1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:05,440 We're talking about God's choice today and, and I want to, I want 2 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:10,360 to anyone ever choose teams when you were a kid, like on the 3 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:13,320 playground at the park, at a friend's house, you get 4 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:16,079 together, you're playing. We used to, we never had enough 5 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:19,080 kids were very rarely had enough for a full baseball team. 6 00:00:19,080 --> 00:00:21,240 So we played a game we called straight bass. 7 00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:23,160 Anyone ever played straight bass baseball? 8 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,840 That was that was a lot of fun. You only needed like four people 9 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:30,360 to play straight bass. I always wanted to be one of the 10 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:31,880 people that got to choose the teams. 11 00:00:32,119 --> 00:00:34,720 You never wanted to not be that person, right? 12 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:37,600 Because there was always the risk that you wouldn't get 13 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:40,040 chosen or you get chosen really, really late. 14 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:43,120 And when I was playing with my brother and his friend and one 15 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:45,240 other person, I was always chosen last. 16 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:48,040 They were all older and better at that stuff than I was. 17 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,160 But you know, I always wanted to be the person choosing because 18 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:56,960 if you're the person choosing teams, you get you get Otions 19 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:01,160 and generally you have two different ways, or at least I 20 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,560 did had two different ways of choosing teams. 21 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:08,000 Either I was going to pick the best players at every 22 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:09,960 opportunity. Whenever it was my turn to 23 00:01:09,960 --> 00:01:13,080 choose, I was going to pick the best person in hopes of getting 24 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:16,040 the best players on my team. So again, whether it was 25 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:19,160 football or baseball or straight base or kickball or whatever it 26 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:23,040 was that I could get the best players on my team or my other 27 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:26,760 strategy, pick my friends because I wanted to have fun and 28 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:29,440 I was more likely to have fun with my friends on my team. 29 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:32,800 So I would pick the people that I liked or I would pick the best 30 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:35,240 players, the people that I thought were the best players. 31 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:38,000 What you didn't do was pick first. 32 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,160 The people that you weren't your friends and couldn't play. 33 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:44,480 And you know, let's be real, generally speaking, even if they 34 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:47,040 were your friends, but they were terrible, you still picked them 35 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:49,520 late. But you know, maybe that was 36 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:52,000 just me. I don't think so. 37 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:57,680 That was my choice when I was picking teams. 38 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:02,920 When we're talking about the Kingdom of God, we're talking 39 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:06,240 about God's choice. Who is God picking? 40 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:11,039 Why is God picking them? What's the basis that God uses 41 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:14,920 for picking people? To be on his team, to be part of 42 00:02:14,920 --> 00:02:18,000 the Kingdom of heaven, to be one of his disciples and one of his 43 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:20,840 followers. One of the bases for picking 44 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:26,440 people in the ancient world was a a custom and tradition that 45 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:32,200 eventually was codified not only in Hammurabi's law, but also in 46 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,160 Moses's law. You can find it in the book of 47 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:39,920 Deuteronomy, not by this name, but the concept is primogeniture 48 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,080 or primogeniture. And I'm going to mess up 49 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,240 pronunciation on that at some point this morning. 50 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:48,360 Keep track, you know, do whatever sort of game you want 51 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:51,520 to do with my, my pronunciation failures. 52 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:56,240 But the, the custom and law of primogeniture was this. 53 00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:01,200 There was the right of the eldest son to inherit the entire 54 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:06,160 estate of one or both parents. This was a deeply rooted 55 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:11,280 tradition in the ancient Near East and it eventually became 56 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,240 law. And it was a law that was 57 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:16,960 eventually adopted in into the Roman Empire. 58 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:22,320 It spread throughout Europe and and the eldest son had the right 59 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:26,840 to inherit, if not the entire estate, the majority of the 60 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:32,920 state of one or both parents. This is what was happening at 61 00:03:32,920 --> 00:03:37,920 the time Isaac and Rebecca were having their babies. 62 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:43,360 Well, Rebecca was doing 99.9% of the work here and she was having 63 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:47,040 twins and the first baby born was Esau. 64 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:52,240 And by the custom and law of primogeniture, Esau would 65 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:56,440 inherit Isaac's estate and Rebecca's whatever she brought 66 00:03:56,440 --> 00:04:00,960 to the party as well. And with Isaac, that included 67 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:05,720 inheriting the birthright, the blessing of God from your 68 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:08,680 descendants. I will make a great nation. 