1 00:00:00,050 --> 00:00:02,620 Early morning like this to gather, to worship, to lift, tie 2 00:00:02,630 --> 00:00:07,450 the name of Jesus. And so I love that we are called 3 00:00:07,460 --> 00:00:10,590 together to do exactly that. This morning we're going to be 4 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:13,720 reading in the Gospel of Luke. And if you are new, we're 5 00:00:13,730 --> 00:00:17,810 working our way through the Gospel of Luke and we are 6 00:00:17,820 --> 00:00:20,900 solidly, squarely in Luke Chapter 9. 7 00:00:21,660 --> 00:00:24,920 So we're going to be working through verses 51 through to 8 00:00:24,930 --> 00:00:29,610 about 56 today. And what I wanna say is we 9 00:00:29,620 --> 00:00:31,250 begin. I'm gonna pray in a minute. 10 00:00:31,260 --> 00:00:35,350 I'm gonna read from from my Bible here, which this morning 11 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:37,110 is the New International Version. 12 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:39,410 I'd encourage you to follow along. 13 00:00:39,480 --> 00:00:41,630 Doesn't need to be in the same version. 14 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:44,490 It could be on a phone or tablet. 15 00:00:44,740 --> 00:00:48,270 Eventually we'll put it up on the screen and you'll be able to 16 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:50,590 follow along that way. But let me say this, if you 17 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:54,640 don't have a Bible, we have I was at the back and on a cart. 18 00:00:54,650 --> 00:00:56,820 So if you would like to grab that for this morning, 19 00:00:56,830 --> 00:00:58,800 fantastic. If you want to write in it, 20 00:00:58,850 --> 00:01:01,120 fantastic. If you don't have a Bible at 21 00:01:01,130 --> 00:01:03,640 home and you're like, I actually really think I wanna take this 22 00:01:03,650 --> 00:01:05,280 with with me. Great. 23 00:01:05,349 --> 00:01:07,840 That's our gift to you. So please do that. 24 00:01:07,850 --> 00:01:09,950 You can walk right out and nobody's going to stop you at 25 00:01:09,960 --> 00:01:12,740 the door. Nobody's going to like ask for a 26 00:01:12,750 --> 00:01:15,380 receipt or like give a credit card when you take that thing, 27 00:01:15,390 --> 00:01:16,820 like it can be yours. Take it. 28 00:01:16,830 --> 00:01:19,680 If you want to take two and give one away, do that also. 29 00:01:20,850 --> 00:01:29,380 Alright, so let me pray Luke 9 find it about this far through 30 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:33,310 your Bible. God, thanks for your love, 31 00:01:33,380 --> 00:01:35,670 thanks for your grace, Thank you for your goodness. 32 00:01:35,770 --> 00:01:40,220 And yeah, we who gather here, we know it, we feel it. 33 00:01:40,330 --> 00:01:44,620 God, for those who are kind of stumbling in needing to know it, 34 00:01:44,710 --> 00:01:48,540 needing to experience it and feel it yet I pray that today 35 00:01:48,550 --> 00:01:50,780 would be the day. I pray that today would be the 36 00:01:50,790 --> 00:01:55,810 day that you draw us close and you remind us of who you are. 37 00:01:55,860 --> 00:01:59,150 You remind us of your goodness and your character, Your love 38 00:01:59,220 --> 00:02:04,300 toward us and toward the world. So I got where yours this time 39 00:02:04,310 --> 00:02:05,240 is. Yours belongs to you. 40 00:02:05,250 --> 00:02:09,150 Like none of this makes sense. None of it makes sense without 41 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:11,009 you. And so God thinks that your 42 00:02:11,020 --> 00:02:13,950 promise is that you'll show up. Thinks that your promises that 43 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:16,310 you speak to us and you meet us where we're at, thinks that 44 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:18,110 you're promises that you challenge us. 45 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:20,510 And at times and seasons you rebuke us. 46 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:24,590 Thinks that all of it is to draw us closer to your heart and to 47 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:27,040 your love and to your goodness and to your grace. 48 00:02:27,740 --> 00:02:30,950 So, yeah, would we experience that this morning? 49 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:33,630 For us, yes. And for the world because, yeah, 50 00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:35,830 we know. Like this thing's gotta explode 51 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,230 beyond our walls and into this world. 52 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:40,290 Your Kingdom come. That's our our prayer. 53 00:02:40,910 --> 00:02:43,290 So as we read through these verses, God, would you do that? 54 00:02:43,300 --> 00:02:44,720 Would you encourage? Would you challenge? 55 00:02:44,730 --> 00:02:48,320 Would you rebuke where needed? All of it we trust for your 56 00:02:48,330 --> 00:02:50,380 glory. In Jesus name we pray. 57 00:02:50,550 --> 00:02:54,120 Amen. All right. 58 00:02:54,170 --> 00:02:58,230 Luke 9 In my Bible, this is how it sounds. 59 00:02:59,180 --> 00:03:02,790 As the time approached for him, that's Jesus to be taken up to 60 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:05,730 heaven. Jesus resolutely set out for 61 00:03:05,740 --> 00:03:09,590 Jerusalem, and he sent messengers on ahead who went 62 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:13,650 into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him. 63 00:03:13,830 --> 00:03:17,320 But the people there did not welcome him because he was 64 00:03:17,330 --> 00:03:21,070 heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and 65 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:24,230 John saw this, they asked the Lord, Lord, do you want us to 66 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:26,980 call down fire from heaven and destroy them? 67 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:30,750 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 68 00:03:31,640 --> 00:03:36,430 Then he and the disciples went on to another village. 69 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:42,220 So as I was preparing for this sermon this week, I, I got 70 00:03:42,230 --> 00:03:46,140 thinking and actually found myself reading some of the 71 00:03:46,150 --> 00:03:50,930 stories throughout, like I say, modernish history on the 72 00:03:50,940 --> 00:03:56,580 greatest or sort of most famous occasions of rejection. 73 00:03:57,620 --> 00:04:02,090 So I'm not gonna ask you for your own painful personal 74 00:04:02,100 --> 00:04:06,390 stories of rejection. But here are a few that I found 75 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:10,310 myself reading through. Some I've heard before, and some 76 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:14,730 were new to me, stories of individuals who, before they 77 00:04:14,740 --> 00:04:18,570 ever succeeded, were rejected, many of them multiple times. 