WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.259 We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christchurch. 00:00:05.259 --> 00:00:15.419 This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, redistribution, or any other use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christchurch. 00:00:15.419 --> 00:00:22.640 Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristchurchEastBay.org. 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:30.759 Good morning, Christchurch. I'm Susie Shin, and I'm part of the Oakland Family Monthly Community Group. 00:00:31.339 --> 00:00:37.920 I'll be reading today's scripture from John chapter 5, verses 1 to 18, as printed in your liturgy. 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:42.140 A reading from the Gospel according to John. 00:00:42.140 --> 00:00:47.500 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 00:00:48.299 --> 00:00:55.960 Now there is in Jerusalem, near the Sheep Gate, a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda, and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 00:00:57.020 --> 00:01:02.320 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie, the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 00:01:03.579 --> 00:01:06.400 One who was there had been an invalid for 38 years. 00:01:07.240 --> 00:01:11.980 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, 00:01:12.140 --> 00:01:13.820 Do you want to get well? 00:01:15.219 --> 00:01:19.540 Sir, the invalid replied, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. 00:01:20.260 --> 00:01:23.140 While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me. 00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:28.040 Then Jesus said to him, Get up, pick up your mat and walk. 00:01:28.980 --> 00:01:31.640 At once the man was cured, he picked up his mat and walked. 00:01:31.640 --> 00:01:34.599 The day on which this took place was a Sabbath. 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:38.579 And so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, It is the Sabbath. 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:41.000 The law forbids you to carry your mat. 00:01:41.780 --> 00:01:46.260 But he replied, The man who made me well said to me, Pick up your mat and walk. 00:01:46.260 --> 00:01:50.140 So they asked him, Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk? 00:01:50.939 --> 00:01:55.800 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. 00:01:57.100 --> 00:02:00.880 Later, Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, See, you are well again. 00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:03.820 Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you. 00:02:04.800 --> 00:02:08.640 The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well. 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:14.279 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 00:02:15.019 --> 00:02:21.099 In his defense, Jesus said to them, My father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working. 00:02:22.119 --> 00:02:24.599 For this reason, they tried all the more to kill him. 00:02:25.060 --> 00:02:30.759 Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. 00:02:31.639 --> 00:02:33.239 This is the Gospel of the Lord. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:35.539 Praise to you, O Christ. 00:02:35.819 --> 00:02:37.539 Father, we want to hear from you this morning. 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:40.919 We want to see as you see. 00:02:41.379 --> 00:02:44.299 We want to live as you've called us to live. 00:02:44.979 --> 00:02:47.659 We want to be the church that you made us to be. 00:02:47.779 --> 00:02:52.339 A church filled with adoration of your son, filled with worship. 00:02:53.619 --> 00:02:59.119 A church that has a community that's filled with love and accountability and care for one another. 00:03:00.379 --> 00:03:01.479 God, we want to be on mission. 00:03:02.199 --> 00:03:04.619 We want the world to know that Jesus Christ is Lord. 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:08.039 And we want them to know through our words and through our deeds. 00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:17.259 And so, would you do that, O God, by your spirit, through these ordinary means of grace, the preaching of your word, the communion table, all the elements of our worship. 00:03:17.259 --> 00:03:21.180 Would you form us into your people and bless the world through us. 00:03:21.379 --> 00:03:22.939 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:03:22.939 --> 00:03:23.020 Amen. 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:29.960 All right, so these past few weeks, we've been preaching through John's Gospel, right, with a focus on our church's mission. 00:03:30.099 --> 00:03:36.340 Christ's church exists to lead people into deeper relationships with Christ and His church through community for what? 00:03:36.979 --> 00:03:37.560 The city. 00:03:37.780 --> 00:03:38.199 Thank you. 00:03:38.979 --> 00:03:40.719 So, today we're on the fourth C. 00:03:40.860 --> 00:03:41.840 The fourth and final C. 00:03:42.460 --> 00:03:47.219 What does it actually mean to have a deeper relationship with Christ for the city? 00:03:47.219 --> 00:03:55.840 You know, for me, growing up in the suburbs, I didn't have much of a vision for the city and definitely not an appreciation for it. 00:03:55.879 --> 00:04:03.360 Actually, for a lot of us, you know, second and third generation Chinese Americans here in California, especially during like the 80s and the 90s, 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:11.460 our parents and our grandparents worked super hard to move us out of the cities, out of San Francisco, out of Oakland, out of L.A. 00:04:11.460 --> 00:04:19.000 and into the suburbs for cleaner streets, less crime, more space, more parking, better schools, and way more Costco's, right? 00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:22.379 And that was like the narrative of my family. 00:04:22.660 --> 00:04:31.300 My parents went to Oakland High, then after Cal and UCSF, they got out and they raised me in the suburbs of San Leandro, not too far away from here. 00:04:31.300 --> 00:04:36.579 My grandparents soon followed after them, moving into Alameda, and that's just what we did. 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:37.639 We left the city. 00:04:37.860 --> 00:04:40.600 We left the urban centers, and we never really looked back. 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:43.840 And honestly, I had a great suburban childhood. 00:04:44.100 --> 00:04:45.400 I love Costco, all right? 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:54.540 My suburban, middle-class, Asian-American evangelical upbringing, it's something I'm super grateful for, and I wouldn't trade it for a different story. 00:04:54.540 --> 00:04:59.620 It set me up well for college, where I found another Asian-American church and campus ministry to be a part of, 00:04:59.620 --> 00:05:01.079 and I just continued to grow. 00:05:01.639 --> 00:05:09.420 So by the time I graduated from UC Irvine, I was healthy, and I was happy, and I felt like I really had a solid foundation in so many ways. 00:05:09.939 --> 00:05:15.259 I felt like I had my up and out down, up with God, in with His people, and out with the world. 00:05:15.379 --> 00:05:16.699 I was in the Word daily. 00:05:16.780 --> 00:05:17.540 I was in prayer daily. 00:05:17.579 --> 00:05:18.519 I was memorizing Scripture. 00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:20.000 I loved my church. 00:05:20.100 --> 00:05:21.100 I was being discipled. 00:05:21.160 --> 00:05:22.120 I was making disciples. 00:05:22.120 --> 00:05:26.420 We were evangelizing, sharing our faith with people outside of the church. 00:05:26.740 --> 00:05:32.959 I was practicing all the piety that had been modeled for me from the beginning, and I thought I was doing all right. 00:05:34.139 --> 00:05:42.399 And yet, toward the end of my time in Orange County, you know, even with all my spiritual disciplines and all this strong Christian community I had, 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:49.359 I was beginning to feel like something was still seriously missing in the way I was practicing my Christian faith. 