Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
So I love this clip from the show Seinfeld because
I think what it captures is our human nature pretty well.
You and I. We understand the importance of doing good things,
but we find it hard sometimes to do good things
and not get any credit for it, Even when the
entire point is to bless someone else. There's still part
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of us that is entirely blind to our own self interest.
I mean, doesn't that somewhat describe you? Aren't There areas
of your life where you're doing things for the right reasons,
but if you're honest with yourself, you're often doing it
in the wrong way or with the wrong motivations. You're
doing the right things, but for the wrong reasons. In
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the middle of doing what you know is right, don't
you find a part of you that's still consumed with
insecurity or pride or arrogance. Haven't you even discovered pieces
of your heart that are wrapped up with hatred and
disdain in the middle of doing what is good? Good
like you're trying to stand against something that you know
is wrong, and you find yourself really hating those that
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you blame for what's wrong. Even though we're studying the
Book of Acts right now, I really needed to pause
because of the continued turmoil that's happening in our country
right now. Throughout this week, I tried my best to
write a sermon using Acts four one through twenty two
as a text. But the more I study, the more
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I felt convicted that I just needed to pause and
direct our attention to the words of Jesus. Here. I
think you and I we desperately want to do the
right thing. We desperitely want to do good. We want
to stand for what we know is right. But I
want to remind us this morning that it matters how
we go about doing that. Social media right now is
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ripe with contentious and inflammatory speech on both sides of
the political aisle, people bearing down others, murdering them in
their hearts. As Jesus would say, I've witnessed followers of Christ,
people I know fully engage in that behavior, using profanity,
wishing ill on others, and their attempt to do what's good. Again,
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this is on both sides of the political spectrum. To
be fair, there are plenty of things that are currently
happening that you should have strong feelings about. There are
plenty things that are happening that I have strong feelings
about and to be clear, my intention this morning is
not to zoom in on the political minutia indicating what
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you should think politically, why you should think that. That's
not my point. My intention is that we continue to
press in and learn how to be people who are
engaging with our culture intentionally, that we aren't getting swept
along by the outrage, the panic, the hatred, hysteria. Instead,
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we consider how to anchor ourselves and the hope of
God's coming kingdom, and to use that anchoring thoughtfully as
we are engaging with our culture, as we are engaging
with the world. I am anchored to the hope of Jesus.
I'm submitted myself to the way of Christ. I want
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us to consider what the proper Christian attitude and response
so all that's happening in our culture right now. I
want us to be people who are looking at what's
happening through the lens of God's kingdom. How should I act?
How should I pursue justice? How should I treat others?
In the middle of the pursuit of what I think
is good? Knowing that Jesus is the rightful king. As
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I heard one person say, why would someone want to
be a Christian when all the Christians they know show
absolutely no joy, outraged all the time. Friends, as we
are politically and socially engaged, I want it to be
people who are consumed with the joy of God's coming kingdom.
I want that to be our fuel for our engagement,
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for our care, for our love of other people. I
am consumed with the joy of knowing Jesus Christ. I
don't want us to be people who are primarily influenced
by the voices, the narratives, the dysfunction of this world,
being unhinged, being panicked in our posture. To be clear,
I am not saying that we all need to be
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more passive. I'm not saying that you see to sit
down on your hands and do nothing. I'm not saying
that we shouldn't be concerned. I'm saying that we need
to be anchored in the hope that we have in
the finished work of Jesus. As we are engaged in
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God's kingdom. How and why we do something matters just
as much as what we do in God's kingdom. How
and why we do something that matters to Christ as
much as what we actually do. How we stand against
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the justice, how we speak to those we disagree with,
how we engage with our culture, resisting the things that
we know are wrong, our methods and motivations, these things
need to be renovated. They need to be brought into
submission to Jesus. As I said in the past, I'll
continue to say, we can't build God's kingdom if we're
wielding the weapons of this world. That's not how it
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works in God's Kingdom. How and why we do something
matters just as much as what we do. So that's
what we're going. This's where we're going this morning. That's
what we're wrestling with. This is what we're submitting our
hearts over to the Holy Spirit, saying, will you show
me the truth? What's going on in me? Am I
submitted to your kingdom? In my pursuit of what I
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know is right? Am I lazily uninvolved? Completely? God put
a spotlight on my heart. Help me see where I
am in my pursuit of you. Am I following the
way of Jesus. So 's pray together. As we're preparing
to engage with our Texas morning to God, even this morning,
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may the undertone, even though we are discussing serious topics.
May the undertone be joy, help us not to saw
off the branch that we're sitting on. Even this morning,
as we're talking about the joy of your kingdom, so
the Holy Spirit reaffirmed to us that we are your children.
As Jake was talking about this morning, it's not that
we need to be perfect, but that we need to
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be submitted over to the Holy Spirit, letting the fruits
of His presence in our life come forth. That's what
we ask, Lord, your kingdom come in our lives, in
our hearts, in this church, and may that be the
outflow from which your kingdom is announced to this community,
to this neighborhood, to our co workers, our family, our friends.
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Maybe be people who announce your kingdom. And how and
why we do that be in line with your ways
and your precious and holy name. I pray amen. So
throughout our textaday, Jesus is really criticizing the Pharisees because
of their self interested behaviors. They're doing the right types
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of things, but how and why they are doing them
is completely wrong. They're doing the right types of stuff.
In fact, Jesus repeatedly refers to them as hypocrites with
in the original Greek means actor or someone wearing a mask.
According to Christ, the Pharisees may appear to be loving
and righteous because of their religious deeds, but they're only
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putting on a show and truth. What they're doing is
elevating themselves above other people. They're showing that they are important.
They're the ones who are right, They're the ones who
are better. In the first first of our textaday Matthew
six 's one, Jesus says, be careful not to practice
your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.
This is a good summary of what the Pharisees were doing.
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This is what Jesus was hinting at in Matthew five
point twenty when he tells his disciples that their righteousness
needs to surpass that of the Pharisees. Don't do good
things in order to pridefully elevate yourself above other people.
Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of
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others to be seen by them. If you do, you'll
have no reward from your father in heaven. I think
that's a super interesting thought. Jesus is telling us not
to be consumed with ourselves and then draws attention to
the rewards that we'll get if we're not consumed with ourselves.
That's weird. See, according to Christ, us wanting good things,
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us wanting good things in this world, us wanting good
things for ourselves. That's not the problem. The problem occurs
when I elevate myself above others, treating my humanity, my ideals,
my importance is as superior to other people. According to Christ,
what's the greatest commandment? Matthew twenty two says, love the
Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
with all your mind. That's the first and greatest commandment,
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and the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself.
Have you really thought about the implications of that sentence.
In God's kingdom, relationships are supposed to be two way streets.
We should anticipate a giving and a receiving of love.
In God's Kingdom, there is no us versus them. We
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must desire good things for everyone, even for ourselves when
we're acting properly human. That's the saying goes high tide
raises all boats. Jesus wants us to consider what it
means to do good, but he wants us to see
ourselves as interconnected with all of his with his entire creation.
