August 9, 2023 • 31 mins
What if God could retell your story? For today's episode, we are sharing a teaching of Don's from 2011 called The Great Reteller. This recording is from a guest speaking slot at Genesis Church in Toledo. It is a simple yet profound message about how the stories of the Bible demonstrate time and time again that God is interested in helping us reframe our stories.
A few notes:
--Don mentions Food for Thought - that is a nonprofit in Toledo, Ohio he founded.
--Don calls N.T. Wright the greatest theologian of our time. While Don still thinks Wright is a great theologian, he has been disappointed by some harmful views Wright has expressed in the years since. So we would offer a warning to anyone seeking out Wright's information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Hello, this is Tana from AncientJesus Future Faith.
This week we thought we wouldshare with you one of Don's
classic teachings called theGreat Reteller.
It is one of my personalfavorites, and this recording is
from 2011 at Genesis Church inToledo.
A few notes about this teaching.
In it.
Don mentioned Food for Thought.
(00:23):
For reference, Food for Thoughtis a food insecurity nonprofit
Don started in Toledo.
And it's still going strong tothis day.
Also Don mentioned N T Wrightand calls him the greatest
theologian of our time.
While Don still thinks Wright isa great theologian, he has been
disappointed by some harmfulviews Wright has expressed in
(00:45):
the years since.
So we would offer a warning toanyone seeking out Wright's
information.
So, anyway, we hope you enjoythis simple, but profound
message about how God can helpus reframe our experiences and
recognize our value.
Enjoy.
actually, I do want to, I wantto start out this evening.
(01:07):
My name is Don, by the way, incase you don't know.
Uh, I'm a pastor at New Harvestacross the river.
Uh, and I want to start thisevening kind of telling you a
little bit about me.
Um, I know I've spoken here afew times, and so you know a
little bit about me.
But I want to start out by, bykind of giving you a little bit
of my journey.
Uh, and believe me, uh, it'lltie into the passage that we're
(01:29):
talking about.
But I grew up as a pastor's kid,a PK.
Um, and I don't know about youguys, but growing up in a
community, uh, as a pastor'skid, there was, you know, kind
of an assumption about what apastor's kid would be like.
Like, Holy Terror, Spawn ofSatan, uh, that type of thing.
(01:49):
And it was accurate for me.
Uh, and, and so I was this, Iwas the epitome of the pastor's
kid.
Uh, getting in trouble,mischievous, uh, what have you.
And when I was a teenager, Idecided that I wanted to, uh, be
a youth, uh, camp counselor.
(02:12):
And so I went in, I had to getpermission from my pastor to do
this.
I had to get him to sign off onit, and that was my father.
And when I went in to ask him,he told me,"Don, you have too
many things wrong in your life.
You can't possibly do this."That was a tough, tough thing,
(02:35):
you know.
Had I, had any other pastor beenbehind that table, I would have
got a thumbs up, but you know,this was my dad and he said no.
So then I, I ended up going awayfrom the church for a while.
I moved to the beach, uh, didmy, did my thing there and then
came back, met my wife, uh, and,and started to feel like I
(02:59):
wanted to be more involved inthe church that I was a part of.
And so I kept signing up forthings and they didn't call me
back.
I was like, okay, fair enough.
So then, uh, we moved to Toledo,okay, where I'd grown up on the
East Coast.
We moved to Toledo and I'm, Idecided I was going to go back
(03:22):
to school, uh, and I was goingto, uh, go for coaching
volleyball.
Uh, Bowling Green has a coachingunder, uh, minor and so I was
going to go there.
So, I go and I find out that Ihate school.
I think it's more accurate thatschool hated me, but you know, I
didn't care for the collegeexperience that I was
(03:44):
experiencing, partially becauseI had been out of school for
eight years, decided to take afull time class load work and
play volleyball.
Uh, that was not the most wisedecision.
So I left school and startedworking, and in the midst of
working, I felt God calling meinto ministry, to which I said,
no way, um, been down that road.
(04:08):
Been down, know what that'slike, but finally gave in, left
my job, and went to work as anintern, uh, in a church, uh, in
the Toledo area.
And I was there for quite sometime, and just didn't fit.
And so that ended, roughly.
(04:30):
So it worked out okay, becausesomeone else from that church
was starting something, and so Iwent with them to be a part of
that.
And that ended poorly.
Uh, it ended with me beingfired, which is like, I think
I've been fired twice in mylife.
And, uh, so I ended with mebeing fired and that was very
(04:50):
difficult.
And I sat in my basement and Ipouted about this.
Uh, but fortunately, there werea lot of young men and women
that had been a part of my lifethat just started showing up at
my house.
Uh, and so, they said, we'lljust keep showing up and you'll
eventually teach us something.
Uh, and, lo and behold, I neverdid actually teach them
(05:11):
anything.
Uh, but, we started a housechurch accidentally.
And now I'm at New Harvest as apastor.
But, in that, in that journey, Ithought that God had screwed up.
That, that, what was Hethinking?
Calling me.
(05:32):
And then I thought, well maybe Imisunderstood the call.
Maybe I misunderstood.
He was actually talking to theperson standing next to me.
I was overhearing theconversation.
Perceived it was about me, whenin reality it was about the
person next to me.
So, I want you to just kind ofhave a sense that my journey
into ministry has not beentiptoeing through the tulips.
(05:55):
It hasn't been this blissfulexperience that, uh, maybe I had
dreamt it would be that somedaythey would write novels, uh,
with, with hair like yours.
The guy on the front.
Uh, not like yours, Mike.
See, Mike made the mistake ofcoming out here tonight.
(06:17):
And the truth is, is everySunday morning that Mike teaches
or I teach, we usually pick oneach other.
So this was great fodder.