69 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:12,200 And through your descendants, all nations of the world will be 70 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:15,600 blessed. Which of Isaac's sons would 71 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,680 carry that birthright, would carry that blessing, would 72 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:24,600 inherit Isaac's wealth? If you recall, when Abraham 73 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:28,040 died, he sent all of his other sons away. 74 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:33,520 He gave the first born son of his marriage with Sarah, Isaac. 75 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:36,480 He gave him the vast majority of his estate. 76 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:38,840 He provided a little for his other children. 77 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:42,360 His oldest son was Ishmael. He gave Ishmael some stuff too. 78 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:48,920 But he made Isaac his heir. And Isaac's plan from the get go 79 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:51,480 was to make Esau his heir from the get go. 80 00:04:51,840 --> 00:04:54,240 Esau was the apple of Isaac's eye. 81 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:57,200 Esau was the one Isaac wanted to inherit. 82 00:04:57,280 --> 00:05:00,600 Esau was what today we might call a man's man. 83 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:03,320 He was an outdoorsman. He loved to hunt, he loved to 84 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:04,960 travel. He worked the he worked the 85 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:06,200 fields. He cared for. 86 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:09,960 You know, he did all of the things that men's men kind of 87 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:12,560 do. And he was really hairy, too. 88 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:16,280 That was a thing that the Bible felt was important to point out 89 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:19,760 even from the time it was not only apparently had a full head 90 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:24,040 of hair, he had back hair and chest hair already in place when 91 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:27,920 he was born. Jacob was the second born. 92 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:31,400 And by any definition, Jacob was a mama's boy. 93 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:35,880 He was favored by Rebecca. He didn't go out into the fields 94 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:37,640 and work. He stayed among the tents and 95 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:38,920 work. He didn't go hunting. 96 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:40,840 He stayed home and learned to cook. 97 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:44,040 And Isaac didn't think too much of Jacob. 98 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:51,320 And it was his plan to make his first born son his heir, receive 99 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:56,160 his estate and his blessing. The blessing of God to be carry 100 00:05:56,160 --> 00:06:00,240 on this tradition of being the father of nations and a 101 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:05,520 blessings to all nations. But God had a different plan. 102 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:15,080 God chose Jacob, God chose the second son, the younger son, God 103 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:17,440 chose. In this case, God chose the 104 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:23,200 mama's boy to be the heir, to be the to receive the blessing. 105 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:30,080 So with Esau and Jacob, God violated the cultural custom and 106 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:36,000 tradition of primogeniture. God said, all right, that's 107 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:39,320 that's your rule. It's not mine, says God. 108 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:42,760 I've done this before. God might have reminded them, 109 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:46,640 remember Cain and Abel when when it was a little bit different 110 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:48,480 with Cain and Abel, but it was similar. 111 00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:51,520 Cain was the older son, the first born son. 112 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:54,800 God did not accept Cain's sacrifice. 113 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:59,360 God accepted Abel's sacrifice, the second born son, and it 114 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:03,800 caused Cain great jealousy and hostility toward his son. 115 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:10,720 So God has a track record of doing this on occasion, picking 116 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:16,320 not the eldest but the younger to inherit the blessing, to 117 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:19,200 receive the estate, to carry on the tradition. 118 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:27,440 People for centuries, probably for millennia, have been asking 119 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:33,720 the question why? Why did God choose Jacob and not 120 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:37,480 Esau? And I've heard an extraordinary 121 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:43,480 range of very passionately given explanations, very confidently 122 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:49,560 given explanations telling This is why God chose Jacob, one of 123 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:51,960 the earliest ones I heard. Because we, we, we know in the 124 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:54,720 story, you know, Esau, he's out being a man's man. 125 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:58,040 He's out in the wilderness, he's hunting, he's gone for days at a 126 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:01,760 time. He comes back and, and, and he's 127 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:04,240 very hungry because he hadn't had anything to eat. 128 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:06,440 You would think he would have learned enough cooking to at 129 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:09,280 least have, you know, cook a rabbit while he's out there or 130 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:10,640 something, but didn't bother with that. 131 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:14,720 Apparently Jacob's got a pot of Stew that he's made fresh and, 132 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:17,200 And Esau says, I'm hungry, give me some food. 133 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:19,760 Jacob says, I'll give you a bowl of Stew if you give me your 134 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:21,920 birthright. And Esau said, well, what 135 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:24,280 