This week, we're continuing talking about number #41 on our list - RECONCILE

And that can be a hard one depending on the situation. That can cause a lot of emotions, might make some of us a little uneasy or anxious thinking about how things might go down. That's not the goal. The goal is to bring healing and peace and freedom and to bring you and the person you might need to reconcile with to a good place and a positive resolution where a weight is lifted off your shoulders.

This is actually part II of our "Got Beef?" Message about reconciliation. Our key verse for this part of our Fifty Things series has been Matthew 5:23-26. Jesus is preaching to a bunch of people during His Sermon on the Mount and He says -

So if you're presenting a sacrifice on the altar in the temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God. When you are on the way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise your accuser may hand you over to the judge who will hand you over to an officer, and you will be thrown in prison. And if that happens, you surely won't be free again until you have paid the last penny.Matthew 5:23-26

Now, we handled the first part and talked about what it means to reconcile and the steps involved with reconciling last week. This week, we're going to talk about this second part about being on the way to court with your adversary.

Now, this sounds like a very specific situation - and in some ways it is - we're talking about settling actual legal disputes in an ancient judicial system - but it also has bigger implications regarding reconciliation whether we're going to court or not. And the root or reconciliation - the takeaway that we're gonna be focusing on today is this -

Settle your differences quickly.Matthew 5:25

And here's why…

BECAUSE CONFLICT COMPOUNDS

Or at least it can. This is why this is such a powerful and helpful passage, because Jesus isn't just giving spiritual advice, He's giving practical advice. And this is the intersection where the spiritual and the practical meet. It can even mean in a spiritual setting… like, I don't know… a church? Relationships within a church? I mean, not exclusively, of course, but some of us are aware of situations where at the beginning of a conflict it might start off with "we don't see eye to eye here." But if you let that go and you let the feelings and suspicion and let's face it, the 'bad faith' projection kick in sometimes then it gets to "hey - what you said or what you did really hurt me." And if that isn't resolved soon and it continues to fester, eventually you get to "You're wrong, Jesus may love you but I think you're a jackal and that's why there's 47,000 different denominations of Christianity!" Yep. Church history has entered the chat. Tell me I'm wrong.

Here's why that happens Because no matter what the original issue is - unresolved conflict gets more costly.

UNRESOLVED CONFLICT BECOMES MORE COSTLY

Emotionally. Relationally. Financially. Spiritually. Communally. Psychologically.

It snowballs.

Because if the conflict isn't resolved, the chan cos of the conflict staying between you and that person only is about 2%. Unresolved conflict develops it's own ecosystem where it thrives. And suddenly you've got other people, friends, foes, factions, Facebook groups, podcasts, angry cousins and even up to attorneys, judges and institutions involved.

Before you know it, there are people who don't even know YOU and they are furious about this conflict. You've got people coming up to you saying, "I don't know either of you personally, but I watched a two minute Tik Tok and now I have thoughts! (Snap)

Deal with the flesh wound while it's only a flesh wound. Don't wait until things escalate. Don't wait until the scratch becomes gangrene.

Why does this happen anyway? Why do we leave things unresolved? I've got some ideas and to share them with you, I will use an illustration, nay, an analogy from my own life that some of you may relate to. I wish this was not a true story from my own life, but alas, it is. Please don't judge me. That's another Fifty Things message entirely.

This is the story of the check-engine light.

Yeah, so I had a 2001 Mustang. And one day the check engine light came on. Actually, in this car it said 'Service Engine Soon.' So I saw that light and I noted - "Okay. There is a problem that needs to be resolved. What it is I do not know. Because my car did not tell me. It just said 'Service Engine Soon.' There is something that needs to be addressed. Okay. Now I'm aware that something needs to be addressed. Could be something minor. Could be serious. Not too sure. Now in the words of AWOLNATION, you can blame it on my ADD baby, (now ADHD across the board is the correct term) or you can blame it on me being a literalist - the idiot light said 'SERVICE ENGINE SOON' it did not say 'TODAY.' And now you know why they're called idiot lights. So I let it go… and every day I'd get in the car, and I'd see that little light, 'SERVICE ENGINE SOON.' Well. Again, I didn't hear a blaring klaxon going off - there were no red lights flashing saying - "Get into a mechanic now." And I had things to do. I had other things to do. Netter things to do. Things I'd rather do than deal with this. So I let it go. See the ELSA principle works for some situations, not all situations- certainly not THIS situation. And every day I'd see that light. Knowing that it was there. The reminder was there. There's something I need to address. But I didn't want to address it. Meanwhile - what's happening that I don't know about that I can't see? The unaddressed issue is getting worse. The problem is compounding and becoming more costly. Until one day, I'm taking someone home and the car… starts shaking… kinda like it's trying to do the truffle shuffle. Very weird feeling. And then the engine starts making this weird noise. And the guy I'm taking home, he goes - "That doesn't sound very good." Yes. This and other exciting articles in the latest edition of "Thank you, Captain Obvious" monthly. So I drop this guy off and by the time I get back, it is the most ungodly sound you've ever heard coming from a car. It sounds like an out of tune steel drum band is having a concert under my hood. And as with many steel drum bands, there was a lot of smoke… 2…3…4… I'm not gonna explain 'em to you… and truly, the car - it's not working real good. We're having problems accelerating… it's a mess.

Here's what happened. Did you know that you had to put oil in a car every so often? Maybe not the new EVs, but the old combustion engines… yeah… they need oil to run. It's a good idea to CHANGE the oil every so often. And I don't remember the last time I had changed the oil… probably on the 12th… of never. That was the original issue. That's very small. Service Engine Soon meant - "Hey, dummy. I need some oil. Go get an oil change. A cheap fix that someone else can do on your lunch break if you don't want to get your hands dirty." That was the initial issue. But I let it go. And I ignored it. And I let it fester. And I kept putting it off. And eventually what happened is that bad things were happening underneath that hood and it led to me throwing a rod and ruining my engine completely. A very costly and expensive repair that was not going to be done over my lunch break.

And it could've been avoided. If I had settled the issue quickly.

See, some of the conflicts we have with other people - it's like the tale of the Service Engine Soon light. We know there's a problem. We know there's some form of conflict. We know the vibes are off. But instead of addressing the issue and settling our conflict quickly, we ignore it. And the longer we ignore it, the bigger probability that a minor issue grows exponentially behind the scenes and does a lot more damage and before you know it, you can't move forward anymore, you're attracting attention because of the massive amount of smoke and clanging and people are passing you by going, "what the heck happened to them?"

Sometimes we don't settle conflicts quickly because we truly don't understand how quickly conflict can compound and get out of hand. I guess you can kind of call it

LACK OF UNDERSTANDING

Which is why I think Jesus is taking the time to teach this to His followers. He's pointing this out. Basically, "If you don't know, now you know."

Some of us we don't settle conflicts quickly.. we keep putting them off because like George McFly, we're just not good at confrontation.

DON'T LIKE CONFRONTATION

And I think this needs reframing. When you "you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person." That doesn't HAVE to be a confrontation.

CONFRONTATION

It can be a conversation.

CONVERSATION

"Hey. I think we're got something where we're rubbing each other the wrong way, or I've offended you. I don't want that to go unresolved and I don't want it to escalate over time. Can you help me understand the situation better so we can settle things and hopefully keep our relationship positive."

Some of us - we avoid settling conflicts quickly because of

WILLFUL IGNORANCE

See, you think my solving of the Service Engine Soon light was bad. And it was… but you ever seen somebody solve that problem by going, "I know how to fix that" and taking electrical tape and sticking it right over the light? Problem solved!

Yeah. Anybody want to admit to doing that? Confession is good for the soul.

Look - you can put that electrical tape over that Check Engine Soon light and pretend it doesn't exist, but whatever is going on is still going on underneath the hood and that light is still underneath the tape and even if it's something minor - you're not passing the smog test. When it comes to conflict, if we're taping over it and pretending it doesn't exist, we're not passing the Jesus test either. Test isn't the right word. We're not meeting the standard that He hopes we'll meet as His followers.

Lot of ways we wind up taping over conflict and pretending it doesn't exist. "We're fine. It's no big deal." TAPE. Maybe not from your point of view.

"I prayed about that and moved on." TAPE. Did you ever talk to the other person and make things right?

"That was years ago." TAPE.

Or we'll do this one - we'll try and convince ourselves that we fixed it. Just hang the ol' Mission Accomplished banner up while the conflict is still clearly going on. What? Too soon?

My Service Engine Soon light people - you ever driving along with the light on and you hit a pothole or a speed bump so hard that the light goes out? And then you convince yourself - "There must never have been a problem to begin with. Must've been faulty wiring." Which do you think is true? There was never a problem to begin with, or now there's two - including the wire that's not sending the ID10T signal anymore? We do this with personal relations though - "You know, I was pretty sure Jacoby had beef with me, but I saw him at the company picnic and he didn't come over and start a fight so we must be fine." "Pretty sure I saw him giving you kill looks while he was stabbing the air with the barbecue fork Norman Bates style." "Nahhhh. He's just farsighted I think. No problems to worry about here."

SETTLE YOUR DIFFERENCES QUICKLY

Because if you don't - things can get carried away. And it didn't come out of nowhere. The Service Relationship SOON light was probably on the whole time.

You know, part of the reason that conflict compounds so quickly and things can get costly so fast today is because we live in a culture that encourages conflict escalation. Especially in major cities like L.A. Don't believe me? Just drive down the freeway. You cannot go two miles without seeing some lawyer's face twenty feet tall on a billboard saying - "Injured? Call Me. We'll Make Them Pay." "We'll Get You The Most!" "WE'll Take Every Last Cent They Have!" "Their Children's Children Will Still Be Paying You For. Fender Bender on the 405." And they've all got their own gimmick. One guy's pointing at you. One guy's wearing boxing gloves. One lady's got a dog. Somebody is apparently a law shark. I didn't even know that was a thing. Everywhere you look it's Legal-Eagle Larry, Malpractice Maria, Angry Johnny, Sweet James, Sweet Jesus - I miss when the billboards by the road were just Burma Shave signs…. I'd at least settle for Coke Bears. (Coke Bear Lawyer- injured in a sled accident) My fault. Did not specify. Bill wants me to leave Sweet James alone? I know. He's got good commercials. No I get it. Dodger fan. I get it.

First - before I go on, let me just say this - okay - I'm poking fun at the conflict escalation that I see on these lawyer billboards in particular - but thank God for attorneys. That's not a joke. Seriously. There are situations where you need legal representation. There are situations where people HAVE been harmed, exploited, cheated, abused, ripped-off and legal accountability and financial compensation is absolutely necessary. Our God abhors dishonest scales and loves justice.

Isaiah 61:8

Psalm 37:28

Psalm 89:14

Proverbs 20:10

Proverbs 20:23

There are lawyers out there that work for justice and righteousness and fight for freedom and equality. Sometimes going to court is how justice is delivered. Okay. God bless those who work for those things. That's not what I'm talking about.

What I'm pointing out is this interesting culture that we've built around conflict. Because the underlying message behind so many of those billboards and commercials like the ones from from Logan the Legal Wolverine isn't "Let's fix this." "Let's make this right." The underlying message is "MAKE THEM PAY!" "They've got insurance. They've got assets! We'll make them regret the day they got their drivers license."

Folks, I don't know if you've noticed, but that very un-Christlike attitude has not remained exclusively on legal billboards. It has seeped into every part of our culture. Somebody hurts someone and their first instinct far too often is "how do I hurt them back?" "How do I win?" "How do I expose them?" "How do I embarrass them?" "How do I not only get even, but how do I squash them like a bug?"

There's a great movie from the 80's. Brian DePalma's "The Untouchables." It's about Elliot Ness going after Al Capone. Great mobster movie. Great suspense thriller. And Sean Connery is in it. He actually won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role. He plays a street-wise veteran policeman who assists Elliot Ness and at one point he lays out a very harsh strategy for dealing with mobsters. He tells Ness, "They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way!"

Okay. That may be the tough reality of what it takes to squash mobsters and violent criminals. But most of us aren't squashing organized crime. We're just trying to squash beef with our neighbor down the street. You know, the one Jesus told us to love?

Love your neighbor as yourself.Matthew 22:39

Most of us aren't trying to rid the streets of dangerous criminals… we're trying to rid ourselves of conflict with a brother or sister in Christ. You know, like the ones we read about in 1 John 4:20 where scripture says,

If someone says, "I love God," but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?1 John 4:20

Jesus tells us to settle our differences quickly.

Settle your differences quickly.Matthew 5:25

Jesus says Seek conflict resolution. As swiftly and as painlessly as possible.

But our culture that encourages conflict escalation says, "Have you considered escalating this into a six-part Netflix documentary?"

(Minor Grievance - Title Card) (Josh putting on microphone for Netflix doc.)

Those are very different instincts. Very different approaches. But I'll tell you, if everybody who claimed to be Christians followed Jesus advice to settle our differences quickly, we'd be looking at a lot less lawyers on the side of the freeway and a lot more Coke bears.

Jesus said

When you are on the way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise your accuser may hand you over to the judge who will hand you over to an officer, and you will be thrown in prison. And if that happens, you surely won't be free again until you have paid the last penny.Matthew 5:25-26

And He's being very practical when He's sharing this illustration of kind of a worst-case scenario. The difference between conflict resolution versus conflict escalation. Jesus is detailing how costly conflict escalation can be. And how rapidly it can gather momentum. Like a snowball rolling down the hill.

Think about that for a second. The snowball starts at the top of a hill. It's small enough to hold in your hand. You get pelted with it, it might get your attention but it's not gonna do much damage. But start pushing it down the hill, it starts rolling, gathering momentum, and it gets bigger and bigger and starts picking things up along the way, more snow, sticks, rocks, an unfortunate squirrel in the wrong place at the wrong time…

Conflict does the same thing in a different way. And like a snowball rolling down the hill, momentum is not the only thing that conflicts gather if they're not halted quickly. They gather assumptions. They gather resentment. They gather other people. They gather screenshots. They gather lawyers. They gather church boards. They gather angry cousins.

Never underestimate the angry cousin. They don't even really know what happened. They weren't there. They don't even fully understand the conflict but they hear that that their cuz has beef with someone and they're like "I never trusted Sasha." "You don't even KNOW Sasha!" "I don't need to!"

And then before you know it you've got a conflict level you're trying to lower and bail money you're trying to raise.

You laugh but I've seen it happen - not the angry cousin thing.. okay, actually, yes the angry cousin thing… but I mean the whole thing - the whole conflict escalation thing. The snowball effect. I've felt its effects firsthand.

You know at the beginning it was "Josh said something I didn't like." Then if it goes unresolved it becomes "Josh insulted my beliefs." Then it's "Josh was insulting me." Then somebody else hears that and says, "You know, Josh did something similar to me in 2017." Are you serious? We're subpoenaing 2017? We're calling 2017 to the witness stand? There's no statute of limitations on people being offended. But see, now a single incident has become a pattern. And then, "I heard somebody else say…"Now we've got hearsay involved. And then other people chime in - "I've always had misgivings about him." And now the pattern becomes a judgment of character. And then somebody says - "Do you know who he won tickets to on the radio in 2004?!" And now the character judgment and the 'evidence' becomes an identity whether it's accurate or not. And then it just keeps going until it's "Josh is a heretic." Then it's "Josh is a pawn of Satan." Then it's Josh is the SPAWN of Satan." And lemme tell you, if I have one more well-meaning exorcist show up to my house while I'm watching Saturday morning cartoons, I'm gonna start answering the door naked. I'll show 'em what conflict escalation really looks like.

And it all started with a tiny little snowball. Deal with it all starts going downhill fast. Deal with the conflict while it still resembles the thing that actually happened. Have the awkward ten minute conversation today, so you don't have to bear the cost of a devastating ten year conflict later.

Cause conflict escalation gets expensive relationally, it gets expensive communally. But it can also get expensive financially. Ask any divorce lawyer out there. When Jesus says,

When you are on your way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise, your accuser may hand you over to the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, and you will be thrown in prison. And if that happens, you surely won't be free again until you have paid the last penny.Matthew 5:25-26

essentially I think if you applied that to modern times and modern ideas, He's saying "don't turn every disagreement into a war. Don't spend $40,000 dollars fighting over something that could've been resolved with $400 dollars and a little honesty and humility. Don't burn down a family because nobody would say, "I was wrong." Don't destroy a church because everybody was protecting their ego. Don't let pride escalate the conflict and make it more costly than it has to be.

You know, ironically, lawyers and some financial institutions can profit from unresolved conflict. But there's another institution that does not. The church. There is a spiritual cost and it's a heavy one when it comes to unresolved conflict and conflicts that escalate. And I'm not even talking about individuals having differences in the church, I'm talking about conflict at an institutional level.

Folks- the church AT LARGE is an institution where conflicts has escalated… time and time again. The whole of church history is ugly. In a lot of ways. Throughout a lot of times. There are so many times that large portions of the church world have gotten it wrong and refused to reflect

REFLECTION

On our attitudes or our positions or the state of our hearts. Instead we rejected the idea that we could even be wrong.

Where instead of settling conflict with others, we escalated it until our hearts weren't filled with

REPENTANCE

Instead they were filled with resentment.

We didn't

RENDEZVOUS

With those who we hurt - Instead we gate-kept and we repelled those who we hurt with our attitudes, we refused to let them be a part of our community or at the very least we severely restricted their participation in it.

And without a desire to take

RESPONSIBILITY

Those conflicts hurt untold amounts of people across several generations. And the longer those conflicts went on, the longer they weren't settled, that harder those relationships have been to

REPAIR

The harder it's been to

REBUILD TRUST with those who we have harmed.

Maybe we need a

REMINDER

Of just a few of instances of institutional harm that the church has been a part of over the years.

This is where it might get a little uncomfortable.

What happens when Black Americans point toward large parts of the church's participation as an institution in the practices of slavery and segregation?

What happens when Indigenous communities talk about atrocities and genocides committed in the name of Christian mission and the doctrine of discovery. Where Christians believed they had the divine right to do such things and that bloodshed was fine and necessary if the locals refused "God's plan according to papal decree?"

What happens when the LGBTQ+ community says the church hurt us through systemic exclusion, by promoting programs that induced psychological trauma, by lobbying against equality and civil protections and by fostering rejection of individuals who God loves through our preaching, polemics or policies?

What happens when survivors of church abuse - a problem that has affected SO MANY PEOPLE - what happens when survivors of church abuse say - the institution protected itself instead of protecting us or seeking justice?

For so many of us, our first instinct might be to get defensive and blurt out - "Well I didn't do that."And maybe that's true. Maybe you didn't. But it is possible to inherit something without creating it. If you can inherit a house you did not build and money you did not earn, then you can inherit traditions you did not start and an institution with a reputation you did not create. You can inherit a system. You can inherit an institutions prior role in history. And it is possible to inherit damage. And suspicion. And distrust. And broken relationships with large swathes of our community.

And when we do -= the question that we should ask ourselves isn't 'did I personally cause this? And make it all about us. It shouldn't be 'how do we protect the image of the institution?' We all love protecting our images too much. We're not a brand. We're a church for God's sake. Literally. At least we're supposed to be. The question that we need to ask ourselves is

What

RESPONSIBILITY

Do we have now

To

REPAIR

What was handed down to us?

"What responsibility do we have NOW to repair what was handed down to us?"

In case you hadn't realized it yet, this is our

REMINDER

And our impetus to do something about it.

In the Old Testament, in books like Daniel and Nehemiah and Ezra and Joel we're given examples of whole religious communities confessing and desiring reconciliation with God and between man. We see where the whole community gathers and says "We were wrong. We have sinned. We have failed. We have acted wickedly. We have not acted in the way God would want us to." And that's interesting because sometimes the people leading the confession weren't personally responsible AT ALL for what the community as a whole was confessing to. But

REPENTANCE

repentance was still on their lips. So what do we do? Where do we go from here? As individuals? As a church? As representatives whether we like it or not of a larger institution? We

REMEMBER

What Jesus told us to do in the first place. Remember where this teaching began.

If you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.Matthew 5:23-24

There's a religious ritual that's about to happen. Even a sacred ritual in that time period and community. And Jesus says - in essence -

The person is more important than the ritual.

You've got a gift or a sacrifice to present at the altar? Leave it. Leave the gift. Leave the sacrifice. And go be reconciled

RECONCILE

To that person.

And if part of the ritual or the institution is preventing you from taking care of that person… leave it. If optics are preventing you from taking care of that person, if reputation is preventing you from taking care of those people, if pride is preventing you from taking care of that group, if politics are prohibiting you from settling your differences, if tradition is causing you to trade away the chance to show the love of Jesus to an individual or a group that He created and loves, then for the love of God and in the name of Christ - leave it all at the altar with your gift and go and be reconciled like Jesus asks you to do.

The church exists for people. People do not exist for the church.

Individuals before Institution… Always.

And when we genuinely listen and take responsibility and reconcile, then we as an institution and as individuals need to do what John the Baptist says in Matthew 3:8 -

So produce fruit that is consistent with repentance [demonstrating new behavior that PROVES a change of heart, and a conscious decision to turn away from sin]Matthew 3:8 (AMP)

When we talk about producing fruit, we're often talking about producing the fruits of the Holy Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. And these are the natural outpourings of a changed heart and a changed life when Jesus is the one we're walking with and living for. They are evidence of His Holy Spirit working in our hearts.

Until next time, may we be a people who don't let conflict grow, instead, we let the love of Jesus have the last word. God bless you! Have a great week!

Today's entry into our Fifty Things list comes from Matthew 5:23-26. This is part of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. He is addressing the crowd and He says -

So if you're presenting a sacrifice on the altar in the temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God. When you are on the way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise your accuser may hand you over to the judge who will hand you over to an officer, and you will be thrown in prison. And if that happens, you surely won't be free again until you have paid the last penny.Matthew 5:23-26

So in this passage, it's kind of broken up into two separate, but related directions and pieces of advice. This passage has both spiritual and practical applications and benefits in our lives. And ultimately, we can boil down the idea behind this passage down to one word.

So #41 on our list is

#41 - RECONCILE

Now depending on what you're dealing with, who you're thinking about, what situation comes to mind when you hear 'Reconcile' or 'Be Reconciled' - it could sound lovely, it could sound irritating or it could sound difficult or even impossible. And this is one of those situations where we tend to weigh what happened to us and what we did to others completely differently in our mind. I don't even think that's necessarily an indicator of sin or evil intentions, I just think that's the way our brains work sometimes as a matter of psychological self-preservation or just because we tend to focus on OUR feelings first, OUR wounds first, OUR needs first - and maybe we don't have the same strong feelings about what we've done to other people.

When somebody hurts us, we expect them or at least we want the other party to fix it. Come to me and fix it. Make with the apology. Make it up to me. Grovel if necessary. But when it comes to when we've hurt other people… we often sing a different tune. We often have a different dialogue that plays in our head - sometimes it's something like - "it's not that big a deal, they can get over it. Let it go already." Or maybe it's "hey, if they've truly got a problem, they know where to find me. They've got my number. They know where I live. I'm not hiding." "They know where I sit at church each week - if it's that big a deal, come and talk to me."

Now, I mean, this seems like a clear case of 'Do Unto Others' as you would have them do unto you - but we rarely see ourselves as the villain in our own stories. And we rarely put what we did to other people on the same emotional level as what others have done to us. Because we feel it differently. We're on a different end of the equation of pain in these situations. You know, maybe, we know we hurt someone, but we didn't even mean to - or we didn't mean to hurt them as bad as we did. Or maybe we realize way later… like the example that Jesus gives in this passage. You're coming to worship - you're bringing a sacrifice, or in modern day equivalency - maybe a gift or a tithe to hopefully do good in the name of God… and suddenly, I don't know, maybe the pastor says something… maybe there's a line in one of the worship songs that triggers a thought in your head and a realization… or maybe the Holy Spirit just catches you at a tender, open moment and puts on your heart the realization that you hurt somebody… or somebody has "beef" with you. And what makes this particular instruction from Jesus more difficult or challenging for some of us is that Jesus says when we remember that somebody's got beef with us - he puts the responsibility for reconciliation on US. Being a follower of Jesus means not waiting for the wounded party that you hurt to do the emotional labor and come to us. We go to them.

If you're presenting a sacrifice on the altar at the temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person.Matthew 5:23-24

And that's our first takeaway today -

THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR RECONCILIATION IS ON US

When we've hurt someone… we need to go to them. Jesus does not allow us the excuse, the convenience, the escape route of 'I'll wait for the other person to make the first move.' The verse doesn't say - 'If you're presenting a sacrifice and someone CONFRONTS YOU.' The verse says - "if we remember that somebody has something against us." I think it would be safe to add-in "If we realize that somebody has something against us." I mean think about this scenario - nobody has confronted you recently. Nobody comes looking for you. Nobody called you out. Nobody sent you a nasty-gram or tagged you on social media. You just 'remembered.' The thought popped into your head. And I think another takeaway from this - is that Jesus wants His followers to develop what I'll call "Moral Self-Awareness."

JESUS WANTS US TO BE MORALLY SELF-AWARE

Enough to the point that we think about our actions and our words and even our timing - enough to ask ourselves - "Did I hurt somebody? Intentionally or accidentally?" "Was I unfair? Was I dismissive? Did I make a joke that landed differently than I wanted it to?" "Was I just not a good example on a particular day - even to my kids who may have missed it?" I believe that Jesus wants us to be more aware of our actions and words than we sometimes are. I think He might want us to reflect and consider even our demeanor or attitude towards people sometimes. To think about if we messed up and need to reconcile with someone - even over something small.

Some of us - we are really good at this. Almost too good. Some of you were raised Catholic - you carry that catholic guilt around with you about everything and everyone… I'm kidding.. kind of… some of you are thinking about going to confession just because you had a fraction of a second where you admitted that some of that guilt was unhealthy. Here's a news flash - that guilt doesn't have to be systemic to just one denomination or belief system. I'll see your Catholic guilt and raise you a pile of Baptist shame. Some of us are already worrying' about this kind of stuff. Maybe unhealthily so. And this example that Jesus gives to us - I think it can set us free a little if we're dealing with that. We can reconcile and be reconciled to the fact that things are okay even if they're not resolved. We'll talk more about that in a bit.

My wife and I have ADHD. And that can come with a special kind of anxiety sometimes called RSD- Rejection Sensitivity Disorder. That means that we are often hyper-aware when "the vibes are off" even just a little. And that can cause us to spiral or catastrophic in our own minds a little, making us ask ourselves questions like 'what is something I said?' 'Was it something I did?' 'Are they mad at me?' - I just want to clarify that that is not what Jesus wants from us or requires from us. I don't think He wants us being big balls of anxiety or stress or guilt or shame. We can be morally self-aware without picking up on every micro-expression on somebody's face on a random Tuesday afternoon and allowing our anxious brains to write a story about how it's somehow our fault.' We can have reassurance and confidence in Jesus when we are walking with Him. We're called to be morally self-aware not anxiously hyper-vigilant. Some of you don't even have ADHD or RSD but you can relate because maybe you grew up in a household or worked in an environment where you had to walk on eggshells all the time and your safety or emotional well-being depended on the mood of someone else. Again - that's a fear response that's driving your hyper-vigilance. That's not being morally self-aware. That's a trauma response. Okay. I just want to make that clear. To be morally self-aware does not mean to go around worrying that everybody else's stern-face or weird energy is your fault. It's probably not. I recommend prayer and therapy. And I'm deadly serious about both of those things. Look at the wording here in the passage - "You suddenly remember that someone has something against you." That seems pretty specific. You REMEMBER… there is a clear situation that you REMEMBER that HAS DEFINITELY HAPPENED… where SOMEONE -a SPECIFIC SOMEONE… has SOMETHING - a SPECIFIC SOMETHING… AGAINST YOU… not against the world or a bad day 0 but YOU IN PARTICULAR. Dealing with constant low-level anxiety and the need to people please and 'fix' a situation that is not your fault and that doesn't require your 'fixing' to begin with is not the same as being 'morally self-aware.' Capeesh?

Now- all of that said - I hope this doesn't come off like I'm giving mixed messages here - because I still think it's okay to examine our own SPECIFIC actions and words and attitudes and review them and come to the conclusion - "Hey. You know - that person didn't say anything to me - but I'm pretty sure I said something hurtful. It might not be a big deal. - but I'm gonna go and apologize to them and make it right and own my poor choice.' That is being morally self-aware. And being morally self-aware helps us to reconcile.

So let's talk about how we reconcile. The first step is to

REMEMBER

Sometimes you remember because God put it on your heart. Sometimes you remember because It's a natural extension of being morally self-aware. Sometimes you're going to remember you hurt someone through personal

REFLECTION

And I'm gonna give you a third possibility here. There are certain situations where somebody else gives you a

REMINDER

You may have forgotten what you did completely. But somebody else hasn't. And it may be brought up as a reminder. More on that later.

When that happens - you need to feel genuine

REPENTANCE

You're probably not going to have a successful reconciliation if you're not genuinely sorry about what you did. If you still think what you did was funny or deserved or you're justifying it to yourself someway - your reconciliation isn't gonna get very far. Because the next step is to

RENDEZVOUS

With the person you hurt

In Matthew 5:24, Jesus said

GO and be reconciled to that person.Matthew 5:24

And if you go to meetup with them without having repentance in your heart - humility in your heart - a genuine desire to patch things up - this is not gonna go well.

Can you imagine? You're sitting in church - suddenly you're reminded that someone has something against you. So you set down your offering envelope, and you go seek that person out and your attitude, your open is - (New York accent) "Hey! You got beef with me?" I said, "Do you have a problem with me?" "There's nobody else here - do you have a problem with me?" No "I don't have a problem with you, check my pockets, I don't have a problem with you - do you have a problem with me?"

That's not gonna go well. Because you don't have true repentance in your heart. You're4 just going because scripture tells you to go. You've still gotta go with the right attitude and the right motivation. If you're coming in hanging onto resentment - or trying to make the hurt that you've caused someone else - intentionally or unintentionally the other person's problem and not yours - you are not reconciling. You're just role-playing as a follower of Christ and following the letter of scripture but not the spirit behind it.

No, you're gonna have to come with a spirit of repentance. And when you do meet that person and say something like - "Hey. I think I hurt you by doing x, y or z. I want to apologize sincerely, and I want to make things right. I want to give you the opportunity to tell me how I made you feel and how I can make it up to you and just give you the chance to say anything that needs to be said and I will LISTEN.

If we're going to reconcile, we need to take

RESPONSIBILITY

Owning our actions is taking responsibility. Being open to listening is taking responsibility. And by the way - our natural reactions sometimes when people being detailing how we hurt them and how it made them feel - is to minimize or diminish the other person's feelings. To downplay our intentions or the impact of what we said or did. Because most people don't like hurting other people. And to be confronted with the pain we caused someone - it's not a good feeling. Sometimes we want to push back, or even say - well you see, the reason I did this was because you did 'that' and try and justify our own behavior. That's not taking responsibility, That's not taking ownership for what we did. That's deflection and minimizing and even a form of emotional invalidation. That's not reconciling. That's making excuses. Before you go about defending your intention, listen to their experience. Intent matters - for sure. But so does impact.

No. If we want to reconcile, we need to take responsibility but our job does not end there. Once we take responsibility and own our stuff and apologize, we need to

REPAIR

The relationship. And that doesn't happen overnight. It happens little by little. And it happens by

REBUILDING TRUST

Listen, you can do all the right things. Truly. You can knock yourself out and even go overboard trying to be different than you were before. And it may take a while for that person to warm back up to you and trust you again. Things may still be awkward. For a while. Depending on the severity of the trust that was broken to begin with or the pain that was caused to begin with - it can take a long while for that person to see - "hey, they're serious about repairing this relationship. They're genuinely repentant and sorry for what they've done. They're committed to making things right moving forward." Now - some things - they may be small - you may remember some small little thing, you still bring it before the other person to reconcile because it's the right thing to do and it's what Jesus asks us to do - and the other person may say, 'no big deal.' Thanks for saying 'sorry.' Lose no sleep over this. But some wounds take more time to heal. Some relationships take longer to repair. Cause at the end of the day - that's what we're after.

RECONCILING IS HEALING

That's the objective. To bring healing to the other person. To heal our relationships. To stop the bleeding. To prevent things like this from happening again. And it is possible to fully reconcile in some cases and be better than you ever were before.

I'll share a story of my own reconciliation with someone. When I was a much younger youth pastor, there was an individual in our youth group who I loved very much - cared about very much - wanted the best for - and they fell in with another individual who was a bad influence. Who had a reputation for taking advantage of women. Who was an excellent and charismatic liar. Who knew how to fly under the radar and get what he wanted while remaining in the good graces of leadership. And we didn't even know all of this at first, we found a lot of this stuff out through his interaction with this young lady. Well, I felt like I had invested a lot of effort and emotion and love into this person, my wife too - lot of time, we had a relationship over multiple years… and this young lady got involved with this troublesome guy and left. We became the enemies kind of, the youth group became the problem and a symbol for all that was wrong with the world to both of them - and it hurt. It hurt really bad. I was angry. I was sad. I was frustrated. And I have a mouth. And sometimes the way I deal with pain is through humor. And I was around a small group of other people… two or three at most and somebody brought up this relationship and the young lady's absence from our youth group. And I made a really inappropriate comment about their toxic relationship at her expense. Not cool. But I am human and a sinner just like everyone else. I made a mistake. But I didn't think much of it. Said it, got the laughs, got my pain out, moved on…

And then one day I got a

REMINDER

Of what I had said. Not because I remembered, or because I had spent time in reflection and had become more morally self-aware of things I did in the past. I got a reminder because this person showed up YEARS later on a night we were hosting the Young Adults Group. They weren't there for that, they were actually looking for something else entirely - but she was spotted by people who used to know her, and then I came up - and I'm not gonna lie. It was awkward. I was happy to see her. Truly. But I also was suspicious because of the way we left things. I didn't know if the other guy was still in the picture. But it wasn't just awkward from my end - you could tell there was some genuine hesitation and suspicion and side eye being thrown my way as well. But we talked, the night went on a little longer, she came into Young Adults Group, and it went really well. There was genuine love being shown there, we were starting to relax and let our guards down. So after Young Adults, I'm locking up and she sticks around with a couple more people from the group and we're all talking out back again. And, again, it's going well - and out of nowhere she hit me with, "Hey. Did you say… and again, it was beyond the pale, I'm not going to repeat it" to this person that knew me?"

I had not thought about saying that in years. I did not think about it after I said it. But people talked. And it got back to her. So now I had a

REMINDER

That I hurt someone. Now I know. There's other group members there too. This doesn't make me look particularly good as a youth and young adults pastor or a human being. I can tell you that the second I was reminded about that, I felt really bad about it. I wished that I could go back in time and take it back - never say it. I didn't say it with the intention of hurting her, but it didn't matter - it had definitely hurt her. And I was truly sorry about it. I was genuinely repentant about it.

REPENTANCE

Well, the rendezvous was already happening.

RENDEZVOUS

Here we were. I was being confronted with this thing that I said that this person had against me and rightfully so. And ironically, since I had said what I said in front of a couple of people, I was being reminded of what I said in front of a couple of people. Now I had a choice. I could say, "let's not talk about that here. Let's schedule time to talk it over over coffee." I could've said, "I'm not sure that's exactly the way it went down. Are you sure that's what I said? It's been a while." I mean, I could've out and out denied it in an attempt to protect my own reputation and act like I was more of a saint than I was. But I took responsibility.

RESPONSIBILITY

Right there. Right then. I'm not gonna lie. When she confronted me with it - it was like I got slapped. I literally paused for what felt like an eternity - probably less than ten seconds - I just so wasn't expecting it. But I said- disgusted with myself. "Yeah. I did. And I'm sorry. It was wrong. It was wrong then, it is wrong now. I was hurt and that's why I did it, but it doesn't make it right. I should've been better. Please forgive me.

I caused harm. And now I was seeking to

RECONCILE

Now here's the good news. We did. This person is one of my closest friends to this day. She is family. She is an auntie to my daughter. We're Ride or Dies. But I'll be real honest with you - it took a little bit. Not as long as I thought it would, thank God - but it still took several more meetings of kind of feeling each other out, and repairing the relationship

REPAIR

And rebuilding trust

REBUILDING TRUST

And that took literally seeing how I would respond in certain situations. She was well within her rights not to just automatically go - "We're fine. Erase. Erase. Erase." It's a good reminder - that the attempt to reconcile - it's not transactional. You don't get to dictate the terms if you're the one who hurt the other person. You don't get to go - "I apologized. Now you give me forgiveness and we're good again." "I attempted to reconcile. Now you must trust me immediately and welcome me back into your life." Doesn't work that way.

Reconciliation is not a vending machine. But you know what even the attempt to reconcile can be?

RESOLUTION

When you're seeking to reconcile, you're not just seeking forgiveness, but you're seeking resolution. I hope you get it. But the sad truth is, we don't always. Reconciliation doesn't mean you both pretend like nothing happened. Reconciliation doesn't always mean that every relationship returns to exactly what it was before. Because apologies don't always erase consequences. And reconciliation requires two willing participants.

And that's where this can be a little painful. Because you can genuinely desire reconciliation, but the other person might not. Sometimes people change. Hearts harden. They become influenced by unhealthy voices in their lives. Pain changes them. Fear changes them. Power changes them. Anger changes them. Time… changes them. And you can remember old conversations, remember times where you laughed together. Remember doing ministry together. Remember hanging out and spending good times together. Sometimes you can get those things back. Sometimes your relationship matures and grows into something completely different but still good. Sometimes, as is the case for my story, with two willing participants both seeking reconciliation - it becomes better than ever. But there may be some cases in which our desire to reconcile cannot magically manufacture the other party's desire to reconcile. Which can be sad. And painful. And disappointing. Especially sometimes after you put yourself out there and own things and try to make it right.

There's a verse from Romans 12 that keeps coming back into these discussions. The apostle Paul writes -

If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all peopleRomans 12:18 (NASB)

In some cases - you've done everything you can. You've done what's asked of us by Jesus, you've done what's required. You've done the right thing. As much as it depends on you, you've attempted to reconcile. But reconciliation doesn't just depend on you. It takes two to reconcile. And sometimes the other person doesn't want to. In that case - go in peace… you have done everything you can to live in peace with the other party, gather your gift and bring it back to the altar with a clean conscience. And at that point, you can have peace in your heart and it's time to release the outcome and breathe and move on with your life and move on in your walk with Jesus.

So if you're presenting a sacrifice on the altar in the temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.Matthew 5:23-24

You went to be reconciled. The other person didn't want to reconcile. But you still did what Jesus asked you to do and even though you didn't achieve reconciliation, you achieved a peaceful resolution.

RESOLUTION

Thank you for letting me share with you today. Next week we'll talk about conflict resolution versus conflict escalation, and we'll talk about what it means to reconcile not just as individuals but as an institution. I hope you'll join us for "Got Beef part II." Until next time, may you have the courage to make peace where you can, the grace to own what's ours, and the wisdom to realize that reconciliation takes two, but it works best when the Holy Spriit is in the mix too. God bless you, have a great week!

I hope today finds you in good spirits and good company. Who's doing good this morning? Great, great. I agree, it's a good day. And who here is among good company? Awesome, I think I am too.

Speaking of Good Company. Let's talk a little about what good company is. When I hear the word "company" I instantly think of a comedy sketch by Sebastian Maniscalco. This sketch is now 14 years old, which is pretty ironic, because it reflects on a time 20 years prior to that. So if you've done the math, that's 34 years ago. Anyway, if you're unfamiliar with it, he talks about how we react differently now when the door bell rings than we used to 20 - I mean 34 - years ago. In actuality, it's more like 40 years ago. Or more. So, let's picture it - the doorbell rings, Dad sits up, pauses Cheers or Night Court (or Mom pauses the newest Dynasty) - WAIT wait, scratch that - no one can PAUSE tv back then! That wasn't even a thing yet! So mom or dad turned the TV down, and they eagerly approach the door to see who it is. Kids are sliding in their socks across avocado green linoleum to see who can get there first. The door is flung open without a care, they see unexpected neighbors, or coworkers, or a school family, maybe cousins - it doesn't even matter who it is! Hugs are shared, mom pulls out the Entemems that's saved just for "company." Dad puts on the percolator for some fresh coffee. They pat the couch and welcome their guests. It's a spontaneous occasion and it's met with joy!

Today? Today, not so much. In the sketch, Sebastian tells a hilarious tale of modern families dodging under the table, pulling a sword from under the couch while the kids army crawl out of the living room to safety when the doorbell rings. And he's not to far off.

Let's be real. Here's what happens now:

"You expecting Amazon?"
"I'm not expecting anything."
"Well who is it then?"
"How am I supposed to know!"

Meanwhile, the dog is barking and charging the door, the cat has run for this hills. The kids looks up from their toys with anxiety written all over their faces. We reach for our phone to check our ring camera. And if you don't have one of those, we look though the little peep hole in the door. Is someone still out front? We release the door lock ,and the deadbolt, and the chain lock, and barely stick our face out the door. Our knee is blocking our barking dog from body slamming whoever is out there. Our kids have left the living room and now peer around the corner. Whichever spouse didn't open the door is poised and ready to be backup if needed against the unwanted sales person, or signature gatherer, or to inspect whatever package was just deposited onto our doorstep.

It is NOT a joyous occasion when the door bell rings unexpectedly. It's met with alarm. Suspicion. And our guard goes up.

Sometimes, these reactions aren't limited to our household, but they extend to our church household as well.

So let's talked about belonging in the church world, how we handle unexpected visitors, and how WE can be "good company."

So, once again, welcome! Pull up a chair, and let's get into it.

If you have your Bible or your favorite Bible app handy, go to Luke chapter 14, starting at verse 16. This is the Parable of the Great Banquet, a story told by Jesus to a religious leader and his guests during a Sabbath meal.

Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests.
At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'
"But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.'
"Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'
"Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'
"The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'
"'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'
"Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.
I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.'"Luke 14:16-24

Hold on to this story. We will be returning to it.

Let's talk a little about church, and how we all came to it.

Show of hands if you were raised in the church. Either from infancy or a young age - you didn't have much say in it.

How about youth group? Someone invited you while you were in middle or high school?

How 'bout college?

Anyone here marry into church life?

How about you found yourself at a crossroads in life and decided to investigate Christianity.

However we arrived here, at some point we made the choice to STAY.

If we're being honest, at the end of the day, there are a lot churches to choose from. Look outside our doors and you can easily see 2 more you could walk to. Josh even did a whole video message on this back in 2020. Churches all within a stones throw of each other. So why are you HERE?

Hopefully - and almost certainly initially - the reason is that you felt the love of God expressed through the people around you. Friendly faces, warm smiles, invitations and welcomes. It's like the family we never knew we had or needed. And we settle in.

But after a while something happens. The newness fades. Routine settles in. We know who to expect, which seats being to whom, perhaps which seat is OURS. When to lift our hands, went say amen. When to nod. And all of a sudden we are comfortable. We know the routine, we understand the patterns, we know what to expect. New people come, some stay. We sometimes don't even notice the ones who usually seem a lot like us. What was their name? But we certainly notice when someone DIFFERENT turns up…

In 2013, Dr. Andrew Whitten and Dr. Erica van de Waal conducted a field experiment on a group of wild vervet monkeys in South Africa. The researchers paced two boxes of corn out for the monkeys. One box contained dyed pink corn, and the other contained corn dyed blue. For two of the monkey groups, the scientists soaked the blue corn in a highly bitter solution made form aloe leaves to make it taste terrible. For two other groups, they did the opposite, soaking the pink corn in the bitter solution.

After four to six months, the researchers laid out both colors of corn again. But this time, neither box was treated with aloe, meaning both options tasted perfectly fine.

The researches watched as newborn infant monkeys who had never seen the colored corn before exclusively copied their mother's color choice, never tasting the other options. "Okay, sure." You may say. "That's what babies do. They learn from their moms. Nothing new." Oh don't be so fast..

The key breakthrough came when adult males naturally migrated into new groups during the mating season. Males who left a "pink-eating" group and entered a "blue-eating" group voluntarily abandoned their personal preference to eat the color the LOCAL monkeys were eating.

The researchers concluded that this switch was purely driven by social conformity - a desire to copy the majority.

And an unspoken desire in some churches and among some church folk.

A common theme you may hear across Christiandom - online pastors - social media - Christian radio - televangelists - you name it - is the need for UNITY. But somehow, their version of unity always looks like everyone thinking exactly like them. Let's be honest - that's not unity, that's UNIFORMITY. Or, in other words, CONFORMITY. That's all of us eating the blue corn because the monkeys around us eat the blue corn.

Somehow, along the way, the casual chatter after a church service on Sunday morning can look more like an HOA meeting of a gated community and less like a diverse body of believers coming together to worship. "Sally's lawn needs trimming. Who is going to notify her?" "Doug's Christmas lights are still up and it's 3 days past the allowed time frame. He needs to be told to get those down immediately." "Betty has some crazy pink flamingo on her lawn! We can't have that" "Bruce's trash cans sat out an extra day, can someone please remind him to take them in earlier?" "The Johnson's just painted their front door! And it isn't an approved color" I don't need to spell out the parallels. You already know them… (Anyone remember the story Josh has told about volunteering to serve communion at his former church, but he was denied because he was wearing an Aloha shirt and not a sports coat?)

Church, it's all too easy to lose the plot and twist Unity in Christ into Uniformity in Church.

To summarize some thoughts by Reverend Joseph Yoo of Mosaic Episcopal Church:

Unity is rooted in love. Conformity is rooted in control. Unity can can make space for differences, conformity makes sure differences disappear. Unity says lets go on a journey together, conformity says fall in line. Unity is curious, conformity is defensive. And catch this - Unity says WE DON'T HAVE TO AGREE to BELONG, but conformity says if you DON'T agree, you don't belong. Unity embraces questions, conformity enforces answers.

Unity in Christ should look like a picture of the Kingdom of God. A spiritual bond that connects all believers in Jesus. People from different races, backgrounds, cultures, statuses, classes, and lifestyles all becoming one family, rooted in a shared faith that the goodness of God has overcome evil through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's it!

Let's get back to The Parable of the Great Banquet in the Gospel of Luke.

So what happens here? An important man is throwing a great banquet. It's a party, and he's spread the word. He does't have Partiful or Evite, so when it's it's time to feast, he has his servants go out and remind everyone who's been invited. And suddenly they are full of excuses. "I, uh, purchased some fields, gotta go check 'em out. Now." "I bought a team of oxen and need to put them through the paces." And the oldest line in the book: "Sorry, I just got married." (What? His wife doesn't want to eat???)

The man is of course beyond annoyed to hear this and tells his servants to go out to the streets and into the countryside and bring in an unexpected crowd. The Message translation says it this way: "bring all the misfits and homeless and down-and-out."

After filling the house, the host declares that none of the original guests will get even a single bite.

Jesus tells this story to flip the script on the religious leaders and paint an accurate picture of the kingdom of heaven. One they certainly didn't expect to hear. If we connect the dots to the Lords prayer, you'll be familiar that Jesus tells us to pray "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Shortly after in Matthew 6:33, Jesus tells his disciples to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness…"

So what are we to do? It sounds to me that we are to seek to bring the Kingdom of God here to earth. Now. While we are living! And if the banquet feast is our model, it sounds to me like we should throw open the doors to the people who don't look like they belong in church, and tell them to pull up a chair.

As Rachel Held Evans said in her book Searching for Sunday (which I highly, HIGHLY recommend), "This is what God's kingdom is like: a bunch of outcasts and oddballs gathered at a table, not because they are rich or worthy or good, but because they are hungry, because they said yes. And there's always room for more."

Which brings me to my final point: What does it mean to belong to a church?

Most evangelical churches follow this model: Believe, Behave, then Belong.

See this super long statement of faith? (Clip of josh as sheriff with the statement of faith) Do you agree to it? All of it? No questions? Okay. Next, you better figure out how to fit in. You may have to let go of something about yourself, some of your essence, to do so, but we are The Blessed Holy Bread of Life Neighborhood Community Church of God in Christ, and if you wanna be a part of our church, you gotta walk the walk and talk the talk. And voila, a cookie cutter evangelical Christian is born. He's got all the right answers. She's got all the right clothes. They think the right thoughts about all the right things. They blend in beautifully.

And I think this is an area where our mainline brothers and sisters (that would be the Lutherans, Methodists, Episcopalians, etc) often do a better job.

Instead of belonging being the LAST step, they often make it the FIRST. Belong! Join us! Be a part of our community! You don't have to have it all figured out. Come along on a journey with us. Catch along, you'll get it. You are welcome to join NOW, just as you are. Instead of metrics like how many people prayed the sinners prayer measuring their success, they look at how their outreach programs are doing. How many meals they served, or who showed up that they didn't expect.

That banquet table? Those people didn't look like they belonged. They didn't fit in. They didn't rub shoulders with the right people. They didn't know all the Sunday school answers. Heck, they may not even know what Sunday School was. They were welcomed just as they were and given the feast. No strings attached. Because that's what Love does. Again and again, Jesus reminds us that faith is not an end in as of itself, it is meant to make us more compassionate, more merciful, more capable of loving God and loving people. Because people were never created for the church, the church was created to serve the people.

I'm not gonna mince words. Our church has seen a lot of upheaval the last few years. People have left. People I have LOVED have left. It stings every time. And, I hope I'm not being presumptuous, but from many accounts, it boils down to this: our church is starting to look a lot less homogenous. Apparently, "all the good people have left." But to that I would say there are a whole lotta new, GREAT people showing up! They may not look just like you. They may even think different than you. But they are here, and they either love Jesus or are exploring what it means to walk with Jesus. And at the end of the day, THAT is what matters. Unity in Christ isn't determined by how we vote, which news station we watch, the kind of music we listen to, if we prefer sports coats on a Sunday or weird patchwork jeans, if we breastfeed or give formula, if we send our kids to Christian school or public school or no school at all and teach them at home. It should't matter if we are covered in ink or have never even used a temporary tat at a kids birthday party. We can be a FAMILY with all sorts of differences. I'm GLAD our church body is looking more and more diverse and different each and every week. It allows us to challenge one another, to spur one another on to growth and learning and healthy contemplation. And it provides us more people to LOVE.

Yes, a church needs people in seats and money in the plate to survive. And it's easier for that to happen when we keep Grandma Sally or whoever's been here 25, or 35, or 55 years happy by not shaking up the status quo. But Jesus doesn't ask us how ensure the church survives, He asks us how are we ensuring the church SERVES. Those are not always the same thing. Sometimes, serving people requires us to loosen our grip on things we've grown comfortable with.

Last year our church body voted to change our statement of faith. It used to be long. Really long. It used to cover a lot of doctrine that even long time Christians hadn't really given a lot of thought too. People admitted to signing their name to things they didn't even fully understand. But after much prayer and consideration, our board of directors proposed and you all voted to make it much simpler. Our statement of faith is now simply the historical Apostle's Creed.

I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended into hell;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.

Amen.

According to our church constitution, THIS is what it takes to belong "as a member" to SeaCoast Church. Nothing else. And if this creed is something you can say Amen to, I encourage you to officially join our church. Josh usually announces new members the first Sunday of the month after communion, but he can do it any week. I've got membership documents up here for anyone interested. Just come up after service and grab one. Some are at the door too.

And, if you can't quite say "amen" to that yet, but are on a journey figuring things out, I want to say that you are still a welcome part of our family - and that you belong here. Stick around. Join a life group. Get a meal with people, after church or at Supper Club. Burn some calories at Rev Well. Fire off your questions to Josh or strike up a conversation with, well, anyone, after church.

Go now in the grace of God, knowing that you are seen, known, and welcomed.

May you be found in a place where you can belong before you believe perfectly,
be loved before you have it all together,
and be welcomed before you have all the answers.

This week, we are on part II of our discussion about Jesus' command to

#40 - FORGIVE

And some of you know firsthand, that the command to forgive can be one of the hardest commands to follow.

Now this is gonna make a lot more sense if you saw the first message, but here's a couple of ideas to keep in mind as we continue talking about forgiveness today.

First,

FORGIVENESS IS NOT PRETENDING NOTHING HAPPENED

Forgiveness is not ignoring a problem, a hurt, a wound, an attitude, an action. That is why a person needs forgiveness in the first place.

Second

FORGIVENESS IS NOT NECESSARILY RECONCILIATION

If we want to stay in relationship, then believe me

RELATIONSHIP IS FORGIVENESS

But sometimes the other party does not want to admit to what they've done, does not want to apologize or attempt to make things right, or their mere presence may be damaging to your physical, psychological, emotional or spiritual health. In which case,

FORGIVENESS STILL ALLOWS US TO SET HEALTHY AND SAFE BOUNDARIES

Because

FORGIVENESS HAPPENS IN OUR HEARTS AND SOULS

Alright - so a lot of information on what forgiveness isn't. We needed to clear up confusion because we established what forgiveness actually is. That's what I left you with last week - What is forgiveness? And I said that the answer was actually in one of the passages of scripture that we explored last week. Anyone got the answer for me? What is forgiveness? What passage we're talking about?

After telling Peter that he needed to forgive 70x7, he shared the parable of the unforgiving servant -

Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn't pay, so his master ordered that he be sold - along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned- to pay the debt. But the man fell down before his master and begged him, 'Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.' Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. 'Be patient with me, and I will pay it,' he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn't wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full. "When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgive and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?' Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. That's what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.Matthew 18:23-35

I think we can break the idea of what forgiveness actually is down to two words

FORGIVENESS = CANCELLED DEBT

Forgiveness is to not demand payment for a debt. Now Jesus uses an example where it is a literal financial debt that is forgiven in His parable. The servant owed millions of dollars, the king literally forgives - erases, cancels his debt. It is no longer owed. The King is holding nothing over that person anymore. A debt is not required to be paid.

Now, reconciliation - which, again, we'll talk about in a future week in more detail, reconciliation demands a settlement. Right? Anybody reconcile their checking account recently? There needs to be the correct number of ins and outs, deposits and payments to reconcile that account.

We use other terminology - we "settle up" at the end of a poker game or a group dinner when the bill arrives. Reconciliation requires a payment. Forgiveness does not. Forgiveness cancels the need for that payment or settlement, because forgiveness erases the debt.

