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:10,000 He answered, I will send you a young goat from the flock. 101 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:15,080 And she said, If you give me a pledge until you send it. 102 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:17,360 He said, What pledge shall I give to you? 103 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:22,160 She replied, Your signet and your cord, and your staff, that 104 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:24,720 is in your hand. So he gave them to her and went 105 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:26,440 into her, and she conceived by him. 106 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:29,280 Then she arose, and she went away, taking off her veil. 107 00:06:29,280 --> 00:06:30,720 She put on the garments of her widowhood. 108 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:33,760 When Judah sent the young goat by his friend to the Adolamite 109 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:36,680 to take back the pledge from the woman's hand, he did not find 110 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:38,000 her. And he asked the men at the 111 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:39,720 place, hey, where's the cult prostitute who's at? 112 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:41,760 And I am at the roadside and they said there's no cult 113 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:44,320 prostitute that's been here. So he returned to Judah and said 114 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:47,400 I have not found her. Also the men in the place said 115 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:49,040 there was no cult prostitute that's been here. 116 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:52,680 And Judah replied, let her keep the things as her own or we 117 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:55,160 shall be laughed at. You see, I sent this young goat 118 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:58,960 and you did not find her. About three months later, Judah 119 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:01,080 was told, Tamar, your daughter-in-law has been 120 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:04,120 immoral. Moreover, she is pregnant by 121 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:07,240 immorality. And Judah said bring her out and 122 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:10,680 let her be burned. And as she was being brought 123 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:14,280 out, she sent word to her father-in-law by the man to whom 124 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:20,080 these belong, I am pregnant. And she said please identify 125 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:23,760 whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff. 126 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:29,040 And then Judah identified them and said, She is more righteous 127 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:34,920 than I, since I did not give her to my son Shayla, and he did not 128 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:37,880 know her. Again, when the time of her 129 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:39,360 labor came, there were twins in her womb. 130 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:42,360 And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife 131 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,160 took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying this one 132 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:47,880 came out first. But as he drew back his hand, 133 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:51,560 behold, his brother came out. And she said, What a breach you 134 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:54,520 have made for yourself. Therefore, his name was called 135 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:57,280 Perez. Afterward, his brother came out 136 00:07:57,280 --> 00:07:59,880 with the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called 137 00:07:59,960 --> 00:08:02,680 Zarah. These are God's words for us 138 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:04,520 today. That is a crazy story. 139 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:07,200 I know. You're like you're preaching 140 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:09,280 that Christmas time. That's a crazy story, dude. 141 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:11,240 Yeah, I know. It's in Jesus family tree. 142 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:13,200 I want to help you understand what it means for life in the 143 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:15,240 form of a big idea. Write this down if you'd like to 144 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:17,520 take notes. That Christmas reminds me that 145 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:20,040 God's grace is bigger than wickedness. 146 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:26,000 Christmas, Jesus coming to earth from heaven to earth as a baby, 147 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:30,520 reminds me that God's grace is bigger than wickedness. 148 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:33,320 His grace is bigger than injustice. 149 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:38,360 It is bigger than evil. God's grace is bigger than it. 150 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:42,559 Grace, if you're unfamiliar with the word or I haven't thought 151 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:45,040 about its definition, is just getting something that you don't 152 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:48,120 deserve. Grace is getting something you 153 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:49,800 don't deserve. It's when you rage punch 154 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:52,080 somebody in the face and they give you a gift card to your 155 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:54,640 favorite restaurant. That's how ridiculous and 156 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,800 radical grace is. You get something you don't 157 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:01,600 deserve. And that's who God is in this 158 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:10,160 story, gracious. And God's grace is the best 159 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:13,760 thing going on planet earth. And I want to help you believe. 160 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:18,760 Embrace your life, what do it mean? 161 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:20,280 So what does God's grace help me believe? 162 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:23,280 I think it helps you believe two things amidst wickedness in your 163 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:26,280 life. The 1st is this, that when life 164 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:33,400 feels unfair, God still sees me. God's grace helps me believe 165 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:38,400 that when life feels unfair, God still sees me. 166 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:42,280 Look back at the text with me. If you could verse one, it 167 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:46,400 happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers. 168 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:48,680 Now Judah is disobeying God here. 169 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:58,010 He is not supposed to be in the he's not supposed to be there. 