1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:03,880 Hey everybody, good morning. It's great to see you this 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:07,400 morning. Still feels like we are settling 3 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:10,280 into this new year if we haven't had the chance to meet. 4 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:13,880 My name is Josh. I have the joy of serving as 5 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:20,120 pastor here at the Garden Church and I'm excited to be entering 6 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:24,240 this new series that Mandy was sharing with us today titled 7 00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:27,840 Rewired by Love. And over the course of the 8 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:31,000 series, we're, we're, we're attempting to answer a 9 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:34,400 fundamental question, maybe the question that I think is, is 10 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:39,040 most important, at least to me, in the world, which is how do we 11 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:42,240 change? How do we become more like 12 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:44,360 Jesus? And in order to do so, of 13 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:46,840 course, we're going to be rooted in Scripture and also the 14 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:49,840 insights of spiritual formation, but we're also bringing that 15 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:52,760 into conversation with insights from neuroscience and 16 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:56,960 psychology. Most of you already know that I 17 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:01,320 was a nerd. If not, just a quick disclaimer, 18 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:05,239 I am not professionally trained in the domain theologically. 19 00:01:05,239 --> 00:01:10,040 Yes, neuroscience and psychology are areas of passion and 20 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:11,600 interest. So feel free to vet things that 21 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:14,240 I'm saying with your local doctor and residence. 22 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,640 But, but I, I believe that these, these conversation that 23 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,400 we're entering into over the next few weeks is hopefully 24 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:25,560 going to be enlightening, but also, whether you're a nerd or 25 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:29,800 not, really useful to us as we think about what it looks like 26 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:32,120 to live in the way of love and to follow Jesus. 27 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:35,720 And this morning we're beginning with a question. 28 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:37,680 And that question is simply this. 29 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:43,800 It's why is it that so often we stop at information rather than 30 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:47,280 transformation? Like, why do we so often seem to 31 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:51,280 get stuck at what we know and then it doesn't follow through 32 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:53,880 into how we live? And this question is of course 33 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:58,000 raised here by Jesus story which we find in Matthew chapter 21. 34 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:02,240 In Matthew 21, we find a conflict which has been brewing 35 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,920 for a while in Matthew's narrative, a conflict between 36 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:10,320 the religious leadership on one hand and Jesus on the other. 37 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:14,360 At the very outset of chapter 21, there's this narrative of 38 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:19,400 Jesus entering Jerusalem to enormous fanfare and acclaim. 39 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:23,440 Everyone's excited to see him. They're they're, they're stoked 40 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:26,400 and and people are saying hail like this is the coming king. 41 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:29,280 This is the Messiah. None of which makes the 42 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,080 religious authorities happy. They were very content with the 43 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:34,320 status quo, with them being in charge. 44 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:39,040 This upstart for them is just a source of suspicion and they're 45 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:41,840 bothered by it. Then we move a little bit 46 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:45,680 further forward here in chapter 21 and we see the incident, 47 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:48,680 which many of you will be familiar with, of Jesus coming 48 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,680 in and throwing the money changers out of the temple, 49 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:54,640 right? He, he basically publicly 50 00:02:54,640 --> 00:02:58,800 accuses the religious leaders of setting up a system that's all 51 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:03,240 about exploitation and, and capitalism and, and making money 52 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,200 and, and contaminating the spiritually holy place. 53 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:08,840 He publicly puts them to shame in front of everyone. 54 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:12,080 Of course, they're not big fans of this either. 55 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:16,440 And throughout this chapter, we see this conflict continuing to 56 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:19,320 escalate. Just before our passage today, 57 00:03:19,640 --> 00:03:21,240 they come and they question his authority. 58 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,400 They say, hey, what gives you the right to do any of these 59 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:26,960 things or to say any of these things? 60 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:31,040 And it's in response to this question that we find our text 61 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:36,200 today here in Matthew chapter 21, where Jesus tells a story 62 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:41,200 about a father and two sons. The story is is pretty simple. 63 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:43,520 We see it pick up here in verse 28. 64 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:47,240 We see that the father gives directions to both of his sons. 65 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:50,000 He says, hey, go work in the vineyard today. 