78 00:04:18,579 --> 00:04:20,110 So I wonder if these are new to you. 79 00:04:20,260 --> 00:04:23,450 I found out. So Walt Disney fired from a 80 00:04:23,460 --> 00:04:27,030 newsletter that he wrote and edited because he, quote, lacked 81 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:30,750 imagination and had no good ideas. 82 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:35,810 So that was #1 #2 maybe, you know, this one, Steve Jobs being 83 00:04:35,820 --> 00:04:41,030 fired from Apple early on in Apple's history, like far 84 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:44,030 before, long before the iPhone was ever released. 85 00:04:44,900 --> 00:04:48,330 First Harry Potter manuscript rejected by 12 publishers. 86 00:04:48,340 --> 00:04:51,770 Like, that's my era. If you look sort of ish in the 87 00:04:51,780 --> 00:04:54,230 same age as me, you probably have less Gray hair already. 88 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:59,100 But listen, that was maybe some of your childhood. 12 publishers 89 00:04:59,110 --> 00:05:01,530 rejected that first book. This was a new one. 90 00:05:01,540 --> 00:05:03,990 Michael Jordan cut from his high school basketball team. 91 00:05:05,510 --> 00:05:09,360 OK Sylvester Stallone had 30 manuscripts rejected before he 92 00:05:09,370 --> 00:05:13,320 wrote Rocky. Stephen King was rejected by 30 93 00:05:13,330 --> 00:05:17,730 publishers before his first book was printed, and this again a 94 00:05:17,740 --> 00:05:21,600 new one. Elvis Presley was told by people 95 00:05:21,610 --> 00:05:24,710 at the Grand Ole Opry to go back to truck driving. 96 00:05:26,570 --> 00:05:29,960 Feel like Ouch. Like that's like that's harsh. 97 00:05:29,970 --> 00:05:32,240 That's a, that's a strong rejection. 98 00:05:32,330 --> 00:05:35,220 Like not we don't want you back here. 99 00:05:35,270 --> 00:05:37,980 We think just this whole industry just leave it behind 100 00:05:37,990 --> 00:05:41,700 and go back to driving a truck. But listen, like I'm guessing 101 00:05:41,710 --> 00:05:43,960 that, and I'm not gonna ask you. Please don't be worried. 102 00:05:44,790 --> 00:05:47,720 I'm guessing though, you don't have to Google stories of 103 00:05:47,730 --> 00:05:53,530 rejection to feel them yourself. Like I I'm guessing that you 104 00:05:53,540 --> 00:05:57,550 likely have your own stories of moments in your life, seasons, 105 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:01,080 incidents where you were and have been rejected. 106 00:06:02,650 --> 00:06:06,790 And it could be that it was a workplace or within the context 107 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:09,060 of your career. You find yourself feeling 108 00:06:09,070 --> 00:06:13,660 constantly rejected or at least rejected in ways of whether it's 109 00:06:13,670 --> 00:06:17,140 promotion or ideas being dismissed or even layoffs that 110 00:06:17,150 --> 00:06:19,450 come and sweep through an organization. 111 00:06:19,460 --> 00:06:23,760 You yourself have found yourself on the receiving end of a 112 00:06:23,810 --> 00:06:26,700 workplace rejection. We know it happens in 113 00:06:26,710 --> 00:06:30,000 relationships and inside of communities where individuals 114 00:06:30,010 --> 00:06:33,140 are excluded from social groups like, hey, we no longer wants 115 00:06:33,150 --> 00:06:35,830 you to be a part of what we've got over here, and we're not 116 00:06:35,840 --> 00:06:38,210 going to really give you a good reason, but goodbye. 117 00:06:38,220 --> 00:06:42,800 Or we think of, right, ghosting or just completely disappearing. 118 00:06:42,810 --> 00:06:45,990 I'm just never gonna talk to you ever again. 119 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,990 Family dynamics alright. Kids can feel rejected by their 120 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:53,130 parents who disapprove of their choices in life. 121 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:56,710 Estrangements happen. You can have conflict within 122 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:00,190 families over faith and values. Parents can feel rejected by 123 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:04,820 their kids as they grow and and leave, but we also see it in the 124 00:07:04,830 --> 00:07:09,530 church, whether it's simply the fact that when you come in, you 125 00:07:09,540 --> 00:07:12,620 fear for your life that you're gonna be rejected. 126 00:07:14,490 --> 00:07:16,880 And so it changes maybe that first step that you take toward 127 00:07:16,890 --> 00:07:20,040 faith and toward a Christian community that is the church 128 00:07:20,050 --> 00:07:24,950 because of fear of rejection. Maybe it's that your faith you 129 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,890 feel puts you at odds with others who constantly push 130 00:07:28,900 --> 00:07:33,170 against. Have your gifts kind of pushed 131 00:07:33,180 --> 00:07:38,510 to the outside. Maybe that's online. 132 00:07:39,550 --> 00:07:45,410 Big ignored or attacked, facing difficulty or anger or violence. 133 00:07:46,170 --> 00:07:49,350 Like rejection of who you are. We feel it, you feel it. 134 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:51,620 I am guessing you don't need to Google. 135 00:07:51,630 --> 00:07:54,430 Like when did Michael Jordan get rejected from his high school 136 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:56,460 basketball? Like I got rejected from my high 137 00:07:56,470 --> 00:07:59,010 school basketball team. I did get rejected from my high 138 00:07:59,020 --> 00:08:00,430 school basketball team, by the way. 139 00:08:00,500 --> 00:08:05,730 But that was a good decision. That was a wise like discerning. 140 00:08:05,740 --> 00:08:09,050 I once tried to shoot the ball into my own neck. 141 00:08:10,100 --> 00:08:12,900 Basketball was not my sport for so many different reasons. 142 00:08:14,860 --> 00:08:20,020 This story is a story that kind of revolves around this idea of 143 00:08:20,030 --> 00:08:23,530 rejection. It all has to do with rejection. 144 00:08:23,540 --> 00:08:26,970 And there's like rejection flying in multiple directions. 145 00:08:26,980 --> 00:08:29,790 And so I want to look at that a little bit this morning and how 146 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:34,169 we might learn from A, how the disciples react, and then B, to 147 00:08:34,179 --> 00:08:38,590 how Jesus challenges the disciples in the midst of their 148 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:42,450 rejection and hurt and anger. So let's reread it as the time 149 00:08:42,460 --> 00:08:44,810 approach for him to be taken up into heaven. 