1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:06,880 A reading from the prophet Isaiah, chapter 59, verses 9 2 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:12,320 through 21. Therefore justice is far from 3 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:15,720 us, and righteousness does not reach us. 4 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:20,960 We hope for light, but there is darkness for brightness. 5 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:26,560 But we live in the night. We grope along like a wall like 6 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:30,240 the blind. We grope like those without 7 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:33,680 eyes. We stumble at noon as though it 8 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:37,480 were twilight. We are like the dead among those 9 00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:43,000 who are healthy. We all growl like bears and moan 10 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:47,320 like doves. We hope for justice, but there 11 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:53,400 is none for salvation. But it is far from us, for our 12 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:58,680 transgressions have multiplied before you, and our sins testify 13 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:02,640 against us. For our transgressions are with 14 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:08,560 us, and we know our inequities. Transgression and deception 15 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:15,160 against the Lord, turning away from following our God, speaking 16 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:19,800 oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering lying 17 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:24,680 words from the heart. Justice is turned back and 18 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:29,560 righteousness stands far off, For truth has stumbled in the 19 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:33,280 public square, and honesty cannot enter. 20 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:38,960 Truth is missing, and whoever turns from evil is plundered. 21 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:44,320 The Lord saw that there was no justice, and he was offended. 22 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:49,560 He saw that there was no man, and he was amazed that there was 23 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:53,440 no one interceding. So his own arm brought 24 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:57,480 salvation, and his own righteousness supported him. 25 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:03,360 He put on righteousness as body armor and a helmet of salvation 26 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:07,440 on his head. He put on garments of vengeance 27 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:12,360 for clothing, and he wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. 28 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:19,440 So he will repay according to his deeds, fury to his enemies, 29 00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:25,040 retribution to his foes, and he will repay the coasts and the 30 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,080 islands. They will fear the name of the 31 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:33,760 Lord in the West and his glory in the east, for he will come 32 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:37,280 like a rushing stream driven by the wind of the Lord. 33 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:43,160 The Redeemer will come to Zion and to those in Jacob who turned 34 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:47,560 from transgression. This is the Lord's declaration. 35 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:53,080 As for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord. 36 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:58,480 My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your 37 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:03,480 mouth, will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your 38 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:08,240 children, or from the mouths of your children's children from 39 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:13,400 now on and forever, says the Lord, the word of the Lord. 40 00:03:14,640 --> 00:03:19,920 Let's pray together, Father of Spirit and truth. 41 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:22,720 We pray that not only would we worship you in spirit and in 42 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,520 truth this morning, but we pray that You would give us many 43 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:29,080 conversations like your son Jesus had with the woman at the 44 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:31,840 well in Samaria. And we pray, Lord, that these 45 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:35,480 substantive, truth filled, compassionate conversations 46 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:40,120 would lead to the same level of spiritual renewal in the lives 47 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:43,360 of our friends, neighbors and city, and that we pray that this 48 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:44,800 would be renewing for us as well. 49 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:48,160 We and we ask all of this in the name of your Son Jesus, Amen. 50 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,920 Well, please be seated and do turn in your scriptures to 51 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:56,880 Isaiah chapter 59. We're in a series on our vision 52 00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:01,320 as a church called Shine, our spiritual beacon calling. 53 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:04,200 And we're looking at different ways that we are called to shine 54 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,000 in Chicago, not just now, but for generations to come. 55 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:09,720 And today we're looking at Shining with Truth. 56 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:14,720 Shining with truth. In his novel Lord of the Flies, 57 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:19,000 William Golding tells the story of a group of British school 58 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:23,600 boys that find themselves stranded on a tropical island. 59 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:28,920 And as these young school by school boys waited and hoped for 60 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:33,160 a rescue, they're caught between two different leaders who 61 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:35,440 represent two different sets of values. 62 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:39,680 At first, the boys make the responsible choice, and they 63 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:45,000 elect Ralph to be their leader. Ralph orders the life of these 64 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:49,000 boys around what's called a signal fire, and that signal 65 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:53,880 fire has a purpose, and that is to signal to the outside world 66 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:58,400 that they need to be rescued. The signal fire is the truth of 67 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:01,000 their situation. They're not supposed to be there 68 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,080 and they need help from the outside. 