Unedited Transcript follows:

00:00
Name of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy spirit. Amen. We normally haven't celebrated a Ascension of like, sometimes we haven't celebrated Ascension at all as a church, it's uh kind of a fat the reality of being a mobile church and spread out a really long way.

00:21
Sometimes we struggle to Get all together on a Thursday and have that, um, be something that would be Um, we do that. Sometimes we do some midweek stuff, but that would, it's usually a smaller service. It's just hard for people to get out, like, on a Thursday evening and, and get to church.

00:38
So, um, I thought it'd be neat this year to intentionally celebrate a Ascension. On a Sunday when, when everyone was planning to come out and they could come out. So, this is actually the Sunday after Ascension, which we would have read a different set of colics different set of readings, But we decided this day to say, let's let's make a lot out of the Ascension, which gives us a an opportunity to have a sermon on Ascension.

01:05
You guys normally only get to hear sermons about Jesus being King on Christ. The King Sunday, which is the last Sunday of the liturgical year, but Ascension is like the day most rooted to Jesus life, where we can talk about him being King, which is neat. And we prayed today, Mighty God who's only begotten son.

01:25
Our Lord, Jesus Christ ascended into heaven. Our hearts and Minds also their Ascent and with him continually dwell. So, we pray. And what we see in that prayer, Is that we? We we recognize there's this grounding for that prayer. Like what we're asking the Lord, we're asking the Lord for our Ascent, right?

01:46
But we start with this grounding for this petition and the grounding for the petition is the Lord Jesus Christ ascended, right? So that's where we start, that's the starting place for this prayer. A lot of times colics are going to ground the petitions in various truths about God. And so we're grounding our petition that we may there with him Ascend in.

02:08
This fact about who God is and this fact about Jesus Christ ascending The Lord Jesus Christ. Descended. And and when we think about his Ascension, it's really his his coronation day. In the book of Acts. Which we read at a loop, prefaces the Ascension with a discussion of the Kingdom.

02:31
Is. Now the time that the kingdom is going to be restored to Jerusalem is what Jesus was asked and this is what Is the precursor for this event of Ascension. Jesus disciples had a really limited understanding of what that meant. You know, they were asking, hey is this the time that the right people are in charge in Jerusalem?

02:56
Right. And and instead of the occupiers, you know, But like is this the time that the right people are in charge in Jerusalem? And the coming event was. Both less and more. Than what they were expecting. It was less in the sense that She just didn't kick out the Romans, right then, right?

03:18
So it was less in that sense, but it was more in the sense that they watched their Lord Ascend as king over the entire world, right? So they they had a really limited scope, really? It's like oh Jesus rose from the dead. This guy that they killed that they said wasn't the Messiah rose from the dead showed.

03:40
He was now it's time for him to kick out the Romans and be king over Jerusalem. Said, well, it's less than that. And that I'm not kicking out the Romans, but it's much more than that. I'm ascending not a not as king over Jerusalem. But as king over the world.

03:58
As king over the entire world, I'm ascending. The Ephesians reading that we read, today is packed with meaning. The reason we read it though isn't for the first part. It's for that last part verses 20 to 23. And Saint Paul kind of Does what he does which is like I I say Saint Paul is like in our scriptures is like the stream of Consciousness writer.

04:29
So like he just like starts writing and he he starts doing one thing. He's unpacking the The. Um, that God, that he's asking to be present in the life of the Saints. But then he ends up just kind of like, Rolling with it. And then he ends up talking about this might demonstrated in the Ascension of Jesus and what it like, and he just kind of Ends in a different place than he began, which is kind of fun.

04:57
When you're learning Greek, it's not fun. I told I, I told my fellow Greek students. That the first thing I'm doing in the Kingdom is finding Paul and saying can you mix in a period? You know, like Uh, it would it would really help someone who doesn't understand this language.

05:14
If you if you ended a sentence somewhere, uh, and just keep going. Uh, and uh, but this is what he does. So he starts here and he ends up talking about the Ascension in verses 20 to 23. Just kind of unpacking this might, that's at work. He uses a perfect tense verb.

05:33
When he says that he worked in Christ Jesus. When he raised him from the dead that he worked that word worked. He uses the present tense. We don't really have are the perfect tense. I mean, he doesn't like we don't really have the perfect tense in the same way.

05:45
It's like something that happened in the past with continuing results now. So it's something that God already did and then there's stuff still happening. It's not it's the least common. Tense in Greek. So like when they do it, it's on purpose. You want to zoom in on that, you want to say, okay, why why perfect?

06:02
So, he's talking about a working that takes place that took place in the past and as continuing ramifications for now continuing to be worked out now. And so, he's like, Say hey. He raised him from the dead and seated him. When he did these things, when he worked this power, he he did something in the past that has ramifications for right now.

06:26
When you guys are reading, He has this use of this plural, and the singular, you might notice. In verse 21, it's like all singular. Far above. Well, it says all rule which might which might lead you to be confused but every rule Um, our power or authority, we're using singular here.

06:50
So so Paul's in the the singular he's using all singular. If that's ambiguous in the English, it's not. Um, in the Greek, but the singular, every rule, every Power, every Authority, and then in verse 22, he switches to the plural, he put all things under his feet. So so you want to get this sense of this, all-encompassing thing he's doing he's saying, is there any individual thing?

07:18
You can think of Jesus is King over that. And then he summarizes by saying, He's King over everything. All things all the things, so Everything and all the things, right? Jesus is King over everything and all the things, right? So anything you can think of Jesus Reigns over it.

07:42
Governmental authorities, power structures, political parties. Uh, bosses that are painting, all Jesus Reigns as king. Over all in every individual thing in every Power and every Authority, Jesus Reigns as king. That means every other power is ultimately. Impotent. Not powerful. Only ruling with authority, that God lets them use.

08:17
Right. And and so every other ruler in every Power and just a second Can we just? Pause. And remember this every presidential election. Just pause and remember who's And who Reigns over every Rule and power in every Authority and who stays King? Um, and then all the Lesser authorities are just that.

08:43
There are lesser authorities. It's not that they don't matter. But Jesus is ultimately King overall, right? Now we struggle with this reality of Jesus being King over all as people that have spent their whole lives. Um, most of us in a democratic Republic, right? So we struggle with this reality.

09:07
The, the government that's exalted by the scriptures, if you're like, what's the governmental system in the Holy scriptures, it's not democracy. It's a benevolent monarchy. It's, it's a good King, reigning. Over the whole world, this is the governmental system of the scriptures. So, and democracy. Um, impact, like it can exalt certain aspects of the Christian message.

09:33
Even that there's some alignment with like, individuals being created in the image of God. There's things like this that are good and exalted in that. But ultimately, Jesus as king or there being a good King over. The world is what the scriptures are talking about when they talk about government.

09:52
Talking about a monarchy and a king. So, We don't. Vote. Jesus into office. He hasn't asked for our vote. Um, We we use language and and we mean something good, but we'll use language. Like, have you made Jesus the Lord? Of your life. You you can't make Jesus Lord of anything.

10:19
You're you have no more power to make Jesus Lord than you do. Have to make the sky blue. Okay. You have, you have no power to make Jesus Lord, he is Lord and King overall whether or not you regard him as Lord and King over all or not. It has nothing to do with what he is.

10:36
This is an important thing. You can't make reality of anything. Like we we tell ourselves. A lie, a little bit like you don't make anything. And Jesus is king or is not King regardless of your perception of him. He's not relying on you. To record to, to make his kingship.

11:00
Like he's not relying on you to. Give him his power. He doesn't have a delegated Authority. He doesn't govern by the consent of the governed. Okay. So this isn't, this isn't Jesus just rules, okay? And this is and and we are given we can either recognize his lordship now or do it later when every tongue confesses in every knee bows to the king and king and Lord of lords.

11:30
But those are the two options available to us recognize Jesus as king and Lord of all now or do it later when every knee bows and every tongue confesses that he is Lord over all okay? Those are our Ops. It's important to say that because we got to put ourselves in our place like we have a really exalted view of what we're able to enact and what we're able to do, it's important to recognize that what's true about Jesus is true about him regardless of what you think and regardless of what I think.

12:04
He's King overall. But more importantly than that, Jesus is reigning as a good King. And he's extending his good and righteous rule. See I I have good news for you. Jesus is King. And his Reign and rule is righteous. This is so much more. Than like a dunk on people who disagree with you about some political point.

12:30
Jesus is King ha. So therefore like it's someone Jesus being King is the is the react this reality is that there is a good and righteous and mighty ruler who is reigning over all? That is happening in the world. And he's gracious. And he's loving. Any sacrificial. And he he's the he's the weird King who gives his life for his subjects, Jesus is reigning as king.

13:02
And he's a good King and he's a loving King, and he's a righteous King. He's a humble King. So it's good news. Jesus is King, it's humbling. It puts us in our place but we recognize that this is good news. Because Jesus is a good King. And we can trust him.

13:23
So, he ascends his King but also when we look at this, Grounding for our petition, that the Lord ascended. Jesus also ascends as our priest. He ascends as our priests. Now, our texts don't really address this today. But Hebrews 7, 25. Tells us that Jesus always lives to make intercession for us.

13:44
Jesus always lives to make intercession for us. That he's like that. He's praying for us to the father that he's laying us before the father as our intercessor. He's, he's he's praying for us. I get this. Picture. Um, it reminds me of Moses. Have you been reading through the morning prayer readings?

14:04
In the book of Deuteronomy, you have Moses kind of retelling the story. Um, and, and you might notice overnight, I mean, besides when Moses, every so often'll, be like, because of you. I'm not going in the land. He does that some too, you know, I any and he reminds them of that a couple times like it's your fault really.

14:21
You know, that I'm not going. But um, but I think what we see more is him saying You angered the Lord, when you made the calf and then I interceded for you. And I prayed for you and the Lord showed you Mercy, And he and he has various times that, he tells them You win, you rebelled against God, I prayed for you and the Lord said Mercy, This he, when he does that, and Moses does that a lot?

14:52
Throughout the Exodus. He's he's a type of Jesus, he's pointing us toward Jesus. And who Jesus is, you know, he's going up on the mountain and the clouds covering him and he's interceding for his people. And he's praying for his people. And we have Jesus ascending into heaven, into the clouds, the clouds covering him and he's interceding for his people.

15:12
He's praying for his people and saying, although they may be rebellious. Show them Mercy. Now it's important when we talk about Jesus, intercession that we don't get the wrong picture. It's not an angry father who's like, I'm ready to go judge and then Jesus begging trying to talk him out of it.

15:29
You know, God's mad Jesus is talking him out of it, you know? And and this that's not the picture of intercession God gave us the intercessor. God gave us Moses or and God gave us Jesus who intercedes for us on our behalf, God gave the people, both Moses and Jesus a gift from God to intercede on their behalf because he loves us.

15:54
So the father gives us. The son is an intercessor. Because he loves us. The father gave his son. That's the story. It's not. The father was really angry and the Uh, the sun helped us out. Thanks Peter God, he rescued us from a mad father. It's the father gave the son, right.

16:14
And the son is interceding for us because the father gave him to us as a gift. And so we have this Jesus ascended, as king ruling righteously, and you also have the Eternal Son of God. The word made flesh. To make intercession for you. This is what we. This is what we ground this prayer in on Ascension is these realities.

16:40
This reigning King, this reigning priest. And so, then we get to asking the Lord for something in our prayer today. We ask May our hearts and Minds also there Ascend. To have it, right? May our hearts and minds also their Ascent. See the Lord Jesus Christ, ascended. As a, as a king, he ascended as a priest, but he also ascended as a human being He's a man.

17:10
Um, he's human. And today he's human, so he didn't, like he didn't Ascend into heaven and then like stop being human, right? He ascended into heaven as a human at the Incarnation, understand something. If the Incarnation of the Eternal, Son of God Jesus became human. He the Eternal Son of God wasn't human before that he became human, and then he will always be human from now on.

17:37
He's always human. So like Can. You can have some fun. Tell people. Hey, I worship a human being. You do. You worship a human uh by virtue of his deity, you know. Um, so yeah. You worship a human by virtue of his deity because he's God you worship him and he's a human.