150 00:08:44,820 --> 00:08:47,770 Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 151 00:08:47,860 --> 00:08:55,710 This is now going to work. OK, So this is just, if you 152 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:57,870 would like to know, an editorial note. 153 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:00,390 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, this 154 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:03,950 is Luke trying to tell us where this story fits within the 155 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:05,880 narrative. This is Luke reminding us this 156 00:09:05,890 --> 00:09:08,990 is what Jesus is headed toward. This is where the narrative is 157 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:12,210 is moving. This isn't conversation inside 158 00:09:12,260 --> 00:09:15,430 of the text. So you now know something that 159 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:17,610 in this moment the disciples don't know. 160 00:09:17,620 --> 00:09:20,130 As the time approached for him, Jesus to be taken up into 161 00:09:20,140 --> 00:09:21,890 heaven. That's where we're headed. 162 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:24,750 He sent Jesus, sent his messengers, went ahead, who went 163 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:27,210 into the Samaritan village. That's gonna become important in 164 00:09:27,220 --> 00:09:29,440 a minute to get things ready for him. 165 00:09:30,130 --> 00:09:34,980 But the people there did not welcome him because he was 166 00:09:34,990 --> 00:09:37,800 headed for Jerusalem. So a couple of things. 167 00:09:37,810 --> 00:09:39,200 This is literally what I want you to see. 168 00:09:39,210 --> 00:09:43,040 The time for me to take my heavy Jesus resolutely set out for 169 00:09:43,050 --> 00:09:49,120 Jerusalem. This literally means set his 170 00:09:49,550 --> 00:09:54,940 face. This is he turns his whole being 171 00:09:54,950 --> 00:09:59,480 toward this moment. Everything is moving him toward 172 00:09:59,530 --> 00:10:01,960 Jerusalem. All that he is, all that he is 173 00:10:01,970 --> 00:10:03,740 doing, all that he is trying to accomplish. 174 00:10:03,750 --> 00:10:07,370 It's he literally turns his face, points in that direction 175 00:10:07,380 --> 00:10:11,320 and says this is the direction we're going no matter what. 176 00:10:11,380 --> 00:10:16,230 So that's the idea. And in that moment, as Jesus 177 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:19,690 sets his face, declares like this is where we're going. 178 00:10:19,740 --> 00:10:24,410 The people in the Samaritan village reject him and they 179 00:10:24,420 --> 00:10:28,400 reject the disciples. They reject him for the 180 00:10:28,410 --> 00:10:32,370 direction that he's moving. Now, Samaritan and Jews as 181 00:10:32,380 --> 00:10:36,410 cultural groups, as people, as religions, they did not get 182 00:10:36,420 --> 00:10:38,070 along. And this might be recap for some 183 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:40,110 of you. It might be news to others, but 184 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:43,050 listen, like this isn't the Leafs and the Habs are like 185 00:10:43,060 --> 00:10:45,950 Leafs and Habs fans, OK? I was a Leafs fan. 186 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:47,930 I grew up in Montreal. Like this isn't this doesn't 187 00:10:47,940 --> 00:10:50,920 touch that. This isn't Apple versus Android. 188 00:10:50,930 --> 00:10:54,610 This isn't Pepsi versus Coke. Like this isn't even as simple 189 00:10:54,620 --> 00:10:58,370 as my neighbor put a fence on my side of the property so I cut it 190 00:10:58,380 --> 00:11:02,150 down and I took out his tree also just for good measure. 191 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:08,190 Like this is a deep seated historical, theological, social, 192 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:11,470 political divide division that's caused these two groups to 193 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:15,660 reject each other for generation after generation. 194 00:11:17,140 --> 00:11:21,170 And and not only do they just like reject one another and turn 195 00:11:21,180 --> 00:11:26,050 away, it's like they don't consider one another wholly or 196 00:11:26,060 --> 00:11:30,090 chosen by God. There's this sense of complete 197 00:11:30,100 --> 00:11:34,610 and utter you do not belong as a person of God. 198 00:11:34,660 --> 00:11:41,830 We overhear have the truth. So a little bit of history. 199 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:47,490 Both of these groups trace their lineage back to Abraham after 200 00:11:47,500 --> 00:11:50,790 the Assyrian conquest. So this invasion of the northern 201 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:55,750 Kingdom, this is 722 BCE, many of the Israelites in that region 202 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,040 were taken off into exile. And so people from surrounding 203 00:11:59,050 --> 00:12:01,690 nations, they moved in and they began to marry with the 204 00:12:01,700 --> 00:12:05,350 Israelites who remained. And that group of people is who 205 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:08,690 became the Samaritans. And so Jews from the southern 206 00:12:08,700 --> 00:12:12,850 Kingdom of Judah viewed Samaritans as compromised, like 207 00:12:12,900 --> 00:12:17,700 unclean, ritually unclean. They rejected their their 208 00:12:17,710 --> 00:12:22,130 legitimacy as true descendants of Israel, as people of God. 209 00:12:22,340 --> 00:12:25,510 And and by the time of Jesus, like by this moment, the 210 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:32,810 hostility is so hardened and so overt, like in your face disdain 211 00:12:32,820 --> 00:12:36,160 for one another that they just completely avoided, right. 212 00:12:36,230 --> 00:12:39,350 Jewish people did not travel into through the surrounding 213 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:42,940 Samaritan areas and cities. They refused contact. 214 00:12:43,030 --> 00:12:47,270 They rejected the Samaritans and the Samaritans. 215 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:52,940 They reciprocated the animosity. They rejected back toward the 216 00:12:52,950 --> 00:12:58,160 Israelites. One of the most telling turns in 217 00:12:58,170 --> 00:13:02,410 their history together is that the Israelites considered 218 00:13:02,460 --> 00:13:09,800 Jerusalem their place of worship and the Samaritans considered 219 00:13:09,810 --> 00:13:13,030 Mount Gerizim their place of worship. 220 00:13:14,460 --> 00:13:20,480 And so symbolized in that is this complete and utter divide 221 00:13:20,490 --> 00:13:24,390 rejection because Jesus is moving toward Jerusalem. 222 00:13:25,270 --> 00:13:29,260 He's rejected by this town of Samaritan people because he is 223 00:13:29,270 --> 00:13:32,390 not headed toward their place of worship. 