1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,160 Well, friends, if we haven't met again, I'm Josh. 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:06,680 I have the joy of serving as a pastor here at the Garden. 3 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:09,480 It's great to be with you today. It's great to be celebrating 4 00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:13,000 this amazing season of Advent together. 5 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:15,800 If you, like me, grew up in a church tradition, they didn't 6 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:18,160 really talk about Advent. It's just like the time leading 7 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:21,520 up to Christmas, the time in which we prepare for Christmas 8 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:24,640 and, and we've been in this season of Advent these four 9 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:26,280 weeks kind of leading up to Christmas. 10 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:28,920 We're talking about waiting in hope. 11 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:35,000 What does it look like to wait when you're expecting something? 12 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:37,080 When you're hoping for something, you're looking for 13 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:39,200 something, but it hasn't yet arrived. 14 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:42,280 Of course, all of the kids know very well about this right now 15 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:44,560 because they're counting down the days till they get to open 16 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:48,280 presents and celebrate Christmas morning. 17 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:52,520 But for for many of us, we find ourselves in, in big or small 18 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:55,520 ways, in a similar space. Even in the season where there's 19 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:58,800 so much joy, we've got the Christmas music and the wreaths, 20 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,200 the decor, there's a lot of parties. 21 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:02,840 There's things to distract ourselves. 22 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:06,880 Many of us, if we pause, we'll notice that there are other 23 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:12,080 things as well that we're waiting for the reconciliation 24 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:16,600 of a relationship in our family, a job situation that's really 25 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:22,080 painful or difficult or uncertain, a health scare or a 26 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:25,600 chronic situation that just continues to linger and to 27 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,640 punish in some way. And we're just not sure. 28 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:31,720 Will with will it resolve? How will it resolve? 29 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:35,520 When it will resolve? Perhaps it's an addiction issue. 30 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:39,880 Many of us find ourselves in this season of Advent, whether 31 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:42,480 it's an internal thing or we just look outside at the world 32 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:43,960 beyond us. And there's so many 33 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:47,720 opportunities to be grieving, to be lamenting, to be hoping, to 34 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:51,120 be waiting, to be longing for something new. 35 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:55,520 And this is what we're talking about today down here at the 36 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:57,040 front of the stage. We have this collective art 37 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:00,400 project that we were working on earlier in the lobby. 38 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:02,480 Some of you had the opportunity to contribute to this. 39 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:04,280 We're going to go back to this a little bit later in our 40 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:07,600 gathering today. But on this, on this painting, 41 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:11,160 you could see written a number of words that represents 42 00:02:11,640 --> 00:02:15,960 longings or desires that we have individually or as a community, 43 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:20,120 things that we're waiting for. And as we get started this 44 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:22,760 morning, I want to invite you to take just a moment to pause. 45 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:26,280 I know coming in laughing about kids, drinking some coffee, 46 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:28,800 eating some sugar cookies, The pivot to like, what are you 47 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:30,760 longing for deeply? It's like, it's kind of a hard 48 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:33,400 pivot. So we'll take a minute, but I 49 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:37,000 want to invite you, whether it's on your phone, a journal, just 50 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:38,440 to take a moment and get in touch with that. 51 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:40,840 We're going to actually pause here for just a second. 52 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:44,480 In your life right now, what are you waiting for? 53 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:50,600 What are you longing for when you allow yourself to get quiet 54 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:54,320 and still? What is a thing that rises to 55 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:58,320 the surface that you hope will come? 56 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:03,800 Take a moment to see if you can fix that in your mind. 57 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:23,280 Got it. See some nods. 58 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:28,200 I also see some deep reflection. You can keep noodling. 59 00:03:29,920 --> 00:03:31,640 What is it that you're longing for? 60 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:36,920 All right, so this morning we're going to be talking about John, 61 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:39,960 John the Baptist, Jan the Baptizer and, and the question 62 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:44,560 of what we do in the waiting. Before we get there. 