1 00:00:10,040 --> 00:00:17,040 Luke chapter 14, beginning in verse 7 when he, meaning Jesus, 2 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:22,600 noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, He told them a 3 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:26,560 parable. When you are invited by someone 4 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:31,520 to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor in 5 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:35,400 case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by 6 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:38,920 your host. And the host who invited both of 7 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:43,520 you may come and say to you, give this person your place, and 8 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:47,040 then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. 9 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:52,440 But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so 10 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:55,920 that when your host comes, he may say to you, friend, move up 11 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:58,600 higher. Then you will be honored in the 12 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:02,280 presence of all who sit at the table with you, for all who 13 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:05,440 exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble 14 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:09,800 themselves will be exalted. This is the word of the Lord. 15 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:19,120 For my whole life, I have struggled with a little bit of 16 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:24,080 an impulse to be seen as more interesting than I actually AM. 17 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:32,440 I can remember, even as a kid, telling outlandish stories about 18 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:36,680 myself or my family around the cafeteria table at school, 19 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:39,880 trying to get people to think that there was a lot more going 20 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:42,400 on in my life than there actually was. 21 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:49,160 I can remember as a teenager exaggerating stories about what 22 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:53,640 I got up to on summer vacation or the antics in a particular 23 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:59,160 job or sports team because I had sort of fashioned myself as a 24 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:03,200 storyteller to be interesting to people and to win friends. 25 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:06,720 You're already skeptical. You're like, I think we should 26 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:11,120 just leave. But I learned really quickly 27 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:15,920 that other people liked that. They liked that about me. 28 00:02:15,920 --> 00:02:21,200 I could be seen in a particular way that gave me some validation 29 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:24,080 on the inside. There was a flash of validation, 30 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:28,240 that small rush that comes with being believed. 31 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:32,040 And it wasn't about deceiving people. 32 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:34,880 It was ultimately about belonging. 33 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:40,880 I wanted to be seen by my peers, and I wanted to feel like I had 34 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:45,520 something to bring to the table. And my own insecurity as a kid 35 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:51,240 caused me to gravitate toward whatever I could do to Curry 36 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:55,560 favor with people. I wanted to impress my teachers, 37 00:02:55,920 --> 00:03:01,320 my peers, adults in my life. I learned that I could do that 38 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:05,760 by carefully curating my own image as an interesting and 39 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,520 intelligent person. I'll come back to some more of 40 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:13,880 my story this morning. But if you zoom out, this same 41 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:18,640 impulse really runs everywhere in our culture. 42 00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:23,280 It shows up in lots of different ways, but it's the idea beneath 43 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:27,040 the sentiment that you don't have to be happy, you just have 44 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:30,960 to look happy. A curated social media feed. 45 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,240 One good family picture from the holiday gathering that was 46 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:41,160 otherwise a complete mess. We live in an age that rewards 47 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:45,200 the ability to curate a particular kind of life that 48 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,400 seems meaningful or desirable or important. 49 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,320 Even when we know it's a performance, we feel the 50 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:54,720 pressure to keep up in certain ways. 51 00:03:55,360 --> 00:04:01,560 And beneath all of that is the same question, If no one's 52 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:08,800 watching, do I still matter? In the 2014 film Birdman, which 53 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:12,280 is one of my favourites, it captures this question 54 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:14,560 beautifully. Michael Keaton plays Riggan 55 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:18,360 Thompson, who is a washed up movie star trying to prove that 56 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:22,680 he's still relevant by staging a Broadway play, and the whole 57 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:27,640 film unfolds as his mind completely unravels under the 58 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:30,760 pressure of proving to the whole world that he is somebody 59 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:34,240 important. He's haunted by the voice of his 60 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:38,640 former superhero persona from his blockbuster movie days, that 61 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:43,400 booming echo of his old fame that says you are nothing 62 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:46,520 without me. And there's a scene where he 63 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:49,720 ends up locked out of the theater, running through Times 64 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:52,440 Square in his underwear as people watch him taking 65 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:55,400 pictures. And he's completely humiliated 66 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:58,240 with all these people filming him on their phones. 67 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:01,840 It's a picture of this desperate need to be admired. 