66 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,440 Now, while both of the sons receive the same instruction, 67 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:59,760 they respond in opposite ways. The one son, of course, we see 68 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:04,560 here in verse 29 flatly refuses. I will not, he says. 69 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:08,240 But later he changes his mind and ends up going and doing what 70 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,800 his father asked him to do. The second son, which is 71 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:16,240 recorded in verse 30, immediately commits to obey. 72 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,680 He says the right thing. Yes, Sir, he says. 73 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:22,079 I'm on my way. Got it. 74 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:26,120 Orders received. But then, of course, he doesn't 75 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:29,120 follow through. He doesn't actually do what he 76 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:34,080 has committed to do. And this, of course, it's a 77 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:38,040 rebuke of the religious leaders. The consequence of this is from 78 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:43,440 Jesus perspective, severe. He warns in verse 21, the tax 79 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:47,200 collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God 80 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:50,560 ahead of you. Jesus thinks that there is a 81 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:53,160 problem here. He's saying essentially this. 82 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:58,880 The religious people of his day say all the right things, they 83 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:04,400 have the right answers. They profess correctly, but it's 84 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:08,200 not matched by their lives. There's no follow through. 85 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:13,120 Of course a lot has changed since the 1st century, but I 86 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:17,560 think we'd have to admit that this problem seems to still be 87 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:20,560 with us. Too often Christians in the 88 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:27,080 church, and honestly me too, like have a gap between what 89 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:31,840 what we espouse as correct, what we know to be right, and then 90 00:05:31,840 --> 00:05:35,240 how we actually show up. I know I feel this tension like 91 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:39,160 at a cognitive level, I believe that that prayer is powerful and 92 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:43,400 that I can depend on God. But at a nervous system level, 93 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:47,560 when I'm like anxious about something, I still reach for 94 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:51,080 like over functioning and working really hard trying to 95 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:54,280 persuade other people or or pressuring someone. 96 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:57,680 My, my nervous system believes that these are more reliable 97 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:02,240 strategies for solving for my anxiety at a cognitive level. 98 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:05,160 I, I believe that when somebody shares their heart with me and 99 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:08,040 they're naming kind of what's at play for them, that, that I 100 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:10,920 would serve them best by listening with openness and 101 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:15,480 curiosity, that I'd ask great open-ended questions and be 102 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:19,200 emotionally present. But too much of the time I like 103 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:22,280 really want to give advice because I think I have a great 104 00:06:22,280 --> 00:06:24,760 solution that will simplify this and, and kind of make the 105 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:28,720 problem go away. At a cognitive level, I believe 106 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:32,520 that Sabbath is essential and a practice that demonstrates that 107 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:36,160 that I am not in charge and that we can trust in God. 108 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:42,400 And then a lot of the time I get to that designated day on my 109 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:45,200 calendar, my task list is overflowing. 110 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:49,760 And I say, well, we'll have to try again next week. 111 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:53,840 Does anybody else here relate to the dynamics that I'm saying? 112 00:06:53,840 --> 00:06:56,400 Hopefully it's not just me in this today. 113 00:06:56,760 --> 00:06:59,400 After all, this is the time of the year for New Year's 114 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,120 resolutions, right? We're still early. 115 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:04,920 We're still early. How many of you today in this 116 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:09,160 room have some kind of intention or resolution for the new year, 117 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:10,760 some kind of commitment that you've made? 118 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:13,640 All right, I see a lot of hands. We're not all entirely A cynical 119 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:16,240 bunch yet. I appreciate the resolve, the 120 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:19,920 the hope, the intention. I mean, many of us as we have 121 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:23,640 some time to reflect on the year, set these intentions. 122 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:25,800 We want to eat healthier or sleep more. 123 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:28,120 We want to save money or, or get more sleep. 