170 00:09:58,370 --> 00:09:59,450 He's not supposed to be in Canaan. 171 00:09:59,610 --> 00:10:03,890 Judah is supposed to be with his father and his brothers, but 172 00:10:03,890 --> 00:10:08,570 he's not. This is about 800 years before 173 00:10:08,570 --> 00:10:11,090 King David, 1800 years before Jesus. 174 00:10:11,250 --> 00:10:16,250 Yet even in Genesis chapter 38, God is quietly and subtly 175 00:10:16,250 --> 00:10:21,600 shaping the line of the Messiah and Judah's disobeying him. 176 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:24,480 And in verse 2, he does something that a lot of people 177 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:26,640 in Genesis do. He sees something that he wants 178 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:30,680 and he takes it. That's always code for sin. 179 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:35,480 He saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite woman and he took her 180 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:40,040 and went into her. And so begins his family tree. 181 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:42,800 We don't even know this woman's name, but they have three sons, 182 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:47,000 Ur, Onan, and Shayla. I want to help you make sense of 183 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:51,200 this crazy Jerry Springer like moment happening in the Bible. 184 00:10:51,560 --> 00:10:53,400 OK? They have three kids. 185 00:10:54,000 --> 00:11:00,640 Uh, the first one, this dude is so terrible, so wicked that God 186 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:06,080 puts him to death. He's so awful. 187 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:09,080 It's on site. God puts him to death. 188 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:12,800 That's how bad of a husband Tamar's first marriage is. 189 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:20,360 That, uh, received God's judgement then and there. 190 00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:26,920 I shudder to think about what was happening inside of that 191 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:30,400 marriage. And that's her first one. 192 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:34,280 We get a little closer look, though, at her second marriage. 193 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:37,920 You see, there's a marriage custom at this time that would 194 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:43,600 preserve the deceased brother's family line and help protect the 195 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:47,360 widow socially and financially. So she goes from ER to his 196 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:51,000 brother Onan. And Onan is understanding of the 197 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:54,200 reality that the baby that she's going to have will not be his. 198 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:59,240 He might be the one to have made it, but in no sense will be his 199 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:01,640 child. It will be his brother ER. 200 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:06,640 And so he does something also wicked and terrible and awful. 201 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,280 He does something horrible in secret that he thought only 202 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:19,560 Tamar would know. But God sees Tamar, and he sees 203 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:25,080 the wickedness of Onan, something he thought that he 204 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:31,240 could hide, God saw. So you have Judah with three 205 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:37,960 sons, ER, Onan, and now Shayla. And Tamar is told by Judah, hey, 206 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:41,840 when he grows up, he's yours. She's owed a husband legally, 207 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:47,560 and Judah does not deliver. So if you're Tamar, here's where 208 00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:51,800 you're at in life. You've had not one horrible 209 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:56,000 husband, but two. You've been used, abused, and 210 00:12:56,000 --> 00:13:01,760 completely neglected, completely written off, forgotten, 211 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:05,960 justified in your anger because you've been treated unjustly in 212 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:10,520 your marriage. And I wonder just how alone and 213 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:15,680 how hurt and how abused she felt, how deep her longing was 214 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:22,440 for justice. And that level of injustice 215 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:27,680 might feel unrelatable to you. It might feel extreme until you 216 00:13:27,680 --> 00:13:31,640 realize that you relate to it Every time you say that is not 217 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:36,080 fair. Maddie and I, we take turns like 218 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:38,240 being the responsible one at bedtime, OK? 219 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:43,360 And Maddie will go through the routine that we always do. 220 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:46,240 This is teeth brush, pajamas on, go to the bathroom, get your 221 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:48,840 water bottle ready, say your prayers, read a book, light the 222 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:50,120 candles. I mean, there's so many things 223 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:52,360 that happen at bedtime. And thankfully, we have a list 224 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:55,760 that we go through on our wall and Maddie will go through those 225 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:59,720 things and she'll run the system and it goes great. 226 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:03,000 Now the next night, it'll be my turn. 227 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:10,240 I will do the same prayers. I will do the same order of the 228 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:12,320 routine. I will tuck the kids in 229 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:18,800 precisely how she just did. And suddenly the kids are very 230 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:21,520 upset about that. It is just not fair. 231 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:24,760 I would do the same thing Maddie does, and I don't get the same 232 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:28,400 result. Kids are awake, they're crying, 233 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:30,400 they're negotiating, they're asking questions that they 234 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:34,360 didn't even have until now. It's it's just not fair, 235 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:36,720 frankly, that I would give the same level of effort and they 236 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:38,440 don't respond in the exact same way. 237 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:46,560 And when this isn't fair, turns from like confusion into anger, 238 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:49,600 is where it actually becomes painful. 