224 00:13:33,350 --> 00:13:39,960 He's headed somewhere else. Jesus resolutely set out for 225 00:13:39,970 --> 00:13:43,560 Jerusalem, His face, his presence, his life, all of it 226 00:13:43,570 --> 00:13:47,470 pointing, moving toward that place, the place where he was 227 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:50,490 gonna be confronted by religious leaders, right? 228 00:13:50,500 --> 00:13:52,280 It's gonna be the location for his trial. 229 00:13:52,290 --> 00:13:53,800 It'll be where he is sentenced to death. 230 00:13:53,810 --> 00:13:56,700 It's where he'll die, just outside that city. 231 00:13:56,710 --> 00:14:00,620 Jesus's life and teaching, his mission, all of it culminates in 232 00:14:00,630 --> 00:14:03,020 that place. And because of where his life is 233 00:14:03,030 --> 00:14:06,210 pointed, he and his disciples are rejected. 234 00:14:08,370 --> 00:14:11,360 And now I gotta think like you. Picture the disciples in this 235 00:14:11,370 --> 00:14:14,400 moment. I'd say Jesus is standing right 236 00:14:14,410 --> 00:14:18,070 in front of them and you can almost understand the disciples 237 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:20,390 anger or at least their response. 238 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:23,470 Like, here's this guy we've been waiting for, here's the Messiah, 239 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:26,730 here's the Son of God, here is Jesus, and you're gonna reject 240 00:14:26,740 --> 00:14:29,590 him because he's going to Jerusalem and because you 241 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:33,930 worship somewhere else. Listen, I don't know about you, 242 00:14:33,940 --> 00:14:35,120 but I wonder about these questions. 243 00:14:35,130 --> 00:14:37,500 How many times do Christians argue and fight and reject one 244 00:14:37,510 --> 00:14:41,770 another over theological differences over places of 245 00:14:41,780 --> 00:14:46,050 worship or over ways of worship or ways of being and how we 246 00:14:46,060 --> 00:14:52,730 gather right? How often do we reject someone 247 00:14:52,740 --> 00:14:55,390 or how often do we miss something that is standing right 248 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:57,750 in front of us because we're so committed to being right? 249 00:14:59,710 --> 00:15:02,120 How often do we let opportunities for grace and 250 00:15:02,130 --> 00:15:05,340 forgiveness and healing and reconciliation just slip away 251 00:15:05,350 --> 00:15:07,800 because we're more concerned about our own vindication and 252 00:15:07,810 --> 00:15:11,080 our own righteousness than any type of movement toward 253 00:15:11,090 --> 00:15:14,650 community and toward embrace? And if you wonder about that 254 00:15:14,660 --> 00:15:20,140 question, I'll give you a hint. I think it's often the 255 00:15:20,150 --> 00:15:23,600 Samaritans themselves, like they themselves were rejected. 256 00:15:23,610 --> 00:15:28,130 That's part of their identity. And in their rejection they turn 257 00:15:28,140 --> 00:15:30,950 and they reject Jesus and his disciples and they push away. 258 00:15:32,110 --> 00:15:34,020 And it's like this never ending spiral. 259 00:15:34,030 --> 00:15:35,940 And I'm sure that you've experienced it in life and in 260 00:15:35,950 --> 00:15:38,960 relationship where like 1 rejection leads to another, like 261 00:15:38,970 --> 00:15:43,200 it's death begets death, it's rejection leads to more 262 00:15:43,210 --> 00:15:47,980 rejection and the divide grows. So what do we see? 263 00:15:47,990 --> 00:15:51,430 Like in this moment and their moment of rejection, the 264 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:54,950 disciples react very strongly. When the disciples Jim and John 265 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:59,470 saw this, they asked the Lord, Do you want us to call down fire 266 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:07,610 from heaven to destroy them? It's a strong reaction. 267 00:16:08,730 --> 00:16:11,040 I said, listen, if you know about the disciples a little 268 00:16:11,050 --> 00:16:13,960 bit, James and John are taking a page out of Peter's book. 269 00:16:14,010 --> 00:16:17,380 Peter, like who boldly, rashly, immediately responds to 270 00:16:17,390 --> 00:16:19,240 everything. That's how they respond in this 271 00:16:19,250 --> 00:16:21,540 moment. They respond loudly and 272 00:16:21,550 --> 00:16:23,580 immediately. They want to call down fire from 273 00:16:23,590 --> 00:16:25,990 heaven and it's not out of the blue. 274 00:16:27,020 --> 00:16:28,190 That's what we need to understand. 275 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:30,370 Like they don't come up with this out of thin air. 276 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:33,490 They don't just think, oht, hey, this sounds like a good idea. 277 00:16:33,540 --> 00:16:38,310 They're pulling stories from their history forward, trying to 278 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:42,230 understand how they should react and respond to their own 279 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:46,590 emotional state of rejection. They don't know how to respond. 280 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:48,970 They don't know what to do. And so they pull forward this 281 00:16:48,980 --> 00:16:52,960 story that's kind of probably lingering in there mind and in 282 00:16:52,970 --> 00:16:58,150 their community. It's the story of of Elijah and 283 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:00,690 the story of Elijah. If you wanna check it out, we're 284 00:17:00,700 --> 00:17:04,880 in like first Kings 18 is where we see this immediate story. 285 00:17:04,890 --> 00:17:09,490 I'm not gonna go through it all because it's it's long, but some 286 00:17:09,500 --> 00:17:11,170 of the basics. What's going on here? 287 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:14,050 So there's in this day, so Elijah's day, there's drought 288 00:17:14,060 --> 00:17:17,970 and there's famine and there's a king and there's a people who 289 00:17:17,980 --> 00:17:21,040 are split. Some are following God, the God 290 00:17:21,050 --> 00:17:23,960 of Israel, and some are following Bail, other gods, 291 00:17:23,970 --> 00:17:28,400 Ashura, like there are these movements away from the God of 292 00:17:28,410 --> 00:17:30,660 Israel. And Elijah confronts the people 293 00:17:30,670 --> 00:17:32,860 and, and again, this is like zipping through the story, but 294 00:17:32,870 --> 00:17:35,500 Elijah confronts the people and he says, hey, it's time to 295 00:17:35,510 --> 00:17:38,350 choose. He says, guys, like, listen, you 296 00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:40,770 got 1 foot in both camps. You're trying to do like, well, 297 00:17:40,780 --> 00:17:43,110 worship the God of Israel, but just kind of let us hedge our 298 00:17:43,120 --> 00:17:45,070 bets. Like we're gonna also have one 299 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:47,420 foot over here in this camp and we're gonna try to do, we're 300 00:17:47,430 --> 00:17:49,440 gonna try to play both sides. We're gonna worship God. 301 00:17:49,450 --> 00:17:53,010 We're gonna worship Bailey. You know, it's like, why can't 302 00:17:53,020 --> 00:17:55,470 we incorporate some of these other things? 