63 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,720 I want to tell you a story. So a couple months ago I was 64 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:53,200 meeting Phil Amato for coffee. We were both work, we both 65 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:55,960 office in the Copley area just down the street from here. 66 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:59,520 And one day we had carved out some time on our calendar. 67 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:02,720 We were going to get together to catch up to have a conversation 68 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:06,480 over lunch. And so that time kind of 69 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:08,120 arrived. I I was scrambling out of a 70 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:14,240 meeting, came rushing into the tote, looked around and where's 71 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:16,440 Phil at? Don't see Phil. 72 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:18,680 All right, well, he's, he's meeting, probably ran late. 73 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:22,240 No problem. So I take a seat and I start to 74 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,360 wait a minute. Ticks by a couple minutes tick 75 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:26,360 by. Not very long. 76 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:28,680 I'm not very patient. So it didn't take very long. 77 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:31,840 And I'm sitting there. I'm thinking I'm like, oh, he 78 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:34,120 probably got he's probably on a call ran late. 79 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:38,480 What should I do in the space? Should I like get in the line? 80 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:40,640 That lunch line at Tate really builds up. 81 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:46,640 And then it occurred to me, Did I clarify which Tate? 82 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:50,880 There are a lot of tates downtown Boston. 83 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:52,720 So I jump on the phone. I call Phil. 84 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:56,240 Sure enough, Phil is patiently waiting for me, wondering what 85 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:58,440 is going on with this guy. I carved out time. 86 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:02,080 He's not here, so he's on Boylston, I'm on Clarendon. 87 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:06,320 We're both waiting for each other in opposite places because 88 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:11,440 we hadn't actually taken the time to clarify what our part 89 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:15,120 was. And that's really the question 90 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:17,440 that I want to invite us into today. 91 00:05:18,280 --> 00:05:23,640 The the curiosity about what is our part in the waiting. 92 00:05:24,840 --> 00:05:27,560 Because I wonder how often friends, we find ourselves 93 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:32,840 actually waiting on God for something when at the same time 94 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:37,960 God is waiting on us. Because patience is a virtue. 95 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:41,800 Don't get it twisted. Like patience is a fruit of the 96 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:44,200 Spirit. It's waiting is an essential 97 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,280 part of the Christian life. In our spiritual development. 98 00:05:47,840 --> 00:05:52,280 There are many times in life when we are called to be still, 99 00:05:52,800 --> 00:06:00,200 to be patient, to wait on God. But patience can also be a 100 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:01,920 really clever way of spiritual bypassing. 101 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:05,840 You know what I mean? Like the, the, the waiting, 102 00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:10,600 which sounds so virtuous, can also be a way to abdicate our 103 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:15,520 responsibility to, to opt into a kind of passivity that actually 104 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:19,880 keeps us stuck in our life. This morning we meet an 105 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:24,320 individual, John, who I think beautifully exemplifies the 106 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:28,240 tension that we're talking about this morning, the waiting and 107 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:32,920 also the action. John who as we know as John the 108 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:35,760 Baptist or perhaps John the Baptizer, the latter probably 109 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:39,680 being more descriptive of course, gets his name from the 110 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:42,800 text that we look at today here in Luke chapter 3. 111 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,400 As we read in Luke chapter 3 and verse 3, John went out into the 112 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:50,480 country around Judea preaching a baptism of repentance for the 113 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:54,280 forgiveness of sins. We find that the whole area, 114 00:06:54,280 --> 00:06:58,600 everybody is coming out to John to get baptized, and this is all 115 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:02,560 happening in a moment in the life of the people of God, as 116 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:06,400 Mandy described for us last week, when there is an intense 117 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:09,480 longing, intense longing, because candidly things are 118 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:12,640 pretty bad. The government is oppressive, 119 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:15,920 life circumstances are very difficult. 