Thank you.
I appreciate you driving.
You can leave now.
I've already heard that sermon.
So tonight, the passage that Ihave to share with you guys
about is the road to Emmaus.
(06:39):
And we're all probably fairlyfamiliar with this.
This story, um, and I want totalk to you about it tonight.
Now, my typical gear that I getinto when, uh, having a text is
I love to sit down and I love toplay in it.
Kind of like a sandbox.
I like to see what I can build,what can I create.
And I love to play in the text.
But this text this week kind ofstruck me differently than in
(07:02):
the past.
And so, um, unfortunately foryou.
Maybe.
Uh, I think tonight is going tofeel more like preaching than
teaching.
Um, but I, I, I hope that it'saffirming.
So, if you will, turn with me inthe text to Luke.
Be looking at the road toEmmaus.
(07:24):
And it's in Luke 24, beginningwith verse 13.
Do you guys sit, stand, squat,calisthenics when we read during
the passage?
It's up to you.
It's up to me.
Would you guys mind standingwith me with this?
Thanks.
(07:47):
Luke 24, beginning with verse13, That very day two of them
were going to a village namedEmmaus about seven miles from
Jerusalem.
And they were talking with eachother about all these things
that had happened.
While they were talking anddiscussing together, Jesus
himself drew near and went withthem, but their eyes were kept
(08:08):
from recognizing Him.
And he said to them, What isthis conversation that you are
holding with each other as youwalk?
And they stood still, lookingsad.
Then one of them named Cleopasanswered him, Are you the only
visitor to Jerusalem who doesnot know the things that have
happened there in these days?
(08:29):
And he said to them, Whatthings?
And they said to him concerningJesus of Nazareth, the man who
was a prophet, mighty in deedand word before God and all the
people, and how our chiefpriests and rulers delivered him
up to be condemned to death andcrucified him.
But we had hoped that he was theone to redeem Israel.
(08:49):
Yes, and besides all this, it isnow the third day since these
things happened.
Moreover, some women of ourcompany amazed us.
They were at the tomb early inthe morning, and when they did
not find his body, they cameback, saying that they had even
seen a vision of angels who saidthat he was alive.
Some of those who were with uswent to the tomb and found it
(09:09):
just as the women had said, buthim they did not see.
And he said to them, O foolishones, and slow of heart to
believe all that the prophetshave spoken, was it not
necessary that the Christ shouldsuffer these things and enter
into his glory?
And beginning with Moses and allthe prophets, he interpreted to
(09:30):
them in all the scriptures thethings concerning himself.
So they drew near to the villageto which they were going.
He acted as if he were goingfarther, but they urged him
strongly, saying, Stay with us,for it is toward evening, and
the day is now far spent.
So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at table with them,he took the bread and blessed,
and broke it, and gave it tothem.
(09:52):
And their eyes were opened, andthey recognized him, and he
vanished from their sight.
They said to each other, Did notour hearts burn within us while
he talked to us on the road,while he opened to us the
scriptures?
And they rose that same hour andreturned to Jerusalem.
And they found the eleven andthose who were with them
gathered together, saying, TheLord has risen indeed, and has
(10:14):
appeared to Simon.
Then they told what had happenedon the road, and how he was
known to them in the breaking ofthe bread.
You may be seated.
Two springs ago, uh, myself anda couple buddies, we got to go
out to Wheaton College.
Uh, and they have a conferenceevery year, and we got to hear
N.
(10:35):
T.
Wright.
Uh, it was all about N.
T.
Wright, so if you're familiarwith him, that's very exciting.
If you're not, you don't, itdoesn't matter.
But N.
T.
Wright is, like, someone I holdin really high regard.
He's probably...
Our greatest theologian andbiblical scholar today.
Okay, um, and that's not just myopinion.
That's, that's a fairly largelyheld view.
(10:57):
And N.
T.
Wright, uh, I mean we have aconference that's dedicated to
people critiquing your workwhile you sit there and listen
to them.
That's, that's a pretty bigdeal.
So N.
T.
Wright is there and he read fromthis passage and he says, uh, it
was great.
He, he looked at verse 31 and hesays, and their eyes were open
and he's like, obviously this isreferring to the garden.
(11:19):
And me and my buddies all lookedat each other and we're like,
yeah, obviously.
I mean that's what we got rightaway from that passage.
But the phrase there, and theireyes were open, is the identical
phrase used in the Septuagint.
The Septuagint being the Greektranslation of the Hebrew Bible.
Uh, it's the exact same phrasethat's used in the garden scene
when they eat from the tree.
(11:40):
And it says, and their eyes wereopen.
And it's this moment of God'screation kind of being
recreated, right?
I mean, if you can imagine,like, when we eat from the tree.
What God had had in mind for hiscreation changed in that moment.
Wouldn't you agree?
I mean, we're not still livinglife as though we're in the
(12:02):
garden.
Things changed.
And so, in this passage, we havethis reminder.
Now, the beauty of this is thatJesus often referred to, is
often referred to, as the secondAdam.
And so, I think that in thismoment, when we hear the
language and their eyes wereopen, it's kind of this good
thing, unlike the first time weread it.
(12:24):
There's this moment of hope thatwe're getting to see, that maybe
there's a new lens to kind ofview things through.
I want to say that Jesus, maybe,is going to bring a new
interpretation to creation.
I want to talk to you about you.
(12:46):
I want to talk to you about yourlife in that, if indeed, Jesus
is the Messiah.
If indeed He is being a part ofthis new creation, this
recreation, does your life stillreflect the first garden, the
(13:10):
first time the eyes were open,or does your life reflect this
moment when their eyes wereopened because Messiah was there
before them?
You see, that's a reallyimportant question because I
think too often in our journeyWe still live life as though
it's the first garden has power.
