1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:05,560 Well, good morning. Wow, it is rainy, but guys, you 2 00:00:05,560 --> 00:00:08,840 can do better than that. Good morning. 3 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:11,040 Yeah. Help, Right? 4 00:00:11,040 --> 00:00:13,720 The sun will shine again. Yeah. 5 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,400 My name is Andrew Evans. I am one of the pastors here at 6 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:19,760 Church of the Resurrection. It's great to be with you. 7 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,960 Please turn with me in your Bibles to 1st Corinthians 8 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:26,560 chapter 2, First Corinthians chapter 2 in the Black Pew 9 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:29,600 Bibles. You can find this on page 895, 10 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:34,680 then on to the next page. And before we get started, let 11 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:40,400 me pray for us. Father, I praise you that even 12 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:45,720 on gloomy and wet mornings, you have shown the light of Christ 13 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:50,480 on us and on our lives. Pray that you would illumine our 14 00:00:50,480 --> 00:00:55,200 minds this morning through your through your word. 15 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:58,600 I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 16 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:04,400 Let's talk for a minute about Ted Talks. 17 00:01:05,519 --> 00:01:08,880 Ted Talks. So they began in the 1980s in 18 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:12,200 California, of course, naturally, and they really began 19 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:17,600 to grow in popularity in the in the mid, early to mid 2000s. 20 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:22,040 So Ted, Ted talks, they are like basically the Ted, Ted stands 21 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:23,680 for technology, education and design. 22 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:26,200 And they're talks about interesting things basically. 23 00:01:28,320 --> 00:01:31,240 And they've become incredibly popular, it seems. 24 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:34,440 I mean, some videos have millions of views on YouTube. 25 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:39,200 There's a Ted Radio hour on NPR. They have Ted conferences all 26 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:43,600 over the world now very popular. They are kind of, you could say, 27 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:49,040 a phenomenon now. What makes them so popular? 28 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:51,640 What makes Ted Talk so popular? I think that they are an 29 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:55,560 irresistible cocktail of three different ingredients. 30 00:01:56,080 --> 00:02:00,840 They are rhetorically powerful. You could say speakers. 31 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:03,520 Unlike me, they're not supposed to use notes. 32 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:06,720 They, you've probably seen the videos, right? 33 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:08,639 They kind of wander around the stage. 34 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:11,800 There's a red circle here and they like wander around. 35 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:13,760 They've got their pointer with their slideshow and they're, 36 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:15,160 they're just talking to you, right? 37 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:17,960 And you hear them and you understand them and there's 38 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,520 nothing between you and them. And so you can really get what 39 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:26,240 they have to say. So we, we're getting, Lord 40 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:28,200 willing, some new wireless microphones here. 41 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:30,440 And Soleimani has threatened to start wandering around the stage 42 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:32,880 while he preaches. Maybe we need to do like a red 43 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:36,280 circle here, Say you can, you can wander this far and no 44 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:41,240 further. So rhetorically powerful, right? 45 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:46,400 That's the first thing. The next is that they explain 46 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:50,560 some aspect of the world. This is what they promised to 47 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:51,800 do. They promised to give some sort 48 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:54,920 of framework, some sort of new understanding, some sort of 49 00:02:54,920 --> 00:03:00,160 secret knowledge that unlocks some aspect of reality for us. 50 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:03,280 I was listening last weekend, I was driving somewhere and I was 51 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:05,880 driving probably like four blocks away and took about 10 52 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:09,840 minutes. So I had the radio on and and it 53 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:12,560 was the Ted Radio hour. And so they were talking about 54 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:17,840 about autism, but people who aren't exactly autistic and, and 55 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:21,000 these sort of characteristics of these not quite autistic people. 56 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:26,040 Super interesting, really fascinating, really sort of 57 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:28,840 helping me to understand some aspect of reality. 58 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,160 That's what they're promising us, You know, that that's like, 59 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:33,600 they're helpful, right? So they're, they promise to 60 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:35,800 explain some aspect of the world. 61 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:38,280 And when you pair this with, you know, the guy wandering around 62 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:41,280 on the stage with no notes, it becomes very persuasive. 