120 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:19,840 And on top of all of that, like there is this messianic fervor, 121 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:23,120 this hope, this longing about when the prophetic 122 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:26,480 pronouncements of this Messiah, this one who will come to renew 123 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,800 and restore God's people will finally come true. 124 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:34,120 Everybody is waiting and looking and then all of a sudden John 125 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:37,880 steps onto the scene and he starts to say, basically, hey, 126 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:40,400 it's about to happen. Y'all need to get your stuff 127 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:43,120 together like this is going down. 128 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:48,040 Repent, be ready. And he's baptizing people into 129 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:51,000 this now. Jesus and John's stories are 130 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:52,960 intertwined. As has already been suggested 131 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:55,840 today. Jesus and John were cousins. 132 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,080 In Luke's narrative, which we talked about last week. 133 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:03,240 We met the Angel Gabriel who had come to tell Mary that she's 134 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:06,600 about to have this miraculous baby who will be God, right? 135 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:11,200 Well, just before that happened, this same Angel had gone in the 136 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:15,920 narrative to John's parents to, to Zechariah and told him that 137 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:19,240 his his wife Elizabeth would soon be with child Mary. 138 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:22,880 When she finds out that she's pregnant, basically the first 139 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:26,160 thing that she does is she runs off to Elizabeth's house for 140 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:29,280 comfort and support as somebody else who is also pregnant. 141 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:33,720 So, so John and Jesus are coming up at the same time. 142 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:37,640 Jesus, of course, goes on. We know his story to be the 143 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:40,240 Savior of the world, the one we celebrate at Christmas. 144 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:46,440 But John, what was his part? What was his role in this story? 145 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:53,040 Well, John understood his role based on what we see here in 146 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:56,520 Luke chapter 3 and verse 4 as the fulfillment of Isaiah's 147 00:08:56,520 --> 00:09:01,480 prophecy as the one who would be calling in the wilderness, the 148 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:04,760 one who would prepare the way of the Lord. 149 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:09,960 And we see specifically that there's a description in this, 150 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:14,520 that that as John prepares the way of the Lord, that he will 151 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:19,000 basically do some Rd. building. He's telling the people of God 152 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:23,000 that in this moment, as God is about to show up, as as God is 153 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:26,520 going to do his thing, that they also need to prepare the way of 154 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:28,600 the Lord to make straight paths for him. 155 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:31,800 John says every valley needs to be filled in, every mountain and 156 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:34,400 hill made low. The crooked roads shall become 157 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:37,680 straight and the rough ways made smooth. 158 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:42,680 This is an image of road work. I don't know if you've ever 159 00:09:42,680 --> 00:09:44,680 driven through West Virginia before. 160 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:50,160 It's kind of crazy if you do, even if you're barely paying 161 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:53,000 attention, just a kind of rolling down the Turnpike. 162 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:58,400 It's hard not to notice that the road there is insane like it is, 163 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:03,480 it is it is a road that has been built into just this, this wild 164 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:08,480 terrain of valleys and and mountains and hard edges in 165 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:12,920 order to to build the Turnpike that now exists through West 166 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:16,480 Virginia with these extra truck lanes for climbs and the kind of 167 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:20,160 like run off here if you've lost the brakes and need to go uphill 168 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:22,080 to stop the vehicle kind of situation, right? 169 00:10:22,560 --> 00:10:25,960 In order to create all of this, there was an enormous amount of 170 00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:29,360 work that had to happen, right? They came in with dynamite. 171 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:34,240 They blew up chunks of the mountain and hauled away copious 172 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:37,240 amounts of rock by the thousands of tons. 173 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:40,080 They built these crazy bridges over gorges. 174 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:42,160 And so now when you when you want to drive through the 175 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:44,480 Turnpike, there's still some twists and turns and steep 176 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:48,200 grades, but more or less it's a straight shot in a way that 177 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:53,520 wasn't the case for millennia. But all of this took a lot of 178 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:55,720 preparation. I think this is a helpful image 179 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:59,640 as we think about the kind of thing that Isaiah has in mind 180 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:04,120 when he says, make straight in the desert a highway for our 181 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:06,800 God. Here's what I'm trying to say. 182 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:11,520 John comes in at a moment and he says the Messiah is about to 183 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:18,920 come and we all have work to do. God is going to do a thing, and 184 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:22,400 in order to be ready to receive that thing, there is 185 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:25,600 preparation. I think this is a beautiful 186 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:29,920 image of Advent because the season of Advent is all about 187 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:32,720 road work. It's all about preparation. 