1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:05,120 I want to begin by talking about crowd dynamics. 2 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:08,480 There's something about crowds, if you've ever been in one, that 3 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:11,160 feels powerful when you're in them. 4 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:15,400 When a crowd is with you on your side, it's like electric, right? 5 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:18,160 And, and it feels like you're on the right side of history. 6 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:21,640 It feels like truth. But one thing I've noticed, and 7 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:26,760 history has proven us is that crowds are incredibly unstable. 8 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:31,040 Would you agree? Take, for instance, LeBron 9 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:35,720 James. LeBron was a hometown hero in 10 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:39,200 Cleveland, right? He was the Chosen 1 and people 11 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:42,840 adored him. But then in 2010, he announced 12 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:46,720 what was called the Decision that he was, quote, taking his 13 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:50,200 talents to South Beach. In other words, he was changing 14 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:53,480 teams and going to beautiful Miami. 15 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:59,680 The reaction was not pleasant. OK, Suddenly jerseys of LeBron 16 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:01,800 were being burned in the streets. 17 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:04,800 No joke. Fans who once celebrated him 18 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:06,760 were furious. They were angry. 19 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:08,640 They felt betrayed. How could he? 20 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:14,640 And it was the same player, same talent, same person, but a 21 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:16,960 completely different crowd response, right? 22 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:19,200 And then what happened A few years later? 23 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:22,880 He came back to Cleveland and everyone loved him again, right? 24 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:26,720 The crowds swinging back and forth. 25 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:29,720 That is how crowds work, right? They're they're driven by 26 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:33,880 emotion, by the narrative around them and by momentum. 27 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:36,080 When things feel good, the crowd celebrates. 28 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:38,640 Yeah, woo Hoo, we're in the right. 29 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:43,360 But when things feel off, they turn on you quickly and they can 30 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:47,400 turn fast. Crowds go from admiration to 31 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:52,240 ridicule, from loyalty to outrage, from cheering to 32 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:56,160 tearing someone down. And when you're in the crowd, 33 00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:58,600 you feel justified When you're in the midst of it, right? 34 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:01,080 You feel like you're part of the truth. 35 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:03,520 But crowds are often less about the truth. 36 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:08,400 And quite honestly, being part of a crowd means it's more about 37 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,320 what your wants and desires are and having your expectations get 38 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:14,200 met. Mark Twain was famous for this 39 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:15,760 quote. He said whenever you find 40 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:20,120 yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and 41 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,360 reflect, right? It's time to pause and reflect. 42 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:26,720 There's some wisdom there. I think the reality is this, 43 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:30,240 maybe you've sensed it is that our culture is fickle. 44 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:33,680 It changes its mind. It's swayed easily by the 45 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:38,040 opinions of the age. And then what makes matters 46 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:40,800 worse is that we live in what's called the digital age, meaning 47 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:43,480 we have social media and YouTube and Facebook. 48 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:48,080 We have algorithms that are feeding off of our interests and 49 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:51,320 then repeating back the things that we already believe or the 50 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:55,720 interests we already have. So it perpetuates this sort of 51 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:59,480 crowd mentality of being swung deeper and deeper into 52 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:02,840 groupthink. So the question for us today is 53 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:07,640 how can we move from from being people who are fickle to 54 00:03:07,640 --> 00:03:11,040 faithful? How can we become people who are 55 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:13,960 rooted in trust rather than just being tossed and forth by the 56 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:16,320 trends that we see all over the place? 57 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:21,440 Well, today is is the beginning of what's called Holy Week, 58 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:25,840 where we celebrate Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. 59 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:29,080 And if you have your Bibles, we encourage you to turn to Matthew 60 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:32,920 chapter 21, Matthew 21. It's the first Gospel, first 61 00:03:32,920 --> 00:03:35,840 book of the New Testament. We always encourage physical 62 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:38,960 Bibles, but it'll be on the side screens as well for you. 63 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:40,840 If you don't have that today, you can also pull out your 64 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:43,560 phones if you'd like. Matthew 21 We're going to be in 65 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:47,680 verse one through 7 and again this is again the kick off of 66 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:51,000 what we call Holy Week leading up to the events of the cross 67 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:53,080 and eventually the the resurrection here. 68 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:57,360 And the story kicks off in verse one here. 69 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:03,760 Chapter 21 says as they approached Jerusalem and came to 70 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:08,000 Beth Bethpage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent 2 disciples 71 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,640 saying to them go to the village ahead of you and at once you 72 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:16,079 will find a donkey tied there with her colt by her untie them 73 00:04:16,079 --> 00:04:19,760 and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, 74 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:24,080 say that the Lord needs them and he will send them right away. 75 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:28,080 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet. 76 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:31,840 So Matthew's interpreting the events here and he calls back to 77 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:35,600 a prophecy which says, say to daughter Zion, see your king 78 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:41,440 comes to you gentle and riding on a donkey on a colt, the full 79 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:45,640 of a donkey. The disciples went and did as 80 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:48,480 Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the 81 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:53,000 colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 82 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:55,320 All right, let's pause there in the story. 