17:58
And what he did is he brought Humanity Up with him into the heavenlies in Ephesians 1 20. What we read today, that word seated, he seated him with him in the Heavenly places. That's the same verb root is is what's used in Ephesians 2 6, seated us with him, You know in the Heavenly seated us with him in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus, what?

18:23
So like not not even like a whole chapter later. You're gonna have Paul saying, you know, he seated Jesus. Um, Next to him, he seated us with him. Both past tense, right? He seated us with him because what what Jesus brought is he brought all of humanity, along with him, into the heavenlies to be seated.

18:48
And look closely at verses. 22 and 23. It says he gave him his head over all things to the church past tense. Which is his body. The fullness of him who fills all in all just pause for a second. He's talking about the Which is his body. And then he says the fullness of him.

19:13
Who dwells in all and is in all, hold on. He's saying the church has the fullness of the presence of God within it because of our Union with Jesus, that we have been given Jesus as a gift as head over the church. And the church is his body and the fullness of his presence dwells in the church, What?

19:37
We're that United with Jesus that we can say. Where the churches Jesus is. Where the churches Jesus is. The catechism of the Catholic church says the word became flesh to make us partakers of the divine nature. For this is why the word became man and the Son of God became the son of man.

20:04
So that Man by entering into communion with the word and thus receiving Divine, sonship might become a Son of God. God became, man. So that man might become oh Little G gods, right? That's what athanasius said, right, but God became man. So that man might become partaker what he meant and what he he didn't know how weird, some people would get with it, right?

20:30
So like, uh, so some people got really weird with it but what he meant is that they would be so United with Jesus and so much partakers in Union with God, that they are participating, which is what the scriptures say in the divine nature that we participated by Nature, were pulled into the life of God when Jesus ascends.

20:52
He pulls us up with him to be partakers of the divine nature. Truly United with him. His victory is ours. When he becomes a human and stays a human forever. He takes on for our good and he's forever linked with us. It's important to recognize hey desire for Glory.

21:17
Is not going away. You're I I know if you if I were to say to you, I desire glory. I already just tell you that. I want the glory. I want Glory. You say you have a problem, right? I know you'd be tempted to and you'd be right, if if I especially I said I want the glory like, like, that's what they, but that might be a bit much.

21:45
She's like uh, but but I want Glory, but let me tell you something. You want Glory. And I want Lori. And it's not a result of the fall. It's because God made us his image bearers and as co-rulers with him, He made us to rule with him. So why?

22:04
If I, if I came to you and I made a really nasty negative comment Whatever. Nice things. We'll sell you this morning would fade. And, Why would that be the thing? Like in your? It's because You desire glory and I do it's a subset of our desire for immortality.

22:25
We want immortality because we were made to be Immortal. And that the the fact that we die and are forgotten Is a result of sin. It was, it's not God's. Design that we would die and be forgotten. And so you and I have a desire for Glory that just won't quit.

22:46
But we realize as though that the way that we see that desire fulfilled is in our Union with Jesus. And to recognize that his Ascension is ours. And that ultimately will reign with him. The end of the story is we reign with him in the world that he's made new.

23:04
That's the end of the story. We As partakers in divine nature reign with God in the world that he's freed from the effects of sin and death. That's the end of the story and that's where that desire for Glory is met. Seek to meet it in all sorts of ways, that'll never work.

23:19
Um, you'll you you probably won't be the fastest or strongest person in any given room, let alone. In a nation, you know. So like you're you're like that's not the way to seek Glory, the way to seek. Glory is our Union with Jesus who raises us up and seats.

23:37
With him in the Heavenly places. So we prayed in our calls today that we believe Jesus to have ascended. And may, we also Ascend today's a day that we remember our Lord Jesus ascended into heaven, That he ascended his King. Who is reigning and and this is his coronation day, he's reigning as King over all the world.

23:59
And he's extending his righteous rule over all the world and he also ascended as our priest who lives to make intercession for us and to pray for us. And today we also recognize that in Christ's Ascension. He yanked Humanity up with him. And we're invited into participation in the glory that he has.

24:19
And that that Glory, that desire for Glory is only going to be fulfilled in Christ. So may God answer our prayer. Today that as we believe that Jesus has ascended, May also there Ascend. Amen. 

Unedited automatic Transcript:

In the name of God, the Father, the Son, the Holy Amen. All right, so this morning, I'm going to start off by asking you a tough question. And what do you think of someone, uh, you know, or maybe you don't know who recently experienced some kind of misfortune?

And that Misfortune might have given you just a little bit of pleasure when you heard about it. Maybe it was someone you know, uh directly. Like it could be a co-worker, family member in-law. Or maybe it was a public figure like I don't know, perhaps one or both of our current presidential candidates.

And before going any further, I want you to check to make sure that this feeling you felt was, uh, not, uh, a proper desire for justice to be served. If the situation called for it, because to be clear, we all want Justice. That's a good thing. I want you to check to see if This feeling of was related to the Joy at the shame and ridicule others experienced.

Rightly or wrongly. So, think about that. Um, And this is an effective test that those two things one, it helps identify who our enemies might be. Uh, if we're having a hard time identifying them, But also is a decent indicator of how much we're loving them. And unfortunately I frequently flunk this test Um, And that reveals instances I fail to follow God's commands to love others including our enemies.

So this test is really valuable and I highly recommend you've made it part of your regular thought and prayer life. It's an effective way for seeing specific instances, where we are sinning by, not loving our neighbors. And we need to see this. We need to see our sins before we can repent.

We need to identify when those, we get those feelings. Again, those feelings of joy and others Misfortune, so we can stop them. To instead replace them with sincere prayers to those. We don't like and to confess our hateful thoughts. Jesus never said, we wouldn't have enemies because he knew we would You just told us to love one another including our enemies.

So, why did Jesus command us to love others? What did he mean by it? What are ways we can show love towards others. Hopefully today's passage in the Gospel of John will help shed light on this question. I should add it's also very much in sync. With the first John reading, you can tell it's written by the same guy on a very similar topic.

We'll focus on the gospel today and as we'll see, it will show that to experience his love and joy. God asks us to love others, through our actions. So the passage begins with Jesus telling his disciples that his love for them, was based on the Father's, Love For him.

And then he tells his disciples to abide in his love. What he's doing is he's asking the disciples to make his love for them, the basis, for their identity. We, as Believers, we are to see ourselves as those Jesus loves. That Jesus didn't expands what it means to be one whom Jesus loves will abide in his loves.

In his love, he asked him to follow his Commandments. Which he tells him. He modeled for us by keeping the Commandments of the father. So Jesus says the result of remaining in Jesus of following his Commandments is that we'll experience the fullness of joy. Now it's interesting when I've read that that seems a bit contrary to a lot of views that we have today about commitments and rules, because we generally don't like the idea of rules being imposed on us.

And many of God's Commandments especially on certain ethics are see as many as oppressive today. Uh, we see him as wine at best snuff out fun and joy, but at worst deny who we are as a human. What's interesting is Jesus is saying the complete opposite of that. He has said, he has come to make us more fully human, not less.

God's commands are whose desires the humans he created to run on, think about like gas for a car. If you put diesel or you put something other than gas into your engines, It will start running sub-optimally to say the least. And it's the same with not following God's commands.

Following them towards us more and more into creatures capable experiencing the joy that Earthly Pleasures are only meant to point to. And that's because Heavenly Pleasures are impossible to fully comprehend. And sin is when we take those good Earthly Pleasures things like sex and food. That point to the end God's design for us sin is when we take those Earthly Pleasures into the end themselves, that's what sin is.

And sin does tempt us with the promise of pleasure. They can sometimes deliver in the short term. We all know from personal experience, the ultimate result of sin leaves you far, worse off. You eventually feel regret and despair, not Joy. You feel more distant from the Creator. Jesus, then spells out what he means by God's commands, what by following them?

Results to experience the fullest joy that joy that sin tries to counterfeit. His command to them is to love one another as he loved us. And this is very consistent across scripture, especially the gospels. In Jesus summary of the greatest commandment in Matthew 22 and we just did in the Liturgy.

A few moments ago, he said to love God, with all your heart, your soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. It's also consistent with this command on The Sermon, on the Mount, to love your enemies. Our response to God's love for us for us, abiding in his love is to love others.

That's Inseparable for how we show our own love for God. To experience his love and joy. God asks us to love others through our actions. So what might Jesus mean by loving one another because he doesn't really offer a recipe in this passage Could he mean what love comes to signify for a lot of people today, a strong warm emotional feeling towards someone else.

Well, I think it certainly could and should involve your feelings, certainly at some point. But as Jesus explains in the next verse our love for others is not rooted in our feelings. He talks about instead demonstrated by our actions, Jesus says greater love has known than this. That someone lay down his life for his friends.

Now to be clear Jesus is not making a mandate that all his followers must. You have themselves die for the sake of their friends. He's not that's not his point. What he's stressing? Is that we all follow his commands, love others through our selfless, actions towards them. That's we stress and lay down one's life.

For a friend is just the greatest expression of a selfless action. And obviously Jesus definitely practicing what he's preaching here as he will lay down his life on the cross for all of humanity. He is setting the model for us to follow following God's commands to love others, involves acting sacrificially on their behalf.

To experience his love and joy. God asks us to love others through our actions. Jesus, then tells his disciples, they are his friends. If they do, what he just commanded to do them to do to love others. He's tying his friendship to his followers with their commitment to following his Commandments.

Uh, and this is, as I just said rooted in their love of God and others as they what they express with their actions, Time and time again. Jesus along with all scripture emphasizes that our present actions matter. Present actions, really matter. And I want to be clear having an intellectual belief in God experiencing God.

Agree with poor Christian doctrines. These are all vital to our faith. I definitely don't want to diminish any of those things. But how we act towards others is the measure Jesus. Very often uses. To express our faithfulness to him. And the parable of sheep and the goats Jesus directly ties our caring for the needy as caring for him.

And he ties our Eternal Destinies. With whether we do this or not, And why is this is it because Jesus is grading us on a pass fail basis for how? Well, we do that. Definitely not because All of us would feel miserably. We definitely cannot earn our Salvation that way.

But our actions do reflect the type of person. We are becoming how we act is reflecting who we are, where we are, becoming, are we allowing the Holy Spirit to turn us more and more into a person who is able to tell God thy will be done. And that's evident from our actions.

That's the kind of person being prepared for an attorney with our creator, a kind of person. Jesus calls friends who abide in his love. On the other hand. Those who continue to resist following God's commands to love him and others. Who refused to allow the Holy Spirit to shape their lives.

These people are ultimately worshiping themselves instead of the Creat. Path leads to death and destruction and that's why those people after they've exhausted enough opportunities. God looks at them with great regret and tells them thy will be done. And that's what judgment is. God allowing Sinners to fully face the consequences of their own thoughts and actions.

To experience his love and joy. God asked us to love others through our actions. Jesus then tells them that he no longer calls them servants, but friends, because unlike servants, they know what their Master is doing. This also seems a bit weird. Because I normally you tell commands to servants, not friends.

Uh, I definitely don't require my friends to like obey my Commandments. That'd be definitely weird. So, so what's Jesus getting out of here? Well, he's telling his disciples, his, his friends to obey his Commandments because they understand his will They're cultivating a shared mind with Jesus, a shared mind with God.

Jesus saying that his friends, those who abide in his love, they know what God's ultimate purpose is. So he followed God's commands. Not because of simple obligation like servants. But because of their love for God. Their desire to be shaped more and more like him. This is what it means to be a friend of Jesus, a follower of Christ.

This is what means to be a Christian to experience his love and joy. God asks us to love others through our actions. Jesus then reminds his disciples that they did not choose him. But he chose them to be his followers. And this is a really important point. Our relationship with God is a result of God's initiative towards us.

And we certainly do face a choice of whether that will reciprocate God's love towards us. We do that by in part following his commands. But the possibility of that choice, Is grounded in God. Move towards us. He's the prime mover his love towards us. And without denying any agency a valid agency on our end.

We must never remember God Remains the main actor. Jesus then adds that he chose his disciples that should they should bear fruit that their fruit should abide. And the fruit, he's referring to is that transformation. I talked about earlier, that's inside. His followers, has become more and more shaped by him.

