Speaker 1: 0:35

Hello everyone, my name is Joseph and sea to win a single convert and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are. Woe to you, blind guides that you say if anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing, but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath. You blind fools. Which is greater the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say if anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing, but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath. You blind men. Which is greater? The gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And everyone who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it. This is the word of the Lord.

Speaker 2: 1:23

Thanks be to God. Thanks, bud, appreciate it. Did you guys hear what he just read? I don't want to do this, all right? Well, before we do this, I want to do something a little bit different this morning. So if you hang with me, you know, like when we go out to places or we show up, you know, even to a place like this, we've just been taught we're pretty good at kind of like, kind of putting the things in our pocket and going and just doing the next thing. Right, just gonna do the next thing, do the next thing, do the next thing. In this morning, before I get into this, I just want to create some space, literally, where we can, instead of putting the chips in our pocket, we can just push them forward and just allow God to have that and carry the things that we're carrying, and so we can be fully available for whatever he would have for us today, in this moment, in this time we have together. So I'm going to, in just a few moments, give you three minutes Literally it's going to feel like 10, but I'm going to give you three minutes to contemplate and potentially even share with the person next to you the answer to these three questions. So these three questions are this what are you carrying, what does your soul need, and is there an image that can help you describe that? So, just thinking about that to push all those chips forward, I'll actually lead right now by example in vulnerability and transparency.

Speaker 2: 2:52

When I sit here this week, as I came into even this weekend, reflecting on what I'm carrying, If I'm going to be honest with my neighbor or you right now, I'm just kind of sad. Right now. It's been one of those I'm carrying a lot of like sadness and grief for a couple different reasons. One of those is, you know, some of you guys know that we've had to reduce our staff and some other things just needed over based on income, and it's the right thing to do, but it's really hard saying goodbye to people that you love and it's been challenging. I'm also really sad.

Speaker 2: 3:27

There's just so much grief that's going on right now with people, and like young people with cancer, some of our older people that were just losing literally their mind and just deaths, and like the hurting. And you know, like when you're just kind of dealing with life and everything that's going on and you're just like carrying all the weight and another thing happens, you're like, oh my gosh. Another thing happens. You're like, oh my gosh. And then we can kind of get that place where it's kind of like that last thing, just kind of like out of nowhere it takes your feet out and it all falls down. You're like, what do I even do with this?

Speaker 2: 4:06

This week kind of felt like that a little bit, just so much of that watching with people around and just feeling sad, and then I honestly felt like my feet got taken out from underneath me when it's only been six months since my dear friend, rich Freeman, lost his life and our pastor of care, his widow, just found out this week that she too has cancer and is going to be dealing with whatever that means in her life. And so just so much of that. And it's not just her, it's just there's so many of you in a looking around. So I sit here today before you and I'm in vulnerability, showing you what you get to do in just a moment of just that's what I'm carrying. So then I get to ask what does my soul need? I think my soul just needs comfort or peace beyond understanding. That's not like fireworks, that's just comfort.

Speaker 2: 4:49

And if there's an image that can help me describe that? Yesterday I went on a really long bike ride. I went for like 22 miles and I went up way into Green Valley and to where it's the hills and there's a vineyards, down into parts of Fairfield. That's like that, and I felt like this image that would explain describing what it is that my soul needs and caring, if you're. I felt like I needed like a back country car ride with the Lord, like where he's driving, and I could be like the kid that's doing this outside. You know what I'm talking about and just you can experience it. You're still carrying it all, but it's just there and it's comfortable because you're going somewhere, but you have somebody with you. So there's me just leading by example in this space, and so I'm going to actually create space, literally for the next three minutes.

Speaker 2: 5:33

Like I said, it's going to feel like 10 for you, for you to, in silence, at first contemplate what is it that you're carrying. You can push the chips forward so you can hand it over and allow the Lord to carry that right now, so you can be fully present to experience whatever he has for this morning. What is it that your soul needs? Is there an image that can help you describe that. It doesn't have to be silent. In here, there's going to be talking. It was first service to you. If you want to share with the person next to you, it's up to you.