Now, in a financial situation, someone owes you money, someone did some property damage or something, if you want to forgive that debt - it's easy at least from a logistical standpoint. You just stop requiring payment. Done deal. Debt cancelled. Debt forgiven.

But what about when people have hurt you in other ways? I mean, there's some really serious stuff out there, and I want to address this first - there is personal forgiveness - and I truly believe that Jesus advocates each of us to forgive NO MATTER WHAT, personally. You can cancel a person's individual debt to you, but that does not mean that their debt to society is cancelled That does not mean that proper justice is not carried out. You are not gonna decline to prosecute Jack the Ripper because he said he was sorry. You need to protect people, including yourself. If someone abused you, if someone is dangerous, if somebody stole your life savings, that person should pay for their crimes if for no other reason than to stop aa pattern of injustice. But you are not the judicial system. You, probably, are not the law enforcement agency charged with bringing this person to justice for their crimes. You are not the penal authority who determine how those crimes are paid for.

So what debt can you cancel for the individual? In the parable of the unforgiving servant, the unforgiving servant holds lack of payment over his fellow servant and isn't willing to let go of it. What are we not willing to let go of to forgive those who have hurt us?

I mean, each case is different and varied and nuanced. There's no way to deal with the literal hundreds of thousands of unique scenarios where someone has been hurt and forgiveness is required. But I can tell you some common things that we may need to cancel. Some things we don't need to hold over people's heads. Some things we need to let go of

First, forgiveness doesn't demand personal punishment of retribution. You can give those up. You know those situations where you're like, I won't be happy until I make them pay for this - regardless of what the system does - regardless of the effects their own behaviors have heaped upon them. Some of us hold onto what we think is a right to retribution. Forgiveness would have us give up that right.

If we're wishing for revenge or negative karma to hit somebody. True forgiveness would have us give up our desire for somebody else's pain or suffering.

Think about it - all of those things - that's compensation from the one who has harmed us - in one form or another. If forgiveness is cancelling debts, then we need to stop requiring that kind of compensation from those who have hurt us - even in our minds.

Let's go back to the Lord's prayer for a second. We're taught to pray

forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.Matthew 6:12 (NKJV)

Debts. We might not be owed money by the people who hurt us, but a lot of times we still think they owe us something. Personal justice. Justice on our terms. Maybe they owe us honor or dignity that they robbed from us, and you can't give it back to us, so we think we're owed the next best thing - the stripping of dignity or honor from those who have harmed us. Some of us just think we are OWED an apology.

And I won't disagree with you. There are things in my life that I believe I'm owed an apology for. But in the words of a group of prophetic divas from 1992, I'm "never gonna get it, never gonna get it, never gonna get it, never gonna get it, never gonna get it, never gonna get it… I'll never get."

BUT I got a choice. I can keep holding on to the NEED for these things. The idea that I DESERVE these things. Heck, I could make my whole life FOCUSED on the quest for these things… or I could apply the ELSA principle and "Let It Go."

Fascinating thing here - the Greek word that gets translated into forgiveness in these passages of scripture that we've been looking at - it is literally translated as "to let go." "To release."

See, forgiveness says "yes there was a debt, but I'm letting it go. I'm releasing you from your debt to me. And sometimes that includes whatever imagined forms of payment that we think we require from someone. We may never say those things out loud. But we think them in our heads."

Forgiveness lets those things go. Retribution, vengeance, even imagined consequences or the need fro schadenfreude - forgiveness let's those things go. And I'll tell you why. First, the principle of the thing and Christ's example - we've been using this verse a lot lately, but it bears repeating -

Never pay back evil with more evil.Romans 12:17

Here's another reason why we need to forgive - why we need to let go of what we think is owed to us by the people that hurt us - because the longer we go without getting it, guess what builds up? Resentment. Dissatisfaction. And you keep those kinds of feelings going for long enough, and you keep dwelling on what people did to you to hurt you - because, let's face it, that's what we're doing. Every time we think about that person who owes us something, we're thinking about WHY they do, and we're flashing right back to the scene of the crime. You know what starts to happen? Bitterness takes root. And that's really something that you've gotta watch out for - In Hebrews, there's instructions for believers to

Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.Hebrews 12:16

If you're bitter, it's YOU that's being poisoned. If you're carrying around that root of bitterness and it is growing because of un-forgiveness, it is not the person who hurt you who is suffering. It's the old thing of drinking the poison and expecting your enemy to get sick - it is YOU who is drinking the poison. Un-forgiveness leads to bitterness and that leads to all kinds of problems- not just spiritually speaking, not just, "hey, I'm probably carrying around a very un-Christlike spirit and probably sinning on the regular, at least in my thought life" but it's literally robbing you of your abundant life and the joy of the Lord and living in general.

And you think about this - okay - some people… they're never gonna apologize. You're never gonna get to witness the justice or the karma or the comeuppance you think they deserve. They're never gonna say they were wrong. You want to spend the next 40 years of your life acting like an emotional debt collector? That's soul0sucking and unrewarding. Some people do it. They may not be as blatant as calling you up and going, "Hello, this is your monthly reminder that you ruined Thanksgiving for the family way back in 1998. I'm still waiting for your apology and for you to take back what you said about my yam casserole." That might be a bit on the nose, but do you really want to act like a collections agent for emotional debt? Un-forgiveness and the root of bitterness hurts YOU.

Let me share this example with you - because it's pertinent I think. We'll see if you relate to it. It's been a while since I've talked about professional wrestling in here. If you're here long enough, you are bound to hear me talk about professional wrestling, pinball, or horror movies. This week it's wrestling.

On occasion, when there is a major feud, and it has continued - and it is now literally a BLOOD feud and they need a blow-off match, they need to SETTLE things once and for all - sometimes there will be a weapons match, or a hardcore match, or an exploding-barbed-wire-steel-cage death match… and they're usually not for the faint of heart. But one of the things you will see sometimes, is one of the wrestlers will take a length of barbed wire, wrap it around their arm and wrist, and then start hitting and whipping and choking and punching out the other guy with the barbed wire. And of course, that can do some damage to your opponent. But you know who else is taking damage? YOU! With every shot! With every time you lash out at your opponent, that barbed wire is digging into you and ripping off your skin and punching deeper holes in you. I've even seen some extreme cases where a wrestler wraps his body in barbed wire and then maybe hurls his body off the top rope at an opponent waiting below or on a barbed wire table… - yeah… again - wrapping yourself in barbed wire and going after your opponent may hurt them - but there's no way you're not taking massive damage yourself. I've seen wrestlers get tangled up with each other in the barbed wire, each move is literally ripping flesh or hair off of both of them, they can't move because every single breath even, the slightest turn or even wince of pain is hurting both of them - and they need to be cut out by wire cutters.

And to me, I think that's a good analogy for un-forgiveness. We're holding on to this barbed wire of bitterness or expectation of compensation and all it's doing is hurting you and ripping you up. And every time you pull it back, you're opening up old words again. And anybody close enough to get tangled up in your barbed-wire web gets hurt too. And you know how you stop it? By letting go. Let go of the barbed wire. Let go of whatever emotional or physical or psychological debts you think you're gonna collect.

You want to know why forgiveness is so important? Because it doesn't let terrible people off the hook. It doesn't let justice off the hook. It doesn't let history off the hook. But forgiving those who have harmed us… it lets us off the hook.

You want to hear the benefits of forgiveness? Scientific studies including one done by the Mayo Clinic show that forgiveness when practiced regularly, reduces stress, anxiety, anger and even cuts down on PTSD symptoms. Forgiveness lowers cortisol levels, helps you sleep better, decreases worry and sadness, improves your own self-esteem, and releasing resentment has been shown to improve your immune system function, lower your resting heart rate, lower your blood pressure, give you a better sense of self-worth and it can even correlate with lower levels of physical pain and bodily aches.

You know, there's an archetype in fiction - the one who let's the need for revenge become their whole reason for living. It's the only way they can manufacture dopamine anymore is by relishing in the pain of their enemies. There's other archetypes too - the bitter character who just spends there rest of their life making the most acerbic comments and raining on everybody else's parade because they won't let go of the bitterness. The character who is not changed by their trauma for the better, but rather, lets their trauma define them and become their permanent identity because they can't let go of what happened to them. These archetypes exist for a reason, because they have the potential to exist in all of us. And here is why they are tragic figures - because the keys to their emotional freedom and their growth and their happiness and their future… they've been handed over to someone who they can't forgive and who may never settle the debt the way they want. And in some cases that person who hurt you so long ago - they stay in charge because you can't let go.

But Jesus says "forgive them." Because Jesus doesn't want them owning your heart forever. He wants you to experience abundant life. And that requires us to forgive… to cancel debts… and to let it go.

Forgiveness stops you from being trapped and allows you to move forward. It stops you from being stuck in the past and allows you to focus on your future instead.

You know, at this point, I'm just so used to the list of positives, the things that help us, the blessings that come, the positive health and psychological benefits that coincide with following the Fifty Things that Jesus asked us to do that it doesn't even surprise me when I hear lists like this anymore. Jesus doesn't tell us to forgive just because He cares about the other person. Jesus tells us to forgive because He cares about YOU. Because it benefits you. Because it helps you heal and thrive in so many ways.

But nobody said that forgiving was easy. Sometimes it is. Most of the time it isn't. The deeper the wound, the harder it is to forgive. But here's some tips that might make forgiving easier.

The first step is to

EXPRESS THE PAIN

Specifically name what was done to you. Forgiveness isn't pretending you weren't hurt. It's not pushing down your true feelings deeper and deeper until they show up as cancer years down the road. Part of letting go is being honest with how you're feeling and expressing it. Literally say out loud - "I feel sad because." "I feel betrayed because." "I am angry because." Own what happened and own how it makes you feel. Feeling angry is not a sin. Jesus Himself expressed anger on multiple occasions. Paul acknowledges that anger is natural in Ephesians 4:26 when he writes, " Forgiveness erases debts, not feelings. Forgiveness cancels debts, not emotions. You know what erases strong feelings and emotions? Time. Time and the decision to

LET IT GO

You say - "that's it. Yes, what happened happened and it mattered. And it hurt. But I refuse to let it own me or define me. I refuse to spend the rest of my life emotionally trying to collect on a debt that's probably never going to be paid. Sometimes the choice to let it go is saying, "I can't change what you did to me, but I'm not going to let you take any more of my life from me." And in letting go we are following what we read from the Apostle Paul in verses like Ephesians 4:31

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.Ephesians 4:31

and we're also following this principle from Romans 12:19

Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God.Romans 12:19

Let it go. Release the resentment. Make a choice to let go recognizing that holding onto anger and hate is harmful to YOU.

The next step is to

SEE THEIR HUMANITY

Try to understand the offender. Note once again, understanding isn't excusing. But when we understand the brokenness behind the behavior, it stops us from doing what is so easy to do - demonizing another individual and reducing them in our mind to a caricature, a one-dimensional comic-book villain, a tool of satan or whatever or however you want to describe it. You know, I'm sure I mentioned this, but I watch a decent amount of True Crime documentaries and YouTube video essays and that sort of thing - and one of the most amazing thing that I see on regular occasion - is when the families of murder victims or something just incredible heinous says and means it or tells the murderer or criminal, and you can tell that they mean it - through gritted teeth and tears - sometimes angry tears streaming down their face - they say "I forgive you." And the only way you get to that point of saying AND MEANING "I see who you are. I see the brokenness. Nobody would've done what you did without being broken. But I also know that you are God's creation. And you are more than the worst thing you've ever done. Just as I am more than the worst thing I've ever done.." The only way I think you can get there is by praying for those who persecute us like Jesus tells us to do in Matthew 5:44

But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!Matthew 5:44

When Jesus was on the cross and He looked down on those who were crucifying Him, He said

Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing.Luke 23:34

At the end of the day, Jesus saw their humanity. Even the humanity of those who sentenced Him to die. And He was able to forgive. We will never be able t see exactly like Jesus, God's own Son, but humanizing the individual that we need to forgive, actually helps us - it helps reduce the emotional power of the hurt.

The next step after seeing their humanity, is

ADJUST THEIR ACCESS TO YOU

This is where setting boundaries comes in. In Romans 12:18, the apostle Paul says

Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.Romans 12:18

- well sometimes, doing all that we can to live in peace means setting healthy boundaries so we remain at peace. Limiting access of those who hurt us so we can remain at peace and so our nervous systems can remain at peace. Whether you go back into that relationship - that's a decision you'll have to make. But you can adjust their access to you by saying - I will pray for good things for you. I will bless you. I want good things for you. But those good things are gonna have to happen somewhere over there. They can't happen HERE because my heart can't take it. The truth is, forgiveness is not likely to occur if your emotional or physical safety is still being threatened.

So once again -

EXPRESS THE PAIN - acknowledge what they did and what you feel.

LET IT GO - choose to release what you've been carrying

SEE THEIR HUMANITY - remember that they are human

And finally

ADJUST THE ACCESS - decide what the relationship or lack thereof looks like now

Has a nice little acronym that goes with it there - ELSA

"Let it go!, Let it go! Can't hold it back anymore!"

Yeah, you like that? Well, maybe I'll do that "Scriptural lessons I learned from Disney movies" series I've been kicking around. Lemme' tell you, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" - that movie will PREACH.

Anyways - If you ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit and you utilize the ELSA principle - not only will you be on the path to forgiving, but I'm pretty sure you'll be on the path to finding meaning in the experience of what you've been through and maybe finally accepting emotional; and spiritual and physical release.

Now I can here you saying, "You know, Josh, you make it sound easy… just apply this little principle and "bing, bang, it's done." And I hope that's not how this comes across. I think these are helpful tools. But I realize that forgiveness is not forgetting. I can confidently tell you that the pain will reduce over time, but as Metallica sang - "The Memory Remains."

I'd be lying if I didn't tell you that forgiveness, even utilizing the ELSA principle, is a process. It's an ongoing process of releasing anger, releasing those feelings and the need for revenge or compensation… and it's gonna require sustained effort. The safer you feel, the more time that passes, the easier forgiveness will become. Buddy shared the story of Joseph forgiving his brothers who had tried to kill him by throwing him in a well and then decided against it and sold him into slavery - and they show up to Egypt starving and looking to buy grain, and they don't recognize Joseph who is now 2nd in command of all of Egypt. Joseph makes, what I imagine, was a hard decision to forgive his brothers - but it had been 22 years since Joseph had seen his brothers. That's a lot of time. And I imagine a lot of years that Joseph spent praying to God to help him with the feelings he might've had against his brothers. And Joseph was 2nd in command of all of Egypt. Do you think he felt safe? Yeah. I would think so. But go back and read that story - does he mess with his brothers and give them a heart attack? Put the fear of God into them by planting a silver goblet amongst his brothers' items and blaming it on the youngest, Benjamin, to see what they would do? Genesis 44

Yeah. I like the lyrics that Joseph sings in the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamboat." - "I shall now take them all for a ride… after all they have tried fratricide." Joseph forgave his brothers, but you can't convince me that he wasn't still working through some stuff.

Look, trying to forgive and having those emotions rear up again, or a reminder of the pain every so often - it doesn't mean that you're failing. It means that you're human and you went through something real. There will be a day - when you realize that the person who hurt you or lived in your head rent free, who kept you awake at nights worrying - when that person is just a distant memory. When that name doesn't make all the hairs on the back of your neck stand up anymore. It's just a name. When that person doesn't have anymore power over your heart or mind or life anymore. When you have forgiven them and let go.

But forgiveness is a process. And it requires practice. And right now if it's too fresh, you don't feel safe enough yet, you're still even trying to piece together what you feel and understand what they did - then practice on other people in your everyday life. Forgive the bad driver who cut you off in traffic. Forgive the rude cashier. Forgive the guy who always leaves the seat up. Forgive the girl who always interrupts you. Forgiveness is a practice. And the more you use it, the stronger YOU get.

Jesus' command to forgive is actually one of the most freeing commands that Jesus gave us. That's what He wants for all of us. Freedom from resentment and sin, freedom from the burdens we weigh ourselves down with, freedom from the lies that we believe that cause us to live lives without meaning. The most amazing part of the parable of the unforgiving servant is that king that takes pity and shows mercy on the servant and forgives millions of dollars worth of debt. That king represents our Heavenly Father who loved us so much that He sent His only son to pay the price for our sins, to build a bridge back to a relationship with our Heavenly Father, to go and prepare a place for us in Heaven and to grant us abundant life and His Holy Spirit within us when we follow Him. When we follow Jesus, we will be free indeed.

Thank you for letting me share with you today. Until next time, go in peace, holding tightly to our Savior, wisely to our boundaries and loosely to our grudges. God bless you, have a great week!

Today, we are going to be talking about forgiveness. I'm not burying the lead at all today. Cause I need to be honest with you - we just got done with several weeks about the command to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute you. And I want to come right out and tell you that there is going to be some overlap here between what we talked about in the last several messages and this one. Because how could there not be? Also - forgiveness is one of those things that if we're not careful about understanding what it truly means, we can do more damage to ourselves and others in the long run, thinking we're doing the right thing.

Our key verses today come from Matthew chapter 18 verses 21 and 22. Peter comes up to Jesus and asks a question,

Then Peter came to Him and asked, "Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?" "No, not seven times," Jesus replied, "but seventy times seven!"Matthew 18:21-22

So #40 on our list of Fifty things is

#40 - FORGIVE

Alright, first, a little context here. Some of you might already know this, for others, it might be kind of funny. Let me know if you relate at all. So in the world that Jesus and His disciples lived in, Rabbinic law said that you needed to forgive an offender three times for a specific sin, but upon the fourth infraction, you didn't have to forgive them any more. Their sins could now be unforgivable. And we find this idea in the writings of second and third century Rabbis, and also in the Talmud, the central text of mainstream Judaism which records centuries of rabbinic laws, ethics, debates and interpretations. And all of these they're collected and compiled anywhere from about 200 to 500 years after Jesus life, but they come from both written and oral tradition that had been passed down and taught to the Jewish people for centuries. So Peter, he's a fisherman, but he's been raised in the tradition, he's a good Jewish boy - he's heard the "you must forgive the same offense THREE times" idea throughout his life. So he goes up to Jesus and says, "Uh, hey Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? SEVEN times? Huh? Huh?" (Rubs apple on his shirt) and Peter is probably thinking - Im gonna look really good before the Lord, right now. You really only need to forgive someone three times, so I'm gonna say seven, cause not only is that..you have three apples, then you have three more apples, carry the one, not only is that double the amount that I need to forgive, but we're gonna throw in one more freebie for good measure. How forgiving and awesome am I gonna look here?"

Okay - now to be fair, that is speculation. It is broad and accepted speculation throughout the years of breaking down these verses, it is a very familiar narrative when teaching this passage, and I think part of the reason for that is because it's so relatable. We all want to look good in front of people. We all want to impress people. We all want to seem more forgiving and magnanimous and good-hearted than we probably actually are. So we offer - "Hey, Jesus, I know the line was at three times, but how about seven? How godly am I? How Christ-like am I?" Anyone want to admit to relating to this? Anyone recognize a little of themselves in this interpretation?

Yeah I have been there. But since we're speculating and we don't know for sure, I also offer you THIS alternative - what if Peter didn't want to look good in front of Jesus? What if Peter just wanted confirmation of the rule he grew up with? He was sick of somebody's behavior toward him, so Peter intentionally inflates the number a little bit and asks Jesus "How many times should I forgive someone who sins against me? Was it… seven? Seven times?" HOPING that Jesus would correct him and go, "No, Peter. The rule is three you know that. Fourth time, all bets are off." Cause then Peter would be free to respond in an unkind way and put the screws to anyone who was bothering him after the third time. Maybe Peter was hoping Jesus would say "Nah. Just three times." So Peter could turn around and go, "You hear that Andrew?! Pepper my fish when I'm not looking one more time and I'm gonna slap you with that fish and throw you into the dead sea! Yeah, forgive this!"

Does anybody relate to that particular interpretation? Secretly, deep-down wanting the green-light to launch on those who have hurt us or even just annoyed us over and over again?

I relate to both of these speculative interpretations. And whichever one it was, or maybe even secret option c - "none of the above" - Jesus' answer to the question, "How many times should I forgive someone who sins against me?" Is enough to stop us dead in our tracks and send us into stunned silence… and not just cause some of us aren't that great at multiplication and we're trying to do the math.

(70 x 7 = 490) You're welcome.

Now don't get all literalist on me here and go, okay 490 - that's the number of times I need to forgive somebody. And I've got someone in my life that's probably creeping up on that number pretty fast if they haven't already surpassed it. Don't point at me! How dare you. You're my wife!

That's actually probably not far from the truth though. I'll say something now and you can underline it and we'll come back to it but

RELATIONSHIP IS FORGIVENESS

Whether it's a romantic relationship, a friendship relationship, a professional relationship - if you're in relationship with someone for any significant amount of time and you want to keep that relationship going, then relationship IS forgiveness. And you might even hit that 490 number.

Jesus was not being literal here. What He was getting across to Peter and anyone listening is that there is no upper limit on the amount of times we should forgive someone. There should be no limit to our forgiveness.

And this is where I think there starts to be pushback. Because we go, "Wait a second? I'm just supposed to let somebody keep harming me? Keep hurting me? Keep messing with me? I'm supposed to just be a punching bag for someone else? No. But you're supposed to forgive them. And forgiveness doesn't require you to do that. Before we talk about what forgiveness actually is, I want to talk about WHY we forgive according to what Jesus says and the examples He gives us.

He follows up essentially telling Peter that there's no upper limit to the amount of times we need to forgive someone by sharing a parable. A parable is a story that teaches a moral or spiritual lesson using references and situations that the listener would be able to understand and relate to. So Jesus says, starting in Matthew 18:23 -

Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn't pay, so his master ordered that he be sold - along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned- to pay the debt. But the man fell down before his master and begged him, 'Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.' Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. 'Be patient with me, and I will pay it,' he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn't wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full. "When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgive and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?' Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. That's what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.Matthew 18:23-35

Alright. So let's talk about why we should forgive based on this parable and what Jesus told Peter about 70x7. First -

JESUS DOESN'T SUPPORT SOCIETAL SCOREKEEPING

Our society does. Right? Otherwise we wouldn't have phrases like "He got 1up on me." "I need to 'get even.' Society keeps score, Jesus says forgiveness isn't about a specific number that is owed to you, it's not about a specific number of offenses committed against you. That has nothing to do with whether we forgive or not. We forgive because Jesus first forgave us.

WE FORGIVE BECAUSE JESUS FIRST FORGAVE US

In this parable, we could be the servant who is forgiven by the king. And we are forgiven A LOT. A million dollars off the books according to the parable. But the point is, we had a debt we couldn't pay, and the merciful King heard our cries and COMPLETELY forgave us. Wiped our debts away.

Look, this isn't to make you feel guilty or anything. Maybe you've lived like a saint. Or you think you have. But the point of this is to say that because of the mercy and grace of Christ, because of His love - as in

We love each other because He loved us first.1 John 4:19

we have been forgiven of all of our sins. In Psalm 103:12, a Psalm of David, we're given a metaphor to help us understand our forgiveness.

He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.Psalm 103:12

And by the way, the reason we were forgiven is not because we deserved it. It's not because we did something to earn it. Forgiveness was freely given to us because of the goodness of the Savior we follow and the love of our Heavenly Father.

I think it's interesting that Jesus uses the phrase "Kingdom of God" when He tells this parable - He says "The Kingdom of God is like…" and then tells the story of the merciful king who forgives a huge debt. The Kingdom of God is not Heaven. "The Kingdom of God," a phrase used interchangeably with "The Kingdom of Heaven" - is where people are doing the will of God. Where hearts and lives are being changed. And it is just as real here on earth as it is in Heaven.

We forgive, not because people deserve it. They probably don't. We forgive because if we understand the parable of the unforgiving servant, then we understand that we forgive because our King forgives whether people deserve it or not. And that forgiveness even to the undeserving was extended up to and including Jesus' time on the cross. While He was dying between two criminals - completely innocent, having done nothing to deserve His fate, a group of soldiers, the same ones who helped put Jesus on that cross were gambling for Jesus' clothes and mocking Him. And what was Jesus' prayer in Luke 23:34?

Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing.Luke 23:34

Over and over we read this principle in scripture. We don't forgive because those who hurt us necessarily deserve it. In Ephesians 4:32 the apostle Paul encourages followers of Christ to

be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.Ephesians 4:32

In Colossians 3:13 he repeats the sentiment -

Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.Colossians 3:13

Even the Lord's prayer, taught to us by Jesus Himself encourages us to pray

forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.Matthew 6:12

We forgive because we have first been forgiven. We forgive because we are emulating our King and our Savior.

And it's very possible that you're sitting here going, "Yeah, Josh. Cool. I totally get this from a theological standpoint. I get that I'm supposed to be following Jesus' example, but I am not necessarily happy about following that example of forgiveness. Or perhaps you're thinking, "I'm not READY to follow that example of forgiveness." Or perhaps you've been so hurt that you can't even imagine being ABLE to follow that example of forgiveness. And I get it. Been there, done that. And let me tell you, it's a lot harder to forgive someone if we don't understand what forgiveness is and what forgiveness isn't.

Let's start with what forgiveness isn't. Cause I think this is where it gets especially hard for us to even imagine forgiving someone if we don't have the right idea of what forgiveness is.

First of all, forgiveness doesn't mean pretending like someone didn't hurt you or didn't do anything wrong. It is not ignoring bad behavior. The fact that a person did something wrong is the reason they need forgiveness in the first place. In Luke 17, Jesus says to His disciples,

If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.Luke 17:3-4

Let's take the first part of that verse, first. If somebody does something wrong, if somebody hurts you or is a jerk to do or does something heinous - you can call them on it. Even if they are a fellow believer. You have every right to say, "You, that's messed up and you need to fix it."

FORGIVENESS IS NOT PRETENDING NOTHING HAPPENED

Now, the command is to FORGIVE… not necessarily reconcile. You don't have to be besties. You don't even have to like the person that you're forgiving. In the example that Jesus is speaking with with His disciples here, there's kind of an implied relationship here. An ongoing relationship. And He's speaking to a diverse group of individuals from very different backgrounds. Some were natural enemies - like Matthew the tax collector who would've been seen as a traitor to his people, and Simon the zealot, who would've been an insurrectionist trying to overthrow said government. There were educational differences, there were existing prejudices among the group, there was a lot of stuff they had to overcome to stay in relationship with one another. And so they were probably stepping on each others toes, so to speak, right and left, multiple times a day. Notice the end though -

if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.Luke 17:4

- that is an indicator that the person who messed up, knows they messed up and wants to fix it. There is an attempt at reconciliation. There is an attempt at eating crow and saying sorry and trying to make it up to the other person or arrive at a mutual understanding. I know some people they will apologize over and over and then keep doing the same thing over and over because they don't really mean the apology, but they mean the hurt, and the apology is just so they can get away with it… there's a difference and we need to be able to recognize it.

Now, we'll talk a lot about reconciliation in a future week, there's no way some of these topics on the list of Fifty Things don't have overlap with each other. I don't want to spend too much time talking about reconciliation - but I do need to make a couple of points.

What about the people who don't come up and ask for forgiveness? What about those who have hurt us and know they hurt us and they don't care? What about those who have hurt us and they'd do it again -

Well, we're still called to forgive, but reconciliation is not gonna be possible.

FORGIVENESS IS NOT NECESSARILY RECONCILIATION

If somebody continues to be dangerous to your health, physical or mental - if someone continually takes advantage of you, you are not called to put up with that. You are not called to be a doormat. You need to be wise and use discernment and get yourself out of close proximity from that person one way or another.

FORGIVENESS STILL ALLOWS US TO SET HEALTHY AND SAFE BOUNDARIES

If you set fire to my house, I can forgive you, but you are not going to be invited to any more bbq and fireworks celebrations at my place on the 4th of July. If I gave you money to pay your rent and you blew it on Pokemon cards… I'm not giving you money anymore. Nothing against Eevees and Charizards… that's just called setting a healthy boundary. If you intentionally hurt one of my friends and do nothing to make it right… you are not going to be MY friend anymore. Regardless of what you have or have not done to me.

Forgiveness allows for boundaries. Some boundaries don't allow for reconciliation. And that's fine. That's not a lack of Christian love. That's being gentle as a dove and wise as a serpent.

Forgiveness is not necessarily reconciliation. Here's the difference

RECONCILIATION HAPPENS IN RELATIONSHIP

FORGIVENESS HAPPENS IN OUR HEARTS AND SOULS

You see the difference?

Now - I did say earlier,

RELATIONSHIP IS FORGIVENESS

Folks, I have been married to my lovely wife, Erin for 12 years. We have been together for 22 years. We would not be together if we didn't forgive each other probably every day. Now think about this - these are two people who pledged their lives to each other, said "Yep. You're the one I want to be with for the rest of my life." Agreed upon it, made the commitment - and we have been together over two decades - and we still apologize to each other and ask for forgiveness and OFFER forgiveness to one another more times that I would've expected, and honestly more times than I'd like to admit to happening. Because two people who see each other a lot, or more than two people, a family, a friends group, a workout group, a church group even, there will just naturally be times that your personalities, habits, wants, needs, desires, senses of humor, plans, beliefs, politics, sleep schedules, money-management, energy levels, or desired air conditioning temperatures collide.

There will be times that we say the wrong things, do the wrong things, pull the wrong face, have the wrong attitude, have the wrong timing or even on occasion have the wrong intentions or understanding toward the other person. And if we want to stay in relationship - that forgiveness has to be firm in our hearts, fresh in our minds and fast on our lips.

We need to be quick to ask for forgiveness. We need to be quick to grant forgiveness. And sometimes, we just need to forgive even though the other person hasn't asked for it. Forgiveness is the beginning of reconciliation. And that's the key to staying in relationship with one another. If you don't have forgiveness in your heart - I'll tell you what you undoubtedly have… resentment. Pain. Anger. Stress. You're wanting something that you're not getting. And I'm gonna tell you a secret about forgiveness - sometimes we want something that it's not even possible to get. But we're holding on because we think we will or we don't know any better.

I know my wife has had to forgive me more than 490 times over our 22 years together. Heck, she probably had to forgive me more than 490 times on our last vacation. But the key to staying in relationship… is forgiveness.

So what is forgiveness? Well, I could tell you… but then how would I get you to come back next week? Part 2 of forgiveness is next week. We'll talk about exactly what it is. Now, if you don't want to wait, and you like solving a mystery, I'll give you a clue - the answer is in the scriptures we looked at earlier today. We'll see if you come up with the same answer when we get together next week.

Now I said we're wrapping up #39 "LOVE YOUR ENEMIES" today. Why are we spending three weeks talking about this one? Well, because it's one of the hardest things I think Jesus asks us to do. And it's really easy to get this command twisted. We can become the doormat or dismiss bad behavior, forego justice, diminish consequences and think we're doing a good thing. That's not what loving our enemies is.

Here's another reason why I think the command to love our enemies is so hard - it doesn't seem fair. Our natural tendencies is to respond in kind. To make sure that if we've been hurt, we hurt them back. That somehow there is a measure of parity when it comes to the pain we've been caused. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." And that is specifically why Jesus needed to teach us -

You have heard the law that says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.Matthew 5:43-45

And this is what I want to talk about today - we seem to think that loving our enemies is FOR our enemies. We often think that loving our enemies BENEFITS our enemies. And that's one of the reasons it can be so hard for us to implement. Because we think - why is that fair? They hurt us, but I've gotta be the one to suck it up? They caused me pain, and yet I've gotta be the bigger person and choose to show love?

Funny thing though. Yes - are your enemies going to benefit from your choice to love them regardless? Probably. There's also the chance that in addition to the benefits they get served up a big heaping pile of shame according to both Proverbs and Romans 12:20 - where the apostle Paul says -

If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.Romans 12:20

By the way - the goal is not shame. That's not the main goal. Don't love your nemeses just to shame them. That's what we call "operating under false pretenses." "Ulterior motives." The goal of loving our enemies is not only to be Christ-like, but if there's a an additional effect that we're hoping for it's that the love we show for our enemies will ultimately lead our enemies to humility and repentance instead of retaliation. That may come from shame, but that's not why we love our enemies.

What if I told you.. that the secret to loving your enemies was to understand that this is something that helps YOU. That loving your enemies might even be more about YOUR health than theirs?

I mean, let's just remember Jesus and our Heavenly Father's M.O. for a second, shall we? In Romans 8:28, the apostle Paul states that

We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.Romans 8:28

Alright - so somehow loving our enemies is gonna work for OUR good. Otherwise Jesus wouldn't have called us to do it.

In John 10:10, Jesus said -

The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.John 10:10

So again, if Jesus' purpose is to give us a rich and satisfying life, and to stop the theft of our joy and abundant life - then His explicit command for us to love our enemies must be something that contributes to a rich and satisfying life for us.

Alright - one more - from Matthew 7:11, Jesus says -

So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him?Matthew 7:11

Okay - what if this command to love our enemies… hear me out… is actually a gift to us. Sounds like something that would be a struggle. Something that we don't want to do, but in actuality, at the end of the day, it's a gift from God Himself.

If we understand our Heavenly Father and our Savior's will for our lives, then we have to arrive at the conclusion that loving our enemies is not just a blessing to our enemies, but a blessing and a gift and dare I say, a healing for us.

Let me explain what I mean. And I want to start with a verse that we've already looked at during our discussion about loving our enemies. It's Romans 12:17-18. The apostle Paul writes -

Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things ins such a way that everyone can see you are honorable.Romans 12:17

Alright, check. Got it. Here's the part I want to focus on -

Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.Romans 12:18

Alright. Think about this for a second. LIVING in peace doesn't just mean KEEPING the peace. Living in peace means that YOU are living in peace too. That means YOU are at peace.

Now - I am willing to bet that if you have ongoing beef with someone - it is enough that you have been harmed in some way, which does not always have to be physically, okay, you have been psychologically or emotionally rattled by someone - I doubt that you are at peace. And even as time goes on - okay - you may be removed from immediate danger. The situation or conflict - let's call it a battle, because it sometimes is - the battle is over… but are you truly at peace? What happens when something reminds you of their existence? What happens when that person pops into your head? What happens when you think about the situation again? Are you at peace? Or do you find yourself mentally arguing with them again? Rehearsing revenge? Replaying the events over and over looking for answers like you're Kevin Costner watching the Zapruder film in JFK?

Anybody have heated imaginary arguments in the shower? Winning the bi-weekly walk-in shower invitational debate sponsored by Head and Shoulders? Oh, I have absolutely destroyed people in imaginary debates while shampooing. It's where I do some of my best work.

Yeah….. here's the thing about that… it's not healthy. It's not. Cause there's a good reason why you're probably replaying all those moments, and you keep having imaginary arguments and conversations and revenge fantasies… it means that you probably are still harboring resentment toward your enemy.

RESENTMENT

And that may make all the sense in the world. This is not about whether resentment makes sense or not based on what you've been through or what they've done to you. This is just about the effects of resentment and what it does.

Resentment leads to rumination.

RUMINATION

And rumination is where your enemy lives rent-free in your head. You're up at night replaying things and thinking about what you'd do or say if given the chance, worrying about running into them somewhere randomly and what that encounter would be like… you're losing sleep… the other person might be sleeping fine.

Resentment and Rumination hurt YOU.

Now here's where this cycle of resentment and rumination actually come from - neuroscience tells us that it's basically our brain getting stuck on a repeat loop where our attention and prediction systems keep coming back to the same thoughts or memories of prior incidents - and the main reason for this is because our brain doesn't perceive a resolution.

So basically, you're sitting there, something reminds you of your enemy and your brain is like "I hate that guy." And then you start replaying the past or you think about imaginary situations, but because they are imaginary, there is no resolution… and so you may get distracted, but eventually your brain comes back around to "I hate that guy." And the cycle repeats.

What if I told you that Jesus' command to love our enemies IS

RESOLUTION

Here's why - the other scenarios - they're open ended - they're imaginary - or you didn't get the closure you needed and you probably never will - the pain is still there…. What are you going to do about it? You can let your brain run on auto=pilot and resent that person and ruminate which only increases YOUR stress and your pain and steals YOU joy. Or you can RESOLVE to love your enemies. That's the end. That's the resolution. You say - "This is where the story ends. With CHOOSING to love my enemies.

Cause remember

LOVE IS A CHOICE

And

LOVE IS AN ACTION

Resentment and rumination are not actions or choices that you are consciously making. They are emotional states and pretty much unconscious mind traps that our brain circuits are running. But CHOOSING to LOVE (an action) your enemies is a RESOLUTION.

LOVING OUR ENEMIES IS ACTUALLY SELF-DEFENSE

Spiritually speaking, psychologically speaking.

Now I'm gonna tell you why this works and I'm gonna show you HOW this works. It's not necessarily easy - it requires

RESOLVE

And

REPETITION

Practice makes perfect - but here's the first reason why loving your enemies is a successful strategy to rid yourself of resentment and rumination.

When someone sets themselves up against you as your antagonist, the feelings of resentment weigh heavily on your mind and soul. But choosing to love your enemies frees you from the weight of BEING the antagonist. See they may have ill will toward you, you don't have to choose that role. You don't have to have mutual ill-will toward them. And when you're not worried about returning the favor - responding in kind - when you're not worried about how your enemies see or respond to YOU, and you're just living your life with the end goal - the RESOLUTION of 'I'm going to choose to love my enemies in a way that is safe and healthy for me to do' that's a big mental load off - a weight off your shoulders.

Now let me give you some strategies for making this work once you've made the choice that the resolution will be loving your enemies. The first thing you're gonna need to do is you're gonna have to sort of detach in a way.

DETACH

And this is what I mean by that - part of the reason you're stuck in the resentment and rumination loop is because you're still expecting a resolution from your enemy that probably isn't coming. You are waiting for them to change. Not likely, at least not anytime soon. Not impossible, but God's probably gonna have to do a work in their lives. I wouldn't stand around waiting for it. You may be waiting for an apology. For your enemy to admit that they were wrong and that what they did to you was wrong. Once again - probably not coming. At least not immediately. It could happen. People do win the Powerball. But people have a better chance of being struck by lightning than actually winning the Powerball. And right now if you're stuck in a resentment and rumination loop you might be thinking - "I wish my enemy would get struck by lightning." And that's why you need today's message. Here's the thing - you can arrive at ACCEPTANCE and move on with your own life back toward what brings you joy, but that means giving up waiting for your enemy to make it right to you. Romans 12:19 has the apostle Paul saying,

Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, "I will take revenge; I will pay them back," says the Lord.Romans 12:19

And again - we're not looking for revenge. We're not - but the reason why I share this verse is to say, "It's okay to let go… God will handle the other party. God will take care of the situation. You don't need to hold onto bitterness. You don't have to keep holding them accountable in your own mind. Let your enemy go and let God deal with them."

And I think we can take into account what the author of Proverbs, a book of wisdom, has to say in Proverbs 4:23

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.Proverbs 4:23

We need to be able to be honest with ourselves and say, ruminating over this toxic behavior or event is not good for my heart or my mind or my soul. I can detach from it and let go… but when you do that you need to

DIRECT

Your focus and attention elsewhere. We need to take the energy that we've been putting into resentment and rumination and direct it toward the things that bring us joy. Toward the purposes that our Lord created us for. Overthinking punishes us. People living rent free in our head takes up space for other people and good things that we can give that space to. The longer we stay immersed in hatred, the easier it is to normalize hatred. Resentment doesn't poison the people you hate. It poisons you. And the antidote is directing our actions to good things and directing our attention to good people.

There's a reason why Paul wraps up Philippians like this - real quick - would you consider ruminating a form of worrying? Worrying about whether you're gonna run into that person again? Worrying if they're not cooking up some more nefarious crap for you to deal with? Okay - this is such a familiar set of verses - but I want us to apply them to this situation we're talking about -

Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.Philippians 4:8

Bitterness robs us of our peace. Directing our thoughts to things that are pure and lovely and worthy of praise grants us peace.

Okay - try this - the next time you catch yourself ruminating - having a shower argument, not concentrating on the traffic in front of you, but instead replaying the emotional pile-up that has caused a standstill in the freeway of your mind - direct your attention away from your enemies. And think about somebody you love. Think about your kids. Think about your spouse. Your boyfriend, your girlfriend, think about your best friend, a friend… think about what a friend we have a in Jesus. That's how we break the cycle. By fixing our thoughts on things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

See - sometimes we think we're just gonna power through and just NOT think about our enemies. That's not how our brain works, usually. You don't stop thinking about someone by trying not to think about them.

Case in point - let's try a little thought experiment here today. Everybody close your eyes and try NOT to think about a white polar bear.

Alright open your eyes. How many of you thought about a white polar bear? Even though I specifically asked you not to!?!?!?! Rebels… all of you… troublemakers…

Nah - that's just how the brain works. Alright - let's try something a little different here. In a second, I'm gonna ask you to close your eyes again, and I'm gonna ask you not to think about a white polar bear. But IF that polar bear happens to pop into your mind, we're gonna call a POLAR BEAR ALERT and I'm gonna ask you to replace the thought of the Polar Bear by immediately thinking about a pink elephant. Okay? So white polar bear = POLAR BEAR ALERT = pink elephant. Got it? Alright. Close your eyes. Try not to think about a white polar bear. Alright open your eyes. How many of thought of a white polar bear? Initially right, now how many of you once the white polar bear showed up, you were able to replace it by thinking of a pink elephant? How many of you thought of pink elephants on parade? Excellent. Now how many of you imagined the Polar Bear and the Pink Elephant in a cage match, like UFC and they're fighting each other, and there's a Zebra referee, that's a real Zebra, and he's like, Listen Pink Elephant, no more spraying water in the Polar Bear's face, and like, the Coke bears are there in the front row cheering the polar bear on and like the elephant in the cage, he turns to the crowd and there's the Saggy Baggy Elephant, and he's like this is for you! I'm doing this for you! Yo Babar!…" Anybody? Just me? yeah, they probably need to up my meds.

But with props to evangelist Jay Carty for the illustration - that is how you re-direct your thoughts. The polar bear is your enemy - the pink elephant is something pure and admirable and lovely and worthy of praise.

Along those lines… sometimes you need to take a

DETOUR

If you're sitting somewhere - you're on the couch, you're in bed, whatever, you're alone with your thoughts… and here comes the rumination and the racing thoughts and the bitterness about your enemies and they start to take up space in your brain, one of the best things you can do is take a walk. Change the environment. This is true. From a neuroscience perspective, when you get up and you go for a walk, especially outside to a different environment, you are shifting your attention from your thoughts to physical sensations. For example, your feet on the path, your breath as you're walking at pace, the feel of the breeze on your face, the sun on your back, the sounds of the birds or the crickets or even traffic - all of those sensory inputs draw your attention away from your mental loops.

And truly, often when you're on your walk - okay, you get up from your seat and you leave the house or you leave the office carrying resentment - but twenty minutes later, you're looking at trees, you're petting the neighbor's dog that's out for a walk, you're getting some fresh air, and suddenly, the problem isn't as big or as pressing as it was when you were sitting there ruminating. Because you took a walk, you got a change in perspective and you experienced things that were lovey and worthy of praise.

Alright - here's something else you can do, and it matches up with the last two - it goes hand in hand -

DEBRIEF

There's a psychological fancy phrase called "Co-regulation." And all that means is when you aren't at peace, you borrow somebody else's. Look, God designed us for community. It's part of the reason you're here at SeaCoast, I hope, to be part of a loving and caring community. You know, it's the old principle of Proverbs 27:17

As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.Proverbs 27:17

Now when you are disregulated and you are spiraling… when you are ruminating and resenting and sometimes reverting back to that default state that you experienced when the pain and hurt from your enemies was fresh - one of the things we can do is call a trusted friend who is good at

DE-ESCALATING

A situation. Good at providing clear and simple advice. Someone who will encourage you to be the person who Christ called us to be. Do not call the friend who will pour fuel on the fire and get you all ramped up again. We all have a friend like that. They're great for burying bodies, but they're not great at encouraging you to be at peace. Right. Call the friend or advisor or counselor or therapist or family member or pastor who is gonna say, "alright. Let's take a breath. Let's think about this. Let's try and see what a healthy avenue for you to pursue is. Let's talk about how we can love your enemies while keeping you safe and sane.

Because sometimes loving your enemy starts by surrounding yourself with people who remind you of who YOU are. Our natural tendency is to assimilate and drop to our enemies level. Return fire in the same manner. Become like our enemies. We ned those friends. We need those brothers and sisters in Christ to remind us of who we are in the body of Christ.

Alright - but here's a part you need to underline when it comes to debriefing… do it once or twice only. And then draw a line under it. Do it to help you gain perspective. Do it to borrow somebody else's peace so you can make the choice to love your enemies. Because if you keep coming back to it over and over again - studies show that repeated reassurance seeking, mental checking - re-reading messages, replaying conversations, even when detailing them to others, constantly asking for certainty or reassurance - it subconsciously is teaching the brain to keep those resentment and rumination loops alive. So debrief if you need to, but draw a line under it and stop coming back to it once you have a plan because rumination decreases when we intentionally make a choice to stop re-visiting the same emotions and thoughts and ideas.

One more idea here and it takes us right back to where we started -

But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!Matthew 5:44

In other words - when the cycle starts - when the negative thoughts come - when the worry comes -

DEVOTE

Yourself to prayer for your enemy. Now careful - we don't need to be praying imprecatory prayers. Jesus said in Luke 6:28

Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.Luke 6:28

When we pray for our enemies, we are not praying "Dear Lord, I pray that you would bless my enemies… with explosive diarrhea." Not the right kind of prayer we are called to pray for our enemies. Besides, you don't need prayer for that outcome, just get your enemy a gift card to Taco Bell. Let 'em try that new Cyclosporito Supreme they've got over there.

You laugh - you may not have prayed the Revenge of Taco Bell prayer on your enemy, but I bet a good number of us have prayed for an outcome for our enemy that wasn't very loving. Maybe not out loud… but you prayed in that angry, old school, ticked off at the world Psalms sort of way. I don't think that's the kind of prayer that Jesus wants us to pray for our enemies. Instead, maybe the prayer - it has that

DETACH

Detachment to it. We take ourselves out of it again. So it's not "Dear Lord, help them see what they did to me." "Dear Lord, make them make it up to me." - maybe a loving prayer is "Dear Lord… I pray that they would genuinely become the person you created them to be." Who knows? If Jesus answers that one - you might end up with one less enemy. Maybe prayer changes your enemies. But either way… prayer changes YOU. Maybe that's the prayer that we pray this week. Not "How can I change my enemies, God?" But rather - "God, how are you changing me?" Cause that's where true agape love begins. Not with their transformation. With ours.

Cause love heals. Bitterness shrinks our world. Love expands it. Resentment steals our joy. Love gets it back. Hatred has our lives revolving around our enemies and those who hurt us. Love puts Jesus back at the center.

Loving our enemies helps us regain some of our humanity. If our enemies have dehumanized or slandered you or distorted your name, loving your enemies is a way of reminding yourself and showing others who you really are. Loving your enemies and praying for them leads to greater feelings of well-being and frees you from the weight of carrying ill-will and resentment and hatred and whatever other negative feelings about your enemy that you're carrying around with you.

Right now, I want us to try something different this morning. Just close your eyes for a minute. If you've got an enemy, they're probably already coming to mind this morning. Maybe it's someone who hurt you years ago. Maybe it's someone you work with now. Maybe it's a family member. Maybe it's someone who betrayed your trust. Take a deep breath and hear those words that Jesus said again - "love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you."

Not because they deserve it. Not because they're safe. Some people never will be. Not because they're guaranteed to change. Some never will. But pray for them and choose to act in love toward them because YOU belong to Jesus and together we refuse to let hatred have the final word.

Thank you for letting me share with you today. Until next time, go in peace… and love your enemies… it'll confuse them, heal you and make Jesus smile. God bless you, have a great week!

Just to kind of quickly recap some important points from last week. We looked at the root of the Agape love that Jesus asks us to have for our enemies. And we learned that love is not a feeling. You can be angry and still love. You can be hurt and still love. You can be sad and still love. Love is a choice

LOVE IS A CHOICE

And love is an action.

LOVE IS AN ACTION

So ultimately, when we love our enemies we are choosing to act in our enemies' best interests

LOVE IS A CHOICE TO ACT IN SOMEONE'S BEST INTERESTS

Whether they deserve it or not.

Now, love is also not becoming a doormat. Love does not mean opening yourself up to further hurt or pain. We talked about how it is possible to and sometimes necessary to

LOVE FROM A DISTANCE

Boundaries are important and necessary. It is entirely valid to block, ignore, or physically distance yourself from people who hurt you. In fact, that's the first practical tip to loving your enemies we're going to talk about today.

SETTING BOUNDARIES IS AN ACT OF LOVE

Its is entirely valid to distance yourself from, physically speaking or even technologically speaking, to block or ignore individuals who have shown a clear disregard for your well being - emotionally, physical, psychological, spiritual, you name it.

Here's why setting boundaries is actually an act of love. Think about this for a second - when an "enemy" and we defined this obviously as someone who is a violent adversary, but also anyone who wishes you ill will in the modern everyday-life version - when that person shows up and you don't have clear boundaries - and they're just doing what they do - causing chaos in your day. What is your response? Okay - the first thing that happens usually before anything HAPPENS happens, is adrenaline hits. You see the person - and boom you immediately have a fight or flight response. Whatever you were thinking of, whatever you were doing, planning, working on - it's gone. Out the window. Replaced with lizard brain response. And no matter how calm or chill you were - what happens? Emotions jump in and take over. Fear takes over. PTSD does what it does. All the memories of past pain and hurt flood back in, your cortisol level spikes - and they haven't even done anything yet. They're just THERE. In close proximity to you.

And it doesn't even have to be physical proximity. We all know the physiological response to seeing someone's name on the Caller ID on your phone or when an email from jerk@jerkcloud.com shows up in your inbox.

You break out in a sweat. Your heart starts racing. You're already thinking about the extra therapy bills you're gonna be paying because of this interaction…

And then tell me if this is your experience - when you go into fight or flight - lizard brain takes over - fear and maybe anger and hurt are driving the ship - are you more likely to respond in a civil and polite manner? In a non-emotionally driven way? Or are you more likely to respond to them with anger or try to hurt them back? At the very least responding with some snarkitude?

Right. I think most of us - it's pretty likely that they're not going to get our best in those situations.

The apostle Paul outlined the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians chapter 5 -

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.Galatians 5:22-25

Alright. If that's the case - and that's what the Holy Spirit produces - then why do we respond in anger and say bad things back and respond tit for tat and sometimes think really horrible things about people?

Because when somebody who has hurt us - when somebody who wishes us ill will is able to access us or get close to us - when there are no boundaries in place, then we are not able to act in love a lot of the time. Because we are not ACTING we are RE-ACTING.

And

REACTING CAN KEEP US FROM ACTING IN LOVE

When you're reacting, you are less likely to produce the fruits of the Spirit. You are more likely to produce the month old rotting vegetables of the flesh that are sitting in the back of your refrigerator stinking up the joint.

Because you're REACTING based on feelings. Even biology and brain chemistry to a degree. And when we do that, that's often when we say or do things that we're not proud of. Things that we would like to have back. Things that don't represent the love of Christ and the agape love we're supposed to have for our enemies.

There's a very famous piece of scripture in 1 Corinthians 13. It's a treatise on love from the apostle Paul. You hear it at a lot of weddings. He says

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance.1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Now patience is a fruit of the Spirit. We already saw where Paul said that in Galatians 5. Now can I ask you a question - If you're irritable, does that indicate that you are at peace or not at peace? Not at peace, I think. And one of the fruits of the Spirit is peace. If you're acting rude, do you think you're exhibiting kindness or goodness or self-control? Nah. Probably not.

Now again, I will bet you dollars to donuts, 9 times out of 10, that when "enemies" show up in your life, you are not going to FEEL patient or kind. You are not going to FEEL at peace.

But Love is not a feeling. Love is an ACTION.

And if we're going to respond in LOVE. If we're going to respond with the fruits of the Spirit - if we're going to exhibit self-control and peace and kindness and patience and goodness… then we need to be able to

SEPARATE FEELINGS FROM ACTIONS

Loving our enemies involves a shift from how we feel to how we behave. Patience isn't something we magically feel. It's something we choose to practice. If we focus on emotional affection toward somebody who has really hurt us - we may never get there from a human point of view, not with our earthly, sinful tendencies. But if we focus on acts of service - acts that seek the best for people whether we like them or not - instead of our feelings - we are still able to love people and respond in a Christ-like manner. Love is the choice to seek someone else's good even when our emotions haven't caught up yet.

And boundaries help us do that. Now you have to establish those. Whatever is necessary to protect yourself so you CAN act in a Christ-like manner instead of re-acting in a way that doesn't do you OR your enemies any good.

You may have to see yourself out of relationships or situations. You may have to block people on social media. That's okay. You may have to say 'We're not going to talk about certain things.' 'I'm not going to be joining you at certain events.' 'I'm not going to respond to your requests for communication.' And this can be hard - because some of us growing up, especially in certain circles of Christianity and certain styles of churches - we've been taught that love equals access. Love equals access to us. Invitations to everything we do. Love never has its phone turned off and is always reachable. Love puts up with bad behavior. Love is about the other person's well being and not your own.

I think we're confusing love with trust sometimes. I think we confuse love with a lack of boundaries sometimes. And that just sets us up for situations where we are going to get hurt and where we are likely to hurt others.

Clear boundaries - gives you time and space… to breathe… to choose whether or not to respond and if you ARE going to respond, it can allow us to respond not by RE-ACTING but by acting or speaking in love. When we respond from emotion and fear, we're more likely to respond in a hurtful way. With proper boundaries, and you're going to have to hold them, you can respond in a civil way. In a polite way. In a loving way. You can pray and decide what the best course of action is before taking it. Course of ACTION. Not a feeling. When I choose goodwill toward a person - that is deliberate. It is a deliberate choice.