We're becoming more and more, truly human. We're being prepared for an eternity with them. But he's also referring to baptizing others into the faith and discipling them so they too become transformed just like us. Jesus tells his disciples, he chose him to bear fruit. So whatever they ask the father, he may give to them.

This promise of prayer here is tied to God's desire for us to bear fruit. And this could be in a lot of different ways. God wants us to repent, after we sin and pray for him to strengthen us and transform us. So we stop sinning that in that way.

He wants us to pray to bring unbelievers, we know the faith in him. He wants us to pray for healing, healings are powerful signs of God's work, which God then uses to bring people into faith in him and transform them. Well's response might not be exactly what we want.

Or look like how we want it or be in the timing we want. God is saying Jesus said we can be confident. God will respond. We pray. To experience his love and joy. God asked us to love others through our actions. All right. So how might we apply this passage in our lives?

Cuz Jesus command to love. Others is a tough one. There's no getting around it. It's so hard. You actually need the Holy spirit in our lives even attempt to do it. Loving others is hard because it involves transforming our thoughts and actions. It's really hard. And it's it's less hard to do when involved loving others when it involves people we like, or when the ask is pretty minimal.

So, if you're ever doing that, don't pat yourself on the back too hard. When you meet that minimum threshold, it's much harder to do. For our enemies people for whom we fail the test. I mentioned earlier. It does. It's more satisfying to spread gossip about a co-worker we don't like Or to complain about his promotion.

Yeah, it's a lot easier but that's not loving him. It's not being a witness to Christ. What is is praying for him clamping down on idle talk. That's much better ways to witness. It's also harder to love. When those God is put in your lives, have Financial material needs, especially in the church, which by the way, is a direct context of today's passage.

And when giving to those actually impacts and hampers our lifestyle and our savings. When loving them involves sacrifice in our end. So when you see needs like that, we do need to ask for discernment, not every situation is the same. But if you find yourself, always rationalizing away, helping people.

Something might be wrong. Now, what about people who need our time? Uh there are people. There's always people in your life that are going through a tough season that might need your time might need someone to talk to and pray with. Some of my grumpiest moments lately, have come when people, I know and love with very valid reasons.

Have had the audacity to interrupt. My me time has ever happened to you. I'm not saying that personal time is not needed or healthy, of course, I'm not saying that But our grumpiness in those situations can be pretty revealing. It might indicate that our self-love might be out of balance with our need to love others.

So when you see that, ugliness that grumpiness emerge in any of the situations I've mentioned, Don't justify it. Take it to God. Repent. The reality is the more we love others, the more we are actually loving God. This enables us to experience more love and joy from him. We are becoming more and more.

The type of human God designed us to be the type of human that will spend eternity with God and all the saints. So, please take steps towards that Journey. Ask God to show you how to better love those. He's put in your life.

Unedited Transcript:

The name of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy.

Amen. Daddy. Look at the picture. I drew, that's a statement I hear from time to time. Um, particularly from my Zoe. She loves to draw. And it's a neat thing to, when she comes to me and says, look at the picture. I drew, um, sometimes the tone of her voice is different.

Sometimes, it's Daddy. Look at the big Shredder and sometimes it's sad. Daddy. Look at the picture. I drew And what I've learned when I get that particularly from her, but from all my kids is that I'm getting more than a picture at that moment. Um, they're I mean, my kid, I mean I think they're the best artist ever, you know.

So uh, yeah. I mean their their pictures are amazing and no one has pictures like them, but You might not agree with that assessment. If you saw their pictures right you might say they look kind of like normal pictures that an 8-year-old Drew or whatever. Um and so but what I'm getting when I look at the pictures is not this beautiful piece of art as much as a window into what's going on in their soul and in their heart and the feelings that they're having and um experiences they may have had that they'll they'll share those with me sometimes in these pictures.

So I have an opportunity to look into them and see. Hey what's going on? To me, they're revealing themselves to me? Um, and I'll tell you if in that moment I decided to go. Hey, cool. Which I would never do. But, uh, But if I did, Um, it wouldn't cut it right, it would it wouldn't cut it that.

That's, that's not what they're looking for. At that moment. They're not looking for a distracted moment where I'm not engaged in saying, okay, I'm ready to see what you're what you're showing to me. And in the Deuteronomy passage today, I think we have God revealing himself to us. God showing himself to us.

Um in fact, in the Deuteronomy passage I I kind of titled this message the gospel according to Moses. The gospel. According to Moses, it's the good news. Of the Gospel. Um, and particularly appropriate, the reading we had for Easter tide according to Moses. And when we combine that with our, what we read in the, um, in the gospel reading today, Um, when we combine the the gospel according to Moses with the gospel according to John, We we we see a picture of a really beautiful story of good news and God's plan to extend this good news of Redemption and rescue to the whole world.

So today we're going to take a look at the gospel according to Moses, we're going to take a look at how he described how he announces, what have you ever seen a god like this who has done what our God has done and how that connects to the gospel after the resurrection of Jesus?

That we celebrate in Easter tide. So first we can just look at the fact of God's rescue. God rescued rescues and will rescue his people. This is this is the story. God, God rescued his people. He continues to rescue his people and he will ultimately rescue his people. He's a God who acts to rescue.

So in in verse 33, We're getting a story about God's revelation, him showing himself. Anyone else had a God speaking to you out of a burning bush? Has there ever been another God speaking to his people out of a burning bush, right? And the answer is no, uh, well, I mean, I don't know, maybe, maybe there's a story somewhere.

I like that but the, the answer that they're supposed to go with is no, no, God like that, right? Uh, no. No God like that. Um, One. We've never seen a God speaking to his people out of a bush. Verse 34 talks about this rescue, Has any God ever attempted to go into a nation?

And pull a bunch of slaves out. Really. I I mean think about that. Does any other God have the audacity to try something like that? An Empire. And the yank their slaves out. Right? Uh do other gods do that? Do other gods give that a shot but no no other God does that he's saying like no other God comes in and rescues his people and Yanks them away from a nation stronger and mightier than them in other places in Deuteronomy Deuteronomy, it might be my favorite book.

In the Old Testament. Because it's the law of God is like a sermon. It's it's the law God again you get that in Exodus but in Deuteronomy you get the law of God like preached. You get it proclaimed. So telling the same stories but saying, Like this is there another God who does stuff like this?

You know, there's no other God like this God, right?

And then verse 35 talks more about like resettlement.

And and and coming into the, to the reality that you were settled into a land. Settled into a land.

It's kind of amazing when you think of like, The move of God. Can you get people out from an Empire and to settle them in the land? That wasn't there yet? This is this is this and what Moses is doing, the reason this is the gospel. According to Moses, he's saying guys, Tap the brakes for a second.

Look what God has done. Look what God has done. To yank a nation. That is small and weak and unable powerless to save themselves and to pull them out of slavery and bring them into a land. That wasn't theirs. That was inhabited by Giants that they were afraid to go into, right.

And he says, Look at what God has done. Look at what God has done. Has any God done this before? Has any God made a nation for himself, out of the out of out of all the nations of the world? Have we ever seen anything like this?

And in the New Covenant people of God, we can we can ask the same question. Have we seen anything like this? Have we ever seen a God, like this? Has there ever been another God? Who refused to be estranged from the people he made, while they rebelled against him?

Can you see, can you conceive of another God who was willing to lay down his life for his creation? Could you conceive of a god like that? Do you imagine a deity? Who goes to death first and then Rises from the dead. Is there another God like that? Hey, have you have you seen another God conquer death by going there?

First and beating down the devil. Has there ever been a god? Like this, there's never been a God. Like this. There's never been a God to rescue his people with such dramatic acts of rescue.

The reason I call this the gospel according to Moses is he's saying, guys, look at the mighty acts God has done and look how he's not like any other God. And the people of God have to live in a habit. Of saying. Well, there's not a God like this, there's never been a God like this.

And then God he he actually steps things up a notch, right? And in our in our John reading today. We have. Giving the Holy Spirit to his people, right? We have him giving his holy spirit, ask the Lord, and he will give you a comforter. And what's interesting about what Jesus does there in John 14 is he says I will be with you.

I will not leave you as orphans using fatherhood language for himself, right? Uh, Like so he's not, he's not saying I am the father but he's using language of fatherhood. I will not leave you as orphans. And I will send another helper to you the Holy Spirit. And he says, when he says, I'll send you the Holy Spirit.

He says I will be with you. What you start to see? I mean, in other verses in John 14, As we when, when we read the gospel together, what we're seeing is Jesus, says things like Don't, you know, if you see me, you've seen the father? If you look at me, you've seen the father.

The, the Christians I said, if you want to use nerdy theological language, this is the Inseparable operations of the Holy Trinity, right? It's a what we're saying is, what the holy spirit's doing Jesus is doing. So yes, we distinguish the Son and the spirit, but where, where the holy spirit is Jesus is and, and where the father is Jesus is because their their operations are inseparable from one another truly one, truly three.

If With someone yesterday about this, the starting place for the Christian doctrine of God. Incomprehensibility. God blows our mind. Is there a God, like this, right? That that's this should always be our starting place but Jesus is saying I will be with you and he gives the Holy Spirit and in so doing he says I will Be in you.

I will be United with you.

See, things begin with rescue and resettlement pulling out pulling a group of slaves, out of a nation and resettling them in a land. But they go further and we are invited into participation into the life of the Triune God. Were invited to participate in the life of God. And have God himself dwelling in.

And the whole world becoming the land. The whole world becoming the land that we're resettled in.

And because he lives because he rose from the dead we live. Our life is derived from our Union with God, from the fact that he's given us the Holy Spirit as a comforter. So again, has there ever been a God, like this, has there ever been a God who lays down his life for his creation, who who wins the victory over death and sin and evil in all our greatest enemies that we were enslaved to just like they were enslaved to Egypt, we were enslaved to sin, death and evil.

Has there ever been a God who conquers? All the enemies? Pulls them out and then goes further and says, I will be one with you. I will unite with you, you will be, we will be together. Been a God, like this. A God. Who rescued And I got it United with us.

And there's a reason he's done this. There's a reason God has done this work. And the purpose for God's rescue is that he's creating a unique. An emotional people. God's making this point that no other Nation. No. Other people has been through this kind of Deliverance. In Psalm 147.

29 to 30. It says he declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and rules to Israel. He is not dealt with us with any other Nation. They do not know his rules, praise the Lord.

Verse 36 of our reading today tells us God reveals himself so that he might Discipline them. And the purpose of this discipline is that they would be different. Than the other nations. They'd be weird. May be set apart, they'd be unique. They wouldn't be like the other nations, right?

This is why they're disciplined. But this isn't simply so that they can be different. Earlier in the chapter. In verses 6 through 8 of Deuteronomy 4, you have Keep these laws and do them for that. Will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples. Who when they hear all these statutes will say, surely, this great nation is a wise and understanding people for what great nation is there that has a God, so near to it.

As the Lord, God is to us whenever we call upon him. And what great nation is there that has statutes and rules. So, righteous is all this law that I set before you today. So what he's saying is the whole reason that God Rescues of people resettles, the people in the land and disciplines them and makes them weird and sets them apart is so that they can be a light to the peoples.

He says, in Deuteronomy 4 right here. So hey Remember, so it we didn't have to wait to get to the end of the book before God cared about all the people in the world. Like he didn't only care about Israel for most of History. Okay. And so he doesn't wear in the front of all the people, so that they might say, is there another Nation like this?

That is laws like this. Gospel According to Moses. A set aside people that's been rescued and resettled so that they might be a light to the Nations. Who will then say, wow, is there a people? So wise in understanding is this one? Is there a people with law like this?

So the people are set up hard for a unique relationship with God. And the purpose has always been And always will be about the people who are not yet part of the Covenant Community. It's about God. Setting aside a people to be a light for them. And this is a restoration of what people were made to do, right?

Genesis 1. Is another story, right? God makes the man and the woman be fruitful, multiply fill the Earth and subdue it. Image bearers of God extending God's righteous rule over the Earth. This was what we were made to do. And when we rebelled that became impossible. So God, rescues us, kicks out Satan kills all the enemies destroys death and says now be the light to the Nations.

In the church like Israel is to be a unique missional people.

