1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:04,680 Well, it's so good to give you all time to connect together and 2 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:08,680 talk together. It's such an important aspect of 3 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:11,080 life. And I know that your week can 4 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:15,880 just fly by and it's hard to recall and remember at times 5 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:19,320 that while God actually showed up, I was actually thankful for 6 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:24,640 something and get to share that with other people. 7 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:27,840 The amazing thing is about sharing our stories is that when 8 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:31,920 we share our story, your story becomes my story. 9 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:36,520 Like that's a story that I can share and talk about and reflect 10 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:40,000 on and consider the goodness of God in your own life. 11 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:44,840 And it influences the way I think and the way sometimes I 12 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:49,240 feel when I hear your story and I'm like, wow, I'm so grateful 13 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:51,760 God showed up. And then maybe on the flip side, 14 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:55,200 you're going, oh, I wish God had shown up in my life that way 15 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:57,840 this week. So different. 16 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:00,880 This is why in Christian community we talk a lot about 17 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:04,440 being able to mourn with those who mourn and to celebrate with 18 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:08,080 those who celebrate. Is that part of being a 19 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:14,440 spiritually mature community is that we enter in to a variety of 20 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:20,280 experiences as a body. We enter into a variety of 21 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:23,640 things that we feel deeply about. 22 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:27,880 And so if we've had lost, we feel deeply about it or we feel 23 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:31,800 disturbed in our soul or if we've had something great happen 24 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:34,320 in our life, we feel so good about it. 25 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:38,760 And we want in Christian community that you can share 26 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:42,640 both. The fear is that, oh, if I share 27 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:48,280 my loss, what a downer I'll be Debbie Downer who wants to hear 28 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:51,600 that? Or the fear is that while I know 29 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:55,200 my friends in that little circle are having a hard time, and if 30 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,800 they hear about my good time, then they'll be like, oh, you're 31 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:02,360 just spaz Dick Susie, you're just spazzing out on how God, 32 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:09,680 how good God has been to you. And both internal ways of 33 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:16,440 thinking are incorrect. It's really important that as 34 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:21,040 the church, we pay attention to how we are thinking. 35 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:29,280 As a person called by God, it's really important that you pay 36 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,840 attention to how you are thinking. 37 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:37,320 So we're going to do a little thing today in our service. 38 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:39,240 We're going to think about thinking. 39 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:44,360 They call it metacognition. You can turn to your neighbor 40 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:47,040 and say we're going to do it. Metacognition. 41 00:02:47,920 --> 00:02:50,160 We're going to think about thinking. 42 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:55,400 And particularly the really surprising thing is that we're 43 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:58,200 going to think about thinking about yourself. 44 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:08,480 How do you think about yourself? God is very interested in that. 45 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:13,560 In fact, if we're interested in becoming disciples of Jesus 46 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:17,880 together, we're really interested in how are you 47 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:21,920 thinking about this? We might not ask you that. 48 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:26,440 In fact, parents who ask that question sometimes get a lot of 49 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:28,200 different responses from their kids. 50 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:32,800 But it is perhaps one of the most important questions a 51 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:37,360 parent asks their kid. You know, your parent shows up 52 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:39,960 and goes. What were you thinking? 53 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:44,440 Well, you know, that's usually not a good moment. 54 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:49,640 Have any of you been there? Any of you been there as 55 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,560 parents? What were you thinking? 56 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:59,720 I feel like when Mary and Joseph came to Jesus and found him like 57 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:05,440 four days after they missed him in the temple, it's sort of the 58 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:08,160 question, Jesus, what were you thinking? 59 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:10,280 And then Jesus answered the question. 60 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:15,120 Well, I was thinking I needed to be in my Father's house. 61 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:22,360 Why does this surprise you? His thinking was very important. 62 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:30,320 The way you and I think about ourselves is so important. 63 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:35,520 Some of you are like, you don't have to tell me that because I'm 64 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:37,720 thinking about myself all the time. 65 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:42,960 In fact, you may feel like you're sort of in a doom circle 66 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:47,680 spin of thinking about yourself at times. 