Speaker 2: 6:00

There's some times that you're like man, I haven't told you about this, or even like your spouse. You're like I couldn't find space to tell you this, but I'll just say it right now. So I'm going to invite you to do that right now, next to you, if you'd like. Thank you, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen. And so, father, as we sit in this space and prepare to hear your word, thank you for carrying the things that we care about or that are in the front of our mind and, as we push all of those things forward to you. Would you just release us from that, even if it's for this next 25, 30 minutes, and that we would be open to receive what you would have for us in this moment, to be comforted in that way, encouraged, equipped, cared for, as only you can care for us In your name. We pray Amen.

Speaker 2: 8:56

So we have been going through the book of Matthew expositorily, verse by verse, and I'm telling you right now, matthew, chapter 23 is a dog, like I was, like I don't want to teach on this stuff. This is, it is in your face. I mean, you can go read it yourself. You're going to want to get through it quickly. You're like, wow, I don't even know what some of this means. And it is straightforward, no holds barred. We're in it for just a couple more weeks. Actually, I looked at it. It's going to be one of the shorter chapters we spent time in, probably because I'm scared of this. So we've been going through it verse by verse by verse. And this is this last discourse of Jesus in the book of Matthew before we get to the passion of Christ. And this is just him talking to the disciples in the crowds and he's calling things out and he's reminding us and we'll see that it's really about this.

Speaker 2: 9:43

It's, you know, one of the biggest complaints about the church from many people around the world, unfortunately, is that they would say that the church is just full of a bunch of narrow-minded, judgmental hypocrites and sadly, there are people who then doubt God because Christians claim one thing and yet live another. You ever notice that right when there are just people who say, you know, this is what we're all about, and then they live a different type of life and it's just something entirely different. And maybe for some of you this has been very confusing, like, why is that? Maybe you've seen it in your own life where you know you have that friend and classmate who might post Bible verses nonstop on their Instagram and then you find them in school and they're just like gossiping all over the place with other people and you're just like what? That's? Just that's very confusing. Why is that?

Speaker 2: 10:41

Or you might have worked for a boss, right, who talked about Jesus in the business and you're like, wow, this is amazing, but then yet treated their employees with disrespect, and that can be like confusing and frustrating, like how does that work? Or, sadly and maybe you've seen this on the news maybe you've experienced this denominationally or non-denominationally. Maybe you experienced this up close or from a distance, where it might be like a pastor or clergyman or woman that you admired or looked up to and you found out that that pastor wasn't living the life that the pastor had been claiming to live. And not only can it be very confusing. It can be very damaging where you're just like I don't even know how to reconcile the mistreatment and the use of authority and position. And then what's taking place here. It's a little bit confusing and frustrating when people claim one thing and then they end up doing another thing.

Speaker 2: 11:39

And sometimes a world that would like to believe in God looks at the people of God and says you claim one thing, but then the way you live your life is something different, and that's very confusing and tragically. When people think and some people, when they think of the church today, they think of scandals, they think of abuse, they think of corruption, hypocrisy, judgment and hate. And people look on and they like scratch their head and they're confused and says if Jesus, this Jesus person you're talking about, came full of grace and truth, why do so many Christians seem to be full of hate and lies? In fact, there's a piercing quote by an author named Brennan Manning. He wrote the Ragamuffin Gospel and All is Grace and a few others. He said the single greatest cause of atheism in the world is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. This is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable. So let me say this, me say this If you have ever been confused, disappointed, disillusioned by Christians that don't live like Jesus, you are not alone. Jesus did not like it when people who claimed one thing and lived another. In fact, when you look through the Gospels, jesus never spoke actually more harshly about anything or to anyone than he did. Those he called hypocrites In Matthew, chapter 23,.