birthright's not going to do me any good right now. 136 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:26,680 I'm hungry. You could have my birthright if 137 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:29,760 you give me a bowl of Stew. What are the worst business 138 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:35,640 deals in history, by the way? But Esau sold his birthright 139 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:41,400 literally for a bowl of Stew, and I've heard it explained This 140 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:46,040 is why God chose Jacob is because Esau didn't value the 141 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:49,920 birthright from God. God, all wise and all knowing, 142 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:52,600 even at the time that Jacob and Esau were still in their 143 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,840 mother's womb, knew that Esau would not have the proper 144 00:08:55,840 --> 00:09:01,600 respect and concern for the gift of this birthright, of being the 145 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:05,400 heir, of receiving the blessing of of God's nation coming 146 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:07,560 through his line. Jacob just wouldn't there. 147 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:11,200 Esau didn't have enough respect for that, and so God chose Jacob 148 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:13,760 instead. It's a question of character. 149 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:20,600 It's a question of character. I think that explanation is 150 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:27,600 awful for one big reason. Jacob had no better character 151 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:30,680 than Esau did. He swindled his brother, for one 152 00:09:30,680 --> 00:09:33,760 thing. You know why not as a brother. 153 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:35,600 You want hungry? Here, I've got some Stew. 154 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:36,600 Eat some Stew. No. 155 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:38,560 Give me your birthright or starve to death. 156 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:41,640 Ha. You know, where's the character 157 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:44,440 in that? And later, when his father was 158 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:47,280 blind and was going to give the blessing, which was another 159 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:50,720 tangible gift, a meaningful thing that could only be given 160 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:54,680 once, Jacob, at his mother's request, disguised himself as 161 00:09:54,680 --> 00:09:58,120 his brother. He saw must have been a hairy 162 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:02,960 guy 'cause they took goat skin and and glued it on Jacob's 163 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:06,600 hands and, and, and Isaac thought that was Esau. 164 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:10,040 What a hairy dude. My, I'm not that I'm hairy, but 165 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:16,320 I'm not that hairy. But he swindled his father, lied 166 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:19,640 to and deceived his father, later swindled his uncle. 167 00:10:22,680 --> 00:10:25,800 Jacob was not a man of high character. 168 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:31,600 Jacob was a man who who was was eager to manipulate 169 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:34,880 circumstances and people to get what he wanted and do things 170 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:39,560 that were best for him. Romans, which which Aubrey read 171 00:10:39,560 --> 00:10:44,760 earlier, gives us a picture of why and and it's an answer 172 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:50,040 without being an answer and and it's it's the biblical 173 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:54,480 equivalent to when our children ask us something and we say 174 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:59,080 because I said so This is the summary of what Paul was right 175 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:02,160 in Romans is because I said so let's let's take a look at a 176 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:05,200 portion of that again. Yet before the twins were born, 177 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,960 or had done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose 178 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:14,560 in election might stand, not by works, but by Him who calls, she 179 00:11:14,560 --> 00:11:18,240 was told, the older will serve the younger, just as it is 180 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:22,040 written, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated. 181 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:24,720 What then shall we say, Is God unjust? 182 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:28,720 Not at all, For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom 183 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:31,280 I have mercy. I will have compassion on whom I 184 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:34,480 have compassion. It does not there therefore, 185 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:39,360 depend on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy, 186 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:45,560 because God says so. Why did God choose Jacob instead 187 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:49,560 of Esau? God says I chose Jacob instead 188 00:11:49,560 --> 00:11:52,480 of Esau to show you that I could. 189 00:11:55,680 --> 00:11:58,800 That was it. God, I'm in charge. 190 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:01,240 I'm picking the teams. I picked Jacob. 191 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:02,880 Why Jacob? Is he better than Esau? 192 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:07,640 Because I picked him? God never explains. 193 00:12:08,560 --> 00:12:12,560 God never gives rationale anywhere in the Scripture. 194 00:12:12,680 --> 00:12:17,040 There is no rationale given for why God picked Jacob instead of 195 00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:20,120 Esau. The rationale we're given is 196 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:24,040 that God was trying to say to the whole world, I am not bound 197 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:28,320 by your customs, I'm not bound by your laws, I am not bound by 198 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:32,440 your traditions. I will pick whom I want to pick 199 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:35,960 because I said so, and that's it. 200 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:40,600 That's it. Trying to explain or justify 201 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:44,720 God's choice of Jacob is a waste of time and misses the point 202 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:49,680 entirely, because the point is just this, that God's choices 203 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:54,880 supersede our choices, our customs, our traditions, and our 204 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:57,200 laws. God is God. 205 00:12:57,680 --> 00:13:03,080 God gets to pick, and one of the most important things God does 206 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:06,320 throughout Scripture and throughout human history is to 207 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:12,400 remind his people, I'm God. I'm God, and I'm not bound by 208 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:14,440 your laws. I'm not bound by your customs. 