63 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:47,480 And then the final ingredient in this irresistible cocktail is 64 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:50,480 that they offer a kind of path forward. 65 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:57,920 They tell us how to act because just understanding the world, 66 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:00,120 just having this framework isn't enough, is it? 67 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:04,280 We need to know how to live, what to do in light of this. 68 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:09,320 Yeah. And so this is what they, this 69 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:11,120 is what they offer. They typically, they always 70 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:12,960 offer some sort of some sort of thing. 71 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:14,200 Sometimes it's sort of at the end. 72 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:16,240 Sometimes the whole thing is like 15 steps. 73 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:17,640 It's all global warming or whatever. 74 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:20,959 But they offer you, they give you something to do. 75 00:04:21,519 --> 00:04:25,160 So this is what Ted talks offer us, what they offer the world, 76 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:29,720 right? Powerful rhetoric, a new 77 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:33,600 powerful understanding and action points things to do with 78 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:35,880 that. Now they seem they, they are a 79 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:38,560 kind of relatively new phenomenon in a way, right? 80 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:41,880 But they're actually offering something that is as old as 81 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:45,880 humanity itself. What they're offering us is 82 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,720 wisdom. Wisdom, persuasive, 83 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:54,400 understanding the world and how to live because of that reality. 84 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:57,840 And this is something that we just so desperately want, isn't 85 00:04:57,840 --> 00:04:59,640 it? We want to understand the world, 86 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,680 especially our world today, which feels like the very 87 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:06,120 foundations of our world are shaking because of all sorts of 88 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:09,160 changes. And we we just desperately want 89 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:13,200 to know what is going on. And then how do we live because 90 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:14,840 of that? So, you know, we read our sub 91 00:05:14,840 --> 00:05:17,480 stacks. I have my subscriptions. 92 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,520 I subscribed to somebody earlier this week and I read a great 93 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:24,080 essay, really helpful. We read our sub stacks, right? 94 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:27,760 Maybe we go check out the latest Jonathan Haidt or James Davidson 95 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:30,960 Hunter book. You know, the anxious 96 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:32,120 generation. We're all anxious. 97 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,440 Why are we anxious? We've, you know, flipped through 98 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:36,880 The Economist. I was talking to somebody 99 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:38,800 earlier and I was like, do you read the Economist? 100 00:05:38,840 --> 00:05:44,040 And she said, no, but I should. I said go in peace. 101 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:49,240 You don't need to be the Economist, but this is what we 102 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:51,600 want to understand. And so all these places sort of 103 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:55,200 promise understanding. They promise to help us sort 104 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:58,960 through the the chaos of our universe, the chaos of our 105 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:00,600 world. If you read The Economist, it's 106 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:02,640 really OK. It's OK. 107 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:08,560 We want wisdom. We're looking for wisdom. 108 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:14,960 And in this we are just like the Corinthians, aren't we? 109 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:20,720 They valued rhetorical power. They sought the wisdom that this 110 00:06:20,840 --> 00:06:24,840 that this insight promised. There were Corinthian Ted talks, 111 00:06:24,840 --> 00:06:28,320 you could say rhetorical competitions, where people 112 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:32,040 sought to be the most the most popular, the most persuasive. 113 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:36,360 But the problem for the Corinthian church, I think, was 114 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:41,440 that they felt like they were giving up the wisdom that the 115 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:44,320 city so valued. Because, you see, Paul didn't 116 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:47,720 come to them in lofty words of wisdom. 117 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:51,120 Paul never would have been invited to a Ted conference. 118 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:54,080 Maybe he would have been like on some secondary stage and, you 119 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:57,200 know, the backwaters of, I don't know, Paris or something. 120 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:00,240 Definitely not. Definitely not in Washington, 121 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:03,600 DC. He talked about one thing, 122 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:07,160 talked about Jesus Christ and him crucified. 123 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:11,400 He talked about a savior who died, apparently intentionally. 124 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:15,080 Great message, guys. Yeah, really good Paul. 125 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:20,920 And his demeanor as he's talking his, his rhetorical power was 126 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:24,160 not particularly persuasive, was he didn't come with confidence. 