So a fun fact about the maji the very first solo I ever sang in
church. I was nine years old and it was,
it was about, it was a little song about the magi.
We things. What's that?
We? No, no, no, it's not.
No, it was some like random like little Christmas production we
did. And I can still hear.
I did like singing to my little falsetto voice.
I'm not going to sing it right now.
Maybe I'll sing it for you after, OK?
OK, Hey friend, welcome to another episode of the Sunday
Sit down and we are happy to have you joining us wherever
that may be. Happy almost Christmas, Merry
almost Christmas. We're we're most of the way
there. I mean, I've even got my
Christmas tree sweater on today. You do.
So absolutely, those who are just listening, you're missing
out. You are listen, we know that
many of you are already starting into your plans and into your
travels and are maybe joining us from a whole variety of places.
Welcome. Glad to have you.
We are jumping into a conversation around the story
from Matthew 21 to 18 ish one to yeah.
And it's the story of the Magi and their visit to Jesus.
We're not going to get into there are a lot of technical
questions about this story, like when did it happen?
Did it happen with so when you know a lot of different things
like that. And I don't think we're gonna
get into all of those questions, but I wanted to start just with
one thing that didn't make it into the sermon explicitly.
Tell me more. So the one thing that didn't
make it into the sermon about these magi who visited Jesus is
not the fact that, you know, maybe they visited him right
after he was born. Probably he was actually maybe a
couple years old. We're not sure.
Definitely took months for them to get there, which, you know,
we might get into. But the one thing that that
didn't make it into my sermon explicitly that I think is worth
mentioning is that Matthew is doing something really specific
with this story. And what he's doing, and I kind
of alluded to it, is he is declaring Jesus from the very
beginning to be king, not only of the Jews, like they were
anticipating Messiah, not just to them, Savior not just to
them, but Savior for the whole world.
So to the entire world. And that's the IT I think we can
lose 1 of the things that I was I even just in my own reading
and research and thinking and praying through the message is
like, I've heard this story. I don't know how many hundreds
of times, if not more. And I have always thought about
these magi just as wise men, maybe kings who came to visit
Jesus, maybe from a different nation, probably if they're
kings, if they're magi, likely right.
Like they just they've kind of taken on this character.
Hmm. But I I didn't think until much
more recently, like in these last few years, about the fact
that their arrival as Magi, as priests on behalf of very likely
the king of Persia is very shocking.
Like, we read it and it's kind of cozy, comforting.
Like. Nice.
They bring gifts. Cool.
Great. That sounds like Christmas.
Yeah. Awesome.
But what they're doing is priests whose role it was to
make famous the king of Persia is making or are them together
are making famous Jesus as true king of king and Lord of Lords
for the entire world. So it it is like this radical
explosion of what Jesus life and ministry and Kingdom and death
and resurrection and then sending of the church presence
coming of the Holy Spirit would all fulfill, which is the line
in in Acts. You will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
Matthews declaring the ends of the earth from the very
beginning of his story by bringing these guys in from way
out of town. It's interesting as you, as you
spell that out like that not only are they from another
nation, but like likely they, they, I mean, they can't imagine
they would have been, you know, like Jews from the Diaspora.
Like no, like they're following another religious system of some
sort, most likely like that. That strikes me as like super
curious Like. Yeah, yeah.
So they're very likely Persian Zoroastrians.
Zoroastrians, yeah is yeah would be their, their like hometown
religion. And they as priests would would
be like devout followers and devoutly, you know, allied to
the king, like their allegiance would have been to the king of
Persia. And I, I like I said, like not
exactly sure what their motivation was to come.
Like, maybe they're curious. But to to travel that far, to
bring these gifts to a king who was born when there is a king
already in, you know, in the land, is like a radical thing.
In that particularly feels because of what we see happening
with Herod, which I think you touched on a bit, Lindsey will
touch on it for this week. But like just the fact that
there's a contrast there of these kind of emissaries of a
king that are seeking versus this king of from, you know,
within the local land. That's just having a meltdown
about what's happening here, right?
It's the the contrast is very is very fascinating.
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And like, here's Herod, who
represents all the worst things of humanity.