Speaker 2: 13:26

This is what theologians called the seven woes. I'm actually going to show you really quickly eight. Some of you guys may or may not have noticed this happens a couple of spots in scriptures you know, like if you're reading through, if you have it on your tablet or your actual Bible, it says verse 13 and all of a sudden you're at 15. There's not a verse 14. So parenthetically, that's not in most of your Bibles, because it's in the footnotes, because it might have been added later when they canonized scripture. So it's potentially eight, but seven that we know of.

Speaker 2: 13:56

And you'll notice that in these seven woes this is Jesus explaining hey, you're claiming one thing and then you're living something else. And this word woe he uses is really important. It's not like what we would think of, like whoa, like that's awesome, right, it's actually the antithesis. It's that woe here is to express grief or regret or distress Like whoa, come on. The Greek word eua is almost like wow, not like wow, but like wow, no, like come on, like grief and distress.

Speaker 2: 14:35

So verse 13,. Let me read this and then we'll chop it up a little bit for our morning. Jesus says "'Woe to you, teachers of the law and the Pharisees, you hypocrites. You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces and you yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Essentially, what he's saying here is you're not even for the kingdom. I keep coming and seeing the kingdom of heaven's at hand. This new, right way and righteous way of living is here and you're not interested in it. Because you're not interested, you're building walls and not even letting other people participate in just the opportunity and the grace and the mercy and what God has intended here that you're creating this. Stop that. He's seeing the Pharisees and the lawgivers, the scribes, as such a challenge to their authority and ability to be, you know, over people that they have now said like no one can have this. I need to try to figure out how to get rid of them.

Speaker 2: 15:35

Then verse 14, parenthetically, if you look in your footnotes, he talks about it. Woe is you who you mistreat widows Like you, take advantage of those who are hurting and you're broken. Verse 15, he says woe, woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You travel over land and sea to win a single convert and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are. Well, tell us what you really think. Jesus, jeez, louise, you know like in Jewish culture, evangelism actually wasn't really a big thing. It was already just the people of God and they tried to keep that really tight and secure. And you know it would happen occasionally. But what he's saying is you go out and you do that, but really what you're doing is you're winning them to yourself. They wanted to build their tribe. Look how good I am, look at what I have done for you, look how religious now you are.

Speaker 2: 16:29

You know some of us actually can fall into that trap ourselves, and maybe some of you have. You know a little bit part of your story or you've heard this before where a beautiful soul led you to the feet of Jesus, led you to Christ, and there are times you can uphold their name higher than Jesus's. Like man, wow, that's what a person in my life. They loved me and showed me this thing and I'm so grateful for that. But are you? Have we become more of a fan of them than a follower of Jesus? Woe to you blind guides. So now he's like come on, like you're a blind guide, like you're leading people and you can't even see where you're taking them. Like you're a blind guy. Like you're leading people and you can't even see where you're taking them.

Speaker 2: 17:12

You say if anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing, but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath. You blind fools. Which is greater the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say if anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing, but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath. You blind men. Which is greater? The gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and everything on it. And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. It's all everything. And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it, essentially right here.

Speaker 2: 18:01

He's just saying like you can't pick and choose. Like let your yes be yes and your no be no. You remember as kids I think this was just a kid thing, I hope you're not going to tell me different when you would like make a promise to someone but you wanted the ability to be able to break it, what would you do? Yeah, somebody said it, you'd cross your fingers. You remember that one. It's like the smooth move You'd be like someone would ask you to do something. You're like, oh yeah, I'll do it. Finger sucker, I didn't even mean it. Like, ah, pulled you right in. Or like my toes were crossed. Like what even? What even is that? And that's like what's going on. He's like you blind guys. Like like, pick and choose, let your thing be the thing. Like your yes be a yes, right? This is what he says, and I'm jumping ahead now to verse 27.