00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:53.719 Like, I remember thinking, well, is this all that Christianity is? 00:05:53.799 --> 00:05:59.679 Just go to church, practice spiritual disciplines, hang out with others who are trying to do the same, 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:03.019 and then when we're not at church, just try to tell people about Jesus? 00:06:03.019 --> 00:06:11.659 I remember starting to think, it all just felt too clean, too neat and tidy, too contained, even sterile. 00:06:12.819 --> 00:06:24.039 And at the same time, I was also listening to a lot of Tim Keller, and he was preaching a Christianity that was far bigger than the individualistic personal piety that I had had. 00:06:24.099 --> 00:06:28.599 He was preaching a God who was Lord over every square inch of creation, 00:06:28.600 --> 00:06:34.700 a Jesus whose life and lordship had profound implications for every sphere of culture and society. 00:06:35.900 --> 00:06:43.580 And so, what I began to realize was that my faith, my suburban, college-educated, middle-class, Asian-American, evangelical faith, 00:06:44.040 --> 00:06:48.500 while it truly was a faith, an authentic and beautiful faith in its own way, 00:06:48.500 --> 00:06:52.620 I was coming to realize that at the same time, this faith of mine, 00:06:52.620 --> 00:07:00.100 it still hadn't significantly encountered or engaged with the dark depths of the world's brokenness. 00:07:00.259 --> 00:07:04.740 Like, my faith was real, but also super sheltered and very inexperienced. 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:09.840 It hadn't yet grasped the comprehensive scope and nature of Jesus' kingdom. 00:07:11.319 --> 00:07:16.340 And so, slowly, I came to realize that Jesus, he demanded not just faith in him as my personal savior, 00:07:16.339 --> 00:07:22.739 but a holistic faith in him as the savior of, like, the cosmos, right, of everything that is broken, 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:27.060 both in my own life and soul, but also in the rest of creation. 00:07:28.139 --> 00:07:33.019 Christianity was meant to make a difference, not just for individual souls in eternity later, 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:39.679 but also for whole societies, cultures, and communities now, as a sign of the kingdom of God, here and now. 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:46.540 So, during my last year or so in Orange County, I began to drive into the city of Santa Ana, 00:07:46.660 --> 00:07:52.160 which is, like, right in the center of Orange County, and Orange County is SoCal's, like, wealthiest county. 00:07:52.900 --> 00:07:58.860 But, Santa Ana, in 2004, was named the most troubled and distressed city in the nation. 00:07:59.879 --> 00:08:05.960 So, I started driving into Santa Ana, serving meals with a group of people who were meeting at the Civic Center to serve the homeless. 00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:11.180 Then I started collecting and passing out clothes, made some connections and contacts, 00:08:11.500 --> 00:08:18.500 and with a few friends, we were even able to help an immigrant man help him find a place to live for a few months, 00:08:18.620 --> 00:08:22.659 get on his feet, find work, and just get into a place of some stability. 00:08:23.939 --> 00:08:28.099 But, you know, the more I spent time out there, getting to know people, 00:08:28.259 --> 00:08:35.000 getting to hear their stories of addiction and family fractures and immigration struggles, 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:37.100 trauma and abuse, mental health challenges, 00:08:38.059 --> 00:08:42.620 I increasingly discovered how raw and real the world was, 00:08:42.700 --> 00:08:46.940 how deep the brokenness can go, how much hurt and pain are out there, 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:50.100 and how far back it reaches, right, into people's histories. 00:08:50.860 --> 00:08:54.679 But what also struck me was not simply the brokenness, 00:08:55.419 --> 00:09:00.259 but all the ways people were seeking to cope with the brokenness, 00:09:00.259 --> 00:09:03.620 seeking to remedy their pains and their plights, 00:09:04.659 --> 00:09:08.019 drugs, alcohol, unhealthy relationships. 00:09:09.659 --> 00:09:13.860 But, you know, whatever it was that people were looking to to save themselves, 00:09:14.679 --> 00:09:18.559 the more I observed, the more I came to realize that what I was witnessing, 00:09:19.460 --> 00:09:22.960 it wasn't just, you know, people making bad, self-destructive decisions. 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:30.360 No, these were desperate people making flailing attempts to grab onto, to find, to secure 00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:34.300 really the same thing that we were after in the suburbs, 00:09:34.519 --> 00:09:36.200 the same thing as every human being. 00:09:36.700 --> 00:09:39.639 What all these folks in Santa Ana were after, 00:09:39.780 --> 00:09:42.980 what every single one of us in this room is after is that thing, right, 00:09:43.019 --> 00:09:49.940 that thing that will finally bring about shalom and peace and restoration and wholeness. 00:09:49.940 --> 00:09:54.860 What we're looking for is salvation, and not just salvation from hell later on in the afterlife, 00:09:55.020 --> 00:10:00.540 but salvation from the hellish life that many of us are experiencing in the here and the now. 00:10:02.160 --> 00:10:07.220 That's what we're all reaching for, running to, living by that thing, right, that place, 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:10.180 that practice that we believe will secure for us, 00:10:10.220 --> 00:10:16.580 or at least get us an inch or two closer to the shalom and the wellness that we're all after. 00:10:16.580 --> 00:10:20.720 That the wholeness that Jesus calls the abundant life. 00:10:21.879 --> 00:10:26.920 But the question is, how's that going for those of us who are seeking it outside of Christ? 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:28.940 How's it going for us? 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:33.379 Like, if we're all chasing wellness, and we still haven't secured it, 00:10:34.540 --> 00:10:39.500 what if we're looking in the wrong places, trusting the wrong things to make us whole? 00:10:40.400 --> 00:10:42.879 And that's where we get into John chapter 5. 00:10:43.100 --> 00:10:44.160 Look with me at verse 1. 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:50.819 Now, here in verse 1, it says that Jesus is heading into Jerusalem for a festival, right? 00:10:51.179 --> 00:10:55.419 So imagine a city bursting at the seams with pilgrims flocking into the city from all over. 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:56.699 And where's everyone going? 00:10:56.759 --> 00:10:59.839 They're going to the temple, to the center of the city, to the center of their culture, 00:10:59.899 --> 00:11:02.779 the place where God is supposed to dwell. 00:11:03.559 --> 00:11:08.139 And yet here, Jesus is one among tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, 00:11:08.139 --> 00:11:11.699 all on their way to the most holy place, the place of joy and celebration. 00:11:12.019 --> 00:11:19.340 But his first stop is to a place of ceremonial uncleanness, despair, and suffering. 00:11:20.460 --> 00:11:24.419 Verse 2 tells us that of all the places he could have visited in Jerusalem, 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:29.080 he goes to the Sheep Gate Pool at Bethesda, where the broken are. 00:11:29.860 --> 00:11:33.659 Verse 3, where a great number of disabled people were lying there, 00:11:33.659 --> 00:11:37.879 the blind, the lame, the paralyzed, some scholars estimate there could have been hundreds, 00:11:37.980 --> 00:11:41.059 maybe even thousands of people gathered at this pool. 00:11:41.799 --> 00:11:42.419 But now why? 00:11:42.980 --> 00:11:45.679 What's so special about this place, this pool? 00:11:46.500 --> 00:11:49.959 Well, if you noticed in the NIV translation that's in your liturgies, 00:11:50.539 --> 00:11:51.379 there's no verse 4. 