1 00:00:05,500 --> 00:00:08,050 Hey, man, good morning. Welcome. 2 00:00:08,060 --> 00:00:09,980 Good morning. Hey, if you are new, if you're 3 00:00:09,990 --> 00:00:12,610 just checking us out, maybe you're visiting with someone. 4 00:00:12,900 --> 00:00:16,690 Welcome, special welcome to you. My name is Grant and I'm one of 5 00:00:16,700 --> 00:00:21,510 the pastors here at the church. We are going to be hopping into 6 00:00:21,620 --> 00:00:25,430 the Gospel of Luke. So Chapter 7 is where we find 7 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:30,670 ourselves and we are working our way through the chapter. 8 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:33,300 We're not going to finish Chapter 7 today, but we're going 9 00:00:33,310 --> 00:00:36,260 to make a good run at it. So we're going to read through 10 00:00:36,270 --> 00:00:43,000 from about verse 18 to 35, I believe is where we end off. 11 00:00:43,010 --> 00:00:45,160 Yeah. So we're going to make a good 12 00:00:45,170 --> 00:00:48,700 run through, but we'll do that in a minute. 13 00:00:48,850 --> 00:00:50,520 Before that, we're going to pray. 14 00:00:50,590 --> 00:00:54,400 And before I pray, I just wanted to say one word of thank you. 15 00:00:54,470 --> 00:00:57,920 And the thank you is in two-part 1. 16 00:00:57,930 --> 00:01:00,180 I want to say thanks to everybody who showed up and came 17 00:01:00,190 --> 00:01:02,880 out yesterday to our team meeting. 18 00:01:02,970 --> 00:01:05,700 And we had a great time and I walked away. 19 00:01:05,710 --> 00:01:09,140 I hope you walked away as encouraged as I did from that 20 00:01:09,150 --> 00:01:13,090 time together, we worshipped, we prayed together, we dreamt 21 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:17,150 together and talked about how we can continue to grow into what 22 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:19,650 what God is calling us to be and to become as a church. 23 00:01:19,660 --> 00:01:24,210 So I, I thought it was, it was a wonderful time together and the 24 00:01:24,220 --> 00:01:28,850 food was great and the coffee was great and it was, it was a 25 00:01:28,860 --> 00:01:31,670 good morning. So if you're curious about what 26 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,750 that is and how you can get in on the next time we do that, you 27 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:39,150 can feel free to come and talk to me or to Pastor Justin, 28 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:41,220 anyone of the staff wandering around. 29 00:01:41,340 --> 00:01:44,080 We'd be happy to chat with you. But thank you for those of you 30 00:01:44,090 --> 00:01:45,710 who came out to that. And I want to say thank you to 31 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:48,310 those who helped lead that so well yesterday. 32 00:01:48,830 --> 00:01:50,840 So it was it was a good time together. 33 00:01:50,890 --> 00:01:55,060 And again, like I said, I hope you walk away as encouraged as I 34 00:01:55,070 --> 00:01:56,960 did from that. I also want to say thanks for 35 00:01:56,970 --> 00:02:01,010 sticking around longer than I did to help clean up and put 36 00:02:01,020 --> 00:02:03,360 everything away. I had to with my family Dart. 37 00:02:03,370 --> 00:02:07,880 We went N couple hours for for my grandfather's birthday. 38 00:02:08,250 --> 00:02:12,820 So it was again, I'm just I'm so grateful for this community and 39 00:02:12,830 --> 00:02:16,120 I want you to hear that want you to hear that from from me and 40 00:02:16,130 --> 00:02:19,010 from our family. So that's the thank you. 41 00:02:19,090 --> 00:02:23,290 Alright, Luke 7, maybe that gave you enough time to find it. 42 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:29,450 And if you want, you can, you can pull out a phone and and get 43 00:02:29,460 --> 00:02:31,030 it up in front of you that way as well. 44 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:34,910 Let me pray. God, Thanks for your love. 45 00:02:34,980 --> 00:02:37,610 Thanks for your grace. Thanks that you're with us and 46 00:02:37,620 --> 00:02:40,670 we don't need to wonder or wait. Thanks for your presence here in 47 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:42,770 this place. Yeah, we're grateful to be 48 00:02:42,780 --> 00:02:44,650 gathered together and to worship you. 49 00:02:44,660 --> 00:02:48,680 Thanks that we have this amazing freedom and privilege to lift 50 00:02:48,690 --> 00:02:52,880 high the name of Jesus and to shout boldly, like declare your 51 00:02:52,890 --> 00:02:57,120 goodness, your love, your mercy toward us and toward this world 52 00:02:57,170 --> 00:02:59,240 thinks that as we do it, we believe like one of the things 53 00:02:59,250 --> 00:03:01,220 we do and we gather, we lift high the name of Jesus. 54 00:03:01,510 --> 00:03:04,620 We push back a little bit places of darkness in the world. 55 00:03:04,670 --> 00:03:07,500 So God, I pray that as we continue to read, work our way 56 00:03:07,510 --> 00:03:10,680 through the gospel of Luke, you would do that, do that in US, 57 00:03:10,690 --> 00:03:13,460 push back the little pieces of darkness in us and in the world. 58 00:03:13,470 --> 00:03:16,920 How would we be at church that pushes back the darkness? 59 00:03:17,970 --> 00:03:23,700 We pray God, your Kingdom come right here as it is in heaven in 60 00:03:23,710 --> 00:03:29,270 Jesus name, Amen. So Luke 7, beginning at 18, 61 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:33,370 these are messengers sent from John the Baptist to Jesus. 62 00:03:33,380 --> 00:03:37,390 So the disciples of John reported all these things to 63 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:39,850 him. And John, calling two of his 64 00:03:39,860 --> 00:03:43,750 disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, are you the 65 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:47,410 one who is to come, or shall we look for another? 66 00:03:47,740 --> 00:03:50,880 And when the men had come to him, they said, so now they've 67 00:03:50,890 --> 00:03:53,070 gone to Jesus. They've said to Jesus, John the 68 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:56,690 Baptist has sent us to you, saying, are you the one who is 69 00:03:56,700 --> 00:03:59,010 to come, or shall we look for another? 70 00:03:59,740 --> 00:04:04,090 In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues 71 00:04:04,100 --> 00:04:07,670 and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed 72 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,210 sight. And he answered them, Go and 73 00:04:10,220 --> 00:04:12,150 tell John what you have seen and heard. 