Speaker 2: 18:46

Jeff's going to unpack this in just a couple of weeks, so I'm not going to take all this stuff. But he says woe to you. Like come on, wow, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You're like whitewashed tombs which look beautiful the way you present yourself on the outside, but on the inside you're full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. You're putting on a good show, it says you're putting on a good show, but on the inside you're filthy and you are so far from God. Your soul is a mess and outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Speaker 2: 19:33

17 different times, jesus you'll see in the Bible actually the word hypocrite is used and every time the word hypocrite is used it was by Jesus. Every time Jesus used the word hypocrite, he was correcting those who claimed one thing and were living as another thing and, interestingly, jesus was the first person to use the word hypocrite in this particular context. See, originally and we've talked about this for a couple weeks originally the word hypocrite wasn't a negative. It didn't have like a negative connotation to it. It would have been thought from the Greek actors society, where actors would be called hypocrites. Maybe you've seen this. It's still for drama today. It represents this, it's acting, it's this mask, and a hypocrite was someone who could wear this type of character in this mask and start playing this part on the stage and then switch their mask and embody this character and you'd get sucked into this personality and this scene that was taking place. And this was the first time anyone, to our knowledge, has now used the word hypocrite outside of the context of the theater.

Speaker 2: 20:41

And Jesus was saying hey, you're giving to be seen, you hypocrite. You hypocrite Whenever you're fasting to impress. You know. Look how holy I am, look how I'm starving for the Lord. It makes me hungry for his word and prayer. You know you're telling people oh, I'm fasting. He's saying you hypocrite when you're praying to be heard. You know your fancy words and the things you're declaring is saying. If you're doing that to be heard by men, you hypocrite. When you're standing out in a corner and blasting in a microphone, when you're acting like you're generous but yet you're taking advantage of the poor, it says you're a play actor, you hypocrite.

Speaker 2: 21:27

And Jesus had zero tolerance for hypocrites. And what's interesting about this is you'll notice that he wasn't calling out their sin. What he was calling out was their show. He wasn't calling out their sin. He didn't say woe to you who curse on the golf course when you slice it off the fairway. I don't know why I said fairfield. It's a thing up there, the fairway, right? He's saying no. He's saying woe to you who are hypocrites, woe to you who do the wrong things but you act like you don't.

Speaker 2: 22:09

If you have ever been frustrated by those who claim one thing and then live something else, can I just make it really clear? Jesus was frustrated too, and I think it kind of raises this question why do so many Christians get it wrong, like, why is this the thing that's just attached to Christians or the church? I mean, if we really hope to represent Jesus in the church, why is it sometimes that we do a really good job and other times we fail miserably? Well, one reason and I think that we need to recognize this is some people who claim Christ aren't really Christians or followers of Christ. That is, some people who go to church. They may call themselves a Christian, but really they are not born of the Spirit of God. They have not been transformed by Jesus. They may be a church member. They may carry around a Bible. They might have a tattoo of a cross. They may claim one thing they may carry around a Bible. They might have a tattoo of a cross, they may claim one thing, but they have never been converted, forgiven and transformed by the power of Jesus. And this is dangerous and unfortunately, this is common.

Speaker 2: 23:22

Paul actually writes about this in the book of Titus, because this is something that's been taking a place for a long time. This is not just an us now problem. This is a it's always been a problem. He says they claim to know God. Yeah, I believe there's a high power, I believe there's God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. In other words, we need to understand that just going to church doesn't make you a Christian. Following Jesus does. Claiming God or going to a Bible study doesn't make you a Christian. Following Jesus and his example does. Just because you say you believe in God, I believe that, yeah, I believe in God doesn't make you a Christian, but following Jesus does so real quick. This word Christian, what is this? It literally means to be Christ-like. So claiming you know God and then it's to be in the likeness of Christ.

