1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,880 Welcome to the River City Church podcast and a message by our 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:07,960 lead pastor, Jason Powers. Our prayer is that this message 3 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:12,240 would inspire and encourage you, build your faith and point you 4 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:14,720 to the life changing love of Jesus. 5 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:18,600 May you enjoy the goodness of God as you follow Him today. 6 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:22,240 That table, the Lord's Table, is one of the great sacraments of 7 00:00:22,240 --> 00:00:25,880 our faith, is one of the two sacraments we believe, Communion 8 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:29,120 and Baptism. They are unique expressions of 9 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:33,000 grace, and our confession that we say each week is rooted in 10 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:35,600 that table. And Jesus is remembrance, his 11 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:38,480 command to remember him. It is a remembrance, but it's 12 00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:43,200 more than a remembrance. It is a picture of the Kingdom. 13 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:46,240 It is a picture of the reality that those disciples at that 14 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:48,920 table were there by their invitation only by Jesus 15 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,960 invitation only. None of the disciples came to 16 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:54,280 Jesus and said, hey, you know what Jesus, I think I'd be 17 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:56,920 pretty good at your table. In fact, everybody that we see 18 00:00:56,920 --> 00:00:59,800 in the New Testament that came and kind of recruited themselves 19 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:02,720 to Jesus side. Jesus said, no, no, you go back 20 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:05,360 to where you came from. You go back to your city and you 21 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:09,040 tell them there that table was at Jesus's invitation. 22 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:14,120 The table is grace. That is our confession. 23 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:17,360 Say it with me each week. Our confession is that we are 24 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:22,720 badly broken. See, that is what gets us to the 25 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:24,280 table. It's grace. 26 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:28,760 It is our brokenness. Jesus didn't invite you here 27 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,600 because he was compelled to. There wasn't someone out there 28 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,080 going, right? There were sometimes kids and 29 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:36,400 you know, my kids, elementary school class were the birthday 30 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:38,400 party invites, right? There was always the kid that 31 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:40,360 they didn't want to leave out. And I'm like, you're not leaving 32 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,200 them out. You're not going to invite 28 of 33 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:45,120 30 kids in your class to your party. 34 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:48,760 You got to bring them all right? No one compelled Jesus. 35 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:53,200 There was no standard of of decorum that he had to invite. 36 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:59,320 He just invited you because He loved you, invited you because 37 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:02,040 He has something specific and unique for you. 38 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:05,840 So we believe this whole idea that we've been walking through 39 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:09,199 is that God purposely forms and fills for His purpose. 40 00:02:09,199 --> 00:02:13,080 That means that He purposely and intentionally formed you and 41 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:17,560 filled you for His purpose. That's quite a story. 42 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:20,880 That's quite a reality. If it's true that he knew you, 43 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:24,480 that he knows you, that in this place, wherever you're running 44 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:27,680 from, wherever you're running towards, he has a plan and a 45 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:29,600 purpose for you. He has something that he wants 46 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:31,520 to do in your heart and in your life. 47 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:34,240 And it has something to do with what he's been doing since the 48 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:37,640 beginning, creating order in this chaos. 49 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:41,360 But this table, this confession that we make, that we're badly 50 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:44,800 broken, that we're deeply loved and our confession isn't, I am 51 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:46,960 badly broken. I am deeply loved. 52 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:51,080 Our confession is we are badly broken and deeply loved, and in 53 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,560 a room like this, that almost certainly guarantees there's 54 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:59,480 somebody here who is just as badly broken as I am and also 55 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:03,560 just as deeply loved. That's the thing about the 56 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:06,400 Communion table. It confronts me with the reality 57 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:09,240 that Jesus invites more people than I do. 58 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:15,720 Jesus's guest list is longer and more varied than mine. 59 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:22,280 There is more diversity in the guest list of the Holy Son of 60 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:25,720 God than mine. Here's the reality about the 61 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:28,640 table. I mean, when we look at the 62 00:03:28,640 --> 00:03:32,320 communion table, right, like Jesus extends the cup of G of 63 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,120 fellowship to Judas. He's like Judas, will you like 64 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:37,840 last minute? Will you like be deterred? 65 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:39,920 He looks at Peter. Now Peter's standing there 66 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:42,880 going, I'll die for you, Jesus. Don't do whatever you tell me to 67 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:45,360 do, Jesus, wherever you want me to go, I'll do it. 68 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:48,160 And Jesus, what does what he rebukes him. 69 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:51,280 Here's the reality. If I'm at that table, I'm giving 70 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:56,040 Judas what Peter got and Peter what Judas got, right? 71 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:03,680 I'm not Jesus. That is the beauty and the 72 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,960 scandal of the table. That is the beauty and the 73 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:13,640 scandal that confronts us. The reality that we are we, we 74 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:17,399 have smaller lists than he does. We're more exclusive than Jesus 75 00:04:17,399 --> 00:04:19,200 is. We are more willing to look 76 00:04:19,399 --> 00:04:22,400 deeper into the hearts and reject or push somebody away 77 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:24,880 than he is. But what I'm confronted is Jesus 78 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:28,880 doesn't stop confronting us. Jesus doesn't just go, it's 79 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:30,200 fine, everything's fine, we're all fine. 80 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:32,360 Jesus doesn't whistle past the graveyard. 81 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:35,760 When a difficult conversation comes up, Jesus doesn't change 82 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:37,920 the subject. He goes, great, let's talk about 83 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:42,160 this, but he always does it from the table. 84 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:47,960 He always does it from a place of fellowship and intimacy. 