209 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:16,000 I'm not bound by your traditions. 210 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:19,120 I'm not bound by your systems of morality and ethics. 211 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:22,640 The entire book of Job is about that. 212 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:26,880 The primary one of the laws and customs was primogeniture. 213 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:31,680 The eldest son inherits. One of the more sweeping customs 214 00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:35,160 and traditions and ethical systems was reward and 215 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:38,720 retribution. Society was in a hierarchy. 216 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:41,480 The people at the top controlled land. 217 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:46,040 They gave blessings and gifts to people below them to secure 218 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:48,960 their loyalty and the people below them. 219 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:53,600 It's like the godfather. You do what your patron asks, 220 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:57,000 and you do it faithfully, and your patron rewards you. 221 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:01,280 If you violate your patron's trust, your patron will punish 222 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:05,840 you, will seek retribution against you, the law of reward 223 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:08,520 and retribution. Faithful service brings 224 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:13,360 blessing, infidelity, traitorous behavior brings punishment. 225 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:19,920 Except with Job, who provided absolutely faithful service to 226 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:25,360 God and got suffering and pain and punishment instead of 227 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:28,160 blessing from God. Why? 228 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:32,440 When God, when Job asks God why God answers? 229 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:37,920 Because I said so. I'm God, that's why. 230 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:41,760 And that's really the only answer that Job ever gets. 231 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:49,600 God is not bound by our laws, our customs, our traditions, 232 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:52,000 even our moral and ethical systems. 233 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:58,760 God is God, we are not. And even when we go into God's 234 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:03,400 word itself, into the Scripture itself, and we distill and bring 235 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:07,120 out moral and ethical systems and laws and customs and 236 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:09,920 traditions and say, well, it's based on the Bible. 237 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:14,080 God must follow this because it's based on the very word of 238 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:18,280 God that we have before us. And God says, yet no, you don't 239 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:20,680 worship the Bible, you worship me. 240 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:26,840 The Bible is there to guide you, to guide us, not to limit and 241 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:32,560 contain and control God. God is not bound by any of these 242 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:36,520 things. Now, at some level, this is all 243 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:39,320 very theoretical, so let's get practical a little bit. 244 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:43,480 I created this heading and then I put 4 points under it. 245 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:46,840 We're going to look at all four points, and you will probably 246 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:49,800 realize before I did that none of them is practical. 247 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:52,720 Practical implications. I wrote them all out. 248 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:54,960 I got a lot prepared. I was like, they're really not 249 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:57,280 practical. There's practical stuff under 250 00:15:57,280 --> 00:15:59,880 here, so bear with me. We'll get to the practical 251 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:03,440 stuff. First of all, the Kingdom of God 252 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:06,120 is not based on what humans assign value to. 253 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:11,760 That's a system of society that's often called a scriptive 254 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:16,240 society, that people are valued based on immutable 255 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:19,800 characteristics, unchanging characteristics about them that 256 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:26,000 society decides to ascribe to assign value to the law of 257 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:31,760 primogeniture, where the eldest son inherits all is that kind of 258 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:34,280 thing. There's there's nothing 259 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:38,280 inherently more valuable about an older child or an older son 260 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:42,120 than, say, the middle child. You can tell my brother that the 261 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:45,560 next time you're getting surgery at Holzer, you're no better than 262 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:48,000 your brother. Tell him that right before you 263 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:52,520 go under the knife, you have my permission. 264 00:16:55,040 --> 00:17:01,040 We middle children touchy about this subject, but that's what 265 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:04,520 human society says. We we I mean, there really there 266 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:07,800 is nothing inherently better about being a son than a 267 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:10,079 daughter. And there's nothing inherently 268 00:17:10,079 --> 00:17:12,800 better about being older than being younger. 