69 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:06,360 It's kind of their true north and it's their main job that 70 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:08,560 they have as a group of school boys. 71 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:12,240 Now. For a while the boys follow 72 00:05:12,280 --> 00:05:15,160 Ralph and they keep the signal fire lit for a while. 73 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:21,280 But then some things happen and the boys get spooked by by 74 00:05:21,280 --> 00:05:26,360 events on the island and the boy that is in charge of hunting, 75 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:30,240 his name is Jack, begins to form an uprising. 76 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:33,440 He takes over and he sort of lures the boys away. 77 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:37,240 He appeals to their to their self protective instincts. 78 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,800 He appeals to their fears. He appeal, he appeals to the 79 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:45,360 part of them that kind of likes violence and and he lures them 80 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:49,520 away from Ralph and Jack really does represent self-interest. 81 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:53,600 And so he appeals to the boys base instincts. 82 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:58,840 And slowly but surely the boys, including Ralph himself, 83 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:06,320 abandoned the signal fire for this Pagan style pig roast where 84 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:09,360 all of their wild instincts are set loose. 85 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:15,480 And in the the heat of the moment, the boys unleash their 86 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:20,040 violence and end up murdering one of their own classmates. 87 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:28,600 Now thankfully Lord of the Flies is fiction, but Even so, the 88 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:33,440 story illustrates a choice that every person, group, church or 89 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,400 society will make and that is this will we? 90 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:40,080 Will we live by what is right and true? 91 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:45,080 Or will we live by self-interest and power? 92 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:50,000 We can live by the signal fire which reminds us of our true 93 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:52,000 condition. We are sinners. 94 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:55,960 God has rescued us and He's called us to live with hope and 95 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:59,680 not with despair. We can steward this flame not 96 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:03,040 just for us, but for our kids and our neighborhoods and our 97 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:06,400 city and for all the generations to come. 98 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:11,760 Now alternatively, we can live by a different code and that is 99 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:15,760 the rule of self-interest. We can abandoned the scriptures 100 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:19,280 and the gospel to adopt ideas and practices that are 101 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,080 expedient. They appeal to our immediate 102 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:24,280 self-interest. They are popular. 103 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:30,200 We can abandoned the hope of the signal fire and give into our 104 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:34,440 desires and fears. We can leave our high calling 105 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:39,040 for the pig roast. Now Isaiah is going to show us 106 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:42,160 what a devastating choice that would be for God's people 107 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:44,200 because he saw it all first hand. 108 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:46,440 He saw the poor getting trampled. 109 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:50,960 He saw no justice whatsoever in the public square for God's 110 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:52,280 people. These are the people who had 111 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:55,280 God's law. It wasn't expedient, it wasn't 112 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,200 popular, and they wanted to stay alive. 113 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:00,720 They wanted to get what was best for them and their families, 114 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:02,480 what was best for them in their tribe. 115 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:07,440 And so they took what they could get rather than living according 116 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:11,600 to God's holy holy rule. It was the strong eat the weak. 117 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:16,240 It was some people get lucky and some people get hurt and most 118 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:18,360 people found a way to excuse it all. 119 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:24,760 The Lord does not want us to repeat the mistakes of history 120 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:28,400 in Israel's history, or so many other cultures and so many other 121 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:31,120 churches and so many other individuals that chose 122 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:36,679 self-interest over truth. He wants us to shine as a light 123 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:40,240 for the nation's, a light for Chicago, a light for future 124 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:42,360 generations. He wants us to be a spiritual 125 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:44,680 beacon. So the Lord is going to use 126 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:47,320 Isaiah's poetry. We can pray that he would. 127 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:50,880 He will use Isaiah's beautiful metaphoric language. 128 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:54,640 Some of it is shocking and hard, but it is a good warning. 129 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:56,440 It's a great wake up call this Lent. 130 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:03,680 What happens, friends, when we abandoned the signal fire of 131 00:09:03,680 --> 00:09:07,120 truth for self-interest? There are three tragedies that 132 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:10,840 result according to Isaiah, and the first one is that it results 133 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:15,920 in a blackout of purpose. A complete blackout of human 134 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:20,680 purpose versus 9 through 11. Isaiah paints a picture. 135 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:24,440 He says this. Therefore justice is far from us 136 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:26,440 and righteousness does not reach us. 137 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:33,760 Listen, we hope for light, but there is darkness for 138 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:36,480 brightness. But we live in the night. 