67 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:51,680 We can just ruminate about our experiences and thinking about 68 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:57,400 ourselves and others of us. Particularly the extroverts 69 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:03,200 think out loud all the time. And the danger for the extrovert 70 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:06,680 thinking out loud is that 5 minute later they're thinking 71 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:10,320 something else and they're saying out loud and our friends 72 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:13,480 around them are thinking, well you just flip flop you. 73 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:18,480 You can't over hold a thought. They're like, I needed to think 74 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:25,320 out loud then announce it. I finally needed to do that 75 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:29,440 sometimes with some of my friends to be able to say, let 76 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:36,200 me think out loud for a moment. I'm processing something I'm 77 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:42,400 trying to arrive at, How do I really think about this matter? 78 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:50,440 It's one of the gifts we give to each other as the church, but 79 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:54,240 it's an essential part of living as a called person. 80 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:59,640 Do you know the passage we read earlier that had Peter in the 81 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:02,160 boat? He's the extrovert among them, 82 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:05,960 it seems, thinking out loud all the time, thinking with his 83 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,360 mouth. And so whatever Peter was 84 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:12,040 thinking, no filter seems to have come out. 85 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,720 Jesus says, put the Nets down on the other side of the boat. 86 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:22,880 Jesus is calling them out, but he calls them out for something 87 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:25,600 that their affections were very deep for. 88 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:30,640 He called them out for fishing for fish. 89 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:38,480 And Peter thinks out loud, Master, we've been fishing all 90 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,280 night. We're the ones working. 91 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:44,960 We worked all night trying to catch fish and there were no 92 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:51,760 fish. But because you say so, Yes, 93 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:56,640 Lord, because you've said it, I'm going to put the Nets down. 94 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:03,080 And what a surprise. And then he keeps thinking out 95 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:08,160 loud, Oh, Lord, go away from me. Like, get off my boat. 96 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:14,560 I'm a sinful man. I don't deserve you. 97 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:20,960 I don't deserve this. And Jesus says don't be afraid. 98 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:27,960 From now on you will catch fish. Jesus was calling out the called 99 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:34,440 in the book of Romans, the passage we're going to read. 100 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:39,160 Paul is doing the same thing. Paul is calling out the called. 101 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:43,960 He's calling out those who've been called to Jesus as Lord in 102 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:49,960 the city of Rome who are part of different house churches, and 103 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:52,280 he's written them a letter that's going to be read by 104 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:55,160 Phoebe and each of those house churches. 105 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:59,840 Phoebe would come as the servant of the Lord, who would come as 106 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:03,760 one who was deeply familiar with the writings of Paul in this 107 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:07,280 letter. And she would read it to each 108 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:10,960 house church. And there would be moments where 109 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:13,880 they broke out in prayer. We read that prayer at the 110 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:18,520 beginning of our service, where Paul just erupts into this 111 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:22,160 doxology. All the depths of the riches of 112 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:27,360 the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable his judgments 113 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:32,200 and his paths beyond tracing out who has known the mind of the 114 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:38,240 Lord or who has been given his counsel, Who has ever given to 115 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:45,240 God that God should repay him for from him and through him and 116 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:51,320 for him are all things to him be the glory forever. 117 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:57,880 And the congregation said Amen. Can't you see, Phoebe maybe in 118 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:00,040 that house church and they've prayed. 119 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:03,720 Maybe some of them got down on their knees at that moment and 120 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:09,880 they all together said Amen. And then she said Paul wrote 121 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:11,600 more. Here it is. 122 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:15,320 Romans 12 is what we call it now. 123 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:20,600 It was just part of the letter. She would have kept reading to 124 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:22,840 this congregation meeting in a house. 125 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:32,640 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's 126 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:38,920 mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and 127 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:44,000 pleasing to God. This is your true and proper 128 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:48,920 worship. Do not conform any longer to the 129 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:54,320 pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of 130 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:58,720 your mind. Then you will be able to test 131 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:04,760 and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing and perfect 132 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:09,720 will. For by the grace given me, I say 133 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:14,560 to everyone of you, do not think of yourself more highly than you 134 00:10:14,560 --> 00:10:19,120 ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement in 135 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:22,920 accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 136 00:10:23,680 --> 00:10:27,600 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and 137 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:32,560 these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ 138 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:42,360 we though many form 1 body and each member belongs to all the 139 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:47,520 others. We have different gifts 140 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:51,560 according to the grace given to each of us. 141 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:58,600 If your gift is prophesying, then prophecy in accordance with 142 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:03,360 your faith. If it is serving, then serve. 