As we consider that, I must desire the thriving of
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all of God's creation, including myself, including the people I'm
at odds with, including the people I disagree with, the
people I find myself just not liking at all. I
must desire the thriving of all of God's creation. To
follow the way of Jesus is way easier said than
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done with my good deeds, with my political stances, with
my social media presence. When the how and why behind
my posture is really just elevating myself above other people,
dehumanizing and treating as contemptible those I disagree with, then, friends,
that is the bedrock of hypocrisy. I can't stand for
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good and at the same time treat someone as less
than human. I can't build God's kingdom by wielding the
weapons of this world. I can't promote love and at
the same time embrace hate as a tool. I can't
do that. I want us to notice the paradoxical nature
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of this statement here in verse one, compared to just
a few verses earlier in Matthew five sixteen, when Jesus says,
let your light shine before others that they may see
your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven following
the way of Jesus. It's not so simple. There's an
obvious tension here. How can I be careful not to
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practice my righteousness in front of others to be seen
by them, and also let my light shine so that
others can see my good deeds? How can I do
that at the same time. Again, the answer come down
to motives. A theologian Diadrich Bonhoeffer puts it this way.
The righteousness of the disciples must have a motive that
lies beyond itself. Of course, this righteousness must be visible,
but they must take care that it does not become
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visible simply form of becoming visible. Let your light shine
before men, and yet take care that you hide it.
See more and more to me, it seems like anything
that is profoundly valuable in following Jesus has this paradoxical
nature to it. Like is Jesus fully God? Or is
he fully human? Yes? Do the finished work of Jesus Christ.
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Am I fully delivered out of my captivity to sin
in death? Or am I still in change by this
flesh on this side of heaven? Yes, is God completely sovereign?
Or do I have free will? Yes, it's not super
obvious what it means to follow in the way of
Jesus all the time. But friends, if we take two
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steps back, it should be super obvious. When I'm not,
there's obvious tension. We must let our good deeds shine
out like a city on a hill. But at the
same time, we have to resist the temptation to draw
attention to ourselves for the sake of recognition, for the
sake of being right. In other words, when my primary
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motivation is highlighting the goodness of God's kingdom, highlighting the
freedom that we have in Jesus Christ, highlighting the adoption
that we have as sons and daughters of the King
through the finished work of Christ. When my life is
highlighting that good news, then doing good deeds publicly that
is a noble and right pursuit. If what I'm trying
to do is fuel that message, wooing people to the
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good news of Jesus Christ, by all means be a
city on a hill. However, when my primary motivation is
to elevate myself by tearing others down, that's hypocrisy. The
caution here is I can't promote God's kingdom by actively
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hating people. I can't promote God's kingdom by actively hating
people even when their behavior is contemptible, even when I
disdain what they're doing. Regardless of what side of the
political spectrum that you are on, hatred of a person
is anti Kingdom of God. I think that's why we're
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witnessing in our world more and more today. I've said
this before, and this is kind of why I'm really
optimistic about our ability to be witnesses of the Kingdom.
I don't know if there's been more fertile soil that
we exist in right now to show what God's Kingdom
is like than the obvious tension that we're in, but
we can't take advantage of that if we're getting swept
along by everything. I'm super optimistic that we can say
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God's Kingdom is like this. I'm super optimistic that we
can be a city on a hill. The people, they
aren't just standing up for what they believe is right.
As they're doing this, they're actively tearing down others. They're
elevating themselves by showing how contentable someone who thinks differently
than that they do really is. I think this is
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the essence of how the Pharisees were messing up. I
think that this is a Phariseical attitude. The Pharisees weren't
trying to glorify God with their good deeds. They were
trying to be right. They were trying to be important.
They were trying to be loud and noticeable. Friends. I
dare say that when you aggressively call down curses on
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people you disagree with people on the other side of
the political aisle, whoever they are, then you are probably
more in love with being right than you are in
love with God's kingdom breaking in I can't stand up
for doing what is good and at the same time
dehumanize others. It's to dehumanization of people, that is to
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bedrock and fertile soil that bigotry grows. I can and
must agree, must disagree with others, but I can't murder
them in my hearts, even the people that I hold
responsible for some of the poor decisions that are unfolding
in our world today. I can't murder these people in
my heart. To do that is to act like the
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Pharisees in our text today, the passage Jesus gives three
specific examples illustrating how the Pharisees were falling short what
embracing God's kingdom ethic looks like. He mentions giving, praying
and fasting, giving, praying and fasting. Verse two, he says,
so when you give to the needy, don't announce it
with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues on
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the streets, to be honored by others. Truly, I tell
you they've received their reward in full. But when you
give to the needy, do not let your left hand
know what your right hand is doing. So you're giving
maybe in secret, then your father, who sees what's done
in secret, will reward you. When I was a senior
in college, I was an RA at Purdue University, Sorry Mario.
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As a job, I lived in a freshman dorm. I
made sure that all the students there were sort of
acclimating the college. That was my job. Are you following
the rules? I need to make some community events for
the kids get kind of connected. It was a really
awesome gig. I enjoyed it. I think I may have
told this story before, but my senior year, there's a
kid who lived right next to me named Tom, and
I'll be honest, I did not like Tom. I did
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not like Tom at all. There's part of me that
just really wished there anybody except Tom would have lived
right next door to me. He was the most inconsiderate
and like loud, obnoxious, self centered person. I think it
might be on the short list of people I've ever met.
And I don't think I'm exaggerating that he did not
follow a quiet hour for protocol. I had to knock
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on the door all the time, say Tommy, and need
to turn your music down. You know this. I had
to call the campus police on him before, with like
marijuana smoke billowing out of his room, just like all
kinds of stuff. He made my job hard. I found
myself disliking Tom nearly to the point of hating it.
Like I hope he gets expelled that kind of stuff.
I hope bad things happened for Tom so that good
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things can happen for me. I was studying this exact
one evening in my dorm room, and I was considering
how it looks, and I left my left hand or
what my right hand was doing, and wouldn't you know who,
God kept bringing to my mind Tom. Earlier that week,
I had heard him talking on the phone with his mom.
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We lived right next door. He was loud, and he
was talking about like how he didn't have enough money
to pay some bill. I don't remember what it was.
All I know is like, this kid is irresponsible. Partly
was like, yeah, you get what you got coming, dude,
But I had like two hundred dollars cash. I remember
him saying he'd need like one hundred and fifty bucks,
begging his mom for it. It didn't sound like that
she was going to give it to him kind of thing.
And I remember just feeling like the Holy Spirit saying
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you need to give Tom this money, Like I think
this is the wrong Holy Spirit that I'm hearing from
right now. But I found myself putting this in an envelope,
writing his name on it, and then when he wasn't there,
I slid it under his door, and I remember him
discovering this and calling his mom really excitedly, like saying
what had happened. I remember just sitting there sort of smiling,
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like knowing like I just I did that God because
I wanted to love and worship you. I just wanted
to be obedient to you. I remember the Holy Spirit
really stirring my heart in that moment, just saying like, like,
don't let your left hand know what you're right hand doing.
Tom never discovered that the reward that I got partly
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was just like disarming of the hatred that I had
in my heart towards this guy. Like I still didn't
like him, Like I still wasn't like, hey, let's hang out.
But I found myself not wishing ill of him. That
was a pretty good two hundred dollars to spend because
I felt like what I got was like freedom a
little bit, like I was enslaved to this thought. Like, again,
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I don't want to sugarcoat it. I think this is
one of the most inconsiderate people I've ever met. I'm
not trying to say I think it was wise that
I shared this money with him. I'm not trying to
say that he used that properly. I don't know what
he did with the money. All I'm trying to say,
in that moment, I tried to worship God by saying
I want to be obedient to you, and man, I
want this hatred to get dislodged. I can clearly remember
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that moment, All these years later, I can also clearly
remember moments when I've given in generosity when I was
not so like clandestine, like when I was a little
bit more obvious. I went out of my way to
make sure that someone knows, oh, I'm doing a good
thing for you. Almost with that exception, I can remember
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feeling disappointed, upset towards that person when they didn't show
me the right amount of appreciation. I don't even know
if I can quantify what the right amount is, but
I know whatever it was, they never came close to it.