139 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:40,160 We grope along a wall like the blind. 140 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:43,120 We grope like those without eyes. 141 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:48,040 We stumble at noon as though it were twilight and are like the 142 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:50,120 dead among those who are healthy. 143 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:56,440 All human beings need purpose and direction. 144 00:09:56,440 --> 00:10:01,360 They need to know that there is meaning for their life that goes 145 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:04,640 beyond money. We can't just live for money. 146 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:09,200 Anyone who has enough money will tell you there has to be a 147 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:12,320 greater purpose. We cannot simply live for 148 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:14,400 pleasure. Anyone who has gotten all the 149 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:18,360 pleasure that they want will tell you there needs to be some 150 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:24,440 kind of purpose beyond the pleasure, beyond power, beyond 151 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:27,560 trophies. What are we here for? 152 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:32,720 What's the point of our life? Where are we all going 153 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:35,160 collectively together? Is there a common story that 154 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:37,760 we're living? We hunger for that just as much 155 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:42,320 as we need and hope for light. We need purpose and direction, 156 00:10:43,680 --> 00:10:47,160 and God's signal fire tells us what our purpose and direction 157 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:50,320 is. We are created to glorify God, 158 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:54,400 to love Him, to enjoy Him with all of our heart, and to love 159 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:58,800 our neighbor as ourselves. And when that signal fire is 160 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:02,480 snuffed out, we start wandering in the dark. 161 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:07,520 We stumble through life and living for pleasure and living 162 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:10,680 for safety and living for all of our base instincts. 163 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:14,960 And the impact of the soul is just crushing. 164 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:19,840 And as we look at verse 11, I wonder if we can hear like the 165 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:24,960 hopelessness, the inarticulate hopelessness that Isaiah is 166 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:27,440 describing. He in solidarity with his 167 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:31,280 people, he says this. We all growl like bears and moan 168 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:34,120 like doves. We hope for justice, but there 169 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:40,920 is none. Without meaning and purpose, 170 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:45,720 we're left with with inarticulate groans. 171 00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:48,320 We're growling like hungry bears. 172 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:52,480 We're we're moaning and cooing like doves, except that the 173 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:55,760 growls and the moans don't go anywhere. 174 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,320 They don't reach anyone. They don't solve any problems. 175 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:04,480 They don't achieve justice. If we have purpose as human 176 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:08,040 beings, it means that we plan and that we pray and that we 177 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:11,680 petition and that we praise. Like, like people who God has 178 00:12:11,680 --> 00:12:15,560 put on this earth with purpose. But if there's no purpose, 179 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:19,120 eventually human words will fail us because human words will not 180 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:22,520 have purpose or meaning. And so we will begin to growl 181 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:25,440 and moan at the pig roast instead. 182 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:29,360 It's noise without notation. It's yearning but without any 183 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:36,240 yield. When people lack purpose, they 184 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:39,560 start grasping and and looking for the light. 185 00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:42,600 They they start going like where I need to find it somehow. 186 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:46,000 I might grope along this wall, but somehow, maybe someday I can 187 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:51,720 see where the light is. Between 2019 and 2025, we saw 188 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,800 this happen actually with with Gen. 189 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:56,440 Z. And it was a surprise to many 190 00:12:56,440 --> 00:13:00,480 people that especially I've heard a lot of young men in Gen. 191 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:04,600 Z have come to faith because in the wake of the pandemic, they 192 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:07,440 realize I don't have a purpose for my life and I need to know 193 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:12,240 my purpose. And so a significant draw back 194 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:15,360 to Christianity, not just in the United States, but in France and 195 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:19,080 in the UK and many other places in the world, young people from 196 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:21,640 Gen. Z return to church asking the 197 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:24,080 question, what is the purpose for my life? 198 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:28,240 And the reason was that the comfortable secular dream which 199 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:32,160 told them you don't really have a purpose was not satisfying for 200 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:37,480 them. One report on the trend puts it 201 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:40,000 this way. The Christian church's 202 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:44,480 counterculture is increasingly a haven for young men hungry for 203 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:47,480 meaning, purpose, and a clear identity. 