Throughout these verses Jesus is making a point that the type of communion that he has with his disciples is unique. Verses 17 and 19. You're seeing that this is a unique type of connection.

The spirit of Truth comes to us the one that the world cannot receive because it neither sees him or knows him. See, it's Unique, these are unique people. They're going to be the ones to have the spirit of Truth, right? They're going to be the ones that are set aside a unique missional people.

There are a lot of places that talk about how we're called to be like on Mission that when we're empowered by the spirit, that the reason God gives us the spirit is that we're Beyond Mission. To be. Sent out to the world. I mean, maybe the clearest link between Jesus abiding, president and Mission is found in the Great Commission.

Matthew, 28 18-20, go make disciples of all the nations. Baptizing them in the father, son, Holy Spirit. What's he say? Surely I'll be with you always. End of the age. This connection between the abiding presence of God, the the uniqueness of having this unique connection with God, for the sake of the world, this is always the story.

Has there ever been a God? Like this, a God who has come to us? Who has United himself with us and made himself one with us. So that We might be a light to those who don't yet know him. And extend a hand to those who are far from him.

Has there ever been a god like this? And how do we respond to the gospel? According to Moses and Jesus. Is the people of God obey him. And reveal him. This is what we do. We obey the Lord and we reveal him to all people. Every passage we read today makes a firm connection between love of God and obedience to his commands.

Those things are connected in all three passages we read today. There's no such thing as a true. Love of God, that doesn't lead us into obedience of God. So, If we love him, we obey him. So, Obedience to God's law is an enduring requirement for God's people. So even New Covenant people of God obey God's law.

Please Jesus said not a jot or Tittle will be taken from the law. It's fulfilled in Jesus. The story isn't, oh my God, I don't have to do all that stuff. I read in the in the Old Testament, that's not the story. The story is about. Jesus fulfilling the law on our behalf and us fulfilling the law in our Union.

With him us living out, Environments of the law. Empowered by the spirit. So the story isn't, hey, those things don't matter. Like we can when we have some longer, teaching time we can talk about how we can parse between like, Codes in the Old Testament law that were particularly about their old, their worship and like and some of the things that we don't do exactly the same way today, but let me tell you.

One thing that we all should agree about is that we obey the law. We obey the law of God. And we do what God has said to do. The difference between the Old and New Covenant isn't. I don't have a lot to obey it's that I have the Holy And he empowers me to obey the law that by Nature.

I couldn't obey. Right. What makes the New Covenant better? It's not that those stipulations were so lame and God was in a bad mood. Then what makes the New Covenant better is that God has given us the Holy spirit so that now we can keep the law. When Ezekiel said, he wrote the law on our hearts So that now we can obey it.

So we respond to God's revelation. By obeying the Lord and he gives us the grace and the empowerment to do that. But we also take that Union with God the Holy Spirit who lives in us and we And carry that Union with God. Into the world, the reveal them to others.

Listen, the Holy Spirit lives in you. Holy Spirit lives in you. Has abided with you and in you. When you extend your hands. Your hands on someone and pray. Holy spirit is aiming. And with you you're extending the blessing of God with and you're taking your Union with God with you as you do that, when you serve the poor and the hungry.

God's doing. God's doing it because he's empowering you as you do that. We walk into the world and we can't like turn off our Union with God. And and now I'm doing my own thing, you know, like we we go with the abiding presence of Jesus and we bring Jesus.

In contact and into contact with people in the world, we're empowered by the body of Christ at the table to then, Be the body of Christ, the church right to bring the body of Christ into the world and extend his presence and bless the world. They just bless the world.

Because there's never been a God like this. Who loves his creation enough to lay down his life. So, today we looked at the gospel. According to Moses, right? We encounter the God who saves He pulls his people out of slavery in Egypt even though they were weak and unable to do it themselves.

He settles them in a land and He blesses them and disciplines them and makes them a unique people. Today, he pulls his church out of slavery to sin death and Satan, He blesses them, forgives them and unites them. On Earth with each other and with him through the Holy Making them brand new.

He does that so that his people might be a unique and mission-minded people who are set apart from the world for the sake of the world. And they're sent any and they're sent out to the world to be revealing. What God can do? Look what God has done. Look what God has done.

Has there ever been a God like this? And we can go and say, look what God has done. And if God was able to save me, he can save anybody. If God was able to save me, he can save you. I promise, you know you you can't be worse off than I would be without him.

So like if he could save me, he could save anybody and we can be a people that reveal God to the world. So let us draw near and fellowship. With God today at the table and then let us bring that Fellowship that Union that communion with God. Into the world and bless the world in his name.

Amen. 

Unedited Manuscript

In the Name of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen. So we I didn't mention it when I was introducing the service but we, uh, it is Good Shepherd Sunday. So, um, you might you you might have noticed that in the collect. So in the prayer that we pray, um, before we read the scriptures, we recognize Good Shepherd Sunday and the, the Sunday that we Where we celebrate Jesus as Good Shepherd.

So we we prayed to God, you know, to God, whose son Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd. Of his people. And then we asked that we might hear his voice and follow where he leads right? But we we we thanked God, for being for sending his son to be the Good Shepherd.

I've also I've often struggled with the placement of Good Shepherd, Sunday. It's, it's kind of A strange place at least for me and uh and and so I've been spending like through the years. I've wrestled with okay why Good Shepherd Sunday this Sunday. We we we through Easter tide, you guys might have noticed, we read the resurrection like appearances of Jesus so We write one in John, we read one in Mark, we've read one in Luke.

We, we talk about the resurrection appearances of Jesus and, and yet here on Good Shepherd, Sunday. We're back before he was crucified and he's preaching a sermon about being the Good Shepherd, you know, before he lays down his life, talking about being a Shepherd who lays down his life and I wanted to spend some time.

Reflecting. On why we might? Talk about the Good Shepherd in the middle of Easter diet, you know, and talk about Jesus's. Good Shepherd. So we'll talk about just the fact of good shepherding, we're going to talk about this contrast, Jesus lays out between good Shepherds and bad shepherding and that our readings give us today for sure in the Old Testament in particular and then we'll talk about.

Like why today of all days are we thinking about Resurrection time in Easter diet, are we thinking about a good shepherd? So first, let's talk about the fact of good shepherding, it's Jesus, who is God himself? Is the Good Shepherd. Who will lay down his life for his sheep.

Jesus, who is God himself. Is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the Sheep. The Gospel reading today, started with a simple Declaration of our Lord. I am the Good Shepherd. In in, in John's quote. In this passage, he uses his signature. Eko and me, which is, uh, which is his thing.

Um you guys might be learning that. I've said this probably a lot of times as we walk through John. Um it's kind of his thing to make these egome statements now um, Anyone know Spanish uh, yeah I think we we know Spanish so like, um, Uh when we you like when Greek Greek is like Spanish and if I'm saying I am, In Spanish.

I can just say soy. I don't have to say like, yo soy, right? Like I can just say soy, because there's not really another option. For what goes with that verb. And so, um, Greek is just like that, right? And English, we always have to say I uh like our, our individual words aren't packed with quite as much, meaning As other languages.

But in Greek, you don't need it. And so when Saint John is saying ego and me. He's doing something emphatic. He he's emphasizing that I am and in particular he's using In the Greek, Septuagint of the Old Testament, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. The Divine name was ego Ami, right?

I am ego and me. And so when John's doing that, he's saying, hey, I'm using the Divine name. I mean, so Jesus. Um, putting on the mouth of Jesus. Now, Jesus was speaking for language nerds in here, like me. Jesus was speaking Aramaic, he wasn't speaking Greek and so, but what but John is putting this quote on Jesus lips and using the Divine name and he's doing it on purpose and he asked, Jesus here saying I am the Good Shepherd.

What might that remind us of do we read a Psalm today? The Lord. I am. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want right. I am the Good Shepherd is that these are the beginning words of that song. So Jesus is actually Preaching a sermon, using the beginning words of that.

Psalm equating himself with the Lord, who is the Good Shepherd? I am the Good Shepherd. I am the one who guides who leads you in in places of peace? Who sets a table before you in the presence of your enemies? I am the one.

So God himself is The Shepherd of Israel. And Jesus is saying I'm that, I'm that one. I am the Lord and when we strayed, from God, The Lord, who is the Good Shepherd? He took on flesh. In the person of Jesus Christ, he took on flesh as the Eternal Son of God.

He walked the Earth, he lived with us. He performed Miracles Among Us and then he did what Jesus says right at the beginning of this passage. He laid down his life for his sheep. Right. I am the Good Shepherd. Let me tell you what. That means. That the Lord is my shepherd.

This Lord this God, this God that you worship. Israel is The God Who lays down his life for his sheep. And Jesus is is saying that's me. I am God himself laying down my life. For my sheep. He then can does this like contrasting between like good and bad shepherding, right?

We have this. We and we can first look at the results of bad shepherding and the results of bad shepherding is injury and Scattering. What takes place where there are bad Shepherds. There's injury and Scatter Ezekiel lays out most clearly the picture of bad Shepherds. We read this Ezekiel reading, right?

There are these people who eat the fat of the sacrifices but they don't feed the sheep. This interesting progression in the passage. Where it goes from like, The the the spiritual leaders in Israel. Not feeding the Sheep. To. Devouring sheep. So it's not so like you get this picture of neglect, maybe at first and then ultimately you get this picture of you're devouring, the Sheep, you're destroying.

The Sheep, you're killing the Sheep, you're abusing the Sheep, that's why they're going to be taken away from you. And so, in the sacrificial system that God set up, spiritual leaders were provided for from the sacrifice and the sacrifices were sheep. So spiritual leaders people that led spiritually, the prophets, certainly the priests they were, they were sustained.

By the sacrifices, right? So they prevent they presented sacrifices to their priests. And that's what the priest ate. You know, that was his food and, and they were provided for by the faithful, right? This, and this was the system that God set up and these people, when they weren't feeding the Sheep, they were still eating the fat of the sacrifices.

Sacrifices were still coming. And yet, they weren't feeding the Sheep and ultimately they were devouring. The Sheep to the point. That God said, they're not your sheep. They're not your sheep, they're my sheep and you haven't fed my sheep. Jesus also, lays out bad shepherding but he doesn't pick an image.

That's inherently negative in this part of the sermon. So we We we have Good Shepherd Sunday every year. You guys might be learning. We're on a three-year. We're on a three-year lectionary. And each year, there's a Good Shepherd Sunday on the fourth Sunday of Easter, and we don't read the whole sermon.

Each one, we read a chunk of the sermon, this, this year, in year B. And then we'll read next chunk in year C, then we'll read the beginning. Chunk, In year a right? And so that that's that's how we do it. And La, like last year, we would have read the passage where They're compared to robbers.

Like where there's a like a negative imagery, there's a negative imagery like where you have the good Shepherds and then you have robbers. Entering by different Gates. And speaking with a different voice but that's not what Jesus chooses here. He chooses a more neutral term Hired Hand mithras and so like and so like he he just chooses this like Kind of neutral term something wrong with being a Hired Hand like having a job and making money, right?

Like there's nothing wrong with that but having a job and getting paid and so he picks a neutral term. A term that's used both positively and negatively in scripture because it's neutral and here it's definitely negative, right? But and the issue here is not evil intent, toward the Sheep, like the bad Shepherds of Israel of Israel and Ezekiel But the issue here is just indifference.

Well the the issue what Jesus is pointing to here when he talks about bad shepherding is just indifference lack of care whatsoever. Right. They're not my sheep. So, when the wolf comes, I go because I'm indifferent about the sheep and I'm not, I'm not worrying about, I'm not laying down my, I'm sorry, I gotta die for the Sheep.

If it's me or the Sheep. I'm out. They're not even my sheep. Right. Indifference to the Sheep. Is the issue here. You know. Have you ever experienced Wicked leadership?

Oppressive leadership. This can be in a church or ecclesial settings. This can be in governmental settings. This can be employers. Um, like have we have you experienced Wicked leadership leadership that. Devouring or belittling or Cutting down or weakening. Have you experienced any different leadership?

My my leaders might may not know my name or they don't, they don't care about me. You know. Um, They're indifferent to me. If? Um, people experience this. Um, In churches too. You know, if I If I never came back, no one would notice I was gone. You know?