Even though I was doing the right thing, I was
being generous to these people, and that generosity, what I
was really doing was elevating myself above someone else. And
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then I got really annoyed when they didn't humble themselves
before my greatness. What about you think about your acts
of generosity in the past, those times that you freely
shared with people, that you've given them money or your time.
I know that you can think of moments when, like
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your heart was really submitted over to the way of Jesus,
when you're doing the right things and your how and
why was in line with His kingdom. And I know
that you have stories that you could share with the
people at your table of times that you've been generous
and not for necessarily the how and why in line
with God's kingdom. Compare and contrast those. Think about what
God has done in your heart in both of those scenarios. Like,
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both of those scenarios, you did the right thing, right,
you did the right thing, You were generous, but one
was of God's kingdom and the other, frankly it wasn't.
It was of your kingdom. Friends. That's the point I'm
trying to make regarding the tension and the culture that
we have right now. There's a way to stand up
for what you believe is right, what you believe is good.
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There's a way to do that that's in line with
God's kingdom. And there's a way to do that that
is not in line with that's not christ Like at all.
You're doing the right thing, but you're not in line
with God's kingdom as you do it. I would think
about the apostle Peter, right they come to arrest Jesus,
and Peter has the right idea, like Jesus deserves to
be glorified and honored, so he takes out his sword,
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and he like whacks the guy's ear off, like in
defense of Christ. And Jesus rebukes him, and he heals
this man, this person that's come to arrest him and
torture him. Peter was busy doing the right types of
things I need to glorify and honor God. But he
was not of God's kingdom. In that moment, he was
wielding the weapons of the world. Jesus came to disarm
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that stuff in God's kingdom. How and why we do
something matters just as much as what we do Verse five.
When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites, for they
love to pray sitting in the synagogue on the street
corners would be seen by others. Truly, I tell you
they've received their reward in full. But when you pray,
go into your room, close the door, pray to your
father who's unseen. Then your father, who sees what's done
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in secret, will reward you. So as part of their
religious practices, the Jews had two specific times of day
that they prayed. There was the early morning prayer or
the mid morning prayer around nine am, and they also
prayed in the mid day around three pm. This was
like a religious practice. They would drop what they were
doing and they would go to the temple to pray
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or the synagogue. We saw this last week in our
Book of Acts as we were studying that this man
who is paralyzed since birth. Peter and John were on
their way to the temple during the time of prayer
at three PM, and that's what they ran into this guy.
So in our text, what Jesus is criticizing is at
the Pharisees were intentionally going to public places during the
times of prayer because they wanted to make a spectacle
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of themselves. They wanted to be noticed, they wanted to
get recognition. They wanted to show people how important they were.
They're in the marketplaces, on busy corners, they were in
the synagogue, they were showing up anywhere they had a
large crowd. And the reason they were doing this is
because they were trying to elevate themselves above other people.
I am more important than you. Part of our religious
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norms today, we don't have like set times of the
day that we all pray, but we still say that
prayer is a necessary spiritual discipline for someone who's following Christ.
So when you consider how you pray for the injustices
of this world? What does that actually look like? Do
you do what Jesus says? Do you go into your room,
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do you shut the door, do you go to a
private place. Do you pray for your enemy as Christ
tells us to, or do you sort of maybe with
not the exact words you wish ill of people like
is your prayers basically saying God, I wish that you
would strike this person dead or something like this. We
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could do an entire sermon series on just the Lord's prayer,
but for now, I want us to notice how, once
again God's harmonious plan is an action displayed in this prayer.
The pattern of the Lord's prayers unsurprisingly love God and
love others. First part says our Father in heaven, how
it would be your name, your kingdom, Come, Your will
be done on earth as it is in heaven. Just
directing our gaze towards the Lord, it's you, submit myself
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to you. It's your kingdom. Give us, not me, Give
us today our daily bread. Forgive us of our debts,
as we've also forgiven our debtors. Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one. We were created
to live interconnected lives, giving receiving love. Is that motivating
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how and what you're praying, whereas your prayer life us
versus them? Is your prayer life nonexistent when you consider
the injustices of the world or the things that really
bug you politically? Right now? Are you so consumed with
anger and rage that you have no energy left to
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actually pray? You say that you care about stuff and
then fail to pray for it. Lastly, verse sixteen, when
you fast, don't look somber as the hypocrites do, for
they disfigure their faces to show others that they're fasting. Truly,
I tell you they've received their reward in full. But
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when you fast, put oil on your head, wash your
face so that it won't be obvious to others that
you're fasting, But only to your father, who's unseen. And
your father, who sees what's done in secret, will reward you.
At its core, fasting is a spiritual practice where we
deny ourselves so that we can empathize with God. We
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can better understand his pain over the brokenness of the world.
As we choose to fast, Fasting has meant to be
a response to to injustice, training ourselves to to long
for the return of Jesus' kingdom when he'll set everything right.
The Pharisees were drawing attention to theirselves by projecting their
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discomfort as they faster, like I'm so sad, I'm so hungry,
I'm so weak. To draw attention to ourselves as we
fast as ironically a display of everything that's wrong in
the world. Right, that's nothing more than self centeredness. I
want direction to be drawn to me instead of my
heart being drawn to God. You see. I think it's
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good to be in discomfort over the real brokenness of
things that are happening in the world. It's good to
be overcome with grief. But it's not good to broadcast
those feelings for the purpose of gaining attention. It's not
good to broadcast those to show that you're important, that
you're right. It's not good to weaponize those feelings so
you can latch out of other people. If you're truly
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distraught over what's happening socially, culturally, politically, my encouragement to
you is to come up with a plan that you
can fast for that, not because that's a silver bullet
that's going to solve everything. But because as a spiritual discipline,
it humbles you before the Lord. It places you at
the feet of Jesus, longing to see the world through
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his eyes. Lord, what would you have me to do?
How would you have me to love other people? How
would you have me to be involved in bringing what
I believe is your kingdom come on the earth? What
would you have me to do? Lord? It's agreeing with Christ,
surrendering ourselves to his agenda. So again, don't be like
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the Pharisees. Don't advertise that you're fasting. Privately, seek the
Lord's face regarding the injustices, the brokenness, the dysfunction in
the world, for the sake of pursuing what's good. Again,
this is universally true. Regardless of what your political affiliations,
your ideologies, this is universally true. Submit your self to Christ. Again.
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I'm not suggesting that we be passive in our pursuit.
I'm suggesting that how we go pursuing those things has
to be submitted to the rule and reign of Jesus.
I don't think that we should ever open our mouths
without first seeking the face of Christ. If you've not
sought the face of Christ and keep your mouth shut.
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As we start to close, we need to realize that
even as followers are Christ, we have potential to fall
in the same pitfalls that the Pharisees says. Without realizing it,
we could be actively elevating ourselves above others. We may
be wearing a mask of good deeds but using hatred
and dehumanizing behavior as a means to achieve those Matthew
three to two. Jesus condenses the entire years ministry in
this way. Repent He's a change direction for the Kingdom
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of Heaven has come near. Repentance is not a one
time thing, right, This is a daily discipline that we do.