00:11:51.819 --> 00:11:52.500 Anyone notice that? 00:11:53.219 --> 00:11:54.039 There's no verse 4. 00:11:54.500 --> 00:11:58.059 The King James Version has verse 4, but not the NIV. 00:11:58.220 --> 00:11:59.159 So what's that all about? 00:11:59.159 --> 00:12:04.439 Well, the reason the NIV doesn't include verse 4 is because the earliest, 00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:09.039 the best manuscripts of John's gospel don't actually include verse 4. 00:12:09.339 --> 00:12:13.120 And it's highly likely that the later copies just added verse 4 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:21.100 to share the common belief of the time that an angel would stir the water at this pool 00:12:21.100 --> 00:12:23.579 and the first person in, they would be healed. 00:12:24.139 --> 00:12:24.199 Okay? 00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:24.240 Okay? 00:12:25.040 --> 00:12:30.040 So while this missing verse 4 probably wasn't part of what John originally wrote, 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:34.600 it does reflect what people believed about this pool in the first century. 00:12:34.680 --> 00:12:36.360 And we can see that in verse 7, right? 00:12:36.400 --> 00:12:40.220 This man clearly believes in the magical power of this pool. 00:12:41.780 --> 00:12:42.960 So try to picture the scene. 00:12:43.640 --> 00:12:47.280 Tens of thousands entering Jerusalem, all with their sights on the temple, 00:12:47.400 --> 00:12:49.560 many of them coming in through the Sheep Gate, 00:12:49.640 --> 00:12:51.600 which, by the way, was the closest city entrance, 00:12:51.700 --> 00:12:53.259 basically right next door to the temple. 00:12:53.259 --> 00:12:57.559 In fact, it was called the Sheep Gate because this is where they brought the sheep in 00:12:57.559 --> 00:12:59.720 for the sacrifices into the temple. 00:13:00.840 --> 00:13:03.519 So here Jesus is, the Lamb of God, entering by the Sheep Gate. 00:13:04.340 --> 00:13:07.819 And while tens of thousands of others would have just thoughtlessly 00:13:07.819 --> 00:13:12.519 just looked and walked past this unsightly Sheep Gate pool area 00:13:12.519 --> 00:13:15.340 with all these sick, lame, paralyzed people, 00:13:15.740 --> 00:13:18.379 eyes forward, just fixed on their temple destination, 00:13:18.500 --> 00:13:19.779 just minding their own business, right? 00:13:19.779 --> 00:13:22.659 Keeping to themselves like they probably did every single year, 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:24.000 being blind to the blind, 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:28.559 letting these helpless and hopeless, lame, and paralyzed people become invisible to them. 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:33.699 Jesus is not about to overlook the poor and the suffering 00:13:33.699 --> 00:13:36.819 on his way to commune with God at the temple. 00:13:37.879 --> 00:13:39.179 He's not that kind of a God. 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:40.639 He's not that kind of a man. 00:13:41.079 --> 00:13:43.679 Jesus doesn't avert his gaze from the suffering of the city. 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:48.179 No, when Jesus comes to the city, he comes to the whole city, the real city. 00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:50.739 He stops at Santa Ana before he goes to Hollywood. 00:13:51.239 --> 00:13:54.439 He stops in the Tenderloin before he goes to the Golden Gate Bridge. 00:13:55.379 --> 00:13:55.819 And why? 00:13:56.739 --> 00:13:59.879 Because when Jesus sees the many lying by this pool, 00:13:59.959 --> 00:14:01.799 he doesn't just see the unlucky ones. 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:04.919 He doesn't just see the sad, suffering minority. 00:14:04.919 --> 00:14:09.759 And he also doesn't see, you know, just superstitious people undeserving of his help. 00:14:09.819 --> 00:14:14.379 Because look at how foolish they are for waiting upon this magic water to heal them. 00:14:14.419 --> 00:14:14.819 How pathetic. 00:14:15.139 --> 00:14:15.360 No. 00:14:16.479 --> 00:14:19.240 His eyes and his heart are filled with compassion. 00:14:19.620 --> 00:14:22.579 And what he sees are thousands of people 00:14:22.579 --> 00:14:27.240 who are just wearily groping and grasping for anything, 00:14:27.599 --> 00:14:30.240 anything, even magical angel water. 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:34.940 Because that's how desperate they are in this city. 00:14:36.759 --> 00:14:42.639 Then, out of all these people, Jesus fixes his eyes on one man. 00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:44.039 Verse 5. 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:48.379 One who was there had been an invalid for 38 years. 00:14:49.100 --> 00:14:51.120 And man, that's how old I am. 00:14:51.139 --> 00:14:51.659 I'm 38. 00:14:52.180 --> 00:14:54.879 That's my entire lifetime that he'd been sick. 00:14:55.500 --> 00:14:59.500 That would have been more than the entirety of a lot of people's lives in antiquity. 00:14:59.500 --> 00:15:03.059 So, basically, this guy's been stuck for an ancient lifetime. 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:03.620 Okay? 00:15:05.240 --> 00:15:07.879 Now, imagine how he'd spent those 38 years. 00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:10.580 38 years of waking up and not getting better. 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:13.740 38 years of hoping but nothing changing. 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:19.000 And who knows how many of those 38 years he spent here at this pool just by himself. 00:15:19.320 --> 00:15:20.779 No one to help him in the water. 00:15:21.179 --> 00:15:23.039 Just him alone with his mat. 00:15:23.600 --> 00:15:26.840 Which, sure, that mat may have been a luxury item in this pool area. 00:15:26.840 --> 00:15:27.120 Yeah. 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:30.560 Kept him from having to sleep directly on the ground. 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:32.800 Maybe provided a little bit extra comfort. 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:34.060 A little extra dignity. 00:15:34.560 --> 00:15:36.680 Something to call his own in that miserable place. 00:15:37.040 --> 00:15:41.780 But what if the mat also reminded him of the seeming permanence of his state. 00:15:42.800 --> 00:15:45.200 And of how long he had been there. 00:15:45.879 --> 00:15:46.780 Day and night. 00:15:47.040 --> 00:15:47.139 Right? 00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:47.780 Night and day. 00:15:47.879 --> 00:15:48.899 Day in and day out. 00:15:48.980 --> 00:15:50.259 Can you imagine? 00:15:50.259 --> 00:15:51.259 Day in and day out. 00:15:51.259 --> 00:15:51.259 00:15:51.259 --> 00:15:52.259 Day in and day out. 00:15:52.259 --> 00:15:55.179 So, again, Jesus learning, it says in verse 6. 00:15:55.779 --> 00:15:57.360 How long this man had been suffering. 00:15:57.559 --> 00:16:02.200 Jesus approaches him and at first it seems like he asks this man like a really stupid question. 00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:03.659 Do you want to get well? 00:16:04.659 --> 00:16:05.419 Of course. 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:07.000 Of course he does. 00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:11.319 He's been waiting to get well for 38 years and he's so desperate to get well. 00:16:11.419 --> 00:16:15.019 He's been laying here on a mat for who knows how long with all these other sickly people. 00:16:15.779 --> 00:16:17.139 Of course he wants to get well. 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:18.399 Why would Jesus ask this? 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:20.959 How could he not know the answer? 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:26.919 Well, I think what Jesus is doing here is not so much trying to figure out whether or not this guy wants to be well. 