143 00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:11,600 If it is teaching, then teach. If it is to encourage, then give 144 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:15,880 encouragement. If it is giving, then give 145 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:20,200 generously. If it is to lead, do it 146 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:25,200 diligently. If it is to show mercy, do it 147 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:31,160 cheerfully. Love must be sincere. 148 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:36,520 Hate what is evil. Cling to what is good. 149 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:40,040 Be devoted to one another in love. 150 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:43,840 Honor one another above yourselves. 151 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:50,840 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 152 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:54,760 Share with the Lord's people who are in need. 153 00:11:55,280 --> 00:12:02,360 Practice, hospitality, and the exhortations that Phoebe would 154 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:07,040 have had as she spoke to this church went on and on and on in 155 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:09,920 this passage. So finally at the end of it, of 156 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:16,000 this little passage, she says, do not be overcome by evil, but 157 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:23,440 overcome evil with good. Now in the middle of this sort 158 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:27,440 of gathering of Scripture, here in Paul's thought to the church 159 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:32,160 in Rome, there's this line. Let's read it together from 160 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:40,880 verse 3. 4 You ready? 4 By the grace given me, I say 161 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:46,080 to everyone of you, do not think of yourself more highly than you 162 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:52,400 ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement in 163 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:57,840 accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 164 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:04,240 Think of yourself. This is the surprising thing 165 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:07,720 buried in the middle of this. Think about yourself a little 166 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:13,240 bit, but take note of how you do think about yourself, because 167 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:17,320 the truth is, most of us are thinking about ourself. 168 00:13:18,680 --> 00:13:23,160 When you line up to get pizza, you're thinking about yourself. 169 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:26,000 I really like this piece of pizza. 170 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:29,960 Oh, if I take this piece of pizza to her, she won't like it, 171 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:33,520 but she loves that one. So if I get that for her, then, 172 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:36,160 you know, things might go well the rest of the afternoon. 173 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:38,920 And so we're playing out this little thing in our head about 174 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:41,480 how we're thinking. And yeah, I'm thinking about the 175 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:43,720 other person, but I'm thinking about myself. 176 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:49,880 We naturally think about ourselves. 177 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:54,360 So it's sort of surprising that one of the spiritual exercises 178 00:13:54,560 --> 00:13:58,640 in our life with Christ and as a body is that we think about 179 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:03,960 ourselves together. But note what Paul says about 180 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:10,760 how to think about ourselves. He says that we are to think 181 00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:21,320 about ourselves. Well, first he says, don't think 182 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:24,720 this way. He starts with a negative, 183 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:29,240 doesn't he? Don't think about yourself more 184 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:34,440 highly than you ought. I wonder if that was a problem 185 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:38,480 in the church in Rome. Paul had never got gotten there. 186 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:43,640 He'd never been there at this point, but he knew the people 187 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:46,080 that were there. He knew some of the history of 188 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:49,360 things that were happening. And he knew that there was a a 189 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:54,760 little bit of conflict among the different churches and members 190 00:14:55,360 --> 00:15:01,960 in Rome, that there was a group of Jewish people who were trying 191 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:06,440 to tell the Gentile Christians, you need to be more Jewish. 192 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:11,600 And there were also Gentile Christians who were saying you 193 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:14,600 need to be more free. Loosen up a little bit. 194 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:20,720 The Apostle Paul later in this letter speaks about the Jewish 195 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:23,520 and Gentile believers sharing life together. 196 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:26,760 And he says some of you are acting like you're the strong 197 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:31,600 ones, and others of you are acting a bit weak in your faith. 198 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:35,440 He wasn't tearing to tear them down, but he was trying to 199 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:39,120 address what he saw as a problem in the life of the church. 200 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:43,440 And I wonder if he'd already realized there was growing 201 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:48,920 arrogance on both sides. Those who were closer in 202 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:53,880 proximity to the covenant of God being expressed in the history 203 00:15:53,880 --> 00:16:00,480 of Israel might have felt I have a true spiritual legacy. 