We continue to align our hearts with Christ. We continue
to change direction. We grow in self awareness, saying, hey,
I realize that these things have been festering in my heart.
I realize I've been hating this kid that's been living
next door to me for the entire year. I want
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to repent. I want to change direction of that. It's
a practical way that we participate with the gospel right
now is we continue to grow in self awareness and ask,
Holy Spirit, where are you inviting me to grow? Friends?
Can you imagine what could happen in a church like
ours if we could just take that seriously? Can you
imagine the safety, the healing, the joy of God's kingdom
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breaking in? Can you imagine how we might be released
to mission joining with God where He's already actively at
work in the world. I believe as a church we're
truly on that path. I love being a part of
this church. I truly believe that the Spirit doesn't work
in us. My encouragement to us is that we just
continue to be brave enough to join the Spirit in
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that work. Let's not be content with doing the right
time types of things. Let's pursue Christ glorifying His kingdom
as we do them. So in a moment we're gonna
take communion, But before we do that, I want to
have some time just individual reflective prayer that you could
just ask God, like, Lord, just show me my heart,
like where are their pockets of anti kingdom sort of
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like strongholded me? And not to do that so that
we can curry favor with the Lord, not so that
it's not chastising ourselves, so that we feel better, just saying, Lord,
where can I where can I be more joyful? Like,
where where can I experience the freedom that is your kingdom?
Even more so's spend the next few months praying that
at individually, at our tables. Will you join me in
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a praying this prayer that Jesus left for us, again
not as a silver bullet, but as a way to
humble ourselves before him. So let's pray the Lord's prayer
together as we transition to communion our father in heaven.
How it would be your name, your kingdom. Come, Your
will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
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Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us
not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
So when we meet on a weekly basis, one of
the things that we certainly do is anticipate how we
can learn and grow. And that certainly is my hope
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behind the message today, a little bit that we consider
in what ways the Lord is inviting us to grow.
But that's not the primary reason that we meet on
the Sunday. The primary reason that we meet on a
Sunday is to celebrate the finished work of Jesus Christ.
The truth is God doesn't need our participation at all
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to have his kingdom fully come onto the earth. He
invites us as his children to join him in that.
So tomorrow we're going to take the Lord's Supper together,
and I need us to have that mindset that this
is the absolute, single best news that ever been announced
on this planet, that the most selfless generous act ever
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was done for us through the person of Jesus Christ.
God could have started over. He could have just said, well,
I'm just gonna wipe this out and start again, but
he didn't. He looked at you, he knew you, he
drempt you into existence, and said, I I want relationship
with you. So he willingly died in your place in
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the cross, and he was raised from the dead because
death couldn't hold him. On the night that he's betrayed,
Jesus was setting an example for his followers, an example
of radical generosity, an example of saying, my kingdom is
not of this world. So the night he was betrayed,
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he took bread and he broke it. He said, this
is my body broken for you. I love you to
the extent that I'm willing to lay down my life.
So it's Remmber the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. As we
take commute this bread together. Likewise, after the meal, he
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took a cup of wine, and he said, this is
the blood of the new Covenant. This is a new,
living and active way has been opened up for you
to come to God. Every sacrifice host ever gonna need
to take place is done. It's finished. So he said,
on the cross, it's finished. So as we drink this cup,
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what we're reminding ourselves is that God doesn't view you
as incomplete at all. He doesn't need you to grow
so that he can find you acceptable. Through the finished
work of Jesus Christ. You are fully welcomed into his kingdom.
And now, like a good father, he's putting his arm
around you and saying, son, daughter, this is what my
kingdom's like. This is what we do in this family.
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So let's take the cup and remember the sacrifice of Christ.
God again, more than anything, may our hearts be filled
with the joy of the good news of the gospel
that we were slaves to sin and death, and you
sent Christ to rescue us out of that dominion. A
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new exodus occurred. We were in complete captivity, We were
completely hopelessly trapped and you came as a rescuer and
delivered us out of that into the kingdom of righteousness
and light. May that be the heartbeat of our souls,
that we are redeemed and we are viewed as perfect
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through the lens of your son. So may that joy
and that assurance fuel us as we imagine what it
will be like when your kingdom comes one day and
everything's set to right and we participate in that. Right now,
I pray for a spirit of unity and bond and
peace in this room among these people. I pray that
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that bond of unity and peace extends to how we
treat others. Teach us not to be passive, but he
just to be actively engaged as you were. Help us
to confuse the world like you did a city on
a hill. Send you precious and holy name. We pray amen.
A few announcements before we dismissed today, I sent out
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a message I think yesterday about some dates to kind
of put on your calendar. So the Sunday before Easter,
we're going to have like a pitch in lunch with
Living Faith Church. We're doing this community Easter egg hunt
in partnership with them, So it only makes sense, like
why don't we like link arms with them before that
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day comes. So right after church, we're gonna have a
pitch in lunch. We will provide the main dish. We'll
probably send out some sort of like meal train or
something like that, so we don't get like seventeen macaroni
and cheeses or something like this. So some more details
will come regarding that, but just put that on your calendar.
So the two main things that we want to try
to accomplish is fellowship with these other people that call
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on the same name of Jesus, and at the same
time just trying to get some things in place for
the actual egg hunt. So some people will be like
stuffing eggs, some people will be preparing cookie decorating we're
gonna be doing. Some people will just be out in
the community putting up doorhanngers saying, hey, we're doing this thing.
We're inviting you to come kind of deal. So put
that on your calendar. After church on the Sunday, April thirteenth,
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and then the Saturday before Easter on the nineteenth is
when we're doing the community Easter egg hunt. That'll be
from twelve to two. The slide says we need volunteers
from eleven to three. It's more like ten is about
when we're gonna start needing volunteers again, I'm not asked.
You say I need five hours of your time from
ten to three, I'm saying it's starting at ten. We're
gonna need volunteers. We have a lot of things going on.
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We're gonna need volunteers manning like the bounce house. We're
gonna have cookie decorating, We're gonna have a food the
food there, people just hiding Easter eggs, all kinds of stuff.
The ways that you can get involved. So if you're
an introvert, we got stuff for you to do. We'll
hide you behind the scenes. It won't even matter. If
you're an extrovert. Yeah, we'll put you right out there
hanging out with people. So all I need you to
do is email me and let me know the types
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of things that you're interested in doing, Like you can
just describe it if you're not sure. Is like I
don't want to do anything around people. I can find
something for that. Or it could be like listen, like
I would love to just like hang out and be
out there and hide eggs or whatever. I would love
to see as many people as possible from the church
just loving on the community, being this weird witness. Again,
what I've said is I think people have seen churches
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do Easter egg hunts in the past. That's I'd be like,
oh my gosh. But what they probably haven't seen is
two churches working together to do it. That might be
a strange sort of picture, and that's what I'm hoping
might be. A city on the Hill to them is like,
that's weird. You guys aren't in competition with each other,
like you're just working together. If you have more questions,
you can talk to me about that. But that is it.
I love you. I'd love to talk more if you
guys have reactions or responses to the message today, God
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bless of a good week.
So I love this clip from the show Seinfeld because
I think what it captures is our human nature pretty well.