68 00:05:01,840 --> 00:05:04,600 It's a little bit of a caricature of a desperate need 69 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:08,520 to be admired and the humiliation that comes with it. 70 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:14,600 In one shape or form, this is what the Christian spiritual 71 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:20,040 tradition calls Vainglory, a fragile hunger to be noticed, to 72 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:24,880 have our worth confirmed in the eyes of the people around us. 73 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:28,960 And Jesus at the Sabbath table, in the passage that Jared read a 74 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:31,880 moment ago, goes straight for that place in us that wants to 75 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:36,280 sit close enough to the host to feel like we matter to the whole 76 00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:41,120 room. Most of us would never elbow 77 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:44,760 somebody out of the way for the best seat at the table. 78 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:48,040 Although we're having a potluck this afternoon, so I'm actually 79 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:52,000 doing a little bit of a social experiment in real time. 80 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:55,720 But we spend a lot of energy, a lot of social energy, a lot of 81 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:59,280 emotional energy, arranging our lives in particular ways where 82 00:05:59,280 --> 00:06:02,600 we want to be noticed or to avoid being noticed. 83 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:09,920 Lots of energy goes into what we can do to look good, to appear 84 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:12,520 good or maybe just to keep from embarrassing ourselves. 85 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:16,400 And as we work our way through this series on the passions of 86 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:19,560 the soul, I think we're maybe in the eighth week and 7th or 8th 87 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:21,800 week now. We're looking at the ways that 88 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:24,600 these inner movements shape all of our actions and our 89 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:26,960 relationships. And we've been saying that these 90 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:31,960 passions are deep, God-given capacities to feel and desire 91 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:35,480 and respond to what's good. So, so often the things that 92 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:38,840 we're talking about in this in the series kind of get framed up 93 00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:44,560 as like, you know, sins to be avoided or things to sort of try 94 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,360 to purge your life of. But the thing that we're trying 95 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:50,320 to communicate across this entire series, one of the 96 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:54,760 reasons that we haven't over indexed to maybe the the virtue 97 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:58,560 that corresponds with each of these things is because things 98 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:05,320 like gluttony or Vainglory or pride or acedia can be a doorway 99 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:07,600 to receive the love of God into your life. 100 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:10,320 If we're honest about what's really going on in our lives. 101 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:13,360 And sometimes when these things get framed up as, you know, 102 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:18,120 vices to be avoided or or crucial sins in your life that 103 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:23,520 you have to stay, you know, so far away from, We can miss the 104 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:26,360 inside work that's actually taking place in us. 105 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:29,480 The ways that God would want to work through the dysfunction and 106 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:33,280 the pain that's part of our real circumstances of life. 107 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:40,400 So each passion, when it's touched by God's love can become 108 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:42,880 a place where transformation begins. 109 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:48,400 And Vainglory is what I would call the ultimate empty reward. 110 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:52,200 It's it, but it's it comes from a place of seeking something 111 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:59,080 that we genuinely need. I just want to pause and give 112 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:03,520 you a moment to consider what does it feel like when you maybe 113 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:06,560 don't give the credit get get the credit that you think you 114 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:08,680 deserve for something you've done? 115 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:15,240 In every family, in every workplace, in every friendship, 116 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:19,800 in every church community, there are all sorts of ways that 117 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:24,160 people show up and put in effort that we feel no one sees or 118 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:29,200 appreciates. John Cashin in the 4th century 119 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:33,280 wrote that even fasting and prayer can become fuel for 120 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:37,039 Vainglory. So this idea of being seen in a 121 00:08:37,039 --> 00:08:40,320 particular way, of being perceived as a person who values 122 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:43,480 the right things or does the right things, it creeps into our 123 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:49,240 even our spiritual practices. We can use humility itself in 124 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:53,120 the form of service or good deeds as subtle ways to be 125 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:57,160 noticed by other people. And it's important to give a 126 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:00,160 little bit of context to precisely the thing that we're 127 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:01,960 talking about when we talk about Vainglory. 128 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:05,520 It's not pride, exactly, because that's what Thomas is going to 129 00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:08,120 be talking about next week. Welcome back to these guys, by 130 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:13,960 the way, where pride is an outsized pleasure in your own 131 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:17,560 achievements. Vainglory isn't about 132 00:09:17,560 --> 00:09:19,720 accomplishment so much as appearance. 