And like, let's not pretend that we don't, you know, also at
times live. They're the same like Herod
reactions to threats and things like that.
We can be insecure and feel threatened and react and respond
accordingly. But he does like he represents
so much of the worst of the human reaction to those to those
emotions. And I mean, the dude is a prop
king. Like he, you know, he doesn't
have any authority in and of himself all.
His he made him feel, I kind of, you know, self-conscious to
begin with, right? You kind of feel like I'm, I'm
just, I'm just here, you know, doing my thing and, and, and I
don't have any real power. Right, Yeah, yeah.
So, you know, you can you can get into the mind of hard a
little bit, but represents significant opposition to in a
sense to the magi, more so to to Jesus and what Jesus is doing.
And again, we're gonna see much more of that this coming week.
Yeah, but let's jump into a conversation around a large
topic that we won't have time to cover all of.
We're going to. Yeah, not a chance.
We are going to dissolve about discernment.
We're going to solve discernment.
Yeah. So that's.
So that's the idea. So I talked through I talked
through these three points on Sunday, which was let's see if I
can remember them off the right, off the cuff.
But no, no sermon notes or manuscript in front of me if
you're listening. So number one, that when you
allow God into your story and when you finally begin to do the
thing that we've been encouraging you to do, which is
listen to what God is saying and begin to obey the things that
you believe he's calling you to do and that others would speak
in a firm into your life. Going to come back to those
ideas. A couple things are gonna
happen. One, there's going to be change.
Like, you're not going to remain the same.
Following Jesus doesn't mean staying where you are.
And you can't follow Jesus while remaining exactly where you are.
And that's true for all of us. And no matter where we are, no
matter how long we've been following Jesus, the goal is not
to stay the same as today. And so that's why Scripture
writers talk about being made every day more and more into the
likeness of Jesus, like into who he is and who he's designed you
to be. So #1 there's going to be
change. Change is hard.
None of us enjoy change, love it when it comes to our own change.
So #1 #2 there's gonna be opposition and people will see
what's happening in your life and like there will be push back
against it. And at times that opposition
comes from inside ourselves, probably more so than we'd like
to admit, that the opposition is actually internal and we don't
like the change that we feel God is calling us to make, or the
level of accountability or vulnerability, transparency,
etcetera. And so we're like, well, that
sounds too hard and not comfortable in any way, shape or
form internal opposition, but that on the other side of those
things, on the other side of change and on the other side of
opposition, not even say like as you are working them through.
What we see in the Magi stories is that they discover joy, this
deep joy. They rejoice.
They are actively participating in joy.
That's the the language because they get to witness Jesus in his
birth in his early years as a young child born to Mary and
Joseph's soon to be Messiah and step into all of all of the the
things that that he does through his life and his ministry.
So change opposition and joy. But I could imagine people out
there thinking, how do I, how do I know like that kind of
question. Yeah.
And and so when I look, when I look at the Magi, you know, like
it starts with them seeing a potential sign, right?
You know, they, they see these these stars and and they're
like, hey, like there's something interesting happening.
Now, again, I'm not, you know, not into astrology.
I always get those two mixed up. Astrology.
That's the right one, right? Like, although, you know, it is
very fascinating that that the, the fixation on some of this
kind of stuff. But but I think that they, they
see something different. They see something going on that
are like, OK, we need to check this out.
Like, so there's, there's a moment that kind of has provoked
curiosity for them that they don't just stay still.
They literally go what you said like 12 to 1600 kilometers or
something like that, like just like months long journey.
So they they see this. So I think, yeah, like when we
starting there, they they see the sign and then they got to
figure out what do we do with that?
Like there's something there to even just talk about.
Like our lives of us noticing something, you know, we're like,
OK, I'm getting the sense of of, you know, maybe it's someone
keeps telling me something or maybe maybe I'm getting a sense
from God, but I'm uncertain about it.
Or, or maybe this one thing keeps happening to me over and
over again. And like, you can border into
like superstition if you're not careful, you can border and see
like just sort of going with whatever, you know?
Like it's kind of like when you when you're like looking at a
car and you and you're like, I'm gonna buy that car.