74 00:04:12,220 --> 00:04:15,550 The blind received their sight. The lame walk, the lepers are 75 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:18,930 cleansed, the deaf here, the dead are raised, the poor have 76 00:04:18,940 --> 00:04:22,630 good news preached to them, and blessed is the one who is not 77 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:27,040 offended by me. When John's messengers had gone, 78 00:04:27,050 --> 00:04:29,720 Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John. 79 00:04:31,070 --> 00:04:33,550 What did you go out into the wilderness to see? 80 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:37,550 A Reed shaken by the wind. What then? 81 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:42,070 Did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? 82 00:04:42,340 --> 00:04:45,710 Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in 83 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:48,920 luxury are in King's courts. What then? 84 00:04:48,930 --> 00:04:54,200 Did you go out to see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a 85 00:04:54,210 --> 00:04:57,440 prophet, this is he of whom it is written. 86 00:04:57,570 --> 00:05:00,600 Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will 87 00:05:00,610 --> 00:05:06,600 prepare your way before you. I tell you, among those born of 88 00:05:06,610 --> 00:05:09,810 women, none is greater than John, yet the one who is least 89 00:05:09,820 --> 00:05:12,190 in the Kingdom of God is greater than He. 90 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:15,310 When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they 91 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:19,430 declared God just having been baptized with the baptism of 92 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:21,330 John. But the Pharisees and the 93 00:05:21,340 --> 00:05:25,450 lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having 94 00:05:25,460 --> 00:05:29,440 been baptized by Him. To what then shall I compare the 95 00:05:29,450 --> 00:05:33,120 people of this generation, and what are they like? 96 00:05:33,170 --> 00:05:35,870 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling 97 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:37,780 to one another. We played the flute for you, and 98 00:05:37,790 --> 00:05:41,180 you did not dance. We sang a dirge and you did not 99 00:05:41,190 --> 00:05:43,890 weep. For John the Baptist has come 100 00:05:43,900 --> 00:05:47,110 eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say he is a demon. 101 00:05:47,890 --> 00:05:50,740 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say look 102 00:05:50,750 --> 00:05:54,300 at him, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax 103 00:05:54,310 --> 00:05:59,080 collectors and sinners. Yet wisdom is justified by all 104 00:05:59,090 --> 00:06:03,400 her children. So there's a lot in that passage 105 00:06:03,410 --> 00:06:05,160 and there's a lot that we're not going to get into. 106 00:06:05,170 --> 00:06:08,330 And so I'll give just like a little quick plug for podcast 107 00:06:08,340 --> 00:06:12,090 and other mechanisms and ways in which you can continue to work 108 00:06:12,100 --> 00:06:14,940 your way through this passage. Because I think if I worked, I 109 00:06:14,950 --> 00:06:19,020 like our way through it today, we'd be here until tomorrow to 110 00:06:19,030 --> 00:06:21,240 look through every single thing going on there. 111 00:06:21,250 --> 00:06:24,020 There's a lot. And so if, let me just say this, 112 00:06:24,030 --> 00:06:28,140 if at any point you walk away with more or different 113 00:06:28,150 --> 00:06:31,160 questions, hey, I think that's a wonderful thing. 114 00:06:31,230 --> 00:06:34,230 And BI would encourage you to invite you send them to me by 115 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:37,760 e-mail and maybe they'll make it under a podcast for discussion 116 00:06:37,770 --> 00:06:40,660 and we can continue that kind of conversation together throughout 117 00:06:40,670 --> 00:06:42,930 the week. So I just want to get that out 118 00:06:42,940 --> 00:06:44,290 of the way. We're not going to work our way 119 00:06:44,300 --> 00:06:47,980 through the entirety of what we read this morning. 120 00:06:49,140 --> 00:06:50,880 But let me tell you this, one of the things that I have 121 00:06:50,890 --> 00:06:56,690 appreciated so much about our city, and especially so given 122 00:06:56,700 --> 00:06:59,400 where Connie and our family moved from Hamilton. 123 00:06:59,410 --> 00:07:03,150 And this is, I'm like, no shade on Hamilton, but I love this 124 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:08,570 about our city. The lack of billboards, the 125 00:07:08,580 --> 00:07:12,310 lack, if you've ever been to Hamilton, you'll know that this 126 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:14,470 is different here or that's different there. 127 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:17,320 I don't know which one. But I absolutely love the lack 128 00:07:17,330 --> 00:07:19,910 of billboards that there are in this city, at least on my 129 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:25,370 commute. Which is a little bit of an 130 00:07:25,380 --> 00:07:28,390 insider joke, I realize. But for those of you who don't 131 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:31,930 know, I live about 700 meters away and I cross the park to get 132 00:07:31,940 --> 00:07:35,350 here. So there are no billboards on my 133 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:38,780 commute. There's nobody telling me who to 134 00:07:38,790 --> 00:07:41,860 call when I'm injured. There's nobody telling me which 135 00:07:41,870 --> 00:07:44,380 real estate agent is going to be able to sell my house. 136 00:07:44,390 --> 00:07:47,060 There's nobody telling me why Coca-Cola is better than Pepsi. 137 00:07:47,070 --> 00:07:49,920 I don't need to know that every day is going to get tastier if I 138 00:07:49,930 --> 00:07:52,840 eat McDonald's or I don't. You know, I certainly don't need 139 00:07:52,850 --> 00:07:55,200 somebody telling me to have a break and need a Kit Kat. 140 00:07:55,210 --> 00:07:57,020 Like, I'm not trying to buy a new car. 141 00:07:57,090 --> 00:07:58,920 Whatever you're selling, I'm not buying it. 142 00:07:58,930 --> 00:08:03,140 At least I'm trying desperately to not buy it. 143 00:08:04,380 --> 00:08:06,960 I don't know about you, maybe you have a different experience 144 00:08:06,970 --> 00:08:10,580 of this, but like I've never seen a billboard while driving. 