269 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:19,520 But for the sake of well, there were reasons it it makes it 270 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:23,680 makes inheritance easier and simpler to have this kind of 271 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:26,000 law. There's less room for I'm not 272 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:29,040 sure what's going on up there. I think it's the Ki think we got 273 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:31,680 a bad K. I'm not sure we'll figure it 274 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:37,680 out, but it it makes things easier so there's less conflict 275 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:41,560 when dad dies or dad and mom die. 276 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:45,160 If everyone knows and the law and the customs says that the 277 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:48,320 oldest son gets it, then there's no room for fighting, there's no 278 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:50,680 room for arguing, there's no room for bloodshed. 279 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:56,080 So it greases the world of it greases the the wheels of 280 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:59,000 society to have rules and customs and traditions like 281 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:02,640 this. But God wants to make it clear 282 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:07,560 that that's not how he operates. That's not how he operates. 283 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:12,000 The fact that humans decide that men are better than women or 284 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,280 older is better than younger. God says you all can make that 285 00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:17,440 decision, but you understand that's not how the Kingdom 286 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:22,000 works. The New Testament tells us that 287 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:26,640 specifically there is no male or female, all or one in Christ 288 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:29,440 Jesus. Things like skin color and 289 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:34,120 nationality have been given a scripted value, assigned value 290 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:36,920 in different ways at different periods in history. 291 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:42,920 The color of a person's skin mattered in a very great degree 292 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:46,080 in society, valued some skin color more than other skin 293 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:50,080 color. God says you can do that, but 294 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:51,760 that's not how the Kingdom of God works. 295 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:54,000 The New Testament says that as well. 296 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:58,120 In Christ, there is no Jew or Greek. 297 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:03,840 It covers nationality, ethnicity and everything that we would 298 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:06,320 label as race today. All of those things God says, 299 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:10,720 hey, that doesn't, one is no more valuable than the other. 300 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:16,120 Social and economic status, talent, you know, these kinds of 301 00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:19,160 things we value. We value people that are really, 302 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:22,440 really good at getting an orange ball through an orange ring. 303 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:26,040 We place a great deal of value on people that can do that, 304 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:30,520 place a great deal of value on people that that that can do 305 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:33,520 certain kinds of skill, have certain kinds of skills and 306 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:40,240 education and training. God says, you know what, that's 307 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:46,640 not how I do the Kingdom of God. In Christ there is no slave or 308 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:51,520 free, doesn't matter. You're economic or social 309 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:56,120 standing in human society. All of that gets washed away in 310 00:19:56,120 --> 00:19:59,440 the Kingdom of God. All of that gets relativized in 311 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:02,880 the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is not based 312 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:08,880 on what humans assign value to. The practical thing here is, is 313 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:15,120 we need to be deeply cautious about ascribed value, about 314 00:20:15,120 --> 00:20:19,080 assigning value based on immutable or social 315 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:22,520 characteristics. Things that were born with or 316 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:25,440 roles were assigned based on those things that were born 317 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:28,280 with. There are still cultures in this 318 00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:31,280 world that are deeply and clearly embedded in this with 319 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:33,760 caste systems. And there are other cultures in 320 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:37,960 this world where it's much more implicit and and less explicit. 321 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:43,760 But it's all suspect. It's all suspect and it all gets 322 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:45,440 washed away in the Kingdom of God. 323 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:49,280 The waters of baptism washed all of these kinds of sign values 324 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:57,000 away #2 here flip side of this is the OR the other side of this 325 00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:58,920 coin. The Kingdom of God is also not a 326 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:03,640 meritocracy. This is often the the response 327 00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:07,680 of those who who want to reject and a society a society based on 328 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:10,880 assigned value. They say we need a meritocracy 329 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:14,840 and and their functional reasons for meritocracies, just like 330 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:17,960 people find functional reasons for assigned values. 