WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.080 We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church. 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:11.580 This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, redistribution, or any other 00:00:11.580 --> 00:00:15.280 use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church. 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:22.620 Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org. 00:00:25.900 --> 00:00:26.760 Good morning. 00:00:27.240 --> 00:00:28.440 My name is August Fern. 00:00:28.440 --> 00:00:33.060 This morning we're going to have a reading from the book of Deuteronomy, various selections 00:00:33.060 --> 00:00:35.300 from chapter 4 as printed in the liturgy. 00:00:36.260 --> 00:00:40.859 The words we're hearing are the words of Moses as he's speaking to the Israelites before they 00:00:40.859 --> 00:00:44.000 crossed the Jordan, starting with verse 5. 00:00:45.880 --> 00:00:52.540 See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow 00:00:52.540 --> 00:00:55.520 them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. 00:00:55.520 --> 00:01:01.580 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:08.120 who will hear about all these decrees and say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding 00:01:08.120 --> 00:01:08.680 people. 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:14.939 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is 00:01:14.939 --> 00:01:17.359 near us whenever we pray to him? 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:24.920 And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body 00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:27.159 of laws I am setting before you today? 00:01:28.120 --> 00:01:34.620 Only be careful and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes 00:01:34.620 --> 00:01:39.039 have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:44.420 Teach them to your children and to their children after them. 00:01:44.420 --> 00:01:52.120 Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when he said to me, assemble 00:01:52.120 --> 00:01:58.719 the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they 00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:01.359 live in the land and may teach them to their children. 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:07.939 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very 00:02:07.939 --> 00:02:11.500 heavens with black clouds and deep darkness. 00:02:11.500 --> 00:02:15.120 Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. 00:02:15.860 --> 00:02:18.740 You heard the sound of words but saw no form. 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:20.360 There was only a voice. 00:02:21.159 --> 00:02:28.039 He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow, and then wrote 00:02:28.039 --> 00:02:29.659 them on two stone tablets. 00:02:30.740 --> 00:02:36.460 And the Lord directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you are to follow in 00:02:36.460 --> 00:02:38.819 the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. 00:02:38.819 --> 00:02:44.400 You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. 00:02:45.299 --> 00:02:50.479 Therefore watch yourselves very carefully so that you do not become corrupt and make for 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:53.419 yourselves an idol, an image of any shape. 00:02:54.579 --> 00:02:55.659 Now verse 23. 00:02:56.859 --> 00:03:01.379 Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you. 00:03:01.959 --> 00:03:06.699 Do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. 00:03:06.699 --> 00:03:11.560 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:13.399 Verse 31. 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:17.000 For the Lord your God is a merciful God. 00:03:17.359 --> 00:03:22.719 He will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:23.679 to them by oath. 00:03:24.780 --> 00:03:31.159 Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings 00:03:31.159 --> 00:03:31.859 on the earth. 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:34.839 Ask from one end of the heavens to the other. 00:03:34.840 --> 00:03:38.900 Has anything so great as this ever happened? 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:41.460 Or has anything like it ever been heard of? 00:03:42.219 --> 00:03:48.900 Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire as you have and lived? 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:56.080 Has any God ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation by testings, 00:03:56.340 --> 00:03:58.259 by signs, and by wonders? 00:03:58.259 --> 00:03:59.259 By war? 00:03:59.259 --> 00:04:02.379 By mighty hand and an outstretched arm? 00:04:02.539 --> 00:04:04.659 Or by great and awesome deeds? 00:04:04.780 --> 00:04:10.419 Like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? 00:04:11.139 --> 00:04:12.099 Verse 39. 00:04:13.780 --> 00:04:20.659 Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. 00:04:20.660 --> 00:04:22.620 There is no other. 00:04:23.820 --> 00:04:30.000 The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever. 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:50.800 Good morning, Christ Church. 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:54.800 If you're new with us, we're delighted to have you. 00:04:54.819 --> 00:04:55.520 My name is Jonathan. 00:04:56.340 --> 00:05:03.639 And if you want to know what I've been up to the past two weeks, I'm now a volunteer cross-country coach 00:05:03.639 --> 00:05:10.540 at my kids' school and have been recruiting kindergarten to eighth grade students to come 00:05:10.540 --> 00:05:16.980 and run with us and wooing them with popsicles at the end of practices and trying to get their parents 00:05:16.980 --> 00:05:22.660 to sign up on Team Snap and get jerseys and spirit gear and all this great stuff. 00:05:23.500 --> 00:05:30.460 I think now we're going to have about 40 plus kids come and run with us on the next four or five Friday nights. 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:36.540 And it's been a lot of fun, but it's also a great deal of effort to form a team. 00:05:36.700 --> 00:05:38.460 Has anybody here tried to form a team? 00:05:38.459 --> 00:05:45.159 It takes a lot of effort to get all these different people moving in the same direction 00:05:45.159 --> 00:05:51.079 and to get these kids kind of ready for speed and for distance 00:05:51.079 --> 00:05:58.539 and to just get them up to the starting line of that first race to be ready to run their best race to their fullest potential. 00:05:59.959 --> 00:06:05.539 I've also enjoyed thinking about great cross-country slogans on T-shirts. 00:06:05.540 --> 00:06:08.960 For example, our sport is your sport's punishment. 00:06:09.740 --> 00:06:10.960 Thought that was a good one. 00:06:11.800 --> 00:06:14.920 Running is a mental sport and we are all insane. 00:06:16.220 --> 00:06:20.860 Or if we played tag, you'd be it forever, which I kind of like that one. 00:06:22.400 --> 00:06:28.080 But I like this analogy of forming a team and getting people up through the starting line. 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:33.039 And it has great resonance for me as a pastor launching a church into a new ministry year. 00:06:33.079 --> 00:06:39.419 How do you get all these individual people into a cohesive group moving in the same direction for the same purpose? 00:06:40.419 --> 00:06:44.479 And I kind of think about my experience as a cross-country coach or as a pastor 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:51.300 as like one one millionth of what Moses must have been feeling here at the edge of the promised land, 00:06:51.379 --> 00:06:54.879 trying to get the people of God up to that starting line 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:58.980 and ready to move into the race that God had marked out for them. 00:06:58.980 --> 00:07:01.819 Because that's what is happening in Deuteronomy. 