Now holding boundaries against a habitual line-stepper - it is not always easy and it does not come automatically. Because people who do not have boundaries do not like it when you establish them. They may respond in anger. They may actually ramp up the bad behavior or the mean things they say. They will almost certainly ramp up manipulation to get you to drop your boundaries so they can continue doing what they are doing that is causing you distress. The only way you're able to hold these boundaries is by doing a couple of things.

The first is

PRAY

And this is something that Jesus demonstrated in His own life. It's also advice that the apostle Paul gives in Romans 12 -

Bless those who persecute you. Don't curse them; pray that God will bless them.Romans 12:14

We need to pray for wisdom - we need to pray that we would respond in a Christ-like manner. We need to pray because there's gonna be some places that you won't be able to establish a PHYSICAL boundary - a boundary of distance at. If you've got a co-worker that is just a nightmare and you work in the same office - you're going to run into them. You're going to see them often. So you're gonna have to pray that God gives you the patience and the words and the resolve and the self-control. But you can still hold boundaries with someone even if you are not able to keep them at a distance. And I'm gonna tell you something else that prayer helps us do in just a bit.

But first - here's the second thing we need to do

PRACTICE

We need to practice. Okay. If you're not used to holding boundaries, you aren't gonna be good at it. You're gonna over-explain. You're gonna say too much. You're going to give your enemies a foothold and a back-door back to access to you. You're not going to deliver the FIRM - not mean, not not cruel, just FIRM message that you want to deliver.

So you need to know what you're going to say to establish a boundary and you're gonna hold to it.

"I will not discuss this topic with you. You're not interested in listening and I'm not interested in debating for sport. Let's talk about something else."

"I'm not comfortable with the way you treat me and my friends. So I choose not to be around you."

"I don't wish you ill will, but I don't wish to talk to you."

"I need some time and space for my mental health. This has everything to do with me, not with you, but I'm not going to be responding as rapidly or as frequently as I used to."

Okay - you're going to have to craft one based on your specific situation. And keep it short and sweet. And then practice saying it over and over again so you can say it when you need to to hold that boundary in the moment. You don't explain further - you don't apologize for holding the boundary. You just keep repeating the boundary. And you hold it.

And you practice saying it until you can say it without even thinking about it. Anybody watch On Patrol Live? On Peacock? It's like the modern day Cops. It's my guilty pleasure. Okay - sometimes the officers come across someone who has been professionally coached on what to say. They have a script and they are sticking with it. And that's all they're saying. "Am I being detained or am I free to go? Am I being detained or am I free to go?" "Respectfully officer, I choose to remain silent and I would like to speak to a lawyer." "Respectfully officer, I do not submit to any search of my vehicle or person."

These are not things you say in the heat of the moment. These are not things you know to say or are prepared to say calmly and repeatedly unless you are familiar with a script beforehand and you have practiced for this scenario.

You gotta be like that with people who encroach on your boundaries and hold onto them and enforce them. When someone keeps trying to knock those boundaries down, you

PERSEVERE

And just keep holding them and if you need to establish stronger boundaries you can. Sometimes the faithfulness of the fruits of the spirit and the love that never gives up but endures every circumstances perseveres because you are able to persevere at

PROTECTING PEACE

by holding those boundaries. Boundaries are not the opposite of love. Sometimes they're how love survives.

Alright - I said that we'd talk about one more thing that prayer helps us do to love our enemies - and that is this - prayer can help us

EMPATHIZE

With our enemies.

Prayer can help us

RESPECT

Our enemies.

Again - these are actions. Choices, not feelings. Being able to respect or empathize with our enemies - it's not usually something that we're able to do on our own. It's not something that we naturally arrive at. It's something that we can SUPERNATURALLY arrive at though with the help of the Holy Spirit.

And sometimes the way we do that is by asking God to help us see our enemies the way HE sees them.

And you may say to yourself, you know - that's cool - lemme ask God to help me see them the way God sees them, well God sees everything, doesn't he see them acting like a major league jerk? An olympic level pain in the neck? Don't you think he thinks what they're doing is wrong and deplorable?

I thought about this - and you know, I don't imagine most of us are gonna have a sit down next to Jesus on this side of heaven where we get to share our feelings about our enemies - but honestly, if we could - I think you're probably right. I don't think Jesus would be dismissive of our feelings. I don't think that he would diminish the pain we've been caused.

I think we'd say, "Look at this guy, Jesus! You see what he's doing?! He's being a terrible human being right now." And I think Jesus would say, "Oh no doubt." "No, seriously, Jesus - this guy is up to no good, on the jackal scale of 1 to 10, he's a 12! He's a hypocritical, self-righteous, pearl-clutching, rule-collecting, joy stealing, finger pointing, nit-picking, bridge burning, mercy-skipping, no good lying, four-flushing, dirt-eating, brainless, heartless, worm-headed sack of skoubalon!" And I truly believe Jesus would say "You're absolutely right. That's the way he's acting right now. And he's not right. And he's the poster child for petulant behavior right now… but he's still mine. And I still love him. I created him… and He still belongs to me. He's still a valuable part of my collection. I died for him just like I died for you."

God can see that people act really messed up and still want to love them. But for the grace of God there go I? Some of us have been down that road… it's just been a while and we forgot what it was like to be on the other side. Seeing people the way God sees them is not erasing their bad behavior - it's recognizing that they still belong to God and that He still cares about them and that He still wants to redeem them.

Look - Empathizing - being able to empathize with our enemies - it's not about them being right or pretending they didn't do what they did. It's not treating them like a Care Bear if they're acting like Chucky the killer doll.

And empathizing has nothing to do with being right. We can completely be in the right and they can completely be in the wrong. But what empathy means is we try to remove ourself from the situation. We try to remove our FEELINGS from the situation. We remove the PERSONAL perspective - and think about their perspective. We try to think about their background. Maybe how they got to this point. Maybe why they might be making the poor decisions that they're making. Maybe why their lizard brain acts the way that it does. Taking into account family background and personal history and their traumas and their hang-ups. It doesn't make them right. But what it can do is move US from frustration toward compassion.

Empathy is an attempt to understand. Empathy is not about being 'right.' Okay - here's the weird thing about most of our enemies and most of the time people do stuff to hurt us. A lot of times our enemies have convinced themselves that they are right too. They have justified their behavior to themselves and to others. They have painted an unfair or negative picture of you to others. And by the way - trying to get your enemy to see that you are right is probably just an exercise in frustration. No amount of explaining your side, proving your side, diagramming things out or drawing them a picture is going to make them think they are wrong and you are right until they are ready to see it themselves and arrive at that conclusion on their own. And, and I'm just putting this out there, it's possible that both of you were a little right and it's possible that both of you were a little wrong.

Empathy tries - from a REMOVED and as neutral as you can get perspective - to try and understand their perspective - even if its wrong, not so you can agree with them, but so that you can move toward compassion and love and away from enmity and a need for revenge - a need to get even.

The apostle Paul writes in Romans 12:17-18

Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.Romans 12:17-18

Here's why this is so important to be reminded of. There is something called "Assimilation." And it's not assimilation in the way that you may be thinking of - the traditional use of the word - it's more like Assimilation from the movie "The Thing." It's a bad thing. Assimilation in the realm of talking about our struggles with our enemies is a psychological phenomenon that is observed in combat - all forms - from verbal and domestic disputes to full scale combat and way - where fighting an enemy causes YOU to internalize THEIR destructive traits.

That's why we need to hear "never pay back evil with more evil." Cause that's our NATURAL tendency. But loving our enemies - is the antidote. And setting healthy boundaries and praying for our enemies and empathizing with our enemies can act like a spiritual stop sign, truthfully a psychological pattern interrupter to stop us from assimilating the behavior of our enemies.

Marcus Aurelius said "the best revenge against an enemy is not to be like them."

When it comes to empathy, theologian Oliver Chase Quick has this to say - "If we could imagine the love of one who loves purely for their own sake and not because of any need or desire of His own, purely desires their good, and yet loves them wholly, not for what at this moment they are, but for what He knows He can make of them because He made them, then we should have in our minds some true image of the love of the Father and Creator of mankind."

That's how God loves everyone. We're human - we're never going to 100% be able to love like that on this side of heaven - but we can try. We can try and empathize. We can try and see people how God sees them. And we can choose to love our enemies in the most Christ-like, Holy Spirit centered way that we can.

Thank you for letting me share with you today. Until next time, may your boundaries be healthy, your compassion be deep and your prayers and love include even your enemies. God bless you, have a great week!

#39 on our list of Fifty Things comes from Matthew chapter 5 starting in verse 43. It's part of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount where Jesus really established a "new" way forward for His followers and established several of the tenets of what being a Christ follower means. Here we go-

Matthew 5:43-48

You have heard the law that says 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For He gives His sunlight to both the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect.Matthew 5:43-48

So #39 on our list is

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES

This is a tall order, I think. For a lot of reasons, both culturally and personally. Culturally speaking, 'love your enemies' is not what the crowds of people listening to Jesus at the Sermon on the Mount were taught to do growing up. Jesus said it - they were taught to hate their enemies. And aren't we taught that too? Culturally speaking? Any time there has been a major war or conflict - no matter how just - the propaganda machine kicks in and dehumanizes our enemies. Teaches us to hate them. And the unstated goal - or sometimes stated - is to wipe them out. Wipe them from the face of the planet even. To steal a phrase from the first Metallica album "Kill 'Em All." And I know that's dark, but its the truth. I can take this out of the real world for a second and go back to the philosophies that I learned from Hollywood movies in the 80's growing up. The Rambos, the Commandos, The Death Wishes, - famous line from Commando - Arnold Schwarzenegger single-handedly dismantles an entire private army to rescue his kidnapped daughter and famously declares "I'll kill 'em all." First Blood has John Rambo uttering a similar line.

Culturally - consciously or subconsciously, we have been taught that when we have enemies - our motto, our goal, our objective is to wipe them out until they don't exist. "Kill 'Em All."

And I'd love to tell you that that's just a cold, detached pragmatic solution. Well, if I kill them all, I won't have any enemies left, problem solved. But I think, if we really get down to what's behind that philosophy, we're gonna find that its not just a sinful form of human pragmatism, but that it is a philosophy fueled by hatred.

Now, most of us, hopefully, we're not going to be embroiled in conflicts like we just talked about. Prayerfully. Hopefully none of us are going to have to single-handedly battle a private terrorist army. But we still have enemies, right?

Some of you are thinking, "we're in church. I'm supposed to love everybody. This seems like a trap question. I'm a Christian, I'm not supposed to have enemies."

Au contraire. Jesus said it plainly - "Love your enemies." He didn't say you wouldn't have enemies. He clearly stated that you probably have enemies.

See, I think the way to think about this is not to say, "I'm a Christian. I'm not supposed to have enemies." But rather to say, "I'm a Christian. I'm not supposed to set out to intentionally MAKE enemies." But even then… there is a good chance that though you do not wish to MAKE enemies, you will gather them naturally at some point in your life. Especially as a Christ follower.

Jesus had enemies. He didn't set out to make them. He came to show God's love to the entire world and to set the captives free. He didn't set himself up against individuals, but He preached against evil and sin and injustice. He stood for the greater good. For the good of ALL God's people. But He got in the way and under the skin or people who valued empire and money and power and self more than Christ-like love and the Kingdom of God. So THEY considered Jesus the enemy. The cross proves that loving people, even unconditionally, doesn't always guarantee they will love you back. Despite Jesus' love, religious hypocrites hated Him. Greedy people hated Him. Some of those who felt convicted and called out hated Him.

If you stand for Christ-like love in this world and against injustice, for the marginalized and against exploitation, there will naturally be those who oppose you, even those who you would not expect it from…false prophets, wolves in sheep's clothing. Like we talked about several weeks ago. Author Victor Hugo gave us this quote in 1845 - "You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life." If you've ever protected someone, told the truth, challenged abuse or even said 'no' - eventually someone had probably decided that you are the villain in their story.

Though we don't like to think of it, and I think the very idea makes us uncomfortable, a good number of us have enemies. So let's define what an enemy is just so we're all on the same page and we have the right mental picture as we're talking. Same frame of reference.

First - here is what an enemy is not. Some people think an enemy is anyone who doesn't do exactly what they want them to do. That is not an enemy. Some people are convinced that an enemy is someone who raises issues that make them uncomfortable or offends them. Someone who challenges their ideas. Again… that is not an enemy.

Sadly some people don't understand that and they go about making enemies. You may find yourself drawn into conflict not of your own making and becoming an adversary unwillingly based on how they treat you.

Alright - what IS an enemy? In the scariest definition - a violent adversary. Hopefully you don't have to deal with that. But in the context of what Jesus seems to be addressing overall in the Sermon on the Mount, and in a modern, more personal day-to-day experience for most of us an enemy is "anyone who intentionally wrongs you, purposefully treats you unkindly, and this is the one that I think encapsulates the idea perfectly - anyone who actively wishes you ill will."

And these are the people that Jesus asks us to love. Jesus never asks us to pretend that our enemies aren't our enemies, that their bad behavior isn't bad, that their ill will isn't wrong. He just asks us to refuse to engage in those kinds of behaviors ourselves. Instead we are to LOVE our enemies.

I'm glad we're doing this on the heels of talking about #38 - RESIST INJUSTICE (CREATIVELY & NON-VIOLENTLY) after talking about turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, giving our coat too… and it's by design that all of these ideas are lumped together in the series. Because it gives us a better perspective on what loving your enemies means and what it doesn't mean, and it gives us some strategies of how to love our enemies, while protecting ourselves, which is perfectly valid. We established that last week - Jesus is not asking us to be victims or doormats. We are not called to succumb to evil. To lose to evil. To be hurt by those who wish to hurt us. We're called to resist evil and injustice creatively and non-violently WHILE loving our enemies. So let's just clear this up right now -

Love is not approval of bad behavior. Not at all. Love does not equal agreement. Love is not rolling over and letting evil intention or bad behavior win. Listen, in some cases, love can be an attempt to understand the other person's position. In most cases, I think love involves an attempt to empathize in some capacity and we'll talk about that more later. But Jesus called us to love our enemies. Not to capitulate to them or acquiesce to them.

Here's another truth to keep in mind. Love does not equal trust. Remember

#16 - "BE SHREWD AS SNAKES"

Yeah. Jesus wasn't naive. We shouldn't be either. You can love someone and still not loan them your car. You feel me?

Alright - here's something else that love is not - love is not pretending nothing happened. Love does require us to forgive our enemies - and that's gonna be something we talk about in the near future - but forgiveness does not mean that there are no consequences and there are no boundaries for safety. You can forgive someone without letting them off the hook for consequences that they have created. See you may have hurt me. And I can love you. But I don't have to give you my Netflix password again.

Here's something else that love is not. Love is not reconciliation. Not always. To quote another Metallica work - "Sad But True." You can love someone and because of what they've done to you or those who you love, because of the danger they still pose, or because proximity to you, access to you, their presence disturbs your mental, physical, spiritual, emotional, or psychological well being, you can love them from a distance. And you may have to. Some situations demand it. You can set boundaries and still show love. You can wish people well and pray for them from a distance while protecting your own well being. As is the case with me and Chomper… a neighborhood dog.

Listen, I love dogs. I do. I love animals period. But I love dogs. All dogs. Small dogs. Big dogs. Medium dogs. Smart dogs. Dumb dogs. Pretty dogs. Ugly dogs. Old dogs. Young dogs. Doesn't matter the breed, I love dogs. Well, when I go on walks around my neighborhood, with or without my own dog, there is a neighbor's dog right at the edge of the cul-de-sac. I call him "Chomper." I don't know his real name because we've never had a civil conversation. Not once. Every time I go on a walk, this dog hits his fence and barks at me aggressively - as in like 1980's Wrestling Promo Aggressively. Like he wants to tear my arm off and use it like a rawhide chew. Now it does not matter what I do. How nice I talk to him. He sees me regularly. Still the same thing - "I'm not a threat, what's your problem?" Doesn't matter. I can cross to the other side of the street. Give him a wide berth. Guess what. It's not wide enough for Chomper. Still goes nuts barking at me. But I'm trying. Cause I realize that my presence elicits a response from him that's not the best. And as much as him getting all riled up isn't pleasant for me, I imagine it's not pleasant for the dog either.

Here's what I know about Chomper. I recognize that that dog does not love me. And he is dangerous. He is hazardous to MY health and well being. If I get too close, he will bite me. Repeatedly. He will cause me injury. I don't hate Chomper. I love all dogs. Or at least I want to. But I have to love Chomper from a distance.

I mean Chomper no harm. I don't hate the dog. I just understand that the dog doesn't understand ME. And the dog is incapable of respecting healthy boundaries and if that cinder block wall and chain link fence weren't there, I would be kibbles and bits.

But you know what? If I saw that Chomper got out, even though that dog doesn't love me - I would call it's owner, I would call animal control. I would do my darnedest to make sure he doesn't get injured and he makes it home safe. I realize, if I go up to him with a leash and say "here boy" - I won't be just calling the owners or animal control, I'll be calling an ambulance for me. So I can't do that. I have to love him from a distance. If for some reason the owners got sick or were waylaid on a trip and the dog was crying for food or water, I realize I can't hop the fence and open up a bag of The Farmer's Dog for him. But I would do my best to figure out a way to get him food and water… maybe a drone or a rope and a bucket. I'd pray for him too.

We all have "Chompers" in our lives, don't we? Chomper does not love me. He thinks I'm the enemy. But I can still love Chomper. From a distance and protect myself. And I think that's still very much a Christ-like love.

You know, the Greeks had a lot of different words for love. Different words meant different things. In English, we just have "love" and it kind of spans a very broad definition. We can say, "I love dogs. I love tacos. I love my wife." Those are not the same kinds of love. At least I hope not. I mean, you do you… but the Greeks had different words for the kinds of love they were describing. Eros was romantic love. Phileo was brotherly love. Well the word that is used that we translate in this passage where Jesus says "love your enemies" is the word Agape. Actually it's a conjugation of the root Agape. <<agapate>> - Now this love - this Agape love - it is a love that is PACKED with defining characteristics. And if we don't get all of them, we might get the way we love our enemies wrong.

First - Agape love, you may have heard, is unconditional love. This is true. In Greek culture, and in the early Christian church, Agape love was considered the HIGHEST form of love. It is unconditional, selfless, AND sacrificial. And if we AGAPE our enemies - if we LOVE our enemies in this manner - it has to be this kind of love. "Hey, they were jerks to me. They tried to harm me." Yep. And under most conditions, that would be a clear "Nope. Not gonna love this person. They have not earned it. In fact they have earned my wrath." Not so for followers of Christ. We're gonna love em anyways… Selfless… I don't know how you love your enemies unless you take your self out of it. If I just love based on my own feelings, on my own human nature, yeah my enemies aren't being loved. But if I take my self out of the equation and I put Jesus into it… and I'm called to demonstrate the love of Christ… a form of AGAPE love… then it's gotta be selfless. And sacrificial - okay, once again, that does not mean sacrifice to the point of harm yourself. That does not mean putting yourself in harm's way. You were called to AGAPE, you were not called to put yourself on a cross. That was Jesus' mission, not yours. But to sacrifice… AGAPE love does sacrifice… it lays down our right to seek revenge. It lays down our right to be bitter or withhold blessings. It lays out our human hatred and kills it right there on the altar of AGAPE love.

Agape love was considered the highest form of love or CHARITY. It is a sacrificial love that transcends situations and relationships and exists regardless of the circumstances.

Agape love is also defined as "to love, to wish well to. It is a conscious dedication to the well-being of others without expecting anything in return." "To manifest generous concern for."

So to LOVE our enemies as Jesus asks us to do… is to wish well to our enemies. To work for the well being of our enemies.

I'm gonna give you one more part of the definition of AGAPE and this might be where the answer to the question "How do I love someone, I don't even like" lies.

Agape love is not driven by emotion, but by ACTION and deliberate choice.

When Jesus says "love your enemies" - that love that we are to show - it doesn't come from our feelings. Because we will probably never FEEL like loving a person who hurt us or who seeks ill will against us. It's not based on feelings or emotions -

Love is a choice.

And

Love is an action.

Put it together, and love is a choice to act in someone's best interests… whether they 'deserve' it or not. Whether we like them or not. And in the case of the Chompers in our lives… whether they like US or not.

Right? The question isn't just "How do we love people we don't even like." It's also "How do we love people that don't like us?" Enemies.

The answer is to CHOOSE not to respond in kind. Not to fight fire with fire. Your enemy can choose to have ill will toward you. You can CHOOSE not to have MUTUAL ill will. That doesn't mean you're not going to FEEL some kind of way about how they're treating you. That's natural. You're not an unfeeling robot. But instead of responding with ill will toward them, we CHOOSE to wish well to our enemies. And when given the opportunity to ACT in our enemies best interests without opening ourselves up to further harm, we CHOOSE to ACT for their well being without expecting anything in return.

The apostle Paul sums it up like this in Romans 12:19-21

Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the scriptures say, "I will take revenge; I will pay them back," says the Lord. Instead, "If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads." Don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.Romans 12:19-21

In other words… we choose to kill 'em with kindness.

Love your enemies… Kill 'em all.

Next week we'll talk about some practical ways to do this, even though it is exceedingly hard. We'll look at some more scriptures for some helpful advice on how to love our enemies. And we'll talk about the POSITIVE effects that loving your enemies has not just on them - but on YOU and your health as well.

Until next time, may the God who loves us all unconditionally teach us to love beyond fear, beyond anger and beyond revenge. Go in peace… and love em all. God bless you, have a great week!

I'm excited to be with you this morning, because today, I get to share one of the most misunderstood passages in all of scripture with you. Now some of you, you may already have the right interpretation and cultural understanding of the passage - but a few of you, I'm willing to bet your brains are gonna explode in the best possible way. And I am excited to see that.

Let's get right to the key verses of the day and we'll read them before we talk about them. This is part of Jesus' famous Sermon on the Mount. The excerpt we'll be looking at today comes from Matthew chapter 5 starting in verse 38. Jesus says -

You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat too. If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles.Matthew 5:38-42

Now, I said this was one of the most misunderstood passages in all of scripture. It's so misunderstood that a common phrase in our society now means something different than the original intent that Jesus was talking about. How many of you knew that "Go The Extra Mile" was a phrase that originated right here in Matthew 5:42? This is the origin of the phrase. "Go The Extra Mile. And in our culture - that's a good thing. Hertz rental cars ran an "Extra Mile" campaign, rewarding loyal members with elevated customer service - chauffeured rides, VIP seating at sporting events.

Dollar General stores had a campaign about "Going The Extra Mile" demonstrating that their stores and employees go above and beyond to support local communities.

There are a number of insurance companies and attorneys at law and advertising companies and basically any business that you can think of that advertise or make a part of their customer service philosophies and promises that they "Go The Extra Mile" for you. Which is great and positive in the modern day application and understanding of the phrase. But not what Jesus was addressing AT ALL in this passage. We'll get to the real meaning in bit.

Let's talk about "turning the other cheek." And people have been taught, or they have understood this phrase, in many cases to mean - "endure abuse." That if someone hit them or took advantage of them or was being evil to them that they were to just peacefully "take it." And not only "take it," but offer them the chance to do it again. Sometimes this idea was well meaning - because people thought they were behaving like Jesus. People saw a non-violent response as a positive AND IT IS… but it is only half the story.

If you have been told or have misinterpreted "turn the other cheek" as a way of saying "endure the abuse." "Continue to stay in a negative situation." "Let the person who is doing you harm get away with it unchallenged" and you think you should do that because its "Christ-like." I want to apologize to you right now and say that it is VITAL that we get this straight today for your well-being and for the sake of justice. Cultural context matters. And we'll explain the meaning of this phrase within the culture it originated in in just a second.

I would be remiss if I didn't take this time to state that "turn the other cheek" has also been weaponized and abused in our culture as a way of telling victims and those who are hurting or those who are victims of injustice to "be quiet." "Stay silent." Those who have been absued, discriminated against, bullied, harassed or manipulated have heard "turn the other cheek" as a suggestion to silence them. To hand-wave away consequences for those on the other side. To say - "Don't make a scene. Don't rock the boat." "Be like Jesus. Be the bigger person."

"Turn the other cheek" IS about being the bigger person in many ways. But it is not about remaining silent in the face of injustice. And it is not about "taking it." And it is most certainly NOT about not drawing attention to or not calling out bad behavior directed toward you. And again, if you've ever gotten that peace of advice in the face of somebody behaving terribly toward you - somebody continually violating your boundaries or the boundaries of those who you love or whom God loves - then once again, I apologize for the bad advice you have received. And I think it's necessary to point out that sometimes the people saying to you "turn the other cheek" and meaning "shhhh. Don't say anything. Don't make a scene. Don't stand up for yourself." Sometimes they think they are protecting peace… at any cost…even if it costs YOU because you continue to suffer in silence or are being held to a higher standard than your oppressor. They are mistaken. They are not protecting peace. They are protecting the person or entities causing harm or the they are protecting the system that allowed it in the first place. And they may be doing that consciously. They may also not even realize they are doing it subconsciously. Because let's face it - it's a lot easier to tell a wounded person to be quiet than it is to confront the one doing the wounding.

When Jesus said "turn the other cheek"… He was not telling you to be quiet.

Likewise. When Jesus said "turn the other cheek"… He was not telling you to be a doormat.

He was not telling oppressed people to accept oppression or let it go unchallenged. He was not telling abused people or people in harm's way to stay in dangerous and toxic situations.

On the contrary - Jesus was calling His followers to take courageous steps to resist evil and reclaim our humanity and dignity without being evil or violent ourselves.

See - far too often, we see things as binary. There are only two options when faced with oppression and injustice and violence toward us -

Option A: Choose violence. Hurt them back. Hurt them in the same way they hurt me. But clearly, that's not what Jesus is calling for. He takes the old law of "an eye for an eye" and says - nahhh. Let's not do that.

You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say, do not resist an evil person!Matthew 5:38-39

And once again, context matters. If we just see "do not resist an evil person" we're not getting the full story. Jesus laying out the, at the time, accepted legal consequences "an eye for an eye" - the concept of "lex talionis" before saying not to resist an evil person was Jesus saying "Don't respond in kind." Don't let evil people make you do evil things. Just because they're behaving badly doesn't mean you should do it back to them.

So Jesus says no to Option A:

So we think - okay, well then Option B: as in BE a doormat.

Like we're just supposed to act like one of those way too cheery help-line customer service reps to our bullies? "Once again, we'd like to thank you for hurting us. Is there anything else we can do to make your experience of taking advantage of us more comfortable?"

But if we read the passage right - we would understand that Option B is not it either. Jesus rejected passivity. So should we.

Instead - Jesus gives us secret option C: and the C stands for Courageous. The C stands for Creative. And the C stands for Christ-like.

Option C: Turn the other cheek - in the way it was meant to be understood. Let's break it down.

So Jesus says,

If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.Matthew 5:39

Alright. Jesus straight up says, "if they slap you on the Right cheek." Very specific. There's a reason for that. In the ancient culture that Jesus lived in, a slap on the right cheek was usually, almost universally, delivered with the back of the right hand. A backhanded slap to the person facing you. Sometimes we call it something different, depending on what neighborhood you were raised in, but we've all seen it. Some of you, just think back to all those late 70's movies and you'll get the picture real quick.

And this slap, was less about the physical injury that it caused and more about the humiliating insult that it was. And this type of slap - it was reserved for someone of lower status than you. As gross as this is. A slave owner backhanding a slave. A Roman soldier backhanding a common Jew in the land that they were occupying. This was a way of telling someone - in the most public and humiliating way possible - "You are worthless. You are less than. You don't matter. You are beneath me." The late historian and theologian Walter Wink, called the backhanded slap "the most severe public affront to a person's dignity."

So let's say that happens. You're a Jew under Roman occupation. You're being treated not just as a commoner, but as a second class citizen, so a Roman soldier backhands you. And Jesus gives this creative advice - "Turn the other cheek." Here's why. People didn't slap with the left hand. It was considered the 'unclean' hand for reasons we don't need to go into today. So by offering the person who slapped you your left cheek, you're forcing them to slap you with the PALM of their hand. But in that ancient culture, you only slapped an equal with the palm of your hand. So when you offer the other cheek, you're saying "Okay. You can slap me again, but if you do, you'll have to treat me as your equal." You're no longer slapping somebody below you. You're slapping someone on your level. You treated me as a thing. Now you have to treat me like a person. Can you imagine the first time one of Jesus' followers did this? To a Roman soldier, someone of higher status, to a slave owner- who knows… do you know the kind of brain short-circuiting that probably caused their oppressor? They probably had no idea what to do. "Does not compute." The oppressed put the oppressor in a difficult situation publicly. And by turning the other cheek in this manner, it does a number of things. First - it reclaims the victim's humanity. It reclaims dignity through defiance. Turning the other cheek says "you can hit me, but you don't get to define me. You don't get to determine my worth. You don't set mu value. God sets my value." And look, Jesus knew who His audience was. He says - "don't respond back the same way. Don't get violent." Why? Because not only is that the best of us - but in a situation where the power dynamic was CLEARLY in one side's favor. Master vs. Slave. Occupier vs. Occupied. Means versus No Means. It would be so easy for the powers that be, the empire, to say 'this is a revolt. This is an insurrection. Look at how violent these people are.' And what would happen? They ramp up the violence and rhetoric against them. More people probably suffer because the oppressors have an excuse for their oppression. But a courageous, non-violent response - it doesn't open the doors for that. And think about what kind of message it sends to everyone watching? Does it instill courage and remove fear in the hearts of the oppressed? Does it make the oppressors think twice about what they're doing? Does it shame the oppressor? You better believe it.

Let's move on to the second suggestion Jesus gives -

If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat too.Matthew 5:40

Okay. You ever hear the term "I'm gonna sue the pants off that guy!?" Well in the ancient world, this was actually a thing. In Jesus' culture, you could literally sue to the point of taking the shirt off of someone's back. Now think about who would be affected by that? Where you get to the point where the court takes the shirt off of your back. The poor. Those without a lot of resources. Because you sue somebody who owns multiple vineyards, multiple herds of cattle, a successful business, you're probably going to get the judgment before you get them down to their undergarments. But what about those who had nothing? To take their only thing that had value? Or to take the LAST thing that had value? And yet - people would cruelly do it. So the image is - a wealthy creditor sues someone for their shirt. And if you don't see that as a form of injustice or cruelty, maybe you work for Roman Express, I don't know.

But what's the deal with the coat? Okay. There were laws against taking the coat - or the outer cloak. In Exodus 22:26-27 part of the law of Moses it says -

If you take your neighbor's cloak as security for a loan, you must return it before sunset. This coat may be the only blanket your neighbor has. How can a person sleep without it? If you do not return it and your neighbor cries out to me for help, then I will hear, for I am merciful.Exodus 22:26-27

So when Jesus says, "give your coat too." He's giving a strategy in which the oppressed highlights the oppression. "You want my shirt? Well all I have left is my cloak. My coat. Take it. You must need it. You're taking my shirt - so surely - take the coat too. My warmth. My sad excuse for shelter. Take it.

Imagine the shock of the court and the witnesses of the court proceeding in that moment. If they haven't seen it already - because sometimes we do this - "well it's the law. Technically they can do it. Technically they can take his shirt. It's his fault to begin with. He got sued, you know." No. When the person says "take my coat too" it shines a light. It paints the picture for what it is - not just a court proceeding based solely on the letter of the law. It's a wealthy person squeezing a poor person for everything they've got. Unchecked greed… profit without compassion or limits. That's what is highlighted when the person says, "here, take my coat too." You've taken everything from me that you can up to the letter of the law, the Spirit of the law means nothing to you. Common decency means nothing to you. Money means everything to you. Greed is highlighted and exposed. But not only that - this is another form of creative, non-violent resistance.

Right - cause I mean the desire after being pushed so far after having everything taken from you can make you feel like Milton from the movie Office Space. The greedy,. Self-centered manager and corporation have taken everything from you down to your trusty, red Swingline stapler. And at that point Milton says - "Okay. But I'm gonna burn down the building." When people have lost their dignity, when they've had it taken away - when they feel like they have no other options, they may resort to violence for revenge, to get even, to get back even the tiniest fraction of what they had, or just to shine a light on injustice.

But Jesus gives another creative option. Resistance that doesn't require violence. Resistance that ironically leaves the oppressor exposed while they are stripping their victim naked. When Jesus says "give them your coat too." He is offering the victim to say, "you can take my possessions, down to my very last thing, but you cannot take my humanity or my dignity. The victim refuses to be humiliated, and instead the greedy one with no limits, no compassion - they are humiliated publicly. Do you think the public's perception of that greedy person might change upon recognizing their lack of humanity and compassion? Do you think that those who did business with the creditor before would be so eager to do business with them after such a public humiliation?

Creative resistance. Reclaiming the dignity that is inherently a part of being a special creation of God, no matter where you stack up according to social or economic status.

Alright, let's get to the last one. The last one is my favorite. And it's the one that has changed meaning the most in our society.

Jesus tells the crowds -

If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles.Matthew 5:41

I already told you how advertisers latch onto the idea of "we go the extra mile for you." Well, a lot of Christ followers have taken that idea and ran with it and applied it in the world they live in, the lives they live, the best they know how. So they took "go the extra mile" to mean 'stay late at work. Put in extra effort. Volunteer for yet another committee or ministry. Help your neighbor move a couch." And all of those things - they are Christ-like. They are lovely. Right, we outdo each other in showing honor. That's what the apostle Paul recommended. We lay down our lives for our friends and sacrifice. That's what Jesus said to do. So that's fine. But that's not what Jesus was talking about in this passage.

Once again, this is an example of creative resistance and reclaiming dignity.

Here's the historical context - in the culture that Jesus was preaching in - Roman law allowed soldiers to force civilians to carry their gear for one mile. Not because there was a need. Just… because. Do you think this was abused? Do you think that if Roman soldiers wanted to abuse people that this might be a way of legally harassing them? Do you think this was a way that Roman soldiers could be cruel, especially to a group of people under their occupation who maybe they felt that they were above? Yeah. It probably happened all the time. Imagine you're coming home from a long day of work, and you got groceries - everything fresh - there was no refrigerators back there, and you're bringing home food for the family to eat dinner. Your butt was already dragging. All you wanted to do was go home, see your family, and eat and rest. And it's late already. But then a Roman soldier comes up to you and says "carry my stuff." So what do you do? You don't have a choice. You set the groceries down, you hope they'll still be there after you've walked two miles - the mile with the soldier and then the mile back. You hope they'll still be good. Your family is at home waiting, worrying about you, hungry. There's no cell phones to call home and let them know you got waylaid by a cruel Roman soldier. And you don't have a choice. So you carry their gear.

This was publicly humiliating. It reduced humans to being 'beasts of burden.' Alright, but there was a catch. A legal catch. The solider could only force a civilian to carry their gear for one mile, maximum. If they forced the civilian to carry the gear further than a mile, the soldier could be subject to serious punishment including but not limited to paying fines, loss of pay, demotion in rank, flogging by a centurion's vine-staff, or even dishonorable discharge. And by now, after seeing the other creative examples Jesus gave, you're probably starting to get it.

So let's say you're the unlucky civilian that got picked by a cruel Roman soldier to carry their gear for a mile. Just to mess with you. Just to humiliate you. To treat you like a beast of burden. To demean you and to make their life easier. So you go. But then as the mile marker is coming up, you keep going. You keep walking. The soldier tells you to stop. But you're like, "nah, I got this. Your shoulders must be hurting. I'm sure you're exhausted, even though you're one of Rome's finest. I got this. Let me carry it another mile for you." And you know the soldier would start sweating. He'd start worrying. Cause civilians aren't supposed to carry their stuff more than a mile. He'd be reaching for his pack - "give it back. Right now." And you just keep going - "Look, I know I'm just a commoner without your mighty Roman soldier stamina and strength, but you look a little faint. Let me take this another mile for you." And you just know the Roman soldier would be like "Give it back! Seriously!"

And suddenly the one who forced you to take the extra load is begging you to give it back.

It's a total flip of power dynamics. And it takes the one who was forced to do something, and gives them back agency. The power to choose. And what would that look like for everyone watching? Does it humiliate the soldier? Does it make the 'lesser than' look powerful and in control? Does it reclaim human dignity and confidence and dare I say, 'swagger?' You know, this happens a couple of times and word gets around, how many Roman soldiers do you think are gonna think twice about forcing someone to carry their gear for a mile?

It's another example of creative resistance in the face of oppression. Another example of publicly shining a light on abuse and injustice and reclaiming dignity without resorting to violence.

And that's the genius of Jesus.

So now that we understand the situation, let's add this to our list -

#38 on our list of Fifty Things

#38 - TURN THE OTHER CHEEK

But see, it's a catchy phrase… it's one we use in our society - but we use it wrong. And we don't have Go the Extra Mile or Give them your Coat too on here. That would be a really long entry. So how should we put this? Maybe like this -

#38 - RESIST INJUSTICE (CREATIVELY & NON-VIOLENTLY)

Turning the other cheek, Going the extra mile, Giving your coat too… it's not about submission to evil intent or unchecked power. It's resistance through freedom of choice. At the end of the day, it is about standing up against injustice and reclaiming freedom and dignity.

Obviously Freedom will be on the minds of many this upcoming weekend. Fourth of July. Independence Day. The 250th birthday of this great experiment. And as I was researching for this message, I kept thinking of modern day applications of these principles. Because the scenarios may change, but the idea of resisting injustice creatively and non-violently still works and is still very Christ-like.

And I couldn't help but think of some of the times our country didn't always get it right. For long periods of time. I kept flashing back to the Civil Rights Movement and the non-violent and creative resistance of individuals like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and those who stood alongside him.

They faced attack dogs without attacking back themselves.

They stood up to hatred without becoming hateful.

They shined a light on evil. They exposed evil without becoming evil.

Dr. King had a famous quote and I'll share it with you here because I think it aligns with the stuff we've been reading today. He said - "Violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars."

But History proves that turning the other cheek, going the extra mile and creatively and non-violently resisting injustice brings freedom. Love and truth and dignity exposes injustice and wins freedom.

Look, our nation, our systems,, our government, our politics, our economy, our media, our laws, and quite frankly the world as a whole doesn't always get it right. And we may encounter injustice on a grand scale, like the civil rights movement, like economic disparity, like oppression of people groups, or we may encounter it on a personal scale - things that are happening in our own homes, our workplaces, our peer groups, even in online communities.

And I want to be very clear - if you are being abused, harassed, discriminated against, manipulated, bullied, threatened or slandered, Jesus is not advocating for you to silently endure mistreatment. He is teaching us to not resist evil WITH evil. To not become what hurts us.

On the contrary, I think He wants us to combine #38 on our list

#38 - RESIST INJUSTICE (CREATIVELY & NON-VIOLENTLY)

With some other things we covered on the list of Fifty Things

Be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.Matthew 10:16

#16 - BE SHREWD AS SNAKES

#17 - BE HARMLESS AS DOVES

We are not called to be doormats or victims. We are followers of Jesus. And Jesus was loving, and compassionate and forgiving… but He was never a doormat. He did not allow injustice to go unchallenged. This is the same Jesus that flipped tables in the temple and chased out profiteers with a whip of cords. This is the same Jesus who constantly challenged abusive power structures. This is the same Jesus who stood toe-to-toe against emperors, governors, and religious elites. Who didn't just preach love… but also preached change.

We too are called to be agents of transformation. And regardless of whatever nation or power structure that we find ourselves in, we are called to be the Kingdom of God. A Kingdom that exposes injustice. A Kingdom that stands with the vulnerable. A Kingdom where we refuse to become the evil we oppose. A Kingdom where we creatively and courageously reveal that another way is possible. A Kingdom where love wins, where dignity matters, where every person bears the image of God.

And if you are struggling with injustice right now in any way shape or form, I hope that you will hang on to the truths that we shared today and remember in your mind and write this upon your heart -

People can backhand me, but they cannot pluck me from my Savior's hand.

People can take my shirt. But they cannot remove the covering of my Heavenly Father's love.

People can force me to walk long distances to places I do not want to go, but they can never stop me from walking with Jesus and they will certainly never stop Jesus from walking with me.

You can't slap the Jesus out of me, you can't shame the Jesus out of me and you can't sweat the Jesus out of me.

In the end, love will win, injustice will not but the hard part is living in the now. Living for Jesus and resisting injustice creatively and non-violently.

You know what's even harder than resisting our enemies? Loving them. And we'll talk about that… next week.

Until next time, wave your flag proudly, but carry your cross faithfully. May you have the courage to stand up against injustice, the wisdom to do it without violence and the love to reflect Jesus in every step. God bless you! Have a great week!

Where are my nerds at? And I say that as a fellow nerd, with the utmost reverence and respect. You're not just a casual enjoyer, you have moved into rabid fandom at some point with something like let's say Star Wars - any Jedi masters with us today? Any members of the Fandom Menace with us? Star Trek fans? Where are my Trekkies at? And by the way, I know, we prefer to be called "Trekkers." I'm taking it back. See I can call myself a Trekkie… but.. never mind. Live long and prosper fellow Federation members. Any comic book fans in the house? Where's my Marvel people at? Excelsior! Where's my DC people at? Wonder nerd powers, activate! I can say that because we're SuperFriends. Any other comics fans here that like one of the non-major labels? Image? Top Cow? Dark Horse? Archie Comics? Betty or Veronica? See - I knew you were in here. How about general fans of all things horror and sci-fi? Anybody remember Uncle Forry? His publication was the gateway for many a young monster fan back in the day. I could keep going - anime fans? CCG fans? Pokemon? Magic? D&D fans? Anybody like painting miniatures in here?

Well, whatever your specific nerd-out or fandom is - I welcome you today, but you know, you must be tested. You must PROVE your fandom. Don't worry - it's an easy quiz and yes, it does have something to do with the message today. It's time to play everybody's favorite Game Show - "Who's Your Daddy?!"

Here's how the game works. I'm gonna give you a character and I want you to tell me who their daddy is.

(Click on questions to reveal answers)

Q: Luke Skywalker. Who's his daddy?

A: Darth Vader / Anakin Skywalker

Q: Peter Quill / Starlord. Who's his daddy?

A: Ego.

Q: Count Alucard. Who's his daddy?

A: Count Dracula - from the Universal Horror film "Son of Dracula."

Q: Countess Zaleska. Who's her daddy?

A: Also Count Dracula. Ol' Drac got around. From the Universal Horror film "Dracula's Daughter."

Q: Baron Wolf. Who's his daddy?

A: Wolf von Frankenstein. His daddy was Victor Frankenstein. From the Universal Horror film "Son of Frankenstein."

Q: Gamora. Who's her daddy?

A: Thanos, the mad titan.

And this is an interesting list. Anybody realize what all these fathers had in common? They're all villains. Every single one of these characters - the sons and daughters have to wrestle with not only who they are, but they must struggle with the weight of the question - "Who's Your Daddy?" Yeah- bet you never realized that a lot of fandoms are like a giant support group for people with parental issues, did you? Not exclusively - but it's a thing, lemme tell you.

The reason why this is a struggle, is not just because of the reputations of these character's fathers. They have to live with that. The fear and the anger and the sadness and stress that their father's produced is part of the legacy that they left to their children. But we also know that we tend to inherit some of the traits and beliefs of our parents. Of our Fathers. And so the struggle which is always below the surface for these characters is healthy development in spite of who their fathers are. How much family resemblance will these characters wind up showing?

Alright. I want you to keep these things in the back of your mind while we unpack today's entry into our "Fifty Things" list. It comes from something that Jesus says to Nicodemus in John chapter 3. We'll pick up the interaction in verse 1 of the chapter.

There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. "Rabbi," he said, "we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you."

And Jesus doesn't even say 'thank you for the compliment.' 'Thank you for realizing who sent me.' Instead he gets right to the point.

Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God." "What do you mean?" Exclaimed Nicodemus. "How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again?" Jesus replied, "I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don't be surprised when I say, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit."John 3:1-8

So #37 on our list of Fifty Things is

#37 - BE BORN AGAIN

You know, it's interesting isn't it - as soon as Jesus says, "You must be born again," Nicodemus, a religious leader and teacher immediately reverts to human understanding and human scenarios - "he's thinking of earthly birth. How we come into this world." But Jesus corrects his thinking and says, essentially, "this is about SPIRITUAL RE-birth. How we come into the Kingdom of God."

And if we're truly going to understand what Jesus means and apply it to our lives, we have to ask a question:

If I'm born again… who's my daddy? Who becomes my Father? Because who our Father is gonna have a big effect on our family resemblance and tendencies as we grow. And some of it is hard to avoid. Even if you want to.

Anybody ever have the horrifying realization that you're becoming more and more like your parents as you get older? I say this in jest - I love my parents very much - but I think we all grew up seeing a couple of things our parents did and we said to ourselves, "I'm not doing that when I get older." But something happens. It creeps up on you. One day out of nowhere, you start following people out of rooms, turning off the lights behind them saying things like, "What do I look like the electric company?" And then you're like "Oh no. What was that? I have solar. It's not that big a deal. What happened there?" Yeah - sends shivers down your spine. I grew up thinking R2-D2 and droids were cool, now I'm yelling at delivery bots I pass on the street.

You've seen those Progressive insurance commercials - "we can't stop you from becoming your parents?" Oh man, there's truth to those commercials. They're funny because they're true. Some of you have had those moments. One day you're out exploring the world and full of hopes and curiosity, the next day, you're making noises getting out of your chair. One day, you're out partying at a Rave until dawn. The next day you suddenly have very strong opinions about thermostats and lawn maintenance. And you know it's bad when we start saying things our parents said.

You know why we do these things? You know why we slip into these habits and phrases and philosophies even though when we were younger, we said we weren't going to? Because family shapes us. Especially our parents. They shape our habits. They shape our attitudes. They shape how we handle conflict. They shape how and who we love. Sometimes they shape what we struggle with and how we hurt.

We naturally take after our parents. But it doesn't mean we HAVE to inherit things that are damaging. Case in point - being that this is NERD CHURCH - Luke Skywalker.

Biologically - he is Darth Vader's son. And he did inherit a lot from his father. He's strong in the Force. He's naturally a great pilot. He has a natural aptitude for mechanics - repairs and crafting.

That's what he inherited naturally. But Luke wasn't RAISED by Vader. Can you imagine if he was? Who would Luke be? What would be different about the Star Wars universe? I'll tell you - The rebel alliance would've lasted about six minutes, the Tusken Raider population would've been significantly lower and no one in the galaxy would be allowed to play in a sandbox or build a sand castle. ("I hate sand.")

But Luke wasn't shaped by Vader. He was raised by Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. He was influenced by Obi-Wan Kenobi. He had friends like Biggs Darklighter. Different influences. Different families. Different parental figures. Different outcome.

Same DNA. Different ideals and influences.

Better ideals and influences. A better and deeper purpose. A different example to emulate. And that's exactly what Jesus was getting at in His conversation with Nicodemus. He tells Nicodemus - "You must be born again." Not "You must become more religious." Not "You must join a church." Not "You must vote a certain way." Not "You need to memorize enough Bible verses to win Bible Jeopardy." Jesus said

You must be born again.John 3:7

Sounds like a weird thing to say, but when you examine it further, it makes so much sense. See, so many of us show up on Jesus' doorstep like Nicodemus, looking for answers, looking for next steps, looking to find purpose and meaning. But we show up on Jesus' doorstep with all kinds of baggage from the human families that we've been a part of. Our own family. Previous church families. Peers and friends groups and jobs and businesses and voices in the media.

So we show up and knock on Jesus' door dragging along with us our fears. Our assumptions. Our prejudices. Our unhealthy coping mechanisms. Our anger. Our insecurities. Our very human, sometimes sinful, often petty desires. And we want Jesus to fix us, but we think along human lines. We think He's gonna do it in human ways. But I think if we were standing in front of Jesus like Nicodemus had the privilege of doing, we would hear Jesus say something like - "You need more than behavior modification. You need more than a self-help plan. You need more than religion. You need to be born again. You need a new birth."

A birth… is truly a beginning. So to be "born again" means to experience a "new beginning." The Greek phrase that we translate in scripture as "born again" can actually also be translated as born from above" It's an intentional linguistic device. An intentional double-meaning. We're born again - we have a new beginning, a fresh start… a new life that originates from God. "Born from above." And that's the point. We have a new source from which we originate. We have a new Heavenly Father. We have a new family - the family of God. The Kingdom of God. And a new beginning.

The apostle Paul describes the transformation like this -

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!2 Corinthians 5:17

Now here's where what I'm going to say next might make some of you a little uncomfortable. Some of you are like, "We started with "Who's Your Daddy?" How much more uncomfortable can it get?" It's an uncomfortable truth, but I think we need to be aware of it.

You can call yourself "born again" and still look nothing like Jesus. Very little family resemblance. People wouldn't know who your Heavenly Father was by observing your behavior. People wouldn't realize that you were joint heirs with the King.

Like almost anything good and pure, eventually things get co-opted for other purposes. Meanings change. Associations change. And the phrase "born again Christian" which kind of experienced a resurgence into the mainstream in the mid seventies, originally meaning exactly what it meant in scripture - a follower of Christ who had experienced a new beginning, a new life in Christ - well by the time the 80's hit, it got co-opted by the moral majority, political movements, the religious right, televangelists and those who sought to align the term "born again" with a very specific subset of Christianity. And some of us who grew up during that time, we may hear the words "born again" and just have a 'cringe' reaction because of what it reminds us of. Who it reminds us of. So try not to get triggered when you hear the phrase "born again." We're taking it back.

Here's the thing - I think a large part of Christianity just automatically uses "born again" as a synonym for "saved." As in - "I put my trust in Jesus, I believe He paid the price for my sins and one day I will experience eternal life with Him in Heaven." I submit to you that that is a PART of being 'born again.' But being 'saved' and 'being born again' they might be two separate things. You may have experienced the ultimate act of grace and love from Jesus because of His goodness. But did you experience a rebirth? "Who's your daddy?" See I say that because our inspiration should come from Jesus. Jesus said - "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father." John 14:9

I and the Father are one.John 10:30

So, if we've been born again, by the Spirit, and God is our Heavenly Father - then our actions ought to emulate the life of Christ. Because that's who we should be being discipled by. But some of us - we went looking for Jesus, and maybe we were 'born again' - but instead of being discipled by Jesus in the image of our Heavenly Father, some of us - we were discipled by Father Fear, and Brother Bitter. Some of us weren't "born again" into Christ. We were "born again" into somebody's church culture. Who discipled you? Who raised you spiritually? Who taught you what following Jesus looked like? Because sometimes, people think they're born again - but they are not "born from above." They are born and shaped by religious culture. They are born and shaped by angry preachers. They are born and shaped by fear and legalism and judgment and politics and traditions. And eventually, they start resembling those influences, instead of Jesus. Look - if you are 'saved' but you're mean all the time… if you're 'saved' but you're judgmental all the time… you call yourself a Christian but you are bitter all the time, yo see people as enemies or rivals instead of neighbors… then might I suggest that you're not acting like you've been born from above. Maybe you need to be "born again."

You know, when we actually read the Gospels and see what Jesus is like. He's eating with sinners. Welcoming outsiders. Touching lepers. Defending women. Blessing children. Forgiving enemies. Showing compassion. Feeding the hungry. Bringing hope to the hopeless. If we're born again… that's what we ought to resemble. We ought to take after our Father. And we may have to work at it - but that should be the shining example that we strive for.

Here's one of the other great things about our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ. He never leaves us nor forsakes us. We may not always get it right. There may be times that we resemble some of the human traits we inherited… but Jesus will never leave us. And we're told that

If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.1 John 1:9

We may have been abandoned by earthly family in the past, but our Heavenly Father will never leave us. No matter how hard it gets. And one of the most beautiful truths contained in scripture tells us that God doesn't just forgive us - He adopts us.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name. John 1:12 (NASB) They are reborn- not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from GodJohn 1:13

We are God's adopted children. We are family with Jesus. We have belonging in His Kingdom. We have a HOME in Heaven.

Alright- because it's Nerd Church - I have one more illustration for you that I think fits. How many of you have seen the Guardians of the Galaxy movies? Let's talk about Star-Lord. Peter Quill. He spent years looking for his father. And eventually he finds him. Ego. And it turns out that Ego - well, he's powerful. He's cosmic. He's got resources and means and he's impressive. But also completely toxic and selfish. But through the course of the movie, Quill realizes his real father figure was Yondu. And Yondu gives us one of the greatest lines in movie history as well as basically the thesis for my message today - "He may have been your father, boy, but he wasn't your daddy."

Who's your daddy? It's Father's Day, and look, as much as Mother's Day can be tough, Father's Day can be too. We all have fathers… not everybody had daddies. Some of us had parents who did amazing. Some didn't. Some were here. Some were absent. Some were loving. Some were abusive. Some had time to give. Some were overwhelmed. All of them were dealing with their own wounds and issues and baggage.

Part of the Good News of the Gospel is that no matter how good or bad or in-between your Father was, God becomes the Father you always needed.

See the first time around, we don't choose our family. We're just born into it and we inherit what we inherit. I got my mom's anxiety and my dad's temper. Didn't ask for either one. I just inherited them. And subconsciously over the years, I picked up habits and ideas and traits from them.

But here's the cool thing. When you're born again - you choose who you're going to imitate. You choose who you're going to emulate. And the Holy Spirit over time during a process of sanctification - big word - just means 'becoming more like Jesus' is gonna make sure you inherit some of His traits. But the second we choose to follow Jesus - we can also choose to reject our human sinful inklings, and instead choose to live like Him. We can choose forgiveness. We can choose grace. We can choose compassion. We can choose mercy. We can choose generosity. We can choose understanding. We can choose love. Folks, if love is not present, it is an indicator that you may need to be

born again.1 John 4:7

&8 tells us - "Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love."

Anyone who doesn't love… doesn't know God. But anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. Who knows God? Not the one with the best theology. Not the one with the best arguments or the best debate tactics. Not the one with the biggest Bible or charity tax write off.

The one who knows God is the one who loves. Because eventually, children resemble their fathers. We just can't help it.