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:28.699 But I think he's trying to expose something. 00:16:30.179 --> 00:16:31.019 Diagnostically probe. 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:33.439 Bring something to light within the man. 00:16:34.519 --> 00:16:37.240 Because look at the man's response in verse 7 to Jesus' question. 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:41.120 One commentator describes it as the crotchety grumblings of an old man. 00:16:42.319 --> 00:16:45.240 It's like he doesn't even think Jesus' question is worth answering. 00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:47.600 Do I want to get well? 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:48.579 Huh. 00:16:49.139 --> 00:16:52.279 Well, let me tell you the problem I have with getting well. 00:16:52.360 --> 00:16:55.459 Of course I want to get well, but I can't because no one cares to help me. 00:16:56.439 --> 00:16:58.139 What do you think I'm doing here, man? 00:16:58.159 --> 00:16:58.620 I'm trying. 00:16:58.659 --> 00:17:01.100 I'm trying to get well, but I have no one to help me. 00:17:01.139 --> 00:17:08.660 And in fact, all these other people are not just not helping me, but they are pushing past me, rushing in ahead of me, cutting me in the line. 00:17:08.660 --> 00:17:11.460 He's just so miserable, right? 00:17:11.580 --> 00:17:12.340 So jaded. 00:17:12.460 --> 00:17:15.180 Maybe he's lost faith in the prospect of getting well. 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:17.220 After all, it's been 38 years. 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:20.880 He's definitely lost faith in the kindness of others, right? 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:22.700 All he sees are people cutting him in line. 00:17:23.220 --> 00:17:27.820 And for decades, he hasn't found a single person to help him get into the water. 00:17:29.060 --> 00:17:31.260 A single person, right? 00:17:31.259 --> 00:17:37.940 To help him get into this water, which honestly, maybe he doesn't even believe is going to actually heal him. 00:17:38.119 --> 00:17:39.480 Just his last-ditch effort, right? 00:17:40.420 --> 00:17:43.420 Who would want to spend a day helping a man do that, right? 00:17:44.180 --> 00:17:49.299 For 38 years, this guy had just witnessed people not thinking that he was worth their time. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:54.879 People not willing to wait around and be with all these other sickly, nasty people, right? 00:17:54.880 --> 00:18:01.160 To help him just be superstitiously dipped into this hopefully magic water. 00:18:01.460 --> 00:18:02.520 Who would spend their time on that? 00:18:03.240 --> 00:18:06.780 Surely all of this contributed, right, to this man's cynicism. 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:09.680 It's just been so long, right? 00:18:10.180 --> 00:18:13.640 13,870 days of not getting well. 00:18:14.380 --> 00:18:16.220 And also of not getting help. 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:23.900 And probably after that long, you know, it's not uncommon to start managing your expectations, right? 00:18:23.900 --> 00:18:27.640 Maybe stop pursuing wellness because it hurts too much to hope. 00:18:28.860 --> 00:18:34.620 And maybe you just resign yourself to life at this pool, lying on this mat, angry at the world and just waiting to die. 00:18:35.860 --> 00:18:41.280 38 years in a downward trend, it can slowly convince you that this is just your life now. 00:18:42.100 --> 00:18:43.040 So get used to it. 00:18:44.900 --> 00:18:45.720 And it's that. 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:47.740 It's that attitude. 00:18:47.980 --> 00:18:51.880 It's that spirit that Jesus wants to expose and speak into when he asks, 00:18:51.880 --> 00:18:53.480 Do you want to get well? 00:18:53.480 --> 00:18:55.059 Oh, he cares about what this guy wants. 00:18:55.360 --> 00:18:58.259 He wants him to reimagine what he might want, what he might have. 00:18:58.339 --> 00:18:59.660 And again, listen to how he answers, though. 00:19:00.700 --> 00:19:03.539 Sir, I have no one to help me into the pool. 00:19:03.799 --> 00:19:06.539 And when I try, someone else gets there first. 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:10.940 Notice he never actually says, yes, I want to get well. 00:19:11.900 --> 00:19:15.259 Rather, he explains how he thinks getting well works. 00:19:15.259 --> 00:19:20.860 He explains the thing, the thing he thinks might possibly bring him shalom and salvation. 00:19:20.859 --> 00:19:25.359 And what he's basically saying is, sir, I know how to get well. 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:29.859 I need to get into that water at just the right time. 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:35.919 And before that, I need to get someone to help me into the water at just the right time. 00:19:36.139 --> 00:19:37.039 That's how this works. 00:19:37.339 --> 00:19:38.519 That's how I'll be healed. 00:19:38.579 --> 00:19:42.719 In his mind, the problem isn't that he doesn't know the magic formula to get healed, 00:19:43.219 --> 00:19:45.879 but that he doesn't have the help to execute the formula. 00:19:45.880 --> 00:19:47.560 For him, it's a logistics problem. 00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:54.200 Without even answering Jesus' question, he's exposing what all his hopes have been placed upon, 00:19:54.860 --> 00:19:57.140 this magical angel water. 00:19:58.440 --> 00:20:04.920 And it's so funny because standing right in front of him is Jesus, the true healer, but he's missing him. 00:20:05.140 --> 00:20:10.480 In just the chapter before, Jesus has just convinced the woman at the well that he had living water for her. 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:13.640 Surely he had some for this man as well, right? 00:20:13.640 --> 00:20:13.720 Right? 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:17.900 This man doesn't even think to ask Jesus for any kind of help. 00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:23.300 It's just kind of like, well, I know the cure, but let me tell you the problem I'm having, accessing the cure. 00:20:23.860 --> 00:20:25.940 And man, aren't people so rotten? 00:20:27.460 --> 00:20:29.620 But little does this guy know who he's talking to. 00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:34.320 He's just fixated on this water as his salvation and as his shalom. 00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:35.180 He has no idea. 00:20:36.120 --> 00:20:39.820 He's basically just suggested to the maker of heaven and earth, 00:20:40.759 --> 00:20:43.520 would you mind dipping me in the magical angel water? 00:20:43.640 --> 00:20:47.060 To the creator of the universe. 00:20:47.540 --> 00:20:51.540 He's standing right in front of him and he asks for so little. 00:20:52.780 --> 00:20:53.980 He asks for so little. 00:20:54.259 --> 00:20:57.000 And he asks for something that won't even bring him health. 00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:01.520 Do we ask our God for too little as well? 00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:06.400 Well, my daughter, she just finished her second season of basketball. 00:21:07.160 --> 00:21:10.279 And I promised her I would give her $1,000 if she made a basket. 00:21:11.339 --> 00:21:12.240 I didn't believe. 00:21:12.420 --> 00:21:13.720 And it also shows my values, right? 00:21:15.180 --> 00:21:17.700 I said, I'll give you $1,000 if you make a basket. 00:21:18.700 --> 00:21:21.340 And she said, well, can I have two bobas instead? 00:21:21.720 --> 00:21:22.500 I said, okay. 00:21:24.660 --> 00:21:27.420 And she made a lot of baskets, so I'm glad. 00:21:30.600 --> 00:21:32.380 But do you see yourself in my daughter? 00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:33.980 In this man? 00:21:34.980 --> 00:21:37.059 And the point is, not that I'm like Jesus, all right? 00:21:38.220 --> 00:21:41.920 But do you see yourself asking so little of this God? 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:44.960 It's almost infuriating how this guy speaks to Jesus. 