And, uh, and and things were, it seems that uh, They're indifferent. You know, and I and I just want to name That this has happened in the Christian church. And I'm sorry. Um, I'd like, like, As one of the weirdos that dresses up in the dress, you know? Um, Take take it as a symbol.

Of me saying, I'm sorry. That there are callings that have been bad Shepherds. And then at times, all of us can fall into being bad Shepherds. Um, The way that Jesus has chosen to exhort or exercise leadership in the church is by empowering a bunch of people that have the same problems as everybody else.

That's just how he's chosen to do it. Like, and like, They're not that special like and and if you if you talk to my wife and give give her 30 seconds, she'll tell you that. I'm not I'm not special like I I make like goofy jokes. 90 of every day.

That's how like I spend my life. It's like goofing around like I'm a sophomore in high school, you know, like I I'm not special. And yet God has chosen to exercise leadership through a bunch of people that have the same problems as everybody else. It's as Act of his grace, it's because he's merciful, but he invites us in Um, to this process like a process that he could do better than the people.

He empowers right. And it's it's an activist Grace and mercy but It goes awry and it's not rare. That we mess it up. And so, I'm sorry for the ways that You may have been failed. By Christian leaders. Um, And I am. To be faithful. And, and, and I believe that there are, I mean, There's a lot of AirPlay about Bad Shepherds.

There are tons of thankful Ministers of the Gospel that are doing their best. And that's actually the average that they don't, they don't always have the biggest churches. And the biggest platforms on social media and like, whatever whatever we're seeing, but I'll tell you that the average is faithful, people doing their best, right?

And, and, and I just want, um, So yes, they fail us. Um, we we fail you, you know? Um, And, Um, the average is is, is, is people doing their best to love, God sheep, right? And, and so, Um, but the results of this bad shepherding, when it happens in this passage, Is injury and Scatter the wolf attacks.

And the Sheep are scattered, right? That's that's what this is. What happens when there's bad shepherding, or indifferent. Shepherding is the wolf attacks and the Sheep are scattered. But then he talks about the results of good shepherding. What does Good Shepherding look like? And good. Shepherding, looks like ownership.

And unity. Right. Good Chevy. Looks like ownership and unity.

So, like two things are really emphasized by this passage here, the first thing is like the sheet belonged to Jesus. Did you notice that? By the end of the passage, she's not even. He doesn't even mention sheep until like, the last time. He's talking about the Sheep around him.

He talks about the sheep that aren't in his fold, but by the end, he's just saying The Good Shepherd. I know mine. I know mine. He doesn't even say sheep anymore. They're mine. The Hired Hand. Who runs away. They're not his You know. They're mine and I know them.

And I love them and I lay down my life for them because they belong to me. They belong to me and I know them the way that the father knows me and I know the father We're connected. We're we're we're uniting. We're we're one. I've made myself. With mine.

Because they're mine.

And this the second thing that he emphasizes here, is that the result of this Good Shepherding Because it's a Shepherd that owns the people. Is this Unity? You know, see in a sense, all pastors are Hired Hands. But again, Hired Hands isn't always a negative thing, but the Sheep aren't mine.

Right. The sheep in a flock, aren't mine. They belong to Jesus. And and the the best that A pastor can do. Is reflect the Good Shepherd Jesus as best they can. You know, it's point people to the Good Shepherd. Jesus, the one, who, who owns the Sheep? The one, who the Sheep belonged to?

You belong to Jesus. You don't belong to me. You don't belong to Saint, John's. You don't belong to the Anglican Church. You don't you belong to Jesus? Hits. And and the the best that a pastor can do is point me to him the one that owns you, right? And that leads to Unity.

See, well a lot, a lot of what? Empowers false gospel narratives. Is the lack of unity in the church. If they if if they're all divided from each other, they don't have their story together. How can I trust anything? Do you realize that's like the beginning of like every cult ever is like ever.

It's looking at that saying, they don't have their story straight, we can't trust them. Therefore, I gotta find someone, I can trust. And unfortunately, all the things they start splinter into a million pieces too, right? That's, that's the way this thing works. Because bad shepherding always results in the Sheep scattering, right?

And scattering of the seat, But in as much as we can reflect the Good Shepherd, and and Unite with our Good Shepherd, the one who says we are his We become unified. So the end of the story is the sheep that are not a part of this fold. He's talking about people that aren't Israel.

That aren't part of the Covenant Community of Israel being reached out to and brought in. What's the end of the story? There is one flock. One Shepherd. Jesus. And one flock, that's what Good Shepherding looks like. It draws us into unity and fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Rather than disunity and Chaos and division.

And that's because there's a Resurrected Lord leading his church and maybe that as we're heading toward the end of things for today. Maybe that's, that's why we Do this on in the middle of Easter tide, you know it's like is is that the relationship of the resurrected Lord to us is that of the shepherd And how much good is a dead Shepherd.

If the shepherd's daddy's, not very good Shepherd. Right, like it. Like you can't be a good shepherd and be dead. You have to one of those things can be true and so we we serve A Risen Lord Christ. And the way he relates with us is a risen Lord Christ.

Is a Shepherd. Who knows his sheep and loves his sheep and laid down his life for his sheep and leads us along. So we are called in this Easter tide to follow the living, Good Shepherd, You know, Shepherd is a really unique piece of imagery, right? There's a lot of things.

We there's a lot of images we can draw from to talk about Christ. Shepherd's, kind of a unique one. Like Christ is the king. Of the world that's been something that's like I don't know. For those of you like that, spend too much time on social media that's been something that's like people are fighting about.

They're wanting to say Christ is King. And uh, and and they're wanting to say that publicly and they're wanting to get in arguments about it and Christ is King. So, by the way, say that that's great, you know Christ is the king but and and that's true of us.

But what Jesus is reflecting on today is that he's a shepherd. Social Royal image. So that's, that's the most Mighty image, that's less. That sounds a lot less like crushing enemies. And like, you know, like like a Shepherd and like, like just a guy leading, some sheep protecting him from the threats, you know?

A Shepherd and Jesus is that, and Jesus has just reflect me today on on him, as our Shepherd, as the one who loves his sheep, lay down his life for his sheep and leads his sheep today. So I want to just hit the pause button for a second, listen.

Christians Proclaim that Jesus rose from Libya. And it's a wider.

Christians Proclaim that Jesus. Was like completely dead. Gotta walk out of grave and is still alive today. Like we Proclaim that, that's a big deal. Like if that happened, that's a big deal. And the way you relate with us, Is as a Shepherd leading sheep that he loves. And so our call this Easter tight is to follow this.

Good Shepherd. Who is leading us the one who laid down his life? For his sheep. Do you live? Like you have immediate access to the Risen Lord Jesus by the indwelling. Holy Do you live like that? Like you have immediate access to the god of the universe who rose from the dead?

Who is your Shepherd? Who says my sheep know my voice and I love them. Do you live your life? Like you have immediate access to him? The one who gave his life and is gently leading you right now. So how like we follow him this Easter tide? How do we do that?

We listen for him. We listen that was what we prayed in the collect. It's what we read in a different part of the sermon. But that we prayed that that we would know his voice and follow, where he leads. Right. We connect with him. We um, Unite with him.

That's what the Eucharist is all about. We receive the body of the Risen, Lord, Jesus! We ingest the body of the Risen, Lord. Jesus, we become one with the body of the Risen Lord. Jesus.

We Unite with him in the in our prayers, you know this, uh, This this week, I was spending a lot of time in my Breviary I told you guys about last week, huh, I was nerding out on it. I, I picked up my children from Laura's, I was gonna come in because I was so excited about my Breviary because it had all the chance, but then I left it at home, um, but it has the prayers set to chant which I'm like, I'm so excited and then one of the things I was doing is I was I was praying.

I was chanting um, complime which is the prayers we say before bed and on Friday night, The verse was from Song of Solomon. Which only God in the Bible because the church and Israel recognized it as an allegory of our relationship with Jesus. If you realize that, right? That's the only reason it got in there, they weren't just, they weren't saying, well, we just need a bunch of talk about sex.

The Bible, we're missing that, you know? So I but they read it as an allegory of our connection with God, and, and our connection with God. And so like, and and what, what, what? Well, the, one of the verses we read was, I am my beloveds and he is mine.

And I just paused and sat in that for a few moments and said, well, What's it mean to like be known by God and it's and to know the one who loves my soul, the lover of My Soul. It like to be known by him and to know him.

I want that, man. So that's what it means, like, walk with and the, the shepherd, who leads his sheep gently. And every worship Gathering that we have is an invitation to unite with the Risen Lord, Jesus, who is the lover of our soul. So let us come before the table.

To the Lord who is present to us when it makes himself present to us to the Risen Lord, And let us receive him freshly. And let us Unite with him and walk with the Savior who calls us by name and who calls us his beloved. Amen. 

Unedited Transcript Below:

In the name of god, the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Oh man. Well, as, as we look at our gospel passage today, there's a lot to focus on, right? Uh, john gives us his thesis statement for the whole book of john in this passage These things are in that you may have life and by believing may have or or that you may believe in jesus.

And by believing may have life in his name, right? So he tells us why he wrote the book. Um in a really pedantic way, right? At the end of the gospel of john right? He gives us that thesis statement. The disciples have this interesting encounter with jesus. Where they receive the holy spirit, but it's obviously not everything they're supposed to receive because jesus tells them.

In the book of luke, wait, don't go out until you receive power on high. Um, at the Pentecost, which will celebrate at the end of this 50 day feast, right? And so, the they haven't they've received something, but not everything that they're going to receive as far as the reception of the holy spirit.

Jesus is going through doors, even though they're locked and giving us questions about resurrected bodies and what, what do our resurrected bodies like and is this, is this jesus performing a miracle in his resurrected body and we won't be able to walk through doors, or are we going to be able to walk through doors in our resurrected bodies?

And i think that there's questions there that are kind of fun and interesting to think about and all these could be sermons in themselves, but i think zeroing in on the words of john about his purpose that he wrote, the book that we might believe in him and that by believing might have life in his name.

Um i i was struck this morning with particularly with Saint thomas and with this episode with saint thomas. In the synoptic gospel, saint thomas is only mentioned. In the list of the disciples, that's it. Uh, so matthew mark and luke. Only mentioned him. When they list the disciples. John gives us several moments with thomas, but he's the only one that gives us this famous story about thomas, right?

And i think, Uh, The story that gives him maybe the Uh, i i think probably unfair nickname of doubting thomas. I i i don't think we're always being fair to thomas. Uh, when we refer to him as doubting thomas, but i still do it, like, when, when i leaned was preparing the children's time and she said, what's, uh, what's the gospel passage?

And i said, doubting thomas, you know, like i was the fastest way to refer to it, right? And so i still do it, but i don't know that it's the fairest nickname. To calm doubting thomas. But a question is why why did john give us this? You know, if the entire book of john has written so that we might believe and that by believing with me have life in his name.

He included this so that we might believe. But believing we might have life. Jesus even gives the readers in the book of john as shout out at the end of the episode, right? Blessed are those who without seeing believe talking about us, you know, that are coming after thomas.

He gives us a shout outs down that fourth wall, right? A little bit and and talks to us, we were coming late later.

And i'm struck by the action slowing down in that quote of thomas. Unless i see. Their hands. Or in his hands, the mark of the nails and i placed my finger into the mark of the nails and i place my hand in his side. I will never believe. I actually want to look at thomas as the prototype.

Um, The example, a prime example of what we are to do. When we? To fulfill our calling. Of proclaiming the resurrection. This isn't a talk on the veracity of jesus resurrection and said, it's a talk on the audacity. Of proclaiming, the good news in the face of the brokenness of creation.

Okay, i want you to think about what thomas had just witnessed from the perspective of like when we talk about like trauma. I mean, thomas had shown some courage before when jesus had wanted to go back to jerusalem after they tried to stone him there and all the disciples like you can't go back there.

They just tried to stone you there. It was thomas who said let us go die with him. If that's the end of the story. Let us go die with him. If it's Thomas. Now thomas like everyone else fled. Like all the other disciples flat at the face of his crucifixion.