133 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:24,080 It's it's almost less substantial in a way, wanting to 134 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:28,000 be known as good, not necessarily wanting to be good. 135 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:34,480 Some might call it saving face. Thomas Aquinas said Vainglory 136 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:38,720 seeks empty honor. In other words, honor for 137 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:41,040 something that has nothing underneath it. 138 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:45,520 There's no thing to be honored, but it's sort of seeking the the 139 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:47,280 attention and affections of people. 140 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:50,800 And so that's why we're looking at this particular text today in 141 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:54,440 our world. It's social performance. 142 00:09:54,440 --> 00:10:00,240 And this story about Jesus at this table is just a little 143 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:06,480 example from his cultural moment of what social performance looks 144 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:08,760 like in the form of table placement. 145 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:12,200 So just to set the scene a little bit, it's the Sabbath and 146 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:15,440 Jesus has been invited to dinner, and the host of the 147 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:19,200 dinner is a leader of the Pharisees, is what the text 148 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:21,520 says. So this is a person whose home 149 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:26,000 would have been large enough for guests to recline on couches, 150 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:32,000 kind of arranged in AU shape around a low table, probably by 151 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:35,880 candlelight. The smell of roasted lamb and 152 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:40,160 herbs fills the air. And the conversation would have 153 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:43,600 been measured but respectable. These are very respectable 154 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:47,640 people at this dinner who appear very respectable, the guardians 155 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:51,360 of piety who kind of create this atmosphere. 156 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:57,560 And Luke tells us, you know, Jesus comes in and it says that 157 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:00,800 the text says that they were watching him closely. 158 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:07,080 He had just healed on the Sabbath before this. 159 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:10,720 From the text, we could maybe even infer the prior Sabbath one 160 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:13,480 week ago. And so, right there at the 161 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:17,840 table, the trap is sprung. In the verses before the ones 162 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:21,280 that we read this morning, there's a man with painful 163 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:26,520 swelling that left him ritually uncleaned and socially shamed, 164 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:31,640 and he has somehow been placed in front of Jesus at this 165 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:37,800 dinner. It's an odd invitation list, the 166 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:40,640 scribes and the Pharisees, hosted by the leader of the 167 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:44,960 Pharisees, Jesus, and one ailing, suffering person. 168 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:48,640 He really doesn't belong there unless he's bait. 169 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:54,680 And so Jesus looks around and he says again, is it lawful to heal 170 00:11:54,680 --> 00:11:56,840 on the Sabbath or not? And no one answers. 171 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:01,400 And he reaches out and he touches the man and he's healed 172 00:12:01,560 --> 00:12:05,880 and he sends him away. And the room is silent because 173 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:12,800 this table that was supposed to be the picture of holiness is 174 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:16,280 now exposed as a mirror of pride. 175 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:21,800 And I just want you to imagine the moment where all of the 176 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:26,320 righteous and upstanding people at this dinner see Jesus heal 177 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:31,800 their ailing guest and the feeling of nakedness that 178 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:36,360 follows with the spread that's in front of them, this fancy 179 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:40,720 dinner, the atmosphere they've created, the one guest who was 180 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:45,400 invited as a trap for Jesus, and this healing takes place. 181 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:48,720 And that's when Jesus starts watching them. 182 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:51,800 It's really interesting because the story opens at the beginning 183 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:54,000 of the chapter. It says they're watching Jesus, 184 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:57,480 but then the story that we read next says Jesus starts watching 185 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:00,720 them. And as the meal resumes and 186 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:04,280 everybody tries to kind of, you know, get their act together a 187 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:06,760 little bit, and, OK, we have no idea what that was all about. 188 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:09,960 That was really uncomfortable. But now that guy's gone. 189 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:11,400 Jesus has healed him and sent him away. 190 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:14,160 And so maybe we can carry on with our nice dinner party. 191 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:20,520 He notices the guests angling for position, who sits near the 192 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:25,400 host, who hangs back, some subtle glances, some shuffling 193 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:30,880 around and in. In that world, your place at the 194 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:35,200 table didn't just determine your view of the food, it determined 195 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:37,600 your worth, your value as a person. 196 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:42,040 To sit close to the host was to be seen as righteous, important, 197 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:45,720 blessed. And the whole arrangement was 198 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:49,040 like a little theatrical production of Vainglory. 199 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:54,920 And Jesus, as the guest, but also as the divine host, watches 200 00:13:54,920 --> 00:14:01,720 this little Kingdom of self importance play out before he 201 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:05,160 overturns the entire seating chart of the world. 202 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:09,320 And so Jesus sees everybody subtly competing for the best 203 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:12,120 seats. He tells a story that sounds at 204 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:15,560 first like advice from a seasoned dinner guest. 