145 00:08:10,630 --> 00:08:15,380 Stopped my car reversed on the road and thought I'm going to 146 00:08:15,390 --> 00:08:18,140 take down that information. That sounds like something I 147 00:08:18,150 --> 00:08:22,810 need in my life. I certainly have never called up 148 00:08:22,820 --> 00:08:25,370 a company and been like, hey, I got your information from a 149 00:08:25,380 --> 00:08:31,750 billboard or a bus bench. Like, I don't want more things 150 00:08:32,799 --> 00:08:36,190 and I really, to be honest, I don't want more things vying for 151 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:40,450 my time and my attention. I'm trying to block out the 152 00:08:40,460 --> 00:08:46,590 noise, not allow more in and and it's why, you know, my phone 153 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:49,600 doesn't have social media on it and it's why it's most of the 154 00:08:49,610 --> 00:08:52,910 time in black and white. Like I'm trying to silence as 155 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:57,000 much of the noise in my life as possible. 156 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:01,170 There is advertising everywhere and that's not news to you. 157 00:09:01,180 --> 00:09:03,030 You're not. Oh, I hadn't noticed. 158 00:09:03,100 --> 00:09:11,520 Like, be it billboards, radio, YouTube, video streaming 159 00:09:11,530 --> 00:09:15,470 services, which at one point prided themselves in having no 160 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:20,890 advertising, now you gotta pay extra for the no advertising 161 00:09:20,900 --> 00:09:27,930 version. Yeah, yeah, there's advertising 162 00:09:27,980 --> 00:09:30,230 everywhere. Listen, I'll tell you the only 163 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:32,710 ad that I've paid any attention to recently, and this was an ad 164 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:37,090 that taught me to knock on my cantaloupes before buying it. 165 00:09:41,410 --> 00:09:45,620 And that's not even the point of the commercial. 166 00:09:49,990 --> 00:09:54,750 Again, I don't need to tell you this, but one of your most 167 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:58,740 important commodities is your attention. 168 00:10:00,500 --> 00:10:06,930 It is your attention and it is how your affection follows your 169 00:10:06,940 --> 00:10:12,060 attention. Companies in the I believe North 170 00:10:12,070 --> 00:10:18,260 America are projected to spend $491 billion on advertising in 171 00:10:18,270 --> 00:10:23,200 2025. Like just to hopefully grab 30 172 00:10:23,210 --> 00:10:29,340 seconds of your attention. Like to grab it enough to make 173 00:10:29,350 --> 00:10:35,200 you take one step? Where to plant one idea, one 174 00:10:35,210 --> 00:10:36,810 piece. You're like, well, this phone 175 00:10:36,820 --> 00:10:38,780 that I have, like now, it's not good enough. 176 00:10:40,770 --> 00:10:45,620 Our culture is saturated in advertising and marketing and 177 00:10:45,630 --> 00:10:48,830 messaging. Jesus's day, not so much. 178 00:10:49,730 --> 00:10:57,670 There wasn't mass media vying for attention and affection. 179 00:10:58,030 --> 00:11:00,710 So try to imagine with me, just for a moment, the majority of 180 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:04,850 the people. No reading or writing, right? 181 00:11:04,860 --> 00:11:08,490 No books, no billboards, no e-mail marketing campaigns, no 182 00:11:08,500 --> 00:11:10,150 targeted advertising on social media. 183 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:12,710 No wondering if my phone is listening to me so that it can 184 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:14,930 determine the best. Next add to stick in front of my 185 00:11:14,940 --> 00:11:16,480 face. It sounds pretty peaceful. 186 00:11:17,950 --> 00:11:21,750 And so in Jesus Day, maybe you see like a mosaic image or an 187 00:11:21,760 --> 00:11:24,300 inscription on stone if you're lucky. 188 00:11:24,350 --> 00:11:27,960 But again, maybe you don't read or write yourself, so you're not 189 00:11:27,970 --> 00:11:31,160 100% sure what it, what it means, what the messaging is. 190 00:11:31,170 --> 00:11:36,150 Is the only mass media available in Jesus Day? 191 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:40,810 During the time of Jesus was money that was the single 192 00:11:40,820 --> 00:11:43,610 greatest mass marketing campaign. 193 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:48,330 Was the inscription, the image, the symbol that were placed on 194 00:11:48,380 --> 00:11:51,570 coins? And to your right says coins 195 00:11:51,580 --> 00:11:55,790 were the principal way of getting across a symbolic 196 00:11:55,840 --> 00:12:00,450 message to ordinary people because they were created to 197 00:12:00,460 --> 00:12:05,950 contain a message from the king to all of the people that he 198 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:09,210 ruled over. Herod Antipas, whose name you 199 00:12:09,220 --> 00:12:12,430 don't need to remember, but this is King Herod for much of 200 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:15,970 Jesus's life, not when he's born, but certainly through his 201 00:12:15,980 --> 00:12:19,610 ministry. This is the king when we refer 202 00:12:19,620 --> 00:12:24,980 to King Herod in a lot of the New Testament, he chose for his 203 00:12:24,990 --> 00:12:27,620 coin ahead of Jesus public ministry. 204 00:12:27,630 --> 00:12:30,960 Actually just a few years before Jesus public ministry, he chose 205 00:12:30,970 --> 00:12:36,200 to rement the coins for his rule to contain a Galilean read. 206 00:12:36,730 --> 00:12:40,050 So read that you'd find beside the Sea of Galilee that would 207 00:12:40,060 --> 00:12:44,610 blow in the wind, like just beautiful, fertile, representing 208 00:12:44,620 --> 00:12:48,550 life and lush area land, all of it. 209 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:51,320 That was the symbol that he placed, that Herod Antipas 210 00:12:51,330 --> 00:12:54,960 placed on the coin and that galleon read, like I said, it 211 00:12:54,970 --> 00:12:57,880 was a symbol of beauty. It was a symbol of fertile and, 212 00:12:57,890 --> 00:13:01,360 and that was his message. That was Herod's message to his 213 00:13:01,370 --> 00:13:05,180 people, that when you pick up a coin and you see the Galilean 214 00:13:05,190 --> 00:13:10,660 read, you were meant to think of fertile, healthy life, giving 215 00:13:10,670 --> 00:13:14,580 land, luxury. Everybody has enough to eat 216 00:13:14,630 --> 00:13:17,980 where there's food and there are things flowing, waters running 217 00:13:17,990 --> 00:13:20,980 like you were meant to picture this image. 218 00:13:21,050 --> 00:13:23,920 And, and what King Herod wanted people to think of then is when 219 00:13:23,930 --> 00:13:28,770 they thought of King Herod, they thought of a Galilean Reed, 220 00:13:28,940 --> 00:13:32,750 which made them think of lush, beautiful, fertile land. 221 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:36,980 Herod wanted to connect who he was with prosperity. 