Speaker 2: 24:34

Why is it that sometimes the so-called Christians let us down, betray us, do things that are really really horrible and disheartening. Well, it's because some of us aren't Christians. Well, it's because some of us aren't Christians, we're not actually disciples following Jesus. But there are some and I hope there's actually a lot here who are really trying to live this kingdom life and to live a life that's full of grace and mercy and the love of another. But you know this. Sadly, this is the truth, but not an excuse.

Speaker 2: 25:16

We all let each other down at times, and the problem is that whenever we fall short, do you know what we do? We blame our circumstances. We give ourselves an out, rightly so at times. We're really good at this, right. Here's what I'm saying. If I do something that's not acceptable, I'm like, oh hey, you know me. Like that's not me, right. Like, oh, it's just like I'm going through a bunch of stuff. It was like there's a project that's due. It's a really bad day, or the kids got me stressed out, or I'm not sleeping good. It's a bad day at work. I just had a bad week. It's not that big of a deal. You've done things too. You know you've made mistakes here.

Speaker 2: 25:58

If I fall short, I blame my circumstances, but the challenge is, when someone else falls short, we tend to blame their character. You following, like, oh, they're the bad ones, like you're the wrong one, like you're the hypocrite, when we blame our circumstances, our own circumstances, but then we blame someone else's character. My question is isn't that a little bit of a hypocrisy in our own lives? To explain this a little bit more, you know it's we've lost our ability to be curious. A little bit more. You know we've lost our ability to be curious. You know, for us it's like I lost my temper there. I'm so sorry. The circumstances, I'm so stressed, or this, or I'm overwhelmed by this news, or this thing has taken place. I made a slip up, it's a circumstance, I'm so sorry. But then we look at somebody else and we're like they're just an angry, ill-tempered person. That's their character, like they're a mess, and that's who they are. And here's the deal.

Speaker 2: 26:59

God is not shocked that we do this, because he knows we are prone to sin. He knows that when we do mess up, it's because we are sinners and we are in need of redemption. Now, real quick, let me just pause on the word sin, because I think we don't review it enough and it just sounds funny, sinners, and we are in need of redemption Now, real quick. Let me just pause on the word sin, because I think we don't review it enough and it just sounds funny and it's not a word that we use that often, except for like in the church space. Literally, the sin, sin means to miss the mark. It's like a bow and arrow shooting at a bullseye and when you don't hit the 10 spot the bullseye, it's called sin, it's the miss of perfection, like, oh, you sinned, you missed perfection. That's what you were aiming for, you missed it.

Speaker 2: 27:35

So if you need to rephrase it in your life, understand that the bar is perfection, Very difficult, and we all sin and we continue to sin where we miss that. And he knows when we do this and we mess up. We are sinners, we're missers, we're imperfect, but we are in need of his righteousness. He knows us, he understands us. It actually talks about this in Psalm 103, 14. It says, for he knows how we were formed, he remembers that we are dust. So God knows, god knows what, how weak we are. He knows that we give into peer pressure, we give into temptation, that we're vulnerable, that we want to be liked. We tend to take the easy way out that we're hypocrites, and he remembers that we're only dust. That's what you are.

Speaker 2: 28:29

I don't know if you've heard this or not, but that's what you came from and that's what you are. I don't know if you've heard this or not, but that's what you came from and that's what you will go back to. It's like a biology lesson for y'all right now. So maybe just remind your neighbor. You can look at them and be like you're dust. You're just a big old bag of dirt sitting right next to me. Go ahead and tell them. Some of you is going to feel good. Don't call them a dirt bag, a bag bag, oh dirt. There's a difference.

Speaker 2: 28:53

So let me show you this story in the New Testament from the Apostle Paul and Barnabas. This is Christ has been resurrected. He has ascended into heaven and now people are trying to participate in the way. That's what it was called the way of following Jesus. This new kingdom. Reign and rule in your life. And it says in chapter 13, verse 49, it says the word of the Lord spread through this whole region. God was moving. This kingdom has come right. It's fighting in to push back the hell that we have created. The word of the Lord is taking place. And then what happens next?