239 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:54,520 When the this isn't fair that this thing happened to me, that 240 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:58,680 I'm experiencing this suffering, this injustice, this wickedness 241 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:01,720 and this evil. When that happens to you and you 242 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:05,360 look out at other people's life and you go, this is not fair. 243 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:11,280 It's a cry for justice in the human heart. 244 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:15,600 It's your heart's way of telling you that you're longing for 245 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:18,840 something deeper. Because we get angry when we 246 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:23,480 don't get what we expected. We when we don't receive what we 247 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:27,160 thought we earned, when life doesn't pay us back the way we 248 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:31,960 assumed it would. We get angry and upset at the 249 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:36,480 lack of justice in our life and injustice. 250 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:39,680 That statement of this isn't fair, says the quiet part out 251 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:42,800 loud. That we believe that if we do 252 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:45,840 the right things, we get the right results with our life. 253 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:50,480 We can avoid the suffering, we can avoid the injustice or the 254 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:55,160 evil in our life. So we can't help but say it, 255 00:15:55,560 --> 00:16:01,200 this isn't fair. Did you know something that God 256 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:06,200 put that there in your heart? That longing for justice, that 257 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:10,400 cry for things being right and fair. 258 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:15,680 God put that there. That's what justice is. 259 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:19,080 Now, there's two sides to the justice coin. 260 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:21,280 There's the first, which I think many of you would thinking of as 261 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:24,200 justice, and that's why you feel justified in saying this isn't 262 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:28,520 fair, is that you think justice is punishing evil doers. 263 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:30,520 That's how our courtroom sees it. 264 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:32,640 You do something wrong, you go to prison. 265 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:39,520 That's how justice works. But there's a deeper kind of 266 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:42,120 justice that is real justice. Yes, according to the Bible, we 267 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:44,200 do punish evil doers. That's a good thing. 268 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:47,240 But there's a deeper level to justice. 269 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:52,160 God's ultimate justice is restoring everything to, as it 270 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:57,600 should be said, simpler, putting things right. 271 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:05,160 That's ultimate justice. And in the Garden of Eden, when 272 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:10,119 God created the world, there was only justice, there was only 273 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:13,119 peace. There was no need even for 274 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:15,319 justice, really, because everything was already put 275 00:17:15,319 --> 00:17:18,240 right. But then sin enters the world 276 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:23,599 and it goes haywire. There is suddenly a need for 277 00:17:23,599 --> 00:17:27,720 punishing justice in the world, and there's a need for peace 278 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:31,440 everywhere. And it doesn't take long in the 279 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:35,200 book of Genesis to discover just how bad and how dark and how 280 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:37,600 wicked and how consequential sin is. 281 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:41,760 You see, socially, there's immediately injustice. 282 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:43,880 I mean, there's murder within the first family. 283 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:50,240 There's hatred internally, physically, their bodies already 284 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:54,040 begin to bear the consequences of sin with sickness and death 285 00:17:54,120 --> 00:18:00,320 and decay. We need justice and for God to 286 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:06,400 be just, He must punish evildoer sinful people, bringing in the 287 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:08,520 punishing justice that is required. 288 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:14,120 But for God to be loving, He must bring ultimate justice, 289 00:18:14,120 --> 00:18:18,000 putting things as they should be, putting things right. 290 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:26,080 And what will happen is, is as we await the Savior's arrival on 291 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:29,600 planet earth, you will see across the Bible people trying 292 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:34,880 to self justify trying to make things right in their life 293 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:38,800 without God. In fact, every major religion in 294 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:41,240 the world, you know what they're trying to do, telling you that 295 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:44,960 you can earn it, that you deserve it, that you're entitled 296 00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:48,040 to the justice. But do you know how God solves 297 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:49,720 the problem of justice in the world? 