(13:31):
Right?
We believe that Jesus died, wasresurrected, and he brought
about change.
He brought about redemption.
He brought about reconciliation.
Yet, we still live as thoughit's the first garden.
That's a problem.
That's a problem for us.
(13:51):
See, I think part of it is,there's a new book out.
By Scott McKnight.
Uh, that is very good.
I'm about, uh, three quarters ofthe way through it, so it might
end poorly, but so far so good.
But in this book, he talks abouthow the church, over time, has
changed its focus.
Instead of a church being aboutdisciples, the church has been,
(14:15):
become about decisions.
And so, we'll make a decisionfor Christ.
But then we never becomedisciples of Christ.
Do you see the difference?
Do you feel the difference?
Do you understand thedifference?
That we might say, yes, indeed,Jesus is Lord, and make that
(14:36):
decision, but then we still liveas though we're in that first
eyes open moment.
We're living eyes wide shut,right?
Whereas, if we become disciples,We're able to start seeing the
world differently.
And we're able to startfunctioning differently.
(14:59):
I want to, I want to say thatthis passage is kind of about
something that God seems to doconstantly throughout the Hebrew
text.
Let's begin with, uh, there's,there's tons of examples, but
let's begin with Abram andSarai.
Okay, Abraham and Sarah.
What do we know about thembefore their encounter with God?
(15:22):
Like their, their majorencounter with God.
What do we know about them?
Anything?
They're old.
And what else?
There's another very prominentthing.
What's that?
Barren.
So they're old and barren.
So what is their hope fordescendants?
What is their hope for theirname being carried on?
(15:44):
Zero.
Right?
But God decides instead toretell their story.
And not just in a small way, butin a big way.
He decides to say, not only areyou old and barren, but you will
have more descendants than thestars in the sky.
What an absurd statement.
(16:06):
It is no wonder that Sarahlaughs, right?
I mean, what an absurd idea thatGod meets this old couple, we'll
say hobbling along the way, and,uh, moving slowly.
Maybe they're at the mallwalking.
And, uh, that was funny.
(16:26):
Man, I gotta work on my jokes.
Okay, thank you for that, thatwas nice.
But, so here they are, this oldcouple, they're barren.
They have no hope for their namebeing carried on.
And God says, you know what, I'mgonna retell your story.
What about Joseph?
What do we know about Joseph?
Not Jesus father, Joseph prior.
(16:50):
What do we know of Jacob's son,Joseph?
What's that?
Favorite son.
What else?
Favorite son, least likebrother.
We'll go with that, all right?
What else?
(17:12):
Okay.
Chose God's ways overtemptation.
Sold into slavery.
So let's combine that.
So here is his story, which ishe is the favorite son.
He's the son that, uh, had beenbeing waited for.
But he becomes hated.
He is sold into slavery.
(17:33):
And what does he say when hefinally encounters his brothers?
What does he say to them?
Does he say, I can't stand you,don't like you?
What does he say?
What's that?
Absolutely, what you intendedfor evil, God made good.
God retold Joseph's story.
(17:54):
See what I'm saying?
Here is Joseph thrown,potentially put to death.
Carried off into slavery, butGod retells his story.
You think of any other passagesin the scriptures like that?
Where God retells somebody'sstory?
(18:16):
David.
How would you say he retoldDavid's story?
I think there's multiple placeswithin David's story.
I mean, even at the beginning ofhis story where, you know, he's
not even thought of.
His brothers are fighting.
You know, and he ends up beingthe one to fight Goliath.
I mean, you know, there's thisretelling He's not even brought
to be potential for to beanointed and there's just always
(18:39):
these any other stories that youcan think of?
I mean, isn't this spectacular?
Can't you see the scriptures arelittered with a God that loves
to retell stories?
Think about the prodigal son,right?
One of my favorite retellingstories.
The prodigal son, the sonbasically says to the dad, let
(19:00):
me have my inheritance early.
I mean, that's kind ofoffensive, isn't it?
Imagine saying that to a parent.
Hey, so, you're hanging on alittle longer than I'd like.
Can I get my cut now?
Right?
And he goes out and he livescounter, it seems, we would
presume, to the way that hishousehold would have him live.
(19:24):
But the father waits.
And the son finally comes tothis place of destitution, of
being distraught, of beingbroken.
And remember what he says?
He's like, he's practicing.
Have you ever done this?
Like practice what you're goingto say to someone?
That's what he's doing.
I can just picture him in frontof the...
The pig trough mirror.
And he's like, Okay, I've sinnedagainst you and God.
(19:48):
I was dead.
I could just be a slave in yourhousehold.
I could be a servant.
Right?
But what happens when he getsthere and he tells his dad what
he had recited?
What does his father say?
Anybody remember?
He says, No.
The story is that you were deadand now you are alive.
(20:12):
What an amazing retelling,right?
The son is like, I've sinnedagainst you and against God.
And the father is like, no, youwere dead, but now you are
alive.
And so there's this beautifulretelling of the story.
So what does this have to dowith the road to Emmaus?
On the road to Emmaus, we havetwo disciples.
(20:34):
Now, one of the things that weneed to kind of get through our
head, because we don't typicallythink in disciple mindset, these
two people walking.
would have been deeply, deeply,deeply intimate with Jesus.
They would have probably walkedaway from everything that they
had in order to follow Him.
(20:59):
Think about that, right?
I used to read this when I'dread two of them.
It says, and two of them werewalking.
And I, I would kind of likepicture them as like, because I
don't recognize their names.
Doesn't really go into anydetail about them.
So I'm thinking that these arelike peripheral characters.
But if they were disciples ofJesus, there was a deep
connection between them and Him.