188 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:36,800 It's all about removing obstacles so that we can receive 189 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:40,240 the one who is coming. But there's a trap. 190 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:43,920 There's a couple traps actually, but there's, I think so commonly 191 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:47,840 as soon as we hear language like this where our brain, at least 192 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:50,480 my brain immediately jumps is OK. 193 00:11:50,680 --> 00:11:53,520 So I need to do a bunch of things so that God can come, 194 00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:58,600 right? I need to do some work so that 195 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:03,400 grace can happen, right? It's on me to perform and to 196 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:06,520 produce in order that the latter happens. 197 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:10,040 And that is not it. That is not it at all. 198 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:13,760 See, there are two ditches on either side of the road that we 199 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:15,440 were talking about, the first this morning. 200 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:18,240 The first ditch I've already been describing. 201 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:20,320 And if we were going to give it a title, if there was a sign 202 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:23,960 above the ditch, the sign would say wait and wish. 203 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:28,280 It's the wait and wish dish ditch, right? 204 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:32,280 It's the place where we baptize avoidance, man. 205 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:35,480 It sounds pious too. It sounds like reverent 206 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:40,800 spiritual, but what we're doing is we're as we wait on the Lord, 207 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:46,840 we're actually using our avoidance of vulnerability to 208 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,720 avoid what is our responsibility. 209 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:55,680 The wait and wish dish ditch kind of pushes aside what is our 210 00:12:55,680 --> 00:12:59,120 part and and pretends to hold on to faith in this incredibly 211 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:03,280 pious way that actually abdicates our responsibility. 212 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:06,840 It comes with a a payoff of some short term relief of the 213 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:13,800 pressure, but at the cost of being unable to produce any 214 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:17,000 change or outcome in a long term atrophy. 215 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:23,080 Some time ago, I encountered a woman who described her 216 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:26,320 situation and, and, and explained that she was waiting 217 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:30,400 on a partner and, and, and not only that, she was waiting on a 218 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:32,600 partner, she was waiting on this husband she was going to marry. 219 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:36,960 And she knew who it was. See, God had revealed it to her 220 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:40,280 in a dream and she was excited about it. 221 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:43,360 She was believing it. She was absolutely as devout and 222 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:46,040 faithful and committed as you can imagine. 223 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:51,480 But she was waiting and waiting. And as I learned more about the 224 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:53,480 situation, I discovered that she's been waiting for a while, 225 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:57,800 for weeks and then months and then now years. 226 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:01,080 And as she has waited, this, this, this man that she was 227 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:06,000 confident would be her husband in the plan of God had done a 228 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:08,400 lot of things included dated a bunch of other people. 229 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:11,640 In fact, now he was engaged to somebody else. 230 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:16,000 And here she was waiting, praying, hoping. 231 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:21,080 And as I began to ask the questions, I began to realize 232 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:24,520 like, well, no, no, she hadn't named it. 233 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:27,800 She was interested, but she hadn't asked him out for coffee. 234 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:31,720 She hadn't made a, a bid or, or anything really, because she was 235 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:35,200 confident that in his time that God would just bring them 236 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:39,280 together. And so here she was waiting 237 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:41,760 faithfully. And look, I'm not trying to 238 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:44,000 throw shade at this lady because she meant it. 239 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:48,200 And honestly, I felt a ton of grief for her, but I also was 240 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:52,480 like, sis, can we talk about discernment? 241 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:55,560 I'm not sure you got this one right. 242 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:01,840 That dude is engaged right now. And even if you did get it 243 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:05,600 right, was there something here that you were supposed to do? 244 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:10,040 Like it was God showed you something. 