127 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:27,720 He came with weakness, fear, much trembling. 128 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:31,640 This is what Paul came with. He was a terrible messenger for 129 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:36,760 a frankly uninspiring message. And so the Corinthians probably 130 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:39,080 thought like, look, I want to be a Christian, but can we do any 131 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:43,560 better? Like, is this really, is this 132 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:45,920 really what we have? Am I, I have to give up what 133 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:51,360 this city so values, in fact, what humanity has been seeking 134 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:54,080 for so long in order to be a Christian? 135 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:57,200 I think I have to give up wisdom. 136 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:01,760 And I think that we can be so tempted to think that as well. 137 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:06,000 Is Christianity really, really wise? 138 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:11,320 Is it really sophisticated? Does it actually give us a deep 139 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:14,720 understanding of what's going on in the world? 140 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:18,640 And I think that we can be tempted to say, well, as a 141 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:22,120 matter of fact, I think it's true, but it's not that 142 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:25,200 sophisticated. We're not really wise. 143 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:27,400 And, and we're tempted as a result to try to try to 144 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:31,280 sometimes trim out parts of our faith that are, that are less 145 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:33,120 persuasive. You could think about this with 146 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:37,039 the, with the focus on love that we see in so many places. 147 00:08:37,039 --> 00:08:38,480 God is love. Amen. 148 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,559 So true. I preached about that last 149 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:42,880 weekend. God is love. 150 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:48,200 But if that's all we focus on, that God is love, we can 151 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:50,560 actually end up with a very distorted understanding of who 152 00:08:50,560 --> 00:08:54,320 God is. And we can end up doing really 153 00:08:54,320 --> 00:09:01,560 silly things like dismissing Paul and trying to exalt the 154 00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:06,200 ethical teachings of Jesus because because Christianity 155 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:10,120 calls us to love, to a deeper love, to more than love in a 156 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:16,160 way, it calls us to to holiness, to self sacrifice, to that dirty 157 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:19,440 word purity. God calls us to all of these 158 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:22,400 things and we have to hold all of them together. 159 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:25,400 But this can feel just so profoundly old fashioned and 160 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:34,360 unsophisticated, can it? So is there real wisdom in 161 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:37,200 Christianity? And Paul's answer here is a 162 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:42,920 resounding yes. Yes, there is real wisdom in 163 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:47,360 Christianity. If you want true wisdom, look to 164 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:51,080 Christ in faith. That's what Paul is driving us 165 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:55,200 toward in this passage. He wants us to see where real 166 00:09:55,200 --> 00:10:01,800 wisdom is and how we can get it. But I think it's so telling that 167 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:05,000 Paul doesn't begin by talking about wisdom. 168 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,240 He says in verse 6 that he does offer wisdom, but that's not 169 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:11,080 where the book starts. That's not where he starts in 170 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:16,760 his argument here. He starts with God and he starts 171 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:21,400 with God acting. This is actually the heart of 172 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:24,160 Paul's counter intuitive and kind of backward rhetorical 173 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:27,880 strategy. He does everything that he can 174 00:10:28,400 --> 00:10:33,320 to point away from himself and to point to God and more 175 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:37,600 specifically to God's action in the world in Christ. 176 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:41,520 The danger of speaking too confidently, of being too 177 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:43,640 persuasive, is that people can actually end up putting their 178 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:50,640 faith in Paul and not in Jesus. But this isn't where Paul wants 179 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:53,160 people to look. Paul wants people to look to 180 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:58,840 Christ and him crucified so that, as he says in verse 5, 181 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:03,320 their faith would not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power 182 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:07,480 of God. And with this phrase, the power 183 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:12,320 of God, Paul here is inviting us to see one of the most profound 184 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:17,560 truths about the cross. Because at the cross, what seems 185 00:11:17,560 --> 00:11:21,360 like powerlessness, it's actually the supreme 186 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:27,520 demonstration of God's power. At the cross, where the Son of 187 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:33,280 God died, God decisively dealt with the guilt and the shame of 188 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:36,000 his people. At the cross, he reconciled all 189 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:39,680 who would come to him in faith to God. 190 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:44,200 At the cross, it looks like weakness and powerlessness, but 191 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:48,160 it's actually the power and even the wisdom of God on full 192 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:54,520 display. God acted in Christ for you with 193 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:59,880 power, and the resurrection vindicates Christ as a 194 00:11:59,880 --> 00:12:02,920 demonstration that Christ is here in power. 