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:46.640 He's so clueless. 00:21:46.980 --> 00:21:48.500 And yet Jesus is so kind. 00:21:49.779 --> 00:21:51.759 And his response is so striking. 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:53.579 He refuses to play along. 00:21:53.579 --> 00:21:57.759 He's not about to affirm the man's faith in the magical angel water, 00:21:57.879 --> 00:22:01.159 but he also doesn't rebuke his superstition or correct his theology. 00:22:01.539 --> 00:22:04.319 He doesn't even say you're looking for wellness in all the wrong places. 00:22:05.339 --> 00:22:12.319 He simply looks at this man with compassion and authority at the same time. 00:22:13.159 --> 00:22:15.299 And he issues a healing command. 00:22:16.919 --> 00:22:17.799 Get up. 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:19.599 Pick up your mat. 00:22:20.220 --> 00:22:20.819 And walk. 00:22:20.819 --> 00:22:25.139 While this man was asking for help to access the cure he thought he needed, 00:22:25.259 --> 00:22:27.379 Jesus refused to help him access that cure. 00:22:27.700 --> 00:22:30.059 Jesus didn't come to help him get into the water. 00:22:30.619 --> 00:22:34.240 He came to show him that he never needed the water in the first place. 00:22:35.819 --> 00:22:42.159 Jesus doesn't come into our lives helping us access the false and futile cures we think we need. 00:22:42.159 --> 00:22:44.539 No, he comes to give us the real thing. 00:22:45.419 --> 00:22:46.419 To give us himself. 00:22:47.939 --> 00:22:49.319 To liberate us, right? 00:22:49.319 --> 00:22:50.259 From our slavery. 00:22:50.700 --> 00:22:56.899 Our slavery to all these things and places and practices that we think will bring us abundant life. 00:22:57.019 --> 00:23:02.200 Jesus is showing us here that health and healing don't come from a certain place or practice, 00:23:02.539 --> 00:23:03.399 but from a person. 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:05.519 God himself. 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:07.439 God with us. 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:08.440 God with us. 00:23:08.440 --> 00:23:09.700 But here's the thing. 00:23:10.660 --> 00:23:12.519 This wasn't just a lesson for the man at the pool. 00:23:12.620 --> 00:23:17.860 The man at the pool isn't the only one in the city trying to plug into the right system to secure his own shalom. 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:21.380 It's not just the unclean ones, but also the clean ones. 00:23:22.340 --> 00:23:27.200 So verse 9 says that Jesus' command authoritatively heals this guy and he takes up his mat and walks. 00:23:27.559 --> 00:23:28.720 And this happens on the Sabbath. 00:23:29.019 --> 00:23:29.500 Verse 10. 00:23:29.500 --> 00:23:31.839 And so the Jewish leader said to the man who had been healed, 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:32.779 It is the Sabbath. 00:23:33.059 --> 00:23:34.700 The law forbids you to carry your mat. 00:23:35.059 --> 00:23:37.039 Like, instead of, praise God, you're healed. 00:23:37.220 --> 00:23:37.819 This is amazing. 00:23:37.980 --> 00:23:38.740 We're so happy for you. 00:23:38.819 --> 00:23:41.220 It's shame, right? 00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:45.759 They can't see the amazing thing that's happened in this guy's life, 00:23:45.880 --> 00:23:49.000 but only that the Sabbath was being broken, at least in their eyes. 00:23:49.079 --> 00:23:51.059 But honestly, the Sabbath wasn't even being broken. 00:23:51.599 --> 00:23:54.079 The Sabbath command in Scripture was about resting from production, 00:23:54.500 --> 00:23:57.279 resting from your normal labor and economic activity. 00:23:57.440 --> 00:23:59.200 It didn't prohibit simply carrying a mat. 00:23:59.659 --> 00:24:03.700 In the Old Testament, there was a command against gathering wood and carrying burdens on the Sabbath, 00:24:03.819 --> 00:24:05.460 but it didn't forbid carrying mats. 00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:12.440 No, it wasn't even a prohibition against carrying things so much as turning the Sabbath into a business day. 00:24:12.440 --> 00:24:17.339 It was a prohibition against trusting my own work over God's work for me. 00:24:18.139 --> 00:24:19.839 Trusting God's provision for me. 00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:25.399 But see, over time, these Jewish leaders had built a whole system of extra rules to be followed 00:24:25.399 --> 00:24:31.819 because just like the invalid man, in their minds they had their own idea 00:24:31.819 --> 00:24:35.639 of what would bring shalom and salvation to their nation. 00:24:36.059 --> 00:24:41.859 While the invalid thought he needed the stirred up magical pool of water to be saved, 00:24:42.599 --> 00:24:47.599 the Jewish leaders here thought they needed strict moralistic practices in order to be saved. 00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:52.240 And this is why they were so legalistic and so quick to police people's behavior. 00:24:52.379 --> 00:24:53.839 It wasn't just about broken rules to them. 00:24:53.899 --> 00:24:58.679 For them, each violation of their rules was a threat to their nation's righteousness 00:24:58.679 --> 00:25:01.799 and worthiness to receive a Messiah. 00:25:02.959 --> 00:25:04.179 So do you see a similarity? 00:25:05.240 --> 00:25:09.459 Here in the city of Jerusalem, whether at the pool of Bethesda by the sheep gate 00:25:09.460 --> 00:25:14.279 or even the halls of the temple itself, the invalid man had his way of getting well. 00:25:14.380 --> 00:25:15.059 He had his own way. 00:25:15.420 --> 00:25:17.940 And the Jewish leaders had their own way of getting well. 00:25:18.740 --> 00:25:22.279 Sure, they were looking in different places and for different practices, 00:25:22.539 --> 00:25:25.039 but they were essentially pursuing the same thing. 00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:29.579 Security, shalom, salvation, apart from the true source. 00:25:30.140 --> 00:25:30.900 Apart from the Savior. 00:25:30.900 --> 00:25:33.880 And this wasn't unique to Jerusalem. 00:25:34.120 --> 00:25:35.660 This is every city. 00:25:35.960 --> 00:25:36.620 This is our city. 00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:37.540 This is the Bay Area. 00:25:38.220 --> 00:25:41.460 Because, like, we may not be lying by pools, 00:25:42.320 --> 00:25:45.759 and we may not be policing Sabbath laws to transform our nation, 00:25:46.340 --> 00:25:51.560 but we definitely have our own ways of trying to take control of our own destinies. 00:25:52.100 --> 00:25:56.500 Our own ways of trying to secure wellness for ourselves apart from God. 00:25:56.500 --> 00:26:02.400 For some of you, it's if I can just secure that relationship with my high school, 00:26:02.519 --> 00:26:03.819 my middle school crush, right? 00:26:03.940 --> 00:26:07.299 Or if I can just find love or get this relationship to work out. 00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:12.559 If I can find someone to desire me, adore me, then I'll finally be whole. 00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:16.220 You're trying to dip yourself in the pool of romance and intimacy. 00:26:17.240 --> 00:26:22.119 Or for others, you're trying to dip yourselves in the pools of wealth and status and success. 00:26:22.220 --> 00:26:24.220 If I can just get to this point in my career, 00:26:24.220 --> 00:26:27.400 if I can just get to that number in my retirement fund, 00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:29.220 then I'll feel secure. 00:26:30.420 --> 00:26:33.279 Then others of us are just like the Jewish leaders here, right? 00:26:33.660 --> 00:26:35.440 Maybe we're just like them. 00:26:36.019 --> 00:26:41.480 We find ourselves, like, subconsciously haunted by a Santa Claus-like version of God 00:26:41.480 --> 00:26:45.319 who knows if we've been good or bad, so be good for goodness sake, right? 