204 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:51,960 And the cool thing is, they've stayed because they found their 205 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:54,160 purpose, and they're growing in their purpose, and they're 206 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:57,480 learning the joy of carrying their cross for the life of the 207 00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:01,480 world. It's a privilege to know that we 208 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,080 have a purpose. And it is a privilege actually 209 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:07,960 to let others know they have a purpose and a God who created 210 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:11,960 them and loves them and will help them fulfill His design for 211 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:16,760 their life. Now Isaiah has another warning. 212 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:20,480 It's not just the blackout of meaning and purpose when we lose 213 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:23,240 the truth. If we abandoned the truth for 214 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:26,200 self-interest, if we abandoned the signal fire for the pig 215 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:29,680 roast, the second thing that will happen is our sin becomes 216 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:32,040 closer to us than the presence of God. 217 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:38,400 Our sin becomes more real and present to us than the presence 218 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:41,880 of God. Everywhere Isaiah looks, all he 219 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:43,680 can see are the sins of the nation. 220 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:45,680 Verse 12. Our transgressions have 221 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:48,360 multiplied before you, he laments. 222 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:53,320 Our transgressions are with us, he groans. 223 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:59,000 Now Isaiah was the one who introduced the beautiful name 224 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:06,000 for God, Emmanuel, God with us. But instead of saying Emmanuel, 225 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:09,920 God with us, all he can say are transgressions with us. 226 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:14,080 If you look at verses 12 and 13, it's like iniquities with us, 227 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:18,120 transgressions with us, and you think about what was happening. 228 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,320 It's like injustice with us, cruelty with us. 229 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:25,920 What happens when we abandoned? The truth is that our lives 230 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:31,240 become like a kitchen with rotting garbage in the trash can 231 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:34,840 that never gets taken out. We can't smell the really good 232 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:38,120 food no matter how much garlic we put into our dishes. 233 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:41,440 We can't smell the beautiful food because the garbage is 234 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:44,640 rotting and it's filling the kitchen and it's more present to 235 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:51,160 us than the nourishment. Let's say a Co worker confronts 236 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:57,440 us over a a bad mistake we made on a project and our mistake 237 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:02,120 will cost the company money on the bottom line and and will be 238 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:04,240 a black eye on the team's reputation. 239 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:10,680 Now if we live according to self-interest, our response 240 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:16,320 might be to defend to to deflect, to lie which would lead 241 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:20,360 to worry about being found out and thus we need to lie to cover 242 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:23,960 our tracks. And then our work relationships 243 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:27,840 become defined, at least in part, by lies and posturing and 244 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:31,760 self-interest. And it becomes deception with 245 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:35,680 us, defensiveness with us. You know that many people in our 246 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:38,080 town feel trapped in situations like this. 247 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:42,080 And when you don't know another way, it's like it's really 248 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:45,120 hopeless, and it can be very burdensome. 249 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:49,560 Now, here's the promise of the gospel for anyone who might feel 250 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:51,400 trapped in a situation like this. 251 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:55,680 Do you know that that God and all of his grace and freedom can 252 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:58,240 be more present to us than our own selfishness? 253 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:04,880 He promises to be God with us. Emmanuel, He's our signal fire. 254 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:08,920 He's our living truth. Now if we take up this promise 255 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:12,599 of the gospel, here's a way out. The Co worker confronts our 256 00:17:12,599 --> 00:17:16,119 mistake and we feel our survival mechanisms kick in. 257 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:22,920 But we take a beat, we take a breath, we ask for the presence 258 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:28,600 of God with us and we say, spirit of truth, please give me 259 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:34,720 courage I don't have. And with the power he gives us, 260 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:37,800 we tell the truth to our Co worker. 261 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:41,160 We fess up, we offer actually to make it right at our own 262 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:44,200 expense. And while it hurts in the 263 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:47,520 moment, and while we might get a demotion or even get fired, 264 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:51,680 we're aware that God is with us as a father to a daughter or as 265 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:54,840 a father to a son. And when our Co worker asks us, 266 00:17:54,840 --> 00:18:00,720 why didn't you just lie? We take another press, we ask 267 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:05,600 for courage and we tell them about the hope that we have and, 268 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:09,800 and just the reality of God's, God's grace and overflowing 269 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:13,520 truth begins to flow through us and begins to define not only 270 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:16,920 our private life, but our Co worker life as well. 271 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:23,200 It makes such a difference to live by the truth or not. 272 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:28,360 So Isaiah, he's got a third warning about what happens when 273 00:18:28,360 --> 00:18:31,360 we abandoned the signal fire. It doesn't just black out our 274 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:33,440 meaning and purpose. It doesn't just make our sin 275 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:37,600 more present to us. But what finally happens is 276 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:40,640 something collective. And that is it is a degrading of 277 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:44,160 our common life, a degrading of our common life. 278 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:47,720 Isaiah paints a picture of human society where the rule of law 279 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:51,320 has been shoved aside completely in verse 14. 