298 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:54,680 Do you know the mystery of the gospel is that Jesus took on 299 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:58,960 punishing justice for you and for me so that we could receive 300 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:01,640 God's ultimate justice fully and finally. 301 00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:04,640 That's what the wonder of Jesus is. 302 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:08,120 He took on punishing justice so we could have the ultimate 303 00:19:08,120 --> 00:19:12,040 justice that our life, that our eternity we be put right by 304 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:17,280 himself and his offering for us. He made peace by the blood of 305 00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:20,240 his cross. And that is the great wonder of 306 00:19:20,360 --> 00:19:25,680 the Gospel, that the cross is where God is perfectly loving 307 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:29,240 and perfectly just, where his punishing justice and ultimate 308 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:31,920 justice collide. And the most beautiful and 309 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:37,040 horrific act in human history, that the God man Jesus would die 310 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:42,920 for sinners like you and I ultimately just in paying for 311 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:46,280 the evil, paying for the sin, paying for the wickedness, 312 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:48,760 loving, and that he took it upon himself. 313 00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:55,280 And the most unfair moment in human history is not what you 314 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:59,640 are experiencing. The most unfair moment in human 315 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:03,560 history was the moment that Jesus Christ paid for a sin that 316 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:06,920 wasn't his for he who knew no sin. 317 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:11,640 He made him who knew no sin tibisin on our behalf that we 318 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:14,280 might become the righteousness of God. 319 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:22,680 God sees you, He sees the wickedness, He sees the 320 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:28,800 injustice you've experienced, and he sees you to the point 321 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:32,160 that He cared enough to die for you and your sins. 322 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:36,520 Now listen to me. There are going to be moments in 323 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:42,520 your life when people go back on their word to you that your 324 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:46,000 parent said they were going to be there for you in a certain 325 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:53,000 way and they were not. God sees that and He will not go 326 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,720 back on His word. There will be moments when 327 00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:59,200 people cheat you, but God does not. 328 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:04,240 One of the greatest acts of betrayal that exists is cheating 329 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:07,160 on your spouse. And listen to me. 330 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:12,760 God sees you in the midst of that injustice, when people 331 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:17,160 forget you, that that friendship just disintegrated overnight and 332 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:20,040 that they abandoned you. God has not. 333 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:24,440 God still sees you when people cheat you, when they forget 334 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:29,720 about you, when they go back on their word, God sees you. 335 00:21:30,120 --> 00:21:34,000 When life feels unfair, God sees you. 336 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:38,480 God's grace is on the way. And God's grace helps me believe 337 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:43,520 that justice is coming either in this life at the cross, or in 338 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:48,360 eternity. We filter it through the life of 339 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:52,160 Jesus, the one who'd come way later through Tamar. 340 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:57,200 And that's what every Tamar needs is the hope of Jesus. 341 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:01,480 Second, God's grace doesn't just help me believe that when life 342 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:05,800 is unfair, God still sees me. But second, when I fail, God can 343 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:13,120 still redeem. When I fail, when I sin, when 344 00:22:13,120 --> 00:22:19,040 I'm the screw up in the story, God can still redeem. 345 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:23,520 The temptation is to read a story like this, and it's a 346 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:25,040 story, right? So you're going to see yourself 347 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:29,120 as a character, and the natural inclination might be to see 348 00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:31,240 yourself as the victim, Tamar, in this story. 349 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:38,240 But there's a wisdom in seeing yourself as Judah, ER, and Onan 350 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:42,680 as well. And in our world today, Judah 351 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:46,360 would be Chris Harrison style cancelled for what just happened 352 00:22:46,360 --> 00:22:49,160 in this Bible. OK, that's a bachelor reference 353 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:50,640 for those of you who don't know what I just talked about. 354 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:55,880 OK, I got you. So what happened in the story? 355 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:58,040 What happens next? Well look back at the text of me 356 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:01,840 verse 11. Judah said to his to Tamar his 357 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:04,760 daughter-in-law, remain a widow in your father's house till my 358 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:08,800 son grows up. And what stops him from actually 359 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:10,600 doing it? Look at the next part of the 360 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:14,840 verse. For he feared that his son 361 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:19,680 Shayla would die. Fear stops Judah from giving 362 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:25,160 Tamar his third son. He is not trusting God, he is 363 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:30,440 trusting the pattern. Not only is he trusting in the 364 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:32,240 pattern, he's trusting in his sexual desire. 