(21:21):
I love the, I love the versewhere it says, and he says,
What, what is going on?
What are you talking about?
And it says, And they stoodstill and were sad.
Think about this.
These two people who had givenup everything, who'd bought in
(21:43):
completely that Jesus was indeedthe one to come.
They believed it, they gave upeverything to follow him, and
he's dead.
You can even hear it almost intheir voice when they're like,
and it's even three days later.
(22:04):
You know, the way that we readthat is, is that in, uh, in
ancient Judaism, in ancienttimes, uh, it believed that the
spirit could dwell above thebody for up to three days, and
after three days the spiritwould no longer.
So, that's how you knew someonewas, was dead, was that if they
had remained, uh, dead for threedays, uh, instead of, you know,
(22:28):
putting a bell from the grave.
People can reign.
You guys all remember that?
That's weird stuff.
But so they were like, it's evenbeen three days.
He is dead.
Don't you know?
Are you the only person that hascome to Jerusalem that doesn't
(22:50):
know?
And so they tell him the story.
And what does Jesus do?
He retells it, doesn't he?
See, it's not that Jesus...
See, when I first read this, I'mlike, why is Jesus being so coy
here?
Like, he's like, so what's goingon?
(23:11):
What you guys talking about, youknow?
But I think it was because thestory that he was hearing was
not the right story.
I don't think that he was, hewas pretending to be oblivious
as much as he needed to retellthe story.
See, they were able to citeeverything that had gone wrong.
(23:32):
They were able to tell him thehistorical events that took
place, leading to this death ofthis would be Messiah, a
prophet, great and mighty indeeds before God.
And Jesus is like, wait asecond.
(23:52):
Let me retell the story.
It says he began with Moses andthen the prophets.
Now, I love that part of thepassage.
I love that Jesus retells theirstory for them.
I love that He then goes in andbreaks bread with them and that
(24:16):
their eyes are open.
It reminds me of, uh, you know,I was trying to think about some
examples of this.
And the one example thatwouldn't let me go was Karate
Kid, right?
Whether you saw the old one orthe new one, it doesn't really
matter, it's...
But, Karate Kid, the young boy,uh, he goes to learn martial
(24:40):
arts, whether from Jackie Chanor Mr.
Miyagi.
Uh, and uh, when he goes, hebecomes very frustrated, right?
Because what does he end updoing?
Waxing the car, painting afence, uh, and the new one I
think he hangs up a coat orsomething.
Takes off a coat, hangs it up.
Uh, and he's frustrated becausehe's like, I thought I was
coming to learn martial arts.
(25:03):
And it wasn't until the storygot reframed that he understood
what was going on.
There's lots of movies that dothat.
It's, it's that fun twist in theplot where you're like, Aha! I
think that we, we like thosestories because those stories
(25:23):
ring true for us.
You know, for me, I, I shared mystory.
Um, and if I just told you thefacts like I did, you would say,
well, that's kind of a rough go.
And that's what I used to say.
But when I allow God to retellmy story, I can see the beauty
(25:49):
of every step.
You know, I think that there'ssomething to it.
Think about this, Paul, right,shipwrecked, in prison, beaten.
What's he always say?
And I couldn't be any happier,right?
I mean, either he is loco, or heis deeply, deeply embedded in
(26:12):
this retelling of a story.
You know, I look around theworld and there's people that
are in situations and in life...
Places that I couldn'tcomprehend, and yet they live
with great joy.
Sam has recently just taken overas Executive Director of Food
for Thought.
(26:33):
That might be one of the mostsignificant things in my life,
was Food for Thought and knowingand coming to meet all of these
people who are homeless, who aredestitute, who are broken.
But understand a deep andpenetrating retelling of their
(26:54):
story in God.
It's unbelievable.
I was just, I just saw, uh, inthe Toledo Streets newspaper,
uh, one of the, uh, unhoused menof Toledo, uh, just got a book
published.
(27:14):
Um, he has a PhD in theology.
And he just had a bookpublished.
It's unbelievable.
You know why I think people areable to be in those
circumstances?
It's because they allow God,they allow their relationship
(27:35):
with Christ to retell theirstory.
So, I wonder how many of youguys need your story retold.
I mean, life deals us some badhands.
(27:57):
Uh, things are frustrating.
Things don't go the way weplanned.
Maybe, uh, there's issues thatwere unexpected, jobs lost, jobs
changed.
There are things that, thatbegin to weigh us down, that
feel like imprisonment, thatfeel like the beating, feel like
(28:19):
being shipwrecked on an islandby yourself.
I can tell you that's what myexperience was going through
that process that I shared withyou.
And I gave you a quick versionof my journey.
And it's not until we allowChrist to penetrate us in a way
(28:41):
that begins to retell our storythat we can have healing.
That our eyes can be openedagain.
So earlier when I asked you, areyou living in the first garden
or are you living in the secondgarden, it's an important
(29:02):
question because too many of usdon't even realize that God is
just waiting to retell thestory.
We have, we have no idea.
(29:25):
How much he's just waiting tosee us come walking up that road
like the prodigal son.
He's just waiting for your firstmovement so he can run out to
you and retell your story.
You may be sitting here and lifeis going good or it's going
okay.
(29:47):
And there's still something thatneeds to be retold.
To move you from a place ofcomplacency.
To a place where, think aboutthese two disciples walking.
They're leaving Jerusalem.
They're going home.
And the moment that the storygets retold and their eyes are
(30:08):
open, what do they do?
Rise and go back.
I don't know about you guys, butI get the impression they went
back a lot faster than they wereleaving.
Uh, Sam's, the one song that Samdid, uh, This is the one we have
(30:29):
waited for.
Like, that's spot on.
It talks about years wasted.
I think that's one of the lines.