83 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:58,440 So first we see that Jesus kind of supernatural, he's telling 84 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:02,760 them to go and find a donkey or a colt for for him to ride on 85 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:06,160 into Jerusalem. And again Matthew calls back to 86 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:10,520 the prophecy hundreds of years before in Zechariah 99, which 87 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:16,520 says rejoice greatly, daughter Zion, shout daughter Jerusalem. 88 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:21,000 This is the personification of the city of Jerusalem, the 89 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:23,440 Israelites, God's chosen people. And it continues. 90 00:05:24,280 --> 00:05:29,160 The prophecy says, see, your king comes to you righteous and 91 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:35,840 victorious, lowly in riding on a donkey, on a colt, the full of a 92 00:05:35,840 --> 00:05:38,640 donkey. So here this prophecy is a bit 93 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:41,480 unusual. It's talking about a king riding 94 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:46,800 in for victory, but he's not riding on a War Horse like you 95 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:51,560 might typically expect. Instead, he's riding on a colt 96 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:53,480 or a donkey. What's that all about? 97 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:59,200 Well, traditionally these this this image of rulers riding in 98 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:02,160 on on donkeys was imagery of peace. 99 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:04,840 It was a kind of the transportation during peacetime. 100 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:08,400 We see it, for instance, when David is about to anoint his son 101 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:12,000 Solomon as king. He sends a mule to him and has 102 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:17,000 him ride in on a mule, a donkey. We continue on in verse 8. 103 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:22,040 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others 104 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,480 cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 105 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,480 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed 106 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:31,400 shouted Hosanna to the Son of David. 107 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:35,480 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the 108 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:39,320 highest heaven. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, 109 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:44,640 the whole city was stirred and asked, Who is this? 110 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,760 Can you feel the energy of the crowd in this in this narrative? 111 00:06:49,840 --> 00:06:53,080 What we see here is that people are laying their cloaks down and 112 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:55,280 they're raising, as we see in the Gospel of John, they're 113 00:06:55,280 --> 00:06:59,240 they're raising and waving palm branches, which is significant 114 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:02,400 as well. Cloaks would be something you, 115 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:05,320 if you were lay down your cloak, it was sort of acknowledging 116 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:06,920 that there was royalty in front of you. 117 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:08,880 So you'd lay your cloak down in front of them. 118 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:11,240 And palm branches, This is interesting. 119 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:16,760 Palm branches symbolized for the Jewish people both victory and 120 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:20,520 nationalism. So it's a victory for the Jewish 121 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:23,920 people. For instance, decades before 122 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:27,280 there was something called the Maccabean revolt, where the Jews 123 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:29,360 were being oppressed and they weren't allowed to practice 124 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:31,920 their religion. They were essentially kicked out 125 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:34,680 of Jerusalem. And the Maccabean revolt is when 126 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:37,280 the Jews revolted against the powers. 127 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,880 They took back the temple and took back Jerusalem, and they 128 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:46,560 had a mighty military victory. And so after that victory, what 129 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,040 did they grab? Palm branches. 130 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:52,880 And the tradition goes that they went around the city after this 131 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:56,440 mighty victory, reclaiming their territory with palm branches, 132 00:07:56,440 --> 00:08:00,240 waving it in victory. You catching some context here? 133 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:06,200 We don't have a great picture of this in our culture, but maybe 134 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:09,040 the closest thing we can maybe think of would be like waving A 135 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:12,840 Revolutionary War flag. The same kind of imagery that's 136 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:15,240 evoked out of us where it's we're, we're claiming our 137 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:18,640 territory, we are fighting back against the oppressive rulers 138 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:22,320 and the powers that are over us. When we see a flag like this, 139 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,400 which would be the precursor to what we have now as the American 140 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,640 flag, we we kind of get it. This is a victory flag. 141 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:32,919 This is a flag of liberation and of freedom. 142 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:36,679 And so palm branches would have maybe carried A somewhat 143 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:41,000 somewhat similar significance to the Jewish people at this time. 144 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:45,000 They're waving palm branches saying, we're going to do it 145 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:47,480 again. We're going to reclaim 146 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:51,240 Jerusalem, reclaim God's city for him. 147 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:57,800 And So what do they shout? Hosanna, hosanna, which means, 148 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:04,640 oh, save us or save Now this comes from Psalm 118 called the 149 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:07,440 halal. And in that passage in Psalm 150 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:12,280 118, it says, Lord save us, Grant US success. 151 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:15,000 Isn't that interesting? What kind of success? 152 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:22,000 Victory over the oppressor. Save us from the overlords that 153 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:24,880 are above us. Save us from who? 154 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:28,360 Well, in this case, in the 1st century, the Jewish people were 155 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:31,360 under the oppression of the Roman Empire. 156 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:35,920 The Roman Empire was had sort of their their boots on the Jewish 157 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:37,720 people. They were heavily taxing them. 158 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:41,520 They weren't allowing the freedoms that the Jewish people 159 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:45,040 were were desiring. And so they were saying, save us 160 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:51,160 now from the oppression of Rome, set us free, set us right, Lift 161 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:54,440 us back up into power. So you can imagine in this 162 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:56,800 story, the city is at like a fever pitch. 163 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,800 I mean, you can just feel the energy that's getting caught up 164 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:03,960 in in this moment. It's like a powder keg that's 165 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:09,000 about to be lit. The city is vibrating at the 166 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:13,280 expectation that this Jesus is going to lead them into victory 167 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:16,560 over Rome. And so here you have the 168 00:10:16,560 --> 00:10:18,400 religious leaders who are present in the crowds. 