You and I. We understand the importance of doing good things,
but we find it hard sometimes to do good things
and not get any credit for it, Even when the
entire point is to bless someone else. There's still part
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of us that is entirely blind to our own self interest.
I mean, doesn't that somewhat describe you? Aren't There areas
of your life where you're doing things for the right reasons,
but if you're honest with yourself, you're often doing it
in the wrong way or with the wrong motivations. You're
doing the right things, but for the wrong reasons. In
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the middle of doing what you know is right, don't
you find a part of you that's still consumed with
insecurity or pride or arrogance. Haven't you even discovered pieces
of your heart that are wrapped up with hatred and
disdain in the middle of doing what is good? Good
like you're trying to stand against something that you know
is wrong, and you find yourself really hating those that
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you blame for what's wrong. Even though we're studying the
Book of Acts right now, I really needed to pause
because of the continued turmoil that's happening in our country
right now. Throughout this week, I tried my best to
write a sermon using Acts four one through twenty two
as a text. But the more I study, the more
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I felt convicted that I just needed to pause and
direct our attention to the words of Jesus. Here. I
think you and I we desperately want to do the
right thing. We desperitely want to do good. We want
to stand for what we know is right. But I
want to remind us this morning that it matters how
we go about doing that. Social media right now is
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ripe with contentious and inflammatory speech on both sides of
the political aisle, people bearing down others, murdering them in
their hearts. As Jesus would say, I've witnessed followers of Christ,
people I know fully engage in that behavior, using profanity,
wishing ill on others, and their attempt to do what's good. Again,
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this is on both sides of the political spectrum. To
be fair, there are plenty of things that are currently
happening that you should have strong feelings about. There are
plenty things that are happening that I have strong feelings
about and to be clear, my intention this morning is
not to zoom in on the political minutia indicating what
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you should think politically, why you should think that. That's
not my point. My intention is that we continue to
press in and learn how to be people who are
engaging with our culture intentionally, that we aren't getting swept
along by the outrage, the panic, the hatred, hysteria. Instead,
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we consider how to anchor ourselves and the hope of
God's coming kingdom, and to use that anchoring thoughtfully as
we are engaging with our culture, as we are engaging
with the world. I am anchored to the hope of Jesus.
I'm submitted myself to the way of Christ. I want
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us to consider what the proper Christian attitude and response
so all that's happening in our culture right now. I
want us to be people who are looking at what's
happening through the lens of God's kingdom. How should I act?
How should I pursue justice? How should I treat others?
In the middle of the pursuit of what I think
is good? Knowing that Jesus is the rightful king. As
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I heard one person say, why would someone want to
be a Christian when all the Christians they know show
absolutely no joy, outraged all the time. Friends, as we
are politically and socially engaged, I want it to be
people who are consumed with the joy of God's coming kingdom.
I want that to be our fuel for our engagement,
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for our care, for our love of other people. I
am consumed with the joy of knowing Jesus Christ. I
don't want us to be people who are primarily influenced
by the voices, the narratives, the dysfunction of this world,
being unhinged, being panicked in our posture. To be clear,
I am not saying that we all need to be
(04:40):
more passive. I'm not saying that you see to sit
down on your hands and do nothing. I'm not saying
that we shouldn't be concerned. I'm saying that we need
to be anchored in the hope that we have in
the finished work of Jesus. As we are engaged in
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God's kingdom. How and why we do something matters just
as much as what we do in God's kingdom. How
and why we do something that matters to Christ as
much as what we actually do. How we stand against
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the justice, how we speak to those we disagree with,
how we engage with our culture, resisting the things that
we know are wrong, our methods and motivations, these things
need to be renovated. They need to be brought into
submission to Jesus. As I said in the past, I'll
continue to say, we can't build God's kingdom if we're
wielding the weapons of this world. That's not how it
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works in God's Kingdom. How and why we do something
matters just as much as what we do. So that's
what we're going. This's where we're going this morning. That's
what we're wrestling with. This is what we're submitting our
hearts over to the Holy Spirit, saying, will you show
me the truth? What's going on in me? Am I
submitted to your kingdom? In my pursuit of what I
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know is right? Am I lazily uninvolved? Completely? God put
a spotlight on my heart. Help me see where I
am in my pursuit of you. Am I following the
way of Jesus. So 's pray together. As we're preparing
to engage with our Texas morning to God, even this morning,
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may the undertone, even though we are discussing serious topics.
May the undertone be joy, help us not to saw
off the branch that we're sitting on. Even this morning,
as we're talking about the joy of your kingdom, so
the Holy Spirit reaffirmed to us that we are your children.
As Jake was talking about this morning, it's not that
we need to be perfect, but that we need to
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be submitted over to the Holy Spirit, letting the fruits
of His presence in our life come forth. That's what
we ask, Lord, your kingdom come in our lives, in
our hearts, in this church, and may that be the
outflow from which your kingdom is announced to this community,
to this neighborhood, to our co workers, our family, our friends.
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Maybe be people who announce your kingdom. And how and
why we do that be in line with your ways
and your precious and holy name. I pray amen. So
throughout our textaday, Jesus is really criticizing the Pharisees because
of their self interested behaviors. They're doing the right types
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of things, but how and why they are doing them
is completely wrong. They're doing the right types of stuff.
In fact, Jesus repeatedly refers to them as hypocrites with
in the original Greek means actor or someone wearing a mask.
According to Christ, the Pharisees may appear to be loving
and righteous because of their religious deeds, but they're only
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putting on a show and truth. What they're doing is
elevating themselves above other people. They're showing that they are important.
They're the ones who are right, They're the ones who
are better. In the first first of our textaday Matthew
six 's one, Jesus says, be careful not to practice
your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.
This is a good summary of what the Pharisees were doing.
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This is what Jesus was hinting at in Matthew five
point twenty when he tells his disciples that their righteousness
needs to surpass that of the Pharisees. Don't do good
things in order to pridefully elevate yourself above other people.
Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of
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others to be seen by them. If you do, you'll
have no reward from your father in heaven. I think
that's a super interesting thought. Jesus is telling us not
to be consumed with ourselves and then draws attention to
the rewards that we'll get if we're not consumed with ourselves.
That's weird. See, according to Christ, us wanting good things,
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us wanting good things in this world, us wanting good
things for ourselves. That's not the problem. The problem occurs
when I elevate myself above others, treating my humanity, my ideals,
my importance is as superior to other people. According to Christ,
what's the greatest commandment? Matthew twenty two says, love the
Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
with all your mind. That's the first and greatest commandment,
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and the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself.
Have you really thought about the implications of that sentence.
In God's kingdom, relationships are supposed to be two way streets.
We should anticipate a giving and a receiving of love.
In God's Kingdom, there is no us versus them. We
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must desire good things for everyone, even for ourselves when
we're acting properly human. That's the saying goes high tide
raises all boats. Jesus wants us to consider what it
means to do good, but he wants us to see
ourselves as interconnected with all of his with his entire creation.