205 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:20,120 Don't sit at the place of honor. You might be asked to move down, 206 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:24,400 but he isn't teaching dinner party etiquette. 207 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:29,160 He's revealing a completely different economy of worth in 208 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:33,240 what he's doing at this dinner. In this world of social 209 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:37,520 hierarchy, value depends on proximity to power, where you 210 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:42,320 sit and who notices you, how you compare, and so on. 211 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:47,040 And what Jesus is saying is, in the Kingdom of God, value is 212 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:51,160 simply received. You don't earn it, you don't 213 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:53,600 perform for it, you don't guard it. 214 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:59,880 And so this parable exposes the the quiet fear that drives so 215 00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:02,560 much of our striving in our lives. 216 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:05,760 The fear of being unseen, the fear of being uncared for, 217 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:12,400 ultimately the fear of lacking connection because what we 218 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:18,400 ultimately desire as people is secure connection, secure 219 00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:21,760 connection, one to another, secure connection ultimately to 220 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:24,200 God. And So what Jesus is trying to 221 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:26,800 communicate is that true humility isn't thinking less of 222 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:29,080 yourself. It's being so rooted in the love 223 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:32,440 of God that you no longer need to think of yourself at all. 224 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:37,600 You're free to take the lowest seat because you can trust that 225 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:43,120 sort of the the cosmic host of this dinner party of life is 226 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:49,800 going to call you up higher. And Jesus image is really 227 00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:54,560 simple, but it's subversive to take the lowest seat and be 228 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:56,560 called higher. It almost sounds like a social 229 00:15:56,560 --> 00:16:01,760 trick that he is communicating, but it's not about manipulation. 230 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:05,480 It's about trust. The idea is that thinking less 231 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:07,680 of yourself, what Jesus is trying to communicate is that 232 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:12,320 there's a there's a faith involved in that, that as you 233 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:21,680 sort of give up this need to jockey for position in life, God 234 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:22,960 will give you everything you need. 235 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:27,200 The Kingdom reversal is the great pattern of Scripture that 236 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:31,120 the proud are brought low and the lowly are lifted up. 237 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:34,520 It's all over everything that Jesus has to say throughout the 238 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:36,880 Gospels. Mary sang it at the beginning of 239 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:38,320 Luke's gospel. We're getting ready for 240 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:41,240 Christmas. He has brought down the powerful 241 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:43,760 from their Thrones and lifted up the lowly. 242 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:49,400 Jesus embodies this with his life, and the host exalts the 243 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:52,200 humble. Not because humility earns some 244 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:56,720 kind of reward, but because humility makes room for the 245 00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:58,880 grace of God to operate in our lives. 246 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:01,680 And that's the thing that we've been talking about throughout 247 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:04,520 this whole series on The Passions is that as we make a 248 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:09,680 realistic assessment of what is. So for us, as we talk about each 249 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:12,760 of these things and we kind of see some ways that, yeah, that I 250 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:14,720 might see a little bit of that in my life and I might need a 251 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:18,760 little bit of help here. The acknowledgement of those 252 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:22,800 things, the the the leaning into just the reality of our lives 253 00:17:22,839 --> 00:17:26,760 creates room for the mercy of God to operate around us. 254 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:34,280 And so this table setting reveals everything we need to 255 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:38,000 know about the kind of world that Jesus imagines. 256 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:42,040 It's a world where worth isn't competed for. 257 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:46,400 It's bestowed upon people, where seats of honor aren't seized, 258 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:51,520 but they're given. And we're being seen isn't the 259 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:54,680 goal. And I just think it's, it's 260 00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:00,080 relevant, you know, the moment that we are living in the the 261 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:03,600 sorts of things, the sorts of scenes that we see playing out 262 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:09,240 in the world around us where human beings are are treated as 263 00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:12,080 a kind of currency in a cultural war. 264 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:15,840 To be able to take this kind of view about oneself or one's 265 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:20,200 neighbor that Jesus is trying to communicate here, that God will 266 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:24,480 give us everything we need if we don't grasp for too much of it. 267 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:29,320 You know, the kind of love that God is beckoning humankind 268 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:34,880 toward is the kind that is secure, that's consistent, where 269 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:39,920 we find ourselves cared for, provided for. 270 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:47,040 Jesus is picturing a society that's founded on a table, where 271 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:50,120 joy rises up and we're the only competition. 