222 00:13:37,930 --> 00:13:41,050 He wanted people thinking when they thought King Herod 223 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:48,840 prosperity, AW, Tozer wrote. What comes into our minds when 224 00:13:48,850 --> 00:13:52,730 we think about God is the most important thing about us. 225 00:13:55,150 --> 00:13:58,560 What we think about when we picture God, our God image in 226 00:13:58,570 --> 00:14:02,500 other language matters. So Herod's there. 227 00:14:02,510 --> 00:14:04,690 He's saying, hey, what comes to mind when people think about 228 00:14:04,700 --> 00:14:06,330 Herod? I I want to control that. 229 00:14:07,940 --> 00:14:11,780 What comes to mind when you think of God matters? 230 00:14:13,420 --> 00:14:18,370 And so when Jesus asks the people, what did you go out to 231 00:14:18,380 --> 00:14:19,810 see? What then, did you go out to 232 00:14:19,820 --> 00:14:22,090 see? Right. 233 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:29,040 Is it a Reed shaken by the wind? Is it a man dressed in soft 234 00:14:29,050 --> 00:14:33,370 clothing? What Jesus is asking here is 235 00:14:33,380 --> 00:14:35,330 he's He's not saying. Did you go out into the 236 00:14:35,340 --> 00:14:39,280 wilderness to find a read? He's saying. 237 00:14:39,290 --> 00:14:41,970 Did you go out into the wilderness to find a king? 238 00:14:43,460 --> 00:14:46,390 Did you go into the wilderness to find a new Herod? 239 00:14:46,460 --> 00:14:50,010 Are you looking for a new king? Are you looking for someone to 240 00:14:50,020 --> 00:14:54,290 take that place and, and in case they missed it, which they 241 00:14:54,300 --> 00:14:57,170 probably wouldn't have. He double s down. 242 00:14:57,180 --> 00:14:59,410 What did you go out to see? Is it a man dressed in soft 243 00:14:59,420 --> 00:15:01,900 clothing? We hold those who are dressed in 244 00:15:01,910 --> 00:15:04,140 splendid clothing, live in luxury, are in King's courts. 245 00:15:04,150 --> 00:15:08,910 So now he names it. Are you looking for another 246 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:12,670 king? What did then? 247 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:16,130 Did you go out to see continues, right? 248 00:15:16,260 --> 00:15:21,250 Did you go out to find a profit? I tell you in more than a 249 00:15:21,260 --> 00:15:24,400 prophet. And he goes on to talk about who 250 00:15:24,410 --> 00:15:27,600 John is. So Jesus, what Jesus is doing 251 00:15:27,610 --> 00:15:30,820 from the very beginning here in his interacting with. 252 00:15:30,890 --> 00:15:34,030 Now at this point in the story, John's messengers have left, but 253 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:36,440 the people who have heard all of this encounter what Jesus is 254 00:15:36,450 --> 00:15:41,870 doing is he's locating himself between Herod as king and John 255 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:46,650 as great prophet. And what Jesus wants to do is to 256 00:15:46,700 --> 00:15:50,110 make us think and, and the crowds who are there is to 257 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:54,230 encourage them, challenge them to think, who is this Jesus? 258 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:56,330 Is he a king? Is he a great king? 259 00:15:56,340 --> 00:16:00,310 How does he compare to Herod? Is he a prophet? 260 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:02,970 Is he a great prophet? Is he better than a great 261 00:16:02,980 --> 00:16:04,590 prophet? Is he better than John? 262 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:12,030 Who is Jesus? He's locating him himself as not 263 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:18,880 simply a new Herod and not only a great prophet, but as 264 00:16:18,890 --> 00:16:22,460 something more. So Jesus wants the crowds 265 00:16:22,470 --> 00:16:25,300 asking, who is this guy? Who does he think he is? 266 00:16:25,310 --> 00:16:29,970 Who is he claiming to be? Who is this Jesus? 267 00:16:29,980 --> 00:16:33,890 And Luke wants us asking the same question, the reader Who is 268 00:16:33,900 --> 00:16:36,510 this Jesus? Who is it who stands between 269 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:39,290 Herod and between John? Who is it who stands between 270 00:16:39,300 --> 00:16:42,150 Herod as king and John? Who is prophet? 271 00:16:42,260 --> 00:16:44,450 And how we answer that question matters. 272 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:48,650 How we wrestle that question out in our own lives matters. 273 00:16:48,660 --> 00:16:51,690 And how we wrestle it out as a church, as a community together 274 00:16:51,740 --> 00:16:55,010 matters. Who do we say that Jesus is? 275 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:57,030 John the Baptist is asking the same question. 276 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:01,060 Who is this Jesus, really? Who's this guy? 277 00:17:02,070 --> 00:17:04,470 Which is a really interesting question given John's 278 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:07,660 relationship to Jesus. Because if you've been with us 279 00:17:07,670 --> 00:17:11,200 since the very beginning of of Luke, you maybe remember that 280 00:17:11,210 --> 00:17:13,260 this isn't the first time we've seen John. 281 00:17:13,270 --> 00:17:16,920 John the Baptist has appeared before in this story at the very 282 00:17:16,930 --> 00:17:20,359 beginning of Luke, John appears as a parallel narrative to 283 00:17:20,369 --> 00:17:22,180 Jesus. We see John's birth. 284 00:17:22,270 --> 00:17:24,420 We see Jesus's birth before that. 285 00:17:24,430 --> 00:17:27,490 We see the announcement of John's birth. 286 00:17:27,500 --> 00:17:30,560 We see the announcement of Jesus birth side by side. 287 00:17:30,630 --> 00:17:33,820 We see Mary, the mother of Jesus, go to Elizabeth, the 288 00:17:33,830 --> 00:17:35,820 mother of John. And what happens? 289 00:17:35,900 --> 00:17:41,190 The baby in her womb? John's leaps and Elizabeth 290 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:44,900 expresses this great joy of the baby's leaping in my womb, 291 00:17:44,910 --> 00:17:50,500 recognizing Jesus as the Messiah and Mary as the mother of an 292 00:17:50,510 --> 00:17:54,560 Elizabeth's words, My God, the mother of my God, has come to 293 00:17:54,570 --> 00:17:56,060 me. Why am I so blessed? 