Speaker 2: 29:30

It says in verse 50, but the Jewish leaders I've been hearing a lot about them right now incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their region. These God-fearing women of high standing, these were like the prayer warrior ladies, these were faithful women of God. And then these leading men of the city, these were the ones that everyone respected. And what did they do? They got influenced and they then stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their region. Good people, good people got led astray and hurt, hurt other good people, other followers of the way, paul and Barnabas. So what did Paul and Barnabas do?

Speaker 2: 30:27

You know, what do people do when Christians behave badly, when they act poorly? What did Paul and Barnabas do? They quit the church, they left Christianity, they called everybody a bunch of hypocrites and said I'm out, I don't want to be a part of this. They didn't do that. They didn't do that they could have and they would have if they had focused on the offense.

Speaker 2: 30:52

And that's oftentimes where we get ourselves in trouble and our friends have been hurt and broken. Every time that I have been hurt by those who claim Christ, I tell myself this. I tell myself the church didn't let me down. A person let me down. The church didn't betray me. A couple of people betrayed me. I tell myself God didn't let me down. A big old bag of dirt let me down.

Speaker 2: 31:22

And so the logic goes like this, and I completely understand it, I empathize with it. It's very common. It goes like this they hurt me. I can't trust the church, so I'm not going to church, no more, because it's full of a bunch of hypocrites.

Speaker 2: 31:39

And why is it that oftentimes we do that with the church, but we don't do that with restaurants or the food service in our own home? Right? You ever had bad service, right? You ever like I'm not going to ever eat again. It was bad, right? It just doesn't happen to your kids. You're feeding your kids something they didn't pick it for dinner, but they're like I don't do vegetables. And you're like, oh, I'm sorry they don't be like I'm never going to eat here again. Right, never going to eat here again. Right, they participate. It took me 15 minutes to get my burger and the fries weren't good. I'm never going to eat again. We don't do that. We go back, right, because why? Because there's food in the house and when people let us down, we go back because there's spiritual food in the house and we worship the God in the house.

Speaker 2: 32:27

And Paul and Barnabas decided we're not gonna let the sins of people keep us from the goodness of God. We're not gonna let people draw us away from the grace and the love and the power of God, who let them down Some dust and then watch what they did. The very next verse says this so they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium and the disciples were filled with joy in the Holy Spirit. What'd they do? They shook the dust off of their feet and they went on and they were full of joy in the Holy Spirit.

Speaker 2: 33:11

So I don't know who this is for, but somebody, you have been hurt and at some point and I don't want to minimize at all right now your hurt, because I know that there is deep hurt but some of you have got to shake it off, and I'm not referencing Taylor Swift shake it off, I mean like the dust off, like you got to shake it off. And again, I don't want to minimize this, I'm not telling you that it's easy. I got to shake some things off a couple of times a week and, like once a month I got to shake something big off, or maybe for you it's something real big that's been taking place and it's a month I got to shake something big off, or maybe for you it's something real big that's been taking place and it's a lot of praying and it's some counseling, and then it's a lot more praying and then it's way more counseling and therapy. And I just want to say from the bottom of my heart if you have been hurt in the church, if you have been hurt by a so-called Christian or follower of Christ, if you have disdain for hypocrisy inside of the church, I apologize Because we have not always gotten it right. We haven't. We in the church sometimes say one thing and do something different and, as much as I don't want to admit it, some Christians, some church leaders, have abused their power and hurt people. Some Christians can be arrogant, we can be harsh, we can be unkind, we can be unloving, and it's not right. There is actually nothing right about it and I'm sorry when I don't get it right, and the reality is that all of us have been hurt by hypocrites and that none of us are perfect. And the only thing that I can promise you is that, as much as I don't want to, I even at some point will let you down. I will say something you disagree with, I will lose my temper, I will slip into a moment of pride, I'll be critical of somebody else, I'll be more focused on being right than loving, and when I'm that way, I will repent before God and I will apologize to you. But I just want to say this in the kindest way possible If you have lost faith in Jesus because of people, maybe your faith is in people when it should be in Jesus. If you are doubting God because of something someone else did, I just say to you look to Jesus, because he never let you down. Look how he lived, look how he loved, look how he confronted hypocrisy, look at how he would confront it in us, and he has followed through with that promise in us, and he has followed through with that promise.