And then you start seeing that car everywhere, right?
It's kind of the confirmation bias, right?
Yeah. And so you don't want that.
But at the same time, when you start noticing something, what
do you do with it, you know? So, yeah, and it's interesting
that for the Magi. So if, if they are like again,
we don't know a ton about the Magi, but I think I said on
Sunday, yeah, from what we do know is they they were Persian
clergy, like priests. And specifically they were one,
they were astrologers. They were ones who read the
stars and looked for signs, which is explicitly forbidden in
the Old Testament. Yeah, right.
So it is interesting. And I think worth naming that
like so practical, the practical like next step for you is not to
go and start looking at the stars and getting fascinated
with like astrology and signs and etcetera.
Like don't go buy a newspaper and look at whatever is.
Out here, what's right? What's your sign, baby?
That's not it. That's not it.
So it's it's fascinating to me that what draws them in is
something that is explicitly forbidden in the Old Testament
law. So that's number one.
I just find it interesting. What I find theological about
that is that the birth of Jesus into the world altered the world
like the, the the universe, the cause, right?
And So what what John does at the beginning of his gospel is
pick up that thread. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
And he says nothing that has come into being, basically
nothing that is that exists came into being without without the
Word, without Jesus. Jesus was with God in the
beginning. Through him the universe spun
into creation. So the birth of Jesus then into
that universe alters the universe in a way that people
who were not even looking for it saw because they were busy
looking at other things and other signs and other, you know,
figuring other things out. Yeah.
So it it Jesus birth kind of exploded into the world in a way
that altered the very world he created.
And so that I think is just, I think there's, it's
theologically interesting to me that there is a power in Jesus
already in his in his birth as he arrives into the world,
things are shifting and changing because of his presence and
people are noticing it. So let's talk about that for a
little bit because I think the, the magi notice the thing that
has changed. They notice that something is
different, and maybe we've got people who are starting to
notice things as well. What are some really practical
things for you to do in the midst of that?
Yeah, one I think very quickly. Prey and read scripture so you
know, I I think that if something is drawing you closer
to God, or at least so here's what I see in the magi to pursue
God then felt like follow that through.
I think lean into that. So if it is drawing you toward a
posture of prayer and toward Scripture in a way that like I
had to read and kind of see if what I'm sensing and noticing
aligns with Scripture, aligns with the story that that God has
been writing. And I need to pray and actually
start searching myself and God and allowing God to speak and
get quiet and, and do those, I think very quickly two things
that you should be doing. Yeah.
And then notice, all right, is the thing that I'm seeing or
feeling or sensing, is it, is it pulling me toward God or is it
making me flee or kind of run from God?
Like, do I want to bring this? So, you know, let's use
something fairly innocuous. Career path.
Yeah, OK. Like, what do you, what do you
want to do with your life? Right.
Maybe you're at a position where you have to make a decision.
And on the one hand, you've been thinking, well, really, since
that God is calling me to do this thing, right?
And. You want to name any
professions? Not professional.
And then on the other hand, you're like, but I really want
to do this thing, OK. And if if wanting to do this
thing, you're like, well, I'm not gonna pray about that
because I know what God's gonna say.
Cause you're probably dealing with something that, you know,
like maybe 1 is borders on, you know, it's gonna make you a lot
of money, but maybe it borders on some ethical conundrums.
Sure, maybe it's, maybe it's something that is, you know,
going to be more beneficial for society versus not.
But I think sometimes, like there could just be two
decisions and you're like, both of them viable, both of them
good options, both of them equally, whatever.
And and then so like, what do we do with with the pull toward one
versus the sensing that God might be calling us to?
And now they're like, that's where it feels a bit messier to
me. Ever like when they're both
like, these are both good calls. You know, I think, I think watch
for what you're willing to like submit to God and what you're
willing to bring to God and what draws you closer to God and what
you're trying to like, keep to yourself and trying to like,
well, like I'm like I said, like I'm not going to pray about this
or I'm not going to think about it too much because I want to do
it. And I know, like I just know if
I come to a place where I'm actually in prayer and thinking
and reading and surrendering it, I know like, yeah, yeah, OK.