124 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:31,440 We want to invest in certain relationships or or double down 125 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:35,120 on some new spiritual practices to develop our relationship with 126 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:39,320 God. If you've done this before, you 127 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:41,080 probably know how it typically goes. 128 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:45,120 The research says that 80% of us will completely abandoned these 129 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:49,920 resolutions by February. We're better at intentions than 130 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:54,080 we are at follow through. We're going better at knowing 131 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:57,120 the right answer than we are at living it. 132 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:01,800 As Derek Sievers famously said, if information was the answer, 133 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:03,760 we'd all be billionaires with perfect ABS. 134 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:07,120 I think that's funny. I don't know, maybe not anybody 135 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:11,040 else. Like there's a there is a gap 136 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:15,120 between just knowing what's right and somehow seeing that 137 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:18,480 information move to transformation in our lives, 138 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:20,680 right. And I don't know if this is 139 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:22,880 encouraging to you or discouraging to you, but this is 140 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:26,280 not a new problem. We see this throughout the pages 141 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:31,000 of Scripture as well. Paul names one of the things in 142 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:34,360 Scripture that I personally feel like I resonate most deeply with 143 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:37,480 when he says in Romans Chapter 7, I have the desire to do what 144 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:41,720 is good, but I cannot carry it out, for I do not do the good I 145 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:45,000 want to do, but the evil I do not want to do, that I keep on 146 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:49,600 doing right. Sometimes this feels like our 147 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:53,200 lived reality. So what is up with this? 148 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:57,680 Why the gap? And why do we so often stop at 149 00:08:57,680 --> 00:09:02,440 information or awareness without moving on to transformation? 150 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:06,360 Well, I think there's a few answers to this question and I'm 151 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:09,160 probably not going to give a full accounting of it this 152 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:12,760 morning, but I think 1 answer we see from history, and there's 153 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:15,920 another answer that we can help make sense of things a bit from 154 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:19,720 neuroscience. The first is historical reason. 155 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:24,440 Everyone probably here in this room has been shaped in some way 156 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:28,440 by Western culture. Not everybody here is from the 157 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:33,760 global West, but but the assumptions of the impulses, the 158 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:37,560 traditions of the West shape us, certainly me, certainly our 159 00:09:37,560 --> 00:09:40,920 church deeply. And of course, there's a lot of 160 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:44,040 good in this and there's also some challenging things. 161 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:46,640 One of the main shifts that we've seen really some from the 162 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:50,760 16th century all the way up and now till now, it is the shift 163 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:54,800 towards increasingly focusing on the mind. 164 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:58,400 Of course, in the Protestant Reformation, those of us who 165 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:01,400 would self describe as Protestants, we're a Protestant 166 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:04,400 church, that we are are heirs of the Reformation. 167 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:07,280 In the Reformation was this historical movement which placed 168 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:12,240 this great emphasis on Scripture, sola scriptura. the 169 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:16,040 Reformation leveraged the advent of the printing press and 170 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:19,800 growing literacy at the time to place the Bible in the hands of 171 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:23,760 everyday people and said we need to to not just rely on 172 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:25,640 tradition. We need to not just rely on 173 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:29,280 ritual or communal practices or what somebody else has told us. 174 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:32,040 We need to find the truth for ourself. 175 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:36,800 Of course, the schism with the Catholic Church also revealed 176 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:39,160 kind of the need for for doctrinal clarity. 177 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:43,440 Confessions became a big thing. We began to be very focused on 178 00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:46,160 having the right answers. How do we solve for the problem? 179 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:51,400 What's the difference between this group and that group at the 180 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:55,440 For the first time in history, the center of gathered worship 181 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:59,480 in the church shifted from communion through the 1st, 16th 182 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:04,160 centuries to the preaching of Scripture from then up until 183 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:08,000 now. And so in many ways, the church 184 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:12,520 began to move towards learning, towards content delivery, 185 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:16,320 towards understanding, towards a conceptual grasp of the truth. 186 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:20,560 At the same time, the Enlightenment followed shortly 187 00:11:20,560 --> 00:11:24,120 on the heels of the Reformation with its focus on reason, 188 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:26,560 empirical evidence in the scientific revolution. 189 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:30,680 Science, of course, at the time first began to really discern 190 00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:34,040 maps and patterns and and make sense of the world. 