169 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:21,120 You have the Jewish people, you have maybe people from the, the 170 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:23,760 diaspora, the the spread out Jewish people who are coming 171 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:25,880 back for Passover. This is a mixed bag. 172 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:31,760 And the energy is electric. Have you guys ever been caught 173 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:35,360 up, swept up in the in the in the crowd before, swept up in a 174 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:38,080 moment before? Most of us have, right? 175 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:41,960 How many of you like, got a little bit swept up with like, 176 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:43,960 Iowa going to the Sweet 16, right? 177 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:45,680 You're all like, oh, here we go, right. 178 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:48,520 You didn't care a week ago. But then they won and you're 179 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:52,000 like, oh, yeah, here we go. I'm an Iowa fan again, OK, we 180 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:53,520 all get swept up in the crowds, right? 181 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:56,120 Even in even in 2020 on more serious matters, right? 182 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:59,520 Like, boy, you had the election and then you had like the murder 183 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:02,640 of George Floyd, and then you had COVID and, and the crowds 184 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:06,160 were swinging one way and the other and everyone seemed to get 185 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:09,560 swept up in it. It's really easy to do. 186 00:11:10,560 --> 00:11:14,480 And here we see the crowds being swept up into the sort of 187 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:18,480 frenzy. And what we see Jesus doing is 188 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:24,080 he's intentionally revealing himself as the Messiah from 189 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:28,920 their scriptures, the Messiah who has prophesied about many, 190 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:32,280 many decades before. In other words, this story that 191 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:36,840 Jesus riding in on a colt is basically him giving a self 192 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:40,600 disclosure to Israel saying, Yep, I'm he, I'm the Messiah. 193 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:46,160 Jesus is coming in and he is very clearly signaling I am the 194 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:50,120 fulfillment of the prophecies. I am the fulfillment of the king 195 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:53,240 of the line of David. I am the high priest who's 196 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:54,960 coming in. I am the prophet you've been 197 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:56,840 waiting for. He's all of these things in 198 00:11:56,840 --> 00:12:02,120 Matthew 21. So Jesus was clearly revealing 199 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:06,080 that he was indeed the messianic king that they've been waiting 200 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,360 for in the line of David, that he was the king who would bring 201 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:15,520 victory and liberation. So they shouted, oh, save, save 202 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:21,880 us, we're ready. But Jesus wouldn't bring the 203 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:24,680 type of freedom and victory that they were expecting. 204 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:30,880 Jesus was bringing a different kind of freedom, a different 205 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:35,120 kind of victory. So what we see here is this 206 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:39,400 moment, it sparked more than just the hopes of the people. 207 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:43,040 What it did was it actually like began and it triggered a sort of 208 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:46,600 of chain of events that took place that unfolded eventually 209 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:49,320 leading Jesus to be tried and to be killed. 210 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:53,440 You see, in the crowd were the religious leaders, and when they 211 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:56,720 saw Jesus coming and claiming to be this Messiah, it ignited all 212 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:00,000 sorts of hatred and jealousy. They were very much threatened 213 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,720 by his power. It says this in John 12. 214 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:06,240 The the Pharisees and religious leaders, they said, see, this is 215 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:09,440 getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has 216 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:13,080 gone after him. You can hear the frustration in 217 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:16,880 their voice. They're angry about this. 218 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:22,040 And eventually the crowds began to get fed up too, apparently. 219 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:25,400 I mean, after all, he rides in on Sunday, Palm Sunday. 220 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:30,200 Today he rides in and they're expecting freedom, save now. 221 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:35,440 But then Monday rolls around. Rome's still in power. 222 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:39,840 Tuesday rolls around. Where's this Jesus guy? 223 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:42,840 Wednesday rolls around. They're starting to lose hope. 224 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:46,000 Thursday was this just another false Messiah, another false 225 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:48,360 promise? They're starting to get fed up, 226 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:53,640 I would imagine, and this would eventually lead to Jesus being 227 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:59,200 arrested and tried this sort of mockery of justice, breaking all 228 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:01,000 sorts of religious laws at the time. 229 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:03,360 He's put in front of the religious courts and eventually 230 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:04,960 in front of Pilate. And this is what it says in 231 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:08,840 Matthew 27. This is at Jesus's trial. 27 232 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:15,240 verse 11 says, meanwhile, Jesus stood before the governor and 233 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:20,120 the governor asked him, are you the king of the Jews? 234 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:22,960 That language is really significant. 235 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:29,160 Are you the king of the Jews? You have said so Jesus replied 236 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:34,000 on and on and on. The accusations are being lobbed 237 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:36,920 and thrown against Jesus, and you can almost have this sense 238 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:39,080 that the Roman officials are trying to like bail him out, 239 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:40,800 trying to find any way to release him. 240 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:47,120 But the crowds are so adamant that he be punished that in 241 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:51,960 verse 22 Pilot says, what shall I do then with Jesus, who is 242 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:59,320 called the Messiah? They all answered, Crucify him, 243 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:06,960 crucify him. It's almost as as if in unison, 244 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:10,120 the crowds now are rallied against him, shouting for 245 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:13,120 justice, and they're now saying crucify him. 246 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:20,000 In just a few short days, catch this, the crowds went from 247 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:24,000 shouting Hosanna to shouting crucify him. 248 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:31,960 Their hype turned to hatred and the fickle crowds went from 249 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:37,040 shouts of exaltation to shouts of execution. 