WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.339 You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama. 00:00:06.820 --> 00:00:10.519 Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us. 00:00:13.259 --> 00:00:15.300 Wow, I wish I could sing like that. 00:00:16.660 --> 00:00:22.359 When we were playing in the worship service, I had run across that passage and reading Psalms, 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:28.019 and it just came alive to me in a way that throughout the years I just never saw. 00:00:28.019 --> 00:00:29.519 Has it ever happened to you? 00:00:29.739 --> 00:00:34.060 Like you're reading something almost for the first time, like God is just speaking. 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:36.219 And so I said, would you please do that old song? 00:00:36.899 --> 00:00:39.439 Old, like maybe 30 years ago, 50? I don't know. 00:00:39.899 --> 00:00:41.000 That's how old I am. 00:00:41.579 --> 00:00:45.500 But yeah, I told Will I like to be called a visiting pastor 00:00:45.500 --> 00:00:50.039 because I get to park close and park in the visitor parking on Sundays. 00:00:51.420 --> 00:00:53.159 It's a game changer, I tell you. 00:00:55.019 --> 00:00:57.439 Hey, I want to do something while we're here together. 00:00:58.020 --> 00:01:01.060 I want you to do a thought experiment with me. 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:04.140 Just want you, because this will be a chance for you to relax. 00:01:04.920 --> 00:01:08.320 Maybe wish the sermon was over, but just sort of relax for a second. 00:01:09.159 --> 00:01:10.640 And we're going to do a thought experiment. 00:01:10.820 --> 00:01:12.500 We're going to imagine something together. 00:01:13.079 --> 00:01:14.540 And I'm going to give you some guardrails. 00:01:16.120 --> 00:01:22.200 Peter, in his first letter in chapter 2, verse 12, he says something like this. 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:25.380 This is kind of an expanded version of what he says. 00:01:25.900 --> 00:01:28.159 But he says, live such a beautiful life. 00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:33.200 He said, live such a beautiful life out in the world, out in the culture, 00:01:33.299 --> 00:01:35.840 before people that are far from God. 00:01:36.320 --> 00:01:40.500 Go live a beautiful life such that even if they don't like you, 00:01:40.540 --> 00:01:42.800 even if they hate you, even if they do things against you, 00:01:43.240 --> 00:01:46.159 they will on the day of the Lord, on the day of visitation, 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:47.560 and they'll glorify God. 00:01:48.899 --> 00:01:52.879 You know, that beautiful life, whatever sort of begins to come to your mind, okay? 00:01:52.979 --> 00:01:53.920 So just hold that. 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:55.039 Hold that. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:56.120 A beautiful life. 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:57.599 Live such a beautiful life. 00:01:58.200 --> 00:02:00.539 Some other guardrails, I would say, on this journey. 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:06.280 Back in January, Will preached on keeping the main thing the main thing, 00:02:06.340 --> 00:02:08.300 which was the greatest commandment. 00:02:08.300 --> 00:02:10.420 When Jesus was asked, what's the greatest commandment? 00:02:10.439 --> 00:02:15.520 And he said, love God with every ounce of your being and your neighbor as yourself. 00:02:16.160 --> 00:02:18.719 So imagine those two things sort of are guardrails, 00:02:18.780 --> 00:02:21.080 and you're desiring to live a beautiful life. 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:23.140 And let me just focus on one part. 00:02:23.540 --> 00:02:26.420 Imagine, what would it look like for you to really love your neighbor? 00:02:27.400 --> 00:02:28.380 And so let's just imagine. 00:02:28.500 --> 00:02:31.080 Let's take a breath, and let's imagine. 00:02:31.760 --> 00:02:33.380 Maybe it's something like this, 00:02:33.379 --> 00:02:37.319 that you become a non-anxious presence. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:41.939 You're a non-anxious presence in a very anxious world. 