303 00:17:55,980 --> 00:17:59,110 And, and he says, listen, like no more of this, no more 1 foot 304 00:17:59,120 --> 00:18:01,830 in, one foot out, no more worshipping multiple gods, 305 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:04,290 different gods. Let's set the record straight. 306 00:18:04,420 --> 00:18:06,750 And so he's like, listen, like I'm one prophet. 307 00:18:06,860 --> 00:18:11,090 We've got, we've got one of us. There's 450 profits for bail. 308 00:18:11,100 --> 00:18:15,530 So let's build 2 altars. Let's put some, some sacrifice 309 00:18:15,580 --> 00:18:19,750 on both those altars and let's pray and let's ask God to light 310 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:21,790 the fires. We're going to leave them unlit. 311 00:18:21,940 --> 00:18:25,290 Whichever God lights the fire, that's the true God and that's 312 00:18:25,300 --> 00:18:27,990 who will worship. And so they build their altars 313 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:30,830 and they put the meat on top of the altar and then they begin to 314 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:34,970 pray and yell and, and so nothing happens over here in 315 00:18:34,980 --> 00:18:37,050 with the prophets of bail, 450 of them. 316 00:18:37,060 --> 00:18:40,350 There's like 400 other profits for Ashura here as well and 317 00:18:40,360 --> 00:18:42,690 nothing happens. And so Elijah, what he says 318 00:18:42,700 --> 00:18:45,580 like, OK, I'm going to pray now, but before I do it, throw some 319 00:18:45,590 --> 00:18:48,030 water on my altar. Like let's just it's dry. 320 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:49,990 It's there's a drought. Like let's just make sure that 321 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:52,020 nobody misunderstands what happens here. 322 00:18:52,030 --> 00:18:53,980 And so let's put some water on top of it. 323 00:18:54,660 --> 00:18:57,130 And three times they do that, they're dumping like 4 pails of 324 00:18:57,140 --> 00:19:01,150 water jars on top of this altar. And then Elijah prays and God 325 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:04,750 delivers fire from heaven. Elijah calls down fire from 326 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:06,100 heaven. That's the imagery that I want 327 00:19:06,110 --> 00:19:10,050 you to see here. And God proves who he is, lights 328 00:19:10,060 --> 00:19:13,250 that altar on fire. So you think, OK, great. 329 00:19:13,260 --> 00:19:14,690 Like that's a, that's a good moment. 330 00:19:14,700 --> 00:19:17,010 That's a wonderful thing. Like God's showing up. 331 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:20,830 He's revealing who he is. Like this is, this is God 332 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:24,790 miraculously bringing fire down and lighting the altar and 333 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:29,750 proving that he is God. But that story ends with death. 334 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:35,550 It's a story that ends with the death of all of the prophets. 335 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:38,750 So at the very end of that story and go read it against its first 336 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:43,210 Kings 18, the 450, the prophets of bail are taken down to the 337 00:19:43,220 --> 00:19:47,230 river and executed because of the influence that they had on 338 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:48,960 the people to lead them away from God. 339 00:19:51,350 --> 00:19:56,290 And so in this moment where the disciples are are, you know, 340 00:19:56,300 --> 00:19:58,690 asking Jesus, hey, do you want us to call down fire from 341 00:19:58,700 --> 00:20:00,530 heaven? Like it's it's not this 342 00:20:00,580 --> 00:20:02,820 symbolic. Hey, would you want us to prove 343 00:20:02,830 --> 00:20:05,670 who God is for you? Like they're calling back a 344 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:10,880 story that ends with death. It's almost as if they're in 345 00:20:10,890 --> 00:20:13,570 this moment, rejected, and they turn to Jesus and they're like, 346 00:20:13,580 --> 00:20:16,760 hey, like, should we destroy them too? 347 00:20:16,770 --> 00:20:21,000 Like, do you want us to kill these guys just like Elijah did 348 00:20:21,010 --> 00:20:25,280 with those guys? It's not a pleasant moment for 349 00:20:25,290 --> 00:20:30,660 the disciples. They have other stories in 350 00:20:30,670 --> 00:20:33,440 Scripture. This is one of the things that I 351 00:20:33,450 --> 00:20:38,110 wonder and will wonder forever, like they've got other stories 352 00:20:38,120 --> 00:20:40,890 that they could pull from. There are other moments in 353 00:20:40,900 --> 00:20:43,280 Israel's history. I think of Abraham, who, you 354 00:20:43,290 --> 00:20:47,150 know, pleads with God. God's gonna kill or destroy 355 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:49,470 Sodom and Gomorrah. And Abraham pleads with God. 356 00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:52,130 He's like, hey, listen, if we find 40 righteous people, please 357 00:20:52,140 --> 00:20:53,890 just relent. And OK, how about 30? 358 00:20:53,900 --> 00:20:54,970 How about 20? How about 10? 359 00:20:54,980 --> 00:20:58,750 Like how you know how few people can we, if we can prove to you 360 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:01,510 that there's like even just one righteous person, like, will you 361 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:03,920 relent? Please just don't destroy them. 362 00:21:03,930 --> 00:21:08,250 Here's this this man pleading with God on behalf of a people 363 00:21:08,340 --> 00:21:12,820 for God not to destroy them. And yet the disciples in this 364 00:21:12,830 --> 00:21:15,840 moment, like in their rejection, they're not all let's let's pull 365 00:21:15,850 --> 00:21:22,040 that story forward and and plead with God and and beg for God to 366 00:21:22,050 --> 00:21:26,120 not destroy them. They turn and they wonder to 367 00:21:26,130 --> 00:21:29,230 Jesus, Hey, like, is now the time where you want us to kill 368 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:33,140 these guys? Fred Craddock has this great 369 00:21:33,150 --> 00:21:36,630 line and I think it's worth even having up, he says. 370 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:40,090 Is it not interesting how the mind can grasp and hold those 371 00:21:40,100 --> 00:21:45,340 scripture which seem to bless our worst behavior and yet 372 00:21:45,350 --> 00:21:49,440 cannot retain past the sanctuary door, those texts which summon 373 00:21:49,450 --> 00:21:55,160 to love, forgiveness and mercy? It's like, hey, there's just 374 00:21:55,170 --> 00:22:00,470 something inside of the human mind that in moments where we 375 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:04,890 need, we pull back these scriptures that bless the worst 376 00:22:04,900 --> 00:22:07,450 thing that we could possibly do. You're like, I really wanna do 377 00:22:07,460 --> 00:22:10,090 this one thing. I'm gonna try to find a way to 378 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:12,270 justify it. And he's like, man, wouldn't it 379 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:17,780 be better if we could remember as we go, the passages which 380 00:22:17,790 --> 00:22:20,240 summon, which call, which challenge us to love and 381 00:22:20,250 --> 00:22:22,160 forgiveness and mercy? Listen, I get it. 382 00:22:22,170 --> 00:22:24,660 Like the disciples are rejected, they feel rejected. 