So he didn't witness the violence of the crucifixion. First hand. However, he'd probably seen crucifixions. Almost certainly he'd seen crucifixions before they were common. Roman's crucifying jewish people was not strange. So, Um, and so he'd seen a crucifixion and he and he knew, he knew about the violence, he knew about the humiliation, he knew about all he had gone through.

But i think along with all the disciples, the main trauma was how wrong it appear that they had been. Right. I mean gosh like the the messiah wasn't going to get strung up on a Roman cross. That wasn't the end of the story, right? And it just appeared, they were so wrong.

We believed this lie. You know, like we we thought this was the guy. And, He's strung up on a Roman cross. Everything was They were wrong. They were wrong about everything. And that's what he did experience. I think more than anything. So along with the other disciples, he was devastated.

And, When the height of evil had flexed, its muscles And the lord of the universe had been crucified. The message of jesus gospel. The the main message, he proclaimed throughout the gospels. The kingdom of heaven is here. Seems so unlikely and impossible, didn't it? I mean, it just seemed impossible.

The kingdom of heaven isn't here. You know, it doesn't look like it's here. And so, Along with the other disciples, he was devastated. You know, and And it seemed audacious. As a priest for i've been a priest for a little for almost 12 years now. Yes, almost 12 years and i've had the opportunity.

To walk with people through some of the most glorious moments in their lives. I've been witnessed to weddings and births, and baptisms, and first, communions and confirmations and ordinations and all of it is wonderful. But i i think i've probably walked with people more through hard times. They're difficult times.

Wait, i seen deaths, i've seen illnesses. I've seen mental health crises. I've seen a strange family's Um, I've seen a lot. And evil still flexes its muscles. Quite a bit, doesn't it? Doesn't evil still flex its muscles quite a bit, doesn't satan still try to like do his worst?

And i become more convinced that and than ever that. To maintain the audacity. It takes to keep speaking good news. We need an encounter with the risen lord christ. It's what thomas needed and it's what we need. Is an encounter with the risen Lord jesus. He knew it. So on Easter Sunday, we'd finished.

What was a glorious holy week? My goodness, it was good. It really was, there was a lot to celebrate. You guys got an email this week with some pictures. Uh, i i, i told you that the the Only thing that i required for people that were taking pictures that they shared him with me.

I didn't get a ton. All right, so some of you didn't fulfill your end of the bargain. When i told you, you could take pictures. Okay. Um, send them to me. I want them all. I want all the pictures, so But i it was an awesome time. Um we got all the clergy.

Got a text on from father kevin though on easter sunday. But um, right when i was laying down to take a nap that father brian Miller, he's our priest impute. Um, in Butte Montana, his 21 year old son had shot himself on Easter Sunday morning and it died and um And so, You know, um, on the day we were proclaiming resurrection.

Evil flex its muscles, right? And so this isn't like a homily about suicide, but i think just anytime it's mentioned, it's important to say like Um, we're tempted to believe lies. At moments where we're struggling with mental health, and One of the biggest lies we tend to believe is That the world's better off without you.

Uh, the the end of suicide. Is. That church full of people weeping, their eyes out yesterday that we were in that. Uh deacon and he was in father, Greg was in, i was in others, all throughout the district traveled, but six hours, eight hours. Yeah, to come be with this, this dad, who just lost his son, but the end of suicide is, is that a hundred percent of the time.

So it's it's just Weeping churches. So Um, if you Feel like hurting yourself or like the world would be better without you just i promise you, it's lie. It's not true and This is a safe space to get help. Please reach out and Um, it, for those of you who have gone through trauma, you might know that often one of my first questions is, hey, are you safe?

Um do you do you like are? Do you are you thinking about hurting yourself? Like, um, And because this needs to be a place where we can find help to for dealing with trauma. Um and and and someone to speak truth into lies. Um, that we're attempted to believe at at the worst times in our life.

But i think like, while we were there and worshiping and it was beautiful the way it came together, our bishop, our bishop gave the best homily. I've heard and So is the saddest thing i'd ever been to and yet i saw the gospel proclaimed, and after receiving the Eucharist we saying a 2006 song from Hillsong called mighty to save.

And we saying savior, you can move the mountains. My god is mighty to save. He is mighty to save forever author of salvation. He rose and conquered the grave. Jesus conquered the grave and i think, what struck me in that moment more than anything else was just, um, The audacity of proclaiming, jesus victory in that moment.

Like the the christians are the people who just keep proclaiming victory in the midst of what brokeness and evil fluxes muscles, and awful things that i can't understand. And i don't try take place, i don't know why god didn't like, write in on a white horse and stop this whole thing.

Like, i, i still don't know a god doesn't tell me all the answers, but i'll, the christians are the people that keep saying, no, jesus wins. Like, that's the end of this story. And jesus is already done. All that is necessary to proclaim victory. And then we have the audacity to keep proclaiming victory in the midst of whatever brokeness is there, you know, the early christians have, always done this.

Thoroughly church was being martyred for their faith. Thomas himself, who had this encounter with the risen? Lord was likely murdered in the first century. And what did they need to proclaim the proclamation of victory in the midst of such. Evil. Which they experience.

They need an encounter with the risen lord. I think it's important to point out that jesus didn't condemn thomas here. Like his words to thomas were exactly the same words that he gave to the disciples that he appeared to before, right? By peace i leave with you. So when he comes to to thomas it's not like new words.

Like well first i need to like get get. What how could you have doubted? What, you know, you're you're an idiot. Like that wasn't the words to Thomas is from words to thomas were peace. I leave with you, right? In the parallel. Passage in luke 24 is almost identical.

They're doubting just like thomas, that's why i think doubting Thomas might be, but when, when jesus shows up, they think they've seen a ghost. And, and luke 24. And he says, touch the wounds, you know, like see that i'm embodied that i'm not a ghost like they're doubting to, you know like they they needed the same encounter with the risen lord christ, that's the point they all did.

That thomas needed. And that's why Cyril of alexandria said, because of his desire to convince the whole world, he most willingly showed them the marks of the nails and the wound of his side because he wanted those who needed such signs as a support for their faith to have no possible reason for doubt.

He even took food, although he had no need of it, that happens in the next chapter and uh of john. Guys, got something to eat, you know, give me something to eat. Like And so thomas, in order to proclaim the good news of the resurrection, in the face of the evil of the crucifixion and the evil that he would continue to experience throughout the world, the evil that we all continue to see, he needed to see the risen lord christ.

He said, unless i see Summit, Thomas knew that in order to continue that proclamation, he needed to see jesus. And the Beatitudes jesus says, blessed are the pure and heart for they shall see god. You'll see god. Thomas Sagat. When he looked at jesus, he saw god. And we need to see god.

We need this third person encounter with god. You know, sometimes when people are doubting or struggling in faith, sometimes what's needed? Isn't an apologetic. It thomas didn't need like a dissertation. An academic argument. Uh, for the veracity of resurrection. Like that's not that's not what thomas needed. He needed to see jesus.

He needed to see jesus. So are you praying for friends and neighbors? You know, maybe Angry. If god. Uh, maybe they're captivated by a false religion. Likely more than anything else. What they need is an encounter with god. They need an encounter with the risen lord christ. Don't try to win an argument with them.

Pray that they will have an encounter with god. Can proclaim answer questions as they come up? Sure. But pray, they will have an encounter with god. That they That they'll see jesus. That they'll see jesus. You know, are you struggling in your faith? Are you struggling with doubt, seek answers?

If there's specific questions that come up. Absolutely. Find answers to questions. But more importantly, ask the lord for an encounter, ask the lord will you will you reveal yourself to me? Will you show yourself to me? Thomas needed to see the risen lord price. Unless i see, he said But Thomas also needed to touch the original lord price in order to proclaim that proclamation of good news.

In the midst of a world that has broken and evil, he needed to touch. Jesus, unless i place my fingers in the, in the, in the nail holes, right? He needed more than a third person encounter. He needed a first person, one. He knew in the face of this tragedy of the crucifixion to maintain the courage to proclaim victory.

He needed a first person encounter with jesus, he needed to touch jesus throughout the gospels, listen, throughout the gospels. People received, jesus touch, don't, they think about that. Just think about when Thomas knew, hey, i need to touch him. He'd seen what his lord had done. Jesus was the one that like touched the leopards, right?

Jesus will the like when everyone else don't touch me because it's because they were right, you know, you know, you don't want to touch someone with a skin problem and then get the skin problem, right? And so i'm not going to touch. Jesus was the one who said no, I reach out.

I touch you and it's my cleanness. That gets contagious. Not your uncleanness. Like that was that was jesus story, right? That's what gets caught. You know, is my cleanness. So jesus touching people and people are receiving his touch and receiving the beauty. That comes from touching jesus. We all need to experience.

Jesus first hand, You need a touch from the lord. We need jesus to touch us. Finally. Thomas needed to unite with a risen. Lord christ. He needed to become one with him.

There was healing from the trauma. At the touch of jesus. But even that wasn't enough. Right. So he could receive the healing touch that he needed. From jesus, but even that wasn't enough. Thomas needed empowerment. Empowerment, that comes. From union with jesus that comes from being one with jesus.

He placed his hand into his side, right? Like place his hand into his side. This uniting with jesus becoming one with jesus. This is always an encounter of grace. There's this him written by Uh, fifth century. No, sixth century, saint romanis, the melodist. He wrote a bunch of hymns.

And he wrote this who protected the hand of the disciple, then. That was not melted when he approached the fiery side of the lord. Who gave it daring and strength to probe the flaming bone. Certainly the side was examined for unless the side, it's applied, abundant power. How could a right hand of clay have touched the sufferings Which had shaken.

What is above and what is below? It was grace itself. That was given to thomas by christ to touch his side and to cry out. You are our lord and god,

Truly the bramble bush, which endured fire was burned, but not consumed. Because of the hand of thomas, i believe the story of moses. For those hand was perishable and thorny, it was not burned when it touched the side that was like, burning flame. Then fire came upon the brindle bramble bush, but now the thorny one race to the fire and god himself looked on guarding both and so i believe.

And so i will praise the one. Who is both god and man as i cry, you are our lord and our god. For truly, the boundary line of faith was circumscribed for me, by the hand of thomas. For when he touched christ, he became like the pen of a rapid writing scribe.

That writes for the faithful faith gushes forth from it, the robber drank and became sober again from it, the disciples watered their hearts from it thomas drained, the knowledge that he sought from it for he drank first, and then offered a draft to many Who have a little doubt.

He persuades them to say, you are our lord god. The grace of god says approach and receive all you need. That's the story. And when we unite with jesus, we receive the power to audaciously proclaim. Victory. In the midst of defeat.

So, We come together in worship and recognize every eucharist service, we encounter the risen Lord Christ. You really like jesus knew that thomas and the other disciples weren't the only ones that needed to see jesus that needed to touch jesus. They need to unite with jesus that they're only hope for proclamation of the resurrection.

In the midst of a world, it's broken. And it doesn't stop being broken, is an encounter with the risenlore christ. He gives us his body and he says, this is my body, take touch. See, eat do it, do it and do it over and over. Because the only way that we can be proclaimed to continue to proclaim audaciously that jesus has one of victory in the midst of the evil that we continue to suffer is that we continually encounter the risen lord christ.

So, saints, draw forth, receive the body of the risen, lord christ and receive, all that you need to continue in proclamation of victory.

Unedited Transcript Below:

00:00
In the name of god, the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Oh man. Imagine you are having some serious car trouble. Right. And your car was breaking down. You thought your car was going to break? And i, you were telling me about this, and i felt really great compassion for you.

00:19
And i said, i want to help you. Um, You can have Andy's car.

00:30
Um his car is your car. Now you're right. And that and that was how i was responding with my compassion for you. Um, Will be the problem with that you would say well that's not really your car to give me. Um, you can't give me. Andy's car because it doesn't belong to you, right?

00:49
And i think one of the most difficult messages of the gospel is in all actuality everything we have is like that. Um, one of the things i've shared with you that i say to my kids a lot, Is nothing is yours. Nothing belongs to you kids. So when they're fighting over their toys and when they're fighting, i say hey nothing's yours, it's all gods, like it, nothing belongs to you.

01:17
Right. And the scriptures teach us that all things come from god and all things belong to God. Now i recognize there's such a thing as private. Ownership in the sense of our worldly relationships is one another. The fact that he's even though i don't have the right to give away deacon Andy's car, He certainly has the right to give away his own car, right?