272 00:18:50,120 --> 00:18:55,080 Competition to outdo one another is in showing honor, and it's 273 00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:58,760 the kind of world that God's preparing that he invites us to 274 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:01,640 start living in as though it's already here. 275 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:06,440 When the scriptures talk about the the future Kingdom that's to 276 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:09,440 come, Jesus is painting a picture here of what it looks 277 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:12,480 like for that that future Kingdom to break backward 278 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:14,760 through time into the present moment. 279 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:19,120 And so I started this morning by talking just a little bit about 280 00:19:19,120 --> 00:19:21,200 some of the ways that I've experienced this distorted 281 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:25,600 desire in my own life. And I want to just share a 282 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:28,240 little bit more about how that's come full circle for me. 283 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:31,840 The impulse doesn't just show up in childhood stories. 284 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:35,240 It has followed me into my adult life and followed me into 285 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:38,320 ministry. And the pressure to have 286 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:43,160 something to say or to be insightful or inspiring or 287 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:50,040 comforting in every situation where I just don't have much has 288 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:56,760 been one of the most intense tests of that old impulse in me. 289 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:01,800 When people come looking for direction or healing or hope or 290 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:05,280 some kind of new idea, I want to be able to offer people 291 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:09,320 something that matters. But there have been so many now 292 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:15,400 at this point. High stakes, sacred moments when 293 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:16,840 I've had absolutely nothing to give. 294 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:22,200 Tragedy in my own family. Walking with people through the 295 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:27,120 loss of a child, you know, pain and suffering in in the 296 00:20:27,120 --> 00:20:30,680 community. And I've sat with people in 297 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:35,480 grief or crisis and realized that my words were spent. 298 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:38,480 And I can feel that thing inside of me going. 299 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:41,120 I think I could probably cook something up right now that 300 00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:46,480 would feel pretty good. And in that emptiness, I have 301 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:50,720 slowly been trying to learn a different way that God doesn't 302 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:54,880 need us to perform a part for his kindness to flow. 303 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:59,360 And man, when we talk about community, when we talk about 304 00:20:59,360 --> 00:21:02,800 being part of a church, I'm just aware that there are so many 305 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:04,720 temptations. There are so many ways where we 306 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:08,000 could kind of trick ourselves into thinking, when I show up in 307 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,480 this room, there's a particular part that I need to play for 308 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:13,240 God's kindness to be able to flow. 309 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:19,120 And one of the richest gifts that I've experienced being 310 00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:22,680 around this church and being around churches like this one, 311 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:26,720 is just this belief, this wholehearted belief. 312 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:30,920 You know deep down that God actually wants to do something. 313 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:35,760 And it might not even really depend on how you or I show up 314 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:38,520 that we can be in an environment like this. 315 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:41,280 We can be ourselves. We can bring the whole truth of 316 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:45,560 who we are. And God has kindness and love 317 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:50,120 that God wants to display to our neighbors, to the people around 318 00:21:50,120 --> 00:21:56,320 us. Sometimes the holiest thing that 319 00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:01,400 I can do is be quiet. To listen, to move slowly, to 320 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:05,360 resist the urge to fill the silence with promises that I 321 00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:08,240 can't keep or moral proclamations that I personally 322 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:12,320 can't live up to. And in those moments, I actually 323 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,800 find the presence of Jesus. And when I find myself showing 324 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:19,560 up and playing my part, that's when it feels like there's not 325 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:22,360 much going on. The same Jesus who took the 326 00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:26,200 lowest seat at the table keeps inviting me there too. 327 00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:29,200 And I only share this sort of at length, personal reflection to 328 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:32,720 give you a picture of what it might look like for this thing 329 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:36,280 to be at work in your life, but for God to be at work in your 330 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:39,280 life. When it comes to Vainglory, it's 331 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:45,040 where grace lives, it's where the mercy of God lives. 332 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:51,280 And so this is where I, I personally find freedom from the 333 00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:55,920 exhausting need to be seen as anything more than a sun. 334 00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:02,360 And I think there are people in the room who know that pressure 335 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:07,800 too, just the the quiet need to appear a little bit more 336 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:11,080 composed, a little bit more competent, a little bit more 337 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:14,160 spiritual than maybe you actually feel. 338 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:20,240 And it shows up in work where you want to be seen as capable. 