250 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:43,440 You see their unmet expectations. 251 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:46,640 The unmet expectations of the crowd caused their hearts to now 252 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:52,840 turn against Jesus. And what we see here is we see 253 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:56,480 them taking to the streets, They're burning their LeBron 254 00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:01,120 jerseys in the worst way. They're calling for justice. 255 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:08,320 They've turned on Christ. Let me ask you today, have you 256 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:11,560 ever had an an expectation that didn't get met? 257 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:16,680 Have you ever experienced that level of disappointment in your 258 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:21,320 own life? Maybe it was, you know, a job 259 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:23,440 where you worked really hard, you did all the right things, 260 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:25,640 you did everything your boss asked for, hoping for that 261 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:26,920 promotion. And who gets it? 262 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:29,920 Someone else sweeps in and takes it from you. 263 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:34,920 Maybe for others of you, you know, you, you, you were raised 264 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:37,480 in church and you, you did everything you can to raise your 265 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:39,920 kids right and, and bring them to church and teach them about 266 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:42,680 Jesus. But once they became of age, 267 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:45,480 they, they went and now they're not even living for God at all. 268 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:50,640 The disappointment that comes with that maybe for others, you 269 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:53,120 know, you, you, you heard about marriage kind of curing your 270 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:55,680 loneliness, but now you've gotten into and you realize 271 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:57,520 there's just kind of a different kind of loneliness or a 272 00:16:57,520 --> 00:17:00,120 different kind of thing that's going on inside of your heart 273 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:03,000 that hasn't fulfilled all of your dreams, whatever it is. 274 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,760 We all know the feeling of, of expectations not being met and 275 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:08,440 the frustration that comes with that. 276 00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:11,640 And so for the Jewish people, for the crowds here in Matthew 277 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:14,720 21, you know, they're likely saying something like, Jesus, 278 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:16,599 you were supposed to be the king. 279 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:20,560 You were supposed to be the one that saves us. 280 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:25,880 Where's the victory? Where's the hope? 281 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:28,840 Where's the liberation from Rome? 282 00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:35,320 What we see is that the crowds are blinded by tunnel vision. 283 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:41,320 They can only see what their, what their hearts wanted to see. 284 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:46,120 They were so focused on their own people, the Jewish people. 285 00:17:46,120 --> 00:17:49,120 They were so focused on their own problems that they began to 286 00:17:49,120 --> 00:17:53,400 pick and choose the prophecies that they wanted most. 287 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:58,120 And Jesus responds to the reaction of the crowds and 288 00:17:58,120 --> 00:18:03,160 Luke's, Luke's gospel and chapter 19, it says when Jesus 289 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:05,960 drew near and saw the city, what does he do? 290 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:09,600 He wept over it. He's crying for the city, for 291 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:14,840 the people. He wept over it, saying if you, 292 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:21,600 even you, had known on this day what would bring you peace, but 293 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:23,160 now they are hidden from your eyes. 294 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:30,040 If they'd only understood what was about to bring them true and 295 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:32,800 lasting peace, but it was hidden from them. 296 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:35,560 In other words, the crowds were missing the bigger picture that 297 00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:38,680 there was a better peace coming, but they couldn't see it because 298 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:40,800 of their own hopes and dreams and expectations. 299 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:43,520 They're so focused on their own desires, their own people coming 300 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:44,880 back into power, that they missed it. 301 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:55,040 What they failed to see was that Jesus was indeed king, but not 302 00:18:55,040 --> 00:19:00,360 just king of the Jews. You see, Jesus's Kingdom is for 303 00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:05,600 all nations, for all times. In Genesis 12, the blessing to 304 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:09,200 Abraham was that all peoples on earth would be blessed through 305 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:13,440 the Israelites. In Isaiah 56, the Israelite was 306 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:15,800 meant to be called a House of prayer for who? 307 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:19,240 All nations. And Daniel 7 it says that all 308 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:22,960 peoples of every language would enter into this lasting Kingdom. 309 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:25,880 And and in Matthew 24, Jesus himself said that the Kingdom 310 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:27,560 would be preached to the whole world. 311 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:30,760 The Kingdom wasn't just for the Jews in the 1st century. 312 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:34,280 The Kingdom is for all nations and for all times. 313 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:38,960 They also failed to see that Jesus would indeed be 314 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:40,680 victorious. But it wasn't over just the 315 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:44,600 Roman oppressors at the time. Instead, it was something 316 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:47,720 better. Jesus would be victorious over 317 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:53,880 sin, over Satan, over death and over hell by the accomplished 318 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:57,000 work on the cross. You see, the Jewish people, they 319 00:19:57,280 --> 00:19:59,880 they loved the prophecies about power. 320 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:05,040 They loved the prophecies about them being elevated and lifted 321 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:09,000 high and delivered and set free. They loved the prophecies about 322 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,480 abundance. But it seems as if they forgot 323 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:15,680 about the prophecies as the Messiah being a suffering 324 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:20,880 servant. Isaiah 53. 325 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:23,160 He was pierced for our transgressions. 326 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:26,040 He was crushed for our iniquities. 327 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:31,640 The punishment that brought us peace was on him. 328 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:34,320 It's by his wounds that we're healed. 329 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:41,160 You see what's happening here? Let me put it this way. 330 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:48,440 The crowds wanted the Davidic warrior Jesus, not the gentle 331 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:51,920 king of Zechariah or the suffering servant of Isaiah. 332 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:59,000 They failed to see the full picture of Jesus Messiah, the 333 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:01,600 full picture of of this Kingdom that was coming. 