00:07:02.520 --> 00:07:08.480 Moses is getting the next generations of the people of God ready to run this race with perseverance 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:12.560 and with joy that God has set out before them. 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:18.200 And Jesus, I think, as we talked last week, he loved this book so much. 00:07:18.920 --> 00:07:21.180 Quoted this book more than any other book, I think, 00:07:21.259 --> 00:07:26.900 because it's such a clear revelation of who his father is. 00:07:27.379 --> 00:07:31.780 Such a clear revelation of the character and the nature of God, 00:07:31.879 --> 00:07:33.720 of his heart and his will for us, 00:07:33.720 --> 00:07:36.600 of what he wants from us, his people, 00:07:36.600 --> 00:07:42.360 how he wants us to run this race that he's setting before us. 00:07:42.400 --> 00:07:45.920 So with that, let's dive in this morning to Deuteronomy 4 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:52.060 and this great farewell address from Moses in the last month of his life. 00:07:52.140 --> 00:07:54.640 What does he have to say to the people of God? 00:07:55.180 --> 00:07:58.860 And I think here in Deuteronomy 4, he wants us to know 00:07:58.860 --> 00:08:13.480 that our mysterious God has a jealous love that makes us different. 00:08:13.939 --> 00:08:19.600 And I want to explore for a minute the fact that we have a mysterious God 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:21.939 because Moses says in verse 10, 00:08:21.939 --> 00:08:23.379 he says, 00:08:23.379 --> 00:08:27.120 Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, 00:08:27.219 --> 00:08:28.620 that is Mount Sinai. 00:08:30.620 --> 00:08:33.440 Remember that day when he said to me, 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:35.940 assemble the people before me to hear my words 00:08:35.940 --> 00:08:38.460 so that they may learn to revere me 00:08:38.460 --> 00:08:39.980 as long as they live in the land 00:08:39.980 --> 00:08:42.100 and may teach them to their children. 00:08:42.500 --> 00:08:45.960 The people of God had two intense encounters 00:08:45.960 --> 00:08:48.379 with Yahweh, with the Lord. 00:08:48.379 --> 00:08:53.120 And these were their primary sources of their knowledge of God. 00:08:53.340 --> 00:08:55.860 The one experience was the exodus from Egypt. 00:08:56.600 --> 00:08:58.539 And the other experience was the covenant 00:08:58.539 --> 00:09:00.820 that God made with them at Sinai. 00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:03.679 And this formed the framework for Israel's faith, 00:09:03.779 --> 00:09:06.080 just as for the Christian paradigm 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:08.899 as the incarnation of Jesus on the one hand 00:09:08.899 --> 00:09:12.379 and the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus on the other hand. 00:09:12.419 --> 00:09:14.460 And Moses is inviting us into this framework. 00:09:14.460 --> 00:09:20.259 He's inviting us to relive this moment at Mount Sinai 00:09:20.259 --> 00:09:23.879 because this defining foundational event 00:09:23.879 --> 00:09:27.100 was a profoundly moving experience 00:09:27.100 --> 00:09:30.100 of the mysterious presence of the Lord. 00:09:31.040 --> 00:09:33.200 And Moses, as he helps us remember it, 00:09:33.680 --> 00:09:35.220 he's emphatic that God, 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:39.000 the God of the Bible is not an either or God. 00:09:39.400 --> 00:09:41.379 He's a both and God. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:43.660 He's not a one-dimensional God. 00:09:43.659 --> 00:09:46.659 He's a multi-dimensional God. 00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:49.159 And the people of God are called to know 00:09:49.159 --> 00:09:53.899 this dynamic, personal, relational, incomparable being 00:09:53.899 --> 00:09:57.659 that cannot be reduced down to either this or that. 00:09:58.259 --> 00:09:59.000 And here's what I mean. 00:09:59.799 --> 00:10:01.939 Moses wants us to know this God 00:10:01.939 --> 00:10:05.539 is both imminent and transcendent. 00:10:05.959 --> 00:10:09.279 He's both near and he's awesome. 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:11.059 Look at what he says in verse seven. 00:10:11.059 --> 00:10:13.500 He says, 00:10:14.319 --> 00:10:16.319 what other nation is so great 00:10:16.319 --> 00:10:18.679 as to have their gods near to them 00:10:18.679 --> 00:10:21.599 the way the Lord our God is near us? 00:10:22.179 --> 00:10:23.639 Whenever we pray to him, 00:10:23.679 --> 00:10:25.019 there's an intimate closeness. 00:10:25.239 --> 00:10:28.319 We call out and God's right there listening. 00:10:28.579 --> 00:10:30.399 He's near to us. 00:10:31.299 --> 00:10:32.879 And yet, listen to verse 33. 00:10:33.739 --> 00:10:34.199 Moses says, 00:10:34.200 --> 00:10:36.320 has any other people heard the voice of God 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:40.020 out of fire as you have and lived? 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:43.660 He balances God's nearness with the fact that 00:10:43.660 --> 00:10:47.800 he's so awesome and majestic in his power 00:10:47.800 --> 00:10:49.720 that if you were to plug into him, 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:51.420 it would blow your circuits. 00:10:51.580 --> 00:10:54.020 I mean, how can anybody hear God 00:10:54.020 --> 00:10:56.080 and survive that encounter? 00:10:56.280 --> 00:10:58.879 How can they live through that experience? 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:02.379 Or again, Moses says in verse eight, 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:02.840 he says, 00:11:03.259 --> 00:11:04.620 what other nation is so great 00:11:04.620 --> 00:11:07.860 as to have such righteous decrees and laws 00:11:07.860 --> 00:11:11.179 as this body of laws I'm setting before you today? 00:11:11.299 --> 00:11:12.759 Here is God right here 00:11:12.759 --> 00:11:16.919 giving you this ongoing quiet guidance 00:11:16.919 --> 00:11:19.220 through this righteous body of teaching 00:11:19.220 --> 00:11:22.139 the scriptures breathed out from his spirit 00:11:22.139 --> 00:11:23.740 into your spirit. 00:11:23.820 --> 00:11:25.220 He's right here with us. 00:11:25.220 --> 00:11:28.580 And yet, it's balanced with verse 34 00:11:28.580 --> 00:11:29.360 where he says, 00:11:29.560 --> 00:11:31.840 has any God ever tried to take for himself 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:33.440 one nation out of another nation 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:36.060 by testings, signs, and wonders, 00:11:36.300 --> 00:11:39.360 war, a mighty hand, and outstretched armor 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:42.060 by great and awesome deeds 00:11:42.060 --> 00:11:43.480 like the things the Lord your God 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:46.759 did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? 00:11:47.540 --> 00:11:49.899 The quiet guidance of God in the scriptures 00:11:49.899 --> 00:11:52.899 is balanced and matched by this drama 00:11:52.899 --> 00:11:56.299 of his mighty hand and his outstretched arm 00:11:56.299 --> 00:11:58.779 and these wonderful works of God 00:11:58.779 --> 00:12:00.360 to rescue his people. 00:12:00.579 --> 00:12:01.720 God, Moses says, 00:12:01.779 --> 00:12:04.000 who's not to be taken lightly 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:05.559 or to be trifled with. 00:12:06.679 --> 00:12:08.120 Moses is saying to the people, 00:12:08.319 --> 00:12:10.720 look, you should have confidence in God 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:13.000 because he's so near to you. 