331 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:21,760 We want the best person doing, you know, we were just the best. 332 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:23,960 The people that have the most merit, those are the folks that 333 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:26,120 need to advance. The Kingdom of God is not a 334 00:21:26,120 --> 00:21:31,080 meritocracy either. God did not choose Jacob because 335 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:35,400 he had more merit than Esau. God chose Jacob because God 336 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:38,800 could choose Jacob. We don't know why God chose 337 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:44,240 Abel's offering over Keynes. God never explains that. 338 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:48,600 We don't know why God punished Job even though Job had done 339 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:52,040 nothing deserving of punishment. God never explains that. 340 00:21:54,480 --> 00:22:00,120 But the clear implication is God has not created his Kingdom on 341 00:22:00,120 --> 00:22:07,400 the basis of human merit. Now we you've heard that before, 342 00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:11,200 because meritocracy in the Kingdom of God is what 343 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:15,400 theologically we would call works salvation, that we get 344 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:19,280 into the Kingdom or we advance in God's Kingdom based on how 345 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:23,760 good we are on our merit, on our good deeds, on our good works. 346 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:30,600 But the Bible says God through Paul says it's by grace. 347 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:34,360 We're saved through faith. It's a gift of God, not of 348 00:22:34,360 --> 00:22:35,400 works. Why? 349 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:41,440 So that nobody can boast. Nobody could boast, Jacob. 350 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:45,040 There was no point. He might have done it, but there 351 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:49,080 was no point in Jacob's life in which he could legitimately 352 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:52,280 brag. God picked me over you, Esau, 353 00:22:52,320 --> 00:23:00,080 because I'm better than you. And God says no, no, no, no. 354 00:23:02,360 --> 00:23:05,240 I picked you, Jacob, but not because you're better. 355 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:10,240 Not because you're better. This is a tough one in, in our 356 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:14,280 culture and in our society, there's such a strong tendency 357 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:19,520 for, to, to aspire to a meritocratic society in, in the 358 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:23,520 United States. And I'm not saying that human 359 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:28,600 meritocracies are, are evil or necessarily evil or always evil. 360 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:31,760 I'm just saying that the Kingdom of God is not a meritocracy. 361 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:38,920 And so we need to be cautious about this of ascribing value to 362 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:44,920 people of, of assigning value on the basis of merit is as 363 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:48,200 dangerous a practice as assigning value on the basis of 364 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:51,040 immutable characteristics like gender and skin color. 365 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:58,480 That's just, that's just, that just isn't how my Kingdom works. 366 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:03,720 That isn't how my cultural system within my Kingdom works. 367 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:09,080 We call this heaven, by the way, This isn't how the Kingdom of 368 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:13,440 heaven works. We don't earn our way in. 369 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:15,760 None of us can brag or boast for being there. 370 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,840 This was Israel's. This is one of the reasons why 371 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:23,720 Israel got sacked first by the Babylonian Empire and later by 372 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:26,840 the Roman Empire, because they came to believe we are. 373 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:29,440 We're God's chosen people. What? 374 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:33,400 Why would God choose us if we weren't better than all of the 375 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:37,000 other nations in the world? And they started acting like 376 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:41,200 they had earned, received by their merit, God's favor. 377 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:45,560 And then God said no, that as soon as they started thinking 378 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:49,280 that way, they started heading down the wrong direction, a 379 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:53,240 direction that led them to do abominable things, trusting that 380 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:57,000 God would protect them because they were all, after after all, 381 00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,200 better than all of the other nations in the world. 382 00:25:01,120 --> 00:25:04,760 And God was so determined for them to unlearn that, that He 383 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:08,880 allowed their nation to be destroyed not once, but twice. 384 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:13,640 The Kingdom of God is not a meritocracy. 385 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:19,480 Here's a third one. Not getting our preference is 386 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:21,840 often a sign of God's will being done. 387 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:28,480 It was Isaac's preference that Esau inherit his estate. 388 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:33,000 He didn't get what he wanted, and that was God's will being 389 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:35,920 done. I had a pastor tell me this a 390 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:38,000 few years ago when I was whining about something. 391 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:39,640 I don't remember what I was whining about. 392 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:41,840 I was whining about something. I whine. 393 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:45,560 You know how it is. You know you whine too. 394 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:49,080 I understand. But you understand. 395 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:53,800 We pray every Sunday and ask God not to give us what we want, 396 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:56,880 right? That's that's what we your 397 00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:00,760 Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 398 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,320 Another way of praying that is God, don't give me what I want. 399 00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:10,040 We pray that every week in here. Jesus prayed explicitly, God, 400 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:13,880 your will not mine be done. God, not what I want, but what 401 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:18,200 you want. And one of the best ways to deal 402 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:21,440 with the disappointment of not getting what we want is to say, 403 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:25,400 OK, well, maybe this is because it's God's will not getting what 404 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:28,520 I if I'm not getting what I want is a good chance it's God's 405 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:30,400 will. And when I am getting what I 406 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:32,360 want, that's really the dangerous part. 407 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:35,760 Because then suddenly it's it's easy to start to think, well, my 408 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:39,120 will must be God's will. Not a bad thing. 