Let me go ahead and give you what follows that verse as we wrap up today -

God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love - not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.1 John 4:9-10

"Who's your Daddy?" Look, if you don't have a relationship with the Heavenly Father, if you haven't been "born again." If you've never put your trust and faith in Jesus - then there is no time like the present. Be born again and let Him give you a new beginning that is born from above. Learn to live and love like Jesus. Not only will He give you the gift of eternal life, He will give you the gift of abundant life - life with true meaning and purpose when we live like Jesus.

Thank you so much for letting me share with you today. Hopefully more celebration or rest and relaxation await the fathers out there - whatever you need. It's Nerd Church. You guys want to hear a really nerdy benediction? Okay. Here it goes:

"It doesn't matter if you're a Jedi in pristine robes, or a scruffy-looking nerf herder. It doesn't matter if you're Dracula's daughter or the Son of Frankenstein. It doesn't matter what family you were born into. What matters is whose family you're joining. Because in Christ, the old has gone, the new has come. You are loved, adopted and accepted. Children of the King. Remember… the Lord will be with you… always.

Today's entry into our list of Fifty Things comes from Matthew 11:15 where Jesus makes this interesting statement -

Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!Matthew 11:15

Now you may have grown up hearing something more along the lines of

Whoever has ears, let them hear.Matthew 11:15 (NIV)

or

He who has ears to hear, let him hearMatthew 11:15 (NKJV)

So there's obviously something going on here with this statement. This isn't just "listen up." This statement that Jesus says here implies that not everyone who is listening will understand. Not everyone who hears what Jesus says will "get it." Not everyone who has ears actually has "ears to hear." Not everyone who hears it, or perhaps in today's day and age reads it, will UNDERSTAND it.

So #36 on our list of Fifty things is

#36 - HEAR (AND UNDERSTAND)

Now, Jesus winds up saying this same phrase a number of times throughout the Gospels besides in this passage in Matthew 11 which we'll be coming back to. He says it immediately after sharing the Parable of the Sower and in the case of Mark 4:23, the Parable of the Sower is attached to the analogy of hiding your light under a basket.

Matthew 13:9, Mark 4:9, Mark 4:23, Luke 8:8

We see Jesus use the phrase

Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understandMatthew 13:43

after explaining the parable of the wheat and the weeds, or the wheat and the tares.

And Jesus once again says the phrase after using a salt analogy saying that flavorless salt

is useless either for the soil or the manure pile, so it is thrown out. The one who has ears to hear, let him hear.Matthew 13:43 (NASB)

Now, we hear this phrase, we read this phrase, and maybe we think "well, this is pretty easy. This is pretty self explanatory. "Seems pretty easy. Just gotta listen to Jesus and pick up what He's laying down." Simple.

Is it though? See - the whole reason we're looking at these Fifty Things - not only are they the commands that Jesus gave to His followers, not only are these the examples that Jesus lived out for us. But these are the things that can transform our lives if we actively put them into practice. But even when they sound easy, sometimes they're not as easy as we might expect them to be.

Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!Matthew 11:15

There's a difference between having ears… and having ears to hear…. And that's the difference between physical hearing and spiritual hearing… the difference between receiving the sound waves somebody else produces, and understanding the heart and the intention behind what is said.

Does anybody want to admit to having selective hearing? I think most of us, if we're honest, we can be 'selective listeners.' A couple of nights ago, we had a movie night at the house, we were watching the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. And you know, my daughter's hearing was perfect all night. You want dessert? No problem hearing and understanding. You want some hot chocolate? You want me to show you the end credit scene when the movie is over? No problem hearing and understanding. But then the movie was over. The credit cookies are over. It's time to clean up and go to bed. So I turned to my loving, cuddly daughter who had been tuned in to what I was saying all night and I said, "Okay, kid. It's time to go get pajamas on and get ready for bed." And I kid you not - do you know what she did? She stuck her fingers in her ears. And had the audacity to say "What dad? I can't hear you." No matter how loud I was. No matter how many times I called her a punk." Couldn't hear me. I'm sure if I had said, "Hey, let's stay up late and have ice cream" she would've heard me no problem. But my daughter didn't hear me… because she had selective hearing. She literally did not WANT to Hera what I was saying.

Now we're not little kids. Most of us. I'm guessing most of them are in Children's Ministry right now. We're not little kids. But we can do the spiritual equivalent of sticking our fingers in our ears if there's something we don't want to hear.

Let's face it - far too often… we hear what we WANT to hear. We hear what confirms what we already believe. We hear what supports our preferences. We hear what makes us comfortable. We hear what benefits us.

When Jesus says

Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!Matthew 11:15

He is talking about something deeper. And most of us - when we don't have the ears to hear…

WE DON'T HAVE A HEARING PROBLEM

WE HAVE A LISTENING PROBLEM

And ultimately that's because

WE DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH OUR EARS

WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH OUR HEART

When Jesus speaks and shares or demonstrates through His actions something that challenges us on a core level - a truth that is difficult for us to accept - do we have a heart that is open enough, humble enough, courageous enough to hear and understand the truth even when it makes us uncomfortable or turns our world upside down? Do we have a heart to listen and accept when what Jesus says puts us in close proximity to things we don't understand or like? Do we have the heart to apply what we hear from Jesus when doing so would mean that we would have to admit that we were wrong on some previous level? Can we hear and assimilate a truth of Jesus when it costs us personally - when it means I may not get something I had my heart set on.

Of course communication from Jesus isn't the only communication that can affect our hearts.

We hear so many voices every single day. Sincerely. We are exposed to so many forms of communication - tv, radio, internet, conversations, the written word, advertisements. There's an inundation of information. But there's a difference between the information that we hear, and the information that we let go to our hearts. Because that's the stuff that really matters. Because the information and communication that we allow into our hearts is what causes transformation. For good and bad.

And we have a choice in the matter of what we listen to and take in and accept. In fact, if we are followers of Christ, we have a responsibility to be aware of what we let into our ears and our hearts. We cannot feign ignorance. Jesus says in John 10:27

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.John 10:27

We need to know His voice. You know why? Because there are a lot of voices claiming to speak for Jesus. A LOT. And some of you may be sick of me saying stuff like this, but it's so important. We HAVE to know our Shepherd's voice. Because everybody's got a podcast. Everybody's got a YouTube channel. Everybody's got a social media presence. Everybody's got a 'hot take. Everybody's got something to say and some of them sound NOTHING like Jesus.

And if you're mad about me saying that… ask yourself 'why?'

And while we're asking important and introspective questions, let's ask this one - why is it so hard to hear Jesus' voice sometimes? Why is it so hard to hear and understand? Well, there's some hints in Matthew chapter 13. After saying

Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand." We read His disciples came and asked Him, "Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?" He replied, "You are permitted to understand the secrets ('mysteries' in Greek) of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. That is why I use these parables.Matthew 13:9-13

The more we make an active effort to listen TO JESUS. To UNDERSTAND JESUS, the more understanding we're gonna get. The more knowledgeable we will be when it comes to following Jesus and understanding His will and His ways. But that means, we gotta want it. We gotta want the pure, unfiltered, wisdom and understanding of Jesus straight from the source - not run through somebody else's filters, not added to or things taken from. We gotta want and desire and drink that 100% Jesus Water of Life.

You know, we covered this earlier in the series - but Jesus said in Matthew 7 -

Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking and you will find. Keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.Matthew 7:7-8

If you are asking for and seeking for understanding of the heart of Jesus Christ, you will find it. If you want to know Jesus and want to know how Jesus would act or respond in a given situation that you may find yourself in - you will find it if that's what you're truly looking for. But the question we need to ask ourselves is - IS THAT WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR? Are we really looking to know and understand Jesus on HIS terms - or are we looking for confirmation bias? Approval for what we already believe… Are we seeking the will of Christ… or our own will? Are we looking for the truth? Or are we looking for excuses not to apply the truth? Are we looking for ammunition we can use against other people? Cause if that's what we're looking for, then we are only half-heartedly seeking to know and understand Jesus. As I said earlier -

WE DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH OUR EARS

WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH OUR HEARTS

Jesus affirms this. Continuing on in Matthew 13

For they look but they don't really see. They hear, but they don't really listen or understand. This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says, 'When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes- so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.' "But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.Matthew 13:13-16

Their hearts are hardened… maybe OUR hearts are hardened… because of what we've let into them over the years. Pride hardens our heart. Fear hardens our heart. Prejudice hardens our heart. Preconceived notions harden our heart.

And here's the HARD truth about hardened hearts… if we were being brutally honest with ourselves… sometimes we hear, but we don't listen… we don't accept what Jesus is saying and apply it to our own lives… because we don't want to. We don't want to model what Jesus is teaching for a variety of reasons. Cause change is scary. Cause we don't want our ego to be bruised by admitting we got it wrong for a long time. Cause what Jesus asks us to do is uncomfortable or hard. The truth is that our hardened hearts often reject truth, not because we don't understand it, but because we don't like where it leads. And that's the hard truth about hardened hearts that each of us ought to take a hard look in the mirror and be honest with ourselves about.

The prophet Jeremiah, speaking on behalf of the Lord in Jeremiah 29 says this to the exiled Israelites, but it is a protracted truth that is applicable to all who call Christ their Lord - "If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you," says the Lord." Jeremiah 29:13-14

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)

We'll listen and understand - we will have the ears to hear… we will be transformed when we seek after Jesus with our whole hearts. Will we do that? As individuals? As a church? Or will we acquiesce to the inner Kindergartner in all of us and stick our fingers in our ears and go "La, la, la, la la, I can't hear you, Jesus." Or "I'll only hear you when you say the stuff I like, Jesus."

You laugh, but we as adults do that all the time. We're just more sophisticated about it. We don't stick our fingers in our ears. We scroll until we find the article that agrees with us or makes us feel better about our beliefs or actions. We rationalize. We find echo chambers - friends and teachers and 'authorities' who tell us exactly what we want to hear.

Folks, the ultimate authority is Jesus. And just so you know - pretending you didn't hear or understand His message, doesn't change the reality of His message.

By the way, let's talk about the conveyance of messages for a bit. The very first time we see Jesus use the phrase -

Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understandMatthew 11:15

it is directed toward a crowd which represents the behavior of an entire generation… and quite frankly that behavior is still alive and well today in this generation, though we do not have the blessing of having direct contact with John the Baptist and Jesus. And Jesus basically says, "no matter who delivers the truth, you will outright reject it like a child if you don't like it. Not on the basis of the reality of the truth. But for superficial reasons. Here's what Jesus says in Matthew 11 -

Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand! "To what can I compare this generation? It is like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends, 'We played wedding songs and you didn't dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn't mourn.' For John didn't spend his time eating and drinking, and you say, 'He's possessed by a demon.' The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, 'He's a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!' But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.Matthew 11:16-18

See, once again, "Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand" is an invitation to a type of spiritual listening. It is an invitation not to be bound by the literal words that are said, but to connect ourselves to and humbly accept the point of the words, the power behind the words, the Spirit of Christ. Cause let's face it, the nature of words and phrases is that you can read into them. You can insert your own meaning or understanding into a piece of text whether it is what the author intended or not. We can parse texts or what people say down to the single word, take it out of context, accuse someone of saying something or meaning something they didn't intend. But if you hear the heart behind the message - if you understand the life of the one delivering the message - then you can move past getting hung up on an individual word or sentence, and compare it to the body of the rest of the author's works or better yet, their actions.

But in Matthew 11:16-18 that's not what's happening. Jesus is criticizing and taking to task those who are playing little games with both the message and the messengers. Jesus basically lays out a scenario where, in modern terms, we would say "you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't." "You can't win." Jesus says - "Hey - John was pretty extreme. He's out in the wilderness, an outcast, eating locusts and honey, he dressed in weird animal skins, and he was a voice crying in the wilderness both literally and figuratively. And Jesus says to these people - that you called John the Baptist nuts. You said "He's possessed by a demon." On the other hand, Jesus says that He's pretty much the opposite of John the Baptist. He is actively engaging in community. He eats and drinks and goes to sinner dinners, hangs with tax collectors and prostitutes and he even goes to weddings and makes more wine for people who are already hammered. He's relaxed and welcoming and forgiving and less likely to preach woes and doom and gloom unless you're a holier than thou Pharisee, in fact Jesus modeled grace and joy… but the people reject Him too. They call Him a rule-breaker. A sinner. A heretic. And essentially Jesus is saying in this passage, "if people don't like the message, they'll pick up on some attribute of the messenger or the way the message is delivered in order to reject the message entirely and metaphorically stick their fingers in their spiritual ears."

They will attack the character of the messenger so they can reject the message and still feel good about themselves. They slandered Jesus. They slandered John. And these were people who were supposedly looking for and waiting for the Messiah.

I think we all know this to be true whether we want to admit it deep down or not - if we don't want to be challenged or convicted or confronted with something that calls into question our own beliefs and worldviews and actions, then it is easier to find some superficial thing to be offended by so we can dismiss the message. We will reject the truth for superficial reasons. It happens all the time even today. Pick a superficial reason to reject the message - the lights, the sound, the music, the hair, the dress, the gender, the way somebody delivers the messages, the choice of words, the tone.

And Jesus compares these people that play these games, to children… playing a game in the public square. They will not be happy, no matter what. They will find fault with what their peers do, no matter what. If you acquiesce to their wishes, they are a moving target and will change what they are looking for. And we have all seen situations like this - if somebody wants to complain - you can't win. If somebody wants to label you. You can't win. If somebody decides - I don't like what you're doing, or I don't like you - you can't win. Jesus said the problem wasn't John. The problem wasn't Him. The problem was the listeners. Because people determined to reject a message will always find something to criticize. You simply can't please some people.

But you want the good news? We're not called to please people. It is our job to please Jesus and model our behavior after His examples. It's our mission to love God and love people to the best of our abilities. And everybody's approach is gonna be a little different. Or radically different. Man will criticize - because too often we're focused on the outward appearance. But as we read in 1 Samuel 16:7

The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.1 Samuel 16:7

You're never gonna get it right in everybody's eyes. But Jesus says something at the end of his chastising the people in Matthew 11 He says -

But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.Matthew 11:19

Wisdom is proven by its results - not by superficial complaints from those unable or unwilling to hear and listen and understand.

Some earlier manuscripts of Matthew 11 and Luke 7 had it like this -

Wisdom is vindicated by all her children.Luke 7:35 (NASB)

What a powerful statement. Wisdom is known to be right by what its followers do. Kind of reminds me of what we were talking about two weeks ago -

You can identify them by their fruitMatthew 7:16

So - how do we make sure that we get it right. How do we make sure that we have ears to hear and listen and a heart to understand and accept? Our results are going to be a good indicator. But if we're ever confused - and it is possible to be confused with the sheer amount of competing ideas and agendas out there - then Jesus is our Rosetta Stone.

The Rosetta Stone was an ancient Egyptian stela carved in 196 BC. It had the same decree in three scripts - Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Ancient Greek and Everyday Demotic Greek. It unlocked understanding. It cleared up confusion. Well, Jesus is our Rosetta Stone. Shortly after Jesus says

Wisdom is shown to be right by its results.Matthew 11:19

in Matthew 11, Jesus says,

No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him." Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.Matthew 11:27-30

If you really want to hear and you're seeking after Jesus with all your heart, and you still feel like you're lacking understanding - look at Jesus. Look TO Jesus. Read the Gospels. Read what Jesus actually does. Look at who He spends time with. Take notice of who He confronts. Be aware of who He defends. Learn who He welcomes. Know who He loves. Which is everybody. Unconditionally. Most of all- look at Jesus' actions. Not somebody else's version of Jesus. Not somebody else's politics. Not somebody else's culture war. Not your own or somebody else's tradition. Look at Jesus' actions. The real Jesus. Not a Jesus made in our own image. Not a Jesus who already agrees with everything we think and never challenges us. A Jesus that only convicts other people. But look to the real Jesus and His actions. And ask yourself if you're willing to accept what He says. Something that Jesus says to the same crowd in Matthew 11:14.

We can either willingly accept in our hearts the heart of what Jesus says and models and be focused on maturing in Christ and living out His will daily… or we can waste our time parsing words, slandering messengers, rejecting truths for superficial reasons and playing childish games you can't win that only serve ourselves.

The choice is yours. Anyone with ears should listen and understand.

Thank you for letting me share with you today. Until next time, may you leave this place with ears that hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, a heart that responds to its leading, and lives that reflect the teachings and actions of Jesus. God bless you. Have a great week. Let's sing one more song of praise together!

We're gonna start with a little game, so participation is required. Just to warm us up in case we still got a leg or a brain left in our comfy beds. Don't worry, it's not like I am going to make you get up and do the macarena to the world's longest version of the song like some people.

Alright, this game is called: Battle of the Bests!

Say it with me now: Battle of the Bests!

I will be splitting you up by your generation. But, Kamille, you said you wouldn't be making us get up and stuff! Yes, yes, yes. None of that. You may stay in your seat, you're welcome. Some parameters on who's who according to Parents.com

I will say a statement, and you will shout your generation if you think it has the best of the statement. Practice round: I ask, "Which generation has the best slang?" Then you all would respond with your generation if you think yours has the best slang. If you do not think your gen has the best slang, then you don't have to do anything. Easy, right?

Alright, let's start!

Which generation has the best music?
Which generation has the best movies?
Which generation has the best TV shows?
Which generation has the best singers?

Let's switch it up. This time you do not have to shout out your own generation. You can shout the generation who you think best fits the prompt.

Which generation had the best fashion trends?
Which generation had the worst fashion trends?
Which generation has the worst music?
Which generation has the worst movies?
Worst TV shows?
Which generation has the worst attitude?
So, who is the best generation overall?
Who is the worst?

See how easy it was to pit you guys against each other? Did you find yourselves having a difference of opinion with those around you? Does that mean that those who disagree with you are wrong? Do they deserve to be shunned? Because someone thinks differently than you, does that make you wholly right and therefore have nothing to learn from someone with a different viewpoint? See how easy that can lead into an "us vs them" kind of thinking? Of making enemies of each other?

Last week was about false prophets. Today, I want to talk about the dangers of false enemies.

How easy it can be to believe that someone or some group is a "wolf" when really they're just sheep. And the person or group feeding you that lie come from the false Prophets-the true wolves. I want you to take a minute. I want you to think of all the things you think or have been told are a threat to Christianity. Think of the things that have been labeled an enemy to God. People, groups, ideas. Hold that thought there, and we'll come back.

Now, all those examples you thought of-are they really the enemy? Do they truly threaten the Good news of the Gospel? Time and time again, people or groups who are seeking God who may not seem exactly like us, who we may not agree on every single viewpoint or interpretation are actually just other sheep. But those sheep have been marginalized and pushed out and made to be enemies by people who claim to speak for Jesus when we have seen that Jesus does the exact opposite.

We saw in the Gospels that He saved the harsh words and criticism for those who call themselves representatives of God when they are the ones pushing His sheep out. In Matthew 23, Jesus goes after the religious leaders and Pharisees. He talks of the people sent their way to be taught about the faith, but instead Pharisees ridiculed, punished, and even killed them. People who needed Jesus turned away by the very same people who call themselves believers. Sound familiar?

Sounds a lot like some people who say they are Christian but go out of their way to villainize God's creation. In Ephesians 6, the author says to put on the full armor of God to stand against the Devil's strategies.

For our struggle is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly placesEphesians 6:12 (NRSVUE)

Or what about in Luke 9 when a Samaritan village refused entrance to Jesus and the disciples. And when the Samaritans refused, the disciples asked,

..."Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?"Luke 9:54 (GOD'S WORD)

And Jesus said, yeah let's go ahead and murder a whole village because they refused to see some Jews who are famously known to get along and not bring trouble!

Yeah, no.

Jesus went after His own disciples in this moment and rebuked them because Jesus's fire was never about wrath and destruction. Jesus needed to remind his disciples that the Samaritans had a place in His Kingdom, whether this particular group of Samaritans understood that at that point in time or not. There was no need to destroy the Samaritans with holy fire because they were never the enemy then, just more sheep. Not the wolf.

John 3:16, the ever famous verse:

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son. That whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.John 3:16

But I think some of us don't read or take to heart the verse that follows.

For Jesus did not come to this world to condemn it, but to save it.John 3:17

In Matthew 23, Jesus went after the religious leaders who did not understand what God's love meant. In Ephesians 6, Jesus did not call for us to fight each other. And in Luke 9, Jesus's fire was always about love and healing. Because again, He came not to condemn us but to save us.

You might hear me say that another couple hundred times, okay? I'm going to show you a movie clip that I think just about sums it up and shows the dangers of seeing an enemy where there isn't one and how that can derail us from Jesus's teachings and the whole point of our faith.

Here, the main character, Father Judd, calls out a deacon. Granted, he didn't have to call him out by knocking him out. Father Judd even admits that he should not have gone back to his fighting days and hit the man. To which one of the other priests commented on the need for fighters. And we see that in church and religious sects all around. The call to fight for the Lord. To take arms in the Holy Fight. But most of the time, these leaders who tell us to fight the "good" fight are really having us turn against each other because we are easier to control that way.

But fighting each other? Saying that the "world" is who we need to fight against does not align with Jesus's examples. He does not call for us to fight the world. In fact, in Romans 12, we are told "to not conform to the world." But the "world" that is being referenced is not the same one most of us are familiar with. Usually, this verse is used in opposition to a behavior or identity that a body or church or person or sect of Christianity deems "un-Christlike."

So let's define what it is to be Christlike and un-Christlike. Jesus said,

Everyone will know you are my disciples because of your love for each otherJohn 15:35 (GOD'S WORD)

So to be Christlike, you must love like Jesus. Aside from seeing His love in action, another way to define His love can be found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7:

Love is patient. Love is kind. Love isn't jealous. It doesn't sing its own praises. It isn't arrogant. It isn't rude. It doesn't think about itself. It isn't irritable. It doesn't keep track of wrongs. It isn't happy when injustice is done, but it is happy with the truth. Love never stops being patient, never stops believing, never stops hoping, never gives up1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (GOD'S WORD)

So if to love like Jesus is Christlike. Then the opposite is un-Christlike. The "world" that is being referenced isn't talking about the people who inhabit the world. Not you. Not me. Certainly not the people walking at Pride parades, not the person who has a different political stance as you, not another Christian with a different interpretation or understanding of ancient writings than you.

The "world" that is being referenced is a world where people do not love like Jesus. A world that is hateful, unkind, and sees an enemy to defeat everywhere it looks. Romans 12 is referring to a "world" that makes an enemy out of our neighbors who are just living their lives.

It is referring to an attitude or behavior that is devoid of Jesus. That is the "world" we are to NOT conform to.

So let's go back to our earlier statements on who or what may be defined by many so-called "Christians" as an enemy to the faith. Is someone from another country really the enemy or does somebody have something to gain through political propaganda? Is the other side of the political aisle really a threat to Christianity or is it only really a threat to the ideas established to only keep a select group of people rich?

Are the people in this world really the wolf-an enemy we have to fight? Or are you being distracted by the real enemy who seeks to divide us, sew discord, so that we look nothing like and act nothing like the Lord we follow?

So yes, beware the false prophets for they will give you false enemies to derail from the entire point of our faith which is to love God and love people. The next time you find yourself having a conversation, you're at the store, or scrolling on social media, and you have a knee-jerk reaction to someone who you've been told is the "enemy" or a "threat to Christianity," really think about what Jesus has truly called us to do.

Will the next thing you do or say be in accordance to how Jesus lived and loved?

Will you exhibit the love that is described in 1 Corinthians. To embody the love that Jesus showed us as He stood up to the oppressors and false prophets and defended the marginalized.

Do not conform to the worst this world has to offer.

Instead, show empathy. Show compassion.

Be kind. Do good. Do not condemn the world as it would have you do but help heal it.

Thank you again for allowing me the opportunity to be up here today. It was an honor. I hope what I have shared with you today will help you move with more grace in your actions and more Christ in the way you show your love.

As Jesus did not come into this world to condemn it, neither should we. Go out there and love God and love people with all you've got, Seacoast.

Today - it's kind of a different category that we're entering into for a bit on the list of Fifty Things. So far it's been a lot of things TO DO. Today we start looking at warnings. Things to beware of. Things to watch out for.

Now warnings are important. Because warnings can save us from catastrophe. They can stop us from causing ourselves pain or doing harm to others. And sometimes they can open our eyes to dangers that we don't even realize are dangers.

Now, there's some warnings out that that tell us to "Beware" that many of us are familiar with. We see them all the time. Warnings like "Beware of Dog." And you don't have to list the reasons why, because most of us, of a certain age - like over the age of 5, we have an idea of what may happen if we are DON'T beware of dog. Mainly, we are in danger of being a human sized chew toy. You don't have to list the bad things that could happen to you on the sign - it's pretty obvious. Some warnings are not so obvious though - there are hidden dangers that might not be obvious at first. So there's a type of warning that details a list of bad things that could happen to you if you IGNORE those warnings. We see detailed warnings like these on things like cigarette packs, right? I mean, it's really fine print, but it's there. Something like - "Surgeon General's Warning: cigarettes can cause lung cancer, carbon monoxide poisoning, heart disease, black lung, yellow teeth, red face, empty wallets and premature birth whether you're pregnant or not. Which by the way that last one was a real embarrassing moment for the Marlboro man out on the ranch that day. "Well the sun's going down, I reckon' it's about time we saddle up and…' (Thwap) (Looks down) - Say fellas, did that cow get loose over there? (Covers with dirt) "You didn't see nothin', Clyde."

If you're a first time guest, welcome to SeaCoast… nah - look, by the way, I know we have smokers here. I had a lot of smokers in my family. Some of my friends smoke. Some of my cinematic heroes smoked. I'm not judging you. Okay - I think of it like this - "Let he that eateth Big Macs throw no stones." Yeah - no warnings on Big Macs though, hu?. Probably should be. You know why there isn't? Cause the clown lobby is even more powerful than the tobacco lobby. And it makes sense. Think of the sheer number of clowns in Washington. Sometimes it seems like they replaced the electoral college with a clown college. But I digress.

My point and I do have one… is that if there are warnings on the pack and they list out the possible hidden dangers, then you're not in the dark. You know the risks before you take them. You know what could happen.

But not everything has a warning label. Not everything has a clear list of consequences. Some warnings are not mandated by government bodies, and in cases like we're gonna talk about in the next couple of weeks - they never will be. And it will become obvious why not. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Just realize that some very important warnings are a result of the knowledge of past experiences and previously experienced consequences. Warnings like - "Do not eat gas station sushi." Just… don't. Trust those of us with experience. If you must take your life into your own hands, stick with the hot dogs and the go-go taquitos.

See that's a warning you should pay attention to for your own personal well-being.

Just goes to show you that some of the most important warnings we should pay attention to are not mandated by any governing body. In fact, some of the most important warnings we receive are a warning AGAINST certain behaviors by governing bodies or getting in bed WITH those governing bodies so to speak. And these are some of the warnings that Jesus has for His followers and frankly to anyone who will listen. They are warnings that come from wisdom. They are warnings that come with receipts. Things that have happened in the past. And they are happening again in the present. And they will continue to happen again and again until followers of Christ heed these warnings from Jesus and take them seriously and watch out for them vigilantly.

When Jesus says "Beware" about something - we need to pay attention. Not because he's trying to scare us. He's the Good Shepherd watching over His flock. He gives us these warnings to protect us.

Alright - so let's take a look at our first warning. It comes from Matthew 7, it's part of Jesus' famous sermon on the mount. Starting in verse 15 -

Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.Matthew 7:15

So #35 on our list of Fifty Things is:

BEWARE OF FALSE PROPHETS

And Jesus says basically, you need to beware, because false prophets don't do you the favor of showing up and looking like the bad guys. Nope. They are wolves in sheep's clothing. And I think we need to realize how insidious this threat is. A clear and present danger hiding in plain sight. See - not every religious leader who claims to be a Christ follower is what they purport to be. And they can fool you for a while even - if you just caught little bits and pieces of what they're saying. If you just caught a clip on the news here, something on your "For you" page on Tik Tok or a reel here or there on Facebook - you might not know. Cause they quote scripture. They wave Bibles around. They use "Chistian-ese" "Churchy words" - language that is familiar to those in certain religious circles.

So how do you know? How do you distinguish a false prophet from a good prophet? Well - Jesus tells us - "look deeper." You can't just look at the surface level. Jesus tells us that you can identify a False Prophet by their fruit.

You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, of figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.Matthew 7:16-20

You can identify them by their… fruit…

Not by their branding.

Not by how many times and ways they try and attach their movements to Jesus, scripture, the Bible or religion in general.

Not by how pious they act or appear.

Not by their religious pedigrees or degrees that they possess.

You will know them by their fruit. We call fruit in the grocery store - produce. And that's what it comes down to… you will know them by what they PRODUCE. And yeah, that can be content - things they write or things they say, but you know the easiest way to tell what kind of fruit we're dealing with is by seeing what they PRODUCE in their followers.

YOU CAN TELL A PROPHET BY WHAT THEY PRODUCE IN THEIR FOLLOWERS

Do these prophets produce compassion? Marcy? Humility? Justice? By the way - that's not just justice as in the people I don't like get punished, the people I do like are spared consequences. That's not justice - that's a miscarriage of justice. Justice means the scales are balanced and fair for everyone and equality and the system is available for everyone. Do these prophets encourage kindness? Do they produce followers that show the love of Christ whose names they so often use in vain for their own personal gain.

Or do these prophets produce followers that fear. If Jesus says "Fear not…" and the prophets you follow teach you to fear other people, to fear people different from you, to fear media and meaningless distractions in the grand scheme of thing, if they teach you to fear your neighbor, if they teach you to be afraid because Satan in the form of some boogeyman is hiding behind every bush and every corner… then clearly they are a false prophet and not aligned with the teachings of Jesus even though they use His name for their ulterior motives.

PROPHETS PRODUCE PEACE

FALSE PROPHETS PRODUCE FEAR

Do these prophets produce in their followers arrogance? Cruelty? Division? Hatred? Conspiracy? Tribalism? That's because False Prophets need enemies, usually imagined or exaggerated, to flourish. Because fear keeps people turning to them for answers. Fear keeps people loyal. And fear has a tendency to flush out anyone who isn't exactly like the homogenized group of clones the false prophets have formed a parasitic relationship with. Of course false prophets won't always say you need to be afraid… they'll use other language - they'll couch their fear mongering in phrases like "those people." "That group" "that threat." "Whatever awful name we're labeling our political rivals and challenges to our power this week."

False prophets prey on insecurity that they build within people. Jesus said

A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit.Matthew 7:18

You know, you look at the example of Jesus to see what He produced - His movement, His teachings, His disciples, they were consistently moving toward inclusion, not insecurity. Turning outward, not inward. Jesus moved toward lepers. Toward refugees. Toward Samaritans. Toward women. Toward the disenfranchised and marginalized. Jesus taught us that the Samaritan was our neighbor. Everyone was a neighbor deserving of love and respect. Jesus taught us to love our neighbors.

FALSE PROPHETS TEACH US TO FEAR OUR NEIGHBOR or hate them.

If somebody's teaching or movement or platform consistently produces people who behave in an un-Christlike manner. In ways that you couldn't imagine Jesus acting - then it's pretty clear that the teaching is the problem and the mouthpiece is speaking with the guidance of the Holy Spirit but rather the worst of the sinful nature of man. Are the followers of these individuals becoming more violent instead of more peaceful? Are they becoming more hateful rather than more loving and understanding? Then you don't need me to tell you that they are false prophets. You can take it from the mouth of Jesus Himself in Matthew chapter 7.

Now, I feel the need to clarify something here, because it's possible we have an image in our mind of what a prophet is and isn't and in our modern day understanding, we may not get everything that I think Jesus would want us to take away from what He's saying here. A lot of us hear the word "prophet" and we think - someone who tells the future. Someone who pronounces a prophecy to be fulfilled later down the line. And that is PART of the possible duties of a prophet. But it was also the job of a prophet to speak truth TO power. Not to speak FOR power. Prophets of God, as we see them presented in the Old Testament in scripture spoke FOR God and against abuses of power and corruption. They warned the people of the dangers of unchecked power and the ungodly behavior of those who were in power and they took the powerful to task. If you explore scripture, you will find that the kings and powerful people had an uneasy relationship with prophets. And that is putting it mildly. Sometimes prophets were hated and chased and threatened and persecuted and killed by those in power because those prophets were compelled by God to stand up for the things that matter to God like mercy and justice and not abusing power for selfish gain. The prophets job was not solely limited to predicting things that would or could happen in the future. Part of the prophet's job was to be a voice crying in the wilderness against injustice and corruption. Standing up for the people who God cared about - to be the voice of the voiceless and to also be a voice that could CONFRONT power. And this is a pattern we see over and over in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

When King David raped Bathsheba - and folks, I am so sick of religious leaders, usually on the far right, trying to downplay this. "Oh David didn't rape Bathsheba, he just had a moment of bad judgment. And she was also partially responsible." There is such a thing as rape by abuse of the power of the office, not just physical force and if you want to learn more about this scenario and the roller coaster of ups and downs that was the life of David, you can find a series we did here several years ago called "Choices: Lessons From The Life of David." If you want to see yet another series that ruffled some feathers for all the right reasons.

See, Bathsheba didn't have a choice in the matter when confronted with the unbridled and unchecked power of a king who sent for another man's wife and who had no qualms about killing her husband to cover up his own sins. Bathsheba says 'no' to the king and lives? She would've been another casualty. And religious leaders, by the way, who try and put some or all of this on Bathsheba, or who don't call this awful behavior by David out for exactly what it was - they either don't understand the culture that these incidents took place in, or, and more likely, they are being intellectually dishonest to protect a very specific viewpoint or interpretation. And then you have to ask yourself - why? Why would you defend the indefensible? Why would you minimize a behavior so reprehensible and shift blame? Who benefits? What kind of power structure benefits from teaching that worldview to a lot of people? What institutions are you protecting that perhaps have a reputation of similar indiscretions and taking advantage of those who do not have a voice, institutions that continually protect and 'restore' powerful men that make rich men richer? Whose modern day behaviors do these theological hand-waving exercises benefit by obfuscation of facts and muddying up the water? See - I'm off on a little tangent, a little sidebar here - but this one's a freebie, you get people working too hard declare this scenario as anything other than the absolute abuse of power rape that it was - then there's a good chance they are not well studied or informed or that they are in fact operating as a form of false prophet.

Getting back to the main point talking about King David - when David raped Bathsheba, it was the prophet Nathan who confronted David and spoke truth to power and risked His own life to confront David about his wicked deeds and say -

You are that man!2 Samuel 12:7

The prophet Elijah confronted King Ahab who was leading the people of Israel to worship false idols. Ahab called Elijah

the troublemaker of Israel1 Kings 18:1

because Elijah's truth was upsetting the apple cart and the narrative that King Ahab and his false prophets were sending out to the people. These false prophets were protecting Ahab's power and giving it a stamp of approval. Elijah told the people of Israel, "How long will you go limping with two different opinions?" 1 Kings 18:21 (NRSV)

How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!1 Kings 18:21 (NRSV)

But the people were completely silent. 1 Kings 18:21

The prophet Amos wrote passionately and prophetically with regard to their economic injustice and King Uzziah and King Jeroboam II's lack of concern for the least of these. Amos, writes against those who

Sell honorable people for silver and poor people for a pair of sandals. They trample helpless people in the dust and shove the oppressed out of the way.Amos 2:6-7

Amos delivers a message in the voice of the Lord saying "My people have forgotten how to do right," says the Lord. "Their fortresses are filled with wealth taken by theft and violence." He rails against miscarriages of justice -

You twist justice, making it a bitter pill for the oppressed. You treat the righteous like dirt.Amos 5:7

We could go on and on with different declarations and writings and different prophets, I'll just give you one more example from the New Testament - John the Baptist was the voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way for the Lord. But He did more than just proclaim the coming Messiah. He also confronted corruption and evil. John the Baptist spoke out against King Herod and it cost him his freedom and it cost him his life. In Luke 3 we read

John also publicly criticized Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, for marrying Herodias, his brother's wife, and for many other wrongs he had done. So Herod put John in prison, adding this sin to his many others.Luke 3:19-20

and John's murder under Herod's power is recorded in Matthew 14 and Mark 6

PROPHETS SPEAK TO TRUTH TO POWER

But false prophets - they sell out to protect power. They give religious blessings and 'authority' and a 'stamp of approval' to leaders who have not earned it and who would not recognize Jesus if He visited one of their pristine palaces or billion dollar ballrooms. False prophets wrap the evils of the empire in scripture and religious language. They baptize destructive nationalism and call it 'unity.' See, in these examples I gave you from scripture - it is the prophets speaking truth to power and standing up for the little guy and standing against evil behavior who is the true prophet. But so many kings… they had their false prophets. There's a great story in 1 Kings 22 about Ahab surrounding himself with 400 sycophantic prophets who tell him what he wants to hear. And they tell him he's gonna win this battle, because it's what he wants to hear. It's the goal he's going after. And so these 400 prophets who are not sold out to God but rather sold out to political power and money - they falsely go along with whatever Ahab wants. And of course it leads to Ahab's demise. The prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel write scathing condemnations of "lying prophets" who tickle the ears of the people with lies while bringing their people closer to destruction and ruin. Who lie for profit. Prophets for profit. Who proclaim peace when there was not peace. Who absolve the powers that be of their culpability.

If true prophets of God protected people by speaking truth to power, false prophets protect power by lying to people.

FALSE PROPHETS PROTECT POWER WITH LIES

Now there's a chance that some of you listening right now may be getting really hung up on the word prophet. Again - sometimes because of semantics and the way words are used in our culture and particularly in segments of our culture, it can be hard to get away from the image of the prophet that some of us got from Sunday School teachers using felt boards. And we may think to ourselves, we may come to the conclusion that - "well, there's no such thing as a modern prophet." "Prophets don't exist in our society." "Sure there's people who call themselves prophets or who certain religious traditions call prophets, but it's not the same thing."

Okay. I'm not gonna hardcore agree or disagree with that assessment. It's a nuanced situation not a Hollywood Squares question. But here's what I would have you consider - Prophets either spoke truth to power in the best case scenario or they puckered up to power in the false prophet category. They were known voices. With platforms. A lto of people if not the majority of the nation knew who these people were. Most of these prophets were "Pundits" - one who offers opinions in an authoritative manner. One who presents as an expert offering commentary or critique with a focus on giving an interpretation or meaning to current events and personalities. We get the term "pundit" from a Sanskrit term meaning "learned man."

And so if you don't think there are "prophets" in the way you grew up thinking of them operating in today's society, can I at least get you to admit that there are people who are operating in kind of a "prophet adjacent" sphere? Are there those who are well known who have political or religious platforms who claim to speak from authority and offer opinions, commentary or critiques of current events and personalities? Of course there are. And whether they are pastors, political pundits or podcasters, the takeaways still apply with what we're discussing today. They are the modern day equivalent of prophets - or at least prophet adjacent. And it's important to be able to recognize the true prophets who align themselves with Christ and the false prophets who align themselves with empire and power and selfish gain. If you see a religious leader, a pastor, tripping all over themselves to exalt a leader who already exalts themselves, they're probably a false prophet. If you see a good Christian podcaster building a case for the greatness of a leader who builds monuments to themselves… they're probably a false prophet. If you see a so-called 'evangelist' who spends their time pimping the message of the government instead of promoting the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all men, they're probably a false prophet.

God and government make for strange bedfellows. And the truth is - they shouldn't be in bed with one another. They shouldn't even be in the same suite. History shows us the dangers of human kingdoms mixing with God's kingdoms. From the crusades to the Catholic/Protestant wars in England to "religious ethnic cleansing genocides" - whenever religion merges with empire, sadly, we have seen it time and time again - the temporary, human power of the empire changes the religion more than the religion changes the empire.

And even in modern days it's been far too easy to go from "In God We Trust" to electing Caesars… and if not calling our Caesar's God, at least putting them on a pedestal and pretending they are infallible. Making concessions for their sins instead of confronting them.

Perhaps one of the most well known prophet adjacent personalities in modern times was the evangelist Billy Graham. Now Billy Graham was not a perfect person, I don't think he would claim to be one, but my dad decided to follow Jesus at a Billy Graham crusade at the Los Angeles Coliseum when he was a teenager and for that, I will forever be grateful. Billy Graham was sometimes known for his relationships with political figures, his friendships with presidents, but even though he could've used those platforms for personal gain, power and influence by giving blanket, partisan support with lips firmly planted on the cheeks that sit in power in a most un-Christlike way as sadly at least one of his heirs have chosen to do, Billy instead said this and this is just one quote - but I'm gonna leave it here and let it sit with you, not just to demonstrate the marked difference from what a false prophet might say, but also to let you think about the implications of this statement in 2026. Here's a quote from Billy Graham - advisor to 12 presidents from Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama. He said, "I don't want to see religious bigotry in any form. It would disturb me if there was a wedding between the religious fundamentalists and the political right. The hard right has no interest in religion except to manipulate it." -Rev. Billy Graham, Parade magazine, February 1981

And that's really what's at the heart of the actions and the teachings and the messages and the alliances of all False Prophets - manipulation, power and control. False prophets and the leaders who would use and exploit them really love control. They want control of the power. They want control of the system. They want control of the media and messengers that spread the message. And ultimately, they want control of you. And they will lie or twist the truth or create a false narrative to get control of you.

FALSE PROPHETS WANT TO CONTROL YOU

They want to control your thinking. Control your questions. Control your politics. Control your body. Control your fear so they can control your future. Control your identity. You ever notice how a false prophet or the power they protect get nervous when you start asking questions? A true prophet or teacher would say, "let's examine it together. Here's the evidence. Here's the consensus. In a non-threatening manner." A false prophet or the power they protect just wants to shut those questions down. You'll hear them shout "How dare you question me." Maybe even call those who dare question them names. Disparaging remarks.

If you ever find a prophet…er… religious leader, political leader, pundit… who says or implies "never question." "never examine history." "Never trust good scholarship." "Never think critically…" Just know - they want to control YOU. On the contrary - the greatest prophet ever, God's own Son, who was also the Messiah and the Savior of mankind, He wants something different. He wants you to know the truth. And Jesus, He gave us a litmus test to determine if someone was with Him, or a false prophet, a false follower - in John 8:31 Jesus said -

You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.John 8:31

JESUS WANTS YOU TO BE SET FREE BY THE TRUTH

And I hope you see the truth for what it is today. I hope you take this stuff to heart. If for some reason you're big mad today because you recognize false prophets or leaders that you like or liked but you realize they are NOT remaining faithful to Jesus' teachings, they are NOT producing good fruit, I pray that the scales will fall from your eyes and your anger would be directed where it should be directed - at the people who manipulate you and lie to you and trample justice in the authority of Jesus' name on a false prophet's lips that are connected to a political leaders rear.

The truth will set you free. To stand up for what matters to God for what matters to Jesus. Love. Justice. Lovingkindness. Humility. Meeting the needs of others. Sacrifice. Peacemaking. See the truth is that a lot of people are more concerned with the rulers and kingdoms of this world and a power that is temporary when Jesus has said all along

My Kingdom is not an earthly Kingdom… my Kingdom is not of this world.John 18:36

You know what, try and work your way into the upper echelons of these worldly kingdoms - unless you've got a billion dollars or a billion followers, you won't get your calls returned. And yet, in Jesus' Kingdom you are already welcome - you are invited to take your seat at the table here the King Himself will serve you. He has gone to prepare a place just for you when you leave this world and He has not forgotten about you, He'll come again to receive you unto Himself so that where Jesus is you may be also. He has given everyone who believed in Him the rights to be called children of God. You are joint-heirs with the King of Kings. And He cares about you now. The King of Kings wants to walk with you in this world and show you how to love and how to live. To give you life with true meaning and purpose. Abundant life that will carry over from this world into the Kingdom that is not of this world.

Thank you for letting me share with you today. When next I see you, we're gonna have another "BEWARE" from Jesus as part of our FIFTY THINGS, but next week, you get a break from me again. I hope that you'll treat the person who is filling in for me with the utmost love and respect - cause if you don't, I promise you, I'll hear about it. Until next time, may God give you the wisdom and discernment to recognize false voices, and the courage to follow Jesus and live what is true, enjoying the freedom in Christ to love, to serve and to walk in His ways. God bless you! Have a great week!

We're in a little mini-series based on #34 on our list

#34 - AWAIT JESUS' RETURN

And we get this entry into our Fifty Things list from our key verses for this little mini-series - Matthew 24:42-44 which says

So you, too, must keep watch! For you don't know what day your Lord is coming. Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.Matthew 24:42-44

Alright. Now this is a confusing passage. A lot of people take it out of context and try to make it something that it's not. We spent time in this mini-series putting these verses and these ideas into the proper context.

We said that

#34 - AWAIT JESUS' RETURN

Didn't just mean to sit around and twiddle our thumbs until Jesus came back. Awaiting is not the same as waiting. We're not just supposed to be comfortable and rest on our laurels and sit around on our assets

HE SAID "ASSETS"

Until Jesus comes back. We're supposed to

#34 - BE READY

Like it says in our key verse. But being ready and keeping watch

#34 - KEEP WATCH

Is not about keeping watch for the end of the world and signs of the end of the world. Matthew 23 and 24 were written to the disciples during the end of the temple age and the majority of the content is about the end of the second temple age in Jerusalem, not the end of the world.

Similarly,

#34 - BE READY

Does not mean "Be Rapture Ready." We talked about how the modern "Left Behind" rapture imagery and ideas are based on a theological concept created by John Nelson Darby and really only took hold once the Scofield Reference Bible was published in the early 1900's. Dispensationalism and pre-trib, mid-trip, post-trib and the idea of secret rescue plan with people being taken up to the skies to avoid tribulation and others being left behind to experience it - is not at all what Jesus was talking about in these verses. And truthfully, the whole idea, as much as it captured the imaginations of many an evangelical for a long period of time - it's just bad exegesis. It requires huge leaps of logic, taking things out of their original context and operating from a predetermined conclusion that is wildly inaccurate and unhelpful. But this idea of needing to be ready for the rapture and the tribulation and where we're at in the timeline of prophecy… made a lot of people replace being ready with being anxious.

#34 - BE ANXIOUS

And I am positive that is something that Jesus does not want us to do. So what does it mean - to Await Jesus' Return and

#34 - BE READY

Put plainly and in context - it means

#34 BE READY = BEING ABOUT JESUS' WORK WHEN HE SHOWS UP

And the way we arrive at this conclusion is simply by seeing what Jesus Himself has to say. Right on the heels of saying

You must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.Matthew 24:44

Jesus says -

A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing His other household servants and feeding them. If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns.Matthew 24:45-47

Being ready means that when Jesus comes back, He finds us taking care of the people who He loves. Who does Jesus love?

For God so loved THE WORLDJohn 3:16

God does not show favoritism.Romans 2:11

Jesus said as his death was drawing nearer,

And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.John 12:32

Being ready… means taking care of people. Being ready… means feeding His sheep. And not just theologically - not just spiritually - PHYSICALLY taking care of people. Showing love to people. Meeting needs. Not just trying to convert people but to clothe people. Not just trying to convince people but to comfort people. Not just trying to correct people to connect with people. Not condemning people but communicating with them. Not convicting people but carrying their burdens.

That's what Jesus wants to come back and find us doing.

CARING, COMFORTING, CLOTHING, CONNECTING, COMMUNICATING, AND CARRYING BURDENS

And so - this passage - if we treat it seriously… it should give us hope. It should take a weight off our shoulders in someways, but it ought to be sobering in others. Because we need to ask ourselves - as a church collectively, and as individual followers of Christ - are we doing those things?

This is not guilt. I promise you. It's not. I don't operate that way. It's just a real and introspective question. A time to be honest with ourselves. If Jesus came back today, is that what He would find us doing?

CARING, COMFORTING, CLOTHING, CONNECTING, COMMUNICATING, AND CARRYING BURDENS

Cause… we can do this thing as Christians sometimes… we can do good things… things that might be helpful to us… things that are Jesus adjacent. Without doing the things Jesus actually asked us to do.

There's a bumper sticker that I see every so often and it cracks me up every time - it says

"Jesus is coming…look busy!"

And that's the problem. Because there's a lot of us Christians that are doing the equivalent of "busy work." Or we're doing something. We're "keeping busy." But busy work is called busy work because it keeps you "busy." "Busy work" is not MEANINGFUL AND EFFECTIVE WORK. And look - this is where you're gonna have to do some introspection - this is where you're going to have to be honest with yourself. I'm not labeling these things as good or bad - but I'm just saying some of these things can be busy work.

"I did my daily devotional and my life group homework for the week."

"I color-coded the tabs on my Bible."

"I organized the church photo archive from 1967."

Okay. Cool. Good for YOU. But knowing what we know from this series and reading what we just read, if Jesus showed up and you said that, don't you think He might be like - "That's great… but did you feed anybody? Did you clothe somebody? Did you stand up for somebody who didn't have a voice? Did you meet somebody's needs? Did you comfort someone who was struggling? Did you protect the marginalized? Did you look out for the least of these?

Because Jesus continually THROUGHOUT SCRIPTURE tells us what matters to HIM - Matthew 25:31

But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit upon His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in His presence, and He will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at His right hand and the goats at His left. "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.' 'Then these righteous ones will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?' "And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!" "Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, 'Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. (Fun fact, the Greek word used for 'demons' here is more accurately translated as 'the devil and his messengers… even a possibility of translation is 'pastors' - so basically those who are encouraging and advocating for evil and selfish behavior. I say that case in today's day and age (as it has been throughout history)… I think it's still timely. Anyways - back to scripture) "For I was hungry, and you didn't feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn't give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn't invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn't give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn't visit me.' "Then they will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?" "And He will answer, 'I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.' "And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.Matthew 25:31-46

By the way - that whole section- that follows Matthew chapter 24. It's still a part of the Olivet Discourse. It's still part of that same conversation Jesus was having with His disciples on the Mount of Olives when He left the temple and they asked Him the questions about the end of the age and what His return would be like. And doesn't what we just read in Matthew chapter 25 sound similar to

"A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing His other household servants and feeding them. If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns.Matthew 24:45-47

Yeah - what if I add the verses that follow?

But what if the servant is evil and thinks, 'My master won't be back for a while,' and he begins beating the other servants, partying and getting drunk? The master will return unannounced and unexpected, and he will cut the servant to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.Matthew 24:48-51

To be READY means to be WORKING at KINGDOM WORK

#34 - BE READY (DO KINGDOM WORK)

The opposite extreme of that is detailed here by Jesus in these passages. And it's a shame that we even have to reference this because it seems so over the top and comical and exaggerated- the evil servant doesn't think his master is gonna be around for a while, so he beats the other servants and takes advantage of them and flaunts wealth that doesn't belong to him but belongs to the master and gets drunk and parties and enriches himself to the detriment of others. Not caring for the people that the master has put into his care. But don't you see that happening? Every day? I wish it wasn't so real. Don't you see people who use Jesus' name in vain and I don't mean by saying JC or GD or whatever- that's not what that means - but using Jesus name and attaching it to worthless, false, evil purposes, profiteering off of His name and misrepresenting His character - don't you see evil servants doing this every day? Yeah - Jesus says - "they're evil. They're not really buy servant. There will be consequences for that." But the ones who ARE His servants. His TRUE servants - are about Kingdom work. Feeding the hungry. Welcoming strangers. Loving people.

In Matthew 25, also part of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus tells the parable of the ten bridesmaids too- and we won't read it here today for the sake of time, you can check it out on your own if you'd like - and again, a lot of people read that through the wrong lens - but we can boil it down to this basic idea - there's a long delay… the bridegroom is gone a lot longer than people expected him to be - but the ones who are praised when he comes back are the ones who are READY. There's a brief parallel telling/shared idea in Luke 12 about this same stuff - if you read it, you'll see a lot of the same dialogue and ideas from Jesus and Jesus says - in Luke 12:35 -

Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat!Luke 12:35-37

The servants who are READY

#34 - BE READY

And waiting for his return…

#34 - AWAIT JESUS RETURN

Will be rewarded. And what that looks like is being dressed for SERVICE. Having the resources and the desire at the ready to do Kingdom work and take care of our Master's cherished people and feed His sheep no matter what pasture they may be grazing in currently.

BE DRESSED FOR SERVICE. KEEP YOUR LAMPS BURNING

It's what we're supposed to be doing. In Ephesians 2:10 the apostle Paul wrote,

For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.Ephesians 2:10

A number of other translations say we were created "For good works." "To do good works."

Alright I kept teasing for three weeks - be patient. This has to do with patience. Patience is a factor in all of this. And it is. But it might not be the kind of patience you think about. We talked in week one about that waiting. Waiting in the doctor's office. Waiting in the two hour line at the amusement park. Waiting forever while those three dots in the bubble go on forever in that one text thread you're in. But that's passive patience. You're not doing anything.

We are called, while Awaiting Jesus Return to Be Ready and that requires

ACTIVE PATIENCE

James describes it this way in James 5 -

Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord's return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. You, too, must be patient.James 5:7-8

Alright. But here's the difference between passive patience and the active patience - the farmer like patience that James describes here - a farmer doesn't just plant seeds and then binge Netflix for six months. Nope. The famer plants. He sows. But then while they are waiting for the rain, they water themselves, they tend to the field, they de-weed, they fertilize, they work the soil, they're getting the barns ready for the harvest… they are ACTIVELY WORKING even while they PATIENTLY WAIT

ACTIVELY WORK WHILE WE PATIENTLY WAIT

See, it's possible, especially for those of us who have been Christians for a long time. We've been waiting for Jesus to return for a long time. It's possible that while we think we're patiently awaiting Jesus return, and we applaud ourselves for not losing patience, what's really happening is we're losing the plot. We start turning inward on ourselves. We have a saying that's popular in America that Jesus is our personal Savior. And that's great. It emphasizes that Jesus loved ME, that I choose a relationship with HIM. It's Personal. But we get so hung up on the idea of a personal Savior that we forget that our personal Savior preached a SOCIAL GOSPEL and that He didn't ask us to do busy work, to fight over preference, to argue over theological nonsense that ultimately does not change lives or hearts, to protect our comfort and our little corner of Christendom, or just to establish a private , little intimate relationship with Him apart from the rest of the world - but rather that Jesus asked us to love people and to serve people and to stand up for people and the rights of all people.