00:26:46.100 --> 00:26:47.140 Maybe that's why you're here. 00:26:47.500 --> 00:26:49.720 Because you're thinking, I gotta get back to church, 00:26:49.819 --> 00:26:51.960 just say enough prayers, just get spiritual enough, 00:26:51.960 --> 00:26:56.079 just be obedient enough, just get consistent enough in my personal piety, 00:26:56.299 --> 00:26:58.840 and then God will come through for me. 00:26:59.160 --> 00:27:02.200 And my life will go the way I finally want it to go. 00:27:03.279 --> 00:27:04.440 But do you see the pattern? 00:27:05.180 --> 00:27:05.900 In the invalid? 00:27:06.740 --> 00:27:07.700 In the Jewish leaders? 00:27:08.680 --> 00:27:09.559 In your own hearts? 00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:10.660 In your own life? 00:27:10.779 --> 00:27:12.519 Sure, maybe, again, it's different places we look to, 00:27:12.579 --> 00:27:13.759 different practices we employ, 00:27:13.880 --> 00:27:14.720 but at the end of the day, 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:17.720 it's all the same strategy of self-salvation. 00:27:18.460 --> 00:27:20.160 Self-securing shalom. 00:27:20.160 --> 00:27:24.900 The question is whether or not we will notice it in our lives. 00:27:25.920 --> 00:27:30.840 Like, if it's not a magic pool or some moralistic practice, 00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:32.680 what's that thing for you? 00:27:33.420 --> 00:27:35.300 That thing you keep going back to, 00:27:35.380 --> 00:27:37.380 believing that this will finally make you well 00:27:37.380 --> 00:27:40.460 and full of abundant life apart from God. 00:27:41.800 --> 00:27:44.380 To give you a window into what this is for me, 00:27:44.380 --> 00:27:49.120 and like what I've been working through and processing with God 00:27:49.120 --> 00:27:52.460 and confessing to the people in my life who keep me accountable, 00:27:53.100 --> 00:27:55.760 for me, it's this constant feeling 00:27:55.760 --> 00:27:59.380 that I need to be working in order to live a fruitful life 00:27:59.380 --> 00:28:01.460 and in order to control my future. 00:28:02.440 --> 00:28:05.280 Like, I so often operate as if, 00:28:05.480 --> 00:28:07.820 man, if I can just get everything dialed in, 00:28:07.819 --> 00:28:10.899 my routines, my fitness and dietary habits, 00:28:11.099 --> 00:28:12.679 my family rhythms, my finances, 00:28:12.919 --> 00:28:14.039 my spiritual practices. 00:28:14.599 --> 00:28:19.039 If I can do this many push-ups and pull-ups each day, right? 00:28:19.179 --> 00:28:20.500 Keep my weight at this number. 00:28:20.759 --> 00:28:22.579 Increase my VO2 max, right? 00:28:23.039 --> 00:28:23.939 Count my calories. 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:25.519 Get my macros right. 00:28:25.720 --> 00:28:28.220 Train my daughters to thrive in academics 00:28:28.220 --> 00:28:30.740 and sports and music and scripture memory 00:28:30.740 --> 00:28:31.639 and social skills. 00:28:31.700 --> 00:28:34.259 And if I can fine-tune my retirement portfolio, 00:28:34.259 --> 00:28:36.599 make sure I have just enough exposure to Bitcoin, right? 00:28:36.599 --> 00:28:41.879 If I can read and memorize and meditate all the scripture, 00:28:42.879 --> 00:28:45.059 pray for that many minutes each day, 00:28:45.519 --> 00:28:46.659 and then on top of all that, 00:28:46.699 --> 00:28:47.899 if I can just keep up with everything, 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:49.099 what's happening in the world, 00:28:49.279 --> 00:28:50.839 what's changing, what's coming next, 00:28:51.059 --> 00:28:53.459 then hopefully I won't fall behind. 00:28:54.459 --> 00:28:56.959 And I'll finally feel like things are gonna be okay, 00:28:57.059 --> 00:28:58.500 like I've secured my future 00:28:58.500 --> 00:29:01.019 and like I'm in control, 00:29:01.259 --> 00:29:03.980 or at least in as much control as I can be. 00:29:04.259 --> 00:29:06.179 And then and only then will I know 00:29:06.180 --> 00:29:09.039 that I'm a good and faithful pastor, 00:29:10.039 --> 00:29:14.200 dad, husband, human being. 00:29:15.460 --> 00:29:18.820 If I just commit to constantly sharpening myself, 00:29:19.560 --> 00:29:20.720 optimizing my life, 00:29:21.100 --> 00:29:22.779 leveling up 24-7, 00:29:23.060 --> 00:29:25.640 then and only then will I be worthy enough 00:29:25.640 --> 00:29:27.060 to hear the words, 00:29:27.580 --> 00:29:29.759 well done, good and faithful. 00:29:29.759 --> 00:29:33.180 But the truth is, 00:29:33.619 --> 00:29:36.259 this is an exhausting way to live. 00:29:37.339 --> 00:29:38.980 Because I'm never quite there, 00:29:39.619 --> 00:29:40.799 never optimized enough, 00:29:41.059 --> 00:29:42.460 never disciplined enough. 00:29:42.980 --> 00:29:43.799 And not only that, 00:29:43.879 --> 00:29:45.859 but living this way has made me a more hurried, 00:29:46.379 --> 00:29:46.660 anxious, 00:29:47.180 --> 00:29:48.119 and impatient person. 00:29:48.779 --> 00:29:49.960 Chelsea will tell you I'm miserable 00:29:49.960 --> 00:29:50.960 when I'm in this mode. 00:29:52.099 --> 00:29:53.019 More self-centered, 00:29:53.379 --> 00:29:53.940 less loving, 00:29:54.220 --> 00:29:54.759 less present, 00:29:55.039 --> 00:29:56.440 less able to enjoy the gifts 00:29:56.440 --> 00:29:58.380 that God places in my lap, 00:29:58.460 --> 00:29:59.920 like the gift of the Sabbath. 00:30:00.120 --> 00:30:00.299 Man, 00:30:00.360 --> 00:30:02.140 this is the hardest commandment 00:30:02.140 --> 00:30:03.480 for me to observe. 00:30:04.460 --> 00:30:06.299 I just find it so tempting 00:30:06.299 --> 00:30:07.440 to use that day 00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:08.980 to pick up more sticks, right? 00:30:09.259 --> 00:30:10.420 I want to pick up more sticks. 00:30:10.539 --> 00:30:11.320 I want to have more 00:30:11.320 --> 00:30:12.299 by the end of the week 00:30:12.299 --> 00:30:13.820 and more at the end of my life, 00:30:13.880 --> 00:30:14.559 more sticks. 00:30:14.620 --> 00:30:15.279 That's what I want. 00:30:15.279 --> 00:30:17.660 So really, 00:30:17.839 --> 00:30:19.279 it's timely that my sabbatical 00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:19.879 is coming up. 00:30:19.960 --> 00:30:20.879 And I hope you'll pray for me 00:30:20.879 --> 00:30:21.980 as I figure out 00:30:21.980 --> 00:30:22.759 how to embrace 00:30:22.759 --> 00:30:23.980 the spirit of Sabbath. 00:30:25.160 --> 00:30:25.500 But you know, 00:30:25.559 --> 00:30:26.279 even with that, 00:30:27.119 --> 00:30:27.859 people have been asking 00:30:27.859 --> 00:30:28.599 how to pray for me 00:30:28.599 --> 00:30:29.099 in my Sabbath, 00:30:29.200 --> 00:30:29.839 and I've been praying, 00:30:30.299 --> 00:30:31.240 can you pray that I won't 00:30:31.240 --> 00:30:32.619 waste my sabbatical? 00:30:33.960 --> 00:30:34.460 But you see, 00:30:34.539 --> 00:30:35.200 even the idea 00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:36.480 of not wasting it, right? 00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:38.700 The sentiment still has 00:30:38.700 --> 00:30:40.039 the idol of optimization 00:30:40.039 --> 00:30:41.839 looming largely over it. 00:30:42.779 --> 00:30:43.000 So man, 00:30:43.079 --> 00:30:43.879 as you can tell, 00:30:43.880 --> 00:30:44.860 I'm still very much 00:30:44.860 --> 00:30:46.500 a work in progress. 00:30:47.120 --> 00:30:47.880 But overall, 00:30:48.820 --> 00:30:49.780 God's been gently 00:30:49.780 --> 00:30:50.920 reminding me 00:30:50.920 --> 00:30:52.740 again and again 00:30:52.740 --> 00:30:55.180 that I need not be 00:30:55.180 --> 00:30:56.220 a frantic branch 00:30:56.220 --> 00:30:58.220 trying to plug myself 00:30:58.220 --> 00:30:58.980 into all kinds 00:30:58.980 --> 00:31:00.480 of different vines, right, 00:31:00.520 --> 00:31:01.580 in order to manufacture 00:31:01.580 --> 00:31:02.940 all the kinds 00:31:02.940 --> 00:31:03.820 of artificial fruit 00:31:03.820 --> 00:31:05.080 I want to see in my life. 00:31:06.020 --> 00:31:06.500 No. 00:31:07.380 --> 00:31:08.360 There's only one 00:31:08.360 --> 00:31:09.220 true vine. 00:31:09.460 --> 00:31:09.900 It's Jesus. 00:31:09.900 --> 00:31:10.060 Jesus. 00:31:13.560 --> 00:31:15.080 And His yoke is easy. 00:31:16.420 --> 00:31:17.040 His burden 00:31:17.040 --> 00:31:17.960 is light. 