Like, God can't wait to retellthat for you.
I truly, truly, deeply believethat there is no such thing as
(30:52):
years wasted when the story isretold by God.
I could look at many parts of mylife and go, I wasted so much
time.
But if I just let the Creator,the reteller of stories, whisper
in my ear, I'll know it to besomething better than I ever
(31:14):
imagined.
Hello, this is Tana from AncientJesus Future Faith.
This week we thought we wouldshare with you one of Don's
classic teachings called theGreat Reteller.
It is one of my personalfavorites, and this recording is
from 2011 at Genesis Church inToledo.
A few notes about this teaching.
In it.
Don mentioned Food for Thought.
(00:23):
For reference, Food for Thoughtis a food insecurity nonprofit
Don started in Toledo.
And it's still going strong tothis day.
Also Don mentioned N T Wrightand calls him the greatest
theologian of our time.
While Don still thinks Wright isa great theologian, he has been
disappointed by some harmfulviews Wright has expressed in
(00:45):
the years since.
So we would offer a warning toanyone seeking out Wright's
information.
So, anyway, we hope you enjoythis simple, but profound
message about how God can helpus reframe our experiences and
recognize our value.
Enjoy.
actually, I do want to, I wantto start out this evening.
(01:07):
My name is Don, by the way, incase you don't know.
Uh, I'm a pastor at New Harvestacross the river.
Uh, and I want to start thisevening kind of telling you a
little bit about me.
Um, I know I've spoken here afew times, and so you know a
little bit about me.
But I want to start out by, bykind of giving you a little bit
of my journey.
Uh, and believe me, uh, it'lltie into the passage that we're
(01:29):
talking about.
But I grew up as a pastor's kid,a PK.
Um, and I don't know about youguys, but growing up in a
community, uh, as a pastor'skid, there was, you know, kind
of an assumption about what apastor's kid would be like.
Like, Holy Terror, Spawn ofSatan, uh, that type of thing.
(01:49):
And it was accurate for me.
Uh, and, and so I was this, Iwas the epitome of the pastor's
kid.
Uh, getting in trouble,mischievous, uh, what have you.
And when I was a teenager, Idecided that I wanted to, uh, be
a youth, uh, camp counselor.
(02:12):
And so I went in, I had to getpermission from my pastor to do
this.
I had to get him to sign off onit, and that was my father.
And when I went in to ask him,he told me,"Don, you have too
many things wrong in your life.
You can't possibly do this."That was a tough, tough thing,
(02:35):
you know.
Had I, had any other pastor beenbehind that table, I would have
got a thumbs up, but you know,this was my dad and he said no.
So then I, I ended up going awayfrom the church for a while.
I moved to the beach, uh, didmy, did my thing there and then
came back, met my wife, uh, and,and started to feel like I
(02:59):
wanted to be more involved inthe church that I was a part of.
And so I kept signing up forthings and they didn't call me
back.
I was like, okay, fair enough.
So then, uh, we moved to Toledo,okay, where I'd grown up on the
East Coast.
We moved to Toledo and I'm, Idecided I was going to go back
(03:22):
to school, uh, and I was goingto, uh, go for coaching
volleyball.
Uh, Bowling Green has a coachingunder, uh, minor and so I was
going to go there.
So, I go and I find out that Ihate school.
I think it's more accurate thatschool hated me, but you know, I
didn't care for the collegeexperience that I was
(03:44):
experiencing, partially becauseI had been out of school for
eight years, decided to take afull time class load work and
play volleyball.
Uh, that was not the most wisedecision.
So I left school and startedworking, and in the midst of
working, I felt God calling meinto ministry, to which I said,
no way, um, been down that road.
(04:08):
Been down, know what that'slike, but finally gave in, left
my job, and went to work as anintern, uh, in a church, uh, in
the Toledo area.
And I was there for quite sometime, and just didn't fit.
And so that ended, roughly.
(04:30):
So it worked out okay, becausesomeone else from that church
was starting something, and so Iwent with them to be a part of
that.
And that ended poorly.
Uh, it ended with me beingfired, which is like, I think
I've been fired twice in mylife.
And, uh, so I ended with mebeing fired and that was very
(04:50):
difficult.
And I sat in my basement and Ipouted about this.
Uh, but fortunately, there werea lot of young men and women
that had been a part of my lifethat just started showing up at
my house.
Uh, and so, they said, we'lljust keep showing up and you'll
eventually teach us something.
Uh, and, lo and behold, I neverdid actually teach them
(05:11):
anything.
Uh, but, we started a housechurch accidentally.
And now I'm at New Harvest as apastor.
But, in that, in that journey, Ithought that God had screwed up.
That, that, what was Hethinking?
Calling me.
(05:32):
And then I thought, well maybe Imisunderstood the call.
Maybe I misunderstood.
He was actually talking to theperson standing next to me.
I was overhearing theconversation.
Perceived it was about me, whenin reality it was about the
person next to me.
So, I want you to just kind ofhave a sense that my journey
into ministry has not beentiptoeing through the tulips.
(05:55):
It hasn't been this blissfulexperience that, uh, maybe I had
dreamt it would be that somedaythey would write novels, uh,
with, with hair like yours.
The guy on the front.
Uh, not like yours, Mike.
See, Mike made the mistake ofcoming out here tonight.
(06:17):
And the truth is, is everySunday morning that Mike teaches
or I teach, we usually pick oneach other.
So this was great fodder.
Thank you.
I appreciate you driving.
You can leave now.
I've already heard that sermon.
So tonight, the passage that Ihave to share with you guys
about is the road to Emmaus.
(06:39):
And we're all probably fairlyfamiliar with this.
This story, um, and I want totalk to you about it tonight.