334 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:04,160 Indeed it was here that would be for all nations. 335 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:06,840 And instead they were picking and choosing based on their own 336 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:10,880 desires, based on their own hopes, their own dreams about 337 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:15,240 who this Jesus was. And I, I wonder today, I wonder 338 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:22,240 today if we do the same thing. I wonder if we pick and choose 339 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:26,680 the bits and parts of Jesus that we want to fulfill our own 340 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:31,320 desires, our hopes, our expectations of how God should 341 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:36,160 perform for us. I wonder if our faith becomes 342 00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:39,200 fickle and brittle when God doesn't meet our expectations of 343 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:41,160 Him. I know, I've been through that. 344 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:48,400 What we see here is that the crowds have a narrow vision of 345 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:50,960 self concern and false expectation. 346 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:54,240 They're expecting one thing, and Jesus didn't deliver in the way 347 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:57,400 they'd hoped. They were so focused instead on 348 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:01,400 just like improving their own circumstances, improving their 349 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:03,840 situation for their own people, for their time. 350 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:08,960 Let me put it this way. You see, the crowds are glad to 351 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:15,960 follow Jesus on the triumphant Rd., but they don't follow him 352 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:21,440 on the road to the cross. They're glad to be walking along 353 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:23,640 the road in victory with Jesus. They're glad to say yes, 354 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:26,040 Hosanna, we are ready. We are here, we are now. 355 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:30,040 But instead of walking on the road of sorrows, the Via del 356 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:35,600 Rosa with Jesus, they just send him down it and they don't 357 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:38,800 follow him there. How often do we get 358 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:41,200 disappointed, you guys? When, when, when God doesn't 359 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:45,080 improve our lives. It's just reality and we're so 360 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:46,760 tempted. I think maybe not, maybe not out 361 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:49,480 loud, but I think sometimes we're tempted in these moments 362 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:53,040 where God doesn't meet our expectations to, to say things 363 00:22:54,360 --> 00:22:59,520 like, oh man, God must not care. We may even go as far as to say, 364 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:03,600 well, God must not exist. So instead I'm going to do my 365 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:04,800 own thing. If God doesn't seem to be 366 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,040 interested in helping my situations, then I'm just going 367 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:08,600 to improve my situation for myself. 368 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:12,040 I'm going to run my own race. I'm going to do my own thing. 369 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:17,400 This is a very human temptation that that process, look, that 370 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:21,000 process is real. Deconstruction in the process of 371 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:22,800 reconstructing is real. That takes time. 372 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:25,280 I'm not trying to undermine any of that here today. 373 00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:29,440 As a matter of fact, I think sometimes, sometimes we've had 374 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:33,360 some false promises that it have even been given by the church 375 00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:37,080 historically. You know, for me, I grew up in 376 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:39,680 church and there was something called purity culture, which is 377 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:42,320 the idea that if you, if you lived in alignment with God's 378 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:45,360 plan for, for sexuality, that, that one day when you finally 379 00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:47,840 did get married, that God would bring you the perfect spouse and 380 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:51,040 you'd get married and you would have the best love life you've 381 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:53,080 ever experienced. And marriage would just be all 382 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:55,160 Peaches and all roses all the time, right? 383 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:57,840 And that was kind of, that was kind of the explicit message or 384 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:00,720 not so explicit message that we kind of all grew up with, right? 385 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:03,600 And the reality is that's not always the case. 386 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:07,840 That's not always the case. Sometimes marriage is difficult 387 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:11,880 and it requires it requires A nurturing and requires 388 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:13,960 intentionality and requires skill. 389 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:19,000 Some in in the faith tradition promise health, wealth. 390 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:21,520 If all you did is just name it and claim it, right? 391 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:25,240 You want blessing in your life. You just got to pray more. 392 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:26,640 You just got to give to the church more. 393 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:30,760 He's got to do XYZ more. What happens when you don't 394 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:32,560 actually get the things that you're praying for? 395 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:37,120 What happens when you don't have wealth or you don't have health? 396 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,080 Well, well, it's probably not the, the pastor's fault or the 397 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:42,760 church's fault, and it can't be God's fault. 398 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:44,400 So what do we say? We say, well, then it must be my 399 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:46,360 fault. I must be the one that's 400 00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:48,280 sinning. I must be the one that's wrong. 401 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:53,880 So even the church, I think in the past has, has given, given 402 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:58,720 these false promises for things that that God never promised. 403 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:02,160 So we want to acknowledge that. And please hear me today like 404 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:05,040 I'm all for God's plan for our bodies and sexuality. 405 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:07,800 I do believe there's blessing on the other side of living God's 406 00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:11,160 way in that regard. And, and I do believe that God 407 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:13,640 is our provider. I do believe we can pray and our 408 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:16,160 Father hears us and answers us, but it's not a formula. 409 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:21,400 So I'm all for those things. But the point is this, we have 410 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:27,440 to be careful to not set our hearts on things that God never 411 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:33,800 actually promised. We have to be careful to not get 412 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:37,840 swept up with the crowd expecting God to overthrow Rome 413 00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:41,160 when he never actually promised to do that in 33 AD. 414 00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:46,800 If if our if the extent of our desires is just to have, you 415 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:49,640 know, a great sex life when we're married or to just have 416 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:52,320 lots of money. Like we need to re evaluate our 417 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:53,960 desires. We need to be aiming a little 418 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:56,440 higher for something a little bit better. 