294 00:17:56,170 --> 00:18:00,960 And so this John is not just somebody wandering, preaching, 295 00:18:00,970 --> 00:18:04,720 teaching in the wilderness who's wondering about who Jesus is. 296 00:18:04,730 --> 00:18:09,670 John knows Luke begins with Jesus and John, and the 297 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:14,720 narrative progresses with them in a parallel, side by side. 298 00:18:15,450 --> 00:18:20,130 Jesus goes out to the wilderness to be baptized by John. 299 00:18:20,970 --> 00:18:24,400 John's entire life has shown who Jesus really is. 300 00:18:24,470 --> 00:18:27,060 This is John's ministry to proclaim the coming of the 301 00:18:27,070 --> 00:18:32,820 Messiah, to prepare the way all of who John is declares all of 302 00:18:32,830 --> 00:18:38,170 who Jesus is. But what we see here is that the 303 00:18:38,180 --> 00:18:41,380 disciples of John reported all these things, all the things 304 00:18:41,390 --> 00:18:46,550 that Jesus is doing, the way in which he is teaching and healing 305 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:48,800 the message that he is proclaiming, the way in which 306 00:18:48,810 --> 00:18:53,580 he's healing people. The disciples of John reported 307 00:18:53,590 --> 00:18:57,390 all of it to him, and John, calling two of his disciples to 308 00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:00,090 him, sent them to the Lord, saying, Are you the one who is 309 00:19:00,100 --> 00:19:02,590 to come, or shall we look for another? 310 00:19:02,740 --> 00:19:04,520 And when the man had come to him, men had come to him. 311 00:19:04,530 --> 00:19:07,670 They said, John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, Are you 312 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:11,950 the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? 313 00:19:12,930 --> 00:19:15,820 And again, I say this often. I remember repeating myself 314 00:19:15,830 --> 00:19:18,060 about the Bible repeating itself. 315 00:19:19,300 --> 00:19:23,500 When something occurs twice like this, it's like an exclamation 316 00:19:23,510 --> 00:19:26,210 mark. Luke could have just said the 317 00:19:26,220 --> 00:19:28,790 disciples of John's report, they reported all this things to him 318 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:31,390 and he sent them and they asked this question, but Luke takes 319 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:37,870 the time to put it down twice. Are you the one, or shall we 320 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:40,530 look for another? Messages about Jesus have 321 00:19:40,540 --> 00:19:42,530 circulated. John's own disciples have seen 322 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:44,020 Jesus teach. He's healing. 323 00:19:44,030 --> 00:19:47,690 He's casting out demons. And now John has some questions, 324 00:19:49,540 --> 00:19:50,950 and the questions sound like this. 325 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:54,310 Jesus, who are you really? What's going on? 326 00:19:56,020 --> 00:19:58,970 Why? Why do things look the way they 327 00:19:59,020 --> 00:20:01,010 look like? Why does the Kingdom look 328 00:20:01,020 --> 00:20:05,270 different than we expected? Why are you doing things 329 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:07,840 differently than we thought you would? 330 00:20:09,490 --> 00:20:13,070 Why am I not being freed from prison? 331 00:20:13,820 --> 00:20:16,670 Like where's the Kingdom? Where is its coming in power and 332 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:19,150 with authority and might and force? 333 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:21,450 And why aren't you overthrowing the Romans? 334 00:20:21,460 --> 00:20:23,630 And why aren't you driving them out of our land? 335 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:27,050 And why aren't you restoring our our people and our buildings and 336 00:20:27,060 --> 00:20:30,010 our places? Like why, why am I still in 337 00:20:30,020 --> 00:20:35,110 prison? And and to, to add to the fact, 338 00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:38,590 hey, Jesus, like, while we're at it, why are you healing the 339 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:43,040 servant of a Roman centurion? Like, do you not realize that 340 00:20:43,050 --> 00:20:48,840 guy's the enemy? Is Jesus really the Messiah? 341 00:20:49,170 --> 00:20:51,720 That's the question that John's asking. 342 00:20:53,220 --> 00:20:55,600 What he's asking is, have we gotten our hopes up? 343 00:20:56,590 --> 00:20:59,390 Like, have we? Have we put all of our eggs in 344 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:02,940 the wrong basket? Have we counted on this guy and 345 00:21:02,950 --> 00:21:06,800 and has he led us down? Should we be waiting for 346 00:21:06,870 --> 00:21:11,050 another? Jesus doesn't live up to John's 347 00:21:11,060 --> 00:21:14,500 expectations. Jesus doesn't live up to John's 348 00:21:14,510 --> 00:21:17,820 expectations about who the Messiah is, about what the 349 00:21:17,830 --> 00:21:21,210 Messiah should do. And so John's wondering, like, 350 00:21:21,220 --> 00:21:24,350 are you really the guy? Are you wrong? 351 00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:27,070 Was I wrong? What's going on? 352 00:21:28,860 --> 00:21:31,290 And listen, like, I think we gotta remember this is the same 353 00:21:31,300 --> 00:21:34,970 John who says not in Luke, but in the Gospel of John, he must 354 00:21:35,020 --> 00:21:37,910 increase. I must decrease. 355 00:21:38,750 --> 00:21:40,600 Like this is a guy who's got faith. 356 00:21:40,850 --> 00:21:42,450 This is a guy who knows a thing or two. 357 00:21:42,460 --> 00:21:45,760 This is a guy who's seen Jesus run around and grow up and then 358 00:21:45,770 --> 00:21:48,500 begin to teach and preach and do all of these things. 359 00:21:48,590 --> 00:21:51,520 John saying boldly like he has to increase. 360 00:21:51,530 --> 00:21:55,350 It's not about me. I must decrease only now in 361 00:21:55,360 --> 00:22:00,110 prison, probably right in and around the sea or the Dead Sea 362 00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:04,310 Desert. Hot, dry, arid, just nasty place 363 00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:11,860 to be locked up. Does decreasing might mean John 364 00:22:11,870 --> 00:22:15,400 has to die? Like that's the kind of stuff 365 00:22:15,410 --> 00:22:20,900 rattling around in his mind. Why was Jesus not bringing the 366 00:22:20,910 --> 00:22:22,590 Kingdom in power? Like where? 367 00:22:22,660 --> 00:22:24,930 Where's the army? Who's gonna breakdown the walls 368 00:22:24,940 --> 00:22:27,330 of this thing and tear me out of here? 369 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:30,810 When's it my turn? Why is the revolution not 370 00:22:30,820 --> 00:22:33,370 beginning? Why isn't Rome being overthrown? 371 00:22:33,380 --> 00:22:41,150 Why? The answer to that question is 372 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:43,870 because Jesus wasn't a nationalist. 