Now, my typical gear that I getinto when, uh, having a text is
I love to sit down and I love toplay in it.
Kind of like a sandbox.
I like to see what I can build,what can I create.
And I love to play in the text.
But this text this week kind ofstruck me differently than in
(07:02):
the past.
And so, um, unfortunately foryou.
Maybe.
Uh, I think tonight is going tofeel more like preaching than
teaching.
Um, but I, I, I hope that it'saffirming.
So, if you will, turn with me inthe text to Luke.
Be looking at the road toEmmaus.
(07:24):
And it's in Luke 24, beginningwith verse 13.
Do you guys sit, stand, squat,calisthenics when we read during
the passage?
It's up to you.
It's up to me.
Would you guys mind standingwith me with this?
Thanks.
(07:47):
Luke 24, beginning with verse13, That very day two of them
were going to a village namedEmmaus about seven miles from
Jerusalem.
And they were talking with eachother about all these things
that had happened.
While they were talking anddiscussing together, Jesus
himself drew near and went withthem, but their eyes were kept
(08:08):
from recognizing Him.
And he said to them, What isthis conversation that you are
holding with each other as youwalk?
And they stood still, lookingsad.
Then one of them named Cleopasanswered him, Are you the only
visitor to Jerusalem who doesnot know the things that have
happened there in these days?
(08:29):
And he said to them, Whatthings?
And they said to him concerningJesus of Nazareth, the man who
was a prophet, mighty in deedand word before God and all the
people, and how our chiefpriests and rulers delivered him
up to be condemned to death andcrucified him.
But we had hoped that he was theone to redeem Israel.
(08:49):
Yes, and besides all this, it isnow the third day since these
things happened.
Moreover, some women of ourcompany amazed us.
They were at the tomb early inthe morning, and when they did
not find his body, they cameback, saying that they had even
seen a vision of angels who saidthat he was alive.
Some of those who were with uswent to the tomb and found it
(09:09):
just as the women had said, buthim they did not see.
And he said to them, O foolishones, and slow of heart to
believe all that the prophetshave spoken, was it not
necessary that the Christ shouldsuffer these things and enter
into his glory?
And beginning with Moses and allthe prophets, he interpreted to
(09:30):
them in all the scriptures thethings concerning himself.
So they drew near to the villageto which they were going.
He acted as if he were goingfarther, but they urged him
strongly, saying, Stay with us,for it is toward evening, and
the day is now far spent.
So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at table with them,he took the bread and blessed,
and broke it, and gave it tothem.
(09:52):
And their eyes were opened, andthey recognized him, and he
vanished from their sight.
They said to each other, Did notour hearts burn within us while
he talked to us on the road,while he opened to us the
scriptures?
And they rose that same hour andreturned to Jerusalem.
And they found the eleven andthose who were with them
gathered together, saying, TheLord has risen indeed, and has
(10:14):
appeared to Simon.
Then they told what had happenedon the road, and how he was
known to them in the breaking ofthe bread.
You may be seated.
Two springs ago, uh, myself anda couple buddies, we got to go
out to Wheaton College.
Uh, and they have a conferenceevery year, and we got to hear
N.
(10:35):
T.
Wright.
Uh, it was all about N.
T.
Wright, so if you're familiarwith him, that's very exciting.
If you're not, you don't, itdoesn't matter.
But N.
T.
Wright is, like, someone I holdin really high regard.
He's probably...
Our greatest theologian andbiblical scholar today.
Okay, um, and that's not just myopinion.
That's, that's a fairly largelyheld view.
(10:57):
And N.
T.
Wright, uh, I mean we have aconference that's dedicated to
people critiquing your workwhile you sit there and listen
to them.
That's, that's a pretty bigdeal.
So N.
T.
Wright is there and he read fromthis passage and he says, uh, it
was great.
He, he looked at verse 31 and hesays, and their eyes were open
and he's like, obviously this isreferring to the garden.
(11:19):
And me and my buddies all lookedat each other and we're like,
yeah, obviously.
I mean that's what we got rightaway from that passage.
But the phrase there, and theireyes were open, is the identical
phrase used in the Septuagint.
The Septuagint being the Greektranslation of the Hebrew Bible.
Uh, it's the exact same phrasethat's used in the garden scene
when they eat from the tree.
(11:40):
And it says, and their eyes wereopen.
And it's this moment of God'screation kind of being
recreated, right?
I mean, if you can imagine,like, when we eat from the tree.
What God had had in mind for hiscreation changed in that moment.
Wouldn't you agree?
I mean, we're not still livinglife as though we're in the
(12:02):
garden.
Things changed.
And so, in this passage, we havethis reminder.
Now, the beauty of this is thatJesus often referred to, is
often referred to, as the secondAdam.
And so, I think that in thismoment, when we hear the
language and their eyes wereopen, it's kind of this good
thing, unlike the first time weread it.
(12:24):
There's this moment of hope thatwe're getting to see, that maybe
there's a new lens to kind ofview things through.
I want to say that Jesus, maybe,is going to bring a new
interpretation to creation.
I want to talk to you about you.
(12:46):
I want to talk to you about yourlife in that, if indeed, Jesus
is the Messiah.
If indeed He is being a part ofthis new creation, this
recreation, does your life stillreflect the first garden, the
(13:10):
first time the eyes were open,or does your life reflect this
moment when their eyes wereopened because Messiah was there
before them?
You see, that's a reallyimportant question because I
think too often in our journeyWe still live life as though
it's the first garden has power.
(13:31):
Right?
We believe that Jesus died, wasresurrected, and he brought
about change.
He brought about redemption.
He brought about reconciliation.
Yet, we still live as thoughit's the first garden.
That's a problem.
That's a problem for us.
(13:51):
See, I think part of it is,there's a new book out.