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:14.459 He's so close to you. 00:12:14.699 --> 00:12:17.360 He's right here filling all things 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:20.179 everywhere around us and within us. 00:12:20.179 --> 00:12:23.359 And yet, not only should you have confidence in God, 00:12:23.419 --> 00:12:25.439 but you should have reverence for this God 00:12:25.439 --> 00:12:28.799 who is awesome, who's wondrous, 00:12:29.559 --> 00:12:32.120 who's incredible in his power, 00:12:32.219 --> 00:12:33.879 who's way more than we can handle. 00:12:35.059 --> 00:12:38.079 And Moses tells us that this God 00:12:38.079 --> 00:12:39.879 who's both imminent and transcendent, 00:12:39.939 --> 00:12:41.839 this God who's both near and awesome, 00:12:42.059 --> 00:12:46.939 he is both knowable and incomprehensible. 00:12:46.940 --> 00:12:50.000 And Moses goes on and he says, 00:12:50.200 --> 00:12:54.540 this God is both fire and a voice. 00:12:55.140 --> 00:12:57.300 This God is both a fire and a voice. 00:12:57.420 --> 00:12:58.560 He says in verse 11, 00:12:59.640 --> 00:13:01.680 you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain 00:13:01.680 --> 00:13:04.740 while it blazed with fire to the very heavens 00:13:04.740 --> 00:13:07.320 with black clouds and deep darkness. 00:13:07.380 --> 00:13:09.720 This is a detailed, vivid memory 00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:12.720 that Moses wants to become our memory. 00:13:12.840 --> 00:13:14.680 Even those of us who were not there, 00:13:14.679 --> 00:13:17.039 he says, imagine this mountain, Mount Sinai, 00:13:17.099 --> 00:13:19.319 that's glowing with the light of fire. 00:13:20.179 --> 00:13:21.819 Its brightness contrasted 00:13:21.819 --> 00:13:23.959 with all the surrounding darkness. 00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:26.679 And five times in this text, 00:13:27.219 --> 00:13:30.319 Moses likens God to a fire, right? 00:13:30.379 --> 00:13:33.479 Which is consistent with Genesis 15, 00:13:33.719 --> 00:13:35.559 God shows up to Abraham as a, 00:13:35.620 --> 00:13:37.779 he reveals himself as a blazing torch. 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:41.719 Exodus three, God shows up to Moses in what? 00:13:41.939 --> 00:13:43.059 A burning bush. 00:13:43.059 --> 00:13:47.139 Exodus 13, God reveals himself to Israel 00:13:47.139 --> 00:13:51.459 and he leads them out of Egypt as a pillar of fire. 00:13:52.439 --> 00:13:53.839 Why fire? 00:13:53.959 --> 00:13:56.459 I don't know, but I just, I love, 00:13:56.819 --> 00:13:59.259 I love this fact because I've been a pyromaniac 00:13:59.259 --> 00:14:01.939 since I was a very young child. 00:14:02.099 --> 00:14:04.439 I just loved striking that match 00:14:04.439 --> 00:14:07.079 and seeing, you know, the flame come to life. 00:14:07.719 --> 00:14:10.000 Some of you have heard me talk about sewer ball. 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:12.840 As an adolescent, we would take the manhole cover off. 00:14:13.539 --> 00:14:15.639 We'd pour some gasoline down the sewer. 00:14:16.259 --> 00:14:18.200 We'd soak a tennis ball in gasoline, 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:19.059 light it on fire, 00:14:19.100 --> 00:14:20.460 and then we'd kind of play putt-putt 00:14:20.460 --> 00:14:23.480 and hope that we could get that flaming ball 00:14:23.480 --> 00:14:24.179 into the sewer. 00:14:24.299 --> 00:14:24.860 And when it happened, 00:14:24.919 --> 00:14:26.559 there was just a pillar of fire 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:28.299 that would come up. 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:32.620 How am I not in jail right now? 00:14:32.620 --> 00:14:35.340 How am I alive? 00:14:35.460 --> 00:14:36.220 How am I a pastor? 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:36.759 I don't know. 00:14:38.220 --> 00:14:39.700 But I've always loved fire. 00:14:40.460 --> 00:14:43.120 And you think about these four elements, 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:44.519 earth, water, wind, and fire. 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:47.039 Why does God reveal himself as fire? 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:49.899 You know, your child comes to you, wants to play. 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:51.779 Do you give them a hose and some dirt 00:14:51.779 --> 00:14:55.039 or do you give them wood and lighter fluid, right? 00:14:55.039 --> 00:15:01.559 The fire imagery, the fire likeness of God, 00:15:01.839 --> 00:15:03.219 it engages our senses. 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:04.779 We can see the brightness. 00:15:05.059 --> 00:15:07.179 We can feel the heat. 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:08.599 We can hear the roar. 00:15:09.399 --> 00:15:12.839 There's a formless, luminous, mysterious beauty 00:15:12.839 --> 00:15:15.799 that beckons us from a fire to come closer 00:15:15.799 --> 00:15:16.620 and to get warm. 00:15:16.740 --> 00:15:19.339 And yet, there's a powerful danger that says, 00:15:19.639 --> 00:15:21.699 don't come too close or you're gonna get burned. 00:15:21.700 --> 00:15:28.580 This fire on Mount Sinai needs no fuel to burn. 00:15:29.420 --> 00:15:31.860 Just as God needs nothing in himself 00:15:31.860 --> 00:15:35.300 or outside of himself to be, he just is. 00:15:35.660 --> 00:15:39.300 He's this infinite source of self-sufficient power. 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:43.140 Moses says, you are before a fiery God. 00:15:44.500 --> 00:15:47.220 But this fiery God is not a silent God. 00:15:48.040 --> 00:15:49.580 He's a God who speaks. 00:15:50.780 --> 00:15:51.520 Verse 12. 00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:54.400 He says, then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. 00:15:54.540 --> 00:15:57.200 You heard the sound of words but saw no form. 00:15:57.580 --> 00:15:59.140 There was only a voice. 00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:00.420 This is a God who speaks. 00:16:00.520 --> 00:16:03.620 He's a personal, relational God who reveals 00:16:03.620 --> 00:16:06.060 and communicates himself to us, 00:16:06.060 --> 00:16:08.900 which means we're to be a people not so much of the eye. 00:16:09.500 --> 00:16:11.020 We're to be a people of the ear, 00:16:11.920 --> 00:16:13.740 a people who learn to listen 00:16:13.740 --> 00:16:16.379 because God is calling out to us 00:16:16.379 --> 00:16:19.200 from his interior, inmost being, 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:21.320 through his voice, through his word, 00:16:21.820 --> 00:16:25.300 trying to get into our interior, inmost being. 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:27.660 God is reaching out to us 00:16:27.660 --> 00:16:30.040 because he wants to be known by us. 00:16:30.060 --> 00:16:31.560 And this is so deep. 00:16:31.660 --> 00:16:32.560 This is so rich. 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:33.919 Moses is saying, God, 00:16:34.479 --> 00:16:37.659 the God who is a transcendent, awesome fire, 00:16:37.839 --> 00:16:40.199 he cannot be grasped or comprehended 00:16:40.199 --> 00:16:42.119 by the greatest theologian. 00:16:42.959 --> 00:16:46.000 And yet this God is also such an imminent 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:49.079 and near voice that's speaking to us. 00:16:49.139 --> 00:16:52.539 He can be known and adored by the smallest child. 00:16:52.539 --> 00:16:57.279 And Moses says, this voice of Sinai is speaking 00:16:57.279 --> 00:16:58.719 not only to that generation, 00:16:58.899 --> 00:17:00.639 but to every generation. 