383 00:22:24,670 --> 00:22:28,300 I think worse still, they actually rise in this rejection, 384 00:22:28,390 --> 00:22:32,480 in this moment of it, and they rise in defence of Jesus, who 385 00:22:32,490 --> 00:22:36,480 they perceive as being rejected. And I think they're probably 386 00:22:36,490 --> 00:22:39,660 angry and I think they're probably hurt. 387 00:22:41,570 --> 00:22:44,750 And and yet in their anger and in their hurt, they asked Jesus 388 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:47,760 if he wants them to call down fire from heaven. 389 00:22:47,970 --> 00:22:53,110 I'm guessing that you, and I'm not gonna ask for examples, have 390 00:22:53,180 --> 00:22:57,850 wanted or thought about calling down fire from heaven once or 391 00:22:57,860 --> 00:23:01,680 twice. I'm guessing in your own 392 00:23:01,690 --> 00:23:05,060 rejection that you've experienced, you found yourself 393 00:23:05,070 --> 00:23:10,300 so hurt and so angry and wanting to just find any possible way to 394 00:23:10,310 --> 00:23:13,080 get back at that person and say, I wish you could feel what I 395 00:23:13,090 --> 00:23:17,010 feel. We can respond with anger. 396 00:23:17,970 --> 00:23:20,200 We can respond with defensiveness. 397 00:23:22,090 --> 00:23:25,660 We can turn and reject further. You're like, you're not gonna 398 00:23:25,670 --> 00:23:27,450 break up with me first. I'm gonna break up with you. 399 00:23:27,460 --> 00:23:30,760 I'm gonna jump the gun. But what are some other ways 400 00:23:30,770 --> 00:23:33,730 that we know, right? We're prone to anger. 401 00:23:33,740 --> 00:23:35,890 We're prone to defensiveness, lashing out verbally, 402 00:23:35,900 --> 00:23:37,810 emotionally. We want to cover the pain of 403 00:23:37,820 --> 00:23:40,190 rejection. And so we just rise up and like 404 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:42,770 rage because I'd rather feel angry than I would feel 405 00:23:42,780 --> 00:23:50,160 vulnerable and hurt. We tend to withdraw, pull away 406 00:23:50,170 --> 00:23:51,780 from others. You're gonna say, well, OK, I've 407 00:23:51,790 --> 00:23:54,240 experienced that one hurt. I'm gonna withdraw because I'm 408 00:23:54,250 --> 00:23:57,600 now gonna live my life in a way that protects myself from ever 409 00:23:57,610 --> 00:24:00,680 being hurt again. And so you approach every 410 00:24:00,690 --> 00:24:02,490 relationship with, like, your foot up. 411 00:24:02,500 --> 00:24:05,190 You're like, I'm just, I'm ready to kick and launch and go. 412 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:07,760 But it pushes us into withdrawal, into isolation. 413 00:24:08,930 --> 00:24:12,360 We can turn to self criticism. We can internalize rejection and 414 00:24:12,370 --> 00:24:15,220 and start to believe some of the lies like I'm not good enough, I 415 00:24:15,230 --> 00:24:19,150 must not be worthy of these things. 416 00:24:21,500 --> 00:24:24,640 We can look to seek for approval elsewhere. 417 00:24:25,930 --> 00:24:28,080 Alright, we can double down. We're like, well, if you reject 418 00:24:28,090 --> 00:24:34,640 me once, I'm going to try extra hard to win your whatever it is 419 00:24:35,670 --> 00:24:38,340 like I'm just gonna double down. I'm gonna win validation from 420 00:24:38,350 --> 00:24:40,560 you. I am gonna do whatever I can to 421 00:24:40,570 --> 00:24:42,540 convince you to change your mind. 422 00:24:43,260 --> 00:24:48,180 And so we become what we think other people want, and we change 423 00:24:48,190 --> 00:24:52,040 who we are and who you've been created to be, to meet what you 424 00:24:52,050 --> 00:24:54,590 perceive are other people's expectations of who you are. 425 00:24:57,010 --> 00:24:59,920 I think one of the worst things we can do is maybe you've tried 426 00:24:59,930 --> 00:25:02,750 all of those, and then you just go, hey, man, I'm just numb. 427 00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:08,010 And so then we go down even further toward distracting 428 00:25:08,020 --> 00:25:14,280 ourselves and numbing the pain of it, and go. 429 00:25:14,290 --> 00:25:17,430 I'm just not gonna feel. I'm not gonna feel the pain. 430 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:18,950 I'm not gonna deal with it. I'm not gonna face it. 431 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:21,430 I'm just gonna avoid it. I'm gonna live like it just is. 432 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:24,690 Not even here. And so I think one of the things 433 00:25:24,700 --> 00:25:27,420 that I want to say to you this morning is this resist the urge 434 00:25:27,430 --> 00:25:32,210 to call down fire from heaven. And what I mean by that is not 435 00:25:32,220 --> 00:25:34,580 just like don't just resist the urge to call down fire from 436 00:25:34,590 --> 00:25:38,700 heaven on somebody else, but resist the urge to call down far 437 00:25:38,710 --> 00:25:43,000 from heaven on yourself. Like resist the urge that you 438 00:25:43,010 --> 00:25:45,800 have to run in all of these different directions when you 439 00:25:45,850 --> 00:25:50,930 face rejection. I love how Jesus turns. 440 00:25:50,980 --> 00:25:55,130 Here's the hope of the gospel. But Jesus turned and rebuked 441 00:25:55,140 --> 00:25:58,720 them. Then he and his disciples went 442 00:25:58,770 --> 00:26:00,960 to another village. We're gonna get to this in a 443 00:26:00,970 --> 00:26:02,320 minute. Went to another village. 444 00:26:02,490 --> 00:26:05,780 But Jesus turned and rejected that. 445 00:26:05,790 --> 00:26:07,700 Stifles are ready. They're like, Jesus will do it. 446 00:26:07,710 --> 00:26:09,420 You just say the word. We're going to bring down the 447 00:26:09,430 --> 00:26:10,610 fire. We're going to destroy this 448 00:26:10,620 --> 00:26:12,100 town. And I wonder if in the back of 449 00:26:12,110 --> 00:26:14,270 Jesus's mind he's like, yeah, right, You're not. 450 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:17,630 So if like, if you haven't followed the story, like just a 451 00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:21,310 few verses ago, they couldn't heal a kid and Jesus had to step 452 00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:22,530 in there, like you couldn't heal the kid. 453 00:26:22,540 --> 00:26:24,890 What makes you think you can call down fire from heaven now? 454 00:26:24,940 --> 00:26:27,550 But that's not in the text. So you can't go too far down 455 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:34,050 that road. What is there is, again, I 456 00:26:34,060 --> 00:26:39,640 think, some of, if not the two most powerful words that we find 457 00:26:39,650 --> 00:26:44,390 in the entirety of Scripture. But Jesus. 