By Scott McKnight.
Uh, that is very good.
I'm about, uh, three quarters ofthe way through it, so it might
end poorly, but so far so good.
But in this book, he talks abouthow the church, over time, has
changed its focus.
Instead of a church being aboutdisciples, the church has been,
(14:15):
become about decisions.
And so, we'll make a decisionfor Christ.
But then we never becomedisciples of Christ.
Do you see the difference?
Do you feel the difference?
Do you understand thedifference?
That we might say, yes, indeed,Jesus is Lord, and make that
(14:36):
decision, but then we still liveas though we're in that first
eyes open moment.
We're living eyes wide shut,right?
Whereas, if we become disciples,We're able to start seeing the
world differently.
And we're able to startfunctioning differently.
(14:59):
I want to, I want to say thatthis passage is kind of about
something that God seems to doconstantly throughout the Hebrew
text.
Let's begin with, uh, there's,there's tons of examples, but
let's begin with Abram andSarai.
Okay, Abraham and Sarah.
What do we know about thembefore their encounter with God?
(15:22):
Like their, their majorencounter with God.
What do we know about them?
Anything?
They're old.
And what else?
There's another very prominentthing.
What's that?
Barren.
So they're old and barren.
So what is their hope fordescendants?
What is their hope for theirname being carried on?
(15:44):
Zero.
Right?
But God decides instead toretell their story.
And not just in a small way, butin a big way.
He decides to say, not only areyou old and barren, but you will
have more descendants than thestars in the sky.
What an absurd statement.
(16:06):
It is no wonder that Sarahlaughs, right?
I mean, what an absurd idea thatGod meets this old couple, we'll
say hobbling along the way, and,uh, moving slowly.
Maybe they're at the mallwalking.
And, uh, that was funny.
(16:26):
Man, I gotta work on my jokes.
Okay, thank you for that, thatwas nice.
But, so here they are, this oldcouple, they're barren.
They have no hope for their namebeing carried on.
And God says, you know what, I'mgonna retell your story.
What about Joseph?
What do we know about Joseph?
Not Jesus father, Joseph prior.
(16:50):
What do we know of Jacob's son,Joseph?
What's that?
Favorite son.
What else?
Favorite son, least likebrother.
We'll go with that, all right?
What else?
(17:12):
Okay.
Chose God's ways overtemptation.
Sold into slavery.
So let's combine that.
So here is his story, which ishe is the favorite son.
He's the son that, uh, had beenbeing waited for.
But he becomes hated.
He is sold into slavery.
(17:33):
And what does he say when hefinally encounters his brothers?
What does he say to them?
Does he say, I can't stand you,don't like you?
What does he say?
What's that?
Absolutely, what you intendedfor evil, God made good.
God retold Joseph's story.
(17:54):
See what I'm saying?
Here is Joseph thrown,potentially put to death.
Carried off into slavery, butGod retells his story.
You think of any other passagesin the scriptures like that?
Where God retells somebody'sstory?
(18:16):
David.
How would you say he retoldDavid's story?
I think there's multiple placeswithin David's story.
I mean, even at the beginning ofhis story where, you know, he's
not even thought of.
His brothers are fighting.
You know, and he ends up beingthe one to fight Goliath.
I mean, you know, there's thisretelling He's not even brought
to be potential for to beanointed and there's just always
(18:39):
these any other stories that youcan think of?
I mean, isn't this spectacular?
Can't you see the scriptures arelittered with a God that loves
to retell stories?
Think about the prodigal son,right?
One of my favorite retellingstories.
The prodigal son, the sonbasically says to the dad, let
(19:00):
me have my inheritance early.
I mean, that's kind ofoffensive, isn't it?
Imagine saying that to a parent.
Hey, so, you're hanging on alittle longer than I'd like.
Can I get my cut now?
Right?
And he goes out and he livescounter, it seems, we would
presume, to the way that hishousehold would have him live.
(19:24):
But the father waits.
And the son finally comes tothis place of destitution, of
being distraught, of beingbroken.
And remember what he says?
He's like, he's practicing.
Have you ever done this?
Like practice what you're goingto say to someone?
That's what he's doing.
I can just picture him in frontof the...
The pig trough mirror.
And he's like, Okay, I've sinnedagainst you and God.
(19:48):
I was dead.
I could just be a slave in yourhousehold.
I could be a servant.
Right?
But what happens when he getsthere and he tells his dad what
he had recited?
What does his father say?
Anybody remember?
He says, No.
The story is that you were deadand now you are alive.
(20:12):
What an amazing retelling,right?
The son is like, I've sinnedagainst you and against God.
And the father is like, no, youwere dead, but now you are
alive.
And so there's this beautifulretelling of the story.
So what does this have to dowith the road to Emmaus?
On the road to Emmaus, we havetwo disciples.
(20:34):
Now, one of the things that weneed to kind of get through our
head, because we don't typicallythink in disciple mindset, these
two people walking.
would have been deeply, deeply,deeply intimate with Jesus.
They would have probably walkedaway from everything that they
had in order to follow Him.
(20:59):
Think about that, right?
I used to read this when I'dread two of them.
It says, and two of them werewalking.
And I, I would kind of likepicture them as like, because I
don't recognize their names.
Doesn't really go into anydetail about them.
So I'm thinking that these arelike peripheral characters.
But if they were disciples ofJesus, there was a deep
connection between them and Him.
(21:21):
I love the, I love the versewhere it says, and he says,
What, what is going on?
What are you talking about?
And it says, And they stoodstill and were sad.
Think about this.
These two people who had givenup everything, who'd bought in
(21:43):
completely that Jesus was indeedthe one to come.
They believed it, they gave upeverything to follow him, and
he's dead.