01:40
And so that we recognize there is that but the point still remains. Ultimately andy, or i don't have claim to anything apart from god's will. Apart from god, giving us and can all gifts and sustaining our lives. And this ownership claim that god has It's not only over our possessions but over us.

02:07
Kind of the message of the readings today, right? And this would be a precarious situation to find ourselves in Except. That god loves us perfectly. The one who has the claim over all things. Perfectly loves us. As we heard in our pistol, what can separate us from the love of god, right?

02:29
And the god who has ownership claim over all things, including our very lives which would put us in a precarious situation. Loves us perfectly. So the guy who has a claim on everything actually gave everything away. In order that we who have a claim on nothing, Might give everything away as well.

02:55
That's just kind of, that's the story. We'll be walking through today and it's important to write. We read some passages that are, i mean, Difficult to hear. Right. Difficult for us to hear as the people of god. But i think as we unpack, just what i just said that the god who has a claim on everything, gave everything away So that his people who have a claim on nothing might give everything away.

03:20
Um, i i think as we as we press into that, we can recognize first and foremost, that god has a claim on all things. God has a claim on everything that exists. So as we go, we read this passage In genesis, and i Uh, i was talking, i have, i have a group of people from fellow priests that we walk through the lectionary to gather and one of the things i was exhorting them to is, like, don't read the passage about Abraham being called to sacrifice his kid and just not saying anything about it.

03:51
So like one of the beautiful things about our Um, our tradition is that we believe there's power in reading the word of god out loud. Sometimes, you'll hear the word of god, right out loud. And a lot of times you won't hear anything else said about it in the service.

04:06
We believe there's just a power to hearing the word of god in the. So the homily might not unpack. Every scripture usually doesn't unpack every scripture, we read, but this is one of those ones that is hard enough for us to read that, it takes him to that, we should reflect on.

04:22
Hey, what's going on here when god's calling abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac? And as we do that, We recognize. The narrator doesn't leave us in suspense about what's going to happen to Isaac. I don't know if you noticed that. There is suspense in the passage, but right at the very first words in order to test Abraham, god said this.

04:44
So we know that the point of tension worse for supposed to be feeling as we read this passage is, is Abraham going to be obedient? Not is Isaac going to survive this I know we read this maybe a little bit out of context. But, There's been a whole host of promises around, isaac, okay?

05:09
Isaac has been promised at, like, The whole story up to this point has been about isaac and about the thing like his offspring that are going to come forth from him. Like the whole story has been about abraham waiting on Isaac and all these promises that are going to be fulfilled in Isaac.

05:28
So We it It's impossible that Isaac's gonna die and not survive here. Um, even for the reader, we already know it, we already know. No way isaac doesn't get out of this alive. Right. And we even get a couple hints. To the extent of Abraham's faith in the abraham, doesn't believe that Isaac's not going to get out alive as he goes through this.

05:52
In verse 5. We have him saying to the young men stay here with the donkey and i and the boy will go over there and worship and we'll come back again to you. So we have, we have abraham saying that we are going to go worship, we are going to come back, right?

06:09
Um, that's what that's what he believed. We have Isaac saying to his father abraham, you know, my father and him saying here, i am my son. And and ultimately asking, hey, where's the lamb? And abraham saying, god will provide a lamb. For. For a burnt offering. So unless we just think, hey abram's lying in order to like get isaac to be compliant Um, If we, we can read into this.

06:38
A little bit of recognizing, you know, abraham recognizes that something's going to happen that there were promises around isaac that he doesn't understand this command, he doesn't understand all this works out how this all works out, but he recognizes that it all belongs to god. That is very son belongs to god.

06:58
And that there were all these promises around god, and he can entrust his son's life. To god. Hard message for parents, right? Think. Hey no. I I i have to protect my child. I have to take care of my kids. I am right. When we're doing that. We're acting like god who is our father, right?

07:23
And so that's a that's a beautiful thing. We have to recognize that all of us. Really lay our kids at the feet of god. Um, we lay our children at the feet of god, who's actually the only one able to protect them and the only one able to care for them.

07:41
We're actually powerless in that situation. We feel like we're not and we do our best and that's fine. But god is the one that has the ability to care for them. The ability to provide for them, the ability to protect them. And god had provided Isaac and abraham. Knew it.

08:02
And he had no claim on isaac's life outside of god's will. Abraham knew it, he had no claim on Isaac's life outside of god's will. So god made the promise god, brought the eye, got brought the boy, brought isaac by a miracle, and god was the only one with a claim on isaac's life.

08:25
One of the lies that most destroys our lives is that we have a claim on anything or anyone outside of God's will. This is one of the the lies that will destroy us. It's why it's worth fighting the battle with your kids. The gut you don't own anything nothing's yours.

08:46
Right. Because one of the greatest lies that destroys our lives is the lie that we have a claim on anything or anyone apart from the will of god. God is the one who gives god is the one who breathes life into us. God is the one who gives all and we have no claim on anything.

09:04
Apart. From god. And this is a hard message to hear. But what might be even more difficult. Is that this is abraham is viewed as the prototype of faith. In both the old and new testaments he's he's viewed as the example of what it looks like to have faith.

09:24
What it looks like to have faith is to be like abraham. So in hebrews 11, It says by faith abraham when he was tested offered up. Isaac. And he would receive. The promises was in the act of offering up. His only son. Of whom it was said through isaac, your offspring shall be reigned, and he can, or shall be named, and he considered that god was able to raise him from the dead.

09:56
From which figuratively speaking. He did receive him back. So we we we're seeing some Inside into the mind of abraham, maybe. But he, he saw that god was able to raise the dead. The book of james says, was not abraham. Our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar.

10:20
You see that faith was active along with his works and faith was completed by his works. Yeah. That's another sermon but uh, but uh, the relationships between between faith and works and how that plays out and particularly in jeans and paul, that'd be another sermon. But the point he was here is the his faith, the trueneness of his faith was displayed by offering up, Isaac.

10:45
And so if we want to know what faith looks like the scriptures, tell us, look at abraham and it looks like the one who knew he had a claim on nothing and he was ready to offer up his son because he trusted god with Isaac's life. He trusted god to be to love Isaac more perfectly than he could and he trusts so he was willing to offer his son up to god.

11:07
He knew god he knew that he was trustworthy and he knew that god was the only one with any claim on his children's lives.

11:19
So god has a claim on everything, everything belongs to god, every relationship belongs to god, everything we own comes from god, and one of our lives is believing that we have a claim on anything apart from god, but this one who had a claim on everything. Gave up everything.

11:36
See, part of the horrifying nature of this. Test, that was given. Is that actually the call to human sacrifice? Wasn't that unlike something the gods of the surrounding nations would have commanded? So, the gods of the surrounding nations were happy, but by the way, demons are always, so demons are about two things and they'll always been and they always will be, they're about.

12:01
They're about sexual or morality and human sacrifice, right? So, sexual immorality and human sacrifice. This is what the demons game is false. Religions game is this is what addictions are about. This is what? Oh, it's all hue. Sexual morality human sacrifice. These are like the two things that they're always about and so human sacrifice demons, want blood and these false gods.

12:24
They asked for people to give human sacrifice all the time. And so, this was something that Um, that would have been considered kind of normal that god's asking for human sacrifice. Right. And so, Part of what's happening in this test is god, is saying, i am not like those gods.

12:43
I am not like those gods. That demand blood. I am not like them. And this displace him to be not like the other god's jeremiah in 195 says, They've built i'm talking about the people of israel. They've built high places to bail to burn their children in the fire as offering to bail something i did not command or mention nor did it enter into my mind.

13:08
Didn't even enter my mind. To ask for blood from your children. For you to offer, human sacrifice.

13:20
Maybe unsurprisingly the father's. All, look at this story and they see isaac as a type of christ. They see isaac as a picture of jesus. The father giving his son. And with that in mind, i think it's why this story gets wildly misunderstood when we don't see Isaac. And more importantly, the jesus that he's pointing toward As willing participants in the story, okay?

13:43
Really important when you read this story that we see isaac as a willing participant, we don't get a ton of time markers at this point, in the story of genesis, So, it's hard to like, Nail down how old isaac was. Um, because we just don't get a lot of time markers right here, so you can be anywhere between five and thirty seven, you know, Um, But the text seems to take away anything close to the front end of that.

14:10
Um, because it's saying they went away together, both of them together, they were in this together and so you and and you have Isaac willingly laying down on the altar Might remind us of jesus. Who said in john, 10, 18. No one takes my life from me, but i lay it down of my own accord.

14:37
Jesus gave his own life. We're going to be singing the song how deep the father's love for us in our offertory. And it's a beautiful song and it communicates, substitutionary atonement really well but there's a line. I wish i could rewrite in it and there's a lot of lines.

14:54
And a lot of songs that i wish i could rewrite, so you don't have to Um, You know, rip it your hymnal apart. But, uh, But one, one of them is the father turns his face away, right? Um, But we think that's biblical because jesus. Quoted psalm 22 on the cross, but let me.

15:14
It's at like a nameable trinitarian history. Heresy. To like, pith of will, of the father against the son, okay? Like the father and the son weren't in a fist fight, Okay, the father and the son, at the atonement of jesus, we're not in a fist fight with each other, where the father was like, super angry and he needed someone to be beat up.

15:34
And so he beat up his son really bad, like take out his anger so that he doesn't have to be up you and i, wow, that's great news. What a good gospel that is, no, that's not good news. Like, like if i invited, Augie up here to beat him up for a while because i'm really mad at how you guys are behaving.

15:49
And, uh, And i am like i'm just gonna beat him up till i feel better. That's not good news, right? Right. So and that's not the story. The story is jesus willingly offering himself as a sacrifice because he loves us. Right? That's the story, it's god. Himself offering himself to the father so that We might be made one with him and so that we might be united with him.

16:22
The gospel isn't a story of like divine. Child abuse. The gospel. Is a story of god giving himself for us. Because he loves us. It's the god who has a claim on everything, giving everything. Because of his love for us. And he gave everything so that we who might have, who have a claim on nothing can give everything ourselves, finally getting to our gospel reading.

16:48
And don't worry, i'm almost done. But uh, But jesus uses those, the the same words get behind me when he talks to peter. The very same word. Apiso, right? But the very same word get behind me. He says right? He says to others when he says get behind me in line.

17:12
Anyone who would like to follow after me, must come after me. Must get behind me. And pick up their cross and follow after me. Very same word. It's a peter was perceiving with. And part of the reason peter, Was arguing with jesus i think, is that he was perceiving?

17:32
What is true of all those? That would be disciples. Namely that our morning prayer reading this morning. A servant is not greater Tennis teacher. All right. And the best we could hope for is to be like our teacher and that if jesus is going to this type of death, maybe God's going to call all of us to follow him and he says, you're exactly right.

17:53
Get behind me in line Peter. This is the way. This is the way is to give up everything.

18:05
And we don't have a claim on anything, right? We were made by god. We live this. We live a lot and breathe with. Only the breath that got gives us. Everything we do is empowered by god. And we use the very life. He gives us to rebell against him to sin against him.

18:20
And he has shown us that the way to life is by giving up laying down our lives, which we have no claim for on anyway, in order to follow after him that, the only way toward life is to lay down the life that we don't have a claim on.

18:36
In order to receive it back from him redeemed. God's made a way so that we you have no claim apart from him can lay down our lives. In order to receive that life back redeemed. And we know that we can trust him. When we lay down our lives. Because he's the one who gave everything for us.

18:58
Nothing can separate us from the love of god.

19:04
So today we realized that the god who has a claim on everything gave everything, So that those who have a claim on, nothing might give everything. And may god give us grace to hand over our lives to him. The one who loves us enough to give himself for us.

19:22
So that we might receive. Our lives back forever. Amen. 

Sermon Transcript

In the name of god, the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Amen. My family and i love to go hiking and have just started with uh, The camping, we well. Uh, we had our first two successful camping trips this last summer. Uh, we we've taken a lot of hikes together.