We're not called to endure the world, ignore the world, escape the world or look forward to it's end. We are called to TRANSFORM the world by doing the things that Jesus asked us to do. To be about Kingdom Work. To truly Love God and Love People and get our hands dirty and put our money where our mouth is and to be okay if we're uncomfortable doing it sometimes.

BEING READY DOES NOT MEAN BEING PASSIVE

BEING READY DOES NOT MEAN BEING PANICKED

Being Ready while we await Jesus' Return means BEING PRODUCTIVE.

BEING READY MEANS BEING PRODUCTIVE

It's living the Beatitudes. It's living out the Sermon on the Mount. It's doing the Fifty Things. Not just by ourselves but actively within our church, out in our community, in our neighborhoods, with friends and strangers and believers and non-believers alike.

See- being ready… isn't just waiting for Jesus to come back… it's living like He never left.

Until next time, may we leave this place Ready to serve with our lamps burning not with the flames of fear but the light of Christ's love. May we care for the hurting, carry each other's burdens and show compassion to all and live like Jesus never left. God bless you, have a great week!

So - what are you ladies getting for Mother's Day? Go ahead, shout it out. Anybody get a home made craft? Maybe a nice phone call if your kids are grown? How about brunch? Maybe mimosas after church? I'll keep this short for you guys. Now, who's getting the day off? That's always a popular one! A break from chores, no kid duties, no meals to cook, no big looming projects to tackle… As you can see - I DIDN'T get that this year. I - I got a sermon assignment and homework. But all jokes aside, I'm very happy to be here. (And I actually volunteered to do this.)

If you're new here, I'm Erin. Josh, the lead pastor, is my husband. We've been together going on 22 years now, married for almost 12. We have a 6 year old little girl named Tara who you'll probably see running around at some point. She's the unofficial church mascot and loves it here. So that does officially make me a mom, which I guess qualifies me to speak today.

I will be the first to acknowledge that Mother's Day can be complicated. Everyone in this room has a mom, had a mom, is a mom, or was a mom. And whether or not today is a day that brings you joy, a day of bittersweet memories, or perhaps unpleasant ones, or a day that slaps you in the face as a reminder of loss, or unfulfilled dreams, your reaction to this day is valid. I was fortunate to have a great relationship with my mom growing up. Still do! That's her, her name is Candy. She provided me with a fantastic childhood and continues to be a cheerleader and incredible support in my adult life. And I am lucky to also have a great relationship with my mother-in-law too. Hi Sue! And - Tara will attest that are both fantastic grandmas. I also always wanted to be mom. But that didn't happen for me right away. I had Tara at 39 years old. Not exactly a spring chicken. And my OB office liked to remind me of it every visit. Did you know women who are pregnant over 35 are handed the label of "geriatric pregnancy?" GERIATRIC. I thought I was having a baby, not signing up for Life Alert and checking out nursing homes.

But yeah, it was a while before I became a mother. But before I had Tara, I was surrounded by kids and youth. I was a Girl Scout leader of middle and high school girls for around 15 years. I was a youth group leader just as long. I've known literally hundreds of teens over the years and was fortunate to become quite close to many of them. A few actually called me mom and some still do, you know who you are. I was labeled a "spiritual" mom, which I was honored by. But mother's day still stung for the many years I wanted a child but didn't have one. There were a few years I skipped church - even though I literally lived across the street at the time - because I just didn't want the reminder. So - if that's you, I just want you to know that I see you. I feel you. You are not alone.

It would have been remiss of me not to acknowledge the various feelings surrounding this holiday. But It's my hope and prayer, whatever your experience, that you're able to find God's comfort and love.

When I sat down to write, it was under pretty interesting circumstances. Josh was home sick with pneumonia. I had been up all night working on a project - arranging a year's worth of photos for Tara's school yearbook, using an exceedingly slow website to do so. When I woke up, I was hit with a migraine, first one in years, a nice reminder that I can no longer pull an all nighter without consequences. (So maybe that geriatric label wasn't wrong after all…) My daughter spent the day in front of the TV and with coloring sheets. She ate some cereal and toast, PB&J, and canned chicken soup. I think maybe - hopefully? - a few strawberries too? We missed a birthday party because neither one of us was well enough to take her. Wasn't exactly a winning day. And I got to thinking about how often motherhood looks like this - not exactly like this - but how often it's not Pinterest perfect. The days we aren't doing the instagram crafts. We aren't cooking from scratch with our children, or collecting dandelions in an effort to spend "1000 Hours Outside." Sometimes our best is "well, she got fed today. Even if she made her own toast." I'm certain this must be a pretty common experience - despite what social media shows us. And I bet it has been for ages.

So, I got to thinking, who created Mother's Day? When did this become a thing - an actual holiday? Who recognized that even when we aren't AT our best, we are still TRYING our best? Who decided to set aside a day on the calendar to celebrate moms? My cynical side wondered if it was a marketing ploy, a la Hallmark or Macy's back in the day. And my even more cynical side thought "I'm sure it wasn't a man - unless it really was for profit."

Well, I was partly right. Mother's Day was started by - drum roll please - A MOM! Of course it would be a fellow mom that would say "hey! We deserve some recognition here!" So here's a little history lesson for you. I happen to be bit of a History Buff and am definitely a genealogy enthusiast. Josh says it's called being a nerd, but I'll wear that badge with honor. Give me an episode of Expedition Unknown or a History Channel special and I'm a happy camper.

Alright, so Mother's Day was officially started by Anna Reeves Jarvis over a hundred years ago back in 1905. After her Mother Ann passed away on May 9, she set out to create a day that would honor her and other moms collectively. She began this movement in West Virginia. Three years later, the very first Mother's Day celebration was held at Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church near her home town. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognizing Jarvis' idea for a national holiday to be celebrated each second Sunday in May. And I would say "the rest is history," expect there's actually more history behind it.

Jarvis wasn't the first with the idea of a Mother's Day. National Geographic tells us that the poet and author Julia Ward Howe had aimed to promote a Mother's Peace Day decades before. (Fun fact - I have an ancestor named Howe. And I was really hoping Julia would be related to her, but it wasn't the case. Darn.) Okay, back to Julia. She lived through the Civil War. I can only imagine what motherhood looked like for her back in the 1860's. Because of her experiences, she aimed to spread unity across the globe in the wake of so much trauma following the Civil War in American and the Franco-Prussian War in Europe.

Julia called for women to gather once a year in parlors, churches, or social halls, to listen to sermons, present essays, sing hymns, or pray if they wished - all in the name of promoting peace. This was indeed carried out for a while until Anna Jarvis' idea took hold. So what today is a day filled with sweet cards, flowers, and brunches - which is indeed lovely - originally started out with a much deeper vision.

Julia Howe was no stranger to using her voice to promote justice. She was the author of one of the most recognizable anthems of American history: The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Most of us know the first few lines, "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord…" and of course the famous chorus "Glory, glory, hallelujah…" The entire song is filled with dramatic imagery, much of it lifted from the Bible, penned to inspire Union troops as they engaged in battle. But it wasn't just a rallying song. She took dead aim at slavery in her lyrics, the last verse includes the line "as He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free." That's not exactly mincing words. Here's another fun fact - she penned the lyrics all at once, early one morning, at the encouragement of a preacher friend. She knew she had written something important. So much so that she took it to a popular magazine, The Atlantic Monthly. They paid her a whopping $5 for it. That's the equivalent of $163 dollars and 47 cents today. (Man I was hoping for more when I looked up the conversion rate.)

At this point you may be saying: "Alright Erin - thanks for the history lesson, but what does it that have to do with us today?"

In the words of one of my favorite content creators, Elyse Meyers, "That's a great question, I would love to tell you."

So Julia Howe pens this incredibly poignant song. A song that has left it's mark on history. And it's a literal battle anthem. It's a song about history bending towards justice. A song proclaiming that evil does not get the last word. And here is what is remarkable: the same woman who wrote a song to inspire troops into battle, later became a voice for peace. Because she understood something profound. Sometimes standing for what is good and right looks bold and public, and sometimes it looks like healing after the battle. Sometimes it is protest. And sometimes it is reconciliation. Sometime it is marching. And sometimes it is mothering. But all of it matters.

Julia believed women could be a moral force in society - not simply by existing privately, but by coming together publicly. By gathering, by organizing, by refusing isolation. By saying "we will not stand idly by while the world harms what is precious." She didn't seek to just celebrate mothers, but mobilize the hearts of mothers towards healing. And we've seen this play out time and time again.

Consider MADD - Mother's Against Drunk Driving. In September of 1980, 13 year old Cari Lightner was walking to a church carnival in northern California. She was struck and killed by a drunk driver who was out of jail on bail for a hit-and-run just two days prior. Driven by grief and anger over the lenient sentence for the driver who had a total of 4 prior arrests, Candace Lightner, her mom, formed MADD to raise public awareness, aid victims, and demand stricter penalties for drunk driving. She turned heartbreak into advocacy. And collectively, her group took private pain and birthed public change. Because mothers came together, new laws were written. Did you know that MADD's advocacy led to the federal government passing the law which made the national legal drinking age 21? And not only did laws change, but awareness changed, culture changed, and lives have been saved.

Here's another one for you. I just learned about this, so maybe it's new to you as well. In Argentina in the late 70's a group formed called Madres de Plaza de Mayo. It started with 14 women who's young adult children were forcibly disappeared by the dictator-run government, without trials, or judicial process. They started gathering every week at the presidential palace in Bueons Aires. When police forbade them from standing still because the law prohibited gatherings of more than 3 people, they linked arms and walked in circles around the Pyramide de Mayo just across the street from the palace. Their movement grew and they wore white scarves on their heads, embroidered with their children's names, which became a symbol of truth and justice. Soon, their movement spread around the world, and even the World Cup soccer match saw throngs of protestors, covered by international news media. When democracy returned to their nation in 1983, the group continued demanding prosecution of the perpetrators and truth about the victims. Even today, you can find women at the Plaza de Mayo every Thursday, upholding the memory of those lost, and standing for truth and justice.

These are two, massive, mother-led movements which created real change in the world, but we see this locally too, just on a smaller scale- community kitchens, foster care networks, PTA meetings, even church meal trains - these are almost always spearheaded by women. Their names may not be remembered in the history books the way Julia Howe's has been, or the founders of MADD or the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, but their work has changed lives all the same. This is how transformation often happens. Not always in grand gestures, but in small, faithful acts done collectively.

The bible has a word for these people. Peacemakers. We see it in the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5, verse 9.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.Matthew 5:9 (NIV)

And we see it again in James, chapter 3, verse 18.

peacemakers' who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.James 3:18 (NIV)

Notice that the word used here is peace MAKERS. Not peace-keepers. Not peace-wishers. Peace MAKERS. Peacemaking is active. It is courageous. And it's sometimes inconvenient.

A meal delivered.
A phone call made.
A handwritten card.
A child mentored.
A neighbor checked on.
A meeting attended.
A letter penned.
An outdated policy challenged.
A vote cast.
A truth spoken.

Sometimes, it's easy to think that our lives are inconsequential. Especially when you are in the throes of motherhood. Diaper changes and homework help and carpooling to soccer don't exactly seem world changing. But amidst all of what we see as mundane, we can indeed be a force for good. We do not have to do enormous things to change the world. Scripture is full of reminders that God loves small beginnings: A mustard seed. A little yeast. Five loaves and two fishes. A baby in a manger. So let's not underestimate what God can do through a connected community of women.

In fact, in this room right now, I see:

Women who raise children with compassion in a culture that rewards cruelty
Women who practice hospitality in an age of loneliness and isolation.
Women who support mothers who are drowning.
Women who hold the hand of someone grieving.
Women who mentor a younger woman.
Women who volunteer.
Women who advocate.
Women who encourage.
Women who pray.

Indeed, blessed are the peacemakers.

Jesus also said

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.Matthew 5:7

How much mercy has flowed through the hands of women? Mercy in late-night conversations that always happen when bedtime was 15 minutes ago. Mercy in listening without fixing. Mercy in second, and third, chances. Mercy in showing up again and again and again, even when we are tired.

And let's not forget "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." There is a hunger amongst women and mothers today for a better world: for safer homes, kinder communities, stronger families, deeper belonging. And that hunger is not weakness, according to the bible it's sacred and will be rewarded.

So today, I want to encourage the women and mothers here: You were never meant to carry life alone. From the very beginning, women have survived, healed, rallied, and cried out for peace in circles. Elizabeth needed her cousin, Mary. Ruth needed Naomi. Mary Magdalene stood with other women at the tomb. If you haven't found your circle, look around. This room and this church are a great place to start. We have life groups and support groups and casual dinners happening all the time. And we are friendly.

Let this be a little nudge to shift your Mother's Day celebration this year. Not literally today, because you have school-made gifts to open and avocado toast and shrimp cocktail to nosh on. But soon. Let's not just give flowers, let's plant seeds. Let's re-imbrace Julia Ward Howe's original vision of Mother's Peace Day- a community of women coming together to learn from one another, encourage one another, and just sit with one another. Because we are strongest when we gather not to compete or compare, but to strengthen one another.

Let's pray together, laugh together, grieve together, and strategize together. And lets remind each other "you are not walking this road alone." Because whether or not you are in a beautiful season of motherhood, or are still longing for it, if you're reminiscing about your childhood or grieving it, if you're celebrating with your children or mourning a loss, or if you are mothering by means of mentoring, caregiving, fostering, ministry or simply friendship, you are valuable and your story matters. This day can hold joy and ache all at once, and God is present in all of it.

And to the men here today, keep supporting the women in your lives, no matter what season they are in. If she is up all night breastfeeding a newborn, support her. If she is mothering young children and chasing after toddler tornados, help her. If she is rebuilding after loss, comfort her, if she is discovering a new calling or chasing after new dreams, cheerlead her. If God has placed something meaningful on her heart, help her create space for it to flourish. Encourage her friendships, honor her labor, share the load. Sometimes, the most spiritual (and most sexy) thing a man can do is simply ask: "how can I help carry this with you."

I'd like to close with a spin on the beatitudes, as a blessing, and reminder, for the women in the room:

Blessed are you when you choose peace in a loud world.
Blessed are you when you offer mercy in a harsh world.
Blessed are you when you hunger for goodness in a cynical world.
Blessed are you when you come together instead of isolating.

This Mother's Day, may we honor women not only with celebrating but with commitment. And may we commit to what these first celebrations set out to create: women gathered in love, committed to peace, refusing to despair, and, as the Girl Scout in me says - making the world a better place. And may it be said of us: blessed are the peacemakers.

May the God who gathers the lonely into community surrounding you with people who will strengthen, encourage, and walk beside you. And may you have courage to do small things with great love, wisdom to stand for what is good and right, and grace to be a peacemaker in a hurting world. Go have a great Mother's Day!

So quick recap so we don't start cold. #34 on our list was

#34 - AWAIT JESUS' RETURN

And in week one we basically came to the conclusion that Jesus' doesn't just want us to sit around waiting for His second coming, twiddling our thumbs and being comfortable and just being amongst ourselves and not out in the world being His active Kingdom.

Now our key verses that we got #34 AWAIT JESUS' RETURN from was Matthew 24:42-44 which says -

So you too, must keep watch! For you don't know what day your Lord is coming. Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.Matthew 24:42-44

So some people really key in on the "keep watch" part of the passage. And so they make this entry into our Fifty Things more about that -

#34 - KEEP WATCH

And because they misread or misunderstand the verses leading up to this passage in Matthew 24 they think it's about Keeping Watch for the end of the world.

Now last week, we did a deep dive into Matthew 23 which really informs our understanding of Matthew 24 and we also looked at the first 27 verses of Matthew 24 to show that Jesus wasn't talking about the end of the world and to keep watch for the end of the world, but that Jesus was answering two separate questions that the disciples asked that the disciples probably didn't even realize were two separate questions. When was the end of the age and what will be the sign of Jesus' return. So we spent a lot of time explaining that the end of the age was when judgment was pronounced on Israel and the temple was destroyed in AD 70 and all of these other things that Jesus mentioned - they happened between AD 30 - AD 75. In their generation. They were not warnings for us to look for end times phenomena. That's not what Jesus wants us to be about. Keep watch was not a command for us to keep looking for signs to interpret as the end of the world.

And that brings us to where we are now in our exploration of Matthew 24. Cause we've got more to look at. Now, I think we did a pretty good job of explaining that wars and rumors of wars, and famines and earthquakes and false messiahs and a time of unmatched turmoil and fleeing to the hills from Judea and all of that stuff - was about the era between AD 30 -AD 75 last week. But we haven't hit everything in the chapter. And some of us who maybe grew up in certain traditions, maybe you're thinking "Wait Josh! There's still some stuff you didn't cover! Some stuff that still sounds suspiciously like end of the world stuff! You can't just skip over that."

And I'm not. I just ran out of time last week. Let's dive back in.

Now remember, when Jesus is talking and we're parsing the text, we're dealing with two separate events that mark the answers to the two separate questions that the disciples asked Jesus. And the way it is recorded in the book of Matthew there's a lot of back and forth. It makes narrative sense the way we naturally tell stories and speak to our friends - we go back and forth, we Tarantino our stories when we're telling them all the time and we don't even realize we do it. That's what's happening here in the latter parts of Matthew 24 and we need to pay close attention, otherwise we will mix these two time periods and separate incidents up in our minds and see them as one.

We're picking back up in Matthew 24:26

So Jesus has said "So if someone tells you, 'Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,' don't bother to go and look. Or 'Look, he is hiding here,' don't believe it!" That's their present time. Disciples' generation. Then Jesus breaks from that to say "For as lighting flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes." Jesus takes a break to explain the difference and talks about the FUTURE. But then after that explanation as an aside, Jesus goes BACK to talking about what would happen in the disciples generation - he's wrapping up everything he's been talking about to be on the lookout for in their generation -

Just as the gathering of vultures shows that there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.Matthew 24:26-28

What end is near? The end of the AGE. Not the end of the world. The end of the age of the Second Temple that we have been talking about for two straight chapters.

And Jesus is most likely STILL talking about those days when He says,

Immediately AFTER THE ANGUISH OF THOSE DAYS, (the days Jesus has been warning them about this entire time) the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.Matthew 24:29

Sounds kind of end of the world-y but does this line up with what we know happened historically? Yes it does. The historian Josephus talks about the temple and Jerusalem being purged by fire. There were immense amounts of smoke and fire. We read that the blaze was intense enough that when seen from a distance, the flames seemed to be part of the sky. There was tremendous darkness and smoke. We live in California - we know what happens when we get a really bad wildfire. We have seen it. Does the smoke blot out the sky and the sun? Does it make the sky red? Does smoke block and scatter moonlight, turning the moon deep red or orange so the moon no longer gives off light - almost like a lunar eclipse?

The interesting line here that confuses us sometimes and makes us think - well this must be the end of ze world - not the end of the age - is "the stars will fall from the sky." But is there a chance that could've been signals of the end of the age as well? Something that happened during the disciples' generation? Yeah.

The Jewish historian Josephus writes about supernatural phenomena that happened during the fall of Jerusalem. And it seems to be in line with what Jesus prophesies about. Josephus says that there was a star that resembled a sword that hung over the city. There was also a comet that lasted for a year. And this is where it gets really wild - he also records that people saw visions of chariots and soldiers running through the clouds in armor and surrounding cities. Perhaps signals that what was happening in and around Jerusalem was indeed a unique event in history with supernatural implications.

Now in the next verse, it seems that Jesus switches from the judgment that will befall Jerusalem in the disciples generation to the distant FUTURE thousands of years later with His second coming-

And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And THEY will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send out His angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and THEY will gather His chosen ones from all over the world - from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.Matthew 24:30-31

And if you were with us last week, you remember Jesus making the stuff about the destruction and persecution personal to the Disciples - YOU will see… YOU will be arrested, persecuted ad killed. YOU will be hated all over the world. YOU will see what Daniel the prophet has spoken about. THIS VERY GENERATION.

But when Jesus is talking about the distant future which WE have the luxury of knowing is at least two thousand years later…he doesn't say YOU. He says THEY… that's not an accident. Now speaking of time periods - we've gotta deal with "at last."

When is "at last?" Is it right on the heels of the destruction of the temple in 70 AD? No. It can't be. History tells us that. We're thousands of years into the future and it hasn't happened yet. When is "at last?" It's not a specific time period. It's not "in a little bit." It's not "quite a bit later." It's "at last." "At last" is an idiom. We use it to say "Finally." "After a long period of waiting." "Ultimately." We use that language as "the culmination" or an event. When something FINALLY comes to fruition.

"At last" might not be the best translation though. And it confuses the back and forth between two time periods when it's translated that way. Because the Greek for that phrase can be translated a number of ways - it can be translated as "then" - which I think most of the confusion comes from. It can be translated "at that time." Which is like then. But it can also be translated "at the time that…" Small change - big difference. So you can read Matthew 24 as "at the time that the sign that the Son of Man will appear in the heavens" ('is coming' is something added by translators for clarification)

And so we're back to Jesus switching the time on the narrative to the future. He is not saying that His return is immediately on the heels of the destruction of the temple.

But now comes the hardest part of this text - This is what I promised last week - because there does seem to be a conflation - a merging of these two ideas and it happens because of one word in Matthew 24:34 And whenever you have a conflation, it's going to result in confusion. And it has for thousands of years. Let's examine this next part -

Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and it's leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know His return is right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place.Matthew 24:32-34

And it would be easy to see Jesus jumping back and forth between the two questions except for this one word "all" "until all these things take place." And it's hard not to marry those two ideas the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and the second coming of Christ. I grant you that. The problem is that it makes the rest of the passage not make sense. It takes what is a very obvious and specific addressing of the disciples in their generation for the better part of two chapters - and because of this one word - makes it really confusing.

Couple of ways of dealing with this - we just call it what it most likely is - another time jump in the narrative. But if you want to get deeper into a possible explanation - I think we need to remember that a scribe was not sitting down next to Jesus when He was saying all of these things. Matthew 24 is a recollection put into an account at the very earliest - 10 to 15 years after Jesus told the disciples this. But the most commonly held scholarly consensus tells us that the Gospel of Matthew was most likely written between 70 AD and 90 AD, with most believing that it was written AFTER the destruction of the Jerusalem temple, probably sometime between 75 AD - 85 AD. So we're talking putting what you remember that Jesus said about this conversation in writing probably 45 to 55 years after it happened. And while obviously inspired it was still written by human hands with human voices and human understanding. And you ask yourself - did the writing reflect a misunderstanding or a conflation of ideas in this account? Well, when did the disciples think Jesus was coming back? They thought the second coming would be in their lifetimes. And the writings in other scripture reflects this.

1 Peter 4:7, James 5:8-9

If they didn't understand they were asking two separate questions at the beginning of this passage, the disciples still were probably conflating the two ideas when writing about them and misunderstanding that while they both had to happen, they were not as temporally connected as they understood them to be. They were still looking for Jesus' imminent return at the time of the writing of Matthew - and it would've made sense to their human understanding being that the destruction of Jerusalem and the fall of the Temple that was a part of this conversation had probably recently taken place before the authorship of this gospel.

Alright - we're finally moving in on our key verse and at this point in the passage - this has stronger implications for us, more important implications for us - pressing implications because now we are talking about THE FUTURE…

When the Son of Man returns, (FUTURE) it will be like it was in Noah's day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered His boat. People didn't realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes. Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.Matthew 24:37-41

So you, too, must keep watch! For you don't know what day your Lord is coming.Matthew 24:42

And I bet I know what a lot of you think of when you read that verse. But do you know why? And is what you imagine this verse to be about really what this verse is about?

Alright. So it's pretty common for Matthew 24:40-41 to be seen by certain segments of the evangelical community as an allusion to an event which has come to be known as The Rapture. And if you see it that way - that's fine. Lot of people do. I don't think any more of you because you do, I don't think any less of you because you do. But just so we get our history and context straight - Matthew 24:37-42 might not be referring to an event where followers of Christ are taken up to the sky to essentially miss out on a time of great tribulation leading to the second coming of Christ and the end of the world while the rest of the world is "left behind" depending on your interpretations or Revelation, Daniel, Ezekiel, Thessalonians, and Matthew 24 just to name a few.

One of the reasons why a lot of people's brains and imaginations immediately go there - when they read the language "one will be taken, the other left" is because they were already misreading past events like the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Second Temple and the abomination that causes desolation and the flight to the hills of Pella from Judea as apocalyptic prophecy for THEIR FUTURE here in the 20th and 21st centuries instead of understanding that that part of what Jesus was addressing were prophecies that had indeed been fulfilled within the disciples own generation and lifetime just like Jesus said they would be. And by the way, be happy about that because that is a demonstration of Jesus as the ultimate, accurate prophet.

But if you read those events as future prophecies and you had future apocalyptic armageddon imagery in your head when you were reading this, of course you would interpret these verses as about a pre-tribulation Rapture. Which is something that not every Christ follower believes in. And that's okay. Because the idea of the Rapture as a separate event from the coming of Christ - not just meeting Him in the clouds at His Second coming, but being whisked away from earth to avoid a 7 year tribulation period and then returning with Jesus at the end of that period only to be whisked back up again- those ideas as we understand them in our time - didn't exist until John Nelson Darby, an Anglican priest in Ireland who visited the United States between 1862 and 1878.

He taught about dispensations - the idea of distinct periods or systems as an understanding of Biblical theology where God interacts with humanity through specific rules and promises that are different based on different times. Each time period 'testing' man's obedience to a new revelation of God's will. This is usually broken up into seven distinct dispensations - and it gets really complicated but suffice it to say that the idea of the rapture theology and 'left behind' books and movies and the 'thief in the night' movies and all that stuff that evangelical christians eat up like it's candy because it scares us while giving us hope, it has all kinds of brutal, visceral, fantastic and horrific imagery and it rides the doom and gloom heavy but ends happily for the Christ follower - and psychologically, the reason why a lot of us eat that stuff up is because it's the theological equivalent of a horror movie - crazy, dark, violent, fantastical imagery but it's safe to read and geek out on because it's 'in the bubble.' Some of us grew up not being able to see Friday the 13th or read Stephen King's The Stand, but we could read 'The Late Great Planet Earth.' Cheap thrills. Ask me which one does more long-term psychological damage… but I digress… anyways - the idea of a pre-tribulation rapture that all came from Darby.

Well… actually not quite. Darby actually developed his pre-tribulation rapture theory after learning of a "two-stage" return of Jesus that a 15 year old Scottish girl named Margaret MacDonald had in a "vision" in 1830. So Darby adopted her idea and formulated other teachings around it. And it spread like wildfire in the states, not so much in other parts of the world - in fact, if you go to Europe or Britain and other parts of the world now where there is less of an evangelical influence, you will find that dispensationalism and the idea of a pre-tribulation rapture is not held with the same regard or taught with the same conviction as it is in the States, particularly among Baptists and Presbyterians and Methodists living in the states.

The reason why it caught on so heavily here is because Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, a Dallas pastor and quite a controversial figure if you check out his history, latched on heavily to Darby's teaching and he published the Scofield Reference Bible in 1909 and updated in 1917 which popularized Darby's teaching. Scofield also helped found the Moody Bible Institute influencing generations of pastors to adopt a pre-tribulation Rapture framework and pre-millennial dispensationalist theology which did not exist prior to John Nelson Darby and the visions of Margaret MacDonald in 1830. But it would go on to influence authors and speakers like Hal Lindsey and John Hagee and a whole cottage industry of people who put a whole lot of anxiety into the church by preaching that followers of Jesus needed to

#34 - KEEP WATCH

And be rapture ready!

#34 - BE READY

And so what has happened over the years is that we have so many followers of Christ, especially Evangelical followers in the States who have taken "KEEP WATCH" "BE READY" in Matthew 24:42 as a command to constantly be looking at the skies and watching the news for signs of an imminent tribulation and apocalypse. To "keep watch" to them means to read prophecy charts and timelines like a conspiracy subreddit. To "Keep Watch" must mean to look at every world leader and political candidate as if they're the possible AntiChrist. To "Keep Watch" must mean to stock up on canned beans and build a backyard bunker because you read a book series with sub-par writing and shoddy understanding of scripture or because you saw a movie with Kirk Cameron or Nic Cage that wouldn't be able to sell a ticket at the $2 dollar matinee on Tuesdays. I said it.

This theological approach while probably well meaning has been overrun by people preaching and profiting off of and further proliferating scare tactics. And somehow because of that, "Be Ready"… turned into "Be Anxious." "Keep Watch"… turned into "Keep Guessing." "Await Jesus' Return"… turned into "Pass the time by sitting around and trying to crack the code."

Folks, Jesus never said that. Never taught us to do that. And it's certainly not what Jesus meant. And Matthew 24:42 about "one will be taken, the other left" isn't about a pre-tribulation rapture. But it is about judgment. Jesus already gave us context in the verses that preceded this one.

Matthew 24:37-39 - "When the Son of Man returns, it will be like was in Noah's day.

Here's our context clue here's the picture to keep in mind -

In those days before the flood, people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn't realize what was going to happen until the flood came and SWEPT THEM ALL AWAY. That's the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.Matthew 24:37-39

Other translations say -

took them all away.Matthew 24:39 (NIV) (BLB) (KJV) (NKJV) (NASB) (LSB) (ASV) (ERV) (NET) (WBT) (WEB) (LSV) (BLB) (YLT) (SLT) (DRB) (ANT) (GNT)

including nearly all of the literal word for word translations.

TOOK - THEY WERE TAKEN.

Who was taken? The righteous or the wicked in the days of Noah? The WICKED were taken. IN JUDGMENT.

This idea of "one will be taken and the other left" - that's not describing a rescue mission with the good guy being taken up to the clouds. It's a warning that the wicked will be TAKEN as they were in the days of Noah - swept away.

This verse is not about watching and being ready for a secret escape plan where the good guys disappear and the rest are left behind.

Taken is 'taken in judgment.'

Left is not 'left behind and abandoned' - it's 'left to enter the Kingdom.'

#34 - KEEP WATCH

It's confusing… we can wind up keeping watch for the wrong things.

#34 - AWAIT JESUS RETURN

Sounds too passive. We're not just supposed to sit around with our bags packed, looking to the skies and keep checking our watches until Jesus comes back.

So let's just go with what it says at the last part of our key verses -

#34 - BE READY

And being ready isn't trying to figure out the date. Keeping watch isn't about having your bags packed, waiting on the doorstep passing the time until Jesus comes to pick you up for a 7 year vacation. You laugh but that has crippled a good section of the church.

The church shouldn't be passively waiting to get pulled out of this world. The church should be actively working to make this world better. The desire of God's people should not be to be removed from this world. It should be to be revealed as The Kingdom of God in this world.

Keep watch, Be ready means to live in a way where you're always ready. To be actively awaiting Jesus faithfully. And how do we do that?

Well, we'll talk about that NEXT WEEK.

Thank you for letting me share with you. And thanks for your patience - which we will also talk about next week. Hey patience has been a thing since week 1 of mini-series. It's all coming together… promise.

Until next time - may the anticipation of Christ's second coming in the future give us a second wind of energy and enthusiasm as a church and as individuals to share His good news in the present.

Our key verse for this entry into Fifty Things is Matthew 24:42-44 which has Jesus telling His disciples -

So you, too, must keep watch! For you don't know what day your Lord is coming. Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.Matthew 24:42-44

And so some well meaning followers of Christ, they read that - and they say - well if I'm gonna keep watch - I need to know what I'm keeping watch about. What I'm watching out for! So they read what comes before our key verses in Matthew chapter 24 And frankly… uh… it can be the kind of stuff that'll give you nightmares… if you let it. If you aren't approaching this with proper context understanding you could wind up watching out for the wrong things.

Context matters- in the previous chapter, Matthew 23, Jesus is in Jerusalem, calling out the Pharisees and religious leaders for their hypocrisy and their teachings and how they were burdening the people - and you can read it all yourself later - but there's a part I want you to keep in mind Jesus says

What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed, and you decorate the monuments of the godly people your ancestors destroyed. Then you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would never have joined them in killing the prophets.'Matthew 23:29-30

And of course, the bitter irony is, yeah they would - because they've got the Son of God in front of them right now - Love come down - fully God, fully man - and they're gonna kill Him too because what He was teaching was different than what THEY were teaching. And Jesus goes on to say

But in saying that, you testify against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead and finish what your ancestors started. Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?" Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city.Matthew 23:31-34

Now history would tell us that Jesus' apostles and teachers in the early church WOULD be killed by the religious leaders, they WOULD be killed by crucifixion, they WOULD be flogged with whips and be chased from city to city.

So after Jesus says the religious leaders will do all this terrible stuff to the prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law that He was sending, and make no mistake, He was talking about the apostles - he tells the pharisees -

As a result, you will be held responsible for the murder of all godly people of all time - from the murder of righteous Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you killed in the Temple between the sanctuary and the altar.Matthew 23:36

Alright - now I want you pay attention to what Jesus says next. It's important -

I tell you the truth, this judgment will fall on THIS VERY GENERATION.Matthew 23:36

Okay - so Jesus is placing the judgment that would befall them, in THAT GENERATION. The generation Jesus was living in. The time the disciples were living in. That's the time period Jesus is talking about.

And Jesus then audibly grieves over Jerusalem. He says,

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God's messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me. And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate. For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, 'Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!Matthew 23:39

And that is one of those sayings that gets interpreted a number of ways. Some people think of

you will never see me again until you say, 'Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!Matthew 23:39

as a prophecy about Jesus second coming and the end of the world. The idea being that that will be the day that all people everywhere in the world will finally recognize Jesus as the Messiah, Jerusalem included. Which I have no doubt that they will - but what Jesus is saying here can't be about Jerusalem strictly as a geographical location.

Because if Jerusalem was never gonna see Jesus again until His second coming when all people finally recognize Jesus as the Messiah - that doesn't make sense because according to scripture upon Jesus' resurrection from the grave, He appeared in Jerusalem… multiple times.

John 20:19-25, Luke 24:33-43, John 20:26-29

But there are other context clues to help us understand what Jesus is saying - He says "your house is abandoned and desolate." That was a reference to the Temple in Jerusalem. And it was most likely a prophetic reference to something Jesus would refer to once again in just a little bit in Matthew chapter 24 - the impending judgment and destruction of the Temple. Now Jesus also said -

You will never see me again until you say, 'Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!Matthew 23:39

What the crowds shouted during Jesus' triumphal entry, , the religious leaders rejected… And so what Jesus is most likely saying here is that the religious leaders not Jerusalem as a whole, will only see Jesus again when they see Him and accept Him in the way the crowds did during the triumphal entry - as the long awaited Messiah. The context that makes the most sense for this passage is basically that this was the final rejection of Jesus by Jerusalem's religious leaders before His crucifixion and ascension, signaling an end to Jesus' ministry among them and the pronouncement of judgment upon them.

Now why did we spend so much time getting the context of Matthew 23 right when our key verse is in Matthew 24? Because it happens at the same time. It's part of the same story. The same subject. Chapter headings in our Bibles didn't come until the early 13th century. Verses weren't numbered and standardized until the mid 16th century. Now the chapter and verse system is great for locating and referencing specific texts - but sometimes it creates divisions in our mind - and we separate conversations out from the whole and ideas that were meant to flow freely into one another become divided and we look at them separately and get confused by reading them out of context. And Matthew 24 gets victimized this way so often.

The question that we started down that rabbit trail for was "what are we KEEPING WATCH for…" And so some people, thinking they're doing their due diligence head right up to the start of the chapter and start reading to find the answer -

Matthew 24:1

As Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds, His disciples pointed out to Him the various Temple buildings. But He responded, "Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!Matthew 24:1-2

Now - Jesus just said the judgment would fall on THAT GENERATION in Matthew 23. He just said the temple would be left abandoned and desolate. This is a continuation on that thought.

Then we read "Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to Him privately and said, "Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the…"

And this is where it gets interesting. Because some translations choose to translate this as "end of the world"

"End of the world."

And some translations have it as

End of the age.Matthew 24:3

And those are two… separate… things. There's even a translation or two out there that says

"Close of the age."

Now, I will tell you that the majority of translations and the more reliable translations translate this passage as "End of the age."

The word in Greek that follows "end of" is "aion" - best translated as age or "era." When is the "end of an era." If the authors wanted to say "End of the world" a better choice would have been to use the word "cosmos." That's not what the author was trying to convey. The disciples were asking two questions here really, but they probably didn't understand they were asking two separate questions. They probably thought it was the SAME question -

Here's the questions they were asking-

• What sign will signal your return?
• What sign would signal the end of the age?

Now you have to remember, the disciples, the apostles, the early church - they thought Jesus' return was IMMINENT. You can see that all throughout the New Testament. But here we are two thousand years later still waiting… the disciples obviously misunderstood.

But let's look at how Jesus answers these questions in Matthew 24 -

Jesus told them, "Don't let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Messiah.' They will deceive many. And you will hear or wars and threats of wars, but don't panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won't follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come."Matthew 24:4-8

And you read this on its own…and you go - well, I mean, this KINDA sounds like the end of the world. Nation against nation, earthquakes, famines… must be the end of the world.

Well - if Jesus was talking about the future thousands of years from now - two thousand years PLUS away from His own time period - then why does in the very next verse Jesus make it specific to the disciples and their time period. He makes it personal. About them.

Then YOU will be arrested, persecuted and killed. YOU will be hated all over the world because you are my followers.Matthew 24:9

And remember - why were the disciples asking these questions in the first place? Because earlier that day - Jesus had told the religious leaders in so many words that they were gonna torture and kill the apostles. And Jesus had told them THAT DAY that judgment was coming to THAT generation and the Temple would be left abandoned and desolate in THAT GENERATION.

Now did this come to pass? About the apostles being hated ALL OVER THE WORLD and persecuted and killed - uh yeah - the disciples were not just killed in Roman occupied Jerusalem and similar territories by the religious leaders. Andrew was killed in Greece. Thomas was killed in India. Philip was killed in Phrygia. Matthew was killed in Ethiopia. Simon the Zealot was killed in Persia or Britain. We're not sure. Bartholomew was killed in Armenia. And even the authors of the Gospel- would be killed in diverse places - Saint Mark the evangelist, author of the Gospel of Mark, who was a young disciple who witnessed Jesus' arrest, would later be killed in Alexandria, Egypt. Luke the author of the Gospel of Luke and close companion of the apostle Paul was hanged in Greece.

Huh. That tracks with the more 'present to the disciples time period' temporal setting. But what about the wars and threats of wars? That's gotta be about the future end of the world right? Probably not.

The time between AD 30 and AD 75 was marked by significant wars, violent revolts and severe political instability within the Roman Empire. In fact it was often referred to AT THE TIME as a time of "wars and rumors of wars."

Huh.

There were major rebellions in Judea and Britain. There was war with the Parthian Empire. A war for control of Armenia between Rome and the Parthian Emprire. There was a brutal Roman civil war where four different generals vied for the throne after Nero's death in quick succession causing intense political instability. There was a massive uprising by British tribes against Roman occupation resulting in the destruction of Colchester and London which nearly caused the Romans to abandon Britain. Caligula's "threats" against Germania and Britain were constant. While he never launched a full scale war, he marched armies to the coast and would stage incidents that created tension and "rumors of war." And perhaps most importantly to our conversation there was the first Jewish-Roman War specifically between AD 66- AD73 or 74. This was a massive conflict which involved Jewish fighters fighting against Roman rule and it resulted in…

The destruction of the Temple by Titus in AD 70. The end of the 2nd Temple age. The end of an era. The end of a time period that had lasted anywhere from 420-600 years. The end of the sacrificial system. And the beginning of Rabbinic Judaism.

Huh.

Well what about the famines and earthquakes - I mean that seems pretty apocalyptic. That had to be about the future ultimate end of the world. Well all this would've been a Galactus level event for the world as they knew it at the time. And uh yeah there were some pretty heavy duty earthquakes in diverse places. The period between AD 30 and AD 75 was known for INTENSE seismic activity in the Mediterranean region and throughout the Roman Empire. It was a time of geological instability around the Bay of Naples and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Geological evidence from Dead Sea sediment cores indicates a significant earthquake occurred somewhere between AD 26 and AD 36. Some people try to align that with the accounts in the Gospel of Matthew of the great earthquake that happened during the crucifixion of Jesus, but there's no way to know for sure.

In AD 37 there was a major earthquake that struck Antioch in Syria which led to a rebuild by Caligula.

In AD 62 a major earthquake caused extensive damage to Pompeii, Heruclaneum and surrounding areas in the Bay of Naples. The destruction was so severe that repairs were still underway when Mount Vesuvius erupted 15 years later in 79 AD.

In AD 64 there was a smaller but still significant earthquake that happened in Naples while Nero was performing in a theater. Apparently God gave His performance two thumbs down. That's a joke. God doesn't send natural disasters as critical notes. Otherwise Cats would've been Cataclysmic. The world would have never recovered from a Catastrophe of that magnitude. Alright, I'll stop meow.

But were there famines during that time? Surely that's got to be an end of the world thing, right?

Well, in Acts chapter 11 a prophet from Jerusalem came to Antioch named Agabus and it says "Agabus stood up in one of the meetings and predicted by the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the entire Roman world." (This was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius.)

The reign of Claudius by the way was between AD 41 - AD 54. Same time period as all of these other thins taking place ending with the destruction of the temple in AD 70 and the fall of Masada, the last Jewish stronghold in AD 73. We also know that there was a great famine that took place in AD 70. This one was manmade - caused by the Roman blockade during the siege of Jerusalem and resulting in widespread starvation and thousands of deaths and desperate measures including cannibalism. Hundreds of thousands dies during this famine. People were eating grass, garbage, leather from belt and shoes and waste. The severe hunger led to violence with gangs breaking into peoples homes and snatching food from the mouths of the dying. Archaeologists found withinin that region empty cooking pots and lamps in cisterns - which they theorized might've been a "cache" where someone might have hidden food during those extremely desperate times.

So famines… check.

Huh.

False prophets? People claiming to be the Messiah? People coming in the name of the Messiah? Sounds like the end of the world to me, Josh…

Well, the Jewish historian Josephus AND the New Testament confirms a surge or false prophets and messiah imposters in Judea between AD 30 and AD 70. Theudas who operated from AD 44-46 was a magician who claimed to be a prophet and he convinced a large crowd to follow him to the Jordan River promising to divide it by his command. He was captured and killed by the Roman procurator Fadus. At least 400 of his followers were killed or captured with the rest scattered.

There was an Egyptian prophet. This guy was a big deal in the 50's - the AD 50's… He had about 30,000 followers that he gathered on the Mount of Olives. He claimed the walls of Jerusalem would fall at his command. But he was defeated by Roman forces. And Roman Procurator Antonius Felix killed 400 of his followers and took 200 more prisoners. And the Egyptian prophet - he escaped never to be seen again.

Simon Bar Giora, a revolutionary leader during the Jewish war which ended in AD 70 was viewed as a messianic figure - promising liberation from Rome. He was executed in AD 71. His followers were killed, enslaved and sent to labor camps or executed by Roman forces.

There are so many others during this time period you can look at -

John of Gisela (AD 66-70) Menachem ben Judah (AD 66) Dositheus (AD 45) Menahem ben Judah (AD 66) David the Egyptian (AD 60) The Samaritan (AD 36)

Ladies and gentlemen, that is the tip of the iceberg.

Huh.

What else did Jesus say?

Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole word, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.Matthew 24:14

Let's take the last part first - the Good News about the Kingdom was being preached throughout the whole world during the time period of AD 30- AD 75 thanks to the work of Jesus' followers and missionary efforts. The end being the "end of the age." But we often think of "the whole world" as OUR whole world as we know it. (Animaniacs countries song) - but the Greek word that we read here that Jesus uses is "Oikoumene" which was an allusion to the Roman Empire. It translates to "the inhabited world" - and it was a Greek concept adopted by the Roman Empire to describe the known, civilized world under Roman administration. This term and "orbis Romanus" 'Roman World' were used interchangeably.

The apostle Paul would've understood this statement by Jesus to be fulfilled in his lifetime. With Paul's own measures and missionary journeys having a lot to do with it. For proof of this see

Romans 10:18, Romans 16:26, Colossians 1:6, Colossians 1:23,

Especially Colossians 1:23

The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God's servant to proclaim it.Colossians 1:23

Now the first part- sin was rampant, and would continue to be during that time. All you have to do is look at some of the things the rulers and leaders and emperors were doing during that time. And what people did when faced with the worst of situations. We already mentioned some of it. Of course the love of many grew cold whether hopes of what they expected the Messiah to represent were dashed and they were faced with calamity rather than peace and comfort.

The phrase that often feels really apocalyptic is "the one who endures to the end will be saved." But we're reading that apocalypse into it. That's not in the narrative. And it can't mean physically saved as in 'yay. I made it through. I survived.' Because Jesus has already said that His apostles are gonna be killed. So what Jesus is saying here probably echoes a theme that is repeated all throughout the New Testament - its a practical call to persevere through life's trials, temptations and adversity while maintaining faith and integrity and not giving up. Not abandoning your faith. Not abandoning the mission. Saved in this context is basically finding peace and being delivered from spiritual defeat despite the WORST of life's difficulties. It's staying committed to what Jesus called us to do. And that requires great patience and resilience in the face of great hardship.

DON'T GIVE UP

Situations may change. Life as you know it may change. You may go through some hard times. But keep enduring and keep the faith because in doing so your soul will find peace and your spirit will find salvation.

Now there's a section of this passage that a lot of people want to make about the end of ze world… but we gotta get this in the proper context as well otherwise we will waste our time looking for something that already happened. And trust me when I say a lot of time has been wasted theorizing about this and looking for this. Matthew 24:15

The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about - the sacrilegious object that causes desecration (or in Greek, the abomination of desolation) standing in the Holy Place." (Reader, pay attention!) "Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat. How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days. And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For there will be great anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God's chosen ones.Matthew 24:15-22

Alright - let's get the time period down right now. Jesus is talking to His disciples. And like the rest of this conversation it has been about THAT generation. The generation Jesus and the disciples were living in. He says

The day is coming when YOU will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about - the sacrilegious object that causes desecration.Mathew 24:15

Jesus says - YOU will see it. The DISCIPLES will see it. Throughout these entire two chapters and these conversations with the Pharisees and the disciples, Jesus has not been talking about some hypothetical third temple to come. He has been talking about the second temple that is there now and won't be soon. Within a generation. He was referencing things that the disciples would've been familiar with so they could warn people to run when they saw them.

What is the abomination that causes desolation or the abomination of desecration as described in Daniel? Well, this is one of those things that probably already happened BEFORE Jesus and Jesus was referring to it as something that would happen again and be recognized. In 167 BC, Antiochus Epiphanes, a Seleucid king, ruler of the Syrian based empire that controlled Palestine, in an attempt to stamp out the Jewish religion, banned the Temple sacrifices, set up an altar to Zeus over the Jewish altar of burnt offerings, and ordered the sacrifice of pigs upon it. Pigs of course being an unclean animal. Antiochus Epiphanes sacrificed the animal and set up altars to other gods in the holy of holies- therefore the temple was desecrated by this abomination, the Jewish people were forced to flee the temple and the temple became 'abandoned and desolate.' This is recorded, not just in history, not just in the book of Daniel as prophecy but also as history in 1 and 2 Maccabees.

So if this already happened in 167 BC, Jesus is referencing a similar event to come that the disciples would be able to recognize based on the history of the past. Another act of desecration that would lead to the temple being abandoned and desolate. Another act of extreme sacrilege by a ruler at the time. Would that happen within the disciples generation? Yes.

The historian Josephus writes about how in 70 AD, the Romans set up their gods and their altars in the temple courts and offered sacrifices to them.This was an abomination and it defiled and desecrated the temple. The burnt offerings that the Jewish priests would make would be terminated with the siege of the temple.

By the way when the attacks on the Jewish people were ramped up during this time period, some early Christians in Judea did flee to the hills after that happened just like Jesus recommended- they fled to Pella, in Jordan. A rugged, hilly terrain in the easter foothills of the northern Jordan Valley about 27 kilometers south of the Sea of Galilee. Eusebius, the early church historian records the flight to the hills of Pella.

Huh.

Now I get it - when you hear Jesus say a line about

For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again.Matthew 24:21

for those of us who grew up being told that Matthew 24 was about The Great Tribulation and Ze End of Ze Entire World… we think, well, whatever happened then, it can't possibly compare to World War I or World War II and the extreme loss of life. We all saw "The Day After" in the 80's and those of us who lived through the height of the Cold War can't help but imagine nuclear destruction so maybe you think, "nah. Jesus has gotta be talking about something after that generation and the time of the disciples just because of the sheer scale." And I get that logic… IF YOU REMOVE that verse from the context of the entire conversation. But Jesus is NOT talking about the whole world - he was focusing specifically on Jerusalem and Judea and the Temple. And the Jewish areas under Roman control. That's been the topic of discussion in these whole passage. Right BEFORE that verse, Jesus is talking about the Temple and fleeing from Judea to the hills and right AFTER that verse Jesus talks about the false messiahs that will show up during that time. And again he uses the present tense and he tells His disciples -

See, I have warned YOU about this AHEAD OF TIMEMatthew 24:25

Now, without going into great detail - that time around the temple and the siege of Jerusalem and the rise of the zealots and really the utter destruction of the Jewish people and way of life under Titus and Vespasian and Nero and the Romans - it was horrific. If you read what Josephus writes about this time period - it is horrible. Just absolutely devastating. The temple being filled with rivers of blood. 8,500 dead bodies being stacked inside the temple grounds (also an abomination by the way) on one day alone. Mothers eating their babies because they had no food. Like this is just a little of the horrors. It's so hard to read. But historians tell us that while Jerusalem has had it's share of problems over the centuries - being besieged, conquered and heavily damaged over 100 times in its history - the total dismantling of the city, the total destruction of the temple, the permanent exile of the population in AD 70 and the sheer amount of death and terror in Jerusalem at that time was unparalleled in scope at that time and that level of destruction it has not been experienced again in that area. Which lines up with what Jesus says in Matthew 24:21

Now, remember - I said the disciples asked Jesus two questions, probably not realizing they were two separate questions. They probably equated or conflated the events in their minds because it made sense to them. The two questions were-

• What sign will signal your return?

• What sign would signal the end of the age?

So far, Jesus had been answering question 2. "What sign would signal the end of the age?" But when he's talking about not going out to these false messiahs that would come out of the woodwork at this time, he shifts to answer question 1. "What sign will signal your return?"

Jesus says - "So if someone tells you, 'Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,' don't bother to go and look. Or 'Look, he is hiding here,' don't believe it! Okay - that's present tense- that generation, so far… now comes the switch as a matter of distinction to talk about Jesus' second coming - a separate, future event…

For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes.Matthew 24:27

IE - when Jesus returns at the Second Coming - you'll know it. He's not out in the desert somewhere, he's not hiding somewhere - like the lighting lights up the whole sky, when Jesus comes back THE WHOLE WORLD and yes this time (Animaniacs song) WILL KNOW IT

And then comes the hardest parts of this whole passage in Matthew 24. But since we're run out of time, we're gonna have to save that for next week.

Until next time, may God grant us wisdom, understanding, and peace in our hearts no matter what challenges we face. God bless you! Have a great week!

Today's entry into our list of Fifty Things comes from a passage in Matthew chapter 24. And it has a couple of parallel passages in other Gospels and we'll talk about those today as well. Now I'm gonna start off right off the bat by saying that this might be one of the most misunderstood passages in the Gospels. And when the meaning is misunderstood, the application is almost certain to be misapplied. And I think this is an issue that has permeated the church at large and continues to hamper believers today and we may not even realize it. Which is why it's especially important that we look at it in the proper context and get it right so we can change our lives by changing our minds - a throwback to our discussion on repentance a little while back, and in this case - not just change our lives, but make the lives of others better as well.

Alright - without further ado, let's read this passage. Matthew chapter 24 verses 42-44

So you, too, must keep watch! For you don't know what day your Lord is coming. Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected."Matthew 24:42-44

And so within this passage - there is a command. There is an imperative. There's actually a few imperatives, but they're pretty much the same thing so we'll collect them and categorize them as a single entry into our list.

Now I have seen the description of what Jesus is saying in this passage as

#34 - AWAIT JESUS' RETURN

And this is where the misunderstandings and misconceptions being. We see this word - "await" and I think instinctively most of us focus on the WAIT in the A-WAIT. Await. That means - 'wait' right? And we all go - 'well I know how to do that. How do you wait? If only we had examples in our culture of how to wait. Like a 'waiting room' at the doctors office. Right. How does that work? Well, I go, I sign in, I put my name on a list, and then I go and sit in a chair that is way too small and way too uncomfortable, with a bunch of other people who have also signed in and are also waiting. And we kinda nod at each other and smile and then we read a magazine or if we're under the age of 80, we pull out our phones and scroll social media or play a round of Disney Solitaire until the door opens and we're finally called in to see the doctor we've been waiting for. Occasionally we may also look up and contemplate the fish in the fish tank for a few seconds while we're worrying about whatever problems we're having as individuals.

Am I missing anything? Did I get it right? Pretty much accurate?

So AWAIT Jesus' return. And sometimes we as Christians think - "well I got that down. I'm already signed in on the book of life. I'm just waiting to see the Great Physician. So I guess now I'll just be patient and pass the time and be cordial to some folks around me and just mostly be quietly about my own business until the gates of heaven open up and Jesus, or St. Peter or Nurse Joy calls your name." And we applaud ourselves for our patience. More on that later too…

If

#34 AWAIT JESUS RETURN

Just meant 'sit around and wait for a while. Twiddle your thumbs until Jesus comes back - I have a feeling this might be at the top of our list of favorite things on the list of fifty things Jesus asked His followers to do.