458 00:26:46,510 --> 00:26:51,060 Jesus is the one who steps in and intervenes in between the 459 00:26:51,070 --> 00:26:53,820 disciples and the Samaritan village. 460 00:26:53,890 --> 00:26:58,200 The disciples who want to call down fire and destroy these 461 00:26:58,210 --> 00:27:01,460 people. But Jesus steps in between them 462 00:27:02,630 --> 00:27:06,500 and doesn't rebuke the Samaritans for rejecting him. 463 00:27:06,570 --> 00:27:11,640 He rebukes the disciples for wanting to rage and violently 464 00:27:11,710 --> 00:27:17,480 show who this Jesus is. It's Jesus who steps in and 465 00:27:17,490 --> 00:27:23,200 stops them from destroying or potentially destroying this town 466 00:27:23,530 --> 00:27:26,790 and these people. Jesus doesn't turn and curse the 467 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:28,590 Samaritans. He doesn't encourage the 468 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:32,010 disciples to destroy the city. He turns and he rebukes the 469 00:27:32,020 --> 00:27:35,840 disciples. He chastises them, not the 470 00:27:35,850 --> 00:27:38,600 Samaritans, for their lack of faith or understanding. 471 00:27:38,670 --> 00:27:41,240 Doesn't turn say like how could you like I'm here? 472 00:27:41,250 --> 00:27:44,270 Like how could you not see who I am and receive me? 473 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:46,600 Like do you not know who I am? Like Jesus has none of that 474 00:27:46,610 --> 00:27:51,540 inside of him. He doesn't rebuke the Samaritan 475 00:27:51,550 --> 00:27:54,680 for having bad or different or wrong theology or worshipping on 476 00:27:54,690 --> 00:27:57,970 the wrong mountain. Like he confronts his own 477 00:27:57,980 --> 00:28:02,440 disciples and he rebukes them and then he moves on. 478 00:28:04,770 --> 00:28:07,380 When Jesus sends out his disciples, when he commissions 479 00:28:07,390 --> 00:28:10,100 them at the beginning of Luke 9, this is Luke 9, like one to six. 480 00:28:10,450 --> 00:28:13,260 He says to the disciples at that point he's like, hey, take 481 00:28:13,270 --> 00:28:15,320 nothing for the journey. You're gonna rely on the 482 00:28:15,330 --> 00:28:17,040 goodness of people, their hospitality. 483 00:28:17,050 --> 00:28:20,000 So it's like no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra 484 00:28:20,010 --> 00:28:21,620 shirt. Like just take what you got on. 485 00:28:21,630 --> 00:28:23,660 Go. Whatever house you enter, stay 486 00:28:23,670 --> 00:28:27,180 there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, 487 00:28:27,190 --> 00:28:30,260 leave their town and shake off the dust from your feet as a 488 00:28:30,270 --> 00:28:33,380 testimony against them. But he says, listen, move on, 489 00:28:34,360 --> 00:28:37,950 just go. And I think what he's doing in 490 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:40,870 this moment is that Jesus is demonstrating the kind of 491 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:44,570 leadership and the kind of life and the kind of way of being 492 00:28:44,580 --> 00:28:46,550 that he expects from his followers. 493 00:28:46,740 --> 00:28:50,250 He doesn't stay where he's not wanted or welcomed. 494 00:28:50,260 --> 00:28:52,180 He doesn't stay here. Let me try to convince you. 495 00:28:52,190 --> 00:28:54,530 Let me argue. Let me throw all of these things 496 00:28:54,540 --> 00:28:56,210 in front of you. Let me try to convince you that 497 00:28:56,220 --> 00:28:59,100 I am who I say I am and why you are wrong for worship. 498 00:28:59,110 --> 00:29:01,360 Like he doesn't enter into that mess. 499 00:29:02,890 --> 00:29:08,620 He simply turns and goes. He went on to another village. 500 00:29:09,950 --> 00:29:11,760 He doesn't curse, he doesn't call down fire from heaven, 501 00:29:11,770 --> 00:29:15,500 doesn't destroy them. He simply moves on to shake the 502 00:29:15,510 --> 00:29:18,590 dust off your feet. You kind of picture like dust. 503 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:22,530 You've been traveling for a long time, not on concrete, but on 504 00:29:22,540 --> 00:29:25,440 dusty, dirty roads and it just gets everywhere. 505 00:29:25,450 --> 00:29:28,990 Kind of comes up all like your your your legs all through your 506 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:35,380 feet certificate. Shake it off and then walk to 507 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:39,180 literally shake the dust off your feet. 508 00:29:39,590 --> 00:29:45,710 Is this symbolic move of cleansing you like cleansing 509 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:49,760 yourself from the unclean things of that place? 510 00:29:50,780 --> 00:29:54,470 What what it says is you don't have any impact on me. 511 00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:58,170 What it says is I don't carry the things from over here with 512 00:29:58,180 --> 00:30:03,460 me as I go and as I move, I don't carry the the things of of 513 00:30:03,470 --> 00:30:06,490 that place, not even the dust on my feet with me. 514 00:30:06,500 --> 00:30:10,250 I move on. Jesus moves on, and here's where 515 00:30:10,260 --> 00:30:12,730 the story of Jesus is different than any other story written. 516 00:30:15,510 --> 00:30:19,250 It's not even the end. This isn't the end of the road 517 00:30:19,820 --> 00:30:22,490 for Samaria. It's it's not even the end of 518 00:30:22,500 --> 00:30:24,280 the story for the people of this town. 519 00:30:24,290 --> 00:30:27,180 Like sure, Jesus and the disciples, they don't stay, they 520 00:30:27,190 --> 00:30:29,640 don't lean in, they just move on to another village. 521 00:30:29,650 --> 00:30:32,130 But the gospel will still reach some area. 522 00:30:32,140 --> 00:30:35,080 This is what Jesus declares at the beginning of Acts. 523 00:30:35,230 --> 00:30:40,010 The gospel will still go out and reach these people, the people 524 00:30:40,020 --> 00:30:41,610 of Samaria. They're not forgotten. 525 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:45,040 They're not abandoned. Jesus doesn't leave them to 526 00:30:45,050 --> 00:30:47,230 their own brokenness and say good riddance. 