373 00:22:45,510 --> 00:22:47,400 Jesus wasn't a Christian nationalist. 374 00:22:48,930 --> 00:22:52,000 The Kingdom of God was never meant to be contained and 375 00:22:52,010 --> 00:22:56,370 confined to a lower case K Kingdom. 376 00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:01,990 The Kingdom of God wasn't meant to just simply replace a Kingdom 377 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:05,410 on earth. It's not a Kingdom of human 378 00:23:05,420 --> 00:23:08,090 making or design. It's not a Kingdom of earth 379 00:23:08,140 --> 00:23:10,790 simply taken over by Jesus and ruled by Jesus. 380 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:13,140 Like this is something completely new. 381 00:23:15,120 --> 00:23:21,390 There is, I think, a danger in wanting Jesus on our own terms. 382 00:23:23,120 --> 00:23:26,370 There's, there's a danger to wanting Jesus and the benefits 383 00:23:26,380 --> 00:23:30,210 of living life inside the Kingdom, but only when and if 384 00:23:30,260 --> 00:23:34,030 that life comes on. And according to my terms and 385 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:39,310 conditions, like accepting him as Savior, as Lord, as King, 386 00:23:39,360 --> 00:23:45,190 because of what he does for you, because he lives up to your 387 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:48,980 expectations and does the thing that you've asked. 388 00:23:50,210 --> 00:23:53,400 And I think here's the subtle creep that can push its way into 389 00:23:53,470 --> 00:23:57,620 faith and into a life of faith and into Christian spirituality 390 00:23:57,630 --> 00:24:02,840 and formation is the, this subtle lie that if I trust God, 391 00:24:02,910 --> 00:24:06,420 if I believe in Jesus, if I lived correctly, if I go to 392 00:24:06,430 --> 00:24:09,940 church, if I do the things, then I ought to have a life that's 393 00:24:09,950 --> 00:24:13,330 free from suffering or free from temptation or free from 394 00:24:13,340 --> 00:24:16,640 relationships that are hard or free from marriages that are 395 00:24:16,650 --> 00:24:18,560 broken. There should always be money in 396 00:24:18,570 --> 00:24:21,320 my bank account like I shouldn't go without. 397 00:24:21,410 --> 00:24:24,680 I've put my trust in you, Jesus. Now it's time for you to fulfill 398 00:24:24,690 --> 00:24:27,010 your end of the bargain. I'm in prison. 399 00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:29,650 When am I getting busted out of here? 400 00:24:34,190 --> 00:24:38,680 If I do all of the things, we start to believe that we ought 401 00:24:38,690 --> 00:24:45,890 to receive a good life. The lie is that belief in God 402 00:24:45,900 --> 00:24:49,910 will equate to my own expectations about God and about 403 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:55,680 life being met all of the time. And so again, I pictured John 404 00:24:55,690 --> 00:24:58,540 rotting away in prison. Life has not met his 405 00:24:58,550 --> 00:25:00,380 expectations. Like, it's not. 406 00:25:00,390 --> 00:25:03,100 It's not said explicitly, but I think it's a pretty safe 407 00:25:03,110 --> 00:25:09,130 assumption that life for John has not gone the way he had 408 00:25:09,140 --> 00:25:14,170 anticipated it. But the reality is that Jesus 409 00:25:14,180 --> 00:25:16,730 isn't Messiah because he meets John's expectations. 410 00:25:18,390 --> 00:25:21,310 And Jesus isn't Lord and Savior. He's not King because he lives 411 00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:28,030 up to my expectations or yours. If he really is king, then the 412 00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:31,670 Kingdom is his design, and we need to allow the design of the 413 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:34,590 Kingdom to get into our lives and to begin to shape it and 414 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:41,200 redesign it and transform it to just shape our hopes and our 415 00:25:41,210 --> 00:25:45,120 dreams, to change our our expectations of ourselves and 416 00:25:45,130 --> 00:25:51,580 others and of God. So I love what Jesus does, it 417 00:25:51,590 --> 00:25:54,380 says in that hour. So like this is as this is 418 00:25:54,390 --> 00:25:56,960 happening. He healed many people of 419 00:25:56,970 --> 00:26:02,320 diseases and plagues, evil spirits and many who were blind. 420 00:26:02,380 --> 00:26:07,290 He bestowed sight. So what does Jesus do? 421 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:10,850 Like this is Jesus in the most Jesus way possible. 422 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:13,870 He doesn't give them a simple direct answer that they can take 423 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:16,220 back to John the Baptist. He doesn't say to them, hey, 424 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:19,480 John, you asked a yes or no question. 425 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:21,770 Are you the one we're waiting for? 426 00:26:21,780 --> 00:26:24,190 Should we wait for another one? Yes, I'm the one. 427 00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:27,430 Like that's not the way Jesus answers the question. 428 00:26:27,490 --> 00:26:30,610 There's no moment where he says, like, I am Iron Man. 429 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:36,690 Like that's not how Jesus's Kingdom works. 430 00:26:36,700 --> 00:26:43,890 It's not the way of Jesus, but what he does is he begins to do 431 00:26:43,900 --> 00:26:47,300 the things of the Kingdom right in front of their eyes. 432 00:26:49,530 --> 00:26:51,940 Jesus doesn't stop and give them an answer. 433 00:26:51,950 --> 00:26:57,710 He just continues living it out. And then he invites them into 434 00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:03,520 that process. He asks them to watch how he 435 00:27:03,530 --> 00:27:10,260 lives his life and what he does in front of their faces and come 436 00:27:10,270 --> 00:27:15,020 to their own conclusions. He doesn't spoon feed it. 437 00:27:15,030 --> 00:27:17,250 He doesn't force them to think it or believe it. 438 00:27:17,260 --> 00:27:22,170 He demonstrates it and then he invites them to draw their own 439 00:27:22,180 --> 00:27:24,250 conclusions. Cyril of Alexandria and I want 440 00:27:24,260 --> 00:27:29,050 to read this quote, says this. The beautiful art of the Saviors 441 00:27:29,100 --> 00:27:34,200 management is this. He does not simply say I am. 442 00:27:35,260 --> 00:27:37,240 If he had spoken this, it would have been true. 443 00:27:38,210 --> 00:27:43,320 Instead, he leads them to the proof given by the works 444 00:27:43,330 --> 00:27:48,920 themselves. Jesus doesn't say yes I'm he go 445 