85 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:51,520 Jesus doesn't send a text message because he's worried 86 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:55,320 about it getting uncomfortable. He says, let's share a pork 87 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:59,520 chop. Probably wasn't a pork chop, but 88 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:02,000 listen, it's the new covenant. We can do that now, right? 89 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:06,840 Let's have steak, Jesus says, and let's talk about these 90 00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:09,800 things that keep us from each other. 91 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:14,000 He just welcomes us. We've kind of been hash 92 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:16,960 rehashing this pattern for the last two weeks, this Lent 93 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:17,920 pattern. We've seen it. 94 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:21,160 The idea is, and there's just so many refrains for all the way up 95 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:24,240 to Easter, we're just going to hear a few things just over and 96 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:28,880 over and over again, this idea that God initiates fellowship, 97 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:32,480 God calls us to the table. We see it in the garden. 98 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:37,600 God orders, God forms, God fills, and then he places us in 99 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,920 that presence to know and experience His goodness. 100 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:43,760 His heart is to be at home with us. 101 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:47,320 We see it again after we say no, we distrust this holiness. 102 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:49,680 We move away from that. We move into the wilderness 103 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:52,600 where we're kind of fighting for our lives and for survival. 104 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,320 Father again says, I want to be among you. 105 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:58,960 I want to be with you. Home is where we are together. 106 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:02,320 So he says, build me a Tabernacle, a place. 107 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:06,640 And again, he gives us this, these opportunity to obey, an 108 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:09,440 opportunity to follow him. Here are these instructions. 109 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:13,440 Here's how holiness and brokenness and sin can dwell 110 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:16,920 together in atonement. And we go and we form this 111 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:19,760 Tabernacle. And again, God's desire is to 112 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:22,160 dwell with us. And so he comes into that 113 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:25,000 Tabernacle. But over and over and over 114 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:29,240 again, just as often as the Father is unfaithful to invite 115 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:34,840 us, we are just as consistent in our distrust of His Holiness. 116 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,360 We see holiness, we see His difference from us. 117 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:40,360 We see the way that He loves everyone. 118 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:43,000 And we go, maybe if He loves everyone, he doesn't love me as 119 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:44,720 much. Maybe He loves them more than 120 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:46,240 me. And so we got to keep him at 121 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:48,720 arm's length and them at arm's length. 122 00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:53,160 We're reaching for control. We want to decide what is good. 123 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:57,840 We want to decide what is best. That was the fruit, the 124 00:06:57,840 --> 00:07:01,920 knowledge of good and evil, so that we wouldn't be subject to 125 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,000 whatever He wants. So that it would be about what 126 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:09,080 we want. So that cycle over and over 127 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:15,640 again, he initiates, he forms, he fills, we distrust, we 128 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:20,720 redefine goodness and we back into exile once again, creating 129 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:25,200 a space in the wilderness. Everything that we've talked 130 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:29,400 about is built up to this, the Tabernacle, God's presence in 131 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:31,520 the wilderness. It's all been pointing to this, 132 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:34,440 the wilderness, the wars that they fought, the wars of 133 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:38,680 conquest in Canaan, all of the waiting for all of the years 134 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:41,280 through the period of the judges, through the period of 135 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:44,280 Saul's leadership, through the period of David's leadership. 136 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:48,840 It's all been pointing to this God's desire to be with his 137 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:51,200 people. And now we pick up in the story 138 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:56,400 of First Kings and the temple is ready, the sacrifices are ready, 139 00:07:56,400 --> 00:08:00,840 they have been offered, the space is consecrated, it is set 140 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:04,600 as part, it is now holy. And we read in First Kings 141 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:07,600 chapter 8, verse 10, when the priest came out of the holy 142 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:09,440 place. Remember last week we talked 143 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:13,080 about that sanctification cleanse consecrated. 144 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:16,920 When the priest came out of the holy place, the cloud filled the 145 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:21,320 Lord's temple. And because of the cloud, the 146 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:23,760 priests were not able to continue ministering. 147 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:25,560 What's the cloud? We're going to talk about that 148 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:28,000 in a second. But whatever it is, this cloud 149 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:31,400 fills the space so much that the priests who have been offering 150 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,760 sacrifices, the priests that have been offering bulls and 151 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:38,400 goats, and it says before this there was so much sacrifice, 152 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:41,480 they just lost count. Who knows how many it was? 153 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:47,920 The priests were not able to continue ministering, for the 154 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:50,280 glory of the Lord filled the temple. 155 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:55,160 Then Solomon the king said the Lord said that he would dwell in 156 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:58,920 total darkness. I have indeed built an exalted 157 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:05,360 temple for you, a place for your dwelling forever. 158 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:10,000 Folks, this is good news. This is what we've been waiting 159 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:12,560 for. The presence of God again is 160 00:09:12,560 --> 00:09:15,560 with His people. Once again, the glory is able to 161 00:09:15,560 --> 00:09:17,200 dwell. And what we see is this cloud, 162 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:19,720 and it didn't just reside in one place. 163 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:22,320 It didn't just fill up like a little space over there. 164 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:24,520 What it says is it filled the temple. 165 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:27,200 And the Israelites knew that cloud. 166 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:30,480 This was a familiar cloud. They had seen it in Exodus 167 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:32,560 chapter 13, starting in verse 21. 