527 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:49,410 Never again. Don't have to worry about you, 528 00:30:49,420 --> 00:30:52,800 deal with you like he doesn't abandon them to their own sin. 529 00:30:54,350 --> 00:30:59,360 What he knows is that his way, the road toward Jerusalem, with 530 00:30:59,370 --> 00:31:02,340 his death, with his resurrection, with all that will 531 00:31:02,350 --> 00:31:06,380 happen, is the only way for salvation to be made possible, 532 00:31:06,550 --> 00:31:12,310 even especially for these people who have just now rejected Him. 533 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:16,450 So here's the thing. If the disciples did manage to 534 00:31:16,460 --> 00:31:20,450 call down fire from heaven, if they could, if they did somehow 535 00:31:20,460 --> 00:31:24,350 manage to do it like that would have led to that cities 536 00:31:24,460 --> 00:31:29,290 destruction, It would have led to those people's deaths in 537 00:31:29,300 --> 00:31:31,470 Elijah's encounter with the prophets of Bail and the 538 00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:34,090 prophets of Astra. Like God's power is revealed, 539 00:31:34,100 --> 00:31:38,430 yes, and the brokenness of humanity, the brokenness of the 540 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:41,880 prophets, is on full display. But it's their brokenness that 541 00:31:41,890 --> 00:31:46,020 leads toward death. That story ends in death. 542 00:31:46,140 --> 00:31:49,890 Abraham pleads with God for Sodom and Gomorrah, and Sodom 543 00:31:49,900 --> 00:31:51,450 and Gomorrah are still destroyed. 544 00:31:51,460 --> 00:31:56,760 Sin leads to death and sin leads to destruction. 545 00:31:56,770 --> 00:32:05,200 Death begets death, but Jesus turned and rebuked them with 546 00:32:05,210 --> 00:32:11,120 that one line. He says sin and death will not 547 00:32:11,130 --> 00:32:13,820 be how the story ends for these people. 548 00:32:15,530 --> 00:32:20,120 With that one moment, with that one turn, he says. 549 00:32:20,130 --> 00:32:24,560 Your story will not lead toward your death. 550 00:32:26,950 --> 00:32:31,450 It won't be how the Disciples story ends, and it doesn't have 551 00:32:31,460 --> 00:32:33,420 to be how your story ends either. 552 00:32:36,130 --> 00:32:38,540 Why does it matter that Jesus resolutely set out for 553 00:32:38,550 --> 00:32:40,180 Jerusalem? Like why does he matter that he 554 00:32:40,190 --> 00:32:46,410 set his face toward Jerusalem? Because it's there on the cross 555 00:32:46,420 --> 00:32:52,420 where Jesus will flip the story of rejection on its head, where 556 00:32:52,430 --> 00:32:56,900 he will flip the story of sin and death on its head, where he 557 00:32:56,910 --> 00:33:00,510 will use his own rejection and his own death to bring life 558 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:04,000 where there would have previously been only an 559 00:33:04,010 --> 00:33:09,370 absolutely death. After his resurrection, Jesus is 560 00:33:09,380 --> 00:33:11,890 gonna gather his disciples in again, his close friends. 561 00:33:11,900 --> 00:33:14,010 He's gonna say, hey, come in like I got some last words to 562 00:33:14,020 --> 00:33:18,050 say to you. And what he says is, you will 563 00:33:18,060 --> 00:33:21,160 be. My witnesses hear this in 564 00:33:21,170 --> 00:33:28,350 Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and to the ends of the earth. 565 00:33:30,260 --> 00:33:33,090 It's like now, because of my death and my resurrection, he 566 00:33:33,100 --> 00:33:37,450 said. Hey, this thing can explode far 567 00:33:37,460 --> 00:33:40,640 beyond what you ever thought would be impacted, Far beyond 568 00:33:40,650 --> 00:33:43,690 the regions where you were from, far beyond your own little 569 00:33:43,780 --> 00:33:47,750 corner of the world, ultimately to the ends of the Earth. 570 00:33:49,260 --> 00:33:51,190 Here's the thing. Rejection feels like the end of 571 00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:54,850 the story. And so often in life, it looks 572 00:33:54,860 --> 00:33:58,350 like the end of the story. And it could have been the end 573 00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:00,510 of the story for this Samaritan town. 574 00:34:01,570 --> 00:34:04,760 It could have been the end for the disciples, and it may feel 575 00:34:04,770 --> 00:34:06,200 like it's the end for you as well. 576 00:34:07,730 --> 00:34:14,330 But Jesus turns and and invites you into a different story with 577 00:34:14,340 --> 00:34:18,540 a better ending. And it's a story of love and of 578 00:34:18,550 --> 00:34:20,719 grace. It's one where Jesus's own 579 00:34:20,730 --> 00:34:24,480 rejection determines and defines what life can look like and what 580 00:34:24,489 --> 00:34:28,600 life should look like. And it's one that pushes against 581 00:34:28,610 --> 00:34:32,380 shame and isolation and loneliness and rejection. 582 00:34:32,389 --> 00:34:36,389 And it's one where you are embraced, and it's one where you 583 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:39,960 find community, and it's one where you find hope and healing. 584 00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:44,389 And it's one where we believe you find life to its fullest 585 00:34:44,780 --> 00:34:49,469 measure. That's Jesus invitation. 586 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:54,739 Let me pray, Yeah. Thanks for your love and for 587 00:34:54,750 --> 00:34:58,240 your grace, and thanks for your presence with us. 588 00:34:58,250 --> 00:35:01,860 Yeah, we, we long to know it. We need created, we believe 589 00:35:01,870 --> 00:35:04,880 created to know your presence, Your goodness, your love, your 590 00:35:04,890 --> 00:35:09,220 grace in our lives. And so we got. 591 00:35:09,230 --> 00:35:20,400 I pray that we would in a strong and bold and very obvious way 592 00:35:20,410 --> 00:35:25,090 today, know your presence in our lives and God, whether that 593 00:35:25,100 --> 00:35:28,230 presence is to remind us that rejection isn't the end of the 594 00:35:28,240 --> 00:35:32,350 story for us, that there is embrace that there is life and 595 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:35,470 love and community and hope and wholeness and healing, all of 596 00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:37,830 it. God, I, I pray, if that's what 597 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:41,250 we need to hear, would you speak those words and got it. 598 00:35:41,260 --> 00:35:43,490 What we need to hear is a little bit of this rebuke. 599 00:35:45,110 --> 00:35:48,740 I pray that what we need to hear is to resist and fight and hand 600 00:35:48,750 --> 00:35:53,630 over and lay at the cross our need to call down fire from 601 00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:54,940 heaven. Would you do that as well? 602 00:35:57,260 --> 00:36:00,180 So yeah, we love you. We believe that you've got good 603 00:36:00,190 --> 00:36:04,860 things for each one of us, and so would you speak the words 604 00:36:04,870 --> 00:36:08,770 that we each need to hear in Jesus name, Amen.