191 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:38,160 And because of the ability to translate those insights into 192 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:41,840 words which could be published and sent around the world, all 193 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:44,240 of a sudden we began this building movement towards 194 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:50,320 greater understanding, greater conceptual control of of the 195 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:53,640 world and how it worked. At the same time, Descartes is 196 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:57,480 developing this metaphysical picture in which the mind is 197 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:01,240 central, an immaterial thinking substance distinct from the 198 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:04,640 body. He says, I think therefore I am. 199 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:10,000 So all of these trends, all of these tendencies move us from a, 200 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:14,800 a place of greater embodiment to a great place of greater 201 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:17,680 intellectual life and focus on the mind. 202 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:22,560 Of course, here in Boston, we are proud champions of this 203 00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:26,000 tradition, right? The, the like academic capital 204 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:28,720 of the world. We, we got a we got a community 205 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:33,240 rife with pH DS in here. Like people love to learn and 206 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:38,960 grow and understand and grasp and look, I am myself a product 207 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:42,800 of this, grateful for this heritage, committed to the 208 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:46,480 reality of Scripture, right? Most of this, I believe, was 209 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:50,920 deeply good and necessary shifts things that brought us great 210 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:55,520 gifts. But is it possible to swing too 211 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:58,680 far? Is it possible to focus on one 212 00:12:58,680 --> 00:13:00,960 kind of knowing as opposed to another? 213 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:05,280 See neuroscientist suggest that there are two different ways of 214 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:07,920 knowing. There's what we might describe 215 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:14,040 as knowing that, and then there's knowing how knowing that 216 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:17,320 is the kind of knowing that is familiar to most of us from 217 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:20,720 school, a Bible study, from sermons. 218 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:23,880 It's the kind of knowledge that we can put into words, we can 219 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:26,680 explain and argue for, we can write down. 220 00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:31,320 It's the kind of knowing that remembers state capitals and 221 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:34,720 dates and histories, ethical principles and theological 222 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:37,520 commitments. This is knowing that or, or what 223 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:40,760 we might more technically refer to as explicit knowledge. 224 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:45,200 So yes, we know that that Jesus died and rose again. 225 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:49,280 We can say it, we can declare it, we can defend it, we can 226 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:52,400 teach it. But there's also a second kind 227 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:55,760 of knowing, a knowing that is not stored primarily in 228 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:58,200 sentences. And this is is knowing how. 229 00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:02,040 It's what neuroscientists often call implicit knowledge or or 230 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:06,200 non declarative knowing. And it's the system that governs 231 00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:08,520 the whole range of our relational life. 232 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:13,440 What we love, our emotional reactions to our surroundings, 233 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:17,000 our ability to calm ourselves and regulate our nervous 234 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:20,240 systems. It's where our habits live and 235 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:23,280 our reflexes. It's how we make sense of our 236 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:25,560 identity and who we are in the world. 237 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:29,440 And this is something that happens in a totally different 238 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:34,240 brain system that's not even accessible by way of language. 239 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:38,680 Our gut level sense of what's safe and what's threatening, who 240 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:43,680 we are and what we reach for when we stressed this is knowing 241 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:48,200 how the really important thing here is that these two systems, 242 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:52,200 these two kinds of knowledge can function relatively 243 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:55,200 independently from one another, right? 244 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:58,720 They're, they're related for sure, but distinct. 245 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:02,720 One way that we see this very clearly is in amnesia patients. 246 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:07,480 Amnesia patients will lose their explicit memory, right? 247 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:11,360 They may not remember a name, their birthday, who the 248 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:15,960 president was, but they continue to remember and often can 249 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:18,960 continue to gain implicit memory. 250 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:22,160 They know how to do things. They may still remember how to 251 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:26,520 braid their hair or drive a car, how to walk, or other things if 252 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:29,200 these brain systems were not affected. 253 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:32,680 And this is because you can store information and knowledge 254 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:35,360 you can know in more than one way. 255 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:38,760 So why does all this matter? Why am I taking the time to 256 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:43,120 break this down? It's because I believe that it 257 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:49,040 is possible to have a beautiful explicit theology, to be able to 258 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:54,800 explain what God is like in great detail and sophistication, 259 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:58,360 to have encyclopedic biblical knowledge, the right answers, 260 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:03,360 the right language, and to have implicit reflexes that still run 261 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:09,320 on fear, shame, avoidance, anxiety, and control. 