As we consider that, I must desire the thriving of
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all of God's creation, including myself, including the people I'm
at odds with, including the people I disagree with, the
people I find myself just not liking at all. I
must desire the thriving of all of God's creation. To
follow the way of Jesus is way easier said than
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done with my good deeds, with my political stances, with
my social media presence. When the how and why behind
my posture is really just elevating myself above other people,
dehumanizing and treating as contemptible those I disagree with, then, friends,
that is the bedrock of hypocrisy. I can't stand for
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good and at the same time treat someone as less
than human. I can't build God's kingdom by wielding the
weapons of this world. I can't promote love and at
the same time embrace hate as a tool. I can't
do that. I want us to notice the paradoxical nature
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of this statement here in verse one, compared to just
a few verses earlier in Matthew five sixteen, when Jesus says,
let your light shine before others that they may see
your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven following
the way of Jesus. It's not so simple. There's an
obvious tension here. How can I be careful not to
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practice my righteousness in front of others to be seen
by them, and also let my light shine so that
others can see my good deeds? How can I do
that at the same time. Again, the answer come down
to motives. A theologian Diadrich Bonhoeffer puts it this way.
The righteousness of the disciples must have a motive that
lies beyond itself. Of course, this righteousness must be visible,
but they must take care that it does not become
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visible simply form of becoming visible. Let your light shine
before men, and yet take care that you hide it.
See more and more to me, it seems like anything
that is profoundly valuable in following Jesus has this paradoxical
nature to it. Like is Jesus fully God? Or is
he fully human? Yes? Do the finished work of Jesus Christ.
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Am I fully delivered out of my captivity to sin
in death? Or am I still in change by this
flesh on this side of heaven? Yes, is God completely sovereign?
Or do I have free will? Yes, it's not super
obvious what it means to follow in the way of
Jesus all the time. But friends, if we take two
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steps back, it should be super obvious. When I'm not,
there's obvious tension. We must let our good deeds shine
out like a city on a hill. But at the
same time, we have to resist the temptation to draw
attention to ourselves for the sake of recognition, for the
sake of being right. In other words, when my primary
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motivation is highlighting the goodness of God's kingdom, highlighting the
freedom that we have in Jesus Christ, highlighting the adoption
that we have as sons and daughters of the King
through the finished work of Christ. When my life is
highlighting that good news, then doing good deeds publicly that
is a noble and right pursuit. If what I'm trying
to do is fuel that message, wooing people to the
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good news of Jesus Christ, by all means be a
city on a hill. However, when my primary motivation is
to elevate myself by tearing others down, that's hypocrisy. The
caution here is I can't promote God's kingdom by actively
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hating people. I can't promote God's kingdom by actively hating
people even when their behavior is contemptible, even when I
disdain what they're doing. Regardless of what side of the
political spectrum that you are on, hatred of a person
is anti Kingdom of God. I think that's why we're
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witnessing in our world more and more today. I've said
this before, and this is kind of why I'm really
optimistic about our ability to be witnesses of the Kingdom.
I don't know if there's been more fertile soil that
we exist in right now to show what God's Kingdom
is like than the obvious tension that we're in, but
we can't take advantage of that if we're getting swept
along by everything. I'm super optimistic that we can say
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God's Kingdom is like this. I'm super optimistic that we
can be a city on a hill. The people, they
aren't just standing up for what they believe is right.
As they're doing this, they're actively tearing down others. They're
elevating themselves by showing how contentable someone who thinks differently
than that they do really is. I think this is
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the essence of how the Pharisees were messing up. I
think that this is a Phariseical attitude. The Pharisees weren't
trying to glorify God with their good deeds. They were
trying to be right. They were trying to be important.
They were trying to be loud and noticeable. Friends. I
dare say that when you aggressively call down curses on
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people you disagree with people on the other side of
the political aisle, whoever they are, then you are probably
more in love with being right than you are in
love with God's kingdom breaking in I can't stand up
for doing what is good and at the same time
dehumanize others. It's to dehumanization of people, that is to
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bedrock and fertile soil that bigotry grows. I can and
must agree, must disagree with others, but I can't murder
them in my hearts, even the people that I hold
responsible for some of the poor decisions that are unfolding
in our world today. I can't murder these people in
my heart. To do that is to act like the
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Pharisees in our text today, the passage Jesus gives three
specific examples illustrating how the Pharisees were falling short what
embracing God's kingdom ethic looks like. He mentions giving, praying
and fasting, giving, praying and fasting. Verse two, he says,
so when you give to the needy, don't announce it
with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues on
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the streets, to be honored by others. Truly, I tell
you they've received their reward in full. But when you
give to the needy, do not let your left hand
know what your right hand is doing. So you're giving
maybe in secret, then your father, who sees what's done
in secret, will reward you. When I was a senior
in college, I was an RA at Purdue University, Sorry Mario.
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As a job, I lived in a freshman dorm. I
made sure that all the students there were sort of
acclimating the college. That was my job. Are you following
the rules? I need to make some community events for
the kids get kind of connected. It was a really
awesome gig. I enjoyed it. I think I may have
told this story before, but my senior year, there's a
kid who lived right next to me named Tom, and
I'll be honest, I did not like Tom. I did
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not like Tom at all. There's part of me that
just really wished there anybody except Tom would have lived
right next door to me. He was the most inconsiderate
and like loud, obnoxious, self centered person. I think it
might be on the short list of people I've ever met.
And I don't think I'm exaggerating that he did not
follow a quiet hour for protocol. I had to knock
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on the door all the time, say Tommy, and need
to turn your music down. You know this. I had
to call the campus police on him before, with like
marijuana smoke billowing out of his room, just like all
kinds of stuff. He made my job hard. I found
myself disliking Tom nearly to the point of hating it.
Like I hope he gets expelled that kind of stuff.
I hope bad things happened for Tom so that good
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things can happen for me. I was studying this exact
one evening in my dorm room, and I was considering
how it looks, and I left my left hand or
what my right hand was doing, and wouldn't you know who,
God kept bringing to my mind Tom. Earlier that week,
I had heard him talking on the phone with his mom.
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We lived right next door. He was loud, and he
was talking about like how he didn't have enough money
to pay some bill. I don't remember what it was.
All I know is like, this kid is irresponsible. Partly
was like, yeah, you get what you got coming, dude,
But I had like two hundred dollars cash. I remember
him saying he'd need like one hundred and fifty bucks,
begging his mom for it. It didn't sound like that
she was going to give it to him kind of thing.
And I remember just feeling like the Holy Spirit saying
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you need to give Tom this money, Like I think
this is the wrong Holy Spirit that I'm hearing from
right now. But I found myself putting this in an envelope,
writing his name on it, and then when he wasn't there,
I slid it under his door, and I remember him
discovering this and calling his mom really excitedly, like saying
what had happened. I remember just sitting there sort of smiling,
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like knowing like I just I did that God because
I wanted to love and worship you. I just wanted
to be obedient to you. I remember the Holy Spirit
really stirring my heart in that moment, just saying like, like,
don't let your left hand know what you're right hand doing.
Tom never discovered that the reward that I got partly
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was just like disarming of the hatred that I had
in my heart towards this guy. Like I still didn't
like him, Like I still wasn't like, hey, let's hang out.
But I found myself not wishing ill of him. That
was a pretty good two hundred dollars to spend because
I felt like what I got was like freedom a
little bit, like I was enslaved to this thought. Like, again,
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I don't want to sugarcoat it. I think this is
one of the most inconsiderate people I've ever met. I'm
not trying to say I think it was wise that
I shared this money with him. I'm not trying to
say that he used that properly. I don't know what
he did with the money. All I'm trying to say,
in that moment, I tried to worship God by saying
I want to be obedient to you, and man, I
want this hatred to get dislodged. I can clearly remember
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that moment, All these years later, I can also clearly
remember moments when I've given in generosity when I was
not so like clandestine, like when I was a little
bit more obvious. I went out of my way to
make sure that someone knows, oh, I'm doing a good
thing for you. Almost with that exception, I can remember
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feeling disappointed, upset towards that person when they didn't show
me the right amount of appreciation. I don't even know
if I can quantify what the right amount is, but
I know whatever it was, they never came close to it.