245 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:12,120 Sure. Great. 246 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:15,920 It might be that you had a role in that. 247 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:21,520 Sometimes I think we're like this. 248 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:25,000 We get stuck in these spaces of waiting and hoping. 249 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:29,520 Man, as I was reflecting on this this this week, Aries in my life 250 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:32,640 came to mind where I'm frustrated with a relationship, 251 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:35,600 man. Things are not working the way I 252 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:39,280 want it to. It's painful to me and I 253 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:40,840 complain about it to other people. 254 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:44,400 Sometimes I pray about it. Mostly I just kind of like 255 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:47,800 double down and kind of like grip my teeth and I'll just keep 256 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:49,760 going. Maybe it'll fix itself 257 00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:53,360 eventually. You know, it's it's it takes a 258 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:55,960 courage, it takes a vulnerability to step in and 259 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:59,480 say, hey, I don't know if you know, this is not working for me 260 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:02,600 right now. This dynamic is not functioning. 261 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:07,240 There's an injury here that needs to be named friends. 262 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:10,960 Sometimes we don't do that. We don't step in, we don't press 263 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:13,120 in. Instead, we we talk about 264 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:15,960 waiting, but we're not waiting in the Advent way that we're 265 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:18,560 invited to. We're waiting in the the wait 266 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:21,760 and wish kind of a way. We're over in the ditch where 267 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:25,840 we've handed off a piece of our responsibility and we're just 268 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:30,320 waiting on God to do something. And look, here's the problem 269 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:31,800 with that. There's a lot of problems with 270 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:34,040 that. But I think that God, when he 271 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:38,640 looks at us in that, probably similarly to how I felt about 272 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:40,760 this poor girl. I like, I, I think God has 273 00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:43,880 compassion, but I also think God is like, Nope. 274 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:49,000 Because I know, like, this is how this is I, how I am with my 275 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:53,080 daughter Ava. There are times when she is not 276 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:56,920 OK and she needs something, whether it's care or just 277 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:59,760 compassion or presence. And she's crying out for that 278 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:02,120 thing. And I will, man, I, I'm there. 279 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:04,400 I respond in a moment, I'm jumping in. 280 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:09,000 But there are other times where she's just like, you pick up the 281 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:12,119 shoes, Daddy, can you bring me that Apple? 282 00:17:12,599 --> 00:17:14,520 Can you, can you do this? Can you do that? 283 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:20,280 And I'm like, girl, you, you're not grown, but you are 4. 284 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:23,480 You can walk across the room and put your shoes away all by 285 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:25,560 yourself. You do not need me for this, 286 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:27,920 right? You don't need me to climb on 287 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:29,400 this thing. I get that you're I get that 288 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:32,320 it's like a security blanket, but like, just go slowly. 289 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:35,080 I'm here with you, but you don't need to hold my hand. 290 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:38,040 You're better off putting your hand on the monkey bars and 291 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:40,000 going up yourself. You've got this. 292 00:17:41,120 --> 00:17:44,400 You know what happens when a parent in that relationship 293 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:47,280 steps in and does everything for their kid? 294 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:51,920 Like we mean well, we want help. Our kid is out here asking for 295 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:55,080 help. If you do that, you will stunt 296 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:57,680 the development of your child, right? 297 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:00,200 Your kid, your kid needs to do some things on their own. 298 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:03,560 They need to to grow and try things and flex their freedom. 299 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:06,560 Yes, to know that they've got you in their corner, but also 300 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:10,840 not to jump in all the time. Friends, God, I think is doing 301 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:12,840 the same thing with us sometimes. 302 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:17,720 I swear, I know we're over here and we're like, God, where are 303 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:21,440 you, God, God, I'm just, I'm desperate. 