339 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:26,160 It shows up in parenting where you hope other people see that 340 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:33,400 you are patient and wise, where you maybe just have, you know, 341 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:37,240 friendships or you're serving in in community and you want your 342 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:39,840 care for other people to look effortless. 343 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:46,200 It's the subtle habit of managing impressions, of making 344 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:49,520 sure that the story others see about you is slightly better 345 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:54,400 than the one that's true. But Jesus invitation cuts 346 00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:58,720 through all of that. He's not asking us to perform 347 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:01,960 goodness. He's freeing us to live 348 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:07,280 truthfully and rest in being known rather than being noticed. 349 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:12,400 And I think underneath so much of this is our desire to be 350 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:14,280 known. To know and to be known. 351 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:18,960 To know God and to be known by God, to know other people and to 352 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:23,480 be known by other people. And for some reason, this is the 353 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:27,520 thing that causes us to believe that we have to sort of 354 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:30,760 manipulate the circumstances. We have to stack the deck for 355 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:37,160 other people to want to know us, for God to want to know us, to 356 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:42,440 be known by God in community. And the good news is that's not 357 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:44,800 the case. We actually don't have to keep 358 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:51,960 up that act. Rebecca Deyoung in her book On 359 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:54,600 the Passions, which is not necessarily one that I would 360 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:57,400 recommend, but this line was a standout. 361 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:02,400 Vainglory makes us actors in our own lives, not participants in 362 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:05,640 God's story. And I think maybe that's the 363 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:10,040 invitation to stop performing our own story and begin to 364 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:14,080 understand ourselves as participants in God's great 365 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:18,760 drama that's unfolding on the backdrop of your life and mine, 366 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:21,680 on the backdrop of the city that we live in, on the backdrop of 367 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:24,040 the moment in time that we live in. 368 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:29,720 Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, writes, let the 369 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:32,520 same mind be in you. That was in Christ Jesus, who, 370 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:36,200 though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality 371 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:39,640 with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself, 372 00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:44,240 taking the form of a slave, assuming human likeness, and 373 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:47,960 being found in appearance as a human, he humbled himself and 374 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:51,560 became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 375 00:25:52,360 --> 00:25:55,880 Therefore God exalted him even more highly and gave him the 376 00:25:55,880 --> 00:26:00,040 name that is above every other name, so that at the name given 377 00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:04,080 to Jesus every knee should bend in heaven and on earth and under 378 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:07,920 the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ 379 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:11,240 is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 380 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:15,880 So what Jesus is communicating in His earthly ministry in the 381 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:19,680 in His in the way that He acts around other people, in the 382 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:23,680 teaching that he offers, in the parables that he offers it, it's 383 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:27,240 it's illustrating this, it's putting on display this idea. 384 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:30,880 Let the same be, let the same mind be in you that was in 385 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:35,040 Christ Jesus. And then in this passage unfolds 386 00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:38,680 one of the earliest hymns of the church, a song about the 387 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:43,560 downward movement of God, the one who existed in the form of 388 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:48,520 God but didn't cling to status or glory, but let it go, 389 00:26:49,120 --> 00:26:53,360 emptying himself. He didn't come in the likeness 390 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:57,640 of a king, He came in the likeness of a servant. 391 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:02,160 He chose the lowest seat. The Son of God stepped down into 392 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:06,680 our tables, into our hierarchies, into our shame, 393 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:10,560 into our competition, into the pain of our striving to be 394 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:14,480 enough for other people, into our attempts to be seen and to 395 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:20,600 be known. And in that descent reveals the 396 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:25,160 truth that the kind of being known that we're looking for 397 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:27,040 doesn't come from grasping for it. 398 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:33,040 It comes from giving. Giving of our own honest selves. 399 00:27:34,120 --> 00:27:39,920 God's descent into the suffering of humankind exposes how absurd 400 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:44,880 our own self promotion is. The idea that we would be able 401 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:50,720 to, by by craving recognition or by craving being seen or known 402 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:57,800 or loved, be able to manufacture some kind of belonging that's 403 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:00,600 already found in the very presence of Jesus. 