419 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:02,880 They wanted Jesus to do something for them in that 420 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:06,040 moment, but they forgot that Jesus was riding on a donkey, 421 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:09,880 not a War Horse symbolic of peace. 422 00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:14,760 Yes, he had the victory, but it was not the victory they 423 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:19,320 expected. So presence Church, how can we 424 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:20,960 go from being fickle to faithful? 425 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:26,720 And how can we be a people of faith who are rooted in trust in 426 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:29,600 both the highs and the lows of life? 427 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:35,760 I want to give you a few quick things as we focus our time for 428 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:39,640 the rest of the sermon. Number one, I think first and 429 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:44,240 foremost, we have to learn to refocus our priorities to Jesus, 430 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:48,400 refocus all of our priorities to him. 431 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:53,920 Augustine was considered one of the church fathers, very widely 432 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:56,800 respected. He he talked about what was 433 00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:01,040 called disordered loves. And basically what he's talking 434 00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:04,000 about with disordered loves is the misalignment of our 435 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:08,600 affections towards lesser things and basically how often we, 436 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:10,960 like, really care about things that that don't matter. 437 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:12,800 Ever cared about something that didn't really matter? 438 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:14,520 I do it all the time. OK. 439 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:15,640 Yeah. We all do this. 440 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:19,920 Our hearts are prone to attach love to things that don't 441 00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:22,400 matter. And kind of the point of this is 442 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:28,320 to say, as humans, we go wrong not by loving bad things, but by 443 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:30,960 loving good things in the wrong order. 444 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:34,400 You catch that? So it's not that we just chase 445 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:36,440 sinful desires and fleshly things that are, that are 446 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:40,600 harmful to us sometimes, and you know this, sometimes we actually 447 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:43,800 chase good things, but we, we, we elevate them over God. 448 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:48,000 We prioritize them in the wrong order. 449 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:52,360 We got to refocus our priorities, priorities on Jesus 450 00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:55,000 alone. So if we were to like bust out 451 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:57,720 your calendar right now on your phone or like your whatever, 452 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:01,000 like what would your calendar say about your priorities right 453 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:05,120 now? It's kind of kind of telling, 454 00:28:05,120 --> 00:28:08,080 isn't it? What does it say about what you 455 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:11,240 care most about? And how can we refocus back to 456 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:15,640 Jesus #2 we have to learn as a church to cultivate a single 457 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:21,720 minded devotion to Jesus, a single minded devotion to the 458 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:25,160 King Jesus. This verse has been just jumping 459 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:28,080 out at me all this week. It's found in Psalm 8611. 460 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:29,560 I love it. Trying to memorize it. 461 00:28:30,360 --> 00:28:32,040 It's not going great, but I'm, I'm working on it. 462 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:38,560 Psalm 8611 says, teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on 463 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:41,160 your faithfulness. I love this. 464 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:45,920 Give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name. 465 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:50,400 I love that line. Give me an undivided heart. 466 00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:53,160 Is that Your desire here this morning? 467 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:56,640 Do you wish to have an undivided heart, to not have your, your 468 00:28:56,640 --> 00:29:00,000 desires and your attention and your your priorities pulled in 469 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:01,960 every which way? Do you wish to have an undivided 470 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:06,840 heart for God this morning? Cultivate a single minded 471 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:10,400 devotion to King Jesus and not the fake Jesus, by the way, not 472 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:12,480 that just the Jesus that we prefer, right? 473 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:15,360 There's no just taking partial prophecies like the Jewish 474 00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:17,040 people maybe have may have done here. 475 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:22,040 There's no such just taking the parts of Jesus that we like and 476 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:25,800 leaving the rest for somebody else that is not compatible with 477 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:30,520 the Christian faith. And, and the, the caution is 478 00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:34,760 this like the caution is this. When we pick and choose the 479 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:38,240 Jesus that we like, you can find different groups that will 480 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:41,560 support that version of Jesus. You can find different churches 481 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:44,040 that will just support your version of Jesus and the parts 482 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:46,920 of him that you like. And, and more than that, you can 483 00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:48,480 find the right podcast that you like. 484 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:54,000 The algorithm is happy to continue feeding those things if 485 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:56,200 you want. You can find the Jesus that is 486 00:29:56,200 --> 00:30:02,120 all loving with no accountability, or you can find 487 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:06,000 that Jesus who is all truth, no grace, and fire and brimstone. 488 00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:11,160 You can find those two Jesus's if you really look for them. 489 00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,640 The devil in our culture is glad to fill your algorithm with a 490 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:19,640 partial picture of Jesus that you prefer because he knows 491 00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:23,360 it'll mean partial discipleship in a lukewarm faith. 492 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:32,800 Enemies glad to show you part of Jesus, keep you worshiping just 493 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:36,080 part of him. Guys, we need the real Jesus, 494 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:44,480 the Jesus who said I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life, I 495 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:48,000 fulfill every prophecy. I'm not only the King of David, 496 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:51,360 I am the high priest and I am the prophet. 