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:02.199 He's calling out to us 00:17:02.199 --> 00:17:05.839 and it's ours to learn to trust this voice. 00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:09.240 It's ours to learn to trust this word 00:17:09.240 --> 00:17:11.740 that's speaking to us. 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:13.899 I love the gospels. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:17.059 We have four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 00:17:17.139 --> 00:17:19.539 But John 1, 1 says this, 00:17:19.539 --> 00:17:21.159 in the beginning was the word. 00:17:22.019 --> 00:17:23.420 And the word was with God 00:17:23.420 --> 00:17:25.159 and the word was God. 00:17:25.879 --> 00:17:27.240 The word became flesh 00:17:27.240 --> 00:17:28.680 and made his dwelling among us. 00:17:28.759 --> 00:17:29.899 We have seen his glory, 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:31.680 the glory of the one and only son 00:17:31.680 --> 00:17:33.619 and who came from the father 00:17:33.619 --> 00:17:36.039 full of grace and truth. 00:17:36.139 --> 00:17:38.659 In Jesus, John says, 00:17:38.659 --> 00:17:42.920 we finally and fully meet this mysterious God 00:17:42.920 --> 00:17:45.000 who is both transcendent and eminent, 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:47.799 who is awesome and who's near, 00:17:47.799 --> 00:17:50.480 who is a fire and who is a voice. 00:17:50.599 --> 00:17:53.599 In Jesus, the divine fire 00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:55.839 takes on human form 00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:58.379 and a human face and a human voice. 00:17:58.379 --> 00:18:02.299 In Jesus, this divine nature of God 00:18:02.299 --> 00:18:05.159 is woven into human nature 00:18:05.159 --> 00:18:07.359 and he's calling out to us 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:09.079 from his inmost being, 00:18:09.460 --> 00:18:10.680 calling out our names, 00:18:11.139 --> 00:18:12.379 saying to each one of us, 00:18:12.539 --> 00:18:14.299 I want you to come follow me. 00:18:14.299 --> 00:18:16.659 Come follow me. 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:18.879 And that's the question 00:18:18.879 --> 00:18:20.240 maybe for some of us today 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:23.079 who are here exploring the Christian faith 00:18:23.079 --> 00:18:24.079 and what it's all about. 00:18:24.379 --> 00:18:26.440 Are you hearing this voice, 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:29.339 the voice of this mysterious God 00:18:29.339 --> 00:18:32.319 calling out your name? 00:18:34.099 --> 00:18:37.000 Moses says that our mysterious God, 00:18:37.379 --> 00:18:40.240 he has a jealous love. 00:18:41.240 --> 00:18:44.579 Our mysterious God has a jealous love. 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:46.859 And this is where Moses goes next in verse 15. 00:18:46.980 --> 00:18:47.259 He says, 00:18:47.339 --> 00:18:49.120 you saw no form of any kind 00:18:49.120 --> 00:18:51.019 the day the Lord spoke to you 00:18:51.019 --> 00:18:52.180 at Horeb out of the fire. 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:54.960 Therefore, watch yourselves very carefully 00:18:54.960 --> 00:18:56.640 so that you do not become corrupt 00:18:56.640 --> 00:18:59.319 and make for yourselves an idol, 00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:01.819 an image of any shape. 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:02.279 Why? 00:19:02.460 --> 00:19:03.640 Because God says, 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:07.240 I can tolerate no reductionist images of me 00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:09.579 and no rival powers beside me. 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:11.839 On the one hand, 00:19:11.900 --> 00:19:12.500 God is saying, 00:19:13.220 --> 00:19:15.440 I am unrepresentable. 00:19:16.759 --> 00:19:19.480 Anything you would try to construct, 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:20.880 whatever you could imagine, 00:19:21.019 --> 00:19:22.299 I'm more powerful than that. 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:25.319 Whatever you could create, 00:19:25.460 --> 00:19:26.640 I'm more majestic than that. 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:29.259 Whatever size you could make an idol, 00:19:29.620 --> 00:19:31.319 I'm way bigger than that. 00:19:31.400 --> 00:19:32.000 God is saying, 00:19:32.099 --> 00:19:33.880 I am not static. 00:19:34.440 --> 00:19:35.580 I'm not immobile. 00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:37.880 I'm not deaf or dumb 00:19:37.880 --> 00:19:39.320 or unfeeling or unthinking, 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:42.100 which every idol in the end actually is. 00:19:42.180 --> 00:19:42.620 God says, 00:19:42.700 --> 00:19:42.920 no, 00:19:43.340 --> 00:19:44.640 I'm not manageable. 00:19:45.280 --> 00:19:46.320 I'm not limited. 00:19:46.440 --> 00:19:48.140 You can't contain me 00:19:48.140 --> 00:19:49.500 or control me. 00:19:51.180 --> 00:19:53.220 You can't pin God down 00:19:53.220 --> 00:19:54.360 in space, 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:54.720 time, 00:19:54.780 --> 00:19:55.100 and matter, 00:19:55.160 --> 00:19:55.380 and say, 00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:55.540 well, 00:19:55.580 --> 00:19:55.780 God, 00:19:55.860 --> 00:19:57.380 this is your time 00:19:57.380 --> 00:19:58.320 and this is your space. 00:19:58.360 --> 00:19:59.100 This is your day 00:19:59.100 --> 00:19:59.920 and this is your place 00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:01.160 and all the rest belongs to us. 00:20:01.220 --> 00:20:01.620 God says, 00:20:01.700 --> 00:20:01.920 no, 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:03.520 all of it is mine. 00:20:03.880 --> 00:20:04.360 God says, 00:20:04.360 --> 00:20:06.620 all of it is filled with my glory. 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:07.900 All of it is filled with my presence. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:09.820 You can't reduce me 00:20:09.820 --> 00:20:12.300 or try to reproduce me. 00:20:13.080 --> 00:20:13.560 He says, 00:20:13.620 --> 00:20:15.560 I'll tolerate no reductionist images 00:20:15.560 --> 00:20:16.500 on the one hand 00:20:16.500 --> 00:20:18.520 and on the other hand, 00:20:19.260 --> 00:20:19.980 the ancient Near East 00:20:19.980 --> 00:20:20.960 was full of gods, 00:20:21.040 --> 00:20:21.660 full of gods 00:20:21.660 --> 00:20:24.020 that oversaw various realms, 00:20:24.180 --> 00:20:26.060 oversaw various human needs. 00:20:26.140 --> 00:20:27.360 You had the gods of healing, 00:20:28.320 --> 00:20:29.420 the gods of agriculture 00:20:29.420 --> 00:20:31.380 and the god of commerce, 00:20:31.500 --> 00:20:32.260 the god of war, 00:20:32.259 --> 00:20:33.839 the god of relationships 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:35.000 and love and fertility 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:36.740 and in order to make your life work, 00:20:36.819 --> 00:20:37.980 you had to bow down. 00:20:38.099 --> 00:20:40.059 You had to depend on these gods 00:20:40.059 --> 00:20:41.599 for your vitality 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:42.259 and your success 00:20:43.160 --> 00:20:44.339 and God is saying here, 00:20:45.180 --> 00:20:46.859 I don't want you to turn 00:20:46.859 --> 00:20:49.140 to any substitute powers 00:20:49.140 --> 00:20:50.500 for your needs. 00:20:51.900 --> 00:20:52.339 Why? 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:54.440 Because I am the lord of all realms 00:20:54.440 --> 00:20:56.259 and I am the lord of all needs 00:20:56.980 --> 00:20:58.359 and I want you to come to me 00:20:58.359 --> 00:20:59.559 and depend upon me 00:20:59.559 --> 00:21:00.679 for everything, 00:21:00.819 --> 00:21:01.859 for all of your needs. 