404 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:10,040 And so our deepest desire is for this secure connection to 405 00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:12,960 experience the same kind of knowing and being known in 406 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:15,760 community with others. And Jesus shows us how we enter 407 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:20,320 that life by surrendering lower. And by the way, when I say by 408 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:23,120 surrendering lower, I'm aware that there's an impulse that 409 00:28:23,120 --> 00:28:26,880 kind of exists for some people to serve or to be less and less 410 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:29,360 seen or to fade into the background until resentment 411 00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:32,280 starts to grow. That's not exactly the kind of 412 00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:38,120 thing that we're talking about. The the goal is that going lower 413 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:41,880 in community with other people, thinking less of yourself is 414 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:45,600 creating more space for God's love to come into your real 415 00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:47,280 story. And so friends, this is the good 416 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:51,120 news that Jesus took the lowest seat so that even the lowest 417 00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:55,000 could be honored. You know, the the places in the 418 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:59,840 scriptures that talk about Jesus says things like you'll always 419 00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:02,000 have the poor. You won't always have with me, 420 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:06,080 but you'll always have the poor, the admonition in the Scriptures 421 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:10,520 to see the face of God in the least of these. 422 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:14,960 This is the sort of thing that we're invited into. 423 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:19,840 And as God gets underneath what's too heavy for us to move, 424 00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:24,520 our pride, our fear, our performance, he lifts it from 425 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:29,880 within in the context of honesty. 426 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:32,480 And so that's where freedom begins, when our sense of self 427 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:35,480 can start to be recovered and repaired because we no longer 428 00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:38,960 have to perform for God or for anyone else. 429 00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:45,720 And maybe today, something in you recognizes that quiet nudge 430 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:50,560 toward a more restful way of being in the world, sort of a 431 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:57,080 longing to stop striving and to simply belong in whatever 432 00:29:57,080 --> 00:30:02,240 setting you find yourself, whether it's your family or your 433 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:04,240 workplace or even here in this room. 434 00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:13,760 The way into that life is to allow yourself to be loved to to 435 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:16,440 learn to allow yourself to be loved. 436 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:21,280 To learn to allow other people to care for you, to learn to 437 00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:24,120 allow other people to see the real circumstances of your life 438 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:27,360 and to trust that Jesus has already made room for you at the 439 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:32,280 table. You don't have to have the words 440 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:38,160 just right to be able to do that, but just a simple yes to 441 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:44,400 living into that direction of just real, honest life before 442 00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:49,240 God. God's Spirit will meet you there 443 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:52,880 in that place. And so what's on offer here is a 444 00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:58,360 life that is secure in God, not anxious, not abandoned, not 445 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:01,200 chaotic, but calm and steady and known. 446 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:04,640 And those things don't just evaporate overnight, but as we 447 00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:08,360 allow the love of God into the realities of our life, some of 448 00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:11,520 those things start to get uncorked over time a little bit. 449 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:14,920 We start to notice some little things about our story, like the 450 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:17,920 way we showed up at the cafeteria table when we were 451 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:23,840 single digits in age. And God and his kindness gets 452 00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:25,800 underneath some of that stuff and says, you know what? 453 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:29,880 That's actually still there. That's actually still a thing 454 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:34,040 that you might need to think about, talk to somebody about. 455 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:42,480 So if Vainglory feeds on visibility, the way we sort of 456 00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:49,120 starve it out is often through hiddenness, honesty, and 457 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:50,680 generosity. I just want to talk about those 458 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:54,760 three things just for a minute as we sort of wrap up the first 459 00:31:54,760 --> 00:31:58,880 thing. Hiddenness, silence, hidden 460 00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:01,560 service, doing something good and telling no one. 461 00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:07,560 If you notice for you that Vainglory shows up in this way, 462 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:11,440 that it's very public, very you know, the way that you you're 463 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:13,280 concerned with the way that you're seen. 464 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:17,840 One of the great antidotes to that in scripture in the 465 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:22,880 tradition is to to do good for an audience of of 1. 466 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:27,000 As they say, help someone and don't tell anyone. 467 00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:32,440 Give some money anonymously, whatever it looks like, and and 468 00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:34,040 you'll find you'll know pretty quickly. 