Like that's, that's not going to be the thing.
And I'm going to sense, you know, God is calling me away
from it. So I think just pay attention.
I mean, with decisions that you have to make in general in life,
it changes that that may come things that you're trying to
pursue, people, relationships you're trying to pursue, like
what are you, what, how do they impact or what is your relation
to God in them? So, you know, are you willing to
surrender them to God in a sense of saying, OK, God, like what,
what what's your desire and design in this for me or not?
I think the things that you're trying to kind of hide back and
hold, like that's a good indicator of whether it is
something to pursue or not. Whether it's something that is
maybe a direction that God is leading you in or a direction
that is more based on your own want or desire or wishes, right?
So are you willing to come to a place of prayer, reading
scripture and surrendering it to God?
Is it drawing you toward or is it pushing you away?
That's a great indicator. So number one, number two,
number three is those around you.
We've got no reference for this in the Magi story.
But they are together. There's more.
And one of there's more than. One they're not making the
decision is in in a silo. It's it's not one who has come.
It's there. Yeah, you gotta you gotta
imagine again, not here. You have to imagine that there
would be conversation along the road.
What are we doing? Yeah.
Are we really going to do this? Like, I thought that guy was the
king of Kings. Like, what's going on?
Like how we're going to go. We're not visiting Harrod.
Like, what are we. We're looking for a baby.
Are we sure? It's like.
So they show up and they're look, they're they show up to
Jerusalem and they're like. But somebody point us in the
right direction. Like, where's this kid supposed
to be born? And it's interesting that that
Herod's own guys like, you know, talk to Herod and tell him where
the Messiah is meant to be born. And then Herod tells the Maggie
to go anyways. Like it's, it's interesting how
all of it is still working. Like even even inherits
insecurity and fear and anger and confusion and all of it.
He's still working toward, you know, the thing that, the thing
that God is doing. And so I, I think #1 pray #2 you
got to look at Scripture and #3 you've got to have a level of
accountability with others and, and have people in your life who
can say, yes, absolutely. This is, this is something that
we have all sensed in you. And we think that you should be
pursuing this or no dummy, like you're just listening to your
own, your own brain, Like this is your own feedback loop.
And you just have created an environment where what you want,
you're now portraying or you're projecting onto what God wants
for you. And you have, so you have to
have people in your life who know you well enough and who
trust you enough and who you trust enough for them to be able
to say that like literally like what I want them to say is, hey,
dummy, like this is not the thing.
Right. Yeah, yeah, which is OK.
So that's a, that's an interesting one.
I'm just kind of like parsing this out for myself because I'm
the type of person and maybe there are others out there that
are similarly temperament Ted, if that's a word, it probably
isn't, but that's OK where if someone comes to me and they're
like, I've got a I've got I've got this thing, I'm trying to
figure it out and people do come to us, you know, seeking some of
these things for me, like I want to be like a cheerleader.
I want to be like, yes, like that sounds amazing, like like
God is doing a cool work in you in this way.
And like I just want to be like Uber supportive all the time,
right. That's that's then tends to be
my approach. So This is why people should go
to you if they want encouragement.
Because, well, you do the opposite.
Have you prayed? Have you prayed about it?
Right. Like, it's going to be one of my
first questions. Yeah.
Like, have you prayed about it? And tell me about that, right.
Who in your life is is pointing you in the same direction?
OK, so they should go to you and then come to me.
Afterwards. Yeah, Yeah.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah.
Perfect. So you've heard it, you've heard
it here. That's the that's the protocol.
If you're looking for discernment, Grant will will do
like the the hard work and then I get to just like cherry on.
So I think, yeah, I think that's the that is the challenge is,
you know, I think the the one of the hardest things in life is to
remain accountable. Yeah, right, is to live
accountable lives. And that takes like it takes
courage and it takes vulnerability and you've got it
takes relationship, like it takes time and effort and energy
and, and not. Superficial relationship, like
it's there. There has to be like a, a depth
of, of knowing, yeah. Yeah.
So, you know, I think for me, if somebody comes and says, yeah, I
have, I'm sensing like I'm hearing this from God.