280 00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:54,960 And we can think of these archetypes as as people. 281 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:58,200 Justice is turned back. You know, someone representing 282 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,480 justice knocking on the courthouse door, being turned 283 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:02,200 away. Get out of here. 284 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:06,000 We don't need you. Justice righteousness stands far 285 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:08,680 off. Someone representing everything 286 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:12,280 true and good, Someone who represents God's righteousness 287 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:15,120 can't even enter the city square. 288 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:18,880 And then truth has stumbled in the public square. 289 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:20,960 Someone who represents just telling the truth. 290 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:24,880 They're actually on the streets where all the business is done. 291 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:28,400 They're lying flat on the ground and people are trampling them. 292 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:30,680 They're stepping on their necks and stepping on their heads 293 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:33,160 because they don't care about truth at all. 294 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:40,080 And honesty cannot enter. Treachery has overcome trust. 295 00:19:40,360 --> 00:19:42,720 Isaiah pictures it. It's every person for 296 00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:45,640 themselves. It's a, it's a pig roast. 297 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:49,240 It's a frenzy. When we try to do the right 298 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:52,560 thing, he says we're punished. Verse 15 says truth is missing 299 00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:55,520 and whoever turns from evil is plundered. 300 00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:58,600 It's like the reverse opposite of Psalm one. 301 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:01,480 It's not Whoever turns from evil prospers. 302 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:03,600 Whoever turns from evil is plundered. 303 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:07,920 Have you ever seen this happen? Someone does the right thing. 304 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:12,200 Have you ever seen a breakdown in societal trust and a 305 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:16,880 corruption of public life? On the night of October 20th, 306 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:21,840 2014, a high school student from Chicago named Laquan McDonald 307 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:25,200 was shot death shot to death by the Chicago police. 308 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:30,440 Now the official report claimed that Laquan was crazed and that 309 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:33,880 he lunged at officers with a knife and so they had to shoot 310 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:37,200 him in self-defense. That turned out to be a lie. 311 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:43,440 The video of this incident, the the dashboard footage was 312 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:46,560 withheld from the public, which covered up the lie. 313 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:50,440 And then the mayor of Chicago said the reason that they kept 314 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:53,520 the video from being released is that it would impede the federal 315 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:55,560 investigation. And that was another lie. 316 00:20:57,120 --> 00:21:00,440 Justice has turned back. Honesty cannot enter. 317 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:02,600 Truth has stumbled in the public square. 318 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:05,280 This is self-interest ruling the day. 319 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,000 Now, what turned the tide? Well, there was a young man 320 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:14,320 named William Callaway. William Callaway loves Jesus and 321 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:17,360 loves Chicago, and he lives by the truth. 322 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:21,360 Callaway filed a Freedom of Information request for the 323 00:21:21,360 --> 00:21:28,000 Dashkim footage of the shooting. Driven by his love, he dedicated 324 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:31,120 a huge amount of time and effort to see this through. 325 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:35,400 He was not paid for his efforts. And what happened is the video 326 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:39,280 footage showed that Laquan was walking away from officers when 327 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:41,840 they choose to shoot him 17 times. 328 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:47,160 And as the truth got out, justice was finally done. 329 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:51,160 Even even though it was limited, there was some justice done. 330 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:57,520 Now author Gregory Cockel noted that modern society makes a 331 00:21:57,520 --> 00:21:59,400 promise to us. And the promise is this. 332 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:04,000 You can treat reality like a game, like a game of Monopoly 333 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:08,640 with human made rules that can be changed by humans at any time 334 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:12,320 based on what you think is right, based on your situation. 335 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:18,480 That's self-interest. And so some players will get 336 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:21,000 lucky and other players will get hurt. 337 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:23,360 And you know what? It all goes back in the box 338 00:22:23,360 --> 00:22:25,160 anyway. What does it mean? 339 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:32,360 Doesn't really mean anything. And that mindset of playing 340 00:22:32,360 --> 00:22:36,400 reality like a game is what gets us into situations like the one 341 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:41,240 we were in with Laquan McDonald. It degrades common life. 342 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:44,200 Now here's the gospel claim. It's very different. 