168 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:34,600 The Lord, When had this just come out? 169 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:35,920 They've just crossed the Red Sea. 170 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:38,960 They've just seen this miraculous provision and 171 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:42,400 deliverance, and verse 21, the Lord went ahead of them in a 172 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:46,960 pillar of cloud to leave them on their way during the day and in 173 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:50,560 a pillar of fire to give them light at night so that they 174 00:09:50,560 --> 00:09:54,280 could travel by day or night. The pillar of cloud by day and 175 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:59,240 the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of 176 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:02,480 the people. This cloud is the visible, 177 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:06,520 tangible presence of God among His people. 178 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:10,680 This is what we've been waiting for. 179 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:14,640 This is what all that obedience is about. 180 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:18,680 And what it says is it says it filled the temple. 181 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:24,160 It says it covered every space, every square inch of real estate 182 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:26,800 in this Jerusalem temple was filled. 183 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:30,600 And what happens now is when this building gets filled with 184 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:33,920 the cloud, it's not just a building anymore. 185 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:41,600 It's not just brick and mortar. This is God inhabiting his place 186 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:46,440 among his people. He found us in exile. 187 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:50,720 He came to meet us here, and what it says is when that cloud 188 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:54,240 filled the temple, when God's inhabitation came with us, 189 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:55,440 right? Notice what they were doing 190 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:59,080 before all the sacrifices. This is the religion stuff they 191 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:01,520 were doing, the religious stuff, they were being obedient, they 192 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:02,920 were preparing for the Lord, right? 193 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:06,560 That's what we do when we talk about obedience, What it's all 194 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:10,760 pointing towards this Lord. If we'll follow you, you'll be 195 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:13,760 with us. If we'll walk with you, you'll 196 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:16,360 walk with us. But something crazy happens and 197 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:19,080 it's good news. When the Lord descends, they 198 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:21,560 stop ministering. What it says in some older 199 00:11:21,560 --> 00:11:24,480 translations is they could not stand. 200 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:28,000 And this isn't like, oh, I couldn't stand it anymore. 201 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:34,120 This is literally they fall down on their faces in the presence 202 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:40,760 of the cloud. When God shows up, it's no 203 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:45,200 longer about our sacrifice. It's about worship. 204 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:48,120 It's about it's experience of him. 205 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:53,840 It is about him being with us. And again, this is good news 206 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:58,800 because holiness prepares a space and this was a extravagant 207 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:01,040 ritual. This was such an expression of 208 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:02,920 obedience. They're like, Lord, you said we 209 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:05,240 could take a bowl and it would sanctify you can said we could 210 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:07,200 bring a goat and it would sanctify the place. 211 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:09,240 You said that if we just had these little things. 212 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:11,280 Well, Solomon's like, well, we're just not going to stop. 213 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:14,520 We're just going to keep doing. This is extravagant worship. 214 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:19,440 This is not a tithe of 10%. This is it's all yours, every 215 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,360 bit of it, every moment of my day, every word of my life, we 216 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:25,120 will obey you. And then when he shows up, when 217 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:29,360 the holiness, then he just get to enjoy his presence. 218 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:34,960 And this indwelling, this filling of the temple, this 219 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:38,760 cloud that comes and invades our space, it kind of brings out one 220 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:42,880 of two responses in US. The first one should be awe. 221 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:49,840 It is real. Our God really will dwell with 222 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:53,040 us. He really does fill this space. 223 00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:57,960 Holiness really does prepare us to experience His inhabitation. 224 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:00,680 What this really means is that He's accessible. 225 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:03,440 One hand. We see this and we go, God, it 226 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:06,840 is true and we can trust it. And This is why we obey. 227 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:10,400 This is why we say no to the things so that we can say yes to 228 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:12,040 you. This is why we trust you. 229 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:16,040 The other side is just, it's about freaking time. 230 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:21,360 There's this almost sense of entitlement. 231 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:24,600 Look at all we've done for you, Lord. 232 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:28,120 Look at how much we've sacrificed for you. 233 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:31,240 And you make us wait. All this time, Lord, you gave us 234 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:35,160 the atonement in in the wilderness. 40 years we 235 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:39,280 wandered, hundreds of years of judges in the first stages of 236 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:42,240 the monarchy, and finally you show up. 237 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:47,080 It breeds in us something like resentment. 238 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:55,440 Oof. But the reality of the story in 239 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:59,360 this moment is that glory had inhabited this space, that 240 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:03,360 obedience prepared. What we can take from this story 241 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:06,360 of the indwelling is that God fulfills his promises. 242 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:10,440 God does what He says He's going to do. 243 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:14,360 And when He did that, when he fulfilled this place, their 244 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:17,640 posture shifted. You see it, They went from work. 245 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:20,440 They went from from doing the things right. 246 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:23,160 But when the Lord showed up, when his presence, when His 247 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:25,920 presence comes, they move from work to rest. 248 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:30,040 This is a picture of the garden. This is a return to Eden in the 249 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:33,440 wilderness. We're not working to keep his 250 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,320 presence. We're obeying to experience his 251 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:38,240 presence. When we are, when we can 252 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:42,080 cleanse, we walk in obedience. We walk in holiness so that he 253 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:45,560 can fill our space and fill our hearts. 