How many of you like to wait? Ah ha! And this is where I call "bologna!" I have a theory. Except for a very few of us who have to be going, have to be moving or doing something all the time of we feel like we're gonna explode. Right - its like the movie Speed, if housetop moving less than 60 miles per hour, you're gonna psychologically explode - and God Bless you - God made you and we need those personality types too. But I've got this theory. I think - most of the time when we say we don't like to wait - we mean, "we don't like to be inconvenienced. We don't like to wait when it's not on our terms." I show up to a restaurant. I ask - "How long's the wait?" And if I am hungry, the bigger number you say, the more I am not gonna be happy about waiting. Because I have an agenda! I have plans! I have ideas in my head and this waiting is inconveniencing it!" But if I'm not hungry… I'm just there to meet up with friends or something, and they're like - "it's gonna be a while, but you can go wait in the bar and have a drink and watch the boats in the marina for a while" I don't mind waiting. Because it's not messing with my comfort.

Little confession for you all. I have ADHD. I've mentioned this before. My wife does too. We have this thing as ADHDrs called "Time Blindness." And that is this - the way our brains work and process time, we are not good at estimating how long a task will take. We are not good at estimating how long it will take to get from point A to point B if we are traveling. As I heard this described and I thought this was really accurate - for the person with ADHD there is either "Now. Or Not now." That is time. Something is either "Now." Or "Not Now." And what most often happens with time blindness is you are constantly running behind. You are the person that is always late. Because you need to leave in ten minutes and for some reason your brain tells you, "that's enough time to take a shower, feed the dog, sort the mail, cook a quick snack, do your makeup and swing by and get that thing from Facebook Marketplace before you leave." Because time blindness… she is a cruel mistress. Now - some of us, who have suffered this enough and decided - "never again!" - we go the opposite direction. We've played beat the clock one too many times and now we are beat down. So we OVERESTIMATE the amount of time something's going to take and we build in crazy amounts of buffer time to make sure we're ON-Time. When it is in my control, and it is not always - I have a family and many, many work responsibilities and sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray… but when it is in my control - I am the guy that will be extremely early and happy to be it. If they tell you to get to the airport 2 hours early because of the TSA mess and everything - I'm the guy that wants to be there four hours early. And then I will wait. I will wait and I will enjoy waiting. I will eat breakfast or lunch. I'll take a seat and charge my phone and laptop. I'll watch the planes take off and land and sip a caffeinated beverage. And I am gloriously happy. Because I'm COMFORTABLE. I'm not STRESSED. I'm MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS doing things to pass the time that makes me happy. I like to wait. When there is a horror convention that I'm traveling to…I'm the guy that is there in line ridiculously early - probably one of the first ten in line. I have waited hours upon hours upon hours before. And my wife - who does not get this at all - does not relate to this way of thinking - she'll go - aren't you bored? Why do you just want to wait that long? What did you do for all that time? And I'm like - you don't understand… it… is… GLORIOUS. I went to this one con to meet Robert Englund. This guy (Freddy Krueger) And he's popular. Okay - people were lining up at 1:30am the night before to meet him. Okay - I finished all my work so I could have no responsibilities. So I'm standing in line without a care in the world. And I'm anticipating a good time that's coming up - the con is gonna be great when it opens. And for right now - well, you know, the people in line are holding each other's places, we're getting each other Starbucks. We've been talking for hours about the finer points of our favorite Nightmare movies. We're watching and welcoming other people when they get in line… "Welcome to primetime, welcome to primetime, welcome to primetime…" this may not be doing much for you but there are sheep in other flocks watching online where this is killing right now. And we're just waiting to meet one of our cinematic heroes. It's not like we're working. It's not like we're stressing out. We're just waiting and vibing and 'chillin' like a horror villain."

This isn't meant to be a guilt inducing statement when I say this - so I'll clarify - we all need these times in our lives. Waiting with anticipation and with no responsibility. They're good for us. They're good for the mind, they're good for the soul. But the problem is when we treat our entire Christian lives and what we're doing with our lives and resources - as individuals and as the church - like we're waiting in line at Jesus-Con for hours on end with nothing to do. We're reading scripture on our phone. We're sipping coffee and getting each other Starbucks. We're watching as other people join the fold and we're greeting them - and we're just kinda doing our own thing while WAITING for Jesus return… because we're comfortable… and we like being comfortable… Spiritually… we're checked in, caffeinated and comfortable… but we're not doing anything.

The problem is AWAITING Jesus' return is not the same thing as WAITING for Jesus return. See "waiting" is usually an intransitive verb that we use to mean "passing time." "Staying in place." Like "I'm waiting for the bus." "Awaiting" is transitive and emphasizes anticipation, expectation and PREPARATION. As in "We're awaiting the results." Well what are you doing while you're awaiting the results? We're preparing to take action or we are actively taking measures and putting them in place so when the results get here we are doing the right thing.

Waiting is killing time. Passive. Awaiting is not necessarily passive - especially when it's for something or someone we desire - Awaiting is being active and BEING READY.

Let me give you a very un-Jesus-y example about AWAITING from Return of the Jedi. Where are my Star Wars nerds at? "May the Force Be With You… And also with you." So in Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader shows up to the 2nd Death Star which is still under construction. And things aren't moving fast enough to the Emperor's liking. So Vader tells Commander Jerjerrod (Jer-Juh-Rod) that the Emperor is coming here himself. And the Commander says - "We shall double our efforts." Commander Jer-Juh-Rod and now everybody working on that 2nd Death Star are AWAITING the Emperor by "doubling their efforts" and working toward something so they can BE READY when he arrives. Once again - Jesus, God, not Darth Vader, not the Emperor. But hopefully now we understand that "Awaiting" is not passive. I promise you, this is all working together… you just gotta be patient.

I asked you how many of liked waiting… let me phrase this differently. How many of you like being comfortable? Yeah. How many of you LOVE being comfortable. How many of you love being comfortable and not doing anything that really matters? Listen, can I be honest here - people older than me, you can tell me if I'm onto something here… I have noticed something… the older I get, the more I just want to be comfortable and the less I want to do. Something has happened that I never would've anticipated in my 20's and 30's - maybe some of you old souls in young bodies out there relate to this too - but now… I love it when people cancel plans. Cancelled plans feel amazing! It's almost like a drug. That moment when you realize - KI had something to do that was going to require effort - but now, I don't even have to go out. I can just stay at home in my sweatpants, order a pizza and binge Netflix true crime dramas.

If cancelling plans and doing nothing feels amazing can I get an Amen?

Yeah - the problem is when that philosophy… preference… tendency… creeps into our spiritual lifestyle. And look - it creeps in quietly. When you're younger and you have energy or maybe it's not even an age thing, maybe it's just a 'fired up' thing - when you're new to Jesus and you're soaking it all in and you're on fire for Jesus - maybe you want to do a thousand and one things for Him to reach people, to love people… but after awhile… that desire or preference for spiritual comfort… and physical comfort… it can start to creep in… and settle in. And before you know it we become insulated… insular… inward focused… instead of engaged, compassionate, outward-facing, outreaching… instead of being the hands and feet of Jesus in our community we become the warm butts in the same seats we sit in every week so much so that when we show up on Sunday we know OUR seats - the seats we like to sit in because they bear the impressions of our cheeks from so many consecutive Sundays. We start to like things the way we like them. Because new means effort. Different means processing. We even like the same songs on repeat - in church or on our Spotify lists because we know them. They are familiar to us. We know all the words. We can sing along with no problems. You ever meet that one guy who hasn't listened to anything new on the radio since 1968 because "there's no new good music? Nothing can match his. Favorites that they grew up with?" That's objectively, obviously not true… but you don't think we do that in the church world?

You know why we like to hear that plans are cancelled and we be in our sweatpants eating Chunky Monkey straight from the carton? Because being in our sweatpants on the couch among familiar surroundings and our treats of choice is COMFORTABLE. And we PREFER to be COMFORTABLE. And not only do we prefer to be comfortable, but eventually, our preferences, our individuals likes and dislikes and preferred surroundings become comfortable. Our PREFERENCES become COMFORTING.

Which is fine every once in a while in the physical world that we live in. But if that is our spiritual lifestyle or the spiritual strategy of the church we are in trouble. Because that is no way to

#34- AWAIT JESUS' RETURN

Jesus told His followers,

You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.Matthew 24:44

Well, probably much to some of our chagrins,

COMFORT IS THE ENEMY OF READINESS

It's safe to say that we could rephrase

#34 - AWAIT JESUS' RETURN

On our list of Fifty Things to

#34 - BE READY

But we gotta figure out what that means. And this is where some of us miss the mark with our understanding of scripture, and I can't say I blame you if you do because it's been mis-taught by a number of people for a long time - for generations. And I will tell you that because it has, generations of Christ Followers awaiting Jesus' return have spent a lot of time being about the wrong things and being focused on the wrong things in their spiritual walk thinking they were "BEING READY."

So some folks read -

So you, too, must keep watch! For you don't know what day your Lord is coming. Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.Matthew 24:42-44

And they see that "keep watch!" Part.

And so some people would say nah nah, #34 on the list of Fifty Things shouldn't be

#34 - AWAIT JESUS RETURN

It shouldn't be

#34 - BE READY

It should be

#34 - KEEP WATCH

It's right there at the beginning of the key verse!

"Keep Watch!" That triggers that anxiety for some of us. That triggers that 'watchman on the wall' soldier mentality for some of us for a variety of reasons. Keep watch! And we go - "Right. I'm gonna be a good sentry, and if I'm gonna be a good sentry and protect the perimeter and batten down the hatches and be ready, then I need to know what I'm keeping watch for!

And we'll talk about what we should be keeping watch for and what keep watch really means, by doing one of the most in-depth breakdowns of a passage of scripture that we've ever done- culturally, historically, linguistically, theologically - you're gonna be drinking from a firehouse… NEXT WEEK

Thank you for letting me share with you today.I hope you had fun and I hope this message allowed us to reflect more honestly about our spiritual lives when it comes to comfort and readiness. Until next time, may you take comfort that our Savior is coming again one day. And may we take action to Be ready for Him as we eagerly await His return.

Last week, we talked about repentance - and hopefully - maybe saw the phrase - "Repent" in a whole new way. Repent coming from "Meta" and "noia" in the Greek - "Think Different." Change your way of thinking - because if you change the way you think, you'll automatically change the way you live.

Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven has comeMatthew 4:17

That was #33 on our list of Fifty Things

#33 - REPENT (THINK DIFFERENT)

But it was the first thing that Jesus said as He began His ministry. It was His slogan. It was the message that He preached wherever He went. But you know what, let's be honest - sometimes it takes a while to think differently. For some of us about certain topics or issues or ideas - the light bulb goes off immediately - we can see where we were wrong in the way we were thinking. But even if that light bulb goes off - life is not as simple as we would sometimes like it to be. There's nuance, there's special situations, there's how one thought dovetails into many thoughts which grows into a philosophy which influences our attitudes and behaviors and so many actions in so many different areas of our lives. So even if the lightbulb goes off -

the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined.Matthew 4:16-17

Even if the lightbulb goes off…it can still take a while for that light to seep into all of the nooks and crannies of our minds and hearts and lives. It can take a while for the light to change our actions and our behavior. More on that later.

But again - if we're being honest - sometimes it just takes a while for the lightbulb to go off in certain areas- period. Sometimes we're just a little slow on the uptake. And you know why sometimes we're slow on the uptake? A lot of it has to do with who has shaped our thinking about certain things and how MUCH we've allowed them to shape our thinking and for HOW LONG we've allowed them to shape our thinking. More on THAT later too.

But these things were exactly what was happening on that fateful Palm Sunday when Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem on the week that would lead to His crucifixion and death.

We read about this in Matthew 21 -

As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. "Go into the village over there," He said. "As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will immediately let you take them." This took place to fulfill the prophecy that said, "Tell the people of Jerusalem, 'Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey- riding on a donkey's colt.Matthew 21

Which is a reference to prophecies in Isaiah 62 and Zechariah 9

The two disciples did as Jesus commanded. They brought the donkey and the colt to Him and threw their garments over the colt, and He sat on it. Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of Him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around Him were shouting, "Praise God for the Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!Isaiah 62 and Zechariah 9

Now the actual phrase that the people were chanting according to the Greek was a phrase of Hebrew origin

"Hosanna"

Which loosely translates to "Save Us" or "Save Us NOW." And it was kind of a mix - it was a shout of adoration and praise, but also a plea of desperation. Some would say maybe it translates better as "Save us, I beg of you!"

That's what the people are shouting. Now - let's talk about

"What were they thinking before?"

When Jesus entered Jerusalem - and His name and reputation proceeded Him… people were looking for the Messiah. When Jesus rode in on the colt the way He did - there were probably some in the crowd, certainly some of the religious leaders - who recognized this as a "sign of the Messiah."

So they are recognizing Jesus as the Messiah - but they have mistaken what the Messiah came to do. They are THINKING that the Messiah - Jesus - is here to save them from an earthly kingdom. To liberate them from Roman rule. To restore the glory of the old Kingdom of Israel. To establish a Kingdom in which Jesus would rule a literal nation-state from a literal throne in a specific time and space in history.

Yet Jesus, all throughout His ministry has said things like -

The Kingdom of God can't be detected by visible signs. You won't be able to say, 'Here it is!' Or 'It's over there!" For the Kingdom of God is already among you.Luke 17:20-21

Jesus' "kingdom" was not something you could point to geographically or politically. There is not a flag that symbolizes this Kingdom or movement.

Jesus said in the very beginning -

The Kingdom of Heaven has come.Matthew 4:17

It was here - NOW. But it didn't look or act like a temporary kingdom of the world.

In Matthew 12:28 Jesus makes a connection with a person being a member of the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God with having the Spirit of God upon them through the person and power of Jesus Christ.

But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon youMatthew 12:28 (NASB)

Now, Jesus has made pretty clear through His ministry - and the dozens of dozens of statements He has made about the Kingdom of Heaven - what He makes plain and obvious to Pilate when questioned by Him -

Jesus answered, "My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.John 18:36

And maybe the biggest non-verbal clue that Jesus wasn't here to rule and earthly kingdom in an earthly manner was the fact that Jesus explicitly refused to be made an earthly king. In John 6 we read

When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, He slipped away into the hills by Himself.John 6:15

You know what it says immediately before that happens?

When the people saw Him do this miraculous sign, (feeding of the 5,000) they exclaimed, "Surely, He is the Prophet we have been expecting!John 6:14

Ladies and Gentlemen - all of this to say - you can get some of your thinking… right. You may be technically correct in some aspects… but even then - you may not correctly discern what Jesus wants from you. You may not pursue the correct course of action until you

"Think different"

And in this case, like in so many modern cases - we need to "think different" by reconsidering everything

RECONSIDER EVERYTHING

Rethink our assumptions

RE-THINK YOUR ASSUMPTIONS

And most importantly - re-alighing our thinking with Jesus

RE-ALIGN YOUR THINKING WITH JESUS

And in this case - they needed to think different about what Jesus was there for and the manner in which He was going to achieve what He set out to do.

Now the people were asking Jesus to Save them…save them now!

Did Jesus save?

You better believe He did. Did it happen in the way the people lining the streets with palm branches think it was gonna happen?

Did it happen in the way the people with palm branches WANTED it to happen?

No. But was it better than anything they could've wanted or imagined?

Jesus indeed came to save - but He wouldn't do it by establishing a political kingdom or by overthrowing one. Kingdoms of this earth come and go - but the Kingdom of Heaven… is forever.

Jesus WOULD save - He WOULD liberate - He WOULD set the captives free - but you know what, no matter who your rulers are… no matter what kind of freedom or oppression or system or government you live under there are still things that imprison us as individuals. The first is the way we think. And the second is sin. The things we do wrong and the way we miss the mark in our lives with God and others.

Now as far as atonement - paying the price for all sin, all time - this triumphal entry - well, this was the first step in the final week leading up to it. But if we're being honest, Jesus was already providing salvation while He walked the earth. He was already bringing people into His Kingdom. When Zacchaeus changed the way he thought which lead to him changing his actions and bringing restitution to the people he cheated - Jesus said

SALVATION has come to this home TODAY, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.Luke 19:9-10

Jesus was already in the process of saving these people that were crying out "Save Us, Now" by encouraging them to Repent - "Think Different." And that would include thinking different about sin.

Some of you were waiting for me talk about sin. Maybe? I don't know. Some of you hardcore baptist background people? People raised in a small church with an angry preacher? Our Lady of Brimstone Church? The people who when they walk in here go - "How can that guy be a preacher, he doesn't even have a pulpit to pound on!"

Look, I wasn't skipping the sin part - I'm well aware that the first thing that Jesus preached was

Repent OF YOUR SINS and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven has comeMatthew 4:17

But again - we gotta get this right. "Think different" of your sins and turn to God…

Think about your sins, differently. Think about your actions where your falling short differently. Think about the places where you miss the mark - differently. Think about there ways in which we don't live up to the mission of loving God and loving people… differently. It's part of how Jesus saves us. It's part of what Jesus saves us from. In essence clearing out the bad theology junk drawer that so many of us have because we were raised in a certain system or with certain teachings and we've allowed them to be reinforced and fortified in our hearts and minds and lives regardless of what Jesus was teaching.

You know why it was so hard for the people on Palm Sunday lining the streets with palms and their garments and shouting "Save Us, Now!" - you know why it was so hard for them to let go of that image of Jesus as political conqueror and national liberator - because those ideas had been understood and reinforced for literally hundreds of years prior to the Messiah actually showing up on the scene and going - "I see what you're thinking, but I'm gonna need you to think different."

So let's think different about sin and repentance and align with what we learn from Jesus in the Gospels - not just what we've been programmed with for the majority of our lives.

First here's what repentance is not

REPENTANCE IS NOT PUNISHING YOURSELF

Some of us grew up thinking repentance was some kind of self-administered emotional beatdown. Which leads to this shame spiral. Right? We've come to realize that what we're doing is wrong - whether through healthy guilt, intervention of God's Holy Spirit, explanation and intervention by wise friends, careful study and reflection or your spouse just says 'you're being a jackal - knock it off!' So many ways we can arrive at these conclusions that we've dun goofed.

But when we do - we're called to repent - to think differently about our sin. To think differently about our actions. To reconsider everything. Why we're doing this in the first place.To re-think our assumptions - and to re-align with Jesus' examples and teachings for our lives. You know what we're not called to do? We're not called to re-buke ourselves. We're not called to re-live our failures. We're not called to focus on past re-grets.

It's okay to be honest. You may even have to say to people - I really messed up here. I was way out of line. I wasn't thinking straight. I was being selfish. I was being self-centered. I wasn't seeing things from anyone's other perspective except the one I chose… whatever. And you can pray and say, "God, help me do better. Help me see things the way you do. Help me think about my own life and how I interact with other people and the choices I make - help me see them the way YOU do." But we are not called to beat ourselves up. There's no point in which Jesus asked those who He told to repent to beat themselves up and whip themselves and go around saying or thinking "I'm the worst, I'm trash, I'm garbage." Not to God and not to others. There was Restitution that went along with Repentance and Re-thinking. But in the entirety of the Gospels - and you can go and read them if you want to check me on this - there is not one instance of Jesus telling someone who is repenting - "God's gonna need a little more groveling." I'm gonna need you to change out of your good clothes and put on some sackcloth. You acted like garbage. I'm gonna need you to look the part for a while.

Nope. When Zachhaeus said that he was gonna pay back anyone who he had cheated four times as much and give half his wealth to the poor - that wasn't something Jesus forced upon Zacchaeus - that was something Zacchaeus chose for himself. And when Zacchaeus was excited and overjoyed to be in the presence of Jesus, Jesus didn't tell Zacchaeus - "Uh, tone it down. This isn't good PR. You need to act like you're devastated. You need to go on the ashes and sackcloth tour for a while. Don't look happy." Nope.

When they bring the woman caught in adultery to Jesus - more accurately, the woman framed for adultery - does Jesus tell her to go and do penance once He says, 'neither do I condemn you?' Go and serve 20 hours of community service down at the temple? Go and write a letter shaming yourself to everyone? Go home and thank God every day that I didn't pick up a stone? Nope.

That's not what God asks of us and it's not what God requires of us. Cause you know what the apostle Paul said leads to repentance? God's kindness. Romans 2:4

Are you [actually] unaware or ignorant [of the fact] that God's kindness leads you to repentance [that is, to change your inner self, your old way of thinking-seek His purpose for your life]?Romans 2:4 (AMP)

God's kindness leads you to repentance. Not fear. Not shame. Not punishment. So why do you think He would want that from you AFTER you repented? Or while you were in the process of repenting?

Seeing how Jesus responded to those who were called to repent - and Jesus said if you've seen me, then you've seen the Father - I think it's safe to say that Jesus does not want to chastise, He wants to change us by changing our minds.

Now - there's a trap here - I'm gonna share it with you - the trap doesn't come from Jesus. The trap doesn't come from repentance. The trap is kind of one we set for ourselves. We can recognize that we messed up. We can recognize that we have fallen short. We may even just respond to Jesus' call for a life change without a clear indicator about every thing or way in which we need to change. And we can be so READY to change - so ON FIRE about a new life with Jesus - that we think repentance means

"Don't ask questions. Just fall in line."

And if we do that - well, first, I'm not sure how helpful that really is. I think God wants us to use the minds He's given us. I think Jesus wants us to reflect on our actions and our place in the world and what it means to be a follower of Jesus and to wrestle with scripture and interpretation and application. If we're not careful, we could either out of what we mis-label as obedience or just out of laziness or ignorance - we could fall in line with the wrong teachers. The wrong information. The wrong picture and plan of what Jesus wants and what it means to be a Christ follower. And let me tell you, there is no shortage of 'religious leaders and influencers' selling bad product.

Repentance requires us to use our minds.

REPENTANCE REQUIRES US TO USE OUR MINDS

God is not looking for robots.

Paul said that we would

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.Romans 12:2 (NIV)

Repentance is not mindless behavior modification. Repentance is mind transformation.

REPENTANCE IS RENEWAL

REPENTANCE IS MIND TRANSFORMATION

Now we've been talking about how repentance is changing our mind - changing the way you think. In the context of what we're told Jesus preached - the first thing of His Fifty Things - there's another aspect - the "turn."

In Matthew 4:17 we read

Repent of your sins and TURN to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven has comeMatthew 4:17

REPENTANCE IS TURNING FROM SOMETHING - TOWARD SOMETHING ELSE

I'm back on a little bit of a professional wrestling kick - so I'll be working the references in every so often. In wrestling there's something called a turn. More specifically a "heel turn" or a "face turn." A "heel turn" is when a good guy starts acting like a bad guy. He goes from being a 'babyface' to a 'heel.' A "face turn" is when a bad guy starts acting like a good guy. They go from a heel and turn toward babyface actions.

Now there's writing in wrestling. Hope I'm not the first to break it to you - the action and stunts are real, the outcome and storylines are pre-determined. I know! Now, the difference between a good heel turn or face turn and a bad turn - is the writing. Is it motivated? Are the actions of the wrestler motivated. Why are they changing their behavior? What influenced them? A bad turn just has the character flipping from one side to the other without a lot of reflection or build up and without motivation or direction.

If we get this wrong - if we think repentance - not in wrestling, but in real life now - if we think it's just a "turn" - okay "stop doing bad stuff." "I saw myself as a bad guy, now I'm a good guy." You're gonna have the same problem as in wrestling. It's not a good turn. It's not going to be a satisfying turn long term.

REPENTANCE IS NOT JUST "STOP DOING BAD STUFF"

Jesus said it's a turn TOWARD God

REPENTANCE IS TURNING TO GOD

The apostle Paul says this in Acts 20 which perfectly aligns with what Jesus preached in Matthew 4 -

I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike- the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.Acts 20:21

And while the impetus, the inclination, the realization - the driving force behind your turn from your sins and to God may be instantaneous - one day, one night, one moment - whatever - repentance, according to Jesus… Paul… scripture… is more than just stopping a sinful action. Cause you can stop something and still be stuck. You can stop a behavior and still not have a purpose to move toward.

REPENTANCE IS NOT RESTRICTION

REPENTANCE IS RE-ROUTING

REPENTANCE IS A CHANGE IN DIRECTION

When we repent - We think differently, and we TURN from sin… toward God. The trajectory of our lives - our purpose - our desires - and our actions as well - start moving toward love, and truth and wholeness and trying to love God and love people and live like Jesus.

Repentance is also not temporary. In wrestling - sometimes you get lousy storytelling. The bad guy becomes a good guy, but then later he becomes a bad guy again and he's forgotten everything that he's learned and he jettisons his friendships and he's just a bad guy again. He just turns again.

Two things - one, I realized in my examples I've been using "good guy" "bad guy" - male examples. Just a term and old habits die hard. Women's wrestling is the best it's ever been. There are good girls and bad girls and some of the best professional wrestlers on the planet are women - so just want to make sure I acknowledge that.

Secondly -

REPENTANCE IS RECURRING

When we repent - when we think differently and turn from our sins and turn TOWARD Jesus - turn TOWARD His example of what the Father wants from us - it's not just a choice, it's not just a decision - it's meant to be a lifestyle. We keep moving toward God. We keep letting Jesus renew our minds by changing the way we think. And we may struggle. Nobody's perfect. We may stumble. We may struggle with the same sin - we may struggle with new sins. We're human, all have sinned, all will sin, it's part of the human condition. But we keep moving.. even if we take two steps forward and two steps back… we don't turn back… we keep reaching ahead.

REPENTANCE IS REACHING AHEAD, NOT LOOKING BACK

The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3 -

I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press one to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.Philippians 3:12-14

Don't get tripped up in your race by that word that Paul uses - 'perfection.' Repentance will change us - noticeably, but not perfectly. Not this side of heaven, anyways. You know, we may have days where we realize that we're off… our thinking is off, our attitude is off, our motivation is off… our understanding is off, our behavior is off… and when we realize that - we readjust.

REPENTANCE REQUIRES ONGOING RECALIBRATION

That's when we re-align with Jesus way of thinking. But there is never a point while we are on our journey of repentance that God is looking down on us like "If they mess up one more time…"

You know, Jesus says something a number of times throughout the Gospels and He takes it from something the prophet Hosea writes in the Old Testament - He says -

go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'Matthew 9:13 (NIV)

You want to know how you know when you're on the right path with repentance? Not just that you've given something up or you've turned from your old ways. Not due to a lack of struggles with sin. We prove our repentance by our deeds - especially the way we treat those who God loves - which is everybody. The way we treat our neighbors. In Acts 26:20 the apostle Paul states that

all must repent of their sins and turn to God - and prove they have changed by the good things they do.Acts 26:20

Just one more think for us to 'think different' about - repentance is more about what we DO than what we don't do.

John the Baptist, who once again, prepared the way for the ministry of Jesus said -

Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.Matthew 3:8

REPENTANCE IS PROVEN BY OUR DEEDS

And repentance is a lifestyle. It's shown by our actions, but it starts in our thinking.

Let's bring this home some quick

REFLECTION

If repentance starts with our thinking - what's shaping your thinking right now? Who are the voices? What are their philosophies? What's influencing your thinking right now? Social media? Cable news? Your past? Your present? Your wounds? Your fears? Traditions? Your parents? Your peers?

Thank you so much for letting me share with you today. Couple things - if you liked the Palm Sunday tie-in to repentance and thinking different, thank my wife. It was her idea and I was just building off of it - so thank you, Erin. I married well. She's very patience. Watches wrestling with me. I'm pretty sure that's in Proverbs 31 somewhere. Next - this Friday, it's Good Friday. We're gonna do our traditional Good Friday service that we do. We're gonna come in, we're gonna sing some songs, there's some I think you haven't heard in a while. After we do that, I'm gonna read the Passion account and we'll take communion and reflect upon Jesus' sacrifice and look forward to celebrating NEXT SUNDAY which is Easter. Bring some friends and family with you. We're gonna take a break from Fifty Things for Easter and it will be an Easter message. Hope to see you here on Friday and next Sunday.

Until next time, may we have the courage to rethink what we've always believed, the humility to release what no longer gives life, and the grace to walk in a new way of seeing and loving and living. May your mind be renewed, your heart be softened and your life bear the fruit of repentance. And may repentance not feel like fear but like freedom. God bless you. Have a great week!

We've been going through this series- this list of Fifty Things in no particular order. We've been jumping around the Gospels looking at the various things on the list. But today - we're gonna look at the very first thing on the list chronologically according to the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. In fact, in your Bibles you might see this particular command under a heading that says something like "Jesus Begins His Ministry" or "The Ministry of Jesus Begins."

Alright. Now, if you were starting a ministry… okay this is your big chance to get an opening message across - You probably want to start with something impactful - something inspiring - maybe a little bit of a slogan that people can latch onto right away. I know I'm putting you on the spot here, you haven't had time to workshop ideas for starting your own ministry or anything - but anybody got something? A phrase? A slogan? A motto? What would you open with?

I think I would probably go with something like - "Dream Big, because God is even bigger!" I mean, we're already using "Love God, Love People" but we ripped that off from somebody who said it like over 2,000 years ago…

Well, that same guy… which 'guy' is not doing Him justice - the Son of God, fully God, fully man - the Savior of mankind - who would indeed later boil all the commands in the law of Moses and the writing of the prophets down to essentially "Love God, Love People," opened the most important, most impactful, most wonderful and transformative ministry ever with this command -

Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.Matthew 4:17

Another way of translating that exact phrase which might resonate more with some of us is

Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven has comeMatthew 4:17

And just a review - I know its something we cover fairly often in here during this series - but the Kingdom was not a 'soon to come Kingdom.' I mean - it will be and will one day find its ultimate fulfillment and fully restored form in the future - but the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, two interchangeable terms, was something that Jesus was building THEN and it's something that He wants His followers to build NOW - here, even on this imperfect earth with imperfect people.

Now the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, is ultimately demonstrated through the life and love of Jesus. It's what we seek to emulate. It's why were looking at these "Fifty Things" in the Gospels. Logically speaking the "Kingdom of Heaven" is an extension of Christ Himself. That's why "The Kingdom of Heaven was near." That's why "The Kingdom of Heaven had come." Because Jesus was there, in person to found it. And if you wanted to be a part of this Kingdom…. The first thing Jesus said to do was

#33 - REPENT

That's the opener. The start of Jesus' ministry. "Repent." And look, far be it from me to criticize Jesus' ministry and His opener - and I'm certainly not - but if you were cynical, and looking at things from maybe a modern or post-modern point of view of the world we live in - a world in which every message is massaged - wordsmith to be instantly memorable and repeatable. To just stick in our head and take up space after only one or two times hearing it. Slogans and opening statements that can be expressed in a few words and put on a billboard and endlessly repeated on commercials and social media - words that evoke emotion, prestige, that tap into strong feelings of desire, rebellion, individuality… does "Repent" fit the bill?

Some of you aren't answering. You're like - "I see what he's getting at, but I ain't answering cause if God strikes the pastor down dead for not being a fan of Jesus' marketing, I'm at least gonna be around for the buffet at the funeral."

It's alright. I get it. This is going somewhere though, I promise. Think about some of the famous slogans and company identifiers that we carry around with us - decades later we still remember them. They still evoke a feeling from us. My favorite growing up was "Image is Everything." Anybody remember who that was for? Canon cameras. "I'm lovin' it" is? McDonald's… but some of you were old enough to remember "You deserve a break today." And you would hear that little jingle and go - "I DO deserve a break today." Here's one - "You're in good hands." That's - AllState. Right. Makes you feel safe, secure, like the company's got you. I've was looking at a list of the most impactful and memorable slogans and campaigns of all time and this was listed as #1 - "Just Do It." Which is of course? Nike. Taps into that spirit of rebellion, grit, determination, no excuses - just go and conquer.

"Just Do It." "I'm Lovin' It." "You're In Good Hands." "Repent."

One of these things, is not like the others… I mean, "Repent." Maybe it sounds like a high end cologne… "Repent"… the new fragrance from Calvin Klein. (Whispered) Repent… but is it inspiring and impactful? Does it engage your imagination? Is it something you can carry with you every day that will make you see the world and your life itself through new eyes?

YES

But the problem and maybe the reason why we don't see "Repent" as the life-changer, the game-changer and yes, the inspiring, impactful, hope-bringing, scales falling from our eyes phrase/motto/mission/slogan to hold onto in 2026… is probably due to semantics.

Semantics is the study of 'meaning' in language. It examines the relationship between words and what they represent - analyzing both literal definitions and their emotional or implied associations. Denotation and connotation. What do we think of when we hear certain words or phrases? It's why certain words and phrases are 'loaded' in our society. It's why two words that literally mean the same thing can feel remarkably different - positive or negative, attractive or distasteful depending on cultural and historical context and how they are framed.

And I submit to you that "Repent" might be one of those words that we connote with negative associations and feelings instead of the positive, life-giving ones that Jesus was actually sharing.

I mean, think about this for a second - yeah, Jesus had his share of detractors - but mostly these were people within the established religious power systems and structures that did not like how Jesus was turning their comfortable little worlds and institutions that benefitted them to the detriment of others on their ears. Jesus attracted large crowds - throngs of people - the popular and the outcasts, the old and little children, Jews and Gentiles…from a pure human perspective - okay, I mean, Jesus - all the power of God, okay, but at the end of the day - He's reaching and teaching to and preaching to human beings - why was this message of "Repent" so attractive? So successful?

Cause I think in our time, the word "Repent" carries some… baggage with it. When you hear it - do you think of the angry street preacher with the megaphone yelling at random people on their way to the sporting event or convention? Do you think of the sweaty preacher in the couple thousand dollar suit, banging on the pulpit and railing against anything slightly modern and scaring and guilting people who just seem to be enjoying their lives? Do you think of the apocalyptic guy with the sandwich board that says "The end is near?" He's a little too eager for the end of the world? You're not so sure but it seems like he may be more interested in being a harbinger of doom instead of a bringer of life? By the way - "The end is near" is not the same as "The Kingdom of God is near." One is negative. The other is positive. Wonderful in fact.

So modern baggage for the word aside - let's talk about the word that Jesus uses that gets translated into "Repent." The Greek word that we see in Matthew 4:17 is

Metanoeite (Μετανοεῖτε)

From the root words

"meta" and "noia"

Meta meaning "change"

Meta - "change"

And Noia meaning "mind"

Noia - "mind"

Repent… as Jesus preached… literally meant "Change your mind." Not "feel terrible about yourself. Not "punish yourself." Not "grovel harder for recognition or forgiveness." Repent means "Change your mind." Or…

"Think Differently." "Think Different."

And maybe a few of you thought - "That sounds kind of familiar…"

Yeah - in 1997, Apple computers began using "Think Different." Today that slogan is often referred to as one of the five most successful and impactful campaigns of all time. Why? Because in 1997 when Apple launched "Think Different" it is reported that they were 90 days away from bankruptcy with declining sales and a fragmented product line." But the "Think Different" slogan and campaign re-branded Apple from a failing computer maker into a brand with a purpose and an identity. Instead of focusing on the very banal nuts and bolts and chips and specs of their systems - the slogan tied Apple to a philosophy and a lifestyle - celebrating "misfits" and "rebels" like Einstein, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. and aligning their mission with creative, visionary thinking. Not only did this pave the way for the success of their new products as part of a 'lifestyle brand, ' returning the company to profitability within a year - it re-established Apple's identity, boosted employee morale and fostered an environment and culture that encouraged and rewarded creativity and boldness.

So I guess in a way you could say "the company that now has more money than God, ripped off the Son of God and the resulting change in philosophy and identity kicked off and established one of the most successful runs that a company has had in the history of ever and it is still going strong today.

So I guess… "Repent," as they say, "has legs." Especially when we understand it to mean "think different."

#33 - REPENT (THINK DIFFERENT)

See, we may have negative connotations based on what the word "Repent" has been connected to or how it has been used in our society, but Matthew didn't see it that way. There's a reason why Matthew makes a point of connecting Jesus' geographical movement and His ministry movement by seeing it as the fulfillment of a Messianic prophecy in Isaiah 8-9 -

This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah: "In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali, beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River, in Galilee where so many Gentiles live, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined." From then on Jesus began to preach, "Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near."Matthew 4:14-17

The people have seen a great light! A light has shined! That's not a negative - that's a positive! By the way - a couple of things to note here that I think are really neat - first - Jesus' ministry begins in the region of Galilee…now Galilee - it had a reputation - Galilee was a place that would have been considered… "marginalized." In the Old Testament it was referred to by Jewish people as "Galilee of the Gentiles." A quick reminder, Jews and Gentiles didn't mix together all that well. There was tension and separation driven by wildly different social and religious and purity laws and practices. Now although by the time of Jesus ministry, Galilee would be majority Jewish ethnically, Galilee still had a history of Assyrian, Phoenician and Greco-Roman influence along with their pagan practices and traditions. While the villages throughout the region were mostly comprised of of a primarily Jewish population, Galilee was still in the middle of many trade routes and the towns and commercial centers were home to many Gentiles - Greeks, Syrians, Romans and more. There was what was referred to as "a dividing wall of hostility" between Jews and Gentiles - a "wall of separation" not the least of the fact because the Jewish people had been occupied and ruled by Gentile overlords in the form of the Roman government. But Jews also often avoided social contact with Gentiles as a way of life so as not to become 'ritually impure.' So Galilee had a reputation amongst the Jewish people - there was a little bit of an "ewww" vibe that some Jews had when it came to this melting pot of Judaism and Paganism. Perhaps you remember what the disciple Nathanel/Bartholomew said in John 1:46

Nazareth!" Exclaimed Nathanael. "Can anything good come from Nazareth?John 1:46

Nazareth, the boyhood home of Jesus, being located in the Lower Galilee region about 15 miles southwest of the Sea of Galilee.

Okay - why am I tell you all this - couple reasons - first…

GOD CARES ABOUT THE MARGINALIZED

JESUS LOVES THE MARGINALIZED

So much so that Jesus would continue to be identified with the marginalized for the rest of His human life and beyond simply because of where He lived and grew up and came from and came out of.

Secondly - where does Jesus begin His ministry? In a marginalized area that people mocked and even avoided. A place where the people are divided by belief and way of life. And Matthew says these marginalized people were the first to see a great light. In the land where death casts its shadow - they were the first to see the great light. In a divided land - with divided hearts and divided practices and beliefs, it would be Jesus and His Kingdom that brought them together and it would work! Later in Ephesians chapter 2, the apostle Paul would state

For Christ Himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in His own body on the cross, He broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in Himself one new people from the two groups.Ephesians 2:14-15

Theologically speaking, from an atonement point of view, Jesus may have broken down the wall of hostility permanently upon His death on the cross and resurrection. That wall ended with His sacrifice, but it started being broken down brick by brick and continues to be broken down even today intellectually and spiritually until we comprehend it in our own individual lives because of what Jesus started His ministry with. The first of the Fifty Things that He told His followers to do -

"Think Different. Because the Kingdom of Heaven is here."

In other words - in Matthew chapter 4 we are given this image of the start of Jesus' ministry - Jesus walks into a world shaped by broken thinking, ruled by oppressive systems, filled with fear and confusion and Jesus' first move is to say, in essence,

"Let's fix how you think"

Because if you fix how you think… you'll automatically fix how you live.

"Think different."

RECONSIDER EVERYTHING

RE-THINK YOUR ASSUMPTIONS

RE-ALIGN YOUR THINKING WITH JESUS

REPENT (THINK DIFFERENT)

And when you do that - it's like a light bulb goes off over your head… you've had a breakthrough. You understand something you didn't understand before.

"The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light."

"Think different…"

Which, of course begs the question -

"What were they thinking before?"

Jesus didn't say that out of nowhere. He didn't say that in a vacuum. People already had THEIR way of thinking… about things like

"Who God is"

And you can see some of those ideas within the culture at the time. You can see it in some of the writings of the Old Testament that were still heavily influencing the Jewish culture at the time of Jesus' ministry. And isn't it interesting, that an iron age barbaric, ancient, warring, tribal society, writing about bronze age ancestors who reflected those tendencies even more-so would write about and think about God as a punitive, sometimes petty, severe, conquering God who favored one tribe over another? Now that's not to say that every verse of scripture of author of scripture did that - scripture is not univocal, not in the least - but these people's ideas of God, a lot of their ideas didn't line up with what Jesus taught about His Father. Jesus said

Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!John 14:9

Jesus life and ministry had a lot of people reconsidering what they knew and thought they understood about God, rethinking their assumptions about God, and ultimately, if they reprinted - if they thought different - realigning their thinking about God with what Jesus taught and demonstrated.

Here's why this is still so important thousands of years later. A lot of us - we're not so different than the captives Jesus came to set free at the start of His ministry. A lot of our ideas about God - how we think about God. Who we imagine He is. Who He likes, who He doesn't - what's allowable behavior and ordained by God versus what is unacceptable behavior and condemned by God - I think we gotta ask ourselves - do these ideas and images of God align with what Jesus taught and lived? Or are our ideas of God being influenced by empire? Are our images of who God is and who He loves and doesn't - do they line up with what Jesus says, or are they a conglomeration, an amalgamation of what religious and political and corporate power have told us God is like? And isn't it funny how "God" so often seems to side with those in power and with those with economic means?

"What were they thinking before?"

"Who they are"

What was their identity? You can see how Jesus reframes and reshapes peoples ideas about their own worth and identity and who they are in relation to God. And some of it you see even in the phrases and descriptors - in the Old Testament - you see a lot more "servants of God." Israel's identity within the Old Covenant was agreed upon servants of God. That was a primary identity. But then you have Jesus coming in and reminding people that they are children of God. Joint heirs with the King. Beloved sons and daughters - even this Jesus telling His closest followers -

I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you [my] friends, because I have revealed to you everything that I have heard from my Father.John 15:15

We need to hear that today. We need to be reminded of that today. If we think we don't matter to God. If we think we have been forgotten by God. We need to be reminded that we are friends of Jesus and sons and daughters of the King who deeply matter to our Heavenly Father. We are more than servants. We are family.

"What were they thinking before?"

"Who belongs"

Before Jesus changed their way of thinking, so much of the Jewish religious identity and religious identity is tied to their NATIONAL identity. They matter and they are safe and they have God's favor because they are 'descendants of Abraham.' In other words they just thought they were automatically God's people because of their lineage and their affiliations. But Jesus would challenge that assumption directly - you wanna hear a snap that John the Baptist, who was preparing a way for Jesus - getting the people ready for what Jesus would preach - you wanna hear something he said that just makes you go "wheeeeew." Shots fired, John! Shots fired! - comes from Matthew 3:9

Don't just say to each other, 'We're safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.' That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.Matthew 3:9

And that's perfectly in line with what Jesus would preach. Jesus shifted belonging from who you ancestors were and what tradition you were raised in to - "How you respond to God and people determines your identity in Christ and in God's Kingdom." Loving God and Loving People are what shows you belong. Not tradition.

You think some of us need to re-think our assumptions when it comes to identity in 2026? Re-align with what Jesus says? Do we think we're okay and that God signs off on everything cause of the old myth that "America is a Christian nation?" If America was truly a Christian nation acting like Christ it would look a lot different. It would act a lot different. Do you think you're good - you belong, you and Jesus are like this because you were raised baptist… catholic… orthodox… you know speaking of national identity - that was something else that Jesus had people re-thinking… Israel was waiting for a Messiah to restore them politically - to restore their nation - that was part of the national identity - that they were a nation that was expecting and waiting to rule…. That was the Kingdom they were looking forward to. An earthly Kingdom. But Jesus told them that His Kingdom was not of this world. That the Kingdom was already there. And that to belong to that Kingdom you had to be a transformed people living differently NOW.

Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven has comeMatthew 4:17

"What were they thinking before?"

"Who's invited?"

In Jesus' day - many people were permanently labeled in Jewish society and especially among the religious elite - the Pharisees, as "sinners." People who were permanent outsiders. People who did not fit in. People who the religious defined by their actions or failures or even diseases and disorders as they were often seen as God's wrath or judgment upon them or their family members. There were the insiders and the outsiders. The saved… and the sinners…

But once again, Jesus would cause a lot of people to re-think their assumptions when it came to who's in and who's in and who's out and it would start with who's invited -

Jesus would interact with and recognize and show love to 'sinners.' Jesus would eat with 'sinners.' Jesus would include 'sinners' in His inner circle. All of which was scandalous to the holier than thou religious people of those days - and Jesus called 'sinners' to Himself.

Which is funny - because while the religious had separated themselves into 'sainthood' away from the 'sinners' - the apostle Paul tells us the truth of the matter when he writes -

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard.Romans 3:23

We're all sinners - we're all on the same level playing field. Whether we think we are or not. Whether we think we're better than someone else for whatever reason or not. Whether we think their sins are worse than our sins. Doesn't matter. We're ALL sinners. But here's some great news. The apostle Paul also writes that -

Yet God, in His grace, freely makes us right in His sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins.Romans 3:24

Who's invited? Everyone. But Jesus says something very interesting about this in Luke 5:32 - He says, in response to the Pharisees throwing a fit about who Jesus was hanging out with - 'sinners' - Jesus says

I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.Luke 5:32

Who was called? Those who were willing to re-think everything and re-align their hearts and minds with Christ. If you thought you were righteous - you were good - there was nothing to reconsider, to rethink… if you can't teach an old religious dog new tricks, which you can, but some old dogs decide they don't want to learn anything different from what they're sure they know… if you think you know all there is to know about God and how he thinks and how he sees people and who's in and who's out - well then - there's really no point. You're not gonna follow Jesus because you're not gonna allow yourself to do the first thing He called His followers to do -

REPENT (THINK DIFFERENT)

Thank you for letting me share with you today. With your permission, I'd like to talk a little bit more about repentance next week. This week I wanted to concentrate on this idea of 'thinking differently' - meta noia and the framing of what Jesus was preaching. Next week, I'd like to talk about the practical side of what repentance is and is not and how we can live out that repentance in meaningful ways in our lives. Is that okay? Great. See you then. Looking forward to it. Until next time, to paraphrase Paul with a little bit of a twist - "May we leave this place with our minds renewed, no longer conformed to the patterns around us, but transformed by the way Jesus teaches us to think different." God bless you! Have a great week!

We've gotta set the stage before we get right into the next command that Jesus gives on our list. We're reading in Matthew 18:1 and it starts by the disciples asking a question that is so human - it is such a part of the human experience and the way we think about things in this world - but it had to be a question that frustrated Jesus on some level making Him think - "Eh. They still don't get it." We read -

About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?"Matthew 18:1

Now if you remember - the Kingdom of Heaven, a phrase used interchangeable with the Kingdom of God, was a Kingdom that was being established on earth by Jesus and His followers AT THAT TIME. This was not a question about - when we get to heaven - like - who's got the biggest mansion? Who's the head cheese besides you and your dad, of course, Jesus. No - this is a question about status in the present time. WHO IS THE GREATEST?

We live in a world that constantly keeps score. We want rankings. Who's the best athlete? Who makes the most money? Who's the highest paid actor? Who has the most awards? Who as the most status and prestige.

And this question that the disciples come to Jesus with is not as innocent of a question as it sounds. Because at the heart of the question is 'self.' They want to know where they stand - not just with Jesus but on a scale with one another. Who's where on the hierarchy list? See - we can take this question and ask it in a different way to still find out what they were asking and it helps us understand the heart of the question a little more - Instead of

Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?Matthew 18:1

- what if they just straight up asked what they wanted to know? "Who's the greatest disciple?" "Which one of us is Jesus' favorite?" "Who's building up the most treasures in heaven?" "What's our rank - like is Peter the Senior Pastor… the Teaching Pastor… or is he just louder than everyone else?"

And what Jesus does - instead of reprimanding them or saying, "I thought we've been over this before" - it's actually one of my all time favorite moments in scripture. We read - Jesus called a little child to Him and put the child among them. Matthew 18:2

Alright - this is important. He didn't just call the kid over to be on the side. He didn't just point out the little child. He calls the child right to Jesus and He places the child in the center AMONG THEM. He makes the kid the center of attention. The child is now THE focus right next to Jesus.

Now - the ancient world and the modern world had some things in common when it came to kids - children were NOT the center of society. They may have been loved within their own families and communities - but children had no power, no status, no authority, and this sounds harsh, but again - this is from the world's perspective - no economic value. Kids were the lowest of the low on the social ladder. They were probably not even on rung #1. They were holding the ladder or watching other people on the ladder. But Jesus calls this little child over - puts them in the center among them and

Then he said, "I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven."Matthew 18:3-4

Now this whole interaction, the things that Jesus says - this whole chapter - there's so many layers, it works and operates on so many levels - but the first thing that we can take away is

PRIDE HAS NO PLACE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Worrying about status - has no place in the Kingdom of God. Wondering if you're a better Christian than the person next to you - whether you give more than the person next to you, whether you're more pious than the person next to you - whether you know more scripture. None of that matters to Jesus. Not for rankings or status. Not in the way the world thinks about it. I mean, let's be honest - we live in a world that is always encouraging - climb higher, hustle more, be stronger, keep reaching, dominate, be recognized… somewhere deep down many of us want to have that Muhammad Ali moment where we shout "I am the greatest!" At something…

(Winner of the chicken McNugget challenge)

We want to be recognized… we want to be treated not just like we matter - but like we matter MORE. It's been a while since I dropped a professional wrestling reference into a message - let's rectify that today. One of the biggest stars in WWE is Roman Reigns - and what started as 'heel behavior' when Roman was a bad guy - He called himself - the "head of the table" and when he would come to the ring he would demand that the WWE fans "Acknowledge Me."

That's the world's systems. But Jesus told His disciples that in the Kingdom of Heaven - the Kingdom of God - which again - is NOW… it doesn't work that way. He says - you want to be the greatest? You need to

becomes as humble as this little childMatthew 18:4

It's something we need to remember. It's something we need to remind ourselves of over and over again because of our human nature and the way the systems of the world and sin can creep in and make us forget…

HUMILITY IS GREAT

HUMILITY IS WHAT JESUS WANTS FROM US

But this isn't the end of the conversation. Jesus continues -

And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.Matthew 18:5

Now - I said - this conversation, this interaction, this whole chapter - it plays on multiple levels. And it's important to realize it - and I kind of want you thinking about it and being aware of both of the ways this plays out. The first way is very straightforward and literal -

YOUTH HAVE A PLACE AMONG US IN THE KINGDOM

CHILDREN & YOUTH MATTER TO JESUS

And that is something that I have always believed. We have a quiet room, a cry room - whatever. We have a Children's Ministry most weeks where we're meeting kids on their level and teaching the love of Jesus and truths of scripture to them. BUT kids belong in here worshipping with us and singing and dancing with us. And if we have young kids - babies who cry or make noise - let me tell you something - that doesn't bother me at all. Those are the sounds of a healthy, multi-generational church and families being around. Kids make noise. We can deal.

anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.Matthew 18:5

Now - those are some of the literal, straightforward, let's not give this a second thought takeaways from this passage. BUT these are not the only takeaways from this passage. We need to know what comes next in the discussion in scripture. We need to understand how Jesus uses parables and illustrations and examples to teach on multiple levels. Now I'm gonna skip ahead and tell you that this whole discussion and illustration with

Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.Matthew 18:5

leads into the parable of the lost sheep - where the man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, and the man leaves the 99 to go out and search for the one that is lost. And Jesus even references back to the 'little child' 'little ones' at the end of that parable - I'll just read it to you now - "If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won't he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search of the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn't wander away!

Alright now here it comes. Here's the tie in -

In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father's will that even one of these little ones should perish."Matthew 18:12-14

The parable of the Lost Sheep - is not just about kids. It's not just about children as in literal children. Children and Youth matter to Jesus and you better believe that they have an important place in the Kingdom - but according to context clues - Jesus is probably talking about more than just children - He's probably also talking about who they represent -

The overlooked. The vulnerable. The least of these. Those who are left out. On the outskirts. Those who have no power, no status, no authority, and according to some people's way of thinking - no value. Those who some people might even think have no place in the kingdom…

Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.Matthew 18:5

Put a different way but very much in line with the example Jesus is giving - and remember, this started out as a discussion about 'status' -

WHEN WE WELCOME THE LEAST POWERFUL PERSON IN OUR WORLD, WE ARE WELCOMING JESUS HIMSELF

WHEN WE WELCOME THE OUTCAST WE ARE WELCOMING JESUS HIMSELF

WHEN WE WELCOME THE FORGOTTEN WE ARE WELCOMING JESUS HIMSELF

Now - reading along in Matthew 18 - Jesus gets super serial here - it's the flip side to

Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.Matthew 18:5

but he says -

But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.Matthew 18:6

Whoa. A millstone - as in the giant wheel that beasts of burden would turn to mill or grind the grain or flour. If you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin.

Now - this is interesting - if you cause one of these 'little ones' to fall into sin… folks, I believe that in context it is perfectly acceptable to translate this as 'if you cause a little child who trusts in Jesus' to fall into sin… but it is also acceptable to translate 'if you cause those who are LIKE little children - the humble, the outcast, the forgotten, those who see God and the love of Christ in the simplest of terms - which by the way IS HOW WE SHOULD SEE IT!

We make things so hard and complicated. We think everyone needs an Mdiv and 40 year disciple course to understand how to be a disciple of Christ but when you actually examine Jesus' interactions in scripture - people get it in record time - one afternoon, one interaction in many cases… we just spend the rest of our lives trying to BE like Christ.

So today, I want to invite you to see Matthew 18:6 in a little bit of a different light than in the ways you may have read it before. And I'm gonna use a couple of different translations that I think help us get to the heart of the matter more on this verse - Matthew 18:6

but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.Matthew 18:6 (NASB)

Many other translations also translate this as 'stumble' but I want to use the Amplified here - it tries to reveal the nuanced, deeper meanings of the original languages within the text when a word-for-word translation might not capture the whole point. Amplified can be good for clarification in some cases. This is one of them, I believe.

But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble and sin [by leading him away from my teaching], it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone [as large as one turned by a donkey] hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.Matthew 18:6 (AMP)

Anyone who causes 'one of these little ones' - could be children, could be youth, could be those who are LIKE little ones - the least powerful, the forgotten, the outcast, the humble, the least of these… who causes them to stumble and sin BY LEADING THEM AWAY FROM JESUS' TEACHINGS… it would be better for them to get their neck broken and thrown into a lake where they glug glug glug until they sleep with the fishes than doing that…

So the word that gets translated for the 'stumble' part of the verse - it's a Greek word σκανδαλίσῃ (skandalisē) a form of skandalon. It is where we get the modern word - "scandal" from. A skandalon was literally a 'trap trigger' - something that causes someone to fall - and this phraseology can be translated not just to fall into sin - but to fall into apostasy… apostasy is

"The abandonment of one's faith" "Fading away" "standing away" "Rejection of belief."