195 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:07,800 This is what Paul proclaimed, and this is where he wants all, 196 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:10,280 all of his rhetorical power, everything that he has, 197 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:14,360 everything that he's pointing to is pointing at Jesus, at Christ 198 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:19,320 crucified. He is lifting up before us the 199 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:23,640 God who has acted for you in Christ. 200 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:29,680 This is the beginning of wisdom. And when we put our faith in 201 00:12:29,680 --> 00:12:35,400 Christ, in God's action for you, we actually begin to gain the 202 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:40,080 truest and the most lasting wisdom. 203 00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:44,200 Because you see, the problem with the wisdom of this world is 204 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:48,760 that it passes away. It doesn't last sub stacks the 205 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:51,360 latest books. They might have some explanatory 206 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:54,720 power, but they will start to fall apart. 207 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:58,840 They'll show themselves to be incomplete or maybe just 208 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:03,680 downright wrong. So consider as a as a perhaps a 209 00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:06,720 lighter example, eggs. Eggs. 210 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:13,040 Yeah, eggs. So should you eat eggs now? 211 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:16,240 It depends who you ask and when you ask. 212 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:18,240 As a matter of fact, because if you were to ask your great 213 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:21,120 grandparents, they would say, yes, of course. 214 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:22,560 Obviously they fill you up. They're good food. 215 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:23,640 That could be energy for the day. 216 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:28,080 But if you were to ask somebody in the 60s, they'd say, ah, yes. 217 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:31,000 The latest scientific study informs us that eggs have 218 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:33,920 cholesterol and cholesterol causes heart attacks. 219 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:38,000 So you should not eat eggs. Or if you do, just eat like 3 a 220 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:42,680 week. OK, so then a little a little 221 00:13:42,680 --> 00:13:45,320 while later, say, should we eat eggs? 222 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:47,960 And you know, the dietitian will respond. 223 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:50,240 Well, as it turns out, there are two kinds of cholesterol. 224 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:53,200 There's there's good cholesterol and there's bad cholesterol and 225 00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:55,880 eggs perhaps have some of those. So just go easy, maybe a little 226 00:13:55,880 --> 00:14:01,040 bit. Last decade, you asked, should I 227 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:02,880 eat eggs? I'll respond. 228 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:06,120 Well, as it turns out, the the latest study says that there is 229 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:08,480 no such thing as good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. 230 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:11,040 It's all fine. So yes, eat as many eggs as you 231 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:15,000 want. So what's the truth about eggs? 232 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:21,120 What do we do? It's a silly example, but I 233 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:22,880 think it illustrates the point here, right? 234 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:27,240 That the wisdom of this world will pass away. 235 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:33,880 You know, 1800s Karl Marx claimed to explain everything 236 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:37,120 through economics, class relations, power relations. 237 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:41,280 But his theories proved incomplete and historically 238 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:44,920 disastrous. You could say Sigmund Freud, 239 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:49,760 early 20th century, took the psychological world by storm 240 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:53,080 with his psychoanalysis. It promised to explain 241 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:55,520 everything, including civilization and its 242 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:57,920 discontents. Could you get bigger than that? 243 00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:02,640 But from what I understand, Freudian theory is basically 244 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:07,720 discredited today. More recently, some of the sages 245 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:13,280 of our own time have proclaimed the explanatory power of trauma 246 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:15,800 and physical memory, the memory in our bodies. 247 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:18,920 Maybe you've read read the book or or like me, read a review of 248 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:21,360 the book The Body Keeps the Score. 