254 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:48,800 They'd simply exercise the authority that God had given 255 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:51,880 them. God said in the Garden of Eden, 256 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:56,040 be fruitful and multiply. In the Tabernacle, he said, 257 00:14:56,240 --> 00:15:00,160 build this space for holiness. The architecture of holiness, he 258 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:03,440 told Solomon, build it this way so that the temple and the 259 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:06,000 Tabernacle look very similar. Build it this way. 260 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:10,280 And what they did was what they were supposed to do, what they 261 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:14,520 were told to do. They walked in the authority 262 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:17,160 that God had given them. But make no mistake, and this is 263 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:21,400 good news, He didn't need their sacrifice. 264 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:25,440 God wasn't up there going. You can read all about this in 265 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:27,040 Psalm 50. It's a great verse. 266 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:29,200 Go like God, where God calls the nation an Israel test. 267 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:30,800 He's like, do you think I'm hungry? 268 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:34,440 You think I've got like a hunger pains I need like I need your 269 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:36,840 beef, you know, a little veal on the side. 270 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:38,520 He's like, I don't need your cows. 271 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:44,800 I don't need your sacrifices. What he desires is holiness. 272 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:48,200 And this is an important thing for us to understand if we're 273 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:50,720 going to take this kind of Lenten movement, this movement 274 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:54,320 and Lent from from the garden back to restoration is this idea 275 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:56,680 that our preparation is not leverage. 276 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:03,080 We don't get to force the hand of the Almighty God because we 277 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:06,320 have done our quiet time or given our tithe or shown up to 278 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:09,400 work. Obedience prepares a space. 279 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:11,960 What obedience does is prepare us. 280 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:16,200 Obedience creates a temple in our hearts. 281 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:20,320 Obedience prepares our space for his presence. 282 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:26,640 But obedience never, never gives us a, a right to demand his 283 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:29,320 response. And I and I listen. 284 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:31,160 First of all, I just want to say this. 285 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:35,400 I hated writing this message because I know, right? 286 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:37,720 Like I would never like Lord, I would never do that to you. 287 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:41,600 But guess what? When my tire goes flat after 288 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:45,880 I've had really good quiet times this week, I'm like, what do I 289 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:47,480 say to Lord? What's even the point? 290 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:52,600 Why would I even do that? When I give faithfully, when I 291 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:55,760 give my money to the church and I give faithfully to do that, 292 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:58,400 and then my washing machine breaks down and I don't have 293 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:00,120 enough money anymore, where do I go? 294 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:03,400 Well, forget that, Lord, I keep my end of the bargain, and you 295 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:04,960 don't keep your end of the bargain. 296 00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:13,079 I am so sinful. I want my obedience to 297 00:17:13,079 --> 00:17:18,599 manipulate the hand of the Almighty God, but preparation is 298 00:17:18,599 --> 00:17:21,480 not leverage. I don't get to force God to do 299 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:23,599 what He wants. And the reason that I get to 300 00:17:23,599 --> 00:17:26,960 that place, the reason that I end up in that entitled space, 301 00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:28,760 it's the same story in the garden. 302 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:33,720 I just distrust His Holiness. I think something that good must 303 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,400 be holding out on it. And so here's what happens, 304 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:37,920 right? This is what this what it looks 305 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:40,360 like. There's this crazy verse in like 306 00:17:40,360 --> 00:17:42,640 in the Old covenant in Deuteronomy where he just says 307 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:45,080 like the sins of the Father will be passed on to the third and 308 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:47,040 the 4th generation. Here's what that looks like. 309 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:51,240 I watch my sense of entitlement bear fruit in my children. 310 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:58,040 I watch my children learn to distrust holiness, my fear, my 311 00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:02,600 anxiety, my where are you God? When I've done all the things 312 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:04,400 that I think He now owes me His presence. 313 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:08,720 I can see that around It passes from person to person, from 314 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:11,480 generation to generation, until it infects. 315 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:15,480 Everything that we do, every place that we go, everything 316 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:20,280 that we build together becomes infected by that sense of 317 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:25,640 entitlement. If I just do this, then God is 318 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:31,120 obligated to respond to me. So much so that we see this 319 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:33,600 centuries later. Now, the temple had been there 320 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,280 for centuries. It had been operating day after 321 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:38,360 day, week after week, year after year. 322 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:41,560 This priesthood continues to come bring the sacrifices, 323 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,920 continues to make atonement in the holy space, continues to 324 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:48,560 bring that atonement out to the people, to declare God's favor 325 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:50,560 among his people. And we get to the book, Second 326 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:52,560 Chronicles chapter. You probably haven't spent a lot 327 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:54,040 of time in Second Chronicles, right? 328 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:57,480 Second Chronicles chapter 36. This is the very last chapter of 329 00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:00,440 this book in the history. And we read this in verse 15. 330 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:04,640 Centuries after this cloud descends, the Lord, the God of 331 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:08,120 their ancestors, sent word against them by the hand of his 332 00:19:08,120 --> 00:19:10,400 messengers. Do you see this cycle over and 333 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:13,520 over again? The Lord initiates, He sent by 334 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:17,000 the hand of his messenger, sending them time and time 335 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:20,560 again, for he had compassion on his people. 