365 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:35,040 So what does he do? He predictably responds to the 366 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:37,800 death of his wife in a way Tamar was totally expecting. 367 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:39,320 That says a lot about Judah, by the way. 368 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:41,920 Hey, how's this guy going to grieve? 369 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:43,760 He's going to go on a hook up with a prostitute. 370 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:46,320 So she dresses herself up shrewdly. 371 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:48,360 She goes to where he's going to be. 372 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:51,920 He's got no only fans or Tinder to mess with. 373 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:53,960 This is his only option. So what does he do? 374 00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:56,280 He goes there and he sleeps with his daughter-in-law, not 375 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,200 knowingly that it was his daughter-in-law. 376 00:23:59,920 --> 00:24:04,600 And he pays her off wallet keys, gives them to her and goes, hey, 377 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:08,080 this is this is security balance just in case the GOAT doesn't 378 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:11,840 come to you. But the joke's on him. 379 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:17,120 He was doing the wrong thing. He was disobeying God. 380 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:20,840 He was dishonouring his daughter-in-law, and this should 381 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:25,800 cost him everything. This decision should cost Judah 382 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:27,600 everything. He is now the most morally 383 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:30,560 compromised person in the story. He's the villain. 384 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:37,080 He's a moral deadbeat. And Genesis 38 teaches us that 385 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:43,760 God advances his promises not through a moral resume, not 386 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:45,720 through the people who look like they have it all figured out. 387 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:49,560 They're all together. But he also does not abandon 388 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:57,240 people because of moral failure, that all he has to work with are 389 00:24:57,240 --> 00:24:59,560 broken, messed up, sinful people. 390 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:02,720 So that's who he uses. That's it. 391 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:07,720 And Judah, by all accounts, should be labeled a failure. 392 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:13,720 His kids are a disaster. His marriage couldn't have been 393 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:15,840 good. He should not be a character 394 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,560 that we know of or even preach about on a Sunday morning. 395 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:22,840 He should be written off. And you'd be surprised at what 396 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:25,120 the world would be willing to write off. 397 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:29,760 Here's a picture of Times Square in the 1970s. 398 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:31,720 It is not the Times Square that you know. 399 00:25:32,360 --> 00:25:34,400 This is not a street where good things happen. 400 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:40,560 It was filled with porn theaters, with peep shows, with 401 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:44,120 prostitutes calling out in broad daylight, drug deals in broad 402 00:25:44,120 --> 00:25:49,160 daylight. Rolling Stone called 42nd St. 403 00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:58,480 the sleaziest block in America, not a back alley, the center of 404 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:02,360 New York City, which is, according to Hamilton, is the 405 00:26:02,360 --> 00:26:07,040 greatest city in the world. By every measure, Times Square 406 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:09,840 had failed. Businesses left. 407 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:14,400 Investors walked away. Parents warned their kids to 408 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:17,160 stay away from it. City leaders were debating 409 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:18,680 whether or not they should tear it down. 410 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:21,720 Not save this thing. I mean, this was a place that 411 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:25,960 was known as unsafe, undisciplined and embarrassing 412 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:31,240 to the city of New York. It was a place you would have 413 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:34,160 written off, a place you'd forget. 414 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:38,200 And Despite that, with a little intentionality, a little vision, 415 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:41,600 a little effort, Times Square was transformed into one of the 416 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:44,200 most visited locations in the world. 417 00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:47,760 Families, tourist, global clouds, global crowds. 418 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:50,040 Excuse me? It's a place to travel to, not a 419 00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:54,880 place to run from. Reminding us that what the world 420 00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:58,880 cancels, redemption can still reclaim. 421 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:04,920 Now, if you only judge Times Square by what it was in the 70s 422 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:08,480 and 80s, you'd never believe what it became. 423 00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:14,080 And I wonder, if someone were to judge your life by its worst 424 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:19,240 season, would they assume what your future would be? 425 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:27,480 The world's definition of grace labels people as unredeemable. 426 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:32,240 Here's the amazing news of Christmas. 427 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:37,600 God's grace is Wilder and more radical than you can imagine. 428 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:42,000 Genesis 38 is more than just a story of injustice. 429 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:45,240 It is a story of Judah's transformation. 