249 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:26,800 Seems like this theory has some explanatory power, but it also 250 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:29,040 seems like it's perhaps losing some steam. 251 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:32,400 Will it be discredited completely like Freudianism? 252 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:35,960 I don't know. It's almost certainly 253 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:39,880 incomplete. It's worldly wisdom. 254 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:46,760 It will pass away. The wisdom of Christianity is 255 00:15:46,760 --> 00:15:54,240 not like this worldly wisdom. The wisdom isn't of this age or 256 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:58,440 of any age. It's not kept and doled out by 257 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:03,120 the the sages and even you could say the priests of our day. 258 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:11,760 This wisdom of the world is past is bound to pass away, but the 259 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:18,640 wisdom of Christ will last. It can be so easy to think that 260 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:21,840 Christianity is old fashioned and and unsophisticated, 261 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:25,920 simplistic, insufficient. And that's why I think we we so 262 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:31,520 quickly run to all these other theories that offer offer quick, 263 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:34,840 excellent explanations and we run to them before we do the 264 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:38,400 hard work of searching our Bibles and praying to the God 265 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:44,240 who sent his Son to die for us. You might think that the Bible 266 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:49,040 doesn't have much to say about modern issues like transhumanism 267 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,920 or or climate change, reproductive technology. 268 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:58,680 But my friends do not miss the riches that lie in our faith on 269 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:04,480 all of these issues. The Bible does speak to them. 270 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:09,839 Our faith does speak to them. And the starting point, the 271 00:17:09,839 --> 00:17:15,359 wellspring of all of this wisdom is Christ crucified. 272 00:17:16,079 --> 00:17:19,240 So before running to the latest economic theory or or 273 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:24,000 psychological or sociological book, start by reading your 274 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:28,760 Bible, start by praying to the God who sent his Son to die for 275 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:36,280 you, and then go read the books and see what they have to say. 276 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:39,360 I think you'll be surprised at the riches that you already have 277 00:17:39,360 --> 00:17:46,680 access to just as simple Christians, because in fact, 278 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:49,040 you're not just simple Christians. 279 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:51,680 This is Paul's point in verse 10 and following. 280 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:55,680 If you are a Christian, if you are looking to Christ in faith, 281 00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:59,520 you're not just left to your own devices to try to to figure out 282 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,480 what the wise course of course of of action is. 283 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:08,960 This wisdom is actually given to you by the Spirit of God 284 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:13,440 himself. Have you ever had an argument 285 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:19,240 with somebody and the person says, why are you so angry at 286 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:23,480 me? And you respond, I didn't, I 287 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:25,120 didn't actually didn't think I was angry at you. 288 00:18:25,120 --> 00:18:28,360 As a matter of fact, I was, I was maybe sharp, but it was for 289 00:18:28,360 --> 00:18:30,920 these other reasons and I wasn't particularly thinking about you 290 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:32,040 at all. And maybe that's part of the 291 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:37,280 problem, but but I wasn't angry and I wasn't really perturbed at 292 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:38,640 you at all until this very moment. 293 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:44,240 And wouldn't it be just so useful if they could be inside 294 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:49,000 your head and understand your thoughts, sort of have your 295 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:51,560 spirit in them so they can know what you're thinking? 296 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:56,080 That'd be just really convenient, wouldn't it? 297 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:03,680 Our spirit understands our thoughts, but other people don't 298 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:06,600 seem to have access to our spirit. 299 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:11,360 This is the source of many, you know, miscommunications between 300 00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:15,960 friends, between spouses. And the same is true for God, 301 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:18,480 right? God has a spirit, and the Spirit 302 00:19:19,120 --> 00:19:21,720 understands his thoughts. That's what Paul says. 303 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:26,400 But The thing is, God's spirit isn't limited in the same way 304 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:31,560 that our spirit is limited and doesn't stay separate from us. 305 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:38,520 God actually sends His Spirit to us and the result is that the 306 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:42,680 Spirit enables us to understand what God is doing and what His 307 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:46,160 plan for the world is. What God is giving us. 308 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:50,680 This is verse 12. We have received not the Spirit 309 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:53,920 