00:21:02.740 --> 00:21:03.819 I can tolerate 00:21:03.819 --> 00:21:05.319 no reductionist images 00:21:05.319 --> 00:21:07.059 and no rival powers 00:21:07.059 --> 00:21:08.379 and why can't he tolerate 00:21:08.379 --> 00:21:08.879 these things? 00:21:08.919 --> 00:21:09.720 Because he says, 00:21:09.940 --> 00:21:11.000 I'm jealous. 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:14.119 I'm a jealous God. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:16.079 Verse 23, 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:19.759 be careful not to forget 00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:20.319 the covenant 00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:22.139 of the Lord your God 00:21:22.139 --> 00:21:22.960 that he made with you. 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:23.980 Do not make for yourselves 00:21:23.980 --> 00:21:25.779 an idol in the form of anything 00:21:25.779 --> 00:21:26.699 the Lord your God 00:21:26.699 --> 00:21:27.240 has forbidden 00:21:27.240 --> 00:21:28.839 for the Lord your God 00:21:28.839 --> 00:21:30.179 is a consuming fire, 00:21:31.220 --> 00:21:32.059 a jealous God. 00:21:32.139 --> 00:21:33.220 There are actually many places 00:21:33.220 --> 00:21:33.599 in the Bible 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:34.480 where it just says 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:35.779 that God's name is 00:21:35.779 --> 00:21:36.679 Jealous 00:21:36.679 --> 00:21:38.299 with a capital J 00:21:38.299 --> 00:21:38.759 and I know 00:21:38.759 --> 00:21:40.019 it's completely off-putting 00:21:40.019 --> 00:21:41.299 for most of us 00:21:41.299 --> 00:21:43.179 for our modern sensibilities. 00:21:43.559 --> 00:21:43.859 Why? 00:21:44.039 --> 00:21:44.619 Is he jealous? 00:21:44.759 --> 00:21:45.419 Is he insecure? 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:46.679 Is he egocentric? 00:21:46.879 --> 00:21:48.019 Is he paranoid? 00:21:48.419 --> 00:21:49.719 What's up with God 00:21:49.719 --> 00:21:50.599 being jealous? 00:21:51.319 --> 00:21:52.819 But there are two ways 00:21:52.819 --> 00:21:54.139 that we can use that word. 00:21:55.439 --> 00:21:57.039 One way is 00:21:57.039 --> 00:21:58.299 jealousy is a synonym 00:21:58.299 --> 00:21:59.019 for envy. 00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:00.539 So I'm jealous 00:22:00.539 --> 00:22:02.579 of your good looks. 00:22:02.639 --> 00:22:03.099 I'm jealous 00:22:03.099 --> 00:22:04.419 of your money. 00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:05.699 Meaning that I 00:22:05.699 --> 00:22:07.099 want to have them 00:22:07.099 --> 00:22:07.759 and I don't want you 00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:08.179 to have them. 00:22:08.179 --> 00:22:08.939 That's one form 00:22:08.939 --> 00:22:09.479 of jealousy 00:22:09.479 --> 00:22:10.019 that's kind of 00:22:10.019 --> 00:22:11.559 an egocentric 00:22:11.559 --> 00:22:13.579 self-absorbed 00:22:13.579 --> 00:22:14.299 kind of jealousy. 00:22:14.419 --> 00:22:14.960 But the other 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:16.500 way to use this word 00:22:16.500 --> 00:22:17.519 is what it means 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:18.259 here in Hebrew. 00:22:18.440 --> 00:22:19.299 It literally means 00:22:19.299 --> 00:22:21.299 to become intensely red. 00:22:22.599 --> 00:22:23.460 I am a God 00:22:23.460 --> 00:22:24.079 who becomes 00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:25.759 intensely red. 00:22:25.919 --> 00:22:26.740 And that signals 00:22:26.740 --> 00:22:27.859 a passionate 00:22:27.859 --> 00:22:28.960 commitment, 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:29.799 a zealous 00:22:29.799 --> 00:22:30.679 allegiance 00:22:30.679 --> 00:22:31.319 behind 00:22:31.319 --> 00:22:31.879 which 00:22:31.879 --> 00:22:32.960 and beneath 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:33.679 which sits 00:22:33.679 --> 00:22:34.700 the structure 00:22:34.700 --> 00:22:36.139 of a covenant. 00:22:36.779 --> 00:22:37.519 If you want to get 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:38.539 Presbyterians 00:22:38.539 --> 00:22:39.299 really excited 00:22:39.299 --> 00:22:39.799 and see them 00:22:39.799 --> 00:22:40.720 become Pentecostal 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:41.819 just use this word 00:22:41.819 --> 00:22:42.220 covenant. 00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:44.259 We name our churches 00:22:44.259 --> 00:22:45.180 and our schools 00:22:45.180 --> 00:22:46.139 covenant this 00:22:46.139 --> 00:22:47.019 and covenant that 00:22:47.019 --> 00:22:48.299 but that's because 00:22:48.299 --> 00:22:49.259 God says here 00:22:49.259 --> 00:22:50.039 in verse 23 00:22:50.039 --> 00:22:51.159 the Lord God 00:22:51.159 --> 00:22:51.759 don't forget 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:52.359 that he made 00:22:52.359 --> 00:22:52.919 a covenant 00:22:52.919 --> 00:22:54.180 with you. 00:22:55.220 --> 00:22:56.299 Western society 00:22:56.299 --> 00:22:57.639 is increasingly 00:22:57.639 --> 00:22:59.019 short on 00:22:59.019 --> 00:23:00.680 covenantal relationships 00:23:00.680 --> 00:23:02.220 but the scriptures 00:23:02.220 --> 00:23:02.940 say that this is 00:23:02.940 --> 00:23:03.680 the only way 00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:04.480 that we can relate 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:04.879 to God 00:23:04.879 --> 00:23:05.440 is through 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:06.399 a covenant. 00:23:07.259 --> 00:23:07.960 Well what is 00:23:07.960 --> 00:23:08.379 a covenant? 00:23:09.380 --> 00:23:09.920 A covenant 00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:11.400 is far more 00:23:11.400 --> 00:23:11.940 personal 00:23:11.940 --> 00:23:12.600 and intimate 00:23:12.600 --> 00:23:14.220 than a contractual 00:23:14.220 --> 00:23:14.860 relationship 00:23:14.860 --> 00:23:16.740 and yet a covenant 00:23:16.740 --> 00:23:17.500 is far more 00:23:17.500 --> 00:23:17.980 binding 00:23:17.980 --> 00:23:18.700 and solemn 00:23:18.700 --> 00:23:19.500 and accountable 00:23:19.500 --> 00:23:20.740 than a friendship 00:23:20.740 --> 00:23:22.360 and there are 00:23:22.360 --> 00:23:23.160 really only two 00:23:23.160 --> 00:23:23.880 forms of 00:23:23.880 --> 00:23:24.820 covenantal relationships 00:23:24.820 --> 00:23:25.460 left in 00:23:25.460 --> 00:23:26.200 Western society. 00:23:26.340 --> 00:23:26.980 The first is 00:23:26.980 --> 00:23:28.060 the parent-child 00:23:28.060 --> 00:23:28.660 relationship. 00:23:28.820 --> 00:23:29.660 Some of you are parents 00:23:29.660 --> 00:23:30.380 so you can imagine 00:23:30.380 --> 00:23:31.380 yourself being a parent 00:23:31.380 --> 00:23:32.880 and I want you to imagine 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:33.900 your cute 00:23:33.900 --> 00:23:34.760 beautiful son 00:23:34.760 --> 00:23:35.180 or daughter 00:23:35.180 --> 00:23:36.220 becomes a teenager. 00:23:37.140 --> 00:23:37.700 A teenage 00:23:37.700 --> 00:23:38.840 son or daughter 00:23:38.840 --> 00:23:39.740 who develops 00:23:39.740 --> 00:23:40.220 a pattern 00:23:40.220 --> 00:23:40.860 of lying 00:23:40.860 --> 00:23:41.440 and cheating 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:42.720 and stealing 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:43.600 and how does that 00:23:43.600 --> 00:23:44.319 make you feel 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:44.920 as a parent? 00:23:45.660 --> 00:23:46.500 Does that make you feel 00:23:46.500 --> 00:23:47.360 warm and fuzzy 00:23:47.360 --> 00:23:48.120 on the inside? 