This hits especially hard for me. For a couple of reasons - first… I love what I do. Most days. Honestly - leading people to Jesus - trying to show people the love of Jesus - trying to help us demonstrate that love not just to our church but to our community - Loving God, Loving People - getting to come up here and give you a book report on the most important and amazing things ever said by the most important and amazing Savior and friend ever? I genuinely cherish that. Truly. But every single day. Every. Single. Day. I am reading at least one story if not ten stories… about pastors and those in the "so-called" Christian communities who are doing things that are causing people to be led away from Jesus' teachings. You know, here's a pastor who's having an affair with multiple church members. Here's yet another youth pastor who's diddling little kids. Here's a pastor who is saying the most un-Christlike stuff possible. Just scandal after scandal. And I know some of it makes the news when its big enough, but because this is my job, I get trade publications and email lists and behind the scenes stuff and it just I have gone from wanting to cry to wanting to throw things to just being so disheartened… there is something almost every day that I read or hear about that makes me want to quit - because I don't want to be associated with this stuff. Here are people who should be showing the love of Jesus - but they are doing evil and actively causing people to stumble in big ways. For every one of these scandals - you think that doesn't affect people in their congregations? You think that doesn't affect people who were maybe interested in knowing more about Jesus and following Him, but then who go - well here's the guy who was preaching Jesus, but if this is what they were doing - then what power does Jesus have? Maybe this is all a scam, a sham, a myth… no power to this - no life-changing power, because why wasn't this guy's life changed…

Now look - I want to make something clear - we all sin. All have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God. Okay - and anyone - ANYONE - can have a bad day, can be tempted, can make a bad decision… but when we are talking about repeated behaviors where harm is being done to others and the reputation of Jesus name IN Jesus name - where vitriol and venom are being spoken in the name of Jesus instead of love - that's not a bad day, that's operating in bad faith. That's not a mistake. That's malpractice.

In my lifetime - I have been watching the dismantling of the church - more and more people around the world claiming no faith at all, church attendance and affiliation going down every single year - worldwide - and I'll tell you what, I don't think it's because the power of Jesus is any less life-changing or transformative - I think its because a lot of people who would be better off having mill stones tied around their neck and drowned in the depth of the sea have been terrible representatives of a Jesus whose name they exploit but whose teachings they don't follow. And whether it be the Spotlight scandals in the Catholic Church, the non-stop exploitation of women and children within Evangelical circles, the rise and attachment to political movements and Christian nationalism, or just religious leaders more concerned with status and money than humbly representing the Kingdom of God - it has made generation after generation - large swathes of the world's population to say "Eh - I don't want anything to do with Jesus" thinking that somehow this is what Jesus was about.

I'm not playing holier than thou either guys. I already said I mess up. And I said some things back in my youth group days - when I didn't know better - when I thought I knew, but I didn't understand - when I was just parroting somebody else's puffed-up pride or repeating talking points from 'inside the bubble.' And I was guilty of causing someone to fall away or fade away… or at the very least snuffing out their enthusiasm for the persona and love of Jesus Christ because of its association with myself or the program or the church. I didn't mean to. But I screwed up. And it eats away at me to this day.

All of this to say - if we read this passage without context and especially versus 7-9 which we'll do on another day - but it's the 'if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off…' passage - it's a metaphor! Nobody go and recreate the SAW movies please… Josh did not tell you to do that. But I think we often read this as 'don't tempt people into sin…' Which - I mean, okay are there those people, can we be those people "Hey man, wanna get high?" Kay. Hey - I found out how we can exploit this loophole and make fractions of a penny at a time and yes were stealing, but it's a bank and they'll never find out…" Are there those who would tempt people into adultery or or bad decisions - or have you ever been the spouse that's suggested cheating on your taxes… "Wasn't that a business dinner?" "Pizza Hut?" "Yeah. Weren't we discussing our budget?" "I distinctly remember you saying that you didn't have any quarters so I could go and play Galaga." "See…?! Write it off." "I'm not sure the IRS will agree with your creative assessment." But that's not subtle. That's obvious. That's that choice - bad faith, malpractice - but this started by talking to Jesus' own disciples about status and wanting to be great and these TRAPS that we can fall into. And these 'trap triggers' (skandalon) that we need to be so careful about avoiding - how about we make the strongest effort possible to be humble and say - "I don't want to do anything that chases people away from Jesus' teachings." "I don't want to do anything that causes people to get a bad taste for Jesus or the Kingdom in their mouth." And it's not just the big scandals.

We've come up with this phrase in the church world - admittedly we got it from scripture - "stumbling block." And we've kind of created this narrative where being a stumbling block is being the temptation into sinful behavior like we were just talking about… you're playing the role of the devil in the temptation in the wilderness - except now it's the temptation in Torrance or whatever.

But you know what the main focus of this passage that Jesus is warning us about?

DON'T BECOME A STUMBLING BLOCK TO SOMEONE'S FAITH

Especially someone who is young or a spiritual youngster. Especially someone who is approaching Jesus like a child.

Maybe here's a better way of saying this -

DON'T BECOME A BARRIER TO SOMEONE'S FAITH

And that is way too easy to do. It doesn't take a big scandal to do that. It doesn't take a personal moral failing like the ones that make the headlines to do that. Truthfully, I have observed that some of the biggest barriers to someone's faith in Jesus - they don't come from outside the church. They come from inside it.

When the church decides to ignore certain people or groups of people.

When the church dismisses people.

When the church chooses to shame people instead of loving people.

When the church acts holier than thou rather than like sinners saved by grace.

When the church is filled with pride instead of filled with love.

When the church becomes about preference instead of mission.

When the church excludes people instead of welcoming them.

These are the things that are barriers to faith. In fact, these are the things that can cause people to lose their faith entirely… and fade away. And you better believe - that makes Jesus angry. Because each one of these 'little ones' - matters deeply to Him.

As a community - Jesus calls us to

PROTECT THE VULNERABLE

That's not just caring for new believers - that's welcoming the overlooked and the unwelcome -especially in the church world.

Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.Matthew 18:5

The Kingdom of God and therefore the institution of the church - should be the place where the weakest person in the kingdom feels safe and loved by Jesus and embraced by Jesus and His people and like they have a place. Where the lost sheep matters and the forgotten people are placed in the center of the community and loved.

Jesus says this about the little ones before He goes on to tell the story of the Lost Sheep -

Beware that you don't look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.Matthew 18:10

And that is #32 on our list of FIFTY THINGS

#32 - "DON'T LOOK DOWN ON THE LITTLE ONES"

Took us a while to get there. But we had to get the context right and understand how this works on multiple levels. Speaking of - you may have seen this verse as

See that you do not despise one of these little onesMatthew 18:10 (NASB) (LSB) (BLB) (NIV)

But again - the Amplified version gives us a turn of phrase that I think we can relate to here even more -

See that you do not despise or think less of one of these little ones…Matthew 18:10 (AMP)

Folks if we are thinking less of literal children or youth or the little ones who are forgotten or even despised by some of our peers who put up stumbling blocks, we are not living up to the standard of humility that Jesus set and we are not welcoming people into the Kingdom the way Jesus asks us to.

No matter who they are - don't disregard people. Don't think less of them. Don't dismiss people. Don't despise them. Don't treat them as less important. And don't look down on them.

That's a serious takeaway - but just as an aside - cause sometimes these things get lost in translation - Jesus was funny. He very well have been making a joke as he illustrated that last point - "Don't look down on any of these little ones" as the adults were literally looking down at the children because they HAD to look down at the children. Jesus had jokes. I'm telling you. So many of His parables and stories and turns of phrases and responses - He was loving, He was funny, He was welcoming. He was kind. He was safe. He was joyful. He was approachable. You know - all the things that make kids… little ones… comfortable. These are the traits that make people run TO Jesus… not AWAY from Him.

And if we want to have a chance to bring people to Jesus - we need to display those traits not only collectively as a church when we gather, but also as individuals. At the end of the day we have to ask ourselves - if little ones felt comfortable being around Jesus - do they feel comfortable being around us? That goes for kids and the other way Jesus meant 'little ones.'

Here's something to consider - do WE feel comfortable around 'the little ones?' As a youth pastor for 16 years of my life and now a father for 6 years - I can say unequivocally that kids… youth… little ones… can be chaotic. It's true. They're messy. They can break stuff. They can ask hard, uncomfortable questions. They can challenge positions you thought you were rock solid on. And they can also make you rethink things that you thought you already had all figured out. To welcome little ones - to embrace little ones - to connect with little ones - it takes extra effort, extra energy, you may start investing in band-aids and drywall patch… which might be why some folks are uncomfortable around "little ones" and quick to dismiss them. Spiritually speaking - little ones can be 'messy' too. You may have your nice, clean, neat patterns of everything that you've done for the last thirty years. We do this. We get things the way we like them and we get sideways when people disrupt even a small part of what we're used to… our neat little systems and traditions and patterns and preferences… and sometimes we're more concerned with protecting our comfort and our schedules and our preferences and the way we like things than we are about protecting the "little ones."

In Luke chapter 18 we're given this little snippet where we read One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so He could touch and bless them. But when the disciples saw this, they scolded the parents for bothering Him. Luke 18:15

Remember - kids in that society - lowest rung on the social ladder. Even below the lowest rung. Way beyond the old 'children should be seen and not heard.' So the disciples are like - get out of here with this, can't you see Jesus is busy? But here's what Jesus did -

Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.Luke 18:16-17

The disciples - who knows, maybe they were trying to protect Jesus' schedule. What they thought was His agenda. What they considered His important work. The disciples were trying to protect Jesus. But Jesus said 'nuh-uh'

JESUS PROTECTED THE LITTLE ONES

He got mad at the disciples and scolded the disciples for trying to hinder them. That's another translation -

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as theseLuke 18:16 (NIV) (BSB) (NASB)

The Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like children.

I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.Luke 18:17

That really ought to wake us up to what Jesus finds important. That ought to wake us up as a church to jettison and abandon a lot of the world's trappings that the church has added to its' institution and teachings because it was chasing status and establishing hierarchy.

Anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.Luke 18:17

Well what does that mean, exactly? Well - kids… they ask honest questions. They tend to see things more clearly and in simple terms than we as adults like to complicate things and obfuscate things. Kids aren't all tangled up in politics, power games, hierarchies, social rankings… they tend not to racist or sexist or exclusionary unless someone in their lives teaches those things to them. They're quick to forgive, they're quick to include. They are curious and joyfully discovering the wonders of God's creation everyday. And they are seeking to give love and receive love and connect and be welcomed.

You know, despite all of the politics and propaganda and distractions and pollution of this world - a lot of "little ones" are able to cut through all the noise and still see God clearly. Much more clearly than some of us who dismiss them or look down on them.

We have a tendency - whether it's "little ones" as in children or "little ones" as in those on the outside of our little circles - we dismiss them saying things like "what do you know about theology? You're just now coming to Jesus. I've been a Christian for 40 years. Don't tell me about following Christ, I'll tell you about following Christ. "What do you know about the world, let me tell you how the world works…" And we can do that… to our own detriment. If you assume that "little ones" don't understand, can't understand, are too naive, or they should just listen and not contribute… then all that is going to accomplish is have generations talking past each other and entire groups of people and individuals feeling like they have been hindered from coming to Jesus instead of taking their place where Jesus put them - next to Him, in the center of our community and our love.

You know what - maybe we do know more about 'the world…' than these little ones, but maybe we could learn a lot about The Kingdom of God from these little ones.

Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.Matthew 18:5 (NRSV)

#32 - DON'T LOOK DOWN ON THE LITTLE ONES

And whether those little ones are new believers, people seeking answers, the weak, the forgotten, the overlooked, those left out by religion or looked down upon by so-called religious people, those dismissed by society, those who are forgotten or struggling, those who are vulnerable, or literal children… allow me to humbly say on behalf of my Savior Jesus and on behalf of SeaCoast Church - you… are welcome here.

Thank you for letting me share with you today. We'll be back with another installment of Fifty Things next week. Until next time - may you leave here today with the humility and joy and young hearts of the little ones that Jesus bids come unto Him. And may we never neglect the little ones but instead welcome them, learn from them and protect them as God gave them into our care. God bless you, have a great week!

You know, it has been our desire here at SeaCoast to be a healthy multi-cultural, multi-generational church. Multiple generations, cultures from all over the world, a myriad of stories and experiences all in one room. And today's entry into the Fifty Things that Jesus asked us to do - is truly a multi-generational, multi-cultural entry. Maybe in more ways that you realize. In Matthew chapter 7, as part of His sermon on the mount, Jesus says

Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.Matthew 7:12

The Gospel of Luke records it this way -

Do to others as you would like them to do to you.Luke 6:31

So #31 on our list of Fifty Things is-

#31 - DO UNTO OTHERS

You may have heard this particular command referred to as

"The Golden Rule"

Now, fun fact- it wasn't Jesus who coined the term "The Golden Rule." In fact, that particular label didn't even really gain popularity until the 17th century when British, Anglican theologians like Charles Gibbons and Thomas Jackson started referring to it as such in the early 1600's.

Second fun fact and we already saw this is alluded to in Matthew 7:12 - but

"Jesus wasn't the first to advocate for this principle of do unto others."

This principle had been echoed in many places before Jesus addresses it in Matthew 7 and Luke 6. Now obviously, a version of it existed in Judaism under the law of Moses under the command

Love your neighbor as yourself.Leviticus 19:18

And it is restated as it applies to foreigners within your own borders regardless of their origin or status -

The stranger who resides with you - shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.Leviticus 19:34

Certainly a verse that some of our so-called 'Christian' leaders and influencers could use a remedial course on.

Hillel the elder was a Jewish rabbi and the head of the Sanhedrin, a collection of 70 Jewish elders, high priests, scribes and legal experts that served as the highest authority of Jewish law. He actually predated Jesus - likely passing away shortly after Jesus' birth. And Hillel was known for his compassionate, gentle interpretation of the Mosaic Law. He famously said -

"What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. This is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn." - Hillel the Elder, Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Shabbat 31a (also Ethics of the Fathers)

Now, you'll notice this is a parallel teaching of "Do Unto Others" that Jesus referenced. But it's the negative version. It's Don't Do unto others as you would prefer them NOT to do unto you.

But this concept - it shows up in more places than just the law of Moses and the writings of Hillel in the Talmud. The same concept shows up in the teachings of Confucias as

What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others." - Confucius, TheAnalects 15:23, 6:28

Confucius predated Jesus by nearly 500 years.

"That which you hate to be done to you, do not do to another"

Is an ancient Egyptian maxim that appears in many works, but is directly stated in a papyrus from the Late period specifically from sometime between 664 BCE to 323 BCE - predating Jesus' teachings by anywhere from over 300 to 600 years. Adherence to the principle is referenced in chapter 125 of the Papyrus of Ani, but the earliest stated version of this maxim can be found way back somewhere between 1650 and 2040 BCE - literally thousands of years before Jesus in a story from Egyptian wisdom traditions in The Story of the Eloquent Peasant"

In ancient India, one of the two important epics of Hinduism, a smririt text known as the Mahabharata expresses this philosophical tenet -

"Do not do to others what you do not wish done to yourself. This is the whole of Dharma." Mahabharata 18.113.8

We also see it written as

Do not unto others which would cause pain if done to you.Mahabharata 5:15:17

This is a pre-6th century BCE text, written over 500 years before Jesus. I'd say stop me if you heard this before - but I'd like to keep talking

"Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful" Udanavarga (5:18)

is a tenet of Buddhism, contained in the Udanavarga written roughly 500 years before the birth of Jesus.

But all of those versions seem to be examples, not of the Golden Rule, but of the Silver Rule.

"The Silver Rule"

Anybody know why these are considered "The Silver Rule" and not "The Golden Rule?" If you look at all of these - with the exception of the command that Jesus references, they are statements formed in the 'negative.' IE -

"Don't do what you wouldn't want someone to do to you."

Okay. Which is a great rule. It's a good rule to live by. If you wouldn't want someone to do it to you, don't do it to somebody else.

But Jesus takes it a step further.

See - "The Silver Rule" is kind of a policy of non-harm. Right? Don't hurt somebody. Don't insult somebody. Don't make other people's lives harder than it already is.

It's a passive ideology. "Avoid being mean" "Don't be evil."

But what Jesus references is the Gold Standard - because Jesus flips a negative and makes it positive.

Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.Matthew 7:12

Jesus raises the bar. It's not just 'avoid being mean.' 'Don't hurt other people.' 'Don't do evil.' Those are passive ideas. And while that's a great philosophy - you all know that you can be passive aggressive too right? Let me show you where I think Jesus would say "the silver rule" falls short -

"I didn't insult that person." Great. Silver rule. Good job. But did you encourage them? Did you say something nice to them? Did you demonstrate the love of Jesus through your words or actions to them? That's raising the bar. That's the Golden Rule.

"I didn't hurt that person." No. But did you help them?

Jesus said

DO to others AS YOU WOULD LIKE THEM TO DO unto you.Luke 6:31

That's active goodness. Not Don't do. What DID you do. What ARE you going to do? What ARE you DOING?

Jesus isn't just calling His followers to a policy of non-harm or non-intervention or non-interference. If you are a follower of Christ, realize this, Jesus is calling us to a higher standard of

PROACTIVE LOVE

This is not a side quest like in a video game. This is not optional. This is not - "well, you could do good for people if you wanna take time away from the main quest or if you're going for that 100% completion achievement." Nuh-uh.

DO to others as you would like them to do to you.Luke 6:31

It's one of the Fifty Things that Jesus asked His followers to do and it is important, because you see the parallel between another passage that we state in here all the time about loving our neighbors -

This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.Matthew 7:12

Avoid doing bad - that's not the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets. Not hurting other people - yeah, clearly that's part of it. Okay the Silver Rule is a PART of the Golden Rule. But the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets is to

DO GOOD TO OTHERS

The Golden Rule since being stated by Jesus has made it's way into many religions and philosophies and even international governmental policy.

In Islam, it is stated as "As you would have people do to you, do to them; and what you dislike to be done to you, don't do to them." Hadith 13

There's a legend that says Roman Emperor Alexander Severus valued the Golden Rule so highly that he had it inscribed in gold on public buildings 1400 years before Gibbons and Jackson popularized the phrase.

In 1958, Israel would quote Leviticus 19:18

Love your neighbor as yourself.Leviticus 19:18

when it commemorated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on a postage stamp.

The Parliament of the World's Religions, a global dialogue of faiths which first began meeting in 1893 comprised of spiritual, civics and grassroots leaders and individuals declared in 1993 "we must treat others as we wish others to treat us." They declared the Golden Rule as the common principle for many religions in a "Declaration Toward a Global Ethic" signed by 143 leaders of all the world's major faiths including Bahai, Brahamanism. Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Indigenous People's beliefs, Islam, Judaism, Native American beliefs, Sikhism, Taoism, Unitarian Universalists and even Zoroastrianism.

The Golden Rule was called the "shared moral foundation of humanity."

The Golden Rule has been referred to as "the preeminent, most valuable and universally applicable principle for ETHICAL conduct." Treating others with the same kindness, respect and empathy you wish to receive -

It is acknowledged and revered in almost every ethical tradition, religious tradition and organized government…

And yet…

Have you looked at the world lately? Have you watched the news? Have you gone outside recently? Have you worn a Ducks jersey at a Kings game? (Nah. I'm kidding. Sort of . That was a cheap shot, Kings fans. I know it goes both ways. We have Ducks fans that act like jerks too. The kind of 'lame ducks' most of us Ducks fans wish we could disown. Come see me after the service if you'd like to hear what we call those kind of fans when it's not a family show.

But I digress. If The Golden Rule is the foundation of human ethics and government and interpersonal relations, why does the world look like it does? Why are so many of us getting it so wrong? If "Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You" is the foundation of religious beliefs, human ethics, and modern human rights- then why does humanity look like it skipped pouring the foundation and went straight to drywall? Cause the human structures are there, but something important is missing…

Maybe… it's

COMPASSION

Maybe the reason we suck at carrying out the Golden Rule sometimes is because we're lacking in compassion. Jesus says something in Luke 6:36 - five verses after He says

Do to others as you would like them to do to you.Luke 6:31

He says,

You must be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate.Luke 6:36

Ultimately, doing unto others… it shouldn't be just a command that we're following. Why are you doing this? Because Jesus tells me to do it. Okay - but why? We should be showing love and doing unto others as an act of compassion - that's the traits and tenets of Jesus and our Heavenly Father that we are emulating here. Compassion.

And what does that mean? What does that look like? The Amplified Bible describes it as sympathetic, tender, responsive, filled with compassion. The definition is feeling or showing sympathy or empathy and concern for others. Showing an understanding of others, often with a desire to help alleviate their pain.

We don't do unto others out of necessity. We don't do unto others because it's the polite and neighborly thing to do. We don't do unto others out of obligation. We do unto others because we are moved with compassion.

To illustrate loving our neighbor - right, basically the same command as doing unto others - all the laws and the prophets hang on this… Jesus tells a story - the parable of the Good Samaritan. We find it in Luke 10 starting in verse 30. It says, "Jesus replied with a story: "A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. By chance a priest came along, But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt COMPASSION for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, 'Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I'll pay you the next time I'm here." "Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?" Jesus asked The man replied, "The one who SHOWED HIM MERCY." Then Jesus said, "Yes, now go and do the same"

So in this story - a man is beaten and left half for dead. Religious leaders walk by. They do him no harm. Technically I guess you could say they're following the silver rule. Though the silver rule just doesn't seem to cut it here when you hear it laid out in this situation does it? Cause it's lacking compassion. Sympathy. Empathy. It's lacking a concern for his neighbor. It's lacking mercy.

So the religious leaders - they walk by. They cross to the other side of the street. We can talk about motivation in a second…

But it's the Samaritan - not just an outsider, but a hated outsider - Jews and Samaritans did NOT get along going back to long standing religious and political divisions - which then became territorial disputes and I'm just gonna call it out right now there was some racism there because Jews viewed Samaritans as "half breeds" who intermarried with foreigners. But neither side was perfect in this - there was not a good guy and a bad guy per se - there was wrongness on both sides - centuries of mutual aggression - somewhere between 6-9AD, when Jesus was young, a group of Samaritans broke into Herod's Temple, the second temple of Jerusalem and defiled it. So definitely a heated rivalry there - but one without compassion wouldn't make a good Netflix series.

Anyways - it is the Samaritan. The hated Samaritan. The natural enemy. The rival. The other… who stops. He bandages wounds, pours oil and wine, puts the man on his own donkey, and you know he needed a donkey wash after that - all that blood and dirt… that does not just come out of plush donkey fur seating easily. Probably needed a full donkey detailing after that. The Samaritan then pays for the Jewish mans lodging and food and promises to return.

He stepped into somebody else's crisis. He inserted himself for the purpose of doing good - in a manner in which that person would've wanted good done to them, in a manner that the Samaritan would've wanted good done to himself - and not for any selfish reasons or obligation or even ideas of nobility or because he could get a Samaritan Scout badge for helping someone attacked by outlaws. The Samaritan displayed

EMPATHY

He thought - "what would that feel like?" "What would I hope people would do for me if I was in the same position?" And he showed tender compassion.

So - why did the priests - why did the religious leaders cross to the other side? Maybe it's the same reason why you look outside and though we claim that the golden rule is a principle that our country is built on and our religion is built on and if you're a Christ follower your LIFE should be built on - maybe the reason they pass is the same reason why it's still so ugly out there and we don't really see the Golden Rule lived out in action…

WE JUSTIFY OUR BEHAVIOR

See - we can come up with reasons NOT to abide by the Golden Rule. When you don't want to do something any excuse will do. So maybe the priests didn't want to get involved because maybe they would be ceremonially unclean for something they were getting ready for and they didn't want it interfering with their duties. They put their duties or their jobs or their status or the letter of the law above love… compassion… empathy… sympathy… mercy…

Our human, sinful, missing the mark, does not reach Jesus' standard justification of our own behavior can be the reason why we decide not to practice the Golden Rule in reality even though we hold it up in theory. I want you to see what Jesus says before He tells the story -

Jesus just got through getting an expert in religious law who was testing Jesus to arrive at the conclusion that the most important commandment was to love God with all your heart, soul and strength and to love your neighbor as you love yourself. And Jesus said,

Right!" Jesus told him. "Do this and you will live!Luke 10:28

Awesome. Pretty easy - break down 613 unlivable laws to 2 livable ideas and Jesus says YOU WILL LIVE! This should be a time for joyous celebration - but then look at what happens verse 29

And we read -

The man wanted to JUSTIFY HIS ACTIONS, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?Luke 10:29

Why don't we live out the golden rule?

WE JUSTIFY OUR ACTIONS (OR LACK THEREOF)

I mean, that's a big reason why we suck at the Golden Rule. We hold it up in principle but when push comes to shove - do we have compassion or do we justify our actions? I look at these people who are making billions. Individuals who are worth more than like 90% of the total income of everybody else. And you see people starving and places where you can help, and homeless people… and you go - no one needs that much money. You have more money than your great-grandkids great grandkids can spend in their lifetimes… you could do so much good with that money - but you choose to hoard it and make more… you gotta justify that behavior somehow. But I don't think it lives up to the Golden Rule.

I lived through the AIDS epidemic - in the 80's. I was working in Hollywood as a kid during that time. And you know - here were thousands of people dying. Just a scary time for whole communities of people and their friends and families and loved ones. And God bless the ones who showed compassion and demonstrated the Golden Rule. Because disappointingly a lot of Christians and Christian mouthpieces on television decided to condemn instead of show compassion. They decided to mock instead of show mercy. Something I heard a lot of these people say was that AIDS was a homosexual disease and this was God's judgment and that 'these people' didn't deserve help. Clearly none of those statements were correct or compassionate like our Father or Jesus is compassionate. But that's an example of justifying your behavior. In 1 Peter 2 we read that all believers in Christ are priests… well a lot of priests justified their behavior and crossed the street and looked the other way instead of being Good Samaritans and doing unto others and loving our neighbors during that time. We still do. Pick a group. Pick a political movement you don't like. Pick a lifestyle you don't agree with. Pick somebody who has wronged you or who represents someone who you think has wronged you in your past… will you justify your behavior? Maybe think the silver rule is enough? Or will you be a Good Samaritan and rise to the standard that Jesus set with the Golden Rule?

This "othering" of people as justification not to help… there's a reason Jesus picked the Samaritan as the good guy in this parable when He was talking to Jewish religious leaders… whenever we "other" people and we don't see them the way Jesus does or the way God who created them does - we are 100% guaranteed to fall short of the Golden Rule.

Rabbi Simeon ben Azzzai who was considered to have an extraordinary understanding of what was BEHIND torah law - his writings are in the collection of Mishnah - he had this too say - and I'll paraphrase here and do my best with this idea -

He taught that loving one another - flows from ideas presented in the very begging of scripture - in Genesis 1. This realization that "all humanity is made in the image of God." And he said that Adam represents the unity of humankind. From one source comes breathtaking diversity. And he says that's why Leviticus 19:33-34 says

Do not take advantage of foreigners who live among you in your land. Treat them like native-born Israelites, and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt.Leviticus 19:33-34

So a couple of quick takeaways here -

THE GOLDEN RULE IS ROOTED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD

Every human being - regardless of race, color, creed, nationality, sexual orientation, political alignment, class, caste, belief or upbringing bears the image of God. They were made in the image of God. They are a special creation of God. And therefore they matter. Every person deserves dignity. Every person is worthy of compassion and sympathy and empathy and mercy and love. We do unto others as we would like them to do unto us because of a mutual recognition that "you matter as much as I do." There is reciprocal dignity. Even between Ducks fans and Kings fans. And that reciprocal dignity and right not just to exist but to thrive as a loved creation of God is at the heart of modern human rights and social justice. You know that whole thing Jesus says in

Matthew 25:40

Whatever you did for the least of these you did for me? The hungry that you fed - the thirsty who you gave a drink to - the STRANGER that you invited into your home - extrapolate that out people - the naked that you clothed, the sick you cared for, the person in prison you visited…

That's the Golden Rule. And that's also social justice lived out. There's a weird re-routing of Christianity going on by some people who wouldn't recognize Jesus if he smacked them up side the head with his nail-scarred hand… a real bastardization of Christianity - mixing it with machismo and political nonsense and they treat "social justice" like it's a bad word. And whenever I hear someone who claims to be a Christian say they're against social justice or the application of ideas and concepts of social justice - I get confused. Because the Golden Rule is social justice. In a nutshell. The Golden Rule, the Good Samaritan - it's about sticking your neck out to help other people. It's about sacrificing yourself for the good of others. It's about empathy. Selfless love. When I hear someone say "the problem is empathy." There's literally books out there right now about "the sin of empathy." If I hear someone ascribing to or espousing those beliefs than I know they either don't get what Jesus said or OR they really don't CARE or BELIEVE what Jesus said.

WE JUSTIFY OUR ACTIONS

What they care about is defending a religion or a political stance that is wholly manmade where they don't have to select the compassion of God and follow the Golden Rule. Where they can have their cake and eat it too - by feeling religious and puffed up and good about themselves without actually putting aside differences, and reaching out to those who are not like us, and getting the hands and feet of Jesus dirty and messy and sacrificing ourself to actually DO the good that the golden rule requires.

At the end of the day -

SIN

Gets in the way of us living out the golden rule. Selfishness. Hatred. Greed. Pride. All the usual crap. And at the end of the day - sin is usually about self

SIN = SELF

And when we put ourselves first, it's so hard to love our neighbors and do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Saint Augustine of Hippo - a theologian and philosopher considered an early church father - he described sin as "incurvates in se" -

"curved in on ourselves"

The Golden Rule requires us to look outside of ourselves and show compassion. In Matthew 9 we're told that

Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And He healed every kind of disease and illness. When He saw the crowds, He had COMPASSION on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to the disciples, "The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields.Matthew 9:35-38

Jesus had

COMPASSION on the crowds.

By the way compassion is derived from the Latin compati which means

"to suffer with"

Compassion in its original meaning - is the deep awareness of another person's suffering coupled with the desire to alleviate it. It goes BEYOND EMPATHY by moving from feeling to action, involving entering into another's pain rather than just mere observing it. It is about walking with someone in their pain. Presence and proximity. It is about action and shared humanity. Compassion is empathy with action and without judgment.

So take a hike with that "sin of empathy" thing - as both Jesus and Hillel the Elder said "go and learn"

But see, empathy is hard. You have to stop and be able to put yourself in someone else's shoes who might not be very much like you. You have to be able to imagine yourself in their situation. You have to be able to step outside of your comfort zone.

Like Jesus did… think about it. He didn't just tell us to live Golden Rule - He lived it out for us to follow. He touched lepers. He said "let the little children come to Him." He ate with sinners and He didn't say "wow they made bad choices. Sucks to be them." He felt their pain and addressed their needs and offered a path forward. He dignified women in places and areas where they were not honored. He forgave His enemies. He washed feet.

And then He went even further - Jesus said

There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friendsJohn 15:13

The Golden Rule is not abstract ethics or applied civics… it's the love of Jesus on a cross. That's the ultimate example of "Do Unto Others." A compassionate, empathetic Savior puts Himself in our situation - leaves Heaven, comes to earth to live as a human - experiencing all the pain and sorrow and confusion… He shares humanity with us. His presence and proximity is there. He walks with us. He heals us and desires to alleviate our suffering - and he inserts Himself into our situation so that we can experience freedom from sin and suffering when we leave this world, so we can be reunited with our Heavenly Father, and so we can experience abundant life - life with true meaning and purpose when we follow Jesus here on Earth.

Until next time, remember, we were saved, God's masterpiece, created anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. May SeaCoast be a church where the Golden rule shines… no more hidin', we'll be shinin' like we're born to be. Cause we're God's children, voices strong and I know I believe…

"We're going up, up, up it's our moment you know together we're glowing' gonna be gonna be golden Oh up, up, up with our voices 영원히 깨질 수 없는 gonna be, gonna be golden.

Now I'm done hidin', now I'm shining' like I'm born to be Of our time, no fears, no lies that's who we're born to be…"

Welcome to the All-Church Family, Spiritual Scripture Decathalon Trivia Challenge Bowl! Yeah… Here's the way it's going to work… I'm going to ask you a series of trivia questions. There will be multiple sections. Most of these answers are going to be fill in the blank. Some will have a few answers, some will have more. For each section, I'll tell you how many numbers to put on the side of the page and you put your answer next to the number.

Now - you do not have to put your name on this. I'm not gonna see it and grade it. You're not going to give it to your neighbor to grade, so don't worry about how many you get right or wrong. This is an exhibition, not a competition… please - no wagering. Occasionally I may give you hints or some commentary up here. We're going to reveal the answers and add up all of the points at the END of our little quiz show here. And you may be asking yourself, is there a prize? We will indeed talk about the prize at some point and time during our game. We'll be keeping track of the time remaining for each section and you'll see a clock ticking down behind me and I'll keep you verbally aware of how much time you have left just like the proctors in those college tests who used to make you a nervous wreck when you were writing in those little blue notebooks.

Are you ready? Most of you are in church a decent amount. Some of you grew up in church or Christian schools. Some of you spent a lot of time in Sunday School, Life Groups… maybe you've got your daily reading some daily devotions - let's see how much good they're doing. How much they've prepared you for the All-Church Family Spiritual Scripture Decathlon Trivia Challenge Bowl!

You ready? Here's section one. 12 answers. Starting easy.

Q: Name the 12 disciples.

Jesus picked 12 disciples, we would also call them apostles. They were in the inner circle. Those closest to Jesus. Those present at the Last Supper. Name all twelve.

Some of you are humming a little Sunday School song to yourself right now. "There were twelve disciples Jesus called to help him… (mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble)

We're not counting for spelling.

Make sure you put their last names in there… some of you are laughing. Some of you are just gonna be writing things like Jones… Smith…of Galilee after their first names…

Alright - bonus question for this section -

Write #13 -

Q: Who was the 13th disciple? Who was the replacement disciple?

Name the replacement disciple. There was a reason for this. It wasn't like when Bewitched tried to pull a fast one with the replacement Darren. Name the 13th disciple. It was not Rufus. By the way.

Alright. Next question -

Q: How many books are in the Bible? Name as many as you can

A few of you might have a VBS Animaniacs style song to help you - some may be breaking these down into categories… Some of you may be making stuff up for some of Paul's letters… isn't there an Elopians? Maybe some of you are going deep into the lesser read books of the Old Testament - I'm pretty sure there's like 1 and 2 Philistines…

Alright - speaking of the Old Testament that brings us to our next question -

Q: What are the ten commandments?

You've seen the movie with the tablets, and Charlton Heston… fortunately you don't have to carve them out of stone, you simply have to write them down. Write as many as you remember. You don't get to make up your own… though I would be interested to see what made some of your top 10 lists…

Alright next question - moving to the New Testament for this one.

Jesus listed a bunch of people who are "blessed" in what we've come to call the Beatitudes. Name as many as you can.

Q: List the 8 groups mentioned in the Beatitudes and what they will receive

There are generally considered to be eight of them, though sometimes because of the structure of Matthew 5:10-12, some might say 9.

Jesus listed a bunch of people who are "blessed" in what we've come to call the Beatitudes. Name as many as you can.

Alright - next question. I would suggest just numbering this one as you go along. You're gonna need a couple pages for this one at least - there are 613 laws in Mosaic Law listed in the Torah. 248 affirmatives - "to dos" and 365 negatives "do nots." List as many as you can until the timer ticks down to zero.

Q: List as many of the 613 Mosaic Laws as you can.

Now - there's 613 of them, some of you are going to be busy. Others of you may throw your hands up pretty quickly - which is why if you're out of answers, you can feel free to watch these great moments in Bible history as portrayed by cute cats.

Kitty Moses

Kitty Jericho

Kitty Jonah

Kitty Noah

Kitty Samson and Delilah

Kitty Joseph

Kitty Cain and Abel

I'm gonna throw you an easy one to get you ready again. This is for you music lovers -

Q: Which Beatles song shares part of its title with a book of the Bible?

This is a softball. And

This question is also sponsored by Draft Kings with the special bonus of the day. Right now you can bet your donut from the coffee station outside - will the pastor's wife get this one right? The statisticians have put her at a -125 right now - get your pick in right now - and be sure to use code ADDICTION for a free bonus bet based on what time we'll get out of the service today.

Alright - only two questions left in the All-Church Family, Spiritual Scripture Decathlon Trivia Challenge Bowl!

In the Gospels - Jesus give His followers Fifty Things to do. Fifty commands or requests to follow. Last year during our Fifty Things series we covered thirty of them.

Q: Name as many of the Fifty Things Jesus asked us to do as you can

And finally - the last question - Jesus said that all of the laws and the prophets really could be boiled down to two commands - two things to do. Even if you couldn't remember all fifty, hopefully you remember these two because they are the essence of the Fifty.

Q: What are the two commands that all the laws and demands of the prophets hang on?

And ladies and gentlemen - that ends our All-Church Family, Spiritual Scripture Decathlon Trivia Challenge Bowl!

Are you ready to see how you did?

The first question was "Name the twelve disciples…"

Q: Name the 12 disciples.

There were twelve disciples, Jesus called to help Him -

• Simon (Peter)
• Andrew
• James (Son of Zebedee)
• John (His brother)
• Phillip
• Thomas
• Matthew
• James (the son of Alphaeus)
• Simon (the zealot)
• Thaddeus (Jude/Judas the son of James)
• Judas (Iscariot)
• Bartholomew (Nathanael)

Alright for each one you got right - give yourself zero points. That's right , zero points. So if you got all twelve - 12x zero is ZERO. And you may be saying to yourself, "Josh - what gives? I was racking my brain there. We were going deep into the memory banks - accessing files that are buried on that server. Isn't that worth something? Some of you might be thinking - "hold on - I learned all this in week after week of Sunday School or growing up in Christian or Catholic school - that's gotta count for something." Well - it's interesting. But ultimately - it's trivia. Now, I'm not saying that what these disciples did was trivial. Certainly not. I'm not saying that what we learn through the records of their interactions in the Gospels and the book of Acts and other New Testament books - that that is trivial or worthless. No - that's very important. But being able to name all of the disciples from rote memory - it may help you in a certain Jeopardy category, it may impress the people in your small group, it might help in a game of Trivial Pursuit - but you know what's so much more important than being able to name the disciples? Being a disciple yourself!

The disciples were important because they were DISCIPLES OF JESUS! They were followers of JESUS! You get points for BEING a disciple of Jesus. What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? Well - obviously in the case of the twelve it meant they had special responsibilities - but ultimately it meant following Jesus in every aspect of their lives. Jesus gave the command to His disciples - to the twelve and their group to

go, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.Matthew 28:19-20

We are meant to not just KNOW the disciples - we are meant to BE disciples. What do disciples do? They follow all the commands who gave us? That JESUS gave us. Right. And when we do that - we are honoring and living in the blessings of not just the Son but the Father and the Holy Spirit too. And we can know that they are all with us… even to the end of the age.

Now - how do you know if you're a disciple besides following Jesus' commands? Well - John 13:34-35 tells us that Jesus said

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.John 13:34-35

You check that out? The mark of true discipleship in Jesus is if you LOVE one another. Just as Jesus loved us? How did Jesus love us? Unconditionally. Putting others before Himself. So if you want the points for being a disciple - you need to do your best to love unconditionally. Cause let me tell you, if your love has conditions attached to it… you know, "I'll love you IF you're THIS type of person, not that type of person." I'll love you IF the voices in politics and media tell me to love you, but not if they don't. I'll love you IF I agree with you." Those are all conditions. Do not claim to be a disciple of Christ if you are loving CONDITIONALLY. You may be following SOMEBODY. You may be following a movement or a leader or an ideal - but you are NOT proving to anyone that you are a follower of Christ, a disciple of Christ unless you are loving UNCONDITIONALLY.

Yeah, see the cost of discipleship - according to what Jesus said in Luke 9:23 is self-denial.

Then he said to the crowd, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must GIVE UP YOUR OWN WAY, take up your cross daily, and follow me."Luke 9:23

You may have seen it as "deny yourself" and folks - that's just it. Your way is not Jesus' way. The ways of the world is not Jesus' ways. But I'll tell you, it's been a problem since the days the New Testament were being written and it is a problem today - so often the church - which is supposed to be the total body of believers in Christ - at least big sections of the church - they give up Jesus' way for their own way and they try to stamp Jesus' approval on it. They put his name on things He would never sign off on. And here it is - I"ll just give it to you straight - if your beliefs or your actions aren't something you could picture Jesus doing - then those aren't his ways, those are your ways or the ways of the world that you have MADE your ways and you need to give up your own way, live like Jesus and love people unconditionally if you want to truly be a disciple of Christ - a follower of Christ. Period. Exclamation point. And by the way - the organizations and movements you support - if they are not following Christ, you shouldn't be following them. And I don't care what they say - I don't care how many times they claim to be a Christian. Hitler claimed to be a Christian and used leverage against and within the churches in his rise to power. He said the things the Nazis were doing were God ordained and that God was on their side. As he killed six million of God's chosen people. Saying you're a disciple… wearing a cross, saying you follow Jesus - doesn't make you a disciple. Living like Jesus does. Jesus tells His disciples in John 13:15

I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.John 13:15

Stop selling out Jesus for political power. Stop tying Jesus' kingdom to the kingdoms of the world. And stop supporting people who use Jesus' name in vain - and that's not saying GD or JC, that's slapping Jesus' name on their own very non-Christ like agenda.

But enough commentary. You don't get points for KNOWING the disciples. You get points for KNOWING Jesus. You don't get points for knowing the disciples. You get points for BEING a disciple.

Moving on to question 2 -

Q: Who was the 13th disciple? Who was the replacement disciple?

That would be Matthias. After Judas betrayed Jesus, the disciples came together to appoint another disciple to take Judas' place. And I don't really have a lot of commentary on this except to say - I think it's a good reminder to all of us that even if you find out that someone you thought was serving Jesus wound up actually working against him and betraying him and going into business for themselves - the work of Christ will continue when that person goes away. It will be another true follower of Christ who is blessed and who loves Christ who will carry on the true work of Christ. Jesus knows His true disciples and who's just giving lip service. I wish we were as good at recognizing the same.

So Matthias.

If you got the bonus question - here's how to calculate your points. Give yourself one point for each letter in the name Saint Matthias and then since he's the thirteenth disciple, subtract 13, one for each disciple, from the previous total to arrive at how many points you got for that question.

Alright. Let's keep grading our quizzes here. Er… trivial challenge, I mean… Question three was

Q: How many books are in the Bible? Name as many as you can

Probably a good number of you wrote 66. And maybe you're list looks like this - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts of the Apostles, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation

And 66 would be ONE of the answers for "How many books are in most Protestant Bibles at the present time." And the list might look like that. But if it was a Catholic Bible, it would be different. There would be more. If it was an Ethiopian Bible, it would be a different number still. If it were the Bibles of the early church - well, they didn't even HAVE the first collection of scriptures as we understand them to be - a 'collection' per se until 400 years after Jesus' death and resurrection. And in the early church, while there were letters circling around from Paul and the apostles and quite frankly, many other people as well, and multiple Gospel accounts, there wasn't generalized consensus until much later. And you may hear apologists with an agenda try to tell you that it was all very theological and scientific and based on consensus between the churches as to which works got added and which were thrown out - but the fact that we don't even have consensus today between denominations and a simple understanding of human nature should tell you that there was more to it than that. There was compromise. There was political pressure. There was leverage. There were ruling powers at these councils at the time were bringing things under a certain worldview to promote the rise of the empire - not just the rise of Christianity. It's true that some works were excluded because we could tell there were issues with authenticity of authorship, or date of authorship, or content that didn't line up historically or theologically - but you know what… we still have all of those today… in the 66 books of the modern Protestant Bible. No - in fact what was the biggest contributor to canon was tradition and political pressure. Now a big part of my job is studying scripture and analyzing and researching and presenting it to you. And I want to be the first to tell you that I love scripture. I do. When it's used correctly. There is value to nearly everything we read in scripture. If we handle it the right way. There is no need to throw out the baby with the bathwater. So how do we handle scripture the right way? Well, there's a famous piece of scripture from 2 Timothy 2:15 that's a good standard to apply to start with. It says -

Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.2 Timothy 2:15

Other translations have

accurately handles the word of truth(NASB)

or

rightly dividing the word of truth(NKJV)

The term here used 'to divide the word of truth' comes from the Greek meaning - "to cut straight." And that's what I aim to do when I'm up here and when I have discussions with you. To cut straight. To give it to you straight. And that means helping us understand the context, the culture, the author, the audience, the purpose of the book, what type of writing it is, and how it fits into the overall message of salvation in Christ. I said that a big part of my job is to study and analyze and research scripture and present it to you - but even more than that - my job is to tell you about Jesus. To get you not to just love scripture, but to love Jesus. To love His commands. To love HIs teachings. To love being in His presence. And so in order to accurately handle the word of truth, we need to read ALL scripture through the lens of Jesus' teachings to us. What does that mean? - Well it means when we go back in the Old Testament and we read barbaric accounts of iron age people believing in God ordained genocide, roughly 1200-1400 years before Jesus shows up, we understand that that doesn't match up with the nature of God the Father as described and revealed and as lived out by Jesus. Jesus said if you've seen Me, then you've seen the Father.

The Father and I are one.John 10:30

Jesus said

The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does His work through me.John 14:10

It means when we see God making a bet with the devil in Job that seriously destroys Job's life and family, we understand that that portrayal is not a 100% accurate representation of God but that that story, that poem - from the wisdom and poetry section of the Old Testament, is in scripture to give us another way to reflect on challenging issues of faith and loyalty in the midst of disaster. When it comes to scripture - the most important job I have is pointing things back to Jesus - He is the WORD of truth. Logos. That through which all comes into existence John 1 -

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He came into the very world He created, but the world didn't recognize Him. He came to His own people, and even they rejected Him. But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn - not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. So the Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son.John 1:1-14

See, you don't get points for knowing the books of the Bible. You don't even get points for knowing what the Bible says in any one particular place or verse. Because let's face it, verses get used out of context and weaponized for personal or political gain all the time. You get points for understanding the Bible through the lens of Jesus and letting Jesus inform how we interpret scripture instead of letting random scripture inform how we interpret Jesus. When we read scripture through the lens of the love of Christ, that's when all scripture will be "useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives." Even if the very book we read that quote from is ironically most likely an example of pseudepigrapha.

So in case you hadn't figured it out -give yourself zero points for whatever number you put down and give yourself zero points each for all the books you listed. You don't get points for knowing the books of the Bible - you get points for knowing what Jesus wants us to get OUT of those books of the Bible. You don't get points for knowing the words, you get points for knowing THE WORD. Word.

Alright next question -

You're starting to figure this out, I see. So no need to belabor the point. Next question was

Q: What are the ten commandments?

To which a learned response might be - which version? The version that appears in Exodus 20 or the version that appears in Exodus 34 cause they're different. They are not the same commandments. Are we talking the ritual decalogue or the ethical decalogue? Not only are they different commands, but there is yet a third version - a second crack at the ethical decalogue in Deuteronomy 5 - which is updated… which is odd considering the attributed source of the commands - but this is very much updated, more detailed - for a new generation right before they enter the promised land. There's some confusion as to which version constitutes the actual ten commandments. Here's the list of all three side by side.

RITUAL

• No other gods
• No cast idols
• Observe feast of unleavened bread
• Consecrate all firstborn livestock to God
• Redeem the firstborn of your sons
• Do not appear before God empty-handed
• Rest on the seventh day
• Observe the feast of the first fruits of the wheat harvest
• Observe the feast of ingathering
• All males must appear before God three times a year

• (additional ritual instructions within the context of this list:
• Do not sacrifice blood with leavened bread
• Do not let the Passover sacrifice remain until morning
• Bring the best of the first fruits to the temple
• Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk
• Do not intermarry or make pacts with local inhabitants)

ETHICAL

• No other gods
• No idols
• Do not misuse God's name
• Keep the Sabbath (in accord with the creation account)
• Honor parents
• Do not murder
• Do not commit adultery
• Do not steal
• Do not bear false witness
• Do not covet

REVISED

• No other gods
• No idols
• Do not take the Lord's name in vain
• Observe the Sabbath, Keep it holy (in remembrance of exodus from Egypt)
• Honor parents (blessing is added)
• Do not murder
• Do not commit adultery
• Do not steal
• Do not bear false witness
• Do not covet (separating neighbor's wife from his house/property in the list)

Heck, there's even differences between modern religious traditions as to how the commandments are listed - some are combined, some are separate - depends on if you're Catholic or Protestant or Jewish. In reality - the original phraseology was not even the Ten Commandments - it was The Ten sayings, or The ten matters… or even The ten words. The Geneva Bible translation I believe is the first whose naming convention was "The Ten Commandments. Well, there's so much confusion over what constitutes the actual ten commandments - that I can't give any points out for knowing the ten commandments. And the truth is - you don't get points for knowing the ten commandments - I'd be tempted to keep up the theme we've got going and say "you get points for keeping the ten commandments." But in this particular case - I think that's too simplistic to say.

In the Gospels, Jesus doesn't take the time to teach the Ten Commandments. Now He has stuff to say about most of them. He references what they are getting at. But when Jesus has everybody assembled - these great throngs on the mountains, on the plains, instead of reinforcing the ten commandments and making sure "Alright. You all get these down. You teach them to your kids. You put em on the walls of your Hebrew schools." Jesus didn't give a list of do nots. He gave a list of dos, a list of inner attributes. And a list of blessings to go with them. We know them now as the Beatitudes. And that was our next question

Q: List the 8 groups mentioned in the Beatitudes and what they will receive

This is what Jesus taught- this is what Jesus thought was worthy of sharing with the biggest audiences that He had -

• God blesses the poor in spirit, for their's is the kingdom of heaven

By the way - does anyone know what the poor in Spirit means? It's not those who are struggling necessarily, I think that's what a lot of us take it to mean. People who are downtrodden. No. I think the best translation I've heard of this passage comes from the Amplified Bible - "Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired] are the poor in spirit [those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant], for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven [both now and forever]

See - the Gospels are full of Jesus' interactions with the spiritually arrogant. With those who think their stuff doesn't stink. With those who think they get a pass or are spiritually puffed up because they keep the commandments, they keep the law. And the first thing Jesus says is blessed are those who are DEVOID of spiritual arrogance. I'll tell you right now, the reason why a lot of people are missing out on the love of Christ TODAY is because they are met with the arrogance of spiritual certainty and pride and quite frankly ignorance masquerading as authority - political, religious, spiritual and otherwise.

Here's the rest of the Beatitudes -

2. Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

3. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. (Regardless of whatever conclusions Ian Malcolm and Ellie Sattler come to)

4. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

5. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy

6. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.

7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.

8. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

That's what Jesus was concerned about getting across. Give yourself one point for each of those beatitudes that you consistently embody. If you are devoid of spiritual arrogance. Hard, right… maybe 95% devoid of it? Give yourself one point if you mourn or if you are a comforter. If you are merciful, give yourself a point. If you are a peacemaker give yourself a point. And here is a salient point in this day and age - "peacemaker" does not mean someone who shuts their mouth to keep the peace or avoid political heat. A peacemaker is not someone who tries to "both-sides" things. The peace that Jesus repeatedly asks His disciples to establish is not some sort of spiritual tranquilizer. It involves bringing the Kingdom to Earth - through our actions, through our choices, with our voices, with our votes. This is not just a peace where we go "Well the world is going to hell, but I have inner peace." Nuh-uh. We are called to establish peace not only in our own hearts but in society itself. When Peter was preaching against what religious and political leaders were saying in Acts chapter 5 and instead proclaiming freedom in the name of Jesus, the council and the high priest confronted Peter said

"We must obey God rather than any human authority.Acts 5:28-29

And I guess that's where the rubber meets the road doesn't it? If we're seeing behavior, policies, actions, attitudes, laws, lawlessness, even cowardice that doesn't line up with what Jesus says and what Jesus would want for all of the people who He came to save… the whole world - then we need to obey God rather than any human authority and be peacemakers that work for peace and strive for peace and struggle for peace and show mercy. To bring the Kingdom of God HERE. And if we are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, well then - ours IS the Kingdom of Heaven as demonstrated by our own Savior, Jesus Christ.

So give yourself a point for each of the Beatitudes that you own a piece of and here's the good news - if you didn't get a point… if you missed out on some of these points - you can still get to go outside the walls of this church and earn them. Be blessed. And be a blessing.

And this brings us to our next question - lets see how we did with

Q: List as many of the 613 Mosaic Laws as you can.

How many of you took the easy route and at least transferred some of your ten commandments answers down to this one? Yeah - 613 Mosaic Laws for a total possible score of zero points in this section. 613 x zero is still zero. But why, Josh? Well, a couple of reasons… first - the law wasn't written for all people for all time. It was an expression of a covenant that ancient Israelites entered into in the iron age. Secondly, that covenant - is expired. Jesus established a new covenant with the entire world - as Jesus said during the last supper -

This is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and His people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.Matthew 26:28

Knowing the Mosaic law is worth zero points in this exercise because you're not under it. We never were. And even those who were technically under it in ancient times moved from the law to a covenant of grace. An outpouring of grace and forgiveness from God Himself through the person of Jesus Christ, His Son. The law does not save. The law brings pain and sorrow. As the apostle Paul writes in Galatians 3

But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under His curse, for the Scriptures say, "Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey ALL the commands that are written in God's Book of the Law." So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life." This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, "It is through obeying the law that a person has life." But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law.Galatians 3:10-13

The law brings a curse. Jesus brings life. Grace brings life. Mercy brings life. Here's the other problem with the law - people misuse it all the time. They go back to the Old Testament Mosaic Law which DOES NOT APPLY to us - never did, but they want to make it apply to all people - so they take verses out of context - or they pick one part of the law to make their point about someone they don't like or a behavior they don't like or whatever is getting their goat at the moment. And they either lie or they're misinformed and they give this little song and dance about how the Mosaic Law was broken into three parts - ceremonial, civil and moral and that under the new covenant, ceremonial law, ritual law like the food laws and dietary restrictions and clothing restrictions well they went away, and civil law that was just meant for the Israelites - presumable if the Israelites had speed limits or tax laws - they wouldn't apply. But oh - the moral law still applies. And conveniently whatever they are against, the moral law prohibits and whatever they are for, the moral law allows. First of all - there's no such designation. Not anywhere in the Torah. Moral laws and ceremonial laws and civil laws, they all occupy the same sections. There's overlap. And what is obeying the Sabbath? Keeping it holy? Is that ceremonial? Is it civil? Because there's civil penalties for NOT observing the Sabbath. It's to honor God and technically it was part of the Ten Commandments that Moses said came from God, and technically disobeying God would be morally wrong… so which is it? That's not the only law you can do that with. And people who want us to somehow ascribe to moral law - Old Testament law - you're literally ignoring THE WHOLE LAW curse that Paul was talking about. You cannot have your cake and eat it too - but even if you could, I don't think you know all the laws that you're claiming are moral - laws against marrying gentiles, the unfair penalties against women for things like adultery that aren't visited on the men. Not to have intercourse during the menstrual period, not to make loans with interest or borrow on interest, that rapists need to marry their victim under the law… we could keep going.