204 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:11,600 Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Moses, That's my legacy. 205 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:18,360 They're my people. Read my word, do what I do, and 206 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:23,080 you'll be really close to God. They may have been getting a 207 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:27,880 little arrogant, thinking more highly of themselves than they 208 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:30,120 ought. And then on the other side, it's 209 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:33,880 not as if the gentiles were sort of free from this kind of 210 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:36,680 thinking. In fact, they had been able to 211 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:40,480 stay in Rome when the emperor kicked out all the Jewish 212 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:44,400 people. And they're like, we're closer 213 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:47,680 to the freedom that comes in Christ. 214 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:53,000 We now know what it is to be free. 215 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:57,600 We're free of the dietary laws. We're free of the need for 216 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:01,520 circumcision. We, you know, we can go hang out 217 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:05,599 with Caesar in his household and it's nobody's going to know. 218 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:08,800 Like we can be undercover Christians there. 219 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:15,720 You need to be free. You've never met anyone who was 220 00:17:15,839 --> 00:17:17,839 proud of their spiritual life, have you? 221 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:28,240 I think I used to be that person. 222 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:33,760 I remember on occasion, I've shared this with you all, and 223 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:37,360 I've usually shared at the beginning of the term, but I was 224 00:17:37,360 --> 00:17:41,680 with a group of friends and we were playing billiards together 225 00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:46,360 and we were just talking. We were thinking out loud, blah, 226 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:47,920 blah, blah, blah, blah, just talking. 227 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:54,400 And I said something, have no memory of it, but I remember 228 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:59,880 what happened next. My friend Martha Jane Yates 229 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:06,480 stood up quickly and she said, Craig O'Brien, you are so 230 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:10,880 self-righteous. And she screamed it. 231 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:17,560 And everyone around me went, you know, that moment I had been 232 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:21,640 called out. I had been called out for 233 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:26,720 myself, righteous attitude and thinking. 234 00:18:27,360 --> 00:18:31,920 I was so embarrassed. I think I flushed from my toes 235 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:34,240 to my head. I turned red. 236 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:38,240 I put that pool cue down and I walked out. 237 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:44,800 I was so angry. And I got in the car and I drove 238 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:49,480 home to my apartment and on the way I complained to God. 239 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:52,840 She had no right to say that. That was so wrong. 240 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:55,240 What? What do you think about it, God? 241 00:18:56,560 --> 00:19:03,240 And I sensed just the whisper of the Spirit in my heart and mind 242 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:13,600 saying, she's right, you know, she's right, you know, so 243 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:20,440 self-righteous. Hyperfrinno. 244 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:23,160 It's the word that Paul's using there. 245 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:27,000 Hyperfrinno. Thinking more highly of yourself 246 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,440 than you ought. Hyperfrinno. 247 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:34,120 It's a kind of megamind thinking. 248 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:39,120 It's like the double gulp. I thought the big gulp at 711 249 00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:42,800 was big, but it's the double gulp that's humongous. 250 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:47,560 And some of us carry this kind of pride in our lives and and 251 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:51,280 others who experience this think you are just the most arrogant 252 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:53,560 person I've ever met. And you're like, I'm just 253 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:56,600 confident. I'm just confident. 254 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:01,600 I'm not asking you to not be confident. 255 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:06,040 Neither is Paul. But he's asking us to right size 256 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:10,800 ourselves. Do not be arrogant. 257 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,800 Arrogance conveys a sense of invincibility. 258 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:19,080 Arrogance will seek to manipulate God to always be on 259 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:23,360 our side. Arrogance will seek ultimately 260 00:20:23,360 --> 00:20:29,400 to do things without God. And this is hard because most of 261 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:33,960 you arrived here with skills and part of the challenge in the 262 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:39,080 first weeks and the challenge of midterms is, Oh my goodness, I'm 263 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:42,480 not all I thought I was. And it's so hard. 264 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:48,680 And so we have to right size our thinking about ourselves. 265 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:54,600 Paul goes on here with a more positive word. 266 00:20:55,200 --> 00:21:00,200 Do not think about yourself more highly than your ought, but 267 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:02,880 rather think of yourself with sober judgement. 268 00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:07,520 This seems scary. Sober judgement, judgement. 