00:23:48.740 --> 00:23:49.680 Does that make you feel 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:50.120 indifferent 00:23:50.120 --> 00:23:51.720 or does it cause you 00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:52.340 to become 00:23:52.340 --> 00:23:54.100 intensely red? 00:23:55.720 --> 00:23:56.559 You become 00:23:56.559 --> 00:23:57.400 intensely red 00:23:57.400 --> 00:23:58.220 not so much 00:23:58.220 --> 00:23:59.120 because you're angry 00:23:59.120 --> 00:24:00.059 at that child 00:24:00.059 --> 00:24:00.680 of course 00:24:00.680 --> 00:24:01.559 you are 00:24:01.559 --> 00:24:02.960 but because you're 00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:03.880 angry for 00:24:03.880 --> 00:24:04.900 your child. 00:24:04.900 --> 00:24:05.600 you're angry 00:24:05.600 --> 00:24:06.759 because of the 00:24:06.759 --> 00:24:07.280 thing that's 00:24:07.280 --> 00:24:08.220 destroying your 00:24:08.220 --> 00:24:08.840 loved one 00:24:08.840 --> 00:24:09.100 and your 00:24:09.100 --> 00:24:09.680 relationship 00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:10.580 with them. 00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:11.300 You're angry 00:24:11.300 --> 00:24:12.920 because you 00:24:12.920 --> 00:24:13.560 love them. 00:24:14.780 --> 00:24:15.560 This is what 00:24:15.560 --> 00:24:16.360 one woman says 00:24:16.360 --> 00:24:16.820 she says 00:24:16.820 --> 00:24:17.940 love detests 00:24:17.940 --> 00:24:18.840 what destroys 00:24:18.840 --> 00:24:19.380 the beloved. 00:24:20.540 --> 00:24:21.180 Real love 00:24:21.180 --> 00:24:21.980 stands against 00:24:21.980 --> 00:24:22.700 the deception 00:24:22.700 --> 00:24:23.440 the lie 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:24.019 the sin 00:24:24.019 --> 00:24:24.759 that destroys. 00:24:25.860 --> 00:24:26.620 The more a father 00:24:26.620 --> 00:24:27.480 loves his son 00:24:27.480 --> 00:24:28.300 the more he hates 00:24:28.300 --> 00:24:28.680 in him 00:24:28.680 --> 00:24:29.480 the drunkard 00:24:29.480 --> 00:24:30.019 the liar 00:24:30.019 --> 00:24:30.600 the traitor. 00:24:31.500 --> 00:24:32.140 Anger isn't 00:24:32.140 --> 00:24:32.700 the opposite 00:24:32.700 --> 00:24:33.340 of love. 00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:35.140 Hate is 00:24:35.140 --> 00:24:36.360 and the final 00:24:36.360 --> 00:24:37.259 form of hate 00:24:37.259 --> 00:24:38.940 is indifference. 00:24:40.120 --> 00:24:40.940 The Bible 00:24:40.940 --> 00:24:41.620 teaches us 00:24:41.620 --> 00:24:42.100 that God 00:24:42.100 --> 00:24:42.900 is this loyal 00:24:42.900 --> 00:24:43.420 parent 00:24:43.420 --> 00:24:44.640 with a 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:46.600 fiercely 00:24:46.600 --> 00:24:47.300 protective 00:24:47.300 --> 00:24:48.620 familial 00:24:48.620 --> 00:24:49.680 bond 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:50.200 that will 00:24:50.200 --> 00:24:50.780 tolerate 00:24:50.780 --> 00:24:51.700 nothing 00:24:51.700 --> 00:24:52.960 that's destroying 00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:53.860 the well-being 00:24:53.860 --> 00:24:55.180 of his children. 00:24:55.280 --> 00:24:55.660 That's what it 00:24:55.660 --> 00:24:56.400 means that he's 00:24:56.400 --> 00:24:57.460 a jealous God. 00:24:58.300 --> 00:24:59.040 But there's also 00:24:59.040 --> 00:24:59.620 this other 00:24:59.620 --> 00:25:00.540 relationship 00:25:00.540 --> 00:25:01.220 not just the 00:25:01.220 --> 00:25:01.840 parent-child 00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:02.399 relationship 00:25:02.399 --> 00:25:03.059 but the 00:25:03.059 --> 00:25:04.019 covenantal 00:25:04.019 --> 00:25:04.539 relationship 00:25:04.539 --> 00:25:05.839 of marriage. 00:25:07.199 --> 00:25:08.019 And if you're 00:25:08.019 --> 00:25:08.899 if you have a 00:25:08.899 --> 00:25:09.279 spouse 00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:09.659 or you're 00:25:09.659 --> 00:25:10.199 interested in 00:25:10.199 --> 00:25:10.959 having a spouse 00:25:10.959 --> 00:25:11.500 imagine 00:25:11.500 --> 00:25:13.099 what you would 00:25:13.099 --> 00:25:13.819 feel if you 00:25:13.819 --> 00:25:14.359 found that your 00:25:14.359 --> 00:25:15.000 spouse had 00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:15.599 become more 00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:16.240 intimate with 00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:16.899 someone other 00:25:16.899 --> 00:25:17.379 than you 00:25:17.379 --> 00:25:18.699 you would 00:25:18.699 --> 00:25:19.519 become intensely 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:19.899 red. 00:25:20.980 --> 00:25:21.799 You would 00:25:21.799 --> 00:25:22.500 because of 00:25:22.500 --> 00:25:23.240 your passionate 00:25:23.240 --> 00:25:23.899 commitment 00:25:23.899 --> 00:25:24.500 because of 00:25:24.500 --> 00:25:25.199 your zealous 00:25:25.199 --> 00:25:26.179 allegiance 00:25:26.179 --> 00:25:26.579 you would 00:25:26.579 --> 00:25:27.000 want to 00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:27.439 rescue 00:25:27.439 --> 00:25:28.159 your beloved 00:25:28.159 --> 00:25:28.480 you would 00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:28.859 want to 00:25:28.859 --> 00:25:29.220 rescue 00:25:29.220 --> 00:25:29.919 your relationship 00:25:29.919 --> 00:25:30.379 with them 00:25:30.379 --> 00:25:30.639 and the 00:25:30.639 --> 00:25:31.240 scriptures tell 00:25:31.240 --> 00:25:32.160 us as well 00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:33.720 that God 00:25:33.720 --> 00:25:34.359 is a faithful 00:25:34.359 --> 00:25:35.019 spouse 00:25:35.019 --> 00:25:36.779 who has a 00:25:36.779 --> 00:25:37.200 marital 00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:38.079 commitment 00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:38.640 to his 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:39.099 people 00:25:39.099 --> 00:25:40.380 that will 00:25:40.380 --> 00:25:40.940 tolerate 00:25:40.940 --> 00:25:42.359 no rivals 00:25:42.359 --> 00:25:43.759 and no 00:25:43.759 --> 00:25:44.420 competitors 00:25:44.420 --> 00:25:45.779 in this 00:25:45.779 --> 00:25:46.740 relationship. 00:25:46.740 --> 00:25:47.779 If God 00:25:47.779 --> 00:25:48.259 is our 00:25:48.259 --> 00:25:48.680 highest 00:25:48.680 --> 00:25:49.140 good 00:25:49.140 --> 00:25:50.539 how can 00:25:50.539 --> 00:25:50.940 he be 00:25:50.940 --> 00:25:51.420 anything 00:25:51.420 --> 00:25:52.640 but jealous 00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:53.200 how can 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:54.519 he possibly 00:25:54.519 --> 00:25:55.700 be indifferent 00:25:55.700 --> 00:25:56.640 when he sees 00:25:56.640 --> 00:25:57.339 us his 00:25:57.339 --> 00:25:57.819 people 00:25:57.819 --> 00:25:59.059 resorting to 00:25:59.059 --> 00:25:59.500 cheap 00:25:59.500 --> 00:26:00.480 alternatives 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:00.839 that are 00:26:00.839 --> 00:26:01.480 so much 00:26:01.480 --> 00:26:01.879 less 00:26:01.879 --> 00:26:02.339 than he 00:26:02.339 --> 00:26:02.799 is 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:03.779 and so 00:26:03.779 --> 00:26:04.159 far 00:26:04.159 --> 00:26:04.740 beneath 00:26:04.740 --> 00:26:05.619 us 00:26:05.619 --> 00:26:07.299 people 00:26:07.299 --> 00:26:07.599 who are 00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:08.000 made 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:08.319 in the 00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:08.599 image 00:26:08.599 --> 00:26:09.019 of God 00:26:09.019 --> 00:26:09.359 people 00:26:09.359 --> 00:26:09.720 who are 00:26:09.720 --> 00:26:09.919 the 00:26:09.919 --> 00:26:10.319 