336 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:24,720 God's not God, they're mad. God built an entire system to 337 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:27,360 deal with sin because He knew that sin was part of our 338 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:29,520 problem. There is a way that we could 339 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:32,920 deal with it every single day to have the assurance that it was 340 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:34,640 removed for us, that we were made new. 341 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:37,680 God send word by his messengers time and time again because He 342 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:40,840 had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. 343 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:47,360 But they kept ridiculing God's messengers, despising His words, 344 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:52,680 and scoffing at His prophets. Listen to this until the Lord's 345 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:57,040 wrath was so stirred up against his people that there was no 346 00:19:57,240 --> 00:19:59,760 remedy. Now we hear that and we go, God, 347 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:05,280 how could you? Over and over and over again, 348 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:08,320 God initiates a call back to his people. 349 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:11,440 Just come back. Just let this atonement be real. 350 00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:14,040 Don't make it on the surface. Let it cleanse your heart, 351 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:15,600 restore. Come to me. 352 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:18,240 Remember that I want to dwell with you and I want to dwell in 353 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:20,440 you, and I want to dwell among you, and I want to change 354 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:22,960 everything about you. God says, I want to make a 355 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:25,800 garden in the wilderness. Just come back. 356 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:28,920 And the people's response over and over and over again was, 357 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:32,080 that's dumb. You can't do that. 358 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:37,360 He keeps initiating. They keep ridiculing. 359 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:43,520 And for all of these years, the sacrifices didn't stop. 360 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:50,960 What did stop was that sense of holy awe at the indwelling 361 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:56,280 presence of God. What happened is atonement 362 00:20:56,280 --> 00:21:03,000 itself became leverage. The mindset of the people became 363 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:08,560 why in the heck would I obey when I can just bring a bull and 364 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:14,280 have it all forgiven? Why would I submit myself to 365 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:20,280 your instructions about money or about sex or about work or about 366 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:22,120 forgiveness? Why would I walk in that? 367 00:21:22,120 --> 00:21:24,920 I can just come to you and ask for forgiveness, right? 368 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:28,040 We've got atonement. We've got the mechanism. 369 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:33,560 We've got the system. That is what it looks like to 370 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:38,080 grasp at sovereignty. Remember we talked, Eve in the 371 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:40,720 garden. Before her hand ever reached her 372 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:45,600 heart had settled, before she grasped that fruit, she knew. 373 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:50,000 I'm going to do what I want. I want to decide what is good, 374 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:52,200 and I want to decide what is real. 375 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:56,120 And again, that last line, there was no remedy left. 376 00:21:56,120 --> 00:21:58,200 That is a sobering thought to me. 377 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:03,640 If I want like I wrestled with this all week, I start writing 378 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:05,480 on Monday and I was just like, man, maybe we can just talk 379 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:07,640 about self esteem this week or something like that. 380 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:13,280 This is a hard thing, right? Does it mean that God gave up on 381 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:15,440 his people? No, Listen, I love you so much. 382 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:19,880 Listen. When we lose a sense of all at 383 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:24,520 what our atonement costs us, it's not that God doesn't want 384 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:27,120 us back, it's that we stop wanting to come back. 385 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:33,360 We think, why would I need that confrontational holiness when I 386 00:22:33,360 --> 00:22:37,240 can just go through the motions and God has to respond because 387 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:42,360 he said that he would. It's scary the idea that when I 388 00:22:42,360 --> 00:22:49,040 just say I'll walk in this sin for today and then tomorrow I'll 389 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:55,120 repent, tomorrow I'll turn around more often than not. 390 00:22:55,120 --> 00:22:59,640 The reality is the longer I walk in that the less likely I am to 391 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:04,400 want to come back. The less likely I am to suddenly 392 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:08,440 remember the goodness of the presence of God. 393 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:11,920 And what happens? Is this what happened in Israel? 394 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:18,960 When enough people, when there are enough individuals who stop 395 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:23,240 caring about coming back, when enough people just go, we'll go. 396 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:25,880 Listen, Day of Atonement, it's in a few weeks. 397 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:27,840 We'll handle it all then. But for now, we're just going to 398 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:29,400 do what we want. I'm going to, I'm going to walk 399 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:30,880 my own way. I'm going to make my own rules. 400 00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:33,160 I'm going to get what I can get. I'm going to walk where I want 401 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:35,040 to walk with who I want to walk and do my thing. 402 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:37,720 I'm going to build my business. I'm going to and I'll do what I, 403 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:40,000 I need to do and we'll just go take care of it. 404 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:42,080 On the Day of Atonement, we'll bring the sacrifice. 405 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:45,200 And everything happens when enough people stop caring about 406 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:49,480 coming back, everything in that culture begins to shift. 407 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:52,920 That's what we're going to look at the book of Ezekiel now. 408 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:56,720 And Ezekiel was a prophet, and he was a prophet in exile when 409 00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:00,560 the people of Israel had been forcefully expelled from their 410 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:02,480 place. Now, listen, when you read in 411 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:04,960 Ezekiel, there's a lot of weirdness. 412 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:08,120 There's a lot of really weird images that go on. 413 00:24:08,120 --> 00:24:10,720 And those could be a sermon series in and of themselves, but 414 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,160 we're going to not do that. But what I want you to hone in 415 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:16,440 on, like as we talked about this, watch the cloud. 416 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:18,560 Do you remember what the cloud is? 417 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:22,200 Watch the cloud. Ezekiel chapter 10, verse 3. 