269 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:10,640 Most of us would take that word judgement and say I'm already 270 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:15,200 too critical about myself. The secret about me is that I'm 271 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:21,080 very hard on myself and I'm very critical of myself and I have a 272 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:24,800 lot of internal self condemnation that accompanies 273 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,960 that self doubt. And so we hear the word 274 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:31,720 judgement here and we, we feel a little anxious, but the word 275 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:34,960 judgement here is just, it's another word about thinking. 276 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:39,720 That's another word of thinking. It's a more moderate thinking. 277 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:44,880 So think about yourselves moderately right size your 278 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:47,120 thinking. The word we grab here is the 279 00:21:47,120 --> 00:21:49,760 word sober. Have you ever been with someone 280 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:56,240 who's not sober? That means they're drunk. 281 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:00,120 OK, there we go. All right, now, you know, so 282 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:05,520 there's, I find there's two ways that it often goes with people 283 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:09,240 I've been around who are drunk, who've had too much to drink. 284 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:17,840 And, and one, they are really gregarious and they, they have a 285 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:24,800 kind of sense about themselves where they're grandiose, they're 286 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:28,600 grandiose about themselves and they come out with big 287 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:32,520 statements. But then I also have another 288 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:37,240 group of people when they've had too much to drink or morose 289 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:45,680 gloom and doom and everything's bad, grandiose or morose. 290 00:22:46,360 --> 00:22:52,720 That's not sober, sober thinking, the sober thinking 291 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:57,040 that Paul has. Notice he says think of 292 00:22:57,040 --> 00:23:00,080 yourself. This is his third admonition 293 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,000 about thinking. Think about yourself. 294 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:10,840 Will you keep going? Just There we go. 295 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,040 Yeah, one more. Let's go to .3. 296 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:21,360 There we go. The the next way of thinking is 297 00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:25,240 to really locate your thinking inside faith. 298 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:32,520 Think about yourself from where you stand in your faith in 299 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:37,720 accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 300 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,400 Now on first reading of this, the temptation is to look and 301 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:45,280 go. Well, Jaden's got more faith 302 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:50,960 than me or, and maybe, well, maybe Jenny's got more faith. 303 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:54,600 God gave her a lot of faith. God didn't give me as much 304 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:57,960 faith. And so, you know, I can, I can 305 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:00,400 relieve myself from this conversation. 306 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:10,160 Actually the word here is is suggesting that God has taken 307 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:17,880 this mercy pool, this this great gift of belief in Christ, this 308 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:21,600 great gift of what Christ has done at the cross, this great 309 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:27,920 gift of who Jesus is for us. And if we have trusted him, he's 310 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:32,240 given us that faith. And so he's distributed that 311 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:37,640 faith to each of us in the body, Jew or Gentile, strong or weak. 312 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:42,920 Those with vegan tendencies and those with more let's eat meat 313 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:45,920 tendencies. And those who said I can drink 314 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:48,840 it if I give thanks. And those who say I'd better not 315 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:52,080 drink any at all. And those who say I'd better not 316 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:54,520 even walk past that idol factory. 317 00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:57,760 And those who say, but I'm free, I want to take the gospel of 318 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:00,960 those people. God has distributed the faith of 319 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:08,480 Christ to every one of us, and that's the mystery he was 320 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:13,280 singing about in prayer. That's the mystery that he wants 321 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:17,360 us to think into when thinking about ourselves. 322 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:23,160 He goes on in that passage about three kinds of gifts. 323 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:27,360 The first gift is this gift of faith. 324 00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:31,880 You've got it. Maybe you're, you're, you're 325 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:33,960 sitting there and you're thinking, I really haven't 326 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:36,080 trusted Jesus yet. I don't know. 327 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:41,680 Well then pay attention to your thinking about who Jesus is and 328 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:45,280 ask yourself why. Why have I not yet trusted 329 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:48,720 Jesus? But if you have trusted Jesus, 330 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:53,000 you have received a measure of faith into your life that he's 331 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:57,440 distributed to each of us. The second gift is that he's 332 00:25:57,440 --> 00:25:59,720 included us in the body of Christ. 333 00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:05,080 He goes on to say we are all members of a body and his word 334 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:09,520 choice here is so interesting because he uses a word that 335 00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:13,360 would have created political friction in the empire. 