00:31:19.560 --> 00:31:21.220 So why in the world 00:31:21.220 --> 00:31:23.519 would we try so hard 00:31:23.519 --> 00:31:25.240 to find alternative 00:31:25.240 --> 00:31:26.000 vines 00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:27.300 to the true 00:31:27.300 --> 00:31:28.700 divine vine 00:31:28.700 --> 00:31:29.700 who loved us 00:31:29.700 --> 00:31:30.600 and gave Himself 00:31:30.600 --> 00:31:31.440 for us? 00:31:32.440 --> 00:31:33.640 The one who doesn't 00:31:33.640 --> 00:31:34.580 ask us to break 00:31:34.580 --> 00:31:35.100 our backs 00:31:35.100 --> 00:31:35.820 to bear fruit, 00:31:35.980 --> 00:31:36.660 but promises 00:31:36.660 --> 00:31:37.580 to do that work 00:31:37.580 --> 00:31:38.240 in us 00:31:38.240 --> 00:31:39.099 if we just abide 00:31:39.099 --> 00:31:39.640 in Him? 00:31:44.640 --> 00:31:45.700 Every other vine, 00:31:46.440 --> 00:31:47.740 every other vine 00:31:47.740 --> 00:31:49.120 is merely 00:31:49.120 --> 00:31:49.960 a block of wood, 00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:51.420 good only to be 00:31:51.420 --> 00:31:52.559 burned in the fire. 00:31:53.660 --> 00:31:54.799 And trying to connect 00:31:54.799 --> 00:31:55.620 myself to these 00:31:55.620 --> 00:31:56.400 blocks of wood 00:31:56.400 --> 00:31:58.120 is no different 00:31:58.120 --> 00:32:00.180 from the invalid man 00:32:00.180 --> 00:32:01.079 asking the maker 00:32:01.079 --> 00:32:01.880 of heaven and earth 00:32:01.880 --> 00:32:02.740 to dip in 00:32:02.740 --> 00:32:03.740 the magic 00:32:03.740 --> 00:32:05.160 angel water. 00:32:05.160 --> 00:32:07.820 So what if we 00:32:07.820 --> 00:32:08.800 actually believed 00:32:08.800 --> 00:32:10.779 that Jesus 00:32:10.779 --> 00:32:11.440 is the vine? 00:32:12.720 --> 00:32:13.180 That He's the 00:32:13.180 --> 00:32:13.720 living water? 00:32:14.220 --> 00:32:14.720 And He's the living 00:32:14.720 --> 00:32:15.320 water who comes 00:32:15.320 --> 00:32:15.900 to us. 00:32:16.320 --> 00:32:17.160 And just like He did 00:32:17.160 --> 00:32:17.980 for this invalid man, 00:32:18.120 --> 00:32:19.500 what if we believe 00:32:19.500 --> 00:32:20.080 that He wants 00:32:20.080 --> 00:32:20.920 to speak words 00:32:20.920 --> 00:32:21.779 of power 00:32:21.779 --> 00:32:22.640 and life 00:32:22.640 --> 00:32:23.800 into us 00:32:23.800 --> 00:32:25.060 to bear fruit 00:32:25.060 --> 00:32:25.500 in us? 00:32:25.560 --> 00:32:25.740 You know, 00:32:25.820 --> 00:32:26.740 when Jesus spoke 00:32:26.740 --> 00:32:28.240 so authoritatively 00:32:28.240 --> 00:32:31.480 into this man's 00:32:31.480 --> 00:32:31.880 life, 00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:36.160 everything changed 00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:36.880 in his life. 00:32:38.519 --> 00:32:39.700 Everything changed. 00:32:41.579 --> 00:32:43.000 But what the Jewish 00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:43.299 leaders, 00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:43.980 all that they could 00:32:43.980 --> 00:32:44.319 see 00:32:44.319 --> 00:32:45.940 was a broken 00:32:45.940 --> 00:32:46.279 role. 00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:48.259 They couldn't see 00:32:48.259 --> 00:32:48.980 His liberation. 00:32:50.259 --> 00:32:51.079 They couldn't see 00:32:51.079 --> 00:32:51.660 His joy. 00:32:52.500 --> 00:32:53.220 All the Jewish 00:32:53.220 --> 00:32:53.900 leaders could see 00:32:53.900 --> 00:32:54.680 was a threat 00:32:54.680 --> 00:32:56.519 to their anxious, 00:32:57.100 --> 00:32:58.060 scrupulous way 00:32:58.060 --> 00:32:58.600 of life. 00:32:59.340 --> 00:33:00.040 The way of life 00:33:00.040 --> 00:33:00.480 that they were 00:33:00.480 --> 00:33:01.200 going to commit to, 00:33:01.300 --> 00:33:02.180 so sure of the 00:33:02.180 --> 00:33:03.220 shalom that was 00:33:03.220 --> 00:33:03.759 going to come 00:33:03.759 --> 00:33:04.779 by their works 00:33:04.779 --> 00:33:05.980 rather than by grace 00:33:05.980 --> 00:33:06.840 through faith. 00:33:08.060 --> 00:33:08.779 And when they found 00:33:08.779 --> 00:33:09.800 out that Jesus 00:33:09.800 --> 00:33:10.560 had healed this man 00:33:10.560 --> 00:33:11.000 on the Sabbath, 00:33:11.100 --> 00:33:11.960 verse 16 says 00:33:11.960 --> 00:33:12.820 they went after Him. 00:33:13.779 --> 00:33:14.680 But what's interesting 00:33:14.680 --> 00:33:15.519 is Jesus doesn't 00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:16.580 open up the Torah 00:33:16.580 --> 00:33:17.400 and demonstrate 00:33:17.400 --> 00:33:18.340 to them that He 00:33:18.340 --> 00:33:19.380 actually technically 00:33:19.380 --> 00:33:20.320 had not violated 00:33:20.320 --> 00:33:20.779 the Sabbath. 00:33:20.900 --> 00:33:21.420 No, actually, 00:33:21.660 --> 00:33:22.660 He admits 00:33:22.660 --> 00:33:23.400 that He was 00:33:23.400 --> 00:33:24.540 indeed working. 00:33:25.720 --> 00:33:26.900 He says in verse 17, 00:33:27.380 --> 00:33:28.420 My Father is always 00:33:28.420 --> 00:33:29.180 at work 00:33:29.180 --> 00:33:31.220 and I too am working. 00:33:32.920 --> 00:33:33.279 Do you see 00:33:33.279 --> 00:33:33.960 what He was claiming? 00:33:34.340 --> 00:33:35.300 It says it in verse 18. 00:33:35.380 --> 00:33:36.100 The Jewish leaders 00:33:36.100 --> 00:33:36.960 surely knew 00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:37.420 what He was saying. 00:33:37.500 --> 00:33:37.980 He was saying, 00:33:38.259 --> 00:33:39.019 Of course I healed 00:33:39.019 --> 00:33:39.580 on the Sabbath. 00:33:39.860 --> 00:33:40.759 I'm doing the work 00:33:40.759 --> 00:33:41.200 of God. 00:33:41.360 --> 00:33:42.240 I am God. 00:33:43.779 --> 00:33:44.380 And that's why 00:33:44.380 --> 00:33:45.240 they wanted to kill Him. 00:33:46.040 --> 00:33:47.360 Because if that was true, 00:33:47.700 --> 00:33:48.820 then their whole vision, 00:33:49.040 --> 00:33:49.640 what they had devoted 00:33:49.640 --> 00:33:50.540 all their lives to, 00:33:50.600 --> 00:33:51.100 their whole vision 00:33:51.099 --> 00:33:51.779 for their city 00:33:51.779 --> 00:33:52.759 and for shalom, 00:33:52.980 --> 00:33:54.059 was about to fall apart. 00:33:54.899 --> 00:33:55.859 Jesus was confronting 00:33:55.859 --> 00:33:56.599 them with the truth 00:33:56.599 --> 00:33:57.919 that they weren't the ones 00:33:57.919 --> 00:33:58.779 to bring about 00:33:58.779 --> 00:33:59.699 their own shalom. 00:34:00.919 --> 00:34:01.959 And neither are we. 00:34:01.960 --> 00:34:05.600 we cannot be the hope 00:34:05.600 --> 00:34:06.059 of the world. 00:34:07.019 --> 00:34:07.740 If we are, 00:34:07.819 --> 00:34:08.639 the world is in trouble. 00:34:10.280 --> 00:34:11.500 And that's an indictment 00:34:11.500 --> 00:34:12.800 upon every hustling 00:34:12.800 --> 00:34:13.960 and bustling city 00:34:13.960 --> 00:34:15.039 that has ever existed 00:34:15.039 --> 00:34:15.840 on planet Earth, 00:34:15.980 --> 00:34:16.840 no doubt here 00:34:16.840 --> 00:34:17.679 in the Bay Area, 00:34:17.800 --> 00:34:18.679 every urban center. 00:34:19.019 --> 00:34:19.220 Yes, 00:34:19.260 --> 00:34:20.320 with our shiny temples 00:34:20.320 --> 00:34:21.760 and also our sad pools 00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:22.940 by the Sheep Gate cities 00:34:22.940 --> 00:34:24.179 full of all kinds of people 00:34:24.179 --> 00:34:26.420 doing the same thing, 00:34:26.480 --> 00:34:26.639 though. 00:34:26.639 --> 00:34:28.819 frantically trying 00:34:28.819 --> 00:34:30.519 to fix ourselves, 00:34:31.259 --> 00:34:32.099 fix our lives, 00:34:32.279 --> 00:34:32.980 fix our world 00:34:32.980 --> 00:34:33.699 through technique 00:34:33.699 --> 00:34:34.599 after technique 00:34:34.599 --> 00:34:35.400 after technique, 00:34:35.559 --> 00:34:37.099 ever trying to gain control 00:34:37.099 --> 00:34:37.859 over the cosmos 00:34:37.859 --> 00:34:39.159 but only ever coming up 00:34:39.159 --> 00:34:40.400 short and exhausted. 