00:02:43.979 --> 00:02:46.579 Yet you operate that way with people. 00:02:48.719 --> 00:02:52.400 You live sort of with, you know, nothing in your hands, 00:02:52.500 --> 00:02:54.120 sort of palms turned upward, 00:02:54.500 --> 00:02:57.019 in a world that is just crazy, 00:02:57.180 --> 00:02:59.759 seems to be progressing backwards, 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:03.219 but you live just receiving and surrendering. 00:03:03.379 --> 00:03:05.719 In every setting you find yourself. 00:03:06.699 --> 00:03:08.939 You're generous with your time. 00:03:10.079 --> 00:03:12.479 You're generous with your money, right? 00:03:12.680 --> 00:03:14.400 Living a beautiful life. 00:03:16.039 --> 00:03:19.019 People get the best part of you, not the worst part. 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:20.519 They get the best of you. 00:03:20.900 --> 00:03:23.240 The best thing about you, they get. 00:03:24.019 --> 00:03:26.000 You can be present with people. 00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:28.639 You're not distracted by distraction. 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:30.659 You're not distracted, right? 00:03:30.699 --> 00:03:32.219 You're not distracted in any way. 00:03:32.219 --> 00:03:34.960 But that you're fully present with people, 00:03:35.259 --> 00:03:40.360 such that you can discern what hurts in them. 00:03:41.079 --> 00:03:42.139 You can hear it. 00:03:42.840 --> 00:03:43.759 You can pull that. 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:45.780 You can understand what's going on. 00:03:45.780 --> 00:03:50.900 And when you understand what hurts, you have compassion, 00:03:51.180 --> 00:03:52.159 deep compassion. 00:03:53.939 --> 00:03:55.500 That's the kingdom of God. 00:03:55.960 --> 00:03:59.259 That's the kingdom of God coming to a neighborhood near you, right? 00:03:59.300 --> 00:04:01.680 That is the kingdom of God coming fully. 00:04:02.060 --> 00:04:03.680 Imagine that beautiful life. 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:10.020 But the reality is for all of most of us, I would say all of us, actually. 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:13.080 It just seems so far away. 00:04:13.780 --> 00:04:15.840 That kind of life seems far away. 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:18.699 It's the exact opposite of everything I described. 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:20.340 You don't have time. 00:04:20.339 --> 00:04:23.639 You would love to be generous with your money, 00:04:23.739 --> 00:04:27.139 but you don't know how we're going to make it through the next quarter, 00:04:27.299 --> 00:04:28.979 the next month, the next week, right? 00:04:30.159 --> 00:04:31.679 You want to slow down. 00:04:31.799 --> 00:04:32.339 Oh, gosh. 00:04:32.379 --> 00:04:35.319 You want to slow down to be fully present with your family, 00:04:35.500 --> 00:04:38.359 let alone some neighbor you don't quite like, right? 00:04:38.359 --> 00:04:40.599 You just want to be able to be there, 00:04:40.699 --> 00:04:43.039 but it seems too far away. 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:43.120 Okay. 00:04:45.780 --> 00:04:46.480 It's okay. 00:04:46.760 --> 00:04:47.819 I want to, let me help you. 00:04:47.900 --> 00:04:50.960 I think I can help you this morning in the next little bit of time here. 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:54.220 And here's where I want to start. 00:04:56.840 --> 00:04:57.660 Is it up there? 00:04:57.740 --> 00:04:58.460 Yeah, there it is. 00:04:58.540 --> 00:04:59.660 Okay, I couldn't tell back there. 00:05:01.340 --> 00:05:05.220 I had a ministry along with three other guys. 00:05:05.560 --> 00:05:07.439 It was sort of our brainchild of like, 00:05:07.820 --> 00:05:09.320 hey, can we create a ministry, 00:05:09.460 --> 00:05:11.820 like an evangelism ministry for the rest of us? 00:05:11.819 --> 00:05:14.659 You know, it's so daunting to think about evangelism. 00:05:14.759 --> 00:05:16.579 We've got a lot of baggage that comes with it, 00:05:16.699 --> 00:05:18.639 but that's where we started. 00:05:19.399 --> 00:05:21.800 But our ministry is beginning to expand and become something, 00:05:22.139 --> 00:05:23.279 I dare say, beautiful. 00:05:24.300 --> 00:05:24.540 All right. 