430 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:47,760 Let me give you a high level view of his story arc. 431 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:50,840 The chapter before 37. He's the guy who sells his 432 00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:52,840 brother Joseph into slavery. That's his idea. 433 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:59,280 Now in 38, he does some bad things, but he recognizes, Do 434 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:02,040 you see that in the text that she is more righteous than I? 435 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:05,640 He says that in the text. That's his conversion moment. 436 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:10,360 And look what changes. You see in 39, we get the 437 00:28:10,360 --> 00:28:13,040 contrast between Judah and Joseph, his brother. 438 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:18,560 Where Judah is sexually immoral, Joseph is sexually pure when 439 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:24,320 tempted with Potiphar's wife in chapter 44, Judah, where he was 440 00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:28,680 once the brother who sold Joseph into slavery, that he actually 441 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:31,560 offers himself to be enslaved for his other brother Benjamin 442 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:35,320 in his place. And in Genesis 49, his 443 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:38,680 repentance brings about the ultimate blessing and redemption 444 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:42,120 that the King of Kings would come from Judah's lineage. 445 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:47,080 It is a story of transformation. And there are two people here in 446 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:52,120 this room today, those who like Judah, see their need for God's 447 00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:56,200 grace, and a second person, those who are still blind to 448 00:28:56,200 --> 00:29:00,000 their need for the same grace to enter their life. 449 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:05,200 Now, you may not have sinned the way Judah did here, but you are 450 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:12,080 in need of the same grace. You don't deserve it. 451 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:18,160 You couldn't earn it, but your unrighteousness needs the 452 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:21,720 righteousness of God. You have the same problem as 453 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:24,000 Him. And the invitation of Christmas 454 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:28,520 is not to clean yourself up, but rather to come clean before a 455 00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:32,560 holy God. That is the call of Christmas to 456 00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:35,040 you. It is the reminder that God's 457 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:37,960 grace is bigger than your wickedness. 458 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:39,680 St. City, listen to me. 459 00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:43,760 You may have a broken family, but you serve a redeeming God. 460 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:47,960 You may have a broken story, but you worship a sovereign 461 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:50,760 Redeemer. There is no mess that Jesus 462 00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:53,360 can't make a message. There is no test that he can't 463 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:55,920 turn into a testimony. There is no trial that he can't 464 00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:59,080 turn into His triumph. Christmas proves to you once and 465 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:02,960 for all that God's grace is bigger than any wickedness that 466 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:06,560 you have committed. That is God's love for you 467 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:12,960 through Jesus Christ. It proves that once and for all 468 00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:15,920 that the lion of the tribe of Judah has come to save you from 469 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:20,160 your sin. His grace has scandalously 470 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:25,280 changed many lives, and it can change yours too. 471 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:30,240 It sounds scandalous, doesn't it, that God could love Judah 472 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:37,400 and Tamar all the same, and yet that's His redeeming power. 473 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:42,760 That's what God can do. God can redeem it not because 474 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:45,040 you deserve it, not because you could earn it, but His 475 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:46,880 redemption payment is 1 you couldn't make. 476 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:48,840 It is a check you could not cash. 477 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:52,560 His redemption came through His perfect blood on a cross for 478 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:55,120 you, for every Judah who would ever live. 479 00:30:56,800 --> 00:31:03,640 It's God's grace, and it helps you believe that when you fail, 480 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:07,640 God can still redeem it. This is the story of Scripture, 481 00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:11,200 the story of God, that God with us, his radical love for us. 482 00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:16,960 It can save ridiculously sinful people, messed up people. 483 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:22,440 It's the story of God with us. Judah's life proves that 484 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:27,960 redemption is possible, and Christmas proves that it's 485 00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:34,040 personal. One last thing before I close. 486 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:38,800 The story of Tamar is a personal story, and nothing is more 487 00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:42,120 personal than a name, right? When somebody knows your name, 488 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:43,680 you're like, man, we're on a personal level now. 489 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:46,840 Feels great. The name Tamar means something. 490 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:50,640 It means palm tree. That's what it means. 491 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:53,960 It means palm tree, which is a symbol in the Bible of 492 00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:58,320 uprightness and fruitfulness. Whenever a palm tree is talked 493 00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:01,600 about, that's what's symbolizing uprightness, meaning you live a 494 00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:06,000 life of character and integrity, but also of fruitfulness. 495 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:11,440 And if you stopped reading the Bible in Genesis, you'd only 496 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:12,840 know that she got some earthly justice. 