You can even hear it almost intheir voice when they're like,
and it's even three days later.
(22:04):
You know, the way that we readthat is, is that in, uh, in
ancient Judaism, in ancienttimes, uh, it believed that the
spirit could dwell above thebody for up to three days, and
after three days the spiritwould no longer.
So, that's how you knew someonewas, was dead, was that if they
had remained, uh, dead for threedays, uh, instead of, you know,
(22:28):
putting a bell from the grave.
People can reign.
You guys all remember that?
That's weird stuff.
But so they were like, it's evenbeen three days.
He is dead.
Don't you know?
Are you the only person that hascome to Jerusalem that doesn't
(22:50):
know?
And so they tell him the story.
And what does Jesus do?
He retells it, doesn't he?
See, it's not that Jesus...
See, when I first read this, I'mlike, why is Jesus being so coy
here?
Like, he's like, so what's goingon?
(23:11):
What you guys talking about, youknow?
But I think it was because thestory that he was hearing was
not the right story.
I don't think that he was, hewas pretending to be oblivious
as much as he needed to retellthe story.
See, they were able to citeeverything that had gone wrong.
(23:32):
They were able to tell him thehistorical events that took
place, leading to this death ofthis would be Messiah, a
prophet, great and mighty indeeds before God.
And Jesus is like, wait asecond.
(23:52):
Let me retell the story.
It says he began with Moses andthen the prophets.
Now, I love that part of thepassage.
I love that Jesus retells theirstory for them.
I love that He then goes in andbreaks bread with them and that
(24:16):
their eyes are open.
It reminds me of, uh, you know,I was trying to think about some
examples of this.
And the one example thatwouldn't let me go was Karate
Kid, right?
Whether you saw the old one orthe new one, it doesn't really
matter, it's...
But, Karate Kid, the young boy,uh, he goes to learn martial
(24:40):
arts, whether from Jackie Chanor Mr.
Miyagi.
Uh, and uh, when he goes, hebecomes very frustrated, right?
Because what does he end updoing?
Waxing the car, painting afence, uh, and the new one I
think he hangs up a coat orsomething.
Takes off a coat, hangs it up.
Uh, and he's frustrated becausehe's like, I thought I was
coming to learn martial arts.
(25:03):
And it wasn't until the storygot reframed that he understood
what was going on.
There's lots of movies that dothat.
It's, it's that fun twist in theplot where you're like, Aha! I
think that we, we like thosestories because those stories
(25:23):
ring true for us.
You know, for me, I, I shared mystory.
Um, and if I just told you thefacts like I did, you would say,
well, that's kind of a rough go.
And that's what I used to say.
But when I allow God to retellmy story, I can see the beauty
(25:49):
of every step.
You know, I think that there'ssomething to it.
Think about this, Paul, right,shipwrecked, in prison, beaten.
What's he always say?
And I couldn't be any happier,right?
I mean, either he is loco, or heis deeply, deeply embedded in
(26:12):
this retelling of a story.
You know, I look around theworld and there's people that
are in situations and in life...
Places that I couldn'tcomprehend, and yet they live
with great joy.
Sam has recently just taken overas Executive Director of Food
for Thought.
(26:33):
That might be one of the mostsignificant things in my life,
was Food for Thought and knowingand coming to meet all of these
people who are homeless, who aredestitute, who are broken.
But understand a deep andpenetrating retelling of their
(26:54):
story in God.
It's unbelievable.
I was just, I just saw, uh, inthe Toledo Streets newspaper,
uh, one of the, uh, unhoused menof Toledo, uh, just got a book
published.
(27:14):
Um, he has a PhD in theology.
And he just had a bookpublished.
It's unbelievable.
You know why I think people areable to be in those
circumstances?
It's because they allow God,they allow their relationship
(27:35):
with Christ to retell theirstory.
So, I wonder how many of youguys need your story retold.
I mean, life deals us some badhands.
(27:57):
Uh, things are frustrating.
Things don't go the way weplanned.
Maybe, uh, there's issues thatwere unexpected, jobs lost, jobs
changed.
There are things that, thatbegin to weigh us down, that
feel like imprisonment, thatfeel like the beating, feel like
(28:19):
being shipwrecked on an islandby yourself.
I can tell you that's what myexperience was going through
that process that I shared withyou.
And I gave you a quick versionof my journey.
And it's not until we allowChrist to penetrate us in a way
(28:41):
that begins to retell our storythat we can have healing.
That our eyes can be openedagain.
So earlier when I asked you, areyou living in the first garden
or are you living in the secondgarden, it's an important
(29:02):
question because too many of usdon't even realize that God is
just waiting to retell thestory.
We have, we have no idea.
(29:25):
How much he's just waiting tosee us come walking up that road
like the prodigal son.
He's just waiting for your firstmovement so he can run out to
you and retell your story.
You may be sitting here and lifeis going good or it's going
okay.
(29:47):
And there's still something thatneeds to be retold.
To move you from a place ofcomplacency.
To a place where, think aboutthese two disciples walking.
They're leaving Jerusalem.
They're going home.
And the moment that the storygets retold and their eyes are
(30:08):
open, what do they do?
Rise and go back.
I don't know about you guys, butI get the impression they went
back a lot faster than they wereleaving.
Uh, Sam's, the one song that Samdid, uh, This is the one we have
(30:29):
waited for.
Like, that's spot on.
It talks about years wasted.
I think that's one of the lines.
Like, God can't wait to retellthat for you.
I truly, truly, deeply believethat there is no such thing as
(30:52):
years wasted when the story isretold by God.
I could look at many parts of mylife and go, I wasted so much
time.
But if I just let the Creator,the reteller of stories, whisper
in my ear, I'll know it to besomething better than I ever
(31:14):
imagined.
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