336 00:26:14,120 --> 00:26:18,760 He didn't use the word church, he used the word soma and it 337 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:22,120 would have meant to the Roman citizen who was listening to 338 00:26:22,120 --> 00:26:26,840 that saying what? You have a competing body 339 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:33,640 politic? Yes, we have all become members 340 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:39,120 of another body, the body of Christ, and he wants our 341 00:26:39,120 --> 00:26:41,880 thinking to be saturated with this. 342 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:48,480 I belong to this body. Remember, he says, you belong to 343 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:52,720 each other in this body. This thumb belongs to me. 344 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,360 It's not your thumb. Isn't that good? 345 00:26:55,480 --> 00:27:00,840 That's good news. My thumb, not your thumb, but in 346 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:04,200 the body, we should be able to look around and say I've been 347 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:08,520 included in this body of Christ. I belong to these people. 348 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:12,880 These people belong with me. And it it will change our 349 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:18,320 thinking about life and the Kingdom of God. 350 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:24,480 The third gift is that he's actually given different grace 351 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:28,320 gifts. This gift of inclusion doesn't 352 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:32,400 mean we're all the same, nor does it mean we all do the same 353 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:38,360 things, but it means that we do different things according to 354 00:27:38,360 --> 00:27:42,480 the gifts He gives to us in this season of life. 355 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:46,720 So in your mind, I want you to rehearse this. 356 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:52,600 God has given me gifts. God has given me good gifts. 357 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:56,880 God has given me the gift of faith in Christ. 358 00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:02,960 God has given me the gift of inclusion in the body of Christ. 359 00:28:03,360 --> 00:28:09,800 God has given me by His Spirit a gift so that I can function for 360 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:14,800 the good of the body of Christ. Don't be afraid. 361 00:28:21,490 --> 00:28:27,560 The end game here is not that somehow you will look great and 362 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:32,480 glorious and be perfect. The end game here is that we 363 00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:37,720 will all be able to love more sincerely. 364 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:46,080 The way you think about yourself either hinders your capacity to 365 00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:53,160 love sincerely or amplifies the grace of God in your life and 366 00:28:53,160 --> 00:29:01,720 our lives so that we can love sincerely, without deception, 367 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:06,200 without fakery, but with the truth. 368 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:14,640 That's the end game, as that we would love sincerely. 369 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:25,120 Love must be sincere. For those of you who journal and 370 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:28,680 for those of you who don't, I'd like to encourage you to journal 371 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:33,040 some this week. And I want you to stop and pause 372 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:37,640 and just ask the question over this past day. 373 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:48,200 How was I thinking about myself? What story was I telling myself 374 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:55,840 about the experiences, encounters I had this day and as 375 00:29:55,840 --> 00:30:01,480 well take note of what words of condemnation did I use to 376 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:05,760 describe myself today? I know some of you do this. 377 00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:08,800 You look in the mirror first thing in the morning and go, 378 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:17,560 hey, good looking, do you? OK, let me encourage you to do 379 00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:20,960 that. Look in the mirror and say hey, 380 00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:25,680 I see you and smile at yourself at least. 381 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:32,280 You all can't even look at me. You, some of you are like, 382 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:38,320 there's no way I could do that. And then just say, hey, you are 383 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:42,680 loved by God. You've been given faith in 384 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:46,320 Christ Jesus who died for you. Preach to yourself. 385 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:49,840 Hey, you have been included in the body of Christ. 386 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:52,200 You are not on this campus by yourself. 387 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:57,360 You are gathered and relating together to many, many, many 388 00:30:57,360 --> 00:30:59,520 followers of Jesus. You are not alone. 389 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:02,560 You are not alone. Preach to yourself. 390 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:07,600 And then third, say you've got a gift that the world needs. 391 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:16,040 Can you say that to yourself? You have a gift that the world 392 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:23,880 needs? And then say, come on Holy 393 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:29,000 Spirit, help me love more. Let's pray together. 394 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:33,960 Lord Jesus, the way we think about ourselves is so important, 395 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:39,200 and it's really got to be based on thinking about you. 396 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:47,800 So come, Lord Jesus, come shape our thinking about you. 397 00:31:53,660 --> 00:32:00,820 Help us now to remember to think once again on the extraordinary 398 00:32:00,820 --> 00:32:07,660 gift of yourself to us, so that we might be drawn into your 399 00:32:07,660 --> 00:32:16,720 communion. When we remember, we reconnect 400 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:23,640 ourselves as a member in the body of Christ, as ones for whom 401 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:28,360 the body of Christ was broken and blood poured out. 402 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:38,720 So Lord Jesus, as we come to your table today, we remember, 403 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:43,360 we reconnect with you in this moment. 404 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:47,680 As your people, we're going to serve each other. 405 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:52,840 So Lord, help us to look into the face of each person that we 406 00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:58,520 serve as we pass these plates and this juice. 407 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:08,160 Help us to remember and reconnect with you as called out 408 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:17,080 once. My Jesus, let's stand together 409 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:19,600 those helping with the Lord's Supper, if you will come.