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:27.019 So when we came up with this design, 00:05:27.079 --> 00:05:30.360 if you see sort of the river that's sort of flowing out to the church doors 00:05:30.360 --> 00:05:32.339 and any architect out there, 00:05:32.439 --> 00:05:35.180 Leonard, you probably hate this because the doors are swinging in, 00:05:35.259 --> 00:05:36.740 all egress doors swing out. 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:39.019 I get it, but it made more sense to swing them in. 00:05:39.019 --> 00:05:43.500 But the river is just flowing out into the city, 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:45.120 out in the distance. 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:47.959 It's leaving the church, going out into the wild. 00:05:48.759 --> 00:05:49.959 And it's going to the city. 00:05:50.159 --> 00:05:52.779 And we know from scripture, the cities are our people. 00:05:53.079 --> 00:05:54.579 Like when New Jerusalem came down, 00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:55.680 it wasn't a bunch of cool buildings. 00:05:55.680 --> 00:05:56.740 It was people, right? 00:05:57.159 --> 00:06:01.180 So we go out into the city to be with people in different settings. 00:06:01.180 --> 00:06:01.959 And that was the idea. 00:06:02.039 --> 00:06:03.279 We're going to go and bring Jesus. 00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:07.259 But just in God's design, 00:06:07.599 --> 00:06:09.739 I'm beginning to look at this logo differently. 00:06:10.299 --> 00:06:12.779 The river was, the idea there was, 00:06:12.779 --> 00:06:15.139 it was John 7, 37 through 38. 00:06:15.659 --> 00:06:16.619 You know, that passage, 00:06:16.939 --> 00:06:18.739 I think Derek preached on it a few weeks ago. 00:06:18.819 --> 00:06:19.439 It was fantastic. 00:06:19.939 --> 00:06:20.639 Go back and listen. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:25.879 But it's the idea that Jesus stood up on the last day of the feast, 00:06:25.959 --> 00:06:28.019 the great day, and he cried out. 00:06:28.339 --> 00:06:28.639 He said, 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:44.459 And so here's the thing. 00:06:45.860 --> 00:06:46.979 I'm finding out, 00:06:47.459 --> 00:06:48.300 and so the next slide, 00:06:48.360 --> 00:06:52.899 you'll see that there are two hearts in a setting, right? 00:06:53.300 --> 00:06:54.639 There are the hearts of those, 00:06:54.639 --> 00:06:59.219 we go into the wild of our hearts of people 00:06:59.219 --> 00:07:01.579 who are following the way of Jesus, 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:04.539 to go be with people, 00:07:04.979 --> 00:07:08.500 to go to address and listen to the hearts of people 00:07:08.500 --> 00:07:09.579 who are far from God, 00:07:09.620 --> 00:07:11.899 who are following the way of the wild, 00:07:12.360 --> 00:07:13.620 okay, the way of the world. 00:07:14.019 --> 00:07:18.360 But we bring love into those situations all the time, right? 00:07:19.159 --> 00:07:21.000 And so that beautiful life you imagine, 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:25.060 it's going out with the hearts of living water 00:07:25.060 --> 00:07:28.459 flowing into every setting and situation to be with people. 00:07:29.259 --> 00:07:30.779 All right, so let's expand on that. 00:07:30.980 --> 00:07:32.480 Let's just focus on the first part. 00:07:32.579 --> 00:07:33.920 So there's two hearts, right? 00:07:34.379 --> 00:07:35.759 Hearts of followers of Jesus, 00:07:36.180 --> 00:07:38.139 hearts of people who are running the other way, 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:39.939 and we bring those into settings. 00:07:40.180 --> 00:07:42.019 We bring the heart of Jesus into settings. 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:44.379 So the first thing we want to do, though, 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:45.860 is we want to deal with our own heart. 00:07:46.339 --> 00:07:47.620 And how do we understand it? 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:48.660 Like, what's going on? 00:07:48.660 --> 00:07:51.340 What does it mean to believe Jesus? 