00:27:48,930 --> 00:27:55,940 and just think differently. Jesus shows them what he is 446 00:27:55,950 --> 00:27:59,640 capable of and what life inside the Kingdom ought to look like 447 00:27:59,650 --> 00:28:03,040 and does look like. He just continues doing the 448 00:28:03,050 --> 00:28:08,290 things of the Kingdom and invites them to draw their own 449 00:28:08,540 --> 00:28:11,970 conclusion. Go and tell John what you have 450 00:28:11,980 --> 00:28:14,310 seen, he says. Go and tell John what you have 451 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:18,410 seen and heard. The blind received their sight, 452 00:28:18,420 --> 00:28:21,850 The lame walk leper is cleansed and the deaf here. 453 00:28:21,860 --> 00:28:24,260 The dead are raised up. The poor have good news preached 454 00:28:24,270 --> 00:28:26,370 to them, and blessed. As the one who's not offended by 455 00:28:26,380 --> 00:28:28,210 me. I kind of wonder if he adds that 456 00:28:28,220 --> 00:28:32,430 last line in for John. But here's the reality. 457 00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:36,030 The Kingdom of God is probably going to offend you once or 458 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:40,130 twice in your life, especially when Jesus doesn't live up to 459 00:28:40,140 --> 00:28:45,130 your expectations. You need to allow yourself. 460 00:28:45,140 --> 00:28:48,170 I need to allow myself preaching to the to myself. 461 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:55,250 We need to allow ourselves to be offended by the Kingdom when it 462 00:28:55,260 --> 00:28:59,430 challenges our expectations, not just when it hasn't lived up to 463 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:03,930 our expectations, but when it confronts our expectations and 464 00:29:03,940 --> 00:29:07,470 forces me to confront my own expectations about Jesus and 465 00:29:07,540 --> 00:29:09,580 life inside the Kingdom. And I thought things were going 466 00:29:09,590 --> 00:29:12,290 to be OK and they're not OK. And I need to look in the mirror 467 00:29:12,300 --> 00:29:15,770 and go, am I pushing my expectation on Jesus or am I 468 00:29:15,780 --> 00:29:20,130 allowing the Kingdom to shape who I am despite situation and 469 00:29:20,140 --> 00:29:22,670 circumstance? So he says, go and tell them 470 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:24,490 what you've seen and what you've heard. 471 00:29:24,500 --> 00:29:25,820 All of these things are happening. 472 00:29:25,830 --> 00:29:30,110 Jesus is pointing us back to Isaiah 61 and he's pointing John 473 00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:33,770 back to Isaiah 61 as well. Isaiah 61 at the beginning of 474 00:29:33,780 --> 00:29:37,010 Jesus ministry is the verse that he quotes about himself. 475 00:29:37,020 --> 00:29:40,490 He unrolls the scroll. So this moment Jesus is in the 476 00:29:40,500 --> 00:29:43,390 synagogue and he unrolls the scroll and he begins to read 477 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:46,410 from Isaiah and then he essentially says this, this is 478 00:29:46,420 --> 00:29:51,390 about me in a little bit more words that sound better than I 479 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:54,190 do, but this is what Isaiah 61 sounds like. 480 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:57,540 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has 481 00:29:57,550 --> 00:30:00,600 anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. 482 00:30:00,730 --> 00:30:03,960 He sent me to bind up the broken hearted and to proclaim freedom 483 00:30:03,970 --> 00:30:07,020 for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. 484 00:30:07,030 --> 00:30:10,480 To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, a day of vengeance 485 00:30:10,490 --> 00:30:14,270 of our God. To comfort all who mourn and to 486 00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:17,030 provide for those who grieve. To bestow on them a crown of 487 00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:20,250 beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning. 488 00:30:20,260 --> 00:30:22,870 A garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. 489 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:26,180 And says they'll be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of 490 00:30:26,190 --> 00:30:28,530 the Lord for the display of his splendor. 491 00:30:30,290 --> 00:30:35,820 And so a couple of things, like Jesus simply uses life inside 492 00:30:35,830 --> 00:30:43,290 the Kingdom, continuing to live it out, to point people back to 493 00:30:43,300 --> 00:30:47,170 Scripture, which confronts our expectations. 494 00:30:47,230 --> 00:30:50,610 Jesus is gently telling John, I think, and us that it's not 495 00:30:51,070 --> 00:30:57,730 Jesus who has let John down, it's John's own expectations of 496 00:30:57,740 --> 00:31:01,970 Jesus that have failed him. And so I think one of the 497 00:31:01,980 --> 00:31:04,340 challenges becomes rather than allowing our thoughts and our 498 00:31:04,350 --> 00:31:07,550 expectations and our experience to shape what we think is true 499 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:10,730 about God, we ought to allow, and it's difficult, it is not as 500 00:31:10,740 --> 00:31:14,310 simple practice, but we ought to allow Scripture to shape our 501 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:21,120 expectations of Jesus. Now here's the rub, and I'm sure 502 00:31:21,130 --> 00:31:24,890 you feel this in a dominant worldview of secularism. 503 00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:29,050 You are told and I am told that authority lies and ought to lie 504 00:31:29,060 --> 00:31:31,950 in the human being right in human reason and empirical 505 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:36,070 evidence and at most in collective human agreement that 506 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:40,950 wear authority hole sits where it lies, where it rests where it 507 00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:43,970 is, is in these three things, human reason, empirical evidence 508 00:31:43,980 --> 00:31:48,490 and collective human agreement. That I myself and and us 509 00:31:48,500 --> 00:31:51,690 together hold the key to human flourishing and understanding 510 00:31:51,700 --> 00:31:55,770 that we should be suspicious of anyone who who tells you 511 00:31:55,780 --> 00:32:01,410 anything along the lines of the fact that you are not your own 512 00:32:01,420 --> 00:32:04,320 ultimate source of authority over your life. 513 00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:10,500 But what happens when we begin to disagree? 