343 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:47,520 The gospel claim is this reality is not a game. 344 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:54,160 Reality is more like gravity than Monopoly, just as gravity 345 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:59,240 is a God-given force that we can live by and even thrive in. 346 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:05,000 The gravity of God's truth and his love and the moral arc of 347 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:09,000 his story is a force designed to ground us. 348 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:13,000 If we treat reality like a game, we will hurt ourselves and 349 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:18,800 others. And the gospel invitation is, if 350 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:22,640 that's you, come into the gravity of God's love and be 351 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:26,840 healed. Be grounded, grounded in his 352 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,600 truth, grounded together with his people. 353 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:36,160 Do you know, news outlet asked William Callaway, what's one 354 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:38,880 thing you read every day? The first thing he said, the 355 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:44,000 Bible, Second thing he said the Tribune, Isn't that cool? 356 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:47,520 He loves Jesus, he loves Chicago, and that was grounding 357 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:54,000 him in his way forward. So Isaiah's invitation to us, 358 00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:58,440 let's join William and be grounded in God's truth and his 359 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:02,480 love and let that lead us to become a beacon of truth for all 360 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:05,440 who are ready to stop playing reality like a game. 361 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,640 Now the boys on that island in Lord of the Flies could not 362 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:13,360 rescue themselves. Even Ralph couldn't do it. 363 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:17,720 The signal fire, for what it was worth, couldn't rescue them. 364 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:19,960 The rescue had to come from the outside. 365 00:24:20,120 --> 00:24:21,920 And that's where Isaiah takes us. 366 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:26,920 The Lord finds us, as it were, on the deserted island. 367 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:32,320 Signal fire is out. We've lost our way, we've lost 368 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:34,080 our purpose. We've lost our true north. 369 00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:38,040 And here's God's response in verse 15, second-half of verse 370 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:41,320 15. The Lord saw that there was no 371 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:46,600 justice and He was offended. He saw that there was no man. 372 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:49,360 He was amazed that there was no one interceding. 373 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:56,760 The Lord here is pictured as a lot of people refer to this as 374 00:24:56,760 --> 00:25:02,320 the divine warrior. He comes in in chapter 59 and we 375 00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:06,880 see the divine warrior get involved in human history as we 376 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:10,440 track through through Isaiah 61 and 62. 377 00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:13,080 It's a glorious image of Emmanuel, God with us. 378 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:17,440 He's coming not only as a baby, He's also coming as a warrior, 379 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:20,880 and he steps into the public square. 380 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:24,360 We can see Jesus Christ fulfilling this and looking out 381 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:27,840 and seeing. Looking to the right, seeing a 382 00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:31,360 haggard group of people stumbling because their lives 383 00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:35,760 lack purpose, and then looking over here to the left and seeing 384 00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:38,960 a widow and an orphan being denied justice and oppressed. 385 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:43,280 Looking down and seeing God's people hiding the light of the 386 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:48,000 truth under a bushel and then looking up and seeing everyone 387 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:50,240 around him is clothed in compromise. 388 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:53,720 And so he realizes that he will need to clothe himself in 389 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:55,960 righteousness and deliver us all together. 390 00:25:56,680 --> 00:26:00,520 Verse 16, second-half of that of that says, so his own arm 391 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:03,560 brought salvation. Now there's the power and his 392 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:06,000 own righteousness supported him. There's the truth. 393 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:09,960 He brings these things together and he put on righteousness as 394 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:13,720 body armor, verse 17, and a helmet of salvation on his head. 395 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:17,000 Some will hear echoes of Ephesians chapter 6. 396 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:21,040 He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped himself 397 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:25,000 in zeal as in a cloak. Now as you hear these 398 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:30,800 descriptions, notice something. He carries no weapons. 399 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:37,800 His body armor is righteousness. His helmet is foul for 400 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:40,200 salvation. His garments of vengeance and 401 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:43,400 zeal are for putting the world right and whole. 402 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:48,640 The only offensive weapon he brings is his mighty arm. 403 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:52,720 That's the only thing he brings. And when Jesus Christ came to 404 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:56,000 fulfill this text, to fulfill this image of the divine 405 00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:01,000 warrior, He raised his arm to bring peace, to heal. 406 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:04,400 And when it came time, he stretched out both arms on the 407 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:10,440 cross to bear upon himself all of the lies of this world and 408 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:15,720 all of the injustice those lies resulted in, so that he would 409 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:18,680 bring healing and resurrection through his own life. 410 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:25,040 Jesus Christ has not come to kill us or judge us, but put to 411 00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:29,960 death the lies of this world and to tell us the truth, to restore 412 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:33,800 the signal fire that God created us, that He loves us, that He 413 00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:38,040 seeks us out. And this costly, glorious moment 414 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:42,280 of truth, friends, is the gravitational center of all 415 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:45,120 reality. It draws all people unto Him. 416 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:49,320 Verse 19. They will fear the name of the 417 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:52,720 Lord in the West and His glory in the east, for He will come 418 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:55,040 like a rushing stream driven by the wind. 419 00:27:55,360 --> 00:27:57,720 This is otherwise translated as Spirit. 