262 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:14,920 This is a serious problem for us, according to Jim Wilder and 263 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:18,000 Michael Hendricks, that the Western church, because of these 264 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:20,880 streams that I talked about earlier, consistently 265 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:26,680 prioritizes and privileges knowing that over knowing how we 266 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:31,240 keep giving more and more and more information, hoping that it 267 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:33,520 will somehow simply result in transformation. 268 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:39,000 So more sermons, more Bible studies, more discussion groups, 269 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:42,600 and we get that, that that neurotransmitter which signals 270 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:45,120 that that this is good. We have fresh awareness. 271 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:48,160 We get a little dopamine hit that says this is great, I 272 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:49,840 learned something, I discovered something. 273 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:54,840 And then so often we stop precisely at that point with 274 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:57,840 greater awareness but without any transformation. 275 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:03,120 And I know I do this like sometimes, to use a non churchy 276 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:07,119 example, I'll find myself watching like reels and how to's 277 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:09,839 on the Internet. And I love learning things. 278 00:17:09,839 --> 00:17:12,839 I remember a little while ago, I was watching this video where 279 00:17:12,839 --> 00:17:17,720 these gymnasts were explaining the mechanics of a backflip and 280 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:19,680 they had lots of tips. They had lots of specific 281 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:21,119 structures. You do this, then you do that, 282 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:22,960 and this is how it works. And you got to tuck this way, 283 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:27,440 You got to rotate this way. And like, I think I know how to 284 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:30,720 do a backflip, but I very much do not know how to do a 285 00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:32,560 backflip. You know what I'm saying? 286 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:35,920 Like if I attempted A backflip right now, we would be calling 287 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:38,400 911. It would be a serious, serious 288 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:41,360 problem because I have no idea how to do a backflip. 289 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:45,040 But I know a lot about doing backflips for no apparent 290 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:48,160 reason. And maybe you've noticed this 291 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:50,840 tendency in your own life too, right? 292 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:55,160 You read or or watch a documentary about something. 293 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:59,480 There's this flash of dopamine. Like, I understand this, I've 294 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:02,320 got this conceptually, but then does it? 295 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:04,800 Does it translate to anything different in my life? 296 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:09,840 I'm aware of the political realities, but do I show up in 297 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:11,880 any way in our community for my neighbors? 298 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:16,040 I'm aware of these these these insights about how to eat 299 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:18,600 healthier, how to work out, or how to structure my morning 300 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:23,760 routine or my habit stack. Does it translate to how I live? 301 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:27,760 Far to answer, I'm afraid that the answer is no. 302 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,640 We're told to pray without ceasing, but we're not. 303 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:35,560 We don't actually learn how to turn to God when anxiety wakes 304 00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:39,240 us up at 2:00 in the morning. We believe that we should 305 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:43,960 forgive just as we've forgiven or been forgiven, but we haven't 306 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:47,480 actually developed the capacities to release the 307 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:51,000 resentment when our body keeps bringing up and rehearsing the 308 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:54,440 offence. We believe we should bear each 309 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:57,000 other's burdens and show up for one another in community. 310 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:00,000 Yet our default is self-reliance. 311 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:04,840 I'll take care of it myself. I don't need help, Friends. 312 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:08,880 There's a gap, a gap so often between information, between 313 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:12,960 what we know and between transformation, how we live. 314 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:16,320 And I believe that this is not a minor problem, that it is 315 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:20,360 actually an existential crisis for the church in the West. 316 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:25,400 It's a real problem for us. Just this week the news of 317 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:27,880 course broke. The popular Christian thinker 318 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:31,280 and author Philip Yancey confessed to an 8 year 319 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:36,480 extramarital affair. Yancey is just one more figure 320 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:42,000 in a long line of Christian leaders who were famous, who 321 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:46,240 were successful, who were looked to throughout the church as 322 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:49,440 people who are models of how we ought to live. 323 00:19:50,120 --> 00:19:53,560 Somebody who understood the gospel at a deep level, who who 324 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:59,880 wrote about it for decades, and yet in his relationships it was 325 00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:04,280 absent, Yancey said in his. Confession. 