Speaker 2: 36:13

On Thursdays, I share with a small group of our team on staff called Sermon Club and I kind of review what we're talking about and go through it and get some feedback. And I got to this spot and it became like a hot spot in the room and it was this really interesting kind of like theological conversation and there was a lot of feelings wrapped up in it Because for some of you and maybe this is you and this is what they were kind of highlighting there's going to be people in the room that says like, say, look to Jesus, because he'll never let you down, and there are people going well, I feel really let down by Jesus and I think there's a lot of things that are wrapped up in that of trying to figure out what has been promised to us, like has he met real, agreed upon expectations or is it our expectations and what we thought was supposed to happen? Because we're the ruler and Lord of this life and this is what I do when you're a genie in the bottle it brought me this weekend, as I continue to reflect on this, to Psalm 131. You can go look it up later. It's a beautiful Psalm written by David, and David said my heart is not proud, lord, my eyes are not haughty. I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me, but I have calmed and quieted myself. Like a weaned child, when its mother with its mother. Like a weaned child, I am content. Think about a weaned child. Think about a child, right, what does an infant do? Think about a child, right, what does an infant do? They're like either really happy they're sleeping or they are like blitz mad, just losing their mind. Why? Because they're hungry, right, we go from zero to hero, like in a nanosecond. You're like do-be-do-be-do-be and all of a sudden it's like, and you're like feed the kid, stick something in his mouth, right, this is what we do, and they know no difference.

Speaker 2: 38:10

And one of the most difficult things you do to a child is you wean them. This is extremely difficult for moms, and it's just so you know. It's actually really difficult for dads too, because we're just like in the midst of that and you're watching someone hurt and they think they're going to die. And you're going, you're not going to die. But they don't understand that, right. And in the process of winning a child, what happens Usually? You're holding them close and they're crying and they're freaking out and what they want is right there, but are you going to give it to them? Nope, you're going to tell them you're okay, I got you, you're okay. And then eventually they're going to start doing the whole and their big old eyes are going to be just looking back at your eyes and they're going to be focused at you because they're receiving this information. I'm okay, what I have is right there. I desperately want it and think I need it, but you're telling me I don't. But you're also telling me I'm okay. We're okay when we live like a weaned child. That's when we can understand that he won't let you down. Circumstances, yes. Expectations that we have of a good father yes. But you know, as a parent, you're okay. I know you think you need it. I know you want it.

Speaker 2: 39:37

Some of those things aren't going to change on this side of attorney, but if you continue to look at me, how I lived, how I loved, how I will confront the hypocrisy, how I will confront it in you and the things that break your heart in this world and I have followed through with my promise and David reminded us like a weaned child with his mother I am content. He lovingly corrects us and convicts us and then therefore changes us. So have you ever been hurt by hypocrisy? Again, I want you to know Jesus has zero tolerance for hypocrisy, but he has unlimited grace for a sinner in need of forgiveness, because he continues to love, he continues to heal, at least on the other side of eternity. He continues to offer hope to that and we get to experience how good he is. And so when we get it wrong, we will. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, please forgive me A bag of dirt. We're not perfect, but we are striving to be perfected by the one who lives inside of us and we're not going to make excuses. We're going to continue to be confronted and reflect the goodness of Jesus.