00:07:51.500 --> 00:07:53.320 What does it mean to drink from him? 00:07:53.580 --> 00:07:55.600 What does it mean that rivers of living water 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:57.460 are going to come flowing out of our hearts? 00:07:57.800 --> 00:07:58.680 So let's just begin. 00:07:59.140 --> 00:08:01.900 Maybe my idea was, let's just begin last week. 00:08:01.900 --> 00:08:05.700 Let's kind of review Easter. 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:07.040 Let's review Easter. 00:08:07.879 --> 00:08:09.379 So let's start with Maundy Thursday. 00:08:10.300 --> 00:08:13.240 Maundy Thursday was the new commandment Jesus is giving. 00:08:13.900 --> 00:08:16.740 And that new commandment was to love one another 00:08:16.740 --> 00:08:18.320 just as I've loved you. 00:08:18.660 --> 00:08:20.760 And so that heart of living water 00:08:20.760 --> 00:08:24.540 is a heart of love that will flow to love other people, right? 00:08:24.760 --> 00:08:27.200 And that love continued on Good Friday. 00:08:27.640 --> 00:08:30.020 The greatest example of love, the universe, 00:08:30.140 --> 00:08:32.320 this expanding universe as ever known, 00:08:32.379 --> 00:08:34.779 is Jesus on the cross, right? 00:08:34.840 --> 00:08:37.220 He was the propitiation for our sins. 00:08:37.800 --> 00:08:40.000 And that word propitiation just means that 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:44.540 the wrath of God was exhausted fully on Jesus. 00:08:45.580 --> 00:08:47.740 That God's wrath, there's none left. 00:08:47.740 --> 00:08:51.659 Those of us who are followers of Jesus, 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:54.240 there's no wrath left for us. 00:08:54.259 --> 00:08:55.759 It was exhausted on Jesus. 00:08:57.139 --> 00:08:58.299 That's incredible. 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:01.440 And then the resurrection on Sunday, 00:09:02.419 --> 00:09:03.360 Jesus rose. 00:09:03.620 --> 00:09:05.159 It was the death of death. 00:09:06.460 --> 00:09:10.120 For believers, the worst thing that can happen to you 00:09:10.120 --> 00:09:11.440 will never happen to you. 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:13.980 You will never be sent out of the presence of God. 00:09:14.500 --> 00:09:16.600 You will never receive his wrath. 00:09:17.860 --> 00:09:19.680 It's been all poured out on Jesus. 00:09:20.840 --> 00:09:22.800 Death has been conquered. 00:09:23.880 --> 00:09:26.560 And that means you are free. 00:09:27.540 --> 00:09:30.800 You are free to live a beautiful life. 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:36.259 Now, Jesus doesn't, that's just part of what's going on. 00:09:38.079 --> 00:09:41.159 On resurrection Sunday, something really crazy happened. 00:09:41.259 --> 00:09:42.379 Something really unique. 00:09:43.019 --> 00:09:45.819 Mary Magdalene's at the open tomb. 00:09:46.179 --> 00:09:47.879 And she's there kind of freaking out. 00:09:47.959 --> 00:09:49.759 Like, where is, where's the body? 00:09:49.859 --> 00:09:50.859 What's going, what happened? 00:09:51.359 --> 00:09:54.000 And she's, she looks over and she's talking to a gardener. 00:09:54.360 --> 00:09:56.279 And she says, did you take the body? 00:09:56.320 --> 00:09:57.259 She's asking questions. 00:09:57.480 --> 00:10:00.139 And then the gardener speaks and says her name. 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:02.120 And it's that gardener is Jesus. 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:06.379 John Foreman talked, he taught on that a couple weeks ago. 00:10:06.580 --> 00:10:08.419 He expanded on the symbolism of the garden. 00:10:08.460 --> 00:10:09.340 And the gardener, it's beautiful. 00:10:09.500 --> 00:10:11.940 But for our thing, it's just, it's Jesus. 00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:14.740 Jesus spoke to her and she ran to him and said, teacher. 00:10:15.259 --> 00:10:17.539 She puts her arms around him and she's hugging him. 00:10:17.539 --> 00:10:21.220 It's like, this is the most amazing event that could ever happen. 00:10:21.320 --> 00:10:22.860 And you're alive, right? 00:10:22.899 --> 00:10:23.480 And she's holding him. 00:10:23.480 --> 00:10:24.600 But then what did Jesus say? 00:10:24.620 --> 00:10:25.340 It's really unusual. 00:10:25.500 --> 00:10:26.920 He said, do not cling to me. 