beloved 00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:11.279 children 00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:12.419 of God 00:26:12.419 --> 00:26:12.700 we 00:26:12.700 --> 00:26:13.500 all of 00:26:13.500 --> 00:26:13.819 us 00:26:13.819 --> 00:26:14.299 myself 00:26:14.299 --> 00:26:14.899 included 00:26:14.899 --> 00:26:15.700 experience 00:26:15.700 --> 00:26:16.759 imperfect 00:26:16.759 --> 00:26:17.440 jealousy 00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:18.059 that's so 00:26:18.059 --> 00:26:18.659 tainted 00:26:18.659 --> 00:26:19.740 with self 00:26:19.740 --> 00:26:20.119 interest 00:26:20.119 --> 00:26:20.700 it's hard 00:26:20.700 --> 00:26:21.039 for us 00:26:21.039 --> 00:26:21.659 to imagine 00:26:21.659 --> 00:26:23.099 but what 00:26:23.099 --> 00:26:23.339 if there 00:26:23.339 --> 00:26:23.919 is one 00:26:23.919 --> 00:26:24.960 being 00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:25.379 one 00:26:25.379 --> 00:26:26.039 perfect 00:26:26.039 --> 00:26:26.919 parent 00:26:26.920 --> 00:26:27.300 one 00:26:27.300 --> 00:26:27.759 perfect 00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:28.420 spouse 00:26:28.420 --> 00:26:29.480 who 00:26:29.480 --> 00:26:29.779 so 00:26:29.779 --> 00:26:30.680 selflessly 00:26:30.680 --> 00:26:32.060 sacrificially 00:26:32.060 --> 00:26:32.759 committed 00:26:32.759 --> 00:26:33.300 himself 00:26:33.300 --> 00:26:33.820 to the 00:26:33.820 --> 00:26:34.200 good 00:26:34.200 --> 00:26:34.880 of his 00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:35.180 loved 00:26:35.180 --> 00:26:35.460 ones 00:26:35.460 --> 00:26:35.759 that if 00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:36.120 something 00:26:36.120 --> 00:26:36.420 went 00:26:36.420 --> 00:26:36.900 wrong 00:26:36.900 --> 00:26:38.060 he 00:26:38.060 --> 00:26:38.220 would 00:26:38.220 --> 00:26:38.440 be 00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:38.700 filled 00:26:38.700 --> 00:26:38.880 with 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:39.060 a 00:26:39.060 --> 00:26:39.640 pure 00:26:39.640 --> 00:26:41.019 positive 00:26:41.019 --> 00:26:42.180 redeeming 00:26:42.180 --> 00:26:43.120 jealousy 00:26:43.120 --> 00:26:44.620 for us 00:26:44.620 --> 00:26:46.880 I think 00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:47.240 C.S. 00:26:47.240 --> 00:26:47.720 Lewis says 00:26:47.720 --> 00:26:48.060 it so 00:26:48.060 --> 00:26:48.500 well in 00:26:48.500 --> 00:26:48.960 his book 00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:49.680 The Problem 00:26:49.680 --> 00:26:50.220 of Pain 00:26:50.220 --> 00:26:50.840 he says 00:26:50.840 --> 00:26:52.779 what is 00:26:52.779 --> 00:26:53.380 this love 00:26:53.380 --> 00:26:53.840 of God 00:26:53.840 --> 00:26:54.380 and love 00:26:54.380 --> 00:26:55.279 is such 00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:55.860 an amorphous 00:26:55.860 --> 00:26:56.200 term 00:26:56.200 --> 00:26:56.500 is it 00:26:56.500 --> 00:26:56.759 not 00:26:56.759 --> 00:26:57.980 Lewis 00:26:57.980 --> 00:26:58.299 helps 00:26:58.299 --> 00:26:58.460 us 00:26:58.460 --> 00:26:58.839 define 00:26:58.839 --> 00:26:58.940 it 00:26:58.940 --> 00:26:59.220 he says 00:26:59.220 --> 00:26:59.680 what is 00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:00.279 this love 00:27:00.279 --> 00:27:00.859 of God 00:27:00.859 --> 00:27:01.980 it is 00:27:01.980 --> 00:27:02.379 not a 00:27:02.379 --> 00:27:02.859 senile 00:27:02.859 --> 00:27:03.500 benevolence 00:27:03.500 --> 00:27:04.319 that drowsily 00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:04.900 wishes you 00:27:04.900 --> 00:27:05.200 to be 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:05.559 happy 00:27:05.559 --> 00:27:05.900 in your 00:27:05.900 --> 00:27:06.160 own 00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:06.440 way 00:27:06.440 --> 00:27:07.619 it's 00:27:07.619 --> 00:27:07.839 not 00:27:07.839 --> 00:27:08.019 the 00:27:08.019 --> 00:27:08.539 cold 00:27:08.539 --> 00:27:09.160 philanthropy 00:27:09.160 --> 00:27:09.700 of a 00:27:09.700 --> 00:27:10.319 conscientious 00:27:10.319 --> 00:27:10.980 magistrate 00:27:10.980 --> 00:27:11.180 it's 00:27:11.180 --> 00:27:11.420 not 00:27:11.420 --> 00:27:12.240 the care 00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:12.500 of a 00:27:12.500 --> 00:27:12.839 host 00:27:12.839 --> 00:27:13.079 who 00:27:13.079 --> 00:27:13.420 feels 00:27:13.420 --> 00:27:13.779 himself 00:27:13.779 --> 00:27:14.420 responsible 00:27:14.420 --> 00:27:14.960 for the 00:27:14.960 --> 00:27:15.339 comfort 00:27:15.339 --> 00:27:15.759 of his 00:27:15.759 --> 00:27:16.240 guests 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:17.319 no 00:27:17.319 --> 00:27:17.579 the 00:27:17.579 --> 00:27:18.240 love 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:18.700 of God 00:27:18.700 --> 00:27:19.039 is the 00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:19.660 consuming 00:27:19.660 --> 00:27:20.319 fire 00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:20.960 itself 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:22.079 the 00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:22.420 love 00:27:22.420 --> 00:27:22.619 that 00:27:22.619 --> 00:27:22.920 made 00:27:22.920 --> 00:27:23.140 the 00:27:23.140 --> 00:27:23.559 world 00:27:23.559 --> 00:27:24.359 persistent 00:27:24.359 --> 00:27:25.460 as an 00:27:25.460 --> 00:27:26.019 artist's 00:27:26.019 --> 00:27:26.259 love 00:27:26.259 --> 00:27:26.640 love for his 00:27:26.640 --> 00:27:27.039 work 00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:27.879 and despotic 00:27:27.879 --> 00:27:28.579 as a man's 00:27:28.579 --> 00:27:29.379 love for a 00:27:29.379 --> 00:27:29.700 dog 00:27:29.700 --> 00:27:30.440 provident 00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:31.839 and venerable 00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:32.960 as a father's 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:33.559 love for a 00:27:33.559 --> 00:27:33.920 child 00:27:33.920 --> 00:27:34.680 jealous 00:27:34.680 --> 00:27:36.180 inexorable 00:27:36.180 --> 00:27:37.180 exactly 00:27:37.180 --> 00:27:37.920 love 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:38.060 love 00:27:38.060 --> 00:27:38.940 between 00:27:38.940 --> 00:27:39.740 sexes 00:27:39.740 --> 00:27:41.519 and what 00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:41.779 I want 00:27:41.779 --> 00:27:42.000 to 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:42.799 remind 00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:43.019 us 00:27:43.019 --> 00:27:43.299 today 00:27:43.299 --> 00:27:43.519 is 00:27:43.519 --> 00:27:43.740 that 00:27:43.740 --> 00:27:44.180 Jesus 00:27:44.180 --> 00:27:45.299 most 00:27:45.299 --> 00:27:45.740 fully 00:27:45.740 --> 00:27:46.420 reveals 00:27:46.420 --> 00:27:46.820 this 00:27:46.820 --> 00:27:47.220 covenant 00:27:47.220 --> 00:27:47.920 love 00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:48.539 of our 00:27:48.539 --> 00:27:48.840 jealous 00:27:48.840 --> 00:27:49.320 God 00:27:49.320 --> 00:27:50.600 1 00:27:50.600 --> 00:27:50.880 John 00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:51.240 3 00:27:51.240 --> 00:27:51.720 16 00:27:51.720 --> 00:27:52.200 says 00:27:52.200 --> 00:27:52.480 this 00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:52.660 is 00:27:52.660 --> 00:27:52.840 how 00:27:52.840 --> 00:27:53.019 we 00:27:53.019 --> 00:27:53.299 know 00:27:53.299 --> 00:27:53.539 what 00:27:53.539 --> 00:27:53.820 love 00:27:53.820 --> 00:27:54.279 is 00:27:54.279 --> 00:27:55.560 Jesus 00:27:55.560 --> 00:27:56.039 Christ 00:27:56.039 --> 00:27:56.400 laid 00:27:56.400 --> 00:27:56.700 down 00:27:56.700 --> 00:27:56.980 his 00:27:56.980 --> 00:27:57.400 life 00:27:57.400 --> 00:27:57.840 for 00:27:57.840 --> 00:27:58.220 us 00:27:58.220 --> 00:27:59.600 when 00:27:59.600 --> 00:27:59.860 he 00:27:59.860 --> 00:28:00.120 was 00:28:00.120 --> 00:28:00.620 crucified 00:28:00.619 --> 00:28:07.099 on his cross, Jesus is acting like a parent who's throwing himself in front of the bus of sin and 00:28:07.099 --> 00:28:14.379 death that's barreling down the road, threatening to kill us, his beloved children. When Jesus is 00:28:14.379 --> 00:28:20.579 crucified on the cross, he's acting like a spouse who is out of his mind with crazy love to do 00:28:20.579 --> 00:28:27.639 anything, anything it would take to bring his beloved back home to himself. On the cross, Jesus 00:28:27.640 --> 00:28:37.120 is becoming intensely red in a passionate commitment to his blood, a zealous allegiance to 00:28:37.120 --> 00:28:46.440 give himself completely body and soul for our well-being. God the Father, God the Son, God the 00:28:46.440 --> 00:28:54.880 Holy Spirit has shown that he'll stop at absolutely nothing. He will spare no expense to rescue us, to 00:28:54.880 --> 00:29:03.940 love us, to bless us because he's a jealous God. And in Christ crucified, we see this God who is both a 00:29:03.940 --> 00:29:12.800 jealous God and a merciful God showing us what love really is by laying down his life for us. And that's 00:29:12.800 --> 00:29:20.720 the question for us today. Are we clinging to this crucified one as the fullest, most complete image 00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:34.600 of this invisible, mysterious God? Moses says, our mysterious God has a jealous love that makes us 00:29:34.600 --> 00:29:43.339 different or that makes us weird. Our mysterious God has a jealous love. Let's just go with that. Weird is 00:29:43.339 --> 00:29:49.779 better. That makes us weird. And I'll close with this. This is what caught my attention listening to 00:29:49.779 --> 00:29:55.819 Moses' sermon this week and just taking notes on his own preaching. Moses expects the next generations 00:29:55.819 --> 00:30:01.159 that are going to come along as the people of God and enter into the promised land, he expects them to 00:30:01.159 --> 00:30:08.439 develop a counterculture. He expects them to establish a contrast society, to become an intentionally 00:30:08.440 --> 00:30:17.200 peculiar people with a distinctive way of life that's recognizably different and strange, that's 00:30:17.200 --> 00:30:23.240 readily distinguishable from the identities and vocations of the surrounding nations. Listen to what 00:30:23.240 --> 00:30:30.860 he says in verse six. He says, observe these laws of God carefully for this will show your wisdom and 00:30:30.860 --> 00:30:36.519 understanding to the nations who will hear about all these decrees and say, surely this great nation is a 00:30:36.519 --> 00:30:43.240 wise and understanding people. What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the 00:30:43.240 --> 00:30:48.440 Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such 00:30:48.440 --> 00:30:53.779 righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I'm setting before you today? Moses looks at the 00:30:53.779 --> 00:31:00.359 surrounding peoples, the surrounding cultures of the ancient world, and he says, they're going to be dazzled 00:31:00.359 --> 00:31:08.740 by what they see lived out among you, the people of God in your life together. The ideal nation in the 00:31:08.740 --> 00:31:16.139 ancient world was based on, you know, having great size and great wealth and great military power, and 00:31:16.139 --> 00:31:24.179 Israel had none of those things. Israel was small, it was weak, it was poor, it had no military. These were 00:31:24.179 --> 00:31:29.899 recently freed slaves who've been wandering in the wilderness, but God says to them through Moses, he says, 00:31:29.900 --> 00:31:38.680 your greatness is going to be your wisdom, that you live according to the wisdom of God woven into 00:31:38.680 --> 00:31:45.540 this world. Your greatness is going to be your spiritual understanding and your moral discernment. 00:31:46.160 --> 00:31:52.080 Your greatness is going to be your intimate covenant relationship with this God who is near you to 00:31:52.080 --> 00:31:59.380 bless and protect you. Your greatness is going to be the righteous character of God embodied 00:31:59.380 --> 00:32:05.840 embodied in your communal life together, embodied in your neighborly love, embodied in your justice, 00:32:05.840 --> 00:32:11.360 especially toward the poor and the vulnerable. And as I think about this counterculture, 00:32:12.260 --> 00:32:19.580 as I think about this contrast society of the people of God, I get excited about that. I don't know about 00:32:19.580 --> 00:32:26.060 you, but I want to be a part of a great church. I want to be a part of a peculiar church, a church that 00:32:26.059 --> 00:32:34.659 is like causing people to ask, where is this coming from? Where is all this wisdom and righteousness? 00:32:34.940 --> 00:32:42.480 Where is all this understanding coming from? Don't you want to be a part of a church that's a counterculture 00:32:42.480 --> 00:32:48.899 here in Berkeley and Oakland? And I just want us to, as we're going through the book of Deuteronomy, 00:32:48.900 --> 00:32:56.019 as Moses lays this out, I want us to imagine what that looks like. I think what it looks like is us as a 00:32:56.019 --> 00:33:06.400 people having hearts that are on fire with the burning love of God in our midst, his love that is 00:33:06.400 --> 00:33:13.480 jealous, his love that is merciful, his love that is renewing. We have our hearts burning with the love 00:33:13.480 --> 00:33:22.500 of God. And because of that, we have an attractive life. We have a provocative life. People look in 00:33:22.500 --> 00:33:28.539 upon us and they see there is God's burning love embodied in their love for one another. 00:33:29.680 --> 00:33:34.259 There I see there's God's love embodied in their love for their neighbors and even for 00:33:34.259 --> 00:33:40.960 their enemies, their political enemies, their ideological enemies. I see the love of God among these people. 00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:48.700 When people get close to us, they would feel the burning of God's wisdom and understanding among us. 00:33:48.759 --> 00:33:53.660 When people get close to us, they would feel the burning of God's presence and his nearness 00:33:53.660 --> 00:34:00.900 in our midst. When people get around us, they would feel the burning of his righteousness and justice being 00:34:00.900 --> 00:34:10.679 enacted by us. And oh, the people would say, as Moses expects them to say, wow, we are illuminated. 00:34:10.960 --> 00:34:20.500 By the burning light, we are warmed by the blazing heat of your God that's burning in your midst. 00:34:21.960 --> 00:34:29.280 When the mysterious God is among us, when his jealous love has set us on fire, we will be a people 00:34:29.280 --> 00:34:37.360 who are just different. A people who may look strange, who may look weird, but when we get close 00:34:37.360 --> 00:34:47.340 enough, you know, this is the very heart of God, the very love of God that's become real and alive 00:34:47.340 --> 00:34:57.440 among this community of people. That's what I want. Don't you want that? Let's pray for that. 00:34:57.440 --> 00:35:07.280 In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we ask, Lord, make this true for me. Make this true 00:35:07.280 --> 00:35:14.960 for us. Make us a people with your fire in our midst. Make us a people with your voice speaking in our 00:35:14.960 --> 00:35:22.760 midst. Make us a people who look like you and act like you and feel like you in every way possible. 00:35:22.760 --> 00:35:26.160 We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.