Speaker 2: 41:04

The Sermon on the Mount this is the most famous sermon. This is found in Matthew, chapters five through seven. This is the best sermon and it's overwhelming. We went through it years ago. You can go back and it's a great read to go through and understand, and many people it's just overwhelming because they go oh, he's setting an expectation so high that it's to remind us we are incapable and so, therefore, we need to fall at the feet in the grace of God. And I would argue that I actually think it's the opposite, that is, to remind us that first we need to fall at the feet in the grace of God and then suddenly we can be transformed and be made into something new and begin to see the impossible become a possibility, living in this new kingdom-minded way. Last week I reminded you the grace of God is found in Christ, and I want to remind you again that in Christ is where actually that change takes place, that we are formed into a new creation when we throw ourselves at the feet of the grace of God and we are in Christ. This is where change begins to take place. And so how do we change?

Speaker 2: 42:15

My wife loves tea and now my girls, I think because of that loves tea. I think maybe she gets it from her mother. It's probably a generational thing. I was never like a tea family. We were in Arizona so you didn't drink hot stuff. Generational thing, I was never like a tea family. We were in Arizona so you didn't drink hot stuff. It was iced tea. But when my mother-in-law comes over, she always turns on a pot of water and it's tea time. And it could be any time nighttime, day, morning time, whatever it's tea time.

Speaker 2: 42:42

And if you're a tea person, you understand that there's dippers and there's dwellers, right? Or if you're really fancy, there's steepers. And it's always fascinating to me if you think about it, because how does the water change? You just have hot water or cold water and then you put a teabag in it and you have your dippers and they dip in. And that's a really interesting thing when you think about it, because you know, a lot of us are dippers Like we'll dip into church, we'll dip out of church, dip into church, we'll dip out, we'll dip into the Bible, we'll dip out, like we'll dip into his presence, and then we're going to kind of dip out.

Speaker 2: 43:18

But then there's dwellers, and they're really interesting too. I remember watching one time, as I was just watching them dip and dip and dip, and I'm like why don't you just leave the dang bag in the cup? Like just leave it there and let it do its thing? And the response was like well, then it's going to be too strong. And I was like woo, come on, you want to hear this story. And that's exactly what it is. Your life is changed and your identity is made new, the stronger the presence of Christ is in you. You've got to sit in that, you've got to dwell and steep in it, and that's where you begin to see change take place. That's where you get to see forgiveness of others take place. That's where you get to see the shame that you carry be unloaded, because you're willing to receive the mercy and the grace of God as you begin to be transformed. Friends, you are beloved. Behold, you are beloved.

Speaker 2: 44:18

I wanna end with a last quote from Brennan Manning. This is from his last book. All Is Grace. It says my life has been anything but a straight shot, more like a crooked path filled with thorns and crows and vodka Prone to wonder. You bet it says sober for a season, then drunk again. I've been Paul the beloved, peter the coward and Thomas the doubter, all before the waitress brought the check. I've shattered every one of the 10 commandments six times Tuesday. And if you believe that last sentence was for dramatic effect, it wasn't.

Speaker 2: 45:01

But yet the grace of God. It is for the sorely burdened who are still shifting the heavy suitcase from one hand to another. It's for the wobly burdened who are still shifting the heavy suitcase from one hand to another. It's for the wobbly and the weak-kneed who know they don't have it all together and are too proud to accept the handout of amazing grace.

Speaker 2: 45:18

It is for the innocent, unsteady disciples, inconsistent, unsteady disciples, whose cheese is falling off of their cracker. Disciples whose cheese is falling off of their cracker. It's for the poor, weak, sinful men and women with hereditary faults and limited talents. It's for the earthen vessels who shuffle along the feet of clay. It's for the bent and the bruised who feel that their lives are a grave disappointment to God. It is for smart people who know they are stupid and honest disciples who admit that they are scallywags. The gospel is for myself and anyone who has grown weary and discouraged along the way. Can we give God a hand clap of praise here for that message today? Can you do me a favor? Can you stand to your feet as we respond to worship to that word?