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:28.580 I don't know how he said it. 00:10:28.659 --> 00:10:29.480 Maybe probably nicely. 00:10:29.740 --> 00:10:31.240 Like, you know, do not cling to me. 00:10:31.379 --> 00:10:31.940 I don't know. 00:10:32.019 --> 00:10:34.320 But, you know, why can't I cling to you? 00:10:34.340 --> 00:10:37.860 And he said, because I have yet to ascend to my father. 00:10:39.100 --> 00:10:40.120 Now that's unique. 00:10:40.820 --> 00:10:42.139 How do we understand this? 00:10:42.180 --> 00:10:43.060 What does that mean? 00:10:43.480 --> 00:10:48.180 And so I think we can go, we can start with Jesus and the rivers of living water. 00:10:48.180 --> 00:10:48.920 John 7. 00:10:49.399 --> 00:10:51.560 But I think we just got to do a little bit of calculus here. 00:10:51.639 --> 00:10:53.240 Maybe add a few things to it. 00:10:54.019 --> 00:10:55.740 And we're just going to, you could go to a number of places. 00:10:55.840 --> 00:10:56.740 We're just going to pick two. 00:10:56.860 --> 00:10:57.879 Maybe to keep this simple. 00:10:57.960 --> 00:10:58.980 Maybe to keep you engaged. 00:10:59.080 --> 00:10:59.320 Okay? 00:10:59.820 --> 00:11:02.379 So if you go to John 14. 00:11:03.539 --> 00:11:05.700 You know, you see, he said, I have yet to ascend. 00:11:05.860 --> 00:11:06.500 Jesus said. 00:11:06.500 --> 00:11:12.460 So at John 14, he's telling his disciples, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. 00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:17.820 And I will ask the father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever. 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:23.659 Even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him or knows him. 00:11:24.039 --> 00:11:24.700 You know him. 00:11:25.539 --> 00:11:26.279 You know him. 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:26.899 That's critical. 00:11:27.100 --> 00:11:27.879 You know him. 00:11:28.100 --> 00:11:31.399 For he dwells with you and will be in you. 00:11:31.799 --> 00:11:35.319 Jesus said, you're going to love me with everything you've got. 00:11:36.139 --> 00:11:38.679 I'm going to send the spirit so that you can do that. 00:11:39.740 --> 00:11:41.199 That's why we can love well. 00:11:41.259 --> 00:11:42.879 That's why we can live a beautiful life. 00:11:42.939 --> 00:11:45.399 Now we do that in John chapter 14. 00:11:45.819 --> 00:11:47.399 Add John 15 to it. 00:11:47.399 --> 00:11:49.279 Jesus says, I am the vine. 00:11:49.379 --> 00:11:50.120 You are the branches. 00:11:50.360 --> 00:11:56.079 Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. 00:11:56.279 --> 00:11:57.319 Rivers of living water. 00:11:57.459 --> 00:11:57.679 Think. 00:11:57.779 --> 00:11:59.079 That's part of the same idea. 00:11:59.199 --> 00:12:02.439 You will bear much fruit if you abide in me. 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:05.299 For apart from me, you can do nothing. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:11.240 Abide means, it can be translated remain. 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:14.899 But it can be translated, make your home in me. 00:12:15.820 --> 00:12:18.159 Make your home in me. 00:12:18.860 --> 00:12:20.580 And have you had your house become a home? 00:12:21.100 --> 00:12:21.360 Right? 00:12:21.399 --> 00:12:26.740 When it becomes a home, it's like all the things, all the beautiful things you want in your life. 00:12:26.840 --> 00:12:27.980 It becomes a home. 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:29.440 You know, it's the kitchen table. 00:12:29.539 --> 00:12:31.700 That's where you have all those deep discussions. 00:12:31.799 --> 00:12:33.139 The living room where you celebrate. 00:12:33.680 --> 00:12:35.720 And you can, you know all the things that have happened. 00:12:36.039 --> 00:12:37.919 You make your home in Jesus. 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:42.019 Now, here's what's going on with Mary Magdalene holding Jesus. 00:12:42.740 --> 00:12:44.919 He says, I have yet to leave and go and ascend. 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:47.959 To send the Holy Spirit that you can make a home in me. 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:51.539 And what he, I think what he's saying is, Mary, let go. 00:12:52.419 --> 00:12:53.579 I'm going to ascend. 