469 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:36,120 I think if that's the impulse that you struggle with, you'll 470 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:38,000 go. But I ought to tell somebody 471 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:41,640 about that or that would make a really good sermon illustration, 472 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:50,400 confession, naming allowed. The places where we crave 473 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:54,240 attention and validation is one another one of the ways that we 474 00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:59,200 just allow ourselves to become honest about the circumstances 475 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:01,000 of our life. And so, you know, it doesn't 476 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:03,960 have to be, but it could be in prayer in this room. 477 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:05,920 We're about to have prayer teams around. 478 00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:08,320 And so if there's some things that you notice just to be able 479 00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:11,560 to speak them aloud to another person who can just hold that 480 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:14,440 for what it is. Not in a not in a judgmental 481 00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:17,200 way, not in a way that's trying to fix you, but it's just 482 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:20,360 inviting the presence and love of God into that place in your 483 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:30,680 life brand and finally blessing other people publicly or the 484 00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:37,840 practice of just affirming people aloud, the deliberate 485 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:41,640 choice to redirect honor to other people. 486 00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:45,080 You'd be surprised sometimes how how difficult this is for some 487 00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:46,880 people. You hear, you know, folks trying 488 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:49,240 to compliment somebody else. And what it really turns into is 489 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:54,840 a sort of self reflection. When we lift up the gifts of 490 00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:59,160 other people, we create a different kind of social order, 491 00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:02,520 really, one where affirmation flows outward instead of 492 00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:05,520 spiraling inward. Because one of the ways that 493 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:08,920 this gets so deeply rooted into our own life, into our soul, is 494 00:34:09,199 --> 00:34:12,120 through this kind of inward spiral, A spiral of self 495 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:15,400 reflection where other people really aren't considered for 496 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:16,840 what they have to bring to the table. 497 00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:21,320 We're ultimately concerned with our own faults or imperfections 498 00:34:21,320 --> 00:34:27,040 or advantages or disadvantages. And I've seen this lived out 499 00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:30,360 quietly in our own community, all sorts of quiet ways that 500 00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:34,760 people serve one another. Shocking vulnerability from 501 00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:36,480 people even throughout this series. 502 00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:39,080 I mean, I'm not going to tell anybody's story up here, but 503 00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:43,040 guys like good work. I mean, seriously, it's so 504 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:46,520 encouraging, you know, to just week in, week out, put some like 505 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:49,159 hard things in front of us. And then you just hear from 506 00:34:49,159 --> 00:34:53,000 people who are thinking really deep thoughts, really 507 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:56,120 thoughtfully about what's going on in their lives and wanting to 508 00:34:56,120 --> 00:35:00,160 experience the love and care of God coming, coming into your 509 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:03,480 lives. And these things just remind us 510 00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:07,720 that the joy of the Kingdom is not being admired. 511 00:35:08,240 --> 00:35:11,720 It's it's in becoming free little by little from sort of 512 00:35:11,720 --> 00:35:15,200 this restless need to be noticed. 513 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:21,080 So, friends, I'm going to invite our, our worship team back up 514 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:25,360 and we're going to have a little bit of time for some prayer 515 00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:27,480 ministry. So if our, some of our prayer 516 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:30,400 people could make their ways way around the, the outside of the 517 00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:32,440 room. And yeah, Jared, if you've got 518 00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:34,920 anything, would love to, would love to hear it. 519 00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:38,680 Yeah, just as you were preaching, Parker, I had a sense 520 00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:42,400 that there's somebody here is trying to find your way back to 521 00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:45,760 God, and it feels like you're chasing God. 522 00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:51,440 And this invitation of coming to be known by God is going to be a 523 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:53,960 really helpful reframing for you. 524 00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:56,760 So if that is you, I would love to pray for you. 525 00:35:56,760 --> 00:36:00,520 I, I am almost convinced there's someone here that's just trying 526 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:02,520 to find God again. And you just feel like you're 527 00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:05,240 chasing and God's just like you don't need to do that. 528 00:36:05,720 --> 00:36:07,240 Like I can just come and know you. 529 00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:10,200 And I think something really powerful could happen for you 530 00:36:10,200 --> 00:36:12,600 even today. So I'd love to pray for you. 531 00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:15,640 Love it. Yeah, And just a couple other 532 00:36:15,640 --> 00:36:20,120 things I would love to. You know, there's this this idea 533 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:26,160 that vulnerability and honesty starves out Vainglory in our 534 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:27,800 lives. And I I just get the sense that 535 00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:30,560 there might be like one or two people who kind of have a thing 536 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:32,720 in mind. That's like, this is the part of 537 00:36:32,720 --> 00:36:34,440 my life. This is the the recurring 538 00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:37,000 thought that I have or the behavior that I'm kind of like 539 00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:42,720 pegging as like this is the thing that that I need to that I 540 00:36:42,720 --> 00:36:44,600 need the love of God to get underneath. 541 00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:47,040 I would love to pray for you this morning. 542 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:50,440 So friends, we'll close. I would just invite you to stay.