420 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:01,320 It's the word Rua, the wind of the Lord, the breath of the 421 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,840 Lord, which brought creation into existence and which renews 422 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:08,120 creation. You know, before we groped in 423 00:28:08,120 --> 00:28:12,240 the darkness, but now the glory of the Deliverer brings light 424 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:15,720 again. Before our common life was 425 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:20,040 absolutely breaking down, but now West and East are united and 426 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:22,760 reverent fear around the Son of God. 427 00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:27,280 Before it was chaos of self-interest but now the Spirit 428 00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:30,320 of God has raised up one true leader. 429 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:36,560 When the British officer did arrive on the beach of the 430 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:40,880 island in in the novel, something interesting happened 431 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:43,160 and that is that all the boys gathered around him. 432 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:49,720 They all gathered to him from all around the island and they 433 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:54,360 were all there assembled on the beach of the island and they 434 00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:57,200 began to tell him what happened on the island. 435 00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:01,120 They began to just unburden their their souls and 436 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:04,200 consciousness to this British officer. 437 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:08,960 They shared how they abandoned the signal fire and gave into 438 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:12,360 peer pressure and joined the pig roast and savagely killed one of 439 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:15,280 their own. And as they began to weep there 440 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:19,480 right on the beach, as they faced the reality of what they 441 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:25,440 had done, they also it began to sink into them as they wept that 442 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:29,080 they were indeed being rescued and that the nightmare was 443 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:32,000 coming to an end and that healing was about to begin. 444 00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:40,520 So I was just wondering this week, what if a manual Anglican 445 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:47,360 could be like that beach? What if this could be a place 446 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:51,320 where people could come and meet their rescuer in Jesus Christ 447 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:58,200 and they had space to to tell the truth, to unburden their 448 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:03,120 souls, to weep with relief that there's a rescue, that there is 449 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:06,000 a purpose, that there is a hope and there is a future in Jesus 450 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:10,720 Christ. Now, many of you have met, some 451 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,800 of you have met a fellow Emanuel Anglican member. 452 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:19,680 Her name is Nafisa. She's a mother of two and she 453 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:22,840 was baptized here at Emmanuel Anglican last year. 454 00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:28,760 And Nafisa at one point lived here on the north side, had no 455 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:35,200 interest in Christianity. She, she did not believe either 456 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:37,840 in the Christian gospel or in the Christian way. 457 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:43,160 And in fact, she had a different moral universe that she lived 458 00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:45,280 by. And, and I did get Nafisa's 459 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:46,960 permission to, to tell her story. 460 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:53,800 She she was really glad to have it told Nafisa out of a Heart 461 00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:58,360 for Justice was working in the abortion industry and she did 462 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:01,280 have a sense of sense of purpose in that industry. 463 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:06,800 But there was something about the moral claims of the industry 464 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:08,640 that did not quite sit right with her. 465 00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:12,840 And from a couple of different circumstances, she began to 466 00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:17,960 question the assumptions that brought her to the life that she 467 00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:20,000 was living and the work that she was doing. 468 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:23,920 And along the way, she began to really want to engage with 469 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:29,760 Christians about their beliefs. And and not just for Christians 470 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:32,280 to to say you believe what you believe and I believe what I 471 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:34,120 believe it she know, tell me what you believe. 472 00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:36,760 And so along came a friend named Susanna. 473 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:41,560 Susanna was a deeply committed Christian who loved Nafisa and 474 00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:44,720 listened well to her and had a lot of compassion, did not judge 475 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:50,360 her at all, but had the respect for Nafisa to be honest about 476 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:54,880 her convictions, her gospel convictions about human dignity 477 00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:59,200 and human life and the moral arc of the universe as defined by 478 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:04,200 the Scriptures. And Nafisa challenged and pushed 479 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:10,000 Susanna for a long time and appreciated the pushback that 480 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:14,080 Susanna gave her. And a friendship formed and a 481 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:17,720 mutual respect formed. And there came a time where 482 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:20,480 Nafisa felt called to become a mother. 