514 00:32:13,010 --> 00:32:18,550 And what happens when there's no ultimate authority to appeal to? 515 00:32:20,230 --> 00:32:23,400 And what happens when we are overcome by the weight of having 516 00:32:23,410 --> 00:32:26,390 to define and redefine ourselves, with no anchor point, 517 00:32:27,630 --> 00:32:30,060 with no narrative to make sense of struggle? 518 00:32:31,930 --> 00:32:35,630 What happens when power and authority by the many are used 519 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:39,760 to oppress with no common foundation and grounding for 520 00:32:39,770 --> 00:32:45,740 ethics and justice? Like, I think to myself, it's no 521 00:32:45,750 --> 00:32:50,080 wonder that anxiety that loneliness and and depression 522 00:32:50,090 --> 00:32:52,460 are skyrocketing. It's not a mystery to me that 523 00:32:52,470 --> 00:32:55,700 we're increasingly divided and angry and that we rage at one 524 00:32:55,710 --> 00:32:58,780 another on social media because we're too afraid to do it in 525 00:32:58,950 --> 00:33:01,670 person. Like it's no wonder to me that 526 00:33:02,620 --> 00:33:05,610 we see a world that is in conflict. 527 00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:12,430 It's no wonder to me that we wrestle with these things 528 00:33:12,700 --> 00:33:17,790 ourselves, but I think the promise and the hope of the 529 00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:20,920 gospel is that Jesus does offer a better way forward. 530 00:33:22,620 --> 00:33:25,390 AW Tozer's line, I think, is true that what we think about 531 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:26,450 God matters. It is. 532 00:33:26,460 --> 00:33:28,290 It's important. Whether it's the most important 533 00:33:28,300 --> 00:33:31,770 thing about you, I don't know. In a sermon called The Weight of 534 00:33:31,780 --> 00:33:37,230 Glory, CS Lewis disagrees with AW Tozer, which I love. 535 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:40,840 Like, man, back in the day, you would just get like sermons 536 00:33:40,850 --> 00:33:43,360 where people would just openly disagree with, like just back 537 00:33:43,370 --> 00:33:45,700 and forth, back and forth. That was like a lot of it. 538 00:33:46,210 --> 00:33:50,320 CS Lewis, he disagrees that it's the most important thing about 539 00:33:50,330 --> 00:33:53,580 you. He says that it's important, but 540 00:33:53,590 --> 00:33:58,400 he says how God thinks of us is not only more important, but 541 00:33:58,450 --> 00:34:02,660 infinitely more important. Indeed, how we think of Him is 542 00:34:02,670 --> 00:34:08,440 of no importance except insofar as it's related to how he thinks 543 00:34:08,650 --> 00:34:11,690 of us. Like that's the reality. 544 00:34:11,739 --> 00:34:15,730 How God thinks of of you is far more important than how you 545 00:34:15,739 --> 00:34:19,760 think of God. What God says about you is far 546 00:34:19,770 --> 00:34:21,420 more important than what you say about yourself. 547 00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:27,650 The challenge, I think for those of us who call ourselves 548 00:34:27,659 --> 00:34:29,500 followers of Jesus, but I actually think for all of 549 00:34:29,510 --> 00:34:34,070 humanity is to determine, rather do allow Scripture to determine 550 00:34:34,190 --> 00:34:39,010 our expectations of God and to allow Jesus to define the 551 00:34:39,020 --> 00:34:45,260 Kingdom and to allow the Kingdom to confront our lives and to 552 00:34:45,270 --> 00:34:49,949 really wrestle this out. Do you know how God thinks of 553 00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:54,690 you? Let me pray, God, thank you for 554 00:34:54,699 --> 00:34:58,300 your love and for your grace, and thank you for your presence 555 00:34:58,310 --> 00:35:00,220 with us. Thank you for Scripture which 556 00:35:00,290 --> 00:35:04,750 unfolds your heart before us. So, God, I do pray that we would 557 00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:07,920 learn to listen. Each of us, all of us, would 558 00:35:07,930 --> 00:35:13,690 learn to listen to how you speak and think what you think of us. 559 00:35:15,290 --> 00:35:17,960 And I pray that we'd find our identity in you. 560 00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:22,790 I find that. I pray that we'd find all of our 561 00:35:23,260 --> 00:35:26,390 meaning and narrative, the things that help us make sense 562 00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:28,460 of the world inside of your Kingdom. 563 00:35:29,510 --> 00:35:31,900 And I pray that we'd allow your Kingdom to confront us, 564 00:35:32,430 --> 00:35:36,560 challenge our expectations, pray that we be ones who kind of hold 565 00:35:36,570 --> 00:35:41,310 even our expectations lightly, openly waiting and kind of 566 00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:44,350 wondering, like, what are you gonna do with this for us as a 567 00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:46,150 church God? I pray that we would learn to 568 00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:50,920 listen and that we'd be bold to follow. 569 00:35:50,980 --> 00:35:54,940 That we'd allow you to shape us as a community to change and 570 00:35:54,950 --> 00:35:57,730 challenge our expectations of who we are and how we are in the 571 00:35:57,740 --> 00:36:00,730 world. Because God at the like, at the 572 00:36:00,740 --> 00:36:06,520 end of the day like this. None of it makes sense without 573 00:36:06,530 --> 00:36:09,480 who you are, with how you are toward the world. 574 00:36:09,530 --> 00:36:12,040 None of it works without your death and your resurrection. 575 00:36:13,340 --> 00:36:18,360 Our lives, God, we know we find meaning inside of who we are as 576 00:36:18,370 --> 00:36:20,810 your people. So would you remind us of that, 577 00:36:21,490 --> 00:36:24,580 that we are yours, we belong to you, each one of us. 578 00:36:24,670 --> 00:36:26,620 Would you challenge? The expectations need to be 579 00:36:26,630 --> 00:36:28,100 challenged. Would you confront the things 580 00:36:28,110 --> 00:36:29,940 that need to be confronted? Would you change the things that 581 00:36:29,950 --> 00:36:32,030 need to be changed? Would you encourage us where we 582 00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:33,170 need encouragement? Yeah. 583 00:36:33,550 --> 00:36:35,670 Not because of who we are, but because of who you are. 584 00:36:36,450 --> 00:36:39,460 So things that you're good, that you're loving, you're powerful, 585 00:36:39,470 --> 00:36:41,160 you're strong, that your Kingdom is coming. 586 00:36:41,170 --> 00:36:42,760 Thanks. So we get to see it happen 587 00:36:42,910 --> 00:36:45,340 inside of our lifetime. We pray for more of that in 588 00:36:45,350 --> 00:36:47,240 Jesus name, Amen.