I'm in the back of my head. I'm looking for those same
markers, right? So have they prayed about it?
And what are they sensing in that?
And how does it align with Scripture?
Because I'm convinced like there's not gonna be something
that somebody comes and says, God said this to me.
Like, well, that is like glaringly in opposition to the
story of the gospel as it unfolds.
So help me understand that. Like how how do we like, how do
you parse this out? How do you make sense of the
fact that what you're hearing from God is very different from
the way God shows up in Scripture?
That's just not going to happen. And, and it's tricky because
it's not like every single scenario we encounter today in
2025, almost 2026 is going to show up in Scripture, right?
But the the undergirding themes and and the trajectory of those
decisions, you know, we can ask ourselves, is this, is this in
some way bringing God's Kingdom great in a greater way to earth,
or is it doing the exact opposite?
Yeah. OK.
So we have, let me give you a really practical example before
we move on. In our ordination system, within
our denomination, there are a couple or many different steps,
but in order to become a minister, you can't just believe
God is calling you to ministry. That's not good enough.
Like it's not enough. Yeah, we have a process where,
yes, you need to be deeply convinced that God is calling
you to ministry. You may not even want to do it,
but you are convinced that God is calling you and you then are
taking a step of obedience to wrestle out that discernment
very, very quickly within our process.
Then you get into groups of of people and so session like the
the elders at your church need to affirm that call in you and
then presbytery, our geographical region, we're part
of Waterloo Wellington Presbytery.
So all the ministers and elders from those areas, they also need
to affirm that in you. And it's not that they like
everything about you. It's not that they even agree
with all of your theology or you've figured everything out.
Like far from it. You are wrestling it out.
But what needs to happen is that every step there is this like
call and response where you believe and, and are convinced
that God is calling you to ministry and then others affirm
that calling in you. And at any point, if the
majority of people don't affirm that God is calling you into
ministry, that's a that's a barrier to you.
That's not going to, that's not necessarily going to rule you
out forever for all time, but but there are multiple steps.
And then you need to actually receive a call from a
congregation in order to be ordained that there's just,
there's so many steps along the way where it's groups of people
who affirm the thing in you. And that's what I wish for all
of our people, is to get yourself into a group of
individuals. It doesn't need to be a lot, but
have a few people around you who you can text and say, hey, I'm
starting to sense this thing from God.
Can you pray for me? Yeah.
And then eventually, can we have a conversation about it.
And I need you to ask me the hard questions.
And I need you to, like, really challenge me on it.
And then, you know, then you can start to really become convinced
that, yeah, this is this is this is from God.
And I think, you know, we see it.
We see it throughout Scripture. And that's not to say that human
beings can't get it messed up. Like we, we can mix it up and we
can make mistakes. Absolutely.
You know, I remember the story one, one person coming into
ministry and I I think early on the session was like, no, we
don't see it. We don't see it.
And that that person says that person has gone on to become a
very, I'll use this word carefully, like successful, like
a very successful pastor. Pastor is a church so well and
carefully and intentionally and was exactly the person that that
congregation needed. Probably the opposite happened.
To and the opposite has happened yeah, absolutely where somebody
comes in and you know like raring to go and they're like
yeah absolutely. I feel called to go into
ministry and yeah, they shouldn't.
Well, but as you're talking that through, like, I think that
there are not a lot of career paths just using that cause it's
the most tangible. I think, yeah, that that offer
that level of discernment. Unless you're kind of like, you
know, if you're vying for a, you know, for like a, a sea level,
you know, job at an organization, maybe they're
gonna do their vetting process in a similar way.
But but I think that there's such a cool opportunity for the
body of Christ to be that discernment process for one
another in in a way that, like, you know, if you're applying for
a job, they're gonna look at whether you're qualified and
whether you're gonna be a fit. And that if you're those things,
maybe they'll hire you if you're the the cream of the crop,
right? Yeah.
Versus like truly asking ourselves, is this where God is
leading me? Right.
Like that is such a gift that that the body of Christ can
offer that other places simply can't.
Yeah. So just to bring it all home, I
think we're, you know, very practically talking about change
and God calling you to a life of change and growth.
Like to grow is to change. Yeah.