And the point is that the law of Moses as recorded in the Old Testament obviously doesn't line up with the law of love that Jesus taught. We're not sure as to all of the origins of all 613 Mosaic laws… when they were added, who wrote them, why they were written… but we can look at them and as with much scripture from that time period we can say - this was the understanding of an ancient people and their understanding of what they thought mattered to God. This was based on their limited understanding of God at the time. But clearly by the time Jesus shows up on the scene, He changes a lot of that understanding. And the biggest argument thrown back at this statement is - "Well, Jesus didn't come to abolish the law, He came to fulfill it." That's Jesus' own words. Yes. They are. Matthew 5:17

I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.Matthew 5:17

But all you have to do is read the Gospels to see that Jesus does not always keep the Mosaic law. Nor do His disciples. And He takes the Pharisees to task for some of the laws that are written and how they are enforced. Make no mistake, Jesus was killed because He was not keeping the laws - He was a blasphemer in the eyes of the Pharisees who interpreted and enforced the laws. He was a threat to their power and authority. When Jesus came to fulfill the purpose of the law - He wasn't signing off wholesale on keeping certain laws and abolishing others. He wasn't signing off on all 613 as being representative of the nature of God. And He didn't keep all 613 to the letter nor did He encourage His disciples to either. When Jesus came to fulfill the PURPOSE of the law, He was taking what at the heart of all of these commands and laws and fulfilling them with His life and love and what He was teaching us to do.

And Jesus doesn't give us 613 commands. In fact, He doesn't really every give us a list so to speak. But we can make a list out of His teachings contained in the Gospels.

But more on that in a second -

This is when we got to halftime. You guys want points for doing the Macarena? I don't know if Im gonna give points for that, but I want to make a point. The Macarena by Los Del Rio. 1993. Song is 33 years old. It became a breakout beloved cultural phenomenon a couple of years later and spent 14 weeks at #1 on the Billboard charts. I was at Dodger Stadium the night they were trying to break the record for most people doing the Macarena at one time in one place. Elayne Boosler was there leading the dance. 50,000 plus Americans coming together and dancing to the Macarena. And people loved it. Ate it up. How many people can translate what it says? How many people here know all the words? But we all loved it. We did the dance. Stadium after stadium. Party after party. Everybody doing the Macarena. Sung in Spanish. And most of us don't know the words.

What happened… in the last thirty years, that we as a country had no problem singing this song en masse…our kids doing the dance - my kid knows the dance… she wasn't even alive back then. But there was this big huge controversy in certain circles - because the Super Bowl halftime show had a singer singing songs in Spanish.

And I see it - oh I see some of you leaning forward and I see some tension. He's not gonna do it. He's not gonna get political is he? No. I'm not here to get political. I'm here to say KEEP YOUR POLITICS OUT OF CHRISTIANITY. Politics and Christianity are not like Peanut Butter and Chocolate. They are not two great tastes that go great together. Please keep your partisan, human politics away from my Jesus.

And more than that - you should let your Christianity influence your politics and not the other way around. Here's why I get to say something about this. Because there are organizations that very much lean heavily in a certain direction politically but they attach Jesus' name to their movement. They have infiltrated churches and with propaganda have cleverly convinced you that their way is Jesus' way. And so imagine my confusion - when the Trinity Broadcasting Network - which buy the way, pretty much culturally irrelevant these days, but still - the Trinity Broadcast Network holds an alternative Super Bowl halftime show that is more in line with Family Values. And because it is hosted on the Trinity Broadcasting Network and many prominent Christian media sellouts to political movements say "This is good. This is Godly and Family oriented over here. Bad Bunny he's not." We've got a bunch of Christians thinking that somehow Jesus is signing off on Kid Rock. Kid Rock?!?!

You don't get it Josh - we don't understand a word he's saying. The Super Bowl should be in American. The Super Bowl is broadcast worldwide. It has a global audience. The NFL has been trying to expand into other countries and laying the groundwork for years. The NFL is a private organization, not an arm of the state or a religious institution. You can't understand what he's saying - this is the problem?

I don't think so… because on the Family Values halftime show Kid Rock sand "Bad Wit Da Ba Di Bang Di Bang Diggy Diggy Diggy Set the Boogie Set Up Drop The Boogie." That's not even a real language and Id bet dollars to donuts - no one can tell me what that means. Its not about language. It's not about understanding what people are saying. You can't tell me that if the ghost of Richie Valens came out and sang La Bamba at next year's halftime show you would have any problem with it except that political mouthpieces with an agenda told you to.

Oh Josh - you don't get it. It's about content. Bad Bunny's content. Whoa. His songs contain references to sex! Okay. Which were edited out of the Super Bowl broadcast because it's for a wider family audience. And certainly Baw Wit Da Bad was also shortened on the Family Values Halftime Special - but can I give you some lyrics from Ba Wit Da Ba?

Quote: "This is for the questions that don't have any answers, the midnight glancers and the topless dancers… The G's with the 40's and the chicks with beepers (and if I have to explain that to you, you probably haven't watched enough episodes of cops) the Northern Lights and the Southern Comfort and it don't even matter if their veins are punctured - all the crackheads, the critics, the cynics and all my heroes in the Methadone clinics. All you bastards at the IRS for the crooked cops and the cluttered desks For the shots of Jack and the caps of Meth, For the hookers all tricking' out in Hollywood…. All the gangs gettin' money in the heads they bang-bang, wild mustangs, the porno flicks all my homies in the county in cell block 6.

Okay - that's Baw Wit Da Ba… opening song of the Family Values halftime show. Now. I bring this to your attention to go - "whoa. Something ain't right here." Now I'm not trying to make you feel guilty for listening to Kid Rock. Okay - I did back in the day - granted, I was in my early 20's and hopped up on Mountain Dew Code Red and way too much testosterone. Okay - but this is not to make you feel guilty for listening to Kid Rock or Bad Bunny. You can listen to Kid Rock and the sleazy, criminal underbelly and poor life choices he talks about just like you can watch Goodfellas about violent crime syndicates - guilt free. I'm not gonna tell you what to listen to or not listen to, or watch and not watch, I'm gonna leave that between you and the Holy Spirit. I'll tell you something that I heard at a Youth Pastor's conference in my first year on the job - "All music is Christian music. Every song is about how close the singer or the character the singer is portraying it's about how close they are to Jesus or how far away from Jesus they are. And it's telling that experience and that story." It's our job as Christians to take art and redeem it and use it to bring people to Jesus. So no guilt. But speaking of youth pastoring my first year - if I had played that song for our youth group kids - the head pastor at the time would've fired me. And yet - this song is on the Family Values ALTERNATIVE halftime show… on the Christian Trinity Broadcasting Network… the same network who warned me about the imaginary hidden backwards messages on my record albums. The same ones who had guys on their network scaring us about rock recording artists saying "they sold their soul for rock n roll." This same network- Look, I disagree with a lot of that nonsense, but let's face facts… "who sold their souls?" Who sold out?

It's about the dancing… whoa that provocative dancing… first of all - I'm begging you, go watch some Kid Rock videos. Tell me how the women are dancing on those videos. Secondly, it was pretty much no different than what the cheerleaders for 32 NFL teams do at every other NFL game for 18 weeks straight. So don't… that's not the issue.

It's not about content. And it's not about role models. Because why in God's name would the Family Values show on Trinity Broadcasting Network have as their main draw a guy who sang these lines in one of his songs? - "young, ladies, young ladies, I like 'em underage, see. Some say that's statutory, but I say it's mandatory." Particularly salient considering the 3 million docs that have been recently released. And if you're complaining about singers at halftime shows being vulgar or not representing family values - I'm begging you, I'm begging you to go read the lyrics to Kid Rock's Cowboy.

Why am I doing this… because the hypocrisy is just "mwah" chef's kiss hypocrisy. And I'm not saying that there weren't positives on the Family Values Alternative Halftime Show, but there were definitely positives during the Super Bowl Halftime Show too. It was a message of unity. The only English words spoken were "God Bless America." And the big screen in the stadium displayed the message "The only thing stronger than hate is love."

You gotta ask yourself… are these really the issues? These are the talking points that these political pundits are using to get you mad and ramped up and riled up about an Un-American halftime show… is it really about all of those things… or is it because a group of people have decided that this artist represents "the other" and is not worthy of recognition or love or respect? Or is it because this particular artist criticized the political regime that props up these fake-Christian movements going back to when hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico? Things that make you go hmmmm.

Listen - hey, my kingdom is not of this world. Neither is Jesus' - I'm not really concerned about an American halftime show, But I'm concerned about uniting the kingdom. And I'm concerned about unity. Some of you who are particularly concerned about the End Times and Revelation - focusing on the destruction and the mark of the beast and four horseman of the apocalypse - are you also familiar with Revelation 5:9 that mentions that says that Jesus blood

your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God.Revelation 5:9

Do you remember Revelation 7:9 where it says

I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar, "Salvation comes from our God who sits on the the throne and from the Lamb!Revelation 7:9

That is multi-cultural, multi-lingual praise.You think the Americans in the crowd turned to those speaking other languages and said "we're gonna have our own celebration over here because we don't understand you?"

See Jesus promoted unity. Harmony. Equality. Salvation and cooperation between all nations and tribes. Acceptance. Not segregation. Not separation. One Kingdom of God. And if we don't promote that Kingdom here with our actions, with understanding, with unity, with an attempt to harmonize our diversity in the name of the love of Jesus - putting others before ourselves, not thinking we're important Or the be all end all… then why would we think we have a place in that Kingdom to come?

I say all this once again to reiterate - that there are several groups of political invaders into Christianity - from all sides. Who will twist the words of Jesus, who will co-opt the name of Jesus and use it in vain to get you to feel and do things that Jesus would never want you to feel or do - to exclude or hate people that Jesus would never want you to hate or exclude, to sign off on and approve of behaviors and actions that Jesus would never approve of and they will get in the church and derail it from something Jesus would recognize and if they can't do that, they will get in your head and lead you away and astray from the teachings and love of Jesus simply because a group of people have their own agenda and want power and money and they'll use you to get it and sell out the church and the neighbors we're supposed to love without a second thought. And if I'm being honest, political propaganda has some of you by the chonies. And it's time to stop listening to these voices that divide, and listen to Jesus instead.

Halftime over -

Let's move the chain.

Remember the first question after halftime? It was an easy one. Palate cleanser -

Q: Which Beatles song shares part of its title with a book of the Bible?

And the answer is? Hey JUDE. Yes. No points for Jude. But anybody know what the book of Jude is about? It's a letter written by the brother of Jesus to urge Christians to "contend for the faith" against false teachers who had infiltrated the church and were causing divisions amongst it. Just sayin'. 4D chess…

Alright - the next question was

Q: Name as many of the Fifty Things Jesus asked us to do as you can

Here's the list as it stands so far…in the Gospels Jesus gives fifty commands or requests to His followers. Fifty things that we should do as His followers. Instead of worrying about all this trivial stuff and distractions and political intrusions - these are the things we need to concentrate on - from the mouth of Jesus Himself.

Here's the thirty that we've covered so far last year… and if you want the next twenty - well, you could read the Gospels and complete the list on your own. I highly encourage you to read the Gospels of Jesus. Or you could also come on Sunday mornings starting next week as we cover the last twenty on the list. Or you could do both. But the last question that was part of the quiz - well, it's kind of a spoiler. Even if we can't remember all fifty things by rote memory, and I hope that we do. I hope we live them out that they all just become second nature. If we can't list them out, at least we LIVE them out.

Q: What are the two commands that all the laws and demands of the prophets hang on?

In Matthew 22 a religious leader asks Jesus

Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?" Jesus replied, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.Matthew 22:36-40

It all boils down to Love God and Love People. That's our motto here at SeaCoast Church. Everything that God wants from you. Everything that Jesus asks from you - if you are loving God and loving people - not being a hypocrite, not just saying you love people or God but truly living in a way that demonstrates that - loving as you would like to be loved, treating others as you would like to be treated - then you are a disciple, a Christ follower, you are blessed and you are forwarding the Kingdom here on earth.

By now I'm sure you've come to the conclusion that this was indeed a message not-so-cleverly disguised as a Game Night. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you were challenged by it. I hope it made you think. I hope it makes you talk to Jesus about a lot of things in your prayers. Examine your actions. Examine some of the influencers in our lives and how much influence they have. But I don't want to play games here. I mean, game nights are great - but now you see why they don't invite me to play Pictionary… but I don't want political games and divisive games and games of power and influence in SeaCoast Church. I don't want us to be political. I want us to be unified in the name of Jesus. Leave the politics and the spiritual arrogance behind and let's just be a church that Loves God and Loves People - not just when we're together - but when we're apart in our daily lives too.

I'll wrap up by asking you one more question. And it's the most important question. Not trivial at all.

Q: Do you call Jesus Lord?

Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior? Jesus came to bring us eternal life when we leave this world and give us abundant life while we're here. You're not gonna find those things on cable news channels, in angry emails, in divisive forums. You're not gonna find the fulfillment of Christ from money or power or status. You're gonna experience abundant life when you experience the love of Christ and you turn that love out to Love God and Love People.

Fifty Things returns next week. I hope you'll be here. I hope you'll bring a friend. Until next time, Go now in the way of Jesus - unmoved by the noise that manipulates, unshaken by the voices that divide. May you recognize the Shepherd's voice above the shouting crowds - choosing truth over outrage and love over fear. God bless you! Have a great week!

Good morning, everybody! Welcome to the final week of our "Leave It To Love It" series. If you're just joining us, this series is all about taking the things that hold us back and weigh us down and bagging them up and throwing them in the metaphorical garbage so we can live lighter, freer and experience the abundant life that Jesus wants us to have. So far we've talked about the garbage of guilt. We've talked about the stench of shame. We took two weeks to learn how to bin the bitterness. But today, we are talking about what may be the smelliest, most rancid trash of them all.

Fear.

Fear is a daunting topic. Even the mention of fear can bring up feelings of fear in people. Allow me to begin with an eloquent statement summing up how I feel about the baggage of fear that weighs us down.

Fear stinks!

And fear not only stinks, it spreads. It doesn't stay contained in one place. And soon the stench of fear leaks into every area of your life keeping us stuck, frozen and ineffective. Fear robs of our joy by robbing us of opportunities, by convincing us to settle for just a small portion of the blessings and wonder that God has for us because fear gives us the message "it's scary out there. What if things don't work out. What if you fail?" "Bad things could happen." Just be okay with where you are. At least you know it. It may not be the most abundant life, but it's familiar and therefore it's not scary. Fear convinces us to avoid any possible pain or unknown outcomes and and become passive observers to our own futures, rather than active participants in it. And here's something that's absolutely tragic - carry that fear along with you long enough, and it won't just be yours. You'll pass it on to other family members and friends. You'll pass it down through the generations if that fear is strong enough. And all of these reasons and more is why we need to toss the terror and fling the fear into the dumpster.

Now, there is a possibility here that someone might be saying to themselves - wait a second, Josh. Fear - has a purpose. Fear is meant to keep us safe.

Right. I don't disagree with you. Fear does have a purpose. Sometimes fear is useful. For example - fear is why you don't walk through a sketchy neighborhood at midnight with noise cancelling headphones on wearing all your bling. You have a fear of becoming a statistic. A victim. Fine.

Fear is why you look both ways before crossing the street. Yes, it's common sense too, but you are afraid of being hit by a car so you look both ways.

Fear is why when your hillbilly cousin says, "Hey, look at this wild, angry badger I found out back of the house - you want to pet it?!" - you say, "Absolutely not." You are afraid of looking like you went on a date with Freddy Krueger and you are afraid of being featured on an episode of World's Dumbest People.

The purpose of fear is to act as a warning system. Fear, when it is doing its job, is meant to make you aware of possible danger.

When I was a kid, I did some acting in Hollywood. Nothing that you'd recognize me from, but it put me through college. I'm still available for voice over work and my SAG card is active… okay - but I started when I was like 10 I think. And my dad, he worked as a firefighter/paramedic, so he couldn't always go with my mom and I to acting interviews and auditions. So a lot of times it would just be my mom and I in the late afternoons and early evenings down in Hollywood and the surrounding industry cities. Well, not all of these interviews were in a cushy office building or on the lot. Some were lower budget operations where the rent was cheaper in a rougher part of town. And parking wasn't always close. So sometimes, it would just be my mom and I walking through these neighborhoods to get to the audition and sometimes there were real individuals who looked like they stepped out of central casting for the bad guy of the week from Hill Street Blues.

And my mom would say a two word phrase to me without fail "heads up." As in be aware of your surroundings. If there was a sketchy looking dude, or somebody was following just a little bit too close.. "heads up."

Now here's the thing - my mom wasn't panicking. She wasn't spiraling. She wasn't turning us around and going "Get back in the car. It's too scary." She was just aware. And she wanted me to be as well. We were still gonna get to our destination - we were gonna get to that audition - she just wanted us to be aware of potential danger. That's healthy fear.

Healthy fear says "pay attention." "Heads up." Unhealthy fear says "freeze." Healthy fear says, "Be wise. Be aware." Unhealthy fear says "Don't move. In fact, turn around and go backwards. It's too scary out there." Healthy fear helps us walk through something. Unhealthy fear convinces you to never take a step at all.

Fear has a purpose…. But fear is a terrible boss. I think one of the most famous pieces of scripture about fear comes from the 23rd Psalm attributed to David. In verse 4 we read -

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid.Psalm 23:4

Now you may know it as

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil.Psalm 23:4

And I think there's a couple of important takeaways about fear here from these verses. First - it says "Even though I walk through the darkest valley…" "Even WHEN I walk through the valley of the shadow of death" - and in a way, it's kind of saying - there's gonna be times that you're in scary place. There's gonna be times when things around us may seem dark or scary. "Even when… I walk through the darkest valley." If you're never encountering situations that are a little bit scary - that at the least warrant the occasional "heads up" - are you even living? Truly. Are you LIVING or just existing.

Sometimes to reach the promised land, you gotta go through some dark valleys. In Paul's analogy - of 'running the race' that God has called us to - keeping our eyes focused on Jesus, sometimes in the marathon of life as we race to pursue abundant life and the advancement of God's Kingdom, sometimes the race can take us through a few miles of rough neighborhoods or back alleys, but you gotta press on and keep running to reach the finish line.

Notice that Psalm 23:4 doesn't say "Yay, though I stand there looking at the valley of the shadow of death." "Yay, thoughI go AROUND the valley of the shadow of death." It says

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil.Psalm 23:4

And do you know why? Why can the Psalmist write this? Because fear isn't his boss. He knows who His boss is.

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you (God) are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.Psalm 23:4

This is not a denial that fear exists. This is not a denial that you're traveling through uncharted or scary territory. But it's a decision. Its a decision of who is in charge. It's a decision of who will dictate our fate and our the race we run - fear or our Father. David starts the 23rd Psalm with

The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.Psalm 23:1

See, I told you about walking through Hollywood with my mom when I was younger, in a place where there were certainly people looking at us like "victim, party of 2? Victim party of 2, your mugging is ready." But can I tell you something, I was alert. I was "heads up" but I wasn't paralyzed with fear. Because I wasn't alone. My mom was there. And I trusted her to take care of us and protect us. I also trusted in God. I was a believer back then too. And we prayed and asked for protection and I fully believed that He was with us.

Let me ask you a question - if you're walking down a dark alley alone, the kind of alley where Batman villains hang out - maybe like Hell's Kitchen from Daredevil… you might be a little scared, right? But what if we change the scenario a little bit. What if you're walking down that alley with Superman? Man of steel. Super everything. Heat ray vision if anyone comes to close. Can block bullets. Super speed. X-ray vision to see anybody coming around the corner. Superman - most powerful super hero in the DC universe. You gonna be scared now? Probably not. You may still get the signal - your body and brain chemistry may still produce that fear signal to let you know this isn't the safest of places, but I'm guessing if you're walking with Superman, you're probably thinking - "I got nothing to worry about here. Maybe you're even walking with a little bit of a swagger. You're in no hurry to get home, you're like, "Hey maybe we stop at an all night street taco truck while we're here." Because Superman is with you.

Folks - when we go through the dark valleys of life - we don't have to pretend fear doesn't exist. But we get to decide who the boss is. We get to say I will not fear because God is WITH ME. His rod and His staff, they comfort me. He's a good Shepherd - He's gonna Shepherd me through this valley. And this is not just the poetic musings of one songwriter. The idea that we don't need to fear because God is with us is a theme that runs all throughout scripture -

Words given to the prophet Isaiah to share with God's people -

Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.Isaiah 41:10

There's a bunch of similar statements in the Old Testament but they also are there in the New Testament. Hebrews 13:6 says,

So we can say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?Hebrews 13:6

If we want to throw out the damaging fear in our lives, we need to keep it in its proper role and remind it of who the boss is.

REMIND FEAR WHO'S THE BOSS

And that is the Good Shepherd, God Himself who goes with us, who walks with us and who strengthens and helps us. I'm not saying you won't feel afraid sometimes. But what I am saying is "God will be with you when you are."

See, the problem with fear arises when fear stops being a signal - and becomes a strategy. When it stops being an instinct and it becomes an institution in your life. Fear is meant to be an occasional visitor for a short period of time. It's not meant to be your roommate. Healthy fear protects you. Unhealthy fear paralyzes you.

And unhealthy fear lies to us too. Unhealthy fear has some of its greatest hits that play over and over in our head. Classics like "You're not capable." "You're not ready." "You're not good enough." "This is never gonna work." "You'll fail." "People will judge you." "You'll be embarrassed."

And so because we hear these lies… because fear fills us with these lies - we become paralYZED and we don't do the things we want to do or need to do or the things that would do us good that God wants us to do.

And here is why fear is so destructive and powerful in some of our lives. Because the signal of fear, gets out of whack, out of control, it spreads and it starts to merge with feelings from the past and the present. Fear combines with our worry. Fear combines with our feelings of inadequacy. Fear combines with the pain that we've felt or the anxiety that we've acquired over the years. Fear co-opts our sadness and hopelessness and turns it into defeatism.

And we don't even realize it's happening. But when fear combines with our feelings, it gets stronger. It stinks MORE. And it gets harder to get rid of. Because now fear is intermingled with our deepest feelings.

But here's an important distinction and we need to realize this. Feelings are real, but they are not always reliable.

You ever have a feeling of worry - you go "I've got a bad feeling about this" - and it turns out to be nothing. Everything is okay at the end of the day? The feeling of worry wasn't accurate - but it was strong - even stronger if it was mixed with fear. But you know what that feeling wasn't? A fact.

Yeah - let's see if we recognize these for a second - "You're not capable." Is that a feeling or a fact? Feeling. "You're not good enough." Feeling or fact? Feeling. "This is never gonna work." Feeling or fact? Feeling.

But if we don't call these lies out for what they are, fear and feelings can combine to tell us a very convincing story. And when fear and feelings disguise themselves as facts - when we mis-identify these things in our mind - they will rob us of our joy by convincing us that bad things are going to happen when we pursue the things that will make us happy and healthy.

Fear and feelings masquerading as facts trap us in bad relationships, bad situations, unhealthy environments. Because fear mixed with feelings tell us "Nothing will ever change." Is that a feeling or a fact? Feeling.

There's an old acronym that I've heard used before and maybe you've heard it too. You know what FEAR stands for? False Evidence Appearing Real.

One of my favorite verses comes from one of my favorite books - and that's Proverbs - a collection of wise sayings. And I want to share with you maybe a deeper perspective on that verse today - maybe get you thinking of it in new dimensions you hadn't explored before - Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.Proverbs 3:5-6

So I think this is helpful in two ways to our conversation today. First, obviously, I think we have the way we focus on seeking God's will for our plans. Fear can cloud our vision, make us unsure of what to do - which path to take or not to take - and that's where we "trust in the Lord with all our heart, Seek His will in all we do" And "He shows us which path to take"

But there's also that "do not depend on your own understanding" part of the verse. Yeah - that applies to running our plans up the flagpole with God and praying and seeing what He has to say… but you know what it also applies to? Our understanding of our selves and our situations. Cause sometimes fear and feelings - they tell us lies that BECOME our understanding. If we're feeling "we're not capable." If we're feeling "we're not good enough." If we're feeling like "I'm a failure." DO NOT DEPEND ON THAT UNDERSTANDING - because that is probably False Evidence Appearing Real. Take those ideas, those understandings, those labels to God - and trust in what HE says about you. Because He is not going to say those things. He's gonna tell you

that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!2 Corinthians 5:17

Is that a feeling or a fact? That's a fact! He's gonna remind you that the plans he has for you

They are plans for good and not disaster, to give you a future and a hope.Jeremiah 29:11

And yeah, that's a protracted promise based on the nature of God as demonstrated in Jeremiah 29 even if you are a different audience than the one originally intended. But I am convinced that God plans to give you a future filled with hope. Is that a feeling or a fact? That's a fact. And if you run those negative feelings, that negative self image that keeps you paralyzed and afraid, if you run those by God, I believe He's gonna tell you to correct your understanding because You are God's masterpiece

For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.Ephesians 2:10

But we can't do those things if we allow fear to paralyze us. Unhealthy fear will make you waste the best years of your life because you're afraid to try something new that God is calling you to. That's how you know for sure that fear has crossed the line - when fear stops you from doing the good things He planned for us long ago, or when it stops us from doing the very thing we were created to do.

Fear is a powerful feeling. It can be. Cause it not only attaches itself to our feelings, but it also brings along some attachments of its own. Excuses and What-Ifs.

Right - God call us to do something, gives us a mission, gives us good things to do that He planned for us long ago - and what do we give Him? Excuses. And this isn't meant to make you feel guilty or anything. I think we feel just as bad about them. We make up excuses for ourselves to mask our fear. Reasons why we can't do what we need to do. Reasons why we can't do what we ought to do. Reasons why we can't do what we WANT to do even.

Excuses can seem like powerful reasons for us to stay paralyzed. But I want to give you a scriptural example of one of those excuses. And it actually comes from one of the pillars of Judaism and Christianity - guy by the name of Moses. In Exodus 3 God gets Moses' attention in the form of a burning bush and tells Moses that He's going to liberate the Israelites from the land of Egypt and lead them into a promised land. And He wants Moses to go approach Pharaoh with the news and lead the Israelites out of Egypt.

And I mean - this is Moses man - stories about the plagues and crossing the red sea, and the ten commandments, and water from the rock, and all kinds of miracles and stuff - we often think of Moses as a man of great faith - and I think he would become that in these accounts - but you know what he's showing at the beginning? I think you can make the case that Moses has more fear than faith in the beginning. Because naturally, I mean, Pharaoh - most powerful ruler in Egypt - got a lot of soldiers working for him. Liberating the Israelites and leading them? That's a big job. Here's why I think Moses had a healthy dose of fear in the beginning - cause Moses gave God not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4 but 5 excuses as to why he couldn't or shouldn't do what God is asking him to do.

First one is in Exodus 3:11

But Moses protested to God, "Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?Exodus 3:11

That's fear of inadequacy right there. Fear of being unqualified. And you know what God says?

God answered, "I will be with you.Exodus 3:12

Kind of sounds like what we were talking about earlier.

Then Moses says in verse 13 -

But Moses protested, "If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' they will ask me, 'What is His name?' Then what should I tell them?"Exodus 3:13

And maybe here this protest, this thinly veiled excuse to escape is about feeling like he has a lack of authority. Why should the Israelites believe that God sent Moses? And God, just kind of makes this a non-issue in this conversation - He says, "I AM WHO I AM" and then He tells Moses to say that He's the same God Moses' ancestors would've recognized.

You'd think that ought to be sufficient to move ahead. But in Exodus 4:1 Moses' fear is writing his own script. He says -

But Moses protested again, "What if they won't believe me or listen to me? What if they say, 'The Lord never appeared to you'?"Exodus 4:1

Moses' fear and doubt are getting the better of him. And so the Lord shows Moses miracles, he turns staffs into snakes, and back again.

Now you'd think that ought to do it. Burning bush. God talking to Moses. Snakes and Staffs. But Moses still has another excuse based on fear in verse 10 -

"But Moses pleaded with the Lord, "O Lord, I'm not very good with words. I never have been, and I'm not now, EVEN THOUGH you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied and my words get tangled."Exodus 4:10

Moses has a fear about a lack of perceived ability. A lack of experience or skill.

This might be my favorite of God's responses to Moses in this section -

Then the Lord asked Moses, "Who makes a person's mouth? Who decided whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see of do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go! I will be with you as you speak and I will instruct you in what to say.Exodus 4:11-12

Direct command from the Lord. Moses has been chosen. He has been sent.

Now go!" But Moses - he's still got one more excuse up his sleeve - not even an excuse really - more like outright refusal. And we don't know if this was just the combination of all of those fears or if Moses had just convinced himself that it wasn't gonna go well, "But Moses again pleaded, "Lord, please! Send anyone else.Exodus 4:13

But God has a plan. And Moses is part of it. God doesn't leave Moses alone, but you know what, He also gives Moses what he needs to feel more confident. I'm sure it didn't completely remove all of Moses' fears - but we read in Exodus 4:14

All right," He said. "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he speaks well. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. He will be delighted to see you. Talk to him, and put the words in his mouth. I WILL BE WITH BOTH OF YOU as you speak, and I will instruct you both in what to do.Exodus 4:14-15

What does all of this tell us? What does God's responses to our excuses tell us?

GOD KNOWS OUR FEAR, AND HE'S ALREADY ACCOUNTED FOR IT

You need a translator - God will provide. You need a calming influence? God will provide. You need a barf bag cause you feel like you're gonna toss your cookies? God will provide.

Not only are you not alone with your fear, when you're called to do something

GOD WILL GIVE YOU WHAT YOU NEED TO HELP YOU DO IT

When the apostle Paul writes

For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.Philippians 4:13

- he is pointing us to the fact that God is with us and He will give us the strength or WHATEVER we need to do hard things and even go through hard times. The psalmist writes in Psalm 46:1

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble.Psalm 46:1

God is not distant. He is not theoretical. He is VERY PRESENT. And He will give us the help we need.

Alright. We talked about excuses. We kind of generate those based on our fears and feelings. But fear itself can generate these questions in our mind - these "What ifs" - and what we don't realize is we think we're playing out the scenarios in our head and just covering all of our bases in case something goes wrong. We can tell ourselves that these "what if" war gaming scenarios in our minds are helpful - but you know what they really often are? Speed bumps. Stop signs. Red lights that never turn green in our mind because there will always be another scary "what if scenario." They're a stalling tactic that fear uses to stop you from utilizing the talent and resources God gave you. They're a draining mental exercise that serves no purpose but to keep us from following our mission. For the most part, "what if's" are unreal, unsubstantiated, unkind waking nightmares about yourself that keep us from showing up fully as ourselves, confident in who God made us to be, confident in the Christ has led us to become and confident in the mission that we were given to live out. "What if's slow us down or bring us to a complete halt."

And I think we all know how "what if's" work - Fear loves to flood our minds with these scenarios - "what if something bad happens?" "What if I fail?" "What if I look stupid?" "What if this is painful?" "What if this doesn't work?"

These are the "what if's we most often experience." But you know what we don't often do? We don't often consciously play out positive scenarios. Most of us tend toward the negative in our minds. What if we played a different version of "what if?" What if we asked ourselves questions like -

"What if something remarkable happens?"

"What if I grow?"

"What if I heal?"

"What if this helps me discover strength I didn't know I had?"

"What if God shows up in ways I didn't expect?"

That is a much more faith-filled, God reliant response than the outdated, whispered messages fear is feeding you that's been stored in the archives of your brain. Messages that probably were never true to begin with. They were False Evidence Appearing Real.

Fear will always push action down the road - you'll make changes someday. You'll be healthier someday. You'll chase your dreams someday. You'll pursue the vision God gave you someday in the future.

But Faith says - "Let's go." "Now." "Let's do this thing that God has called us to do."

If you're here today and you're facing fear - really quick I just want to give you a few very effective simple steps to face your fears.

ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR FEAR

Verbally identify what you're afraid of. Specifically. When you do that, we take the power of fear away because we turn it from some nebulous moving target of a boogeyman - causing us to have Lizard brain reactions of avoidance and paralysis - into something that we can name and logically deal with. Fear grows in the dark. Fear shrinks in the light.S pock brain always better than Lizard brain.

Next

ALLOW THE FEELING

I know. It seems counter-intuitive. But go ahead. Feel the fear. Don't act like it doesn't exist. Don't give it too much play and build it up into this insurmountable monster. Feel it. And maybe tell someone else that you're afraid. Definitely take that fear to God and tell Him how you feel. And after you rest in His presence for a bit -

AFFIRM YOUR ABILITY TO HANDLE THINGS

Not only affirm your ability to handle things -the ability and strength and intelligence and wisdom and resources that God has given you that allow you to handle this thing. Affirm God's presence as well. Remind yourself that He is there. Affirm His help. Point it out when you see it. Look for the resources He's giving you and the Aarons to your Moses that He's providing you with.

Finally

ACT IN COURAGE

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear. You don't have to conquer all your fears at once. You probably won't. But start by taking one small constructive action toward the fear. Toward what you are called for. And when that is done, hang on just a little bit longer and take another step. And keep courageously moving forward. Because when you do that you are showing that

FAITH > FEAR

And just so you know, faith doesn't always have to look polished. Faith doesn't always seem impressive. But faith - faith is powerful. It's life-changing.

Fear limits us. Faith is limitless.

Fear freezes us. Faith frees us.

Fear holds us back. Faith moves us forward.

Fear says "what if we don't know everything?" Faith says "We'll learn what we need to know along the way."

Fear says "dont move. Stay in port. Stick with what you know. Stay safe."

Faith says, in the words of a famous Captain - "Let's see what's out there."

Listen we've been talking about faith over fear. And I can tell you right now that if you really want to bin up fear and throw it in the trash and get rid of it - there's one way to do it - and that's by putting your trust and faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus, God's own Son, was and is the embodiment of perfect love on this earth. Unconditional love. In 1 John 4:18 we read - "perfect love drives out fear." Fear and perfect love cannot co-exist. One eventually takes the other out. And the more you walk with perfect love. The more you follow the examples of perfect love in the teachings of our Savior, Jesus Christ, the quicker you're gonna bag up that fear, tie it off, chuck it in the bin and leave it at the curb. Fear stinks. But contrary to what J. Geils Band would have you believe- Love doesn't. That perfect love that drives out fear also paid the price for our sins, built a bridge for us to re-connect with our Creator, has gone to prepare a place for us up in Heaven when we leave this world and wants to drive out fear so we can have abundant life- life with true meaning and purpose. You will have no need to fear because God is with you.

Thank you for letting me share with you today. I hope that you've found this series helpful and interesting and mostly, I hope that it's helped you take out some of the trash that weighs us down in our lives. Until next time, may the Lord who is Perfect Love go with you driving out every fear that grips your heart. May courage rise where anxiety once lived. And may you go now ruled not by fear but fueled by faith. God bless you, have a great week!

Really quick, before we move forward, let's just review some of the takeaways for getting rid of bitterness from last week because they'll help give us a better picture of the problem with bitterness and how we experience. If we want to throw our bitterness in the trash, we said the first thing we needed to do was

MAKE A CHOICE

that bitterness is not going to dictate our actions or our attitudes.

And then we need to

ACKNOWLEDGE OUR BITTERNESS

Name it and own it before God and others. Don't fool yourself. Be honest with your bitterness. Admitting you have a problem is the first step toward addressing that problem.

Then we need to shift our focus from the past to the present.

SHIFT YOUR FOCUS FROM THE PAST TO THE PRESENT

Instead of replaying the past, being stuck in the past, we need to be aware of the good in the present, our role in the present and we need to have hope in the future even if it looks different than we first imagined it.

And one of the best ways that we can shift our focus from the past to the present is to get the focus off of our pain in the past, off of the events that we're bitter about and shift our focus from ourselves to others.

SHIFT YOUR FOCUS FROM SELF TO OTHERS

These are all scripturally supported, psychologist approved steps we can take to bin the bitterness. And we're gonna add some more today. But one of the things that I think we need to do is to better understand what is actually behind bitterness. What's driving these feelings and emotions that we can't let go off. What is making us sour toward the world. I think that most of us think that bitterness is an anger problem because of how bitterness presents itself in our lives and especially toward others. We see bitterness lashing out at others, saying mean and hurtful things, being negative all the time. Being 'angry at the world.' But you want to know a secret? Bitterness often masks itself as anger. But the truth is we're not really angry. We're actually sad. We are sad that someone we loved betrayed us. We are sad because we lost something or someone important to us. We are sad because we missed out on opportunities that we thought we would have. We are sad because we are mourning the loss of an imagined future that we were planning in our heads. And that sadness hides behind being angry at another person or the world. The anger is actually the wall that we build so we don't have to feel the sadness underneath.

Being hurt by someone, particularly someone who you loved and trusted, can cause us to be angry - but first it usually causes us to be shocked, sad and confused.

We tell ourselves we're angry. But that's the effect, not the cause. In reality? We're grieving. And I'm gonna give you a solution to help with this. To help bin the bitterness. To let the anger go. To let the past go. And you may not like it. Cause it's hard. And it's probably something you're gonna have to keep working on. This isn't a switch you can just flip on or off. This is not an overnight thing. It's something you have to

MAKE A CHOICE

To do and then keep on doing it. If we want to get rid of the bitterness - then we have to

FORGIVE THOSE WHO CAUSED US PAIN

One of the verses that we keep coming back to in this message is Ephesians 4:31-32

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.Ephesians 4:31-32

See, we know - you don't need me to tell you this, that if you dwell on hurtful events or situations, or what people did to you - grudges can develop. Resentment and hostility can take root. The negative feelings you have will start to take over and crowd out positive feelings. And that's when we get swallowed up by bitterness. When that happens, we will bring anger and bitterness from the past into new relationships and experiences and we won't enjoy the present.

Now I said - you might not like this advice. And I get it. Truly, I do. Because that bitterness, well, it has a way of focusing on the injustice of it all. And maybe you're saying to yourself, you know what? This person or these people don't deserve forgiveness. And you may be right. But that's not the point.

We often confuse forgiveness with forgetting. That is not forgiveness. We often confuse forgiveness with restoration. That is not forgiveness. We think forgiveness is letting unsafe people back into our lives. Nope. You can have forgiveness with healthy boundaries. We often think that forgiveness says "what you did was okay." Which is the EXACT OPPOSITE OF FORGIVENESS. Forgiveness says "what you did was not okay, however I am making an intentional decision FOR MYSELF to let go of resentment and anger. I refuse to harbor this destructive hate in my heart anymore or seek revenge - not justice. Justice is still very much on the table. But forgiveness is a choice to let go of resentment and anger and the need for payback. You know what forgiveness also is sometimes? Letting go of the need to understand. Because some things are beyond understanding. Some things are beyond explanation. Some things are just wrong and evil and no amount of explanation is going to be make it make sense or justify the behavior or help you understand because it isn't something you should understand. Forgiveness says - I don't need the letter or the note or the voicemail or the coffee meeting where the other person explains their rationale. Because its not important for my growth. It's not necessary for me to have to release my bitterness.

Obviously, I think the most famous act of forgiveness is demonstrated from Jesus on the cross - and I don't just mean the conclusion of the act equaling forgiveness of all of our sins based on whichever atonement theory you ascribe to. The one that gets my attention - is when Jesus is up there on the cross. And He has been whipped and beaten and tortured and mocked and spit upon and stripped naked and raised up on a cross to die while people are gambling for his clothes and hurling insults at Him. And what does He say?

Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing.Luke 23:34

Jesus goes through all of this - yes, because it aligns with God's plan, but from a human perspective - why? Because He healed people? Because He taught people to love one another? Because He came to set the captives free? Because He encouraged and enlightened people? What explanation could the guards, the crowds, the religious leaders, the bystanders who got swept up into the political machinations of the religious leaders - what explanation would be good enough? What could possibly make crucifying Love in the flesh make sense? And yet Jesus doesn't ask "why." He doesn't demand an explanation. He doesn't even demand they repent before He offers mercy IN THE MOMENT.

Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing.Luke 23:34

Jesus example is a call to us as Christ followers to let go of our resentment and forgive others even in the midst of very real and very deep personal pain.

Right Josh. But what if I can't forgive? Look - forgiveness is a process. And even small hurts may need to be forgiven again and again in your mind as your thoughts decide to re-visit them. Sometimes what can be helpful is to reflect on times that other people have forgiven you. Forgiveness isn't hand-waving away your pain. It's refusing to let your pain rule you.

REFLECT ON TIMES THAT OTHERS HAVE FORGIVEN YOU

And when you choose to forgive, realize it's not for the other person. Getting the other person to change isn't the point. That may never happen. Forgiveness is a choice to take away the power that past events and people and pain have over your present life. For all my Creep I.E. Con fans out there this weekend it's kind of like when Nancy from a Nightmare On Elm Street turns her back on Freddy Krueger after all the pain he's caused her and her family and friends and says "I know the secret now… I take back every bit of energy I gave you."

And you know what? Choosing forgiveness is healing and life-bringing… to YOU. The Mayo Clinic has done studies on the benefits of forgiveness and it's pretty amazing. When you forgive, you experience -

Lower stress and anxiety

Reduced depression

Lower blood pressure

Improved heart health

A stronger immune system

Healthier relationships

And

Improved self-esteem

Forgiveness isn't just good for our spiritual health. It's good for our physical and psychological health as well.

Forgiveness brings a peace that allows us to focus on the abundant life that God wants us to have and helps us to go on with our lives.

Alright- I want to talk about one more component of bitterness. It is tied to it. And sometimes bitterness doesn't just change the way we interact with other people or the way we see the world - it can actually change our personality and self-image. Because bitterness sometimes isn't just masking sadness. It's masking fear.

If we have experienced pain or disappointment, especially on a devastating scale - we probably don't want to experience that again. And whether we realize it or not, our brain can consciously or subconsciously build a wall of bitterness around you to try and stop you from exposing yourself to harm or even disappointment again. So bitterness starts off as a way to hide from pain or even a fear of failure.

I'm not gonna make you raise your hand or anything - but I'm guessing that a lot of us have failed at something. Something meaningful to us, not just like, failing to defeat another Dark Souls boss or something. We failed at something that meant a lot to us. And I don't need to tell you - that hurts. It doesn't feel good. Sometimes it makes you question a lot. Well sometimes instead of admitting the pain and coming up with a plan to lick our wounds and get back up, we instead build a wall of bitterness that keeps us from trying again. Because if we don't try, we don't have to experience that pain again - or so we tell ourselves. So bitterness says - "The system was rigged against me. I didn't get the promotion because the wrong people don't like me or because of nepotism or because people don't know how to deal with my personality or my diagnosis. We can tell ourselves all kinds of things, and by the way, in some cases they may be true, but in other cases - it's just a wall of bitterness that eventually says either externally or internally "it's not worth trying. It's not worth it because nothing will ever change."

Bitterness sometimes can mask a fear of failure. And if this bitterness is attempting to mask a fear of pain or a fear of failure, a very strange and damaging thing can happen. Sometimes the dialogue that we tell ourselves to stop us from hurting, changes our self-image. We go from seeing ourselves as competent, able, purpose-driven, able to succeed with hope for the future to instead seeing ourselves as helpless victims. It can become a permanent change of character.

You know what else that particular kind of bitterness can do? It can be the wall that protects us from acknowledging our own role in whatever happened to us. Listen, I'll admit to you in front of God and man today that I've dealt with this kind of bitterness. Ever have a relationship go south on you in such a dramatic way that even Jerry Springer goes "Wow. That's really messed up!" Right. Okay. Been there, done that, have the therapy bills to prove it. And hooooo boy was I bitter. I mean, I was hurt. And it was painful. There was a lot of damage in a lot of areas of my life when that relationship broke up. And I could be angry - justly - for a lot of stuff. But bitterness… bitterness just absolutely blamed everything on the other party. And it kept me from acknowledging my own role and taking responsibility for the actions that got us to this in the first place. When your spider-senses are tingling on your first date going "This may not be the best idea" but then you over-ride that discernment because, "I don't know, she's real pretty! Let's just see how it goes!" Okay. You have some responsibility to take. You have some ownership in this LLC of lies, in this partnership of pain.

Ever make a bad investment? And then that bitterness goes and builds a wall that shields you from taking responsibility? Let's take a walk down memory lane to the mid to the late 1990's. "So, you diversifying your portfolio? How are you investing in your retirement?" "I'm putting all my money into Beanie Babies. Those suckers are gonna keep rocketing up in value. And then one day I'm gonna sell and move to Bora Bora." "Really - you don't want to invest in gold or maybe Microsoft stock?" "Nope. I'm investing in Peace Bear and Zip The Cat." Okay. And then when the bottom of the beanie baby market dropped out. When the bear market became a literal bear market - did you blame yourself? Or did you blame everybody who hyped Beanie Babies as an investment? Did you blame TY Warner? eBay? Or did you take responsibility for your own role in this potentially risky investment opportunity?

Scripture is full of stories of individuals who tried to pass the buck rather than take accountability for their actions - Adam. "It was the woman." - Aaron - "it was those people who are set on evil who made me make the Golden Calf." Pilate - "I wash my hands of this."

But if we want to bin the bitterness - it is important for us to take ownership. Here's the random verse of the day. It'll make sense in a minute. Proverbs 24:26

An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.Proverbs 24:26 (NIV)

Hey, hey. (French - OH ho ho) It's most likely a kiss of friendship culturally speaking, so don't get too excited. Translation - words of truth, or a straight answer - is like a warm affectionate greeting. Telling the truth is a sign of respect. True kindness is about being honest.

And some of us - well, we're not being very kind to ourselves. We're not being respectful to ourselves. We're not showing ourselves the love we need. Because we aren't being honest with ourselves. We're allowing our bitterness to create a sense of victimhood in us… instead of responsibility.

If we want to bin the bitterness - we need to realize

PAST EVENTS ARE NOT OUR IDENTITY

Now make no mistake - what happened to us matters. It's part of our story. But it is not WHO WE ARE. Bitterness seeks to define us - and it will make us the victim. And when that happens we are TRAPPED. We are not only trapped in the past, but because we believe we are victims, then we just believe that we are at the whims of life and fate and the people around us. Nothing we do matters. Life will be dictated to us, not by us. And we will approach and process our lives with the most negative of perspectives.

Instead of letting that happen - we need to

LEAVE OUR VICTIM MENTALITY AND TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

Cause watch what happens. Here's what happens when we take responsibility and ownership, even if it's just a small portion of what happened in our lives -

We take responsibility. We say, "yeah, I'm responsible for what happened. But I'm also responsible for what happens next." "Yeah. I take responsibility for making a bad choice. But I'm also responsible for the better choices I'm going to make in the future." When we take responsibility for our own actions. When we are truthful with ourselves instead of allowing bitterness to shift all the blame on others and label us as victims - then we are creating a new, more powerful narrative. We are admitting - "Yes, these things from the past hurt me, but I won't allow them to control me. It is my responsibility to make sure that doesn't happen." And again, this is another way of shifting our focus from the past to the present -

SHIFT YOUR FOCUS FROM THE PAST TO THE PRESENT

Because we are shifting our focus from being a victim in the past to taking responsibility for our PRESENT and CURRENT emotional state.

There's one more thing that I think is helpful for us when it comes to taking out the bitterness in our lives. It's something that the apostle Paul writes in Philippians 4:8

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.Philippians 4:8

Think about what is TRUE. Think about what is RIGHT. And PURE. And LOVELY. And ADMIRABLE.

We need to

CHALLENGE UNHEALTHY AND UNHELPFUL THOUGHT PATTERNS

We need to be real with ourselves. And we need to be able to look past the bitterness in our lives to recognize feelings and thoughts and philosophies that are not serving us well. They're not doing any good in our lives. We need to remember and revisit our core values and our identity - yes, through reading scripture, yes through prayer to our Lord and Savior. And then we need to take action and change our way of thinking to replace bitterness with a healthier, Christ-centered outlook.

I'll give you an example of an unhealthy or unhelpful thought pattern. Some of you will relate to this. You'll recognize this as part of your bitterness. Sometimes when we've experienced great pain or disappointment, we can literally develop phobias about revisiting places that remind you of the pain.

Por ejemplo - you remember that breakup I was talking about earlier? Yeah - well, I don't want to name names or anything or disparage any place in particular. So I won't. But my ex lived in a town… let's call it KRAPROOM. Well, she lived there, her family lived there, the breakup happened there, it was the scene of the crime. And I was pretty hurt and damaged and all that. And I didn't want to go anywhere near there. Because every time that I did, it reminded me of the pain. I was afraid of running into her or her family. And instead of admitting my fear which turned into a phobia - so much so - that when we broke up, I had a blockbuster videotape that we had rented from the Kraproom blockbuster that I had to return, and I didn't want to go alone. So my mom, made the 80 plus mile drive with me to go and return the tape so I didn't have to be alone. Well I covered up the phobia and the fear with bitterness. I talked so much crap - pun totally intended - about that place. Lame place. There's nothing up there but cows. Can't even keep a Target in business. Have a ribbon cutting for a Rite-Aid. Seriously - if anybody even MENTIONED the town, the bitterness of my heart turned into the acidity of my mouth as I basically shook my fist and cast curses upon that place - "stupid town - lets tigers escape and then kills them, names a new road the same as an old road, but doesn't bother to close off the end of the old road so your car goes sliding off into the dirt… but who cares cause cows don't have GPS." Yeah. It was ridiculous. And anybody sitting across from me would look at me like "What is the matter with this guy? Why is this town at the center of this guy's super-villain origin story?"

Well - God, life… circumstances… has a funny sense of humor sometimes. In 2020, my family and I wound up moving to a neighboring city to KRAPROOM because it was what we could afford. We really liked it up there. Little did I know that my daughter's first five pre-school would be right in the heart of KRAPROOM. And after pre-school we would sometimes go to the McDonald's right around the corner… which was in the same strip mall as the blockbuster video that my mom went with me to to return the tape. My daughter's first dance recital was in the theater at Kraproom high school where my ex used to compete in and produce pageants that I would go to. When I go to visit Kamille at work or go to our credit union, I have to take Kraproom road to get there. I go to field trips with my kid in that town. There's a farm in that town that is one of my kid's favorite places to visit on family or daddy-daughter days. And it's one of mine too. I could keep this up and keep giving you instances for a long time. But I say all that to say this -

With the help of time, my wife, and God working on my heart - I challenged some of the unhealthy and unhelpful thought patterns around that place that I harbored. And I shifted my focus from the past to the present. Realizing, yeah, I was hurt and sad and maddened and bitter in the past - the present - the future - it was so good. Here was my kid dancing. Here was my kid experiencing joy and playing. Here was my kid loving to learn. Here was my 'adopted daughter' working in a great environment. It helped that I could shift the focus off of myself and my past and onto others - namely my wife and kid and adopted Kamille :) And with a little introspection and honesty, I stopped blaming the town and the people in it - including my ex. Yeah she did some stuff. But you know what, I took responsibility for the role I played. And that meant I was responsible for how my future played out and what thoughts played out in my mind when I was clearly going to be spending some time in this neighboring town. And it helped me realize that past events - are not my identity. And they are not this town's identity either. Things change. Environments change. Hearts change. They don't have the blockbuster anymore. They actually have a Target again. The cows are still there, but I digress…

I acknowledged my bitterness. I named it. Owned it. Called it out for what it was. Fear. Grief. Unhealthy coping mechanisms that no longer did me any good. And I long ago had made the decision to forgive the individual - but I decided to forgive the town too. Some of you armchair psychologists are having a field day right now. I know. And I made a choice.

And this is the choice that we are all faced with when dealing with painful memories and events that we are carrying with us.

We can get bitter… or we can get better. But we can't do both. In the book of James we read -

You can't draw fresh water from a salty spring.James 3:12

If we want to get rid of the bitterness in our lives, we need to make a choice… to be less salty. We need to choose love over resentment. We need to choose new opportunities over old injuries. We need to choose new relationships over old wounds. We need to choose present joy over past disappointment.

Bitterness flavors everything. We need to get rid of it. Bin it up and throw it out. One more time with feeling -

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, (even if it's just about towns with cows) as well as all types of evil behavior. INSTEAD, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. And then you know what you do? It's the next thing Paul writes - "Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.Ephesians 5:1-2

Jesus did offer Himself as a sacrifice for us. Not just to remove our sin, which He did - all of it - past, present and future, but also so that we could live abundantly. Jesus doesn't want us to simply survive with a guarded and bitter heart. He wants us to thrive with Him as the center and Lord of our lives. Listen, that stuff that no longer serves us, that stuff that's killing our joy, Jesus wants us to take it out and hand it over to Him so we can experience HIS FREEDOM so we can LOVE life and love others again.

Until next time - may what tried to make you bitter, be transformed into wisdom, compassion and strength. And may God's love and peace, not bitterness, have the final word in your lives. God bless you, have a great week!