00:34:40.900 --> 00:34:42.000 This is what I saw 00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:42.659 in Santa Ana. 00:34:42.879 --> 00:34:43.859 It's what we're seeing here 00:34:43.859 --> 00:34:44.839 in John chapter 5 00:34:44.839 --> 00:34:45.619 in Jerusalem, 00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:46.659 in the invalid, 00:34:46.920 --> 00:34:47.679 in the Jewish leaders, 00:34:47.879 --> 00:34:48.519 and it's what we see 00:34:48.519 --> 00:34:49.440 in our own cities. 00:34:49.940 --> 00:34:50.179 Again, 00:34:50.279 --> 00:34:50.859 different places, 00:34:51.019 --> 00:34:51.599 different practices, 00:34:51.599 --> 00:34:53.940 but the same failing strategy, 00:34:54.679 --> 00:34:55.980 trying to secure shalom 00:34:55.980 --> 00:34:56.920 through technique 00:34:56.920 --> 00:34:58.219 but never arriving. 00:35:00.460 --> 00:35:01.819 But what if this bad news 00:35:01.819 --> 00:35:03.480 that we can't bring about 00:35:03.480 --> 00:35:04.279 our own shalom 00:35:04.279 --> 00:35:06.940 is actually the best news? 00:35:08.259 --> 00:35:09.900 My Father is always working 00:35:09.900 --> 00:35:10.960 and I too, 00:35:11.279 --> 00:35:11.880 says Jesus. 00:35:13.179 --> 00:35:14.319 That's the gospel. 00:35:15.380 --> 00:35:16.500 That's the gospel. 00:35:17.139 --> 00:35:19.139 That if God is always at work, 00:35:19.739 --> 00:35:21.159 then the healing of your life 00:35:21.159 --> 00:35:23.339 the healing of our cities, 00:35:23.539 --> 00:35:25.599 they don't ultimately rest on us 00:35:25.599 --> 00:35:27.539 but on the one 00:35:27.539 --> 00:35:28.339 who is both 00:35:28.339 --> 00:35:29.659 the ever-working God 00:35:29.659 --> 00:35:31.559 and yet at the very same time 00:35:31.559 --> 00:35:32.399 the never hurried, 00:35:32.579 --> 00:35:33.460 never surprised, 00:35:33.619 --> 00:35:34.739 always at rest God. 00:35:34.879 --> 00:35:35.759 This is the gospel. 00:35:36.759 --> 00:35:38.019 That this ever-working, 00:35:38.179 --> 00:35:39.399 ever-resting God 00:35:39.399 --> 00:35:41.420 has come to make all 00:35:41.420 --> 00:35:43.539 our strivings cease in Christ. 00:35:44.639 --> 00:35:45.659 And having completed 00:35:45.659 --> 00:35:46.739 the most toilsome, 00:35:46.980 --> 00:35:48.519 the most painstaking work 00:35:48.519 --> 00:35:50.119 of all time upon the cross, 00:35:50.319 --> 00:35:51.000 He has proclaimed 00:35:51.000 --> 00:35:51.780 once and for all. 00:35:51.840 --> 00:35:52.039 What? 00:35:52.880 --> 00:35:53.739 It is finished. 00:35:55.440 --> 00:35:56.920 No need to dip ourselves 00:35:56.920 --> 00:35:57.780 in magic pools. 00:35:58.440 --> 00:35:59.400 No need to police 00:35:59.400 --> 00:36:00.079 perfect piety 00:36:00.079 --> 00:36:01.099 into our societies 00:36:01.099 --> 00:36:01.679 to make us 00:36:01.679 --> 00:36:02.719 a worthy society 00:36:02.719 --> 00:36:03.519 of a Messiah 00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:04.780 to change all things. 00:36:05.679 --> 00:36:06.639 No, the work is finished 00:36:06.639 --> 00:36:07.780 in Christ 00:36:07.780 --> 00:36:10.179 so that as His people, 00:36:10.280 --> 00:36:10.840 as His church, 00:36:10.900 --> 00:36:11.860 as His bride, 00:36:13.179 --> 00:36:14.500 we don't have to work. 00:36:15.059 --> 00:36:16.000 We don't work 00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:16.980 to secure our shalom. 00:36:17.099 --> 00:36:17.619 We don't work 00:36:17.619 --> 00:36:18.519 to save our cities 00:36:18.519 --> 00:36:19.960 because we can't. 00:36:20.960 --> 00:36:22.039 But thanks be to God 00:36:22.039 --> 00:36:23.400 that He is always at work 00:36:23.400 --> 00:36:24.599 so that we can always 00:36:24.599 --> 00:36:25.759 be at rest. 00:36:27.259 --> 00:36:28.840 And from that place of rest, 00:36:28.840 --> 00:36:29.860 as we await the day 00:36:29.860 --> 00:36:30.679 when He will come 00:36:30.679 --> 00:36:31.239 and establish 00:36:31.239 --> 00:36:32.239 His holy city 00:36:32.239 --> 00:36:33.139 on earth, 00:36:33.679 --> 00:36:34.420 in the meantime, 00:36:34.579 --> 00:36:35.199 we can step 00:36:35.199 --> 00:36:36.239 into every city 00:36:36.239 --> 00:36:37.059 from Berkeley 00:36:37.059 --> 00:36:38.179 and throughout the bay 00:36:38.179 --> 00:36:38.980 and beyond, 00:36:39.119 --> 00:36:39.719 simply walking 00:36:39.719 --> 00:36:40.599 in the good works, 00:36:40.960 --> 00:36:42.079 our always-working Father 00:36:42.079 --> 00:36:42.960 has already prepared 00:36:42.960 --> 00:36:43.380 for us, 00:36:43.440 --> 00:36:43.860 His children, 00:36:43.860 --> 00:36:44.920 to do. 00:36:45.840 --> 00:36:47.720 Not in order to fix everything, 00:36:48.519 --> 00:36:49.440 but bearing witness 00:36:49.440 --> 00:36:50.480 to the one who can 00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:51.900 and who will. 00:36:52.980 --> 00:36:54.120 This is what it means 00:36:54.120 --> 00:36:54.700 to cultivate 00:36:54.700 --> 00:36:56.059 a deeper relationship 00:36:56.059 --> 00:36:56.620 with Christ, 00:36:56.820 --> 00:36:57.260 the vine, 00:36:57.519 --> 00:36:58.019 bearing fruit 00:36:58.019 --> 00:36:58.740 for the city 00:36:58.740 --> 00:36:59.579 as a church. 00:37:00.680 --> 00:37:01.780 We embody 00:37:01.780 --> 00:37:04.019 and tell a better story, 00:37:04.579 --> 00:37:05.680 offering a better Savior 00:37:05.680 --> 00:37:07.320 to those who are grasping 00:37:07.320 --> 00:37:08.079 and groping 00:37:08.079 --> 00:37:09.039 in the dark 00:37:09.039 --> 00:37:10.940 for whatever equivalent 00:37:10.940 --> 00:37:12.000 magical angel, 00:37:12.140 --> 00:37:12.360 water, 00:37:12.360 --> 00:37:12.980 or false gods 00:37:12.980 --> 00:37:13.880 that cannot save them, 00:37:14.079 --> 00:37:14.900 that do not love them, 00:37:15.059 --> 00:37:16.260 that have not died for them. 00:37:17.500 --> 00:37:18.420 We reach them. 00:37:19.200 --> 00:37:20.280 We bear witness to them 00:37:20.280 --> 00:37:21.780 in word and deed, 00:37:22.039 --> 00:37:23.160 a sign of the kingdom 00:37:23.160 --> 00:37:23.980 of God. 00:37:25.500 --> 00:37:26.519 We've been doing that here 00:37:26.519 --> 00:37:27.220 for 20 years. 00:37:27.320 --> 00:37:27.980 We plan to do it 00:37:27.980 --> 00:37:28.740 for many more. 00:37:30.360 --> 00:37:30.920 So Christ Church, 00:37:31.019 --> 00:37:32.660 let this be our good news. 00:37:32.700 --> 00:37:33.539 As we look to celebrate 00:37:33.539 --> 00:37:35.120 20 years as a church, 00:37:36.320 --> 00:37:37.599 let this be our good news 00:37:37.599 --> 00:37:38.440 that long before 00:37:38.440 --> 00:37:39.720 we arrived here in Berkeley, 00:37:40.320 --> 00:37:41.640 our God was always 00:37:41.639 --> 00:37:42.599 at work. 00:37:43.139 --> 00:37:44.099 He was always working. 00:37:44.579 --> 00:37:45.159 Before us, 00:37:45.179 --> 00:37:45.920 He will continue working 00:37:45.920 --> 00:37:46.859 after us. 00:37:47.219 --> 00:37:48.139 He was always working. 00:37:48.279 --> 00:37:49.559 Even to death on a cross, 00:37:49.739 --> 00:37:50.400 He was working. 00:37:50.799 --> 00:37:52.139 And He'll continue to do so 00:37:52.139 --> 00:37:53.759 with or without us. 00:37:55.819 --> 00:37:56.559 But Lord, 00:37:56.699 --> 00:37:57.139 please, 00:37:57.639 --> 00:37:59.799 let it be with us. 00:38:01.799 --> 00:38:03.519 Let it be here 00:38:03.519 --> 00:38:04.400 in our church, 00:38:05.059 --> 00:38:06.099 in our city. 00:38:06.099 --> 00:38:08.960 Let it be with us 00:38:08.960 --> 00:38:10.360 as we rest and work 00:38:10.360 --> 00:38:11.920 to the glory of Your Son 00:38:11.920 --> 00:38:13.639 for the good of the city. 00:38:13.819 --> 00:38:14.739 Lord, convince us 00:38:14.739 --> 00:38:15.699 that this is the cure 00:38:15.699 --> 00:38:17.360 for every city, 00:38:18.219 --> 00:38:18.759 the gospel. 00:38:20.360 --> 00:38:21.119 And send us out 00:38:21.119 --> 00:38:21.799 to share it 00:38:21.799 --> 00:38:23.440 and display it 00:38:23.440 --> 00:38:24.659 in word and deed 00:38:24.659 --> 00:38:25.980 for Your sake 00:38:25.980 --> 00:38:27.319 and for the city. 00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:28.279 Amen. 00:38:28.279 --> 00:38:28.380 Amen. 00:38:28.380 --> 00:38:28.420 Amen. 00:38:28.420 --> 00:38:28.420 00:38:28.420 --> 00:38:28.420 00:38:28.420 --> 00:38:28.420 00:38:28.420 --> 00:38:28.420 00:38:28.420 --> 00:38:28.420 00:38:28.420 --> 00:38:28.420