418 00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:23,880 Now the cherubim, these are angels. 419 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:26,600 These are heavenly beings. The Angel, the cherubim were 420 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:28,920 standing to the I'm going to have to do this. 421 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:32,520 I didn't think I was going to. The cherubim were standing to 422 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:35,000 the South of the temple. So now we're at the temple where 423 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,720 God's presence was, the South of the temple when the man went in 424 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:40,960 and the cloud filled the inner court. 425 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:43,240 This brings us back to First Kings 8. 426 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:45,400 This is a picture. This is continuity. 427 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,560 We're seeing what Solomon brought in, what all of that, 428 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:49,840 what happened, right? We're seeing this. 429 00:24:50,360 --> 00:24:52,160 The cloud filled the inner court. 430 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:57,480 Then the glory of the Lord rose from above the cherub to the 431 00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:01,920 threshold of the temple. The temple was filled with the 432 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:05,040 cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the 433 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:08,080 Lord's glory. God is in His temple. 434 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:10,720 This is status quo. This is what the people had 435 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:12,720 expected. This is just the way that it's 436 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:15,360 supposed to be. Now we go down to verse 18. 437 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:19,640 Then the glory of the Lord moved away from the threshold of the 438 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:23,400 temple, and he stopped above the cherubim. 439 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:27,720 This thing, this cloud, this presence that knocked the 440 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:30,240 priests down the first time it showed up. 441 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:34,880 It rises up and it moves to the door, and it camps out by the 442 00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:38,400 door, and it kind of takes one last look around the temple. 443 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:44,240 And in verse 19, the cherubim lifted their wings and ascended 444 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:46,880 from the earth right before my eyes. 445 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:49,080 The wheels were beside them as they went. 446 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:52,080 Listen. And the glory of the God of 447 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:57,000 Israel was above them. And it stopped at the entrance 448 00:25:57,080 --> 00:25:59,720 to the eastern gate of the Lord's house. 449 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:05,080 What was what once filled the temple, moved to the doorposts, 450 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:08,160 and now it is no longer in the temple. 451 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:12,160 It is above the temple. And that is an important 452 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:15,120 preposition. I'm going to make English majors 453 00:26:15,120 --> 00:26:18,960 of all of you. A preposition is like a 454 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:21,560 location. It talks about where we are and 455 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:25,040 what once filled. The temple is now above the 456 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:32,000 temple. Temple is not primary. 457 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:36,800 The temple is not inherently the place of God's dwelling. 458 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:42,000 And what happens is when we take atonement lightly, when we make 459 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:47,160 lightly of holiness, when we insist on leveraging whatever it 460 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:50,600 is that God gives us for our own good, on our own path, in our 461 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:52,920 own way. When we watch that, what happens 462 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:57,160 is that God is not diminished. God is not made smaller. 463 00:26:57,360 --> 00:27:02,040 God does not lose authority. When we grasp at the Apple, we 464 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:09,320 are cloud has moved on. You know, the scariest thing 465 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:13,000 about this picture is temple still stands. 466 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:21,400 Sacrifices go on and on and on. The rituals go on and on and on, 467 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:27,320 day after day, year after year. And the Spirit of God had left 468 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:35,230 the building. It's wilderness again. 469 00:27:36,910 --> 00:27:42,840 It's a building and work and toil without fruit, just like 470 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:47,400 life outside of the gate. How do we go from holiness? 471 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:52,320 How do you go from the physical dwelling of God among people? 472 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:56,280 How do you go from a presence so rich and tangible that it 473 00:27:56,280 --> 00:28:00,920 literally knocks people off of their feet to outside to it's 474 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:03,520 gone and we don't even know it? Scary stuff. 475 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:07,680 The way that we get there is familiar familiarity with 476 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:12,360 proximity. We just get so comfortable being 477 00:28:12,360 --> 00:28:15,560 close that we forget that it's not obligated to us. 478 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:21,360 That obedience that allowed First Kings to happen, it just 479 00:28:21,360 --> 00:28:25,400 slowly erodes. We just, we kind of stop 480 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:29,560 thinking that holiness matters. I mean, at first, when we have 481 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:31,960 that moment right where we experience the Lord's presence, 482 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:33,840 we just know, Lord, I'll do whatever you want. 483 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:36,240 I'll go wherever you can. We have tears and we have big 484 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:38,760 promises, but over time, we just get comfortable with it. 485 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:41,360 We read the Bible, we do the thing and we just keep walking 486 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:43,640 in it and it walks away and it goes away. 487 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:48,280 We'll do what we want and we'll just bring the sacrifice later. 488 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:51,480 We'll just ask for forgiveness later after I've done what I 489 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:55,360 want and gotten what I want. We don't think that holiness is 490 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:57,200 going to produce the things that we want. 491 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:00,760 I don't think that if I love my neighbor, I'm going to get the 492 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:04,200 kind of life that I want. I don't think that if I forgive 493 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:06,600 people that people will stop hurting me. 494 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:14,680 And so we grasp that control. We do what we want, and we claim 495 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:17,880 on authority again, to redefine goodness. 496 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:24,600 What we decided to say is it is better for me to ask forgiveness 497 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:29,560 later than to submit my perspective on people, on life, 498 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:31,960 on money, on sex, on my identity. 499 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:35,040 It's better for me to do what I want and just trust in 500 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:38,960 forgiveness than to trust that he actually knows what made life 501 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:41,400 good. And let me just say again, the 502 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:45,520 theme throughout this thing is we don't actually have the 503 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:47,920 authority to redefine what is good. 504 00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:52,400 That is not part of our delegated authority. 