To become more like Jesus is to change.
Those changes are difficult. Um, but you know, I absolutely
believe that you're called to get up and go, go where?
That's where the discernment process comes in, right?
Change how grow how, in what ways?
What do I need to leave behind? How is God calling me to move
forward? Those are things that are meant
to be wrestled out in community. And when it comes to opposition,
like what, what is opposition or what is my own fear?
Like what's the difference between opposition and fear?
Or how do I understand? How do I know whether like, is
this opposition to the change or is this actually the change that
God wants me to make? Like I don't want to do it.
Is that position or is that a change that I just don't want to
do? All of those really practical
questions that I can imagine people having after the message
on Sunday community is the answer to those and meaningful
relationships that do hold your feet to the fire in a way that
like, yes, it's aligned with what we see and are praying for
you and have been sensing. No, it's not.
Yes, it's aligned with scripture and what we see in throughout
the the the breadth of it and the gospel coming, the Kingdom
arriving. No, it's not.
Those are hard conversations, but um, to the person asking
like how, how change, how opposition from where, like
those are the, those are the conversations that I think is,
is indicating to you that you ought to be having a
conversation about that thing with somebody.
Opposition is, you know, especially in Christian circles
can be an interesting thing because because we do believe in
kind of external forces, even spiritual forces that that
exists. And and so sometimes, you know,
I've heard it, I've heard it in certain circles of like any
opposition to this is clearly, you know, from, from the evil
one, right? And I'm like, man, that that's
like maybe, maybe, but also it might not be.
And if you're just unilaterally deciding that that can be a
problem, right? And that that feels like I I've
seen it happen and it's dangerous when someone can just
self declare that hey, this opposition I'm facing is from
the devil. Absolutely.
Or especially so when somebody declares you in your opposition
toward me. Like that's from the Get Behind
Me Satan kind of. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah. So, yeah, it can.
It can turn, it can turn unhealthy.
So yes, there's opposition from Satan.
Yes, absolutely. The accuser higher like that,
that is opposition. What I want for people to see
when we talk about opposition is in in this story, especially the
opposition is not toward the magi here.
It helps them find Jesus. Yeah, right.
Like ironic. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So. So what hard does he calls his
own scribes, teachers of the law.
He's like, guys, remind me, where's this?
Where's this Messiah supposed to be coming from?
Like, help me out here. And then he tells them that
that's where like he's he's supposed to be born in
Bethlehem. That's where you'll find him.
Oh, and by the way, when you find him, come back and report
him to me. Like he's manipulating the
thing. Yeah, but but the opposition.
So. So yes, there's opposition.
It's not the opposition isn't hair doesn't strike up an army
and prevent the magi from finding Jesus and going and
worshiping him, right? They're they're like, yeah,
dude, like we know that you're kind of the king, but apparently
there's a new better king who's born.
We're going to go worship him. Like I know that the gold and
the murder, the frankincense, like it looks nice.
Like, like we got it. We're taking it to this baby and
hard doesn't stop them. That's not the opposition.
He he helps them find Jesus. The opposition is entirely
against what God is doing and I think that that's the other
thing that I want for people to wrestle out and understand is
that there will be opposition because of what God is doing in
your life. Sometimes you make a mistake and
there's like quote, I'm using air quotes here opposition
because you you made a mistake and you were wrong and somebody
challenged you on that. That's not opposition like we're
talking about. It's the opposition that we see
in this story. We're going to see it in like
100 fold exponential measure next Sunday is toward
exclusively what God is doing and not toward the individual
human beings involved. And so for us like that, I think
is worth remembering that that like if I make a poor decision
and there is a, there's some some feedback or fallout or
pushback about a decision that might not be a good decision.
That's not necessarily opposition that that could be
mean with me making a poor decision.
You never. And OHS, yeah, just wait.
No, I, I right. Like, I think we're, we can be
very quick to say opposition. I don't need to listen to that.
And you know, that's a dangerous card to play as well.
So you know, where there's opposition, it is to what God is
doing. And that will also, I think, be
confirmed by those around you. And yeah, I I have stories that
we don't need to go into, but yeah.