326 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:07,720 My contacts defied everything I believe about marriage. 327 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:11,400 It was totally inconsistent with my faith and my writings. 328 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:18,200 Friends, when these things happen for me, for you, for us, 329 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,840 for the church, it's an embarrassment to the gospel. 330 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:26,960 It suggests to people out there that that we're not really 331 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:29,960 authentic about what it is that we say to be true. 332 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:33,920 Friends, hypocrisy is such a problem. 333 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:38,080 And I get that sometimes there is an explicit, intentional, 334 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:43,680 conscious decision to deceive, to hide, to fake, to lie. 335 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:49,640 But I also think very often we simply haven't been formed in 336 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:53,360 the implicit systems. We know something to be true, 337 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:57,200 but we've never actually taken the steps to walk it out. 338 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:02,800 I'm suggesting that we have a problem, that we've tried to 339 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:06,160 distill church and spiritual formation into blocks of content 340 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,320 which could somehow be delivered to individual minds without 341 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,840 embodiment and results in transformation, and it is not 342 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:15,600 working. As my friend Dan White Junior 343 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:18,720 says, discipleship is more than a solo endeavor. 344 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:20,360 With the latest books and podcasts. 345 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:25,920 You cannot follow the way of Jesus and grow into likeness of 346 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:31,120 Him by yourself. It is not possible, see, because 347 00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:35,360 so often we get this flash of new awareness, this dopamine 348 00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:39,640 hit, and that's great. Like, I love awareness. 349 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:44,600 I am currently standing before you here as a preacher talking 350 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:47,800 about neuroscience, right? I clearly think the Reformation 351 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:50,600 is an OK thing, the scientific revolution is a good thing. 352 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,640 And I want to impart information to you, right? 353 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:58,040 All of these things are good, but awareness is not the end 354 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:02,120 point, it's the entry point. It's only the first step. 355 00:22:02,120 --> 00:22:06,480 If we don't pass through the doorway, then what are we doing? 356 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:10,520 So often we consume information without putting it into 357 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:13,800 practice, and the result is simply spiritual bloat. 358 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:19,360 In order for us to become like Jesus, we have to move from 359 00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:24,080 knowing that to knowing how. We need not only information but 360 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:28,600 also transformation. When we fail to do this, it can 361 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:31,840 leave us with the illusion of maturity without its substance. 362 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:35,440 And I think this is exactly what we see in the Pharisees. 363 00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:39,400 The Pharisees are people represented in this text who 364 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:42,080 have extraordinary explicit knowledge. 365 00:22:43,360 --> 00:22:46,840 If you want the people in this day, in this moment, in the 1st 366 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:49,160 century, who know the Bible best, it's these guys. 367 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:54,040 They have read it, they have memorized it, they can recite 368 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:55,840 it. They can give you chapter and 369 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:59,680 verse about everything. These are the guys with the best 370 00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:04,440 knowledge of Scripture. Their explicit knowledge is 371 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:08,800 fantastic and they're implicit is a mess. 372 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:14,040 It's characterized by judgment, control, contempt, anxiety. 373 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:16,840 They're concerned about losing status and power. 374 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:21,000 They're reactive and ultimately they reject the living word 375 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:27,040 which is standing before them. This is where Jesus accusation 376 00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:31,120 really lands. They are like the second son who 377 00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:34,360 says all the right things and then doesn't go. 378 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:38,720 A living witness to the reality that knowledge puffs up while 379 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:43,280 love builds up. In contrast to the Pharisees 380 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:47,560 imagination and understanding of what it means to be spiritual, 381 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:51,880 of what it means to be mature by having the right answers, Jesus 382 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:54,400 points us in a different direction. 