409 00:26:39,120 --> 00:26:45,800 When we get what we want, we always have to deal with the 410 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:48,080 possibility. Am I getting this because I made 411 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:50,240 it happen and because I wanted it to happen? 412 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:52,960 Or is this happening because God wants it to happen? 413 00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:58,080 Odds are much greater when I'm not getting what I'm want that 414 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:04,800 it's God's will that stinks. I wish God thought more like me. 415 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:07,880 Make my life a lot happy now. That's not true. 416 00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:13,400 My life is much better getting what God wants rather than I 417 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:16,960 want. But that's the thing with both 418 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:19,800 descriptive societies and meritocracy. 419 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:23,920 It's about a certain group of people getting what they want 420 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:28,040 and constructing society in a way that they think is going to 421 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:30,080 work and it's going to be best for everyone. 422 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:33,600 And God repeatedly steps in and breaks those things up to say, 423 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:39,920 just remember, I'm still God. I'm still God, and in my Kingdom 424 00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:47,240 you're not going to always get what you want #4 reception into 425 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:51,840 God's Kingdom is a matter of God's choice, not our immutable 426 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:55,520 characteristics. Not because of skin color or 427 00:27:55,520 --> 00:28:00,080 gender or nationality or any of those kinds of things. 428 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:02,640 Not because our works, not because we're better. 429 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:05,920 Not a meritocracy, but simply because God chose. 430 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:10,480 So let's go back to choosing teams. 431 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:16,480 Let's go back to choosing teams. And this time it's Jesus, and 432 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:22,320 he's picking teams. And Jesus, Jesus, I want you, I 433 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:25,120 want you, I want you. I want you, I want you, I want 434 00:28:25,120 --> 00:28:26,720 you, I want you, I want you. God. 435 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:31,360 He points to all of us. Doesn't matter what color our 436 00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:34,080 skin is, doesn't matter what our nationality is, doesn't matter 437 00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:37,440 what our economic status is. Does not matter what our gender 438 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:38,080 is. Does not. 439 00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:41,160 None of those things matter. God just says I want you. 440 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:43,320 Well, why? Because I'm God and I pick you 441 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:47,880 because I'm special. Because I'm better. 442 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:51,040 Stop. No, because I picked you. 443 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:54,400 That's why you get to be in the Kingdom. 444 00:28:56,680 --> 00:29:00,520 There's so much more security in that than having it be because 445 00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:05,720 of assigned value or merit. If it's assigned value, what 446 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:09,760 happens when the values change? If it's merit, what's happens 447 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:17,700 when I can't? The only way I get to be in the 448 00:29:17,700 --> 00:29:20,380 Kingdom of God is God's mercy and God's grace. 449 00:29:21,580 --> 00:29:23,860 That's the only way I can guarantee you I haven't earned a 450 00:29:23,860 --> 00:29:28,920 spot on the team. I had an uncle, played football 451 00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:31,120 at WVU. This was a long time ago. 452 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:35,080 Did well, was a good football player by all accounts. 453 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:39,920 And he decided he wanted to try out for the Dallas Cowboys, and 454 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:44,440 he did. He became a hog farmer in West 455 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:48,080 Virginia. Yeah, because he wasn't good 456 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:52,520 enough for the Cowboys. It wasn't good enough, wasn't 457 00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:54,720 big enough, wasn't strong enough, wasn't fast enough, 458 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:59,080 wasn't good enough. We made some good bacon. 459 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:08,800 We never have to worry about not being good enough for the 460 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:11,880 Kingdom of God. We never have to worry about not 461 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:16,800 being good enough for to be chosen by Jesus. 462 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:22,200 We never have to worry about not being the right skin color. 463 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:24,800 We never have to worry about not being the right gender. 464 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:27,680 We never have to worry about not being the right nationality. 465 00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:34,080 All of those things matter to human beings, but not to God, 466 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:37,240 not in that way. They matter to God. 467 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:41,440 And the God values folks in all of those categories, not in a 468 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:45,840 hierarchy, but for the beauty of their differences. 469 00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:52,880 It's God's choice and we can be thankful for that. 470 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:55,520 In Jesus name, Amen. Amen.