of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might 310 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:57,960 understand the things freely given to us. 311 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:04,400 My friends, just pause to think about how amazing this is. 312 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:11,000 The Spirit of the God who made the universe, who has been 313 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:14,280 orchestrating all events from the beginning of time. 314 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:19,640 That spirit is in you. If you're looking to Christ in 315 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:24,240 faith, you had the Spirit of the living God in you. 316 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:30,240 As a result, we have access. To the mind of God, we can 317 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:36,680 understand God and his purposes, maybe not perfectly, certainly 318 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:42,640 not completely, but we can still have true understanding of God 319 00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:46,880 and of His work. And we do this first and 320 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:49,600 foremost by looking to Christ and faith. 321 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:54,640 And the result of, of receiving the Spirit is that we have this 322 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:57,400 deep understanding, we have wisdom. 323 00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:01,520 We are spiritual people. This doesn't mean that we're, 324 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:04,720 that we're, you know, have our head in the head in the clouds 325 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:07,720 and we're, you know, too heavenly minded to be any 326 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:11,440 earthly good. Rather, we're actually able to 327 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:16,040 start viewing the things of this world rightly, correctly, 328 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:21,320 properly. Our view of people will change 329 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:26,280 from from burdens, maybe opportunities to exploit, to 330 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:30,520 people created in the image of God being offered salvation in 331 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:34,520 Christ. Our view of business will change 332 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:39,800 from opportunities to get rich to perhaps opportunities to 333 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:43,120 build lasting institutions that that benefit other people and 334 00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:47,400 glorify God. Our view of politics will change 335 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:51,120 from power plays that are seeking to, you know, own the 336 00:21:51,120 --> 00:21:57,520 libs or resist Trump, to opportunities to promote justice 337 00:21:58,360 --> 00:22:02,160 and seek the true flourishing of our fellow man. 338 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:09,160 The gospel enables all of this, and we as people indwelt by the 339 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:14,760 Spirit, can think this way. The Spirit enables us to have 340 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:20,960 true wisdom, and if the Spirit gives us this true wisdom, we 341 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:24,600 should have a confidence that is not shaken by what other people 342 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:28,240 think. Natural people might grasp some 343 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:31,960 of the truths that we have to say, but they won't get it. 344 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:36,400 All spiritless people will think that what we most believe most 345 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:40,760 deeply, most truly about Christ is folly. 346 00:22:42,120 --> 00:22:48,040 Our hope is that a 1st century Jewish man who died a brutal 347 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:52,440 execution on a wooden cross at the hands of the imperial force 348 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:56,600 at the time that that he is our hope. 349 00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:04,400 It seems crazy, but it's true. This is our hope, and we should 350 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:09,760 not lose confidence just because people who aren't Christian 351 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:11,600 think that what we believe is absurd. 352 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:19,360 Friends, we have the Spirit of God in US, giving us access to 353 00:23:19,360 --> 00:23:22,840 His plan from before the foundation of the world. 354 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:28,840 We can see God's plan at work in Christ because of the Spirit. 355 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:34,120 And because of this wisdom that God's Spirit gives us, we can 356 00:23:34,120 --> 00:23:39,960 judge those around us with true judgement, and we don't have to 357 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:44,000 fear their judgement. Verse 15, The spiritual person 358 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:48,640 judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 359 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,960 Now his point here isn't a kind of mental impunity that you can 360 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:54,840 think or say or judge whatever you want. 361 00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:59,320 Being a Christian doesn't baptize everything we think. 362 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:03,960 We still are sinful, we can still make mistakes, but we 363 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:07,040 don't have to fear the judgements of those who are not 364 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:12,120 Christian. You will be judged, but their 365 00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:13,960 judgement of you is not what matters. 