497 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:54,640 I'm all of them. This is the full picture of 498 00:30:54,640 --> 00:31:01,040 Jesus that we worship. He is the way. 499 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:05,240 And the good news is this. The real Jesus is actually the 500 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:08,240 Jesus that your heart is deeply longing for. 501 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:10,800 Because He's the Jesus that brings peace. 502 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:13,960 He's the tell us. He is the perfection. 503 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:16,200 He is the one we look to. He is our example. 504 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:19,600 He is the perfect representation of God Himself. 505 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:24,200 When we pick and choose, we miss out on some of the beauty of who 506 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:30,080 Jesus is. So we cultivate a single minded 507 00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:32,440 devotion to that Jesus King Jesus. 508 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:36,080 And so as we've been in this series, you know, called Wisdom 509 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:38,920 in the Desert, we've been talking about actual, real life 510 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:41,160 disciplines, you know, practicing things like prayer 511 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:44,240 and solitude and humility. And I think as a church, we have 512 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:47,240 to learn how to bring the lessons of the wilderness into 513 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:54,960 our actual lives, practicing A devoted mindset to Christ #3 and 514 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:57,560 I'm going to begin to kind of land the plane here. 515 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:02,120 Number 3 is that we need to release unmet expectations to 516 00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:05,360 Jesus. Do you have any ways you were 517 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:08,400 expecting God to show up and he just hasn't yet? 518 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:13,760 What would it look like for you to release those unmet 519 00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:17,720 expectations over to the Lord Church? 520 00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:24,800 There can be deep pain, deep confusion when God doesn't show 521 00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:27,480 up the way that we hoped. I get it. 522 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:33,880 If you go through a job loss, you go through a death in the 523 00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:36,480 family. Maybe you've been praying. 524 00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:39,080 God, please bring me a mate. And yet you're still living the 525 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:42,960 life of singleness. Not by choice. 526 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:46,680 Maybe it's infertility or a miscarriage. 527 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:49,280 Or you know you've been praying and wanting new life in your 528 00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:51,840 life, and yet it doesn't seem like God is hearing you or 529 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:53,880 answering. Or maybe your body doesn't 530 00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:56,120 function the way you'd want it or look the way you want it. 531 00:32:56,280 --> 00:32:58,640 Maybe you've tried to make friendships and it just doesn't 532 00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:01,200 seem to be happening. Or maybe you're just having 533 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:04,400 trouble making ends meet. Whatever it is, whatever those 534 00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:08,120 expectations are, are you willing to release them? 535 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:11,320 Are you willing to release them over to God? 536 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:16,320 With my kids, so often there, there's, there's, they get their 537 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:18,560 hearts so set on the thing that they want. 538 00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:23,120 And then when they don't get it, they get so devastated and 539 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:24,480 disappointment. And there's something I've been 540 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:27,600 trying to say to them. I don't know if it's sticking at 541 00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:30,640 all, but I, I, I sometimes sit them down and I say, hey, what 542 00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:32,120 do we say when we're disappointed? 543 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:34,880 What do we say when we're disappointed? 544 00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:40,600 It's going to be OK. That's what we say. 545 00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:46,720 We say it's going to be OK Why? Because they're still loved, 546 00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:51,640 they're still cared for, and life is still going to bring 547 00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:54,720 good things to them. God is still going to bless 548 00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:57,160 them. It's going to be OK. 549 00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:04,560 Psalm 90 says satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing 550 00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:07,800 love. What if we could be a church 551 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:11,199 that like every morning, we could just be like deeply 552 00:34:11,199 --> 00:34:17,920 satisfied and the fact that God loves us that that all of our 553 00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:20,840 desires, all of the things we want and hope for and all of our 554 00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:24,000 expectations could just kind of like come underneath the 555 00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:30,120 umbrella of God's unfailing infinite love for everyone of 556 00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:34,239 us. What if we just reorient our 557 00:34:34,239 --> 00:34:39,159 hearts devotion back to him, a single minded focus of Jesus, 558 00:34:39,159 --> 00:34:44,400 But it would mean it would mean releasing those disappointments 559 00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:48,440 back to God. And and maybe there's someone in 560 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:50,320 the room today. Maybe there's a few of you who 561 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:55,080 like, if you're honest, you, you almost maybe even need to repent 562 00:34:55,080 --> 00:34:57,760 of some of the bitterness and frustration you've had towards 563 00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:02,400 God today. And maybe your prayer today is 564 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:06,000 simple, something like God, I, I forgive you for that thing. 565 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:10,120 It's not that God needs forgiveness. 566 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:12,520 He didn't do anything wrong. But let's be honest, sometimes 567 00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:14,040 it feels like he did something wrong. 568 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:17,400 That's, that's, that's a normal human emotion. 569 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:19,560 So what does it look like to release that over to the Lord? 570 00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:22,360 Repent and release any bitterness, any frustration, any 571 00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:24,520 resentment that you have in your heart and just say, God, I'm 572 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:26,520 laying it all down. And I'm, I'm, I'm choosing to 573 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:30,480 choosing to forego all these other desires in hopes that I 574 00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:38,720 get you release those unmet expectations to God Church. 575 00:35:38,720 --> 00:35:42,240 There are so many times where I'm I look back at my life and 576 00:35:42,240 --> 00:35:46,040 I'm so glad God didn't give me what I wanted in the moment. 577 00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:51,600 You ever experienced that. I'm so glad he didn't just sweep 578 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:57,440 me out of that difficult moment and make my life perfect because 579 00:35:57,440 --> 00:35:59,960 it's in that wilderness that the refinement happens. 580 00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:04,760 It's in that that desert place where the real testing and the 581 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:07,440 work and the refinement takes place in our hearts. 