I, I think there's another form of opposition that that can take
on in our, in our own minds, right?
That I know for me that I can be externally and even internally
confirmed of, of a calling or a decision or whatever.
And yet what happens in, in, you know, as we're trying to fall
asleep at night or we wake up in the middle of the night and
we're just like plagued with, with like self doubts or just
doubt or, or just all of those negative thoughts.
And, and I think at some point it can turn into almost a
spiritual battle, right? That that it's it.
There is there is opposition that is happening to cause us to
stop doing what God might be calling us to.
So this is, this is, uh, I've talked about this book before.
There's a great book and it's called antipyretic Toss.
The subtitle is so, so in English that is, that's the
Greek word for talking back. And it's funny because like, as
a what parent has not said, don't talk back to me.
That's what this book encourages you, follower of Jesus, to do to
those intrusive thoughts, those anxious patterns that are very
often from Satan, from the evil one, from the accuser, from the
devil. And so the subtitle of this book
is A Monastic Handbook for Combating Demons.
OHS that one, Yeah. And if you buy any book this
Christmas for a loved one, please buy that one.
I just think the conversations that you will have when somebody
opens that book will be incredible.
I'm monastic handbook for combating demons.
But when you open it up, it's this incredible, thoughtful,
simple practice of linking, linking intrusive thoughts to
Scripture that remind you of deeper truths about you and
about God. That's that's all it does.
But it's so profound because what it does is it gives you
language to talk back to the anxious thought.
I love so so, he says against the demon of sadness.
And then he has all these different like against the
thought that tells me that I and this I'm I'm making up, I I
can't quote a specific one, but like against the thought that
tells me I am unloved. Hmm.
Right against the thought that tells me I will not be happy.
Or worse, against the thought that tells me I do not deserve
to be happy. And then he links the scripture
and all all he's encouraging you to do.
So this guy's name, Evagrius of Pontus, and he was a desert
father and he traveled around the desert people.
Would how far back we going here?
Like so like 3? Hundreds.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So early, early days.
Yeah, yeah. So he would travel around the
desert and basically he saw Jesus being tempted by the devil
in the desert after fasting for 40 days and he's like, great, me
too, sign me up, I'll go. And he's like, so he's, he spent
his life like wrestling out combating the devil and using
scripture to do it. So people would would search him
out and ask for his advice and ask for him to teach them how to
do the same thing. And then he started
corresponding with some some early monastics in letters and
and that's what turned into this book.
So it just gives you very simple scripture truths about who you
are, about who God is. That pushes against those
thoughts. And sometimes you read it and
you're like, this is the thought.
This is the literal thought that I have been having.
And sometimes you're like, I my thought is not in here, but what
it gives us a pattern. And I think that that there is
there is power in naming what is true.
It's the pattern that Jesus used.
Have you not heard like in Scripture, it says, do not put
the Lord your God to the test. And there's no response.
There's no retort. There's no throwback from the
from the devil. It's just like, OK, fine.
You know what is true. And This is why for centuries
Christians have been so intent on memorizing Scripture.
That's not to like win a certificate, right?
It's so that you can, in these moments, recall the things that
that push against those thoughts.
So it's a really practical, fascinating book.
Here's what I want people to hear.
Yes, I, I believe and I know that the opposition can and is
often spiritual. And you will feel it like the
anxiety that blasts you in the middle of the night and wakes
you up and your heart's racing, right?
Like, you know, there might be a whole lot of pattern things that
have led you to that moment, but there are also spiritual
realities that you can speak into those moments.
Listen, like Bible verses are not necessarily gonna cure your
anxiety. No.
Nor is like memorizing scripture going to fix your depression.
Like there are clinical reasons for those things.
There are also spiritual things that attach themselves to those
emotions and moments. So Connie uses my wife uses this
language and I'm not sure where she got it.
So until I figure out where she got it, she gets all the credit.
Rats are attracted to garbage. I think we might have figured
out where that was from. I think it was like Charles
Kraft or something. Like that someone, but until I
remember where it came from. Yeah, she gets all the credit.