505 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:55,440 And that is the area of the fracture. 506 00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:58,800 That's what keeps us in the wilderness. 507 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:01,240 The fracture has always been over. 508 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:04,960 Who ultimately gets to define what good is? 509 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:11,760 And as long as we insist that it is us, we will continue to meet 510 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:17,640 his initiative with distrust. His forming was skepticism. 511 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:22,000 And again, the temple didn't fall. 512 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:26,240 In fact, 600 years later, there's another version of that 513 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:30,280 same temple standing when Jesus walked in the courtyard. 514 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:38,760 For 600 years they were building and sacrificing and offering, 515 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:41,520 and no one knew the Spirit. The cloud never came back. 516 00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:45,080 There was never another feeling and nobody knew. 517 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:48,680 They kept the form, they kept the the the rituals. 518 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:51,480 They did the things thinking that they could just leverage 519 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:53,280 that. In fact, the Pharisees are a 520 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:55,440 picture of that. The reason we hate the Pharisees 521 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:59,080 so much in the story is because we see them manipulating 522 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:02,640 atonement for control, manipulating righteousness to 523 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:05,080 control people. They're not interested in 524 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:07,600 partnership. They're not interested in a God 525 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:10,280 who changes the agenda. You know why I know? 526 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:13,640 Because when Jesus came and they said that's not what it's about, 527 00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:17,000 they killed him. They aren't actually interested 528 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:24,720 in the presence. A danger in this story for me, 529 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:31,400 for me, is that I just because this sucks. 530 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:35,440 The danger is that every part of me just wants to leave this on 531 00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:38,480 the page of some nice, neat historical lesson. 532 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:41,960 I just want to look at this about a thing that happened back 533 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:47,360 then to them and not to me. The danger is that I'll read 534 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:52,440 about this, and I won't read my own wilderness rhythm into this, 535 00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:57,200 but I won't stop that I'll lose all at what righteousness means, 536 00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:00,840 that I'll lose my sense that of all at what atonement means. 537 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:07,440 I do it all the time When I am numb to the suffering of others. 538 00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:14,800 When I rationalize first hand accounts of pain and struggle 539 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:19,240 and suffering because I am afraid of losing something 540 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:28,840 that's fracture. When I define freedom in a way 541 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:34,760 that means I never have to be inconvenienced or bothered or 542 00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:37,920 confronted by the needs of another person. 543 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:43,240 When freedom means that I can do what I want regardless of what 544 00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:47,360 happens to you, that is fracture. 545 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:54,360 When I imagine that dignity and care for the alien and the 546 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:59,880 foreigner is subject to modern economic speculation or reality, 547 00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:06,720 that is fracture. When I worship in order to keep 548 00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:12,640 God on my side or to demonstrate that he is on my side instead of 549 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:19,840 to submit and to get myself on his side, it's fracture. 550 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:28,280 When it's more important to me that I'd be right, that I win, 551 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:35,880 then I demonstrate loving presence to my neighbor who is 552 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:39,440 very different from me. It's fracture. 553 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:44,120 It's wilderness. It's life outside of the gate. 554 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:49,120 We've seen it with sex. We redefine it for our purposes. 555 00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:52,240 We see it with work. We redefine it for our purposes. 556 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:55,120 We see it with community, redefine it by our purposes. 557 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:57,960 We build our own tables and set our own places and invite our 558 00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:00,440 own guest list. And we redefine good that way. 559 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:06,080 And now atonement itself, the very provision that God has made 560 00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:10,800 for us to be with Him, We have repurposed everything. 561 00:34:16,340 --> 00:34:18,940 I don't want to just keep singing and find out 100 years 562 00:34:18,940 --> 00:34:20,659 from now that the Spirit left the building. 563 00:34:22,820 --> 00:34:27,060 I don't want to keep raising my hands, proving to myself that 564 00:34:27,060 --> 00:34:33,520 God is on my side and find that He's not here, that this is just 565 00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:36,560 me doing my thing to make someone else believe that I'm 566 00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:42,480 something. This story isn't a new story, 567 00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:46,960 not about me. It's not about it's not just 568 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:49,520 about them, it is about me. It's about today. 569 00:34:50,199 --> 00:34:54,080 It's about how intentionally and deliberately and even violently, 570 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:58,640 I make my home outside of the gate rather than imagine what it 571 00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:00,360 would be to live inside the gate. 572 00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:10,640 We began today by remembering the presence of Jesus. 573 00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:15,840 We began today by remembering that Jesus is with us in his 574 00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:21,280 broken body, in his blood. We said do this as often as you 575 00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:23,720 drink it. We took, we took his body into 576 00:35:23,720 --> 00:35:26,480 ourselves. We again we together in this 577 00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:28,720 room and those outside watching and listening. 578 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:33,720 We reconstituted the body of Christ again in this place. 579 00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:38,840 We came here to remember that that remembrance should change 580 00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:42,080 us when we remember that his body is us, the things that 581 00:35:42,080 --> 00:35:45,000 Jesus did are the things that we should do that changes us. 582 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:47,600 This isn't a new law. This isn't something God said. 583 00:35:47,720 --> 00:35:50,080 You got to go do this or I'll never I'll be mad at you 584 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:52,520 forever. It's a thing that transforms us 585 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:54,560 by his proximity when he's with us. 586 00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:58,640 When I remember how Jesus invited the zealot and the tax 587 00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:00,240 collector and he sat them together. 