304 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:23,240 I don't know what's going on. I don't know why you're not 305 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:24,520 coming through. I don't know why you're not 306 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:28,880 solving this problem for me. We're starting to build up some 307 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:30,960 resentment and some frustration towards the Lord. 308 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:35,520 Has anybody been there? I know I have like God, come on, 309 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:38,760 what is with this? Why do you keep me stuck here? 310 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:42,120 I need you to come through and look, there is a time when that 311 00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:45,000 happens and, and, and God just says, wait, that is all that 312 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:46,280 there is. That like that is the 313 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:47,920 responsibility that we have in that moment. 314 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:53,000 But there are also some moments, friends, where God is like, 315 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:59,840 dude, like do what I told you, you don't need more direction. 316 00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:02,800 Just do the thing I asked you to do, right? 317 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:05,160 This is clear. You don't need like wisdom or 318 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:08,040 discernment on this. You just need to step in and do 319 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:13,000 the thing right. Friends, how often do we have in 320 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:16,760 our lives these longings, these things that we we genuinely want 321 00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:20,760 to see God create something different, create something new. 322 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:24,680 We're waiting on God. At least that's what we tell 323 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:27,040 ourselves. And at the same times there are 324 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:31,920 clear actionable pieces that we're just saying that feels a 325 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:33,800 little risky. Maybe I'll just pray about it 326 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:38,920 some more. See to wait on God in this way 327 00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:44,600 is not simply to to displace our responsibility. 328 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:50,520 I love that John shows us this when his audience asks John says 329 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:53,000 prepare of the way of the Lord. He gives this Rd. building 330 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:56,560 analogy and then later after they after he rebukes them and 331 00:19:56,560 --> 00:20:00,200 says, Hey, you guys are not when Messiah comes, this is not going 332 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:02,280 to be good for you. This is not good news for you 333 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:05,960 because you are a mess. And they say, OK, So what should 334 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:07,960 we do? What does this look like And 335 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:10,920 John? Like he does not play, he does 336 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:12,520 not stutter. He is specific. 337 00:20:13,120 --> 00:20:15,240 He says don't hoard your stuff, share with the needy. 338 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:17,160 You got something extra, give it away. 339 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:21,000 That's what he says in verse 11. He talks to the tax collectors 340 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:23,680 and the soldiers. He says hey, stop cheating, Stop 341 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:28,120 abusing your power. Stop, stop whining about all of 342 00:20:28,120 --> 00:20:29,640 these things. Instead show up. 343 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:32,280 Don't cheat. Don't abuse your power. 344 00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:37,720 Use it responsibly, he says. In verses 12 through 14, John is 345 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:40,840 saying that there are some specific and concrete things 346 00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:44,960 that that they can do if they want to receive what God will do 347 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:48,040 at Christmas. There is some repentance. 348 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:50,760 There is some righteousness. There is some road work that 349 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:55,280 needs to happen if they are to experience the fullness and the 350 00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:59,280 goodness of what God will do. This is something that I love. 351 00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:01,840 How kind of Mandy drew this out in the Christmas story. 352 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:05,720 We think of the Christmas story through this lens of nostalgia. 353 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:08,680 It's all colored up by the Christmas lights. 354 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:14,720 The Christmas story was a mess. Guys like oppressive, tyrannical 355 00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:18,640 rulers and genocide and like palace intrigue. 356 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:23,080 People hungry like the The Christmas story is a mess. 357 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:28,640 God, when he when Jesus broke into our midst, it was good news 358 00:21:29,120 --> 00:21:33,840 for some people and others were like, can we kill this guy? 359 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:37,960 This is a problem, friends. Do we want it to be? 360 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:41,200 Do we want what God does? Do we want it to be in a place 361 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:44,360 that when God shows up that we receive it as good? 362 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:48,480 There's some road work that needs to happen. 363 00:21:49,120 --> 00:21:52,800 John points us to this. If you were to visit Burkina 364 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:56,680 Faso around this time of year, you might see an odd sight. 365 00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:03,640 Locals out in the plane in this dry, dusty, barren, hard packed 366 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:07,120 earth out there with these little scoops digging holes. 