383 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:57,880 In the very next chapter of Matthew's Gospel, we see this 384 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:02,320 conflict is continuing to unfold between Jesus and the religious 385 00:24:02,360 --> 00:24:05,440 leaders. And in the like most arrogant, 386 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,960 explicit, knowledge centric way possible, somebody who's 387 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:12,160 described as a quote UN quote teacher or expert in the law 388 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:17,360 comes to Jesus to test him. Their idea of a battle is we're 389 00:24:17,360 --> 00:24:20,200 going to have a theology exam and see if you can pass the 390 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:24,360 test. So they come to Jesus and in 391 00:24:24,360 --> 00:24:28,320 verse 37 and 38 of chapter 22, we read the question, teacher, 392 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:30,960 what is the greatest commandment in the law? 393 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:33,920 He gives him a hard one trying to stump him up. 394 00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:37,640 But what Jesus responds is essential. 395 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:39,280 He says, of course, and you know this. 396 00:24:40,120 --> 00:24:45,440 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, with 397 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:48,600 all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. 398 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:51,360 Do you hear what Jesus is doing here? 399 00:24:51,360 --> 00:24:55,880 Friends, this is so important. There's so much in these short 400 00:24:55,880 --> 00:25:00,200 words. See, Jesus is repositioning the 401 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:05,440 very center of the Christian life from knowledge to love. 402 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:10,760 He says at the very heart of it is not how much you know, it is 403 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:15,200 how you love. And he's not dismissing the 404 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:16,760 mind. This is not a contrast. 405 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,960 It's not that the Pharisees are on team explicit knowledge and 406 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:22,200 and Jesus is on team implicit knowledge. 407 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:23,280 And he says, no, that doesn't matter. 408 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:26,640 The first thing he says about how we love is with our minds. 409 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:31,400 And he's not giving a theological anthropology of like 410 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:33,160 the different parts of humans here. 411 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:37,800 His point in aiming these component parts is rather to say 412 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:41,280 you need your whole self, all of it. 413 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,560 Your mind, your soul, your heart. 414 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:48,760 Everything has to be in play. The center is love. 415 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:53,040 You need everything you've got. And the direction that tell us 416 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:56,000 of this is a renewed relationship with God and with 417 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:59,280 your neighbors. This is what Jesus has to say 418 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:02,560 about what it means to be mature, about what it means to 419 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:06,480 follow him. If we are to follow him, we must 420 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:09,960 recognize that it's not that explicit knowledge is bad, but 421 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:13,360 but it's incomplete. It's only a partial answer. 422 00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:16,080 And it's a partial answer that because of our particular 423 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,640 history and culture and place in the world, we are very tempted 424 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:24,160 to get stuck at. And Jesus insists that we move 425 00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:32,480 on from explicit to implicit to holistic transformation and 426 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:35,440 seminary, which is like the home of explicit knowledge. 427 00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:39,000 And I spent way too much time in there. 428 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:42,280 There's they use Latin words to talk about these 3 dimensions, 429 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:45,720 orthodoxy, which is maybe the word that you guys know. 430 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:49,640 It means right thinking, essentially having the right 431 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:53,040 beliefs about things. But you may also know there's 432 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:58,520 these other words, orthopraxy and orthopathy, which come from 433 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:03,520 the words praxis and and pathos. But our feeling, and basically 434 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:07,400 the idea here is that we need right thinking. 435 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:11,600 It's crucially important to think well, but it has to be 436 00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:16,600 paired with right practice and even right affections, our 437 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:19,800 emotional state, the way we feel in relationship. 438 00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:23,960 And I think for some of us who have done a lot of school, live 439 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:26,120 in Boston, this feels honestly kind of daunting because we're 440 00:27:26,120 --> 00:27:28,920 like, I know how to learn stuff. How do I how do I change how I 441 00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:31,160 feel about stuff? Right. 442 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:33,600 We tend to gravitate to these things that we know how to do. 443 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,080 We know how to control we're we're well practiced in these. 444 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:38,760 We get more knowledge and we feel confident about it. 445 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:44,280 But Jesus is writing us beyond yes, knowledge is apart, but 446 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:48,360 also our practice, also our feeling. 447 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:51,560 This is what we mean at the Garden when we talk about being 448 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:54,760 shaped by and sharing Jesus love. 449 00:27:56,080 --> 00:27:59,680 We're trying to say that our mission here is is about more 450 00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:04,240 than just understanding things. It's more than about cognitive 451 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:07,840 ascent to a particular set of propositional beliefs. 