588 00:36:00,240 --> 00:36:03,120 It's a neat little party games like let's see how this goes. 589 00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:07,320 When I remember that Jesus brought enemies to the table and 590 00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:12,240 he sat him into his presence, I gradually find myself inviting 591 00:36:12,240 --> 00:36:16,640 people to my table that maybe I wouldn't have before. 592 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:24,920 I set a place for outsiders. I set a place for enemies and I 593 00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:28,880 invite them. When I remember that he shared 594 00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:32,560 his table with a betrayer. When I remember that he 595 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:36,160 knowingly sat with Peter. Heck, he gave Peter authority, 596 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:37,680 man. He made Peter like the boss, 597 00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:39,880 right? And when I remember how what he 598 00:36:39,880 --> 00:36:42,440 did with, well, that was Judas, right, but also Peter, right? 599 00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:45,640 All of them. When I start to remember how 600 00:36:45,720 --> 00:36:48,960 Jesus treated the people that treated him so terribly, What 601 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:53,600 happens is over time I begin to find forgiveness welling up 602 00:36:53,760 --> 00:37:00,440 before retaliation. I find letting people go rising 603 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:02,440 up. That becomes my primary instinct 604 00:37:02,440 --> 00:37:09,480 before getting even. When I remember how Jesus loved 605 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:14,080 Judas, I remember how Jesus loved Peter. 606 00:37:15,240 --> 00:37:19,040 It sets me free so that I can spend less time trying to prove 607 00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:25,760 that I'm right, because now I know that I am deeply loved, 608 00:37:26,960 --> 00:37:31,640 even though I am badly broken. Those two things aren't at odds 609 00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:34,400 anymore. Both are true. 610 00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:41,880 In the presence of Jesus and nowhere else in the body and the 611 00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:47,040 blood of Jesus, the presence of our King is still among us. 612 00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:52,800 He is still at the table and we are still invited. 613 00:37:55,160 --> 00:37:59,480 We're invited to inhabit this partnership. 614 00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:03,240 When Jesus talked about the Kingdom right in his prayer, 615 00:38:03,240 --> 00:38:05,800 what do you say? Your Kingdom come, your will be 616 00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:08,000 done on earth as it is in heaven. 617 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:12,320 That's the garden. When we look at Revelation, when 618 00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:16,080 it comes exactly like He wanted to, it's the garden that now 619 00:38:16,080 --> 00:38:18,280 fills the earth as it was intended. 620 00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:22,840 It's a partnership. And His desire has always been 621 00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:24,920 to dwell among us and to dwell with us. 622 00:38:26,040 --> 00:38:30,360 And so he invites us to inhabit that partnership where all the 623 00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:34,320 goodness of His Holiness dwells with us, where we have access to 624 00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:38,960 all the omnipotence and all the absolute power of God, and we 625 00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:42,000 get to simply walk. And what He has prepared for us, 626 00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:45,440 the good works that he has prepared for us to do, is how 627 00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:47,800 Paul describes in an Ephesians chapter 2. 628 00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:56,360 The table is still set. The question is knowing who he 629 00:38:56,360 --> 00:39:02,400 invites and how he invites them. The only question that remains 630 00:39:02,720 --> 00:39:05,600 is whether or not we will join him. 631 00:39:10,720 --> 00:39:16,960 Jesus, I hated writing this because I see in my own heart 632 00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:20,760 how much I want to manipulate you to make my ends your ends. 633 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:27,800 And Jesus, I confess how many times I take atonement lightly, 634 00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:37,560 how many times I just presume upon forgiveness because you're 635 00:39:37,560 --> 00:39:41,320 holy and you're good. And you've told me that you love 636 00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:47,240 me. And so Jesus, I just pray that I 637 00:39:47,240 --> 00:39:50,760 would learn to trust that if you love me, then your desire for me 638 00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:53,200 is good, that your command for me is good. 639 00:39:55,600 --> 00:40:01,920 Jesus, I want to remember you, or I want your dwelling to be 640 00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:09,680 with me. And Lord, I want your church to 641 00:40:09,680 --> 00:40:14,320 be that dwelling, and it is. Anywhere around the world where 642 00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:16,880 there is justice, the church is close by. 643 00:40:18,040 --> 00:40:22,320 Anywhere around the world where there is healing, the church is 644 00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:26,200 close by. Or I believe that your church 645 00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:29,720 and Iran is moving in a way that we don't see it on the news. 646 00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:36,080 But I have heard from many, many sources, the church and Iran is 647 00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:38,640 vibrant and alive and underground. 648 00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:42,200 And Lord, I pray in a time like this that you would rise it up, 649 00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:45,720 shine a light on it, let us see it. 650 00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:49,880 Lord, lift up our brothers and sisters and Iran because they're 651 00:40:49,880 --> 00:40:54,040 at the table too, and they need your spirit and your power and 652 00:40:54,040 --> 00:40:58,320 your presence. Jesus, I pray that we wouldn't 653 00:40:58,320 --> 00:41:04,200 take atonement lightly. We love you, we thank you. 654 00:41:04,760 --> 00:41:07,440 And Jesus, we ask these things in your name and for your glory. 655 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:09,720 Amen. Thank you for joining us today. 656 00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:13,120 River City Church is all about experiencing and expressing 657 00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:15,800 God's love in our lives and community, and we hope that 658 00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:17,680 you've been able to experience that today. 659 00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:21,000 As grateful as I am that you've spent this time listening in 660 00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:25,240 this morning, this podcast is no substitute full participation in 661 00:41:25,240 --> 00:41:27,960 a local church. I love it when River City people 662 00:41:27,960 --> 00:41:31,320 listen to other pastors, but it is those who show up week after 663 00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:34,240 week faithfully giving their support and time and resources 664 00:41:34,240 --> 00:41:37,760 that make all of this possible. We can help you get connected to 665 00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:40,960 a local church, pray for you, or support you in any way. 666 00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:43,120 Click the link in the description and let us know. 667 00:41:43,760 --> 00:41:45,920 If you'd like to financially support the ministry of your 668 00:41:45,920 --> 00:41:48,760 city, click the give link on our website in the description. 669 00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:52,000 Don't forget to subscribe and don't forget to share this with 670 00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:53,960 your friends. Thanks so much for listening. 671 00:41:54,240 --> 00:41:57,160 May the Lord bless and keep you in all grace and peace.