366 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:21,320 So my friends, be at peace. If your marriage is hitting some 367 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:24,760 rough waters and all of your non Christian friends are are 368 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:31,920 telling you to abandon ship, you can stand firm and love knowing 369 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:37,760 that cruciform service that Christ showed us is the path of 370 00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:41,360 wisdom. Maybe your financial advisor is 371 00:24:41,360 --> 00:24:44,200 telling you you really need to put down the hatches, need to 372 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:50,480 cut back on some of this giving, but you can stand firm in love 373 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:54,280 knowing that because of the Spirit you can see all that God 374 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:58,680 has freely given you. Maybe your family is telling you 375 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:02,240 you have to affirm the lifestyle choice of the member of your 376 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:05,080 family, even though you know it is sinful and wrong. 377 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:11,320 You can stand firm in love knowing that Christ died to 378 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:16,080 redeem us from sin. If your friends are are getting 379 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:22,120 all worked up about the latest political brouhaha and they're 380 00:25:22,120 --> 00:25:24,240 inviting you and they're wondering why are you not 381 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:29,960 getting all worked up, You can stand firm in love knowing that 382 00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:34,080 Christ died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. 383 00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:39,880 Our King sits on the throne, and all of the authorities and 384 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:42,120 rulers of this world will pass away. 385 00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:47,680 This wisdom that we have in Christ gives us the confidence 386 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:53,120 to stand firm in love even when we find ourselves alone. 387 00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:58,240 So, my friends, do not fear. The world cannot judge you. 388 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:03,720 Instead, you can with confidence, judge the world. 389 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:08,040 So my friends, do you want this wisdom? 390 00:26:09,120 --> 00:26:12,880 Do you want the deepest, truest understanding of the reality of 391 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:17,440 of true reality and the ability to act well on that 392 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:21,840 understanding? Look to Christ, look to him in 393 00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:24,720 faith. Place your hope in Christ and in 394 00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:29,320 Christ crucified. And we do that by immersing 395 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:33,240 ourselves in God's Word. The Bible is where we find 396 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:38,840 Jesus, not in our hearts, not in our emotions, but in God's Word. 397 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:40,720 So what are you reading first in the day? 398 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:48,560 Is it Twitter or X or the Bible? What are you thinking about at 399 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:52,360 the end of the day? Are you thinking about the the 400 00:26:52,360 --> 00:26:55,040 latest scandal? Or are you thinking about what 401 00:26:55,040 --> 00:27:01,120 God has done for you in Christ? You must be in God's Word. 402 00:27:01,120 --> 00:27:04,760 And this means that we must be in God's Word among God's 403 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:07,640 people. We learn about God's Word from 404 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:11,640 each other in small groups. You hear sermons that try to 405 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:13,560 unfold what's going on in the Bible. 406 00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:18,200 And we come to church to pray, to sing, to read, to hear, to 407 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:23,920 even taste God's Word. And we live and we worship in 408 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:26,760 this great tradition of the church, of people through 409 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:31,840 millennia who have been meditating on God's Word. 410 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:35,040 You know, give us insight and riches that we can Plumb. 411 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:38,640 This is one of the great riches of the Book of Common Prayer, 412 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:41,280 actually. It unites the church in a 413 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:46,200 liturgy through the ages that centered on God's Word. 414 00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:53,760 And the result of this marinating in God's Word that 415 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:57,760 points us to Jesus is that we will have a stability that the 416 00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:01,000 world will lack. You won't be blown around by 417 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:04,000 fashionable trends, by the latest Ted Talk. 418 00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:09,640 But more than that, you won't be blown around by petty anxieties. 419 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:16,360 Petty tyrants roam the halls of our offices, but you do not have 420 00:28:16,360 --> 00:28:20,080 to fear them. You know that God has already 421 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:23,280 acted decisively for you in Christ. 422 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:28,360 You know that Christ is alive, that he will come again. 423 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:34,400 Your eyes are not trained on yourself and your situation, but 424 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:40,120 on the victory that Christ has already won for you at the cross 425 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:45,560 and in the empty tomb. Your faith is not in the wisdom 426 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:53,200 of man, but in the power of God. Here, my friends, here lies true 427 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:57,760 wisdom. So, friends, do you have this 428 00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:01,160 wisdom In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy 429 00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:02,240 Spirit, Amen.