367 00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:12,920 It would look weird if you were to go up and investigate you 368 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:15,080 would you would see that they were digging these round 369 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:18,360 circular holes not not more than a foot wide, maybe 6 inches 370 00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:21,960 deep. Hole after hole after hole. 371 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:26,280 It's like kids almost in the sand but grid like pattern 372 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:30,560 working their butts off. This is not easy to chip away at 373 00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:34,840 the hard packed earth, and if you looked at it, it would look 374 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:39,680 odd at best. Nonsensical perhaps, especially 375 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:44,080 if you not only watch them toil and labor and work to to to to 376 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:46,520 carve out these holes in the hard ground. 377 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:53,120 But then those holes just sat there for weeks, months, just 378 00:22:53,120 --> 00:22:55,720 sitting around, nothing happening. 379 00:22:56,920 --> 00:23:00,680 But what the villagers would know that you or I might not, is 380 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:05,960 that without these holes in the soil, the zaii as they're 381 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:08,800 called, there would be no crop that year. 382 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:13,160 See. Because when the rains finally 383 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:18,160 fall, when when rainy season comes and and and a downpour 384 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:22,160 begins, the hard packed soil cannot absorb the moisture. 385 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:27,960 Without the zaii, the the rain just barrels into a torrent and 386 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:33,160 rushes away and it's gone. These these IE can't really do 387 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:35,080 anything to grow crop on their own. 388 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:36,880 It's literally just a hole in the dirt. 389 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:44,040 But this hole in the dirt becomes an opening for what only 390 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:47,640 God can do there. When the rain comes, all of a 391 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:51,840 sudden these become little tiny wells that that nourish the 392 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:53,840 ground. The water goes out, the termites 393 00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:56,320 come in, they become interconnected and before long 394 00:23:56,600 --> 00:24:00,040 you have the conditions for a ripe crop that would not have 395 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:05,400 been there without them. Friends, this is what so much of 396 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:08,840 the spiritual life is like. It's like digging zai. 397 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:14,360 If you get up every morning and and open up your Bible and and 398 00:24:14,360 --> 00:24:17,880 carve out that time for prayer when you could be sleeping in. 399 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:22,440 I can tell you from experience, many of you know this, it 400 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:25,560 doesn't always like rain. The presence of God from heaven. 401 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:28,560 A lot of times it's like I'm tired. 402 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:33,000 I could be asleep right now. I'm distracted. 403 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:35,320 I'm thinking about my To Do List later today. 404 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:39,840 I'm starting to nod off, man. Like I have so many things in my 405 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:44,120 mind and my heart. Not every time that you make 406 00:24:44,120 --> 00:24:48,080 that space is there some transformative, divine, magical, 407 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:54,080 supernatural encounter. But if you keep digging, if you 408 00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:57,880 keep making the space, there is a time when the rain will come. 409 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:01,360 There's a time when the grace is there. 410 00:25:01,360 --> 00:25:06,240 And then the question is, will it run right past you and you 411 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:08,360 miss it or will there be a space to receive it? 412 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:15,240 Friends, this is what the practice of waiting responsibly 413 00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:18,480 looks like. Not to to shirk our 414 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,840 responsibility, but to say, hey, there is something here that 415 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:24,400 only God can do. I cannot make it rain. 416 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:29,120 I cannot be the Savior. John gets this. 417 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:34,000 He says I must decrease. He must increase In the moment 418 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:36,600 when everyone is coming to him, people are flogging to him. 419 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:39,880 We see it in chapter 3 here that people start to ask maybe this 420 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:44,760 guy is it, he's the Messiah, he's the coming 1 John doesn't 421 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:48,080 get a big head. He doesn't start playing outside 422 00:25:48,120 --> 00:25:53,000 of his role. John says, Nope, I've got my 423 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:58,000 part and then there's God's and and this is the second ditch for 424 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:04,800 us friends, if the first ditch is is is just to wait, right. 