452 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:12,680 It's not less than that, but it is absolutely more than that. 453 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:18,760 To follow Jesus means being transformed by him, being 454 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:23,040 changed by his love, until that love becomes not just something 455 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:27,560 we cognitively know about, but something we experience, 456 00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:32,120 something that shapes us. In the coming weeks in the 457 00:28:32,120 --> 00:28:34,480 series, we're going to attempt to dig further into these 458 00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:38,000 questions of how do we change? How does this all happen? 459 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:40,800 How do we get to be the kind of people who don't just have the 460 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:47,200 right answers, but go beyond into practices and and actual 461 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:50,040 affections? But this morning, I want to 462 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:52,440 pause. At this point, I want to stop 463 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:55,400 here and just invite you to consider what does this look 464 00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:59,440 like for you this morning? Because if you're anything like 465 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:01,960 me, this is honestly kind of convicting. 466 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:06,360 Because I know it's, I've already said there are plenty of 467 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:11,760 places in my life where there's a gap between what I intend and 468 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:16,200 what is real, between what I espouses the way things should 469 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:21,120 be, the way we should be, and my ability to live that out, to 470 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:25,360 walk that out. And this morning I want to 471 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:28,800 invite you into a space of reflection to consider where is 472 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:33,000 that gap for you between what you know and how you live? 473 00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:37,320 Are there ways this morning that as you inventory your life, you 474 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:40,520 have to admit that you look more like the second son than the 475 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:43,640 first? That you give the right answer, 476 00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:48,200 but there's no follow through. You don't actually show up doing 477 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:51,440 what the father has asked friends. 478 00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:54,640 The point of this reflection, the point of this awareness is 479 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:59,200 not shame. It's not to make you bad or to 480 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:03,680 call you out. It is rather to help us begin to 481 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:06,480 close those gaps. It's about growing and 482 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:08,000 integrity. And I have good news. 483 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:11,600 I'm full of hope as we enter this conversation, which will be 484 00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:13,000 having over the next several weeks. 485 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:18,760 You can change the gospel is good news. 486 00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:22,960 It's not just something that changes our worldview and the 487 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:24,880 way that we think about things in the world. 488 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:28,480 It can change your very life, your relationships. 489 00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:31,960 Bottom up, whole picture from the inside out. 490 00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:35,760 This is the promise and possibility of the love of Jesus 491 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:40,840 which we have received. Don't stop at awareness. 492 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:48,240 Notice the doorway and continue down the path as the band comes 493 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:50,040 and we enter into a space of reflection. 494 00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:54,640 I want to invite you to pray with me and again to consider 495 00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:00,040 where is there a space this morning that God might want to 496 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:04,720 highlight for you without shame, without blame, without guilt, 497 00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:09,720 Just to notice that there is a, a gap in my formation. 498 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:13,840 I know something to be true on one level, but it's not 499 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:16,080 manifesting in my life on another. 500 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,960 I want to be more wholehearted. I want to be more connected. 501 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:25,680 I want to be more embodied. And friends, as we enter into 502 00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:28,800 this, we're going to enter into a time of, of musical worship. 503 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:33,160 We're going to enter into a time of communion and friends. 504 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:36,760 The reason that we do these things, among many other things, 505 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:40,880 maybe you've noticed, a lot of what we do in church is 506 00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:45,840 embodied. It's with our bodies, right? 507 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:48,960 We have relational and communal practices. 508 00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:53,680 This can't be distilled and experienced over a Zoom screen. 509 00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:57,720 And so as you enter even into these practices, as you reflect, 510 00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:01,480 and then that you move into a space of worship, as you receive 511 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:05,840 communion this morning, I want you to pay attention to what's 512 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:10,200 going on with you, even physically to notice and to 513 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:14,120 receive to maybe maybe you're uncomfortable moving your body 514 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:15,840 in worship. Maybe, maybe, maybe put a hand 515 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:18,520 up, all right, maybe move your feet a little bit. 516 00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:24,160 Allow yourself to come into the space which you are and respond 517 00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:28,600 to the love of God and His invitation to become more like 518 00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:28,800 Him.