So, so into those, you know, I think, I think the opposition,
the spiritual opposition that can attach itself to those
depression moments, that can attach themselves to those
anxious moments are very real. And so this, you know, there's a
there's a power in just speaking against it.
And then then what's beautiful about this book is like he moves
on music and then move on. Do you speak against it?
The language that I really love is there's there's power in
speaking the name of Jesus out loud.
Like I remember where I was. I can like, and, and for me,
like that's a big thing. Like I can close my eyes and
picture the entire house where I was when I heard for the very
first time a pastor into a house and a for a family that was
filled with oppression and like spiritual oppression and what I
can only describe as like, demonic oppression.
Yeah. Spoke the name of Jesus and the
veil like the hood, the the darkness that lifted like I it
it is not like I don't listen, like I don't want everybody to
go down that path all the time about everything.
Yeah. But I can remember exactly where
I was when I heard for the first time just, hey, we're going to
speak the the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus is stronger
than anything that could be or is here.
And the shift that happened, and there's way more to that story
that we're not going to get into.
Yeah. But the shift that that happened
in that moment was for me, like, that transformed my my identity
as a pastor because I grew up in a denomination that that doesn't
dismiss these things, but certainly doesn't talk about
them openly readily. And I didn't grow up in a
denomination that like, almost idolizes it, right?
Where it's like, if you haven't had one of these experiences,
then you must not be a Christian.
Like, you can air on both sides where you talk about it all the
time. You can talk about it none of
the time. Um, thanks.
Yes, Los has a quote about that, right?
It's like, yeah, just, yeah, don't do either of those things.
But there's power in the name of Jesus.
And so I think for the person who needs to hear that.
There is more power in seeking that name into into a moment
then we often believe or think or tend to act upon.
Yeah, so. So, so, so when we look at the
discernment process of, of, of making the decision and moving
forward the decision, and then we kind of contrast that with
the potential opposition and discerning whether that is a
genuine opposition or a, an external force or internal force
of some kind that that gives us a lot to chew on.
There's probably a lot of other places we could go, but perhaps
that's probably a good. Anything else you wanted?
To say, let's let's end here, Let's end here.
Yeah. So the magi make it to Jesus and
they're overjoyed. Right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's they're overjoyed and they
worship. They bring gifts.
I think one thing that I didn't name in in my sermon.
So you've got worship as like man, the, the, the amount of joy
that you can access in the presence of Jesus through
worship is significant. Yeah.
And so for sure, part of that is is song singing and you know,
but ordering all of your life around the presence of Jesus.
Number 2, they, they give him, they bring him gifts, they lay
them at his as there's a surrender there, there is an
honoring, there's a lifting high.
There is a declaring Jesus to be who he says he is.
And I think there's power in worship to access joy.
There's power in declaring Jesus to be who he says he is in, in
terms of understanding joy and peace and hope in the face of
maybe opposition that you have, right?
So to declare Jesus to be who he says he is, like almost in the
face of opposition, it's like, Hey, you're not going to change.
You're going to change my position, my posture, right?
There's a declaration there. The other thing that I would add
is gratitude. We talked about this last week
with Allison a little bit, but gratitude is the amount of joy I
think that you can access by practicing.
Gratitude is tremendous. Yeah.
So worship, declare Jesus who he says he is and be grateful.
And I think on the other side, in the midst of, as you change,
as you wrestle that out, as you face opposition, you will still
yet while on the road experience joy.
And it's when we lose the worship.
It's when we lose the declaration of who Jesus is.
It's when we just shift our eyes away from those truths and
realities, when we fail to be grateful and when we start being
resentful and bitter and woe is me and how could I be where I am
in in life and, and man, people wrestle with really hard things.
But it's when we lose sight of those things that I think joy
erodes. Hmm.
And so don't lose sight of those 3 worshipped clergy is to be who
he is. Be grateful.
And I think joy in the midst of change, in the midst of
opposition, absolutely accessible.
That's a way better place and that's great.
Well, let's, yeah, let's let's close out there.
And so if you have any further thoughts or like we've been
saying, if you have anything that you've been practicing,
particularly over Advent into Christmas that you'd love to to
share or other questions you have, you can send those to you
questions at courtrightchurch.org and we will
see you next week.