Even though I was doing the right thing, I was
being generous to these people, and that generosity, what I
was really doing was elevating myself above someone else. And
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then I got really annoyed when they didn't humble themselves
before my greatness. What about you think about your acts
of generosity in the past, those times that you freely
shared with people, that you've given them money or your time.
I know that you can think of moments when, like
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your heart was really submitted over to the way of Jesus,
when you're doing the right things and your how and
why was in line with His kingdom. And I know
that you have stories that you could share with the
people at your table of times that you've been generous
and not for necessarily the how and why in line
with God's kingdom. Compare and contrast those. Think about what
God has done in your heart in both of those scenarios. Like,
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both of those scenarios, you did the right thing, right,
you did the right thing, You were generous, but one
was of God's kingdom and the other, frankly it wasn't.
It was of your kingdom. Friends. That's the point I'm
trying to make regarding the tension and the culture that
we have right now. There's a way to stand up
for what you believe is right, what you believe is good.
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There's a way to do that that's in line with
God's kingdom. And there's a way to do that that
is not in line with that's not christ Like at all.
You're doing the right thing, but you're not in line
with God's kingdom as you do it. I would think
about the apostle Peter, right they come to arrest Jesus,
and Peter has the right idea, like Jesus deserves to
be glorified and honored, so he takes out his sword,
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and he like whacks the guy's ear off, like in
defense of Christ. And Jesus rebukes him, and he heals
this man, this person that's come to arrest him and
torture him. Peter was busy doing the right types of
things I need to glorify and honor God. But he
was not of God's kingdom. In that moment, he was
wielding the weapons of the world. Jesus came to disarm
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that stuff in God's kingdom. How and why we do
something matters just as much as what we do Verse five.
When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites, for they
love to pray sitting in the synagogue on the street
corners would be seen by others. Truly, I tell you
they've received their reward in full. But when you pray,
go into your room, close the door, pray to your
father who's unseen. Then your father, who sees what's done
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in secret, will reward you. So as part of their
religious practices, the Jews had two specific times of day
that they prayed. There was the early morning prayer or
the mid morning prayer around nine am, and they also
prayed in the mid day around three pm. This was
like a religious practice. They would drop what they were
doing and they would go to the temple to pray
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or the synagogue. We saw this last week in our
Book of Acts as we were studying that this man
who is paralyzed since birth. Peter and John were on
their way to the temple during the time of prayer
at three PM, and that's what they ran into this guy.
So in our text, what Jesus is criticizing is at
the Pharisees were intentionally going to public places during the
times of prayer because they wanted to make a spectacle
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of themselves. They wanted to be noticed, they wanted to
get recognition. They wanted to show people how important they were.
They're in the marketplaces, on busy corners, they were in
the synagogue, they were showing up anywhere they had a
large crowd. And the reason they were doing this is
because they were trying to elevate themselves above other people.
I am more important than you. Part of our religious
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norms today, we don't have like set times of the
day that we all pray, but we still say that
prayer is a necessary spiritual discipline for someone who's following Christ.
So when you consider how you pray for the injustices
of this world? What does that actually look like? Do
you do what Jesus says? Do you go into your room,
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do you shut the door, do you go to a
private place. Do you pray for your enemy as Christ
tells us to, or do you sort of maybe with
not the exact words you wish ill of people like
is your prayers basically saying God, I wish that you
would strike this person dead or something like this. We
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could do an entire sermon series on just the Lord's prayer,
but for now, I want us to notice how, once
again God's harmonious plan is an action displayed in this prayer.
The pattern of the Lord's prayers unsurprisingly love God and
love others. First part says our Father in heaven, how
it would be your name, your kingdom, Come, Your will
be done on earth as it is in heaven. Just
directing our gaze towards the Lord, it's you, submit myself
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to you. It's your kingdom. Give us, not me, Give
us today our daily bread. Forgive us of our debts,
as we've also forgiven our debtors. Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one. We were created
to live interconnected lives, giving receiving love. Is that motivating
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how and what you're praying, whereas your prayer life us
versus them? Is your prayer life nonexistent when you consider
the injustices of the world or the things that really
bug you politically? Right now? Are you so consumed with
anger and rage that you have no energy left to
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actually pray? You say that you care about stuff and
then fail to pray for it. Lastly, verse sixteen, when
you fast, don't look somber as the hypocrites do, for
they disfigure their faces to show others that they're fasting. Truly,
I tell you they've received their reward in full. But
(26:28):
when you fast, put oil on your head, wash your
face so that it won't be obvious to others that
you're fasting, But only to your father, who's unseen. And
your father, who sees what's done in secret, will reward you.
At its core, fasting is a spiritual practice where we
deny ourselves so that we can empathize with God. We
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can better understand his pain over the brokenness of the world.
As we choose to fast, Fasting has meant to be
a response to to injustice, training ourselves to to long
for the return of Jesus' kingdom when he'll set everything right.
The Pharisees were drawing attention to theirselves by projecting their
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discomfort as they faster, like I'm so sad, I'm so hungry,
I'm so weak. To draw attention to ourselves as we
fast as ironically a display of everything that's wrong in
the world. Right, that's nothing more than self centeredness. I
want direction to be drawn to me instead of my
heart being drawn to God. You see. I think it's
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good to be in discomfort over the real brokenness of
things that are happening in the world. It's good to
be overcome with grief. But it's not good to broadcast
those feelings for the purpose of gaining attention. It's not
good to broadcast those to show that you're important, that
you're right. It's not good to weaponize those feelings so
you can latch out of other people. If you're truly
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distraught over what's happening socially, culturally, politically, my encouragement to
you is to come up with a plan that you
can fast for that, not because that's a silver bullet
that's going to solve everything. But because as a spiritual discipline,
it humbles you before the Lord. It places you at
the feet of Jesus, longing to see the world through
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his eyes. Lord, what would you have me to do?
How would you have me to love other people? How
would you have me to be involved in bringing what
I believe is your kingdom come on the earth? What
would you have me to do? Lord? It's agreeing with Christ,
surrendering ourselves to his agenda. So again, don't be like
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the Pharisees. Don't advertise that you're fasting. Privately, seek the
Lord's face regarding the injustices, the brokenness, the dysfunction in
the world, for the sake of pursuing what's good. Again,
this is universally true. Regardless of what your political affiliations,
your ideologies, this is universally true. Submit your self to Christ. Again.
(29:04):
I'm not suggesting that we be passive in our pursuit.
I'm suggesting that how we go pursuing those things has
to be submitted to the rule and reign of Jesus.
I don't think that we should ever open our mouths
without first seeking the face of Christ. If you've not
sought the face of Christ and keep your mouth shut.
(29:27):
As we start to close, we need to realize that
even as followers are Christ, we have potential to fall
in the same pitfalls that the Pharisees says. Without realizing it,
we could be actively elevating ourselves above others. We may
be wearing a mask of good deeds but using hatred
and dehumanizing behavior as a means to achieve those Matthew
three to two. Jesus condenses the entire years ministry in
this way. Repent He's a change direction for the Kingdom
(29:50):
of Heaven has come near. Repentance is not a one
time thing, right, This is a daily discipline that we do.