Um but one thing that we don't and we love to get outdoors, it's fun to be out in the, in the mountains, in the wilderness. Um i never really have been into hiking when there's not like a really clear trail though, right? Um, and there's two reasons for this first, i have the lousiest sense of direction of anyone.

I know. Like, i, i don't know someone with a worse sense of direction than i do. So i was made for, like, cell phones, to tell you every time you have to turn, i'll tell you. Um, All right, so i have almost zero faith in my ability to find my way.

To where i need to be. If i got turned around and i got lost Um, but second and i think maybe more importantly, I believe if you i i have like an axiom. I live my life. By if you don't do what people are doing in the first part of the horror movie, You never have to do what people are doing in the second part of the horror movie.

And so i live my life that way, like if i i look around and i say, if this looks like what people were doing at the first part of the scary movie, i'm not going to do that. Then i never have to do the second part of the scary movie.

Getting lost in the wilderness. Would be really scary, wouldn't it? Uh, the wilderness is Beautiful, and it's wonderful. But a huge part even if it's beauty is that it's untamed and it's unpredictable. The wilderness comes up a lot in biblical imagery. When israel fails to go into the promised land, because they're not ready to slay the giants.

They wander in the wilderness for 40 years. David writes, several psalms during his several trips into the wilderness both before, and after being made king, right? What we find in the wilderness is frau with fear. But it's also a place where there's just enough tranquility that We can meet with god in a special way there.

Part of what makes the wilderness uniquely scary. Is that in the wilderness? Our identity is stripped right? We're reduced to like the relationship of predator and prey and i and some of the Some of the Creatures in the wilderness would be prey to us and others would be predators to us.

And we have the relationship is predator and prey and a lot of what makes us unique is humans. And different from animals is stripped from us. There's another scary beautiful place, discussed in the scriptures a lot. The deep. Right? We talked about water a bit. When we talked about the baptism when we actually read this passage, just about a month ago when we read, when we celebrated the baptism of jesus, right?

We we actually read this passage just about a month ago. Minus the last two verses. That we read. And the deep is also beautiful, but it's untamed and it's scary. Jesus baptism, we learned help tame the water. And it makes it redemptive for us the scriptures today, actually lead us to reflect on the power of water.

With water being the means of Redemption. And salvation. But maybe most importantly, the water is the place where christians find their identity. The water is the place where christians know who they are. Peter tells us baptism, saves you. He tells the sat in this passage. How does baptism save us?

We might wonder peter tells us it saves us through the resurrection of jesus. As we go into the water with jesus, we identify with the one who came the water. We unite with the water tamer and we become children of god. And just, as jesus. As god's child went into the wilderness with his identity fully confirmed.

He went and tame the wilderness. Just like he tame the water. As we enter the wilderness of lent, we intentionally embrace Our weakness and we ask god to make us new But just like jesus did it with his identity. Ringing his ears. We're called to do it with our identity.

Ringing in our ears. See, jesus took his identity with him into the wilderness, didn't he? And he, he took his identity of being a child of god and he was a child of god. And is a child of god by nature. We talked last month about jesus baptism. And we talked about how jesus needed to hear his identity.

Didn't we? Before going out into the wilderness. How he needed to hear his identity even more. Before going to the cross. The repeated refrain in both those events in the wilderness and in the cross, in the more expanded forms, mark the short. Is, are you really the son of god?

If you're really the son of god? This this And so he goes into the wilderness and to the cross with identity. Last week, deacon Andy preached on the transfiguration. Where we again have jesus identity. Being dealt with before he goes to the cross. And we learn that, we're to be a people that listen to him.

Right, that we need to be a people that listen to god. And now we see these two verses tagged on the the back end of this passage in mark, right?

And it's kind of interesting because the spirit Sent him out into the wilderness. She's notice that. The spirit, the holy spirit of god, the one that descended on him. In his baptism is the one that sent him out into the wilderness, the greek word there is qbalo. Akbala, it's the same word that's that's used in the gospels to talk about.

Jesus casting demons out, so think of like like it's not just like a gentle leading of the spirit into the wilderness. He was cast into the wilderness by the holy spirit, jesus is cast into the wilderness, by the holy spirit. He's the this like it's the second nearly violent verb in the short passage because as we talked about, we'd been praying through advent.

Oh, that you would run the heavens and come down the, the scriptures, talk about the spirit and marcus kind of unique in this tearing. Open the heavens and descending on jesus. So you have the spirit tearing, open the heavens to sending on jesus, and then casting him into the wilderness shortly after descending on him.

So jesus is in the wilderness being tempted by satan, he's led by the spirit there. So that he might be tested. Improve in victorious. And here and kind of unique to mark two, the angels attending is concurrent to the temptation. So here he doesn't like, get through the test and then the angels, Show up and they hadn't been in the narrative.

It seems to be at the same time while he's going through the testing. The angels are ministering to him, present tense verbs, right?

Make no mistake. The second person words that we talked about when we talked about, jesus baptism. You are my son. Are just the words, he needed. To go out and be victorious. In the wilderness. Jesus goes into the wilderness as the eternal son of god. Eternally begotten of the father god from god, light from light true god, right?

We say we we say that every week, right? He goes out to the wilderness. As the as the eternal son of god. He was a son of god by nature and he takes his identity who he was this eternal. Son of God by nature out into the wilderness. And jesus took the identity spoken over to him when he came the water.

With him out into battle. And then he went out and he came the wilderness too. Tame the wilderness for us. And just like jesus took his identity out into the wilderness. His he was a child of god by nature. We also take our identity out with us into the wilderness.

We're children of god, too. We're children of god. Through adoption. Been adopted into his family. So this lent, we also head into the wilderness, we enter a season of fasting. But it points to a season, this season points to an aspect that's true throughout our entire lives. I think it's really important to point this out.

So, when we get to Easter, which we will soon enough, It's going to feel like forever, but once we get there and, and we will soon enough, The things that were reflecting on during Lent don't like cease to be true about us, right? So like the the liturgical season isn't saying like you're a sinner during lent and then you're like victorious during Easter, you know.

Like, uh, it's a like what's true about us during Lent. Is still true about us during Easter and so we don't like stop being sinners. Once Easter comes, we don't stop being mortal. We don't stop being weak. Like when Easter comes, it's not like all that stuff isn't true.

About us anymore. What happens is we we're in eat and lent. We're intentionally focusing on these truths. In a specific way. And bringing them to the forefront of our lives by by heading into the wilderness. Right. So a season of fasting is meant to highlight truce about us that remain true even after the fasting.

Is over. So, As we prayed in our college, we live our mortal lives. Assaulted by many temptations.

Isn't that true of us? The college using violent language. About our relationship to temptation. Or assaulted by many temptations. And we live our mortal lies, as people who are weak people of weakness, as you know, the weaknesses of each of us, right? And we are in desperate, need to find god mighty to save.

This is always true about us guys. We are always assaulted by many temptations. And we are always weak and in need of god to prove himself to be mighty to save these truths just don't quit They don't quit at Easter vigil when we ring the bells. These are these are what we walk in all the time.

And we know we will find God mighty to say because we prayed our Ash Wednesday, collect again. Which will in the 19th. I'm a rubrics nerd. But in the 1928, i was alerted that the 1928 rubrics say, go ahead and pray that That colic for Ash Wednesday all the way through lent.

So we will, we'll, we'll pray, uh, we'll pray the sunday, collect and then the Ash Wednesday call it all the way through. So that we can continue to remind ourselves that we can find God, mighty to save because he hates nothing that he has made. God loves us. And because god loves us.

We can find him mighty to save. So we go into the wilderness for a season. In order to point out how our entire mortal lives are spent in the wilderness, They're spent assaulted by temptation. Week and vulnerable. And they need to find god mighty to save. But what Easter tells us and what these passages that we read today about all the water tell us Is that that's not all that's true about us.

We go into the wilderness but we we go into the wilderness with our identity. Just like jesus did. And saint peter uses really clear language to describe baptism. He says, we are in baptism. We are saved through water just as noah was saved through water in the ark. This is the comparison.

He makes the water in the ark. To contrast with the water of baptism the water and the ark was a means of death and death alone. But yet there was a promise. Right. That's what we read today. I'm gonna put the rainbow in the clouds, a lot of the church fathers will point to like The bow.

Weapon of war that got got god's laying down. His weapon. He's laying down his weapon when he puts the bow in the sky. And i'm not going to weaponize water against you anymore, right? And so now baptism, still, the water is still a means of death, but it's a means of death and rebirth.

We die to ourselves in the water. We die to our sin in the water and then we rest, we we rise with jesus. We rise to new life. That's why peter says at the end of that reading, that baptism saves you through the resurrection of jesus christ because we identify with jesus and his death and in baptism.

We also identify with jesus, In resurrection. So yes, we're mortals. Yes, we're sinners. But we have been buried with christ in our baptism. And we have been raised to new life.

Jesus heard that he was the son of god by nature at his baptism it. Our baptism, we become sons and daughters of god by adoption. And our baptism saint paul tells us that we receive the spirit of adoption by whom. We can cry, abba, father, God is our father not by nature, in other words.

We're not naturally sons and daughters of god. Were sons and daughters of god by grace. Right, we're made scents and daughters of god by grace. By nature. Paul tells us we are children of wrath in Ephesians chapter 2. But by grace, we are adopted into god's family and we are children of god And even during Lent, These statements are all true about you, and i just as it's true that during Easter tide, you're still a sinner and you're still weak and you're still vulnerable and you're needy.

These things that we just reflect on about, baptism about how god saves us through water. They're also true. Of us during Lent. So in this season and i think it's maybe a unique mercy. Uh, in the three-year. I mean, part of it is just like so our three electionary cycle the temptation of jesus in Mark is just so stink and short that they have.

You read the baptism again, you know. That's, that's why they have you read. The baptism again is because like two verses just isn't enough and so they so we read the baptism again, but maybe it's a mercy. Did you settle in and say? Maybe maybe in a special way this lint?

We can be intentional about saying, hey, i i'm going into the wilderness with my identity. With my baptism, this is the only year. We read the baptism narrative again. During Lent. So, maybe this is a unique year for us to say, okay, i'm going in the wilderness. Yes, i'm going.

I'm recognizing my weakness, my vulnerability. My sinfulness my mortality, but i'm also recognizing that i am god's child.

So, as you fail, And you will in your Latin devotion. As you as you. Fulfill everything. And as you send during lent, like guess what you're going to send during life somewhat, you might send more during lent. Because you're going to be grumpy and hungry and uh it's like you might send more during lent and like and as these things, as these things come up for you.

Remember these words, remember That you are a perfectly loved child of god.

And while you're in the wilderness, you're a perfectly loved child of god. So, just as the father didn't love jesus, any less in the wilderness, God doesn't love you in ounce less in the wilderness. And when you fall into weakness because you're assaulted by temptations, God doesn't love you and ounce less.

Because you're just you're his son. Here's daughter. So there's good work to be done in the wilderness. There is there was good work for jesus as he was able to go toe to toe with his greatest adversary and prove that he was real. There's good work for us too.

As our wrongly turned affections, and our desires are exposed for what they are. It's uncomfortable. Work for us just as it was for jesus but it's good work too. And as we go into the wilderness, we go with our identity just as jesus went into the wilderness and he was a son of god by nature.

We we get to go into the wilderness hearing that. We are children of god. By grace through adoption. So dear ones you are perfectly loved this one. Whatever weakness you're walking into and dealing with your perfectly loved. Let us go into the wilderness as children of god. And let us know that the god who leads us into the wilderness will safely lead us through the death and resurrection.

Which we'll celebrate at Easter, vigil. Amen. 

We are free to stop running this Lent and be vulnerable before the Lord, because we are already fully known and loved by him, even as sinners who will die.

Father James Linton discusses how Jesus’ teaching was centered on himself, as both the preacher and the sermon. He talks about the need for us to preach with authority and ask God to demonstrate the power behind the message.

Father James talks about how when we give up our vocation to be about building the Kingdom of Christ, God redeems our vocation and gives it back to us with meaning and purpose

These words spoken in a rage-filled stupor become the very prayer God answers in showing people mercy.

Although by God’s design we were made to be needy, the Fall tempts us to meet our appetites outside of God’s design. God answers this by being water for our thirsty souls.

Father James discusses how the Gospel makes God’s people law keepers