497 00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:15,320 She got to have the baby, she got to have twins, right? 498 00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:20,320 If you were an Israelite who got Genesis at the mount at Mount 499 00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:24,080 Sinai when Moses came down the mountain with it, you would know 500 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:28,480 that Judah's line is going on through some crazy story. 501 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:34,000 That's what you'd know. But if you're here today and 502 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:36,720 you're hearing this and you're hearing the names, you're 503 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:40,400 hearing the story, you're hearing God at work and you're 504 00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:42,760 thinking back to the beginning and you're like, man, my family 505 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:45,080 tree is messed up and I still feel ashamed. 506 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:49,040 Tamar, the mother of Jesus, has good news. 507 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:54,520 She has good news for you. Your family will affect you, but 508 00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:57,000 by God's grace, it does not have to define you. 509 00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:03,800 Your family and its dysfunction does not have to define you. 510 00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:10,520 You can repeat it the same dysfunction, or you can rebel 511 00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:15,080 against it, or you can receive the same grace every mother of 512 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:19,120 Jesus needed. It is a wonderful spiritual 513 00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:22,720 advantage to be on this side of Jesus because we can know that 514 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:26,600 Tamar is a woman known for uprightness and fruitfulness, 515 00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:30,880 that that justice was coming. And you know something that she 516 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:34,880 didn't that one day, thousands of years later, that justice 517 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:39,280 would wear skin. It would be Jesus Christ of 518 00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:43,600 Nazareth, the Savior of the world, The story that is one of 519 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:45,520 the craziest stories in all the Bible. 520 00:33:46,040 --> 00:33:50,160 God can redeem for good, the good of bringing His Son into 521 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:53,240 the world. Her story did not end in Genesis 522 00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:56,320 because the most upright man, the most fruitful man to ever 523 00:33:56,320 --> 00:34:01,240 live, Jesus Christ, would come through her line, and he can 524 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:06,080 bear the same fruit in yours. God can use your story. 525 00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:08,320 He can use your life for great things. 526 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:11,239 Jesus Christ of Nazareth, His grace has come for the 527 00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:14,080 wickedness of this world. He would come to save it. 528 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:17,920 His grace is bigger than wickedness. 529 00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:24,000 Can you believe it? I'm so thankful for His word. 530 00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:25,960 Would you join me as I pray and thank Him for it too? 531 00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:31,199 Lord, would we be reminded this Christmas that Your grace is 532 00:34:31,199 --> 00:34:37,480 enough and it is bigger, it is louder, and God, it is better 533 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:40,199 than anything else going on planet earth. 534 00:34:41,920 --> 00:34:46,960 And so, God, I pray for every person here who is stuck in the 535 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:50,199 injustice right now, that their mind is trapped on what happened 536 00:34:50,199 --> 00:34:53,520 to them. Lord, the thing that makes them 537 00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:57,840 cry out, life is not fair. I pray God, for a sense of your 538 00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:01,080 peace and your justice to sweep over their soul. 539 00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:04,560 It's not fair. I have this condition. 540 00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:07,160 It's not fair. They have the things. 541 00:35:07,240 --> 00:35:09,440 It's not fair. I was born into this family. 542 00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:12,040 It's not fair about my financial picture. 543 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:15,320 It's not fair. God, would that be flipped and 544 00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:19,840 say, God, you, it's not fair that you've provided for me, 545 00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:23,760 Jesus Christ. It's not fair that you can heal 546 00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:25,480 what has been broken by the world. 547 00:35:26,240 --> 00:35:28,080 But I don't deserve it. I couldn't earn it. 548 00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:31,320 But God, you've given it and I receive it, Lord, for every 549 00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:35,480 person here who has a sense of their inner Judah, the person 550 00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:38,600 who's done terrible things that they wish they could clean up 551 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:44,040 like a stain they could wash away from their life, that there 552 00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:49,920 is so much pain from it, so much hurt, so much shame and 553 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:53,280 embarrassment. God, would they let the grace of 554 00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:57,080 God wash over them and flood their life? 555 00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:00,120 That they would believe that your grace is bigger than their 556 00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:05,360 wickedness, that it can redeem what the world calls lost and 557 00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:08,040 broken. What the world would write off. 558 00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:11,560 God, you would write in to the story of what you're doing in 559 00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:18,200 the world. Oh God, would you do what only 560 00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:21,440 you can do? And would you remind us that 561 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:24,040 your grace is bigger than our wickedness? 562 00:36:24,720 --> 00:36:26,440 In Jesus name, Amen.