483 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:24,760 And as she was becoming a mother, Jesus Christ transformed 484 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:30,120 her life and her heart. And she found her way here to 485 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:33,280 get baptized and to follow Jesus, where all of us have the 486 00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:37,480 privilege of walking with her. From where we're at now to the 487 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:40,440 New Jerusalem, we all celebrate in the presence of God together. 488 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:46,000 And here's my question, what if we started to follow Susanna's 489 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:47,640 lead? Susanna's not a part of of 490 00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:51,600 Emanuel Anglican here in Chicago, but I think she sets a 491 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:58,000 really compelling example for us where she does not hide what she 492 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:02,920 believes, but she respects her neighbor enough to engage in 493 00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:07,000 courageous, loving, compassionate conversation 494 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:10,240 around some of the most difficult topics that we face as 495 00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:12,960 a society. And to live by the signal fire, 496 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:16,360 even if it might cost Susanna in the meantime a little bit of 497 00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:18,160 reputation in the eyes of her peers. 498 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:22,880 What if we cared enough? There are more Nafisa's in our 499 00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:25,200 city. Do we love them enough to live 500 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:27,840 by the signal fire rather than the pig roast? 501 00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:33,520 Of compromise and of hiding what we really believe and of 502 00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:35,680 avoiding the uncomfortable conversations. 503 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:40,040 Shining with truth is a very high calling. 504 00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:43,360 And we have that calling. And it's not an easy calling. 505 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:47,280 And for all kinds of reasons, this part of being a spiritual 506 00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:50,240 beacon can feel heavy in our city and in our day. 507 00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:55,080 So before we end, I want to end where Isaiah ends, which is a 508 00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:58,120 promise from the Lord in verse 21. 509 00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:01,760 As for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord. 510 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:06,360 My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your 511 00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:09,679 mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your 512 00:34:09,679 --> 00:34:13,120 children or from the mouths of your children's children from 513 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:16,000 now on and forever, says the Lord. 514 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:20,000 Now I just want us to hear something in this verse. 515 00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:29,000 Quiet confidence from the Lord. Can you hear the confidence in 516 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:30,719 the truth? Can you hear the Lord's 517 00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:37,320 confidence that His truth is so aligned with the moral fabric of 518 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:41,120 the universe, with the grain of reality, that He's confident 519 00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:45,600 that His words and His spirit will be passed on from one 520 00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:51,679 generation to the next, no matter what the conversations of 521 00:34:51,679 --> 00:34:55,199 each generation are? That His truth will speak light 522 00:34:55,199 --> 00:35:00,080 into those conversations. Purpose, hope, justice and that 523 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:04,600 not only will we receive those words in his spirit, but also 524 00:35:04,720 --> 00:35:08,040 the generation to come will receive it and the generation 525 00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:10,560 after that and the generation after that. 526 00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:13,800 Can we hear the Lord? Can we see the Lord's long term 527 00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:18,240 perspective that no matter how dark things are in Isaiah's day 528 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:21,800 or our day, that his light will continue to shine? 529 00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:27,480 And friends, can that just give us a little bit of freedom to 530 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:31,480 sow seeds of the gospel and let people respond how they're going 531 00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:35,480 to respond to, to anchor ourselves in the deep truths of 532 00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:38,520 the Christian faith, regardless of it's going to be 533 00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:40,680 controversial in some way or another? 534 00:35:40,840 --> 00:35:44,080 Can we just receive the Lord's confidence that that's OK and 535 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:45,960 that's actually part of our journey. 536 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:52,000 Can we embrace the distinct, beautiful truths of the 537 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:55,320 Christian gospel and let the Lord be the one who keeps the 538 00:35:55,320 --> 00:35:57,880 flame going from now and forever? 539 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:01,800 That's the Lord's promise. His spirit and words will not 540 00:36:01,800 --> 00:36:04,240 depart from us. It won't depart from our mouths 541 00:36:04,800 --> 00:36:07,280 or from our children or our children's children. 542 00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:13,440 It won't depart from our city. So, Emanuel, let us with joy 543 00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:18,480 steward the flame of God's truth, not because we're waiting 544 00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:23,440 to be rescued, but because the rescuer has already arrived and 545 00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:28,960 his truth endures forever. In the name of the Father, Son 546 00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:30,240 and Holy Spirit, Amen.