We continue to align our hearts with Christ. We continue
to change direction. We grow in self awareness, saying, hey,
I realize that these things have been festering in my heart.
I realize I've been hating this kid that's been living
next door to me for the entire year. I want
(30:11):
to repent. I want to change direction of that. It's
a practical way that we participate with the gospel right
now is we continue to grow in self awareness and ask,
Holy Spirit, where are you inviting me to grow? Friends?
Can you imagine what could happen in a church like
ours if we could just take that seriously? Can you
imagine the safety, the healing, the joy of God's kingdom
(30:33):
breaking in? Can you imagine how we might be released
to mission joining with God where He's already actively at
work in the world. I believe as a church we're
truly on that path. I love being a part of
this church. I truly believe that the Spirit doesn't work
in us. My encouragement to us is that we just
continue to be brave enough to join the Spirit in
(30:55):
that work. Let's not be content with doing the right
time types of things. Let's pursue Christ glorifying His kingdom
as we do them. So in a moment we're gonna
take communion, But before we do that, I want to
have some time just individual reflective prayer that you could
just ask God, like, Lord, just show me my heart,
like where are their pockets of anti kingdom sort of
(31:17):
like strongholded me? And not to do that so that
we can curry favor with the Lord, not so that
it's not chastising ourselves, so that we feel better, just saying, Lord,
where can I where can I be more joyful? Like,
where where can I experience the freedom that is your kingdom?
Even more so's spend the next few months praying that
at individually, at our tables. Will you join me in
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a praying this prayer that Jesus left for us, again
not as a silver bullet, but as a way to
humble ourselves before him. So let's pray the Lord's prayer
together as we transition to communion our father in heaven.
How it would be your name, your kingdom. Come, Your
will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
(32:02):
Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us
not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
So when we meet on a weekly basis, one of
the things that we certainly do is anticipate how we
can learn and grow. And that certainly is my hope
(32:24):
behind the message today, a little bit that we consider
in what ways the Lord is inviting us to grow.
But that's not the primary reason that we meet on
the Sunday. The primary reason that we meet on a
Sunday is to celebrate the finished work of Jesus Christ.
The truth is God doesn't need our participation at all
(32:46):
to have his kingdom fully come onto the earth. He
invites us as his children to join him in that.
So tomorrow we're going to take the Lord's Supper together,
and I need us to have that mindset that this
is the absolute, single best news that ever been announced
on this planet, that the most selfless generous act ever
(33:06):
was done for us through the person of Jesus Christ.
God could have started over. He could have just said, well,
I'm just gonna wipe this out and start again, but
he didn't. He looked at you, he knew you, he
drempt you into existence, and said, I I want relationship
with you. So he willingly died in your place in
(33:27):
the cross, and he was raised from the dead because
death couldn't hold him. On the night that he's betrayed,
Jesus was setting an example for his followers, an example
of radical generosity, an example of saying, my kingdom is
not of this world. So the night he was betrayed,
(33:48):
he took bread and he broke it. He said, this
is my body broken for you. I love you to
the extent that I'm willing to lay down my life.
So it's Remmber the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. As we
take commute this bread together. Likewise, after the meal, he
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took a cup of wine, and he said, this is
the blood of the new Covenant. This is a new,
living and active way has been opened up for you
to come to God. Every sacrifice host ever gonna need
to take place is done. It's finished. So he said,
on the cross, it's finished. So as we drink this cup,
(34:33):
what we're reminding ourselves is that God doesn't view you
as incomplete at all. He doesn't need you to grow
so that he can find you acceptable. Through the finished
work of Jesus Christ. You are fully welcomed into his kingdom.
And now, like a good father, he's putting his arm
around you and saying, son, daughter, this is what my
kingdom's like. This is what we do in this family.
(34:54):
So let's take the cup and remember the sacrifice of Christ.
God again, more than anything, may our hearts be filled
with the joy of the good news of the gospel
that we were slaves to sin and death, and you
sent Christ to rescue us out of that dominion. A
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new exodus occurred. We were in complete captivity, We were
completely hopelessly trapped and you came as a rescuer and
delivered us out of that into the kingdom of righteousness
and light. May that be the heartbeat of our souls,
that we are redeemed and we are viewed as perfect
(35:41):
through the lens of your son. So may that joy
and that assurance fuel us as we imagine what it
will be like when your kingdom comes one day and
everything's set to right and we participate in that. Right now,
I pray for a spirit of unity and bond and
peace in this room among these people. I pray that
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that bond of unity and peace extends to how we
treat others. Teach us not to be passive, but he
just to be actively engaged as you were. Help us
to confuse the world like you did a city on
a hill. Send you precious and holy name. We pray amen.
A few announcements before we dismissed today, I sent out
(36:24):
a message I think yesterday about some dates to kind
of put on your calendar. So the Sunday before Easter,
we're going to have like a pitch in lunch with
Living Faith Church. We're doing this community Easter egg hunt
in partnership with them, So it only makes sense, like
why don't we like link arms with them before that
(36:45):
day comes. So right after church, we're gonna have a
pitch in lunch. We will provide the main dish. We'll
probably send out some sort of like meal train or
something like that, so we don't get like seventeen macaroni
and cheeses or something like this. So some more details
will come regarding that, but just put that on your calendar.
So the two main things that we want to try
to accomplish is fellowship with these other people that call
(37:07):
on the same name of Jesus, and at the same
time just trying to get some things in place for
the actual egg hunt. So some people will be like
stuffing eggs, some people will be preparing cookie decorating we're
gonna be doing. Some people will just be out in
the community putting up doorhanngers saying, hey, we're doing this thing.
We're inviting you to come kind of deal. So put
that on your calendar. After church on the Sunday, April thirteenth,
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and then the Saturday before Easter on the nineteenth is
when we're doing the community Easter egg hunt. That'll be
from twelve to two. The slide says we need volunteers
from eleven to three. It's more like ten is about
when we're gonna start needing volunteers again, I'm not asked.
You say I need five hours of your time from
ten to three, I'm saying it's starting at ten. We're
gonna need volunteers. We have a lot of things going on.
(37:52):
We're gonna need volunteers manning like the bounce house. We're
gonna have cookie decorating, We're gonna have a food the
food there, people just hiding Easter eggs, all kinds of stuff.
The ways that you can get involved. So if you're
an introvert, we got stuff for you to do. We'll
hide you behind the scenes. It won't even matter. If
you're an extrovert. Yeah, we'll put you right out there
hanging out with people. So all I need you to
do is email me and let me know the types
(38:13):
of things that you're interested in doing, Like you can
just describe it if you're not sure. Is like I
don't want to do anything around people. I can find
something for that. Or it could be like listen, like
I would love to just like hang out and be
out there and hide eggs or whatever. I would love
to see as many people as possible from the church
just loving on the community, being this weird witness. Again,
what I've said is I think people have seen churches
(38:36):
do Easter egg hunts in the past. That's I'd be like,
oh my gosh. But what they probably haven't seen is
two churches working together to do it. That might be
a strange sort of picture, and that's what I'm hoping
might be. A city on the Hill to them is like,
that's weird. You guys aren't in competition with each other,
like you're just working together. If you have more questions,
you can talk to me about that. But that is it.
I love you. I'd love to talk more if you
guys have reactions or responses to the message today, God
(38:58):
bless of a good week.
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