582 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:10,920 I had someone ask me that just this last week. 583 00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:14,320 They asked me, Ben, do you, have you, have you found yourself to 584 00:36:14,320 --> 00:36:19,000 be out of place or you're joyful about what you went through in 585 00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:21,960 2020? When you or you're joyful about 586 00:36:21,960 --> 00:36:25,360 having to see your wife go through cancer, having to see 587 00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:29,240 her go through chemotherapy, having to worry and stress and 588 00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:31,440 take care of the kids on your own. 589 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:35,480 Have you, have you found yourself to be at a place with 590 00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:40,000 joy with that? It's a bold question to ask, by 591 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:42,680 the way. And I thought about it for a 592 00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:47,360 little bit and I think my answer was something like, quite 593 00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:51,000 honestly, yeah. I think I, I think I'm at a 594 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:55,120 place where I'm, I may not be glad it happened, but I, I am, 595 00:36:56,120 --> 00:37:00,200 I'm grateful it happened. And I think I said something 596 00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:03,160 like, how else would have God shaped us? 597 00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:05,800 How else would he have refined us? 598 00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:08,400 How else would he be have shown His faithfulness and His 599 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:10,200 goodness and His love for us in that moment? 600 00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:15,480 The things I learned in that wilderness are going to serve me 601 00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:23,240 for the rest of eternity. The work He did when my 602 00:37:23,240 --> 00:37:26,000 expectations weren't met, when it almost seemed like the 603 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:28,920 prayers were getting answered. The work He did in the heart. 604 00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:30,680 And those moments I wouldn't trade for anything. 605 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:38,200 And boy, it's so hard to like have that attitude and that that 606 00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:39,880 mindset when you're in it, isn't it? 607 00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:42,160 It's so hard to have that when you're in the midst of 608 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:43,480 suffering. And I don't want to undermine or 609 00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:46,760 downplay any of that. Boy, we went through a process. 610 00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:48,800 If you know our story, just ask Susan. 611 00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:50,600 Like we went through a process with that. 612 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:56,480 But I can honestly say, I think, I think I can say thank you God, 613 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:04,440 thank you God, because you're still good and you're still 614 00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:11,560 worthy of all of our praise. There's a famous prayer called 615 00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:15,400 the Serenity prayer, famous with Alcoholics Anonymous by Reinhold 616 00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:18,720 Nieber. There's the famous version, but 617 00:38:18,720 --> 00:38:21,400 his, his daughter actually says that this was, this was the 618 00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:23,920 original version that he penned down, which I really appreciate. 619 00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:27,600 It says this says God give us the grace to accept with 620 00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:33,080 serenity the things that cannot be changed, the courage to 621 00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:35,400 change the things that should be changed in the wisdom to 622 00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:37,480 distinguish the one from the other. 623 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:43,200 Maybe there are some of you today who need extra grace today 624 00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:46,440 from God to have peace about the things in your life that can't 625 00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:51,240 be changed. The prayer goes on to say, 626 00:38:51,240 --> 00:38:54,800 living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, 627 00:38:55,400 --> 00:38:59,760 accepting hardship as the pathway to peace. 628 00:39:00,720 --> 00:39:05,480 Wow, accepting hardship has the pathway to peace. 629 00:39:06,760 --> 00:39:10,520 When I think about the Jews in the triumphant triumphal entry, 630 00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:13,840 the question in my mind, I just have to wonder like, what if 631 00:39:13,840 --> 00:39:16,120 they had gotten what they wanted in their minds? 632 00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:20,400 What if they had just gotten what they expected from Jesus? 633 00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:23,160 What if Jesus had come and he overthrew Rome and now the 634 00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:26,560 Jewish people were in in power? And what if Jesus never actually 635 00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:33,320 had to die on Good Friday? Well, then we wouldn't have the 636 00:39:33,320 --> 00:39:36,920 victory of salvation and the atonement of sins. 637 00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:38,760 We wouldn't have the blood of the cross. 638 00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:41,760 We wouldn't have the empowerment and the gift of the Holy Spirit. 639 00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:45,160 We wouldn't have atonement for all men, for all times and all 640 00:39:45,160 --> 00:39:46,920 places. If they had gotten what they 641 00:39:46,920 --> 00:39:49,680 wanted in that moment, we wouldn't have any of that. 642 00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:55,560 So I'm glad their expectations weren't met because God was 643 00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:59,760 doing something so much bigger, so much bigger than they could 644 00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:05,280 ever fathom. Jesus's vision was for much 645 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:06,760 grander than what they had pictured. 646 00:40:06,760 --> 00:40:09,920 He would provide a way not just for the Jews to be liberated 647 00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:14,240 from captivity, but for all men to be liberated for all time 648 00:40:14,240 --> 00:40:18,000 from captivity. How many times and are are our 649 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:21,400 expectations and desires of God narrowly focused on our short 650 00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:26,240 term improvements of our lives and to our circumstances when we 651 00:40:26,240 --> 00:40:29,040 should be focusing on the full scope of what God is doing 652 00:40:29,040 --> 00:40:31,720 around us and the full scope of the Kingdom? 653 00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:36,640 Jesus's Kingdom is for all people at all times. 654 00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:40,320 But Jesus gives us the encouragement in John 16. 655 00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:43,320 I've told you these things so that you may have peace in this 656 00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:46,520 world. You will have trouble, but take 657 00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:49,400 heart. I have overcome the world. 658 00:40:51,160 --> 00:41:00,280 Your grief will turn to joy. So church, take heart, whatever 659 00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:07,800 the struggle is, whatever you're going through, God will use it. 660 00:41:10,080 --> 00:41:14,600 So today on Palm Sunday, we can shout hosanna because he has 661 00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:18,400 saved us not just from a difficult life, not just from 662 00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:22,920 difficult circumstances, but Jesus the King, the Lord has 663 00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:27,120 saved us from death. We can lay down our cloaks to 664 00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:30,280 the King of Kings and his Kingdom that has come. 665 00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:35,000 Jesus indeed has won the victory and we get the freedom. 666 00:41:36,720 --> 00:41:39,160 Church. See him riding on a colt. 667 00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:44,320 He comes bringing us the peace that we all ultimately are 668 00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:48,240 longing for. Hosanna to the highest. 669 00:41:50,160 --> 00:41:52,560 This is Jesus and we worship Him.