425 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:10,720 It's just in this passive way to wait without doing anything 426 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:16,040 right to wait and wish the second ditch is to work and 427 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:19,040 worry. And some of us are in that ditch 428 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:21,160 too. Some of us. 429 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:23,880 In fact, I think sometimes I'm in both at the same time. 430 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:29,920 I don't know about you the but the other ditch is when we fail 431 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:35,080 to recognize what is our part in God's we start over functioning 432 00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:38,000 that that relationship isn't right. 433 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:41,440 We want our parents to be differently so man we're going 434 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:46,080 to tell them how it is. That always goes well spoken 435 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:51,120 from personal experience, like sometimes we have this situation 436 00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:53,040 and and I really want to achieve this outcome. 437 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:55,080 So I'm going to force it. I'm going to date this person 438 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:57,480 that I know is not a good fit, right? 439 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:02,680 I'm going to stay in this job because like I got to get there. 440 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:06,360 And I just think if I just keep going harder, maybe if I have 441 00:27:06,360 --> 00:27:09,160 less free time, if I take less time with my family, less time 442 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:12,400 with the Lord and I just I put in the hours that somehow I'm 443 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:16,480 going to get there. We start to take on that which 444 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:21,200 is not our responsibility to do that which is only God's. 445 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:26,400 On the one hand there is responsibility without faith, 446 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:30,240 and on the other there is faith without responsibility. 447 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:37,040 See, when we look at Advent, the invitation is to both there is a 448 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:41,560 holy waiting on God for what only He can do, and also there 449 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:46,160 is a responsible stewarding of that which He has given us, that 450 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:52,680 which is in our corner to do. Friends, when we step into this 451 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:58,200 kind of holy, responsible waiting, we might just 452 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:02,600 experience the goodness of God. I think this is what it takes 453 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:07,360 for us to experience the holiness of Advent and the gift 454 00:28:07,360 --> 00:28:11,080 of Christmas. As we close this morning, I want 455 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:15,720 to invite you to consider what does this look like for you? 456 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:22,520 What is your responsibility and what is God's responsibility? 457 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:27,280 Of course, this tension is captured perfectly in the 458 00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:30,680 Serenity prayer, which many of you know Reinhold neighbors 459 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:33,640 prayer that's been made famous by 12 Steps groups. 460 00:28:34,360 --> 00:28:37,800 God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot 461 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:44,040 change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom 462 00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:47,920 to know the difference. So that's what I'm asking you 463 00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:51,200 this morning. I want to invite you to go back 464 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:54,560 to the beginning of our gathering where we we talked 465 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:57,360 about that thing that you are longing for, that thing that you 466 00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:01,560 are waiting for. I don't want to ask what is your 467 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:07,640 part and what is God's as you consider your own waiting? 468 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:11,000 Are there ways where you find yourself in the the wait and 469 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:15,640 wish, ditch the places where you are avoiding or shirking the 470 00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:17,840 work that God has actually given you to do? 471 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:23,720 Is there a piece of preparation that actually you can take? 472 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:29,240 What would it look like for you to give that to God Now, to 473 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:31,520 commit that to say, God, you can count on me. 474 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:33,920 I'm going to be responsible for my part. 475 00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:37,680 I see that you're not just going to make this happen on my own. 476 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:41,240 There's something I need to step into here and I'm going to do 477 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:44,760 it. Or or maybe as you consider this 478 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:49,120 instance in your life, you, you say, ma'am, I think I'm in the 479 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:52,920 the work and worry ditch. I'm over here over functioning. 480 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:55,960 I'm going at it. I'm getting things done. 481 00:29:56,040 --> 00:30:01,160 I'm making it happen as though it all hangs on me, as though if 482 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:04,160 I don't do it, nobody will. As though there is not a good 483 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:06,600 God who loves me, who I can trust. 484 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:12,040 I'm trying to do it all myself, friend. 485 00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:15,800 What are you grasping so tightly this morning that you need to 486 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:19,440 surrender? What are you grasping so tightly 487 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:20,880 this morning that you need to surrender?