00:12:53.919 --> 00:13:00.639 And when I send the Holy Spirit and you abide in me, it'll be better than if you were holding me. 00:13:01.719 --> 00:13:05.539 It'll be better than if you could look into my face right now. 00:13:05.539 --> 00:13:06.679 It will be better. 00:13:08.819 --> 00:13:10.120 Do you believe that? 00:13:11.059 --> 00:13:14.319 It is better that we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. 00:13:14.519 --> 00:13:19.399 That we can abide in him, make our home, and have a deep relationship and know God. 00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:24.860 Now, one day in heaven, he will fully fill the earth and it will be better then. 00:13:25.240 --> 00:13:29.079 And his physical body, if he's before you and you hug him, it'll be better then. 00:13:29.080 --> 00:13:39.620 But he's telling Mary, I'm going to ascend the Spirit and it will be better for my followers than if I was standing physically before them and they could hold him. 00:13:39.620 --> 00:13:43.560 So the Holy Spirit has come for that. 00:13:43.559 --> 00:13:55.459 And as a result of that, the fruit of the Spirit will pour from us as we spend time with Jesus, as we abide in him, as we make our home with him. 00:13:55.460 --> 00:13:58.759 And so the idea is that we slow down. 00:13:58.759 --> 00:14:03.840 We take a deep breath and you be with Jesus. 00:14:04.700 --> 00:14:05.700 You be with him. 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:09.000 Now, let me give you something practical before we go on to the second point. 00:14:09.100 --> 00:14:09.799 This is the... 00:14:09.799 --> 00:14:14.399 Actually, I probably could do the benediction and you would probably love that and we could go home after this. 00:14:14.460 --> 00:14:14.819 Seriously. 00:14:14.820 --> 00:14:14.900 Seriously. 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:19.600 Because everything else sort of starts to fall into place if you spend time with Jesus. 00:14:20.400 --> 00:14:23.200 And even the psalmist said, look, an offering I do not want. 00:14:23.340 --> 00:14:28.780 I have opened your ears, God said, to be and hear the voice of Jesus in your life. 00:14:29.520 --> 00:14:31.000 Now, here's what I would recommend. 00:14:31.680 --> 00:14:36.800 And this is wise advice that's come down through thousands of years, at least 2,000 years of Christianity. 00:14:37.520 --> 00:14:42.000 It's near the top of the list of if you're a new convert and you say, well, now what do I do? 00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:43.780 And you say, spend time with Jesus. 00:14:43.779 --> 00:14:44.860 That's what you do. 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:46.059 You abide in him. 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:47.179 You make your home in him. 00:14:47.459 --> 00:14:48.959 You spend time with Jesus. 00:14:49.500 --> 00:14:55.559 And one of the practices that's taught and has been taught through the centuries is silence and solitude. 00:14:56.379 --> 00:15:03.039 It's that spending time of quiet before the Lord to hear his voice because even if he was standing there, you could hug him. 00:15:04.019 --> 00:15:07.759 To be in his presence through the power of the Holy Spirit is better than that. 00:15:09.740 --> 00:15:12.279 And so here's what I would recommend you do. 00:15:12.279 --> 00:15:17.159 And I've combined a couple of thoughts from two different places, but I love how this is phrased. 00:15:18.220 --> 00:15:22.860 Before, if you, and here's what I would say, a practice to just sort of add. 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:23.959 This is an invitation. 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:26.659 You can do this, but I recommend it highly. 00:15:26.659 --> 00:15:33.539 Just be quiet and spend like 10 minutes just before you do what you've normally been doing. 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:38.679 If you've been reading scripture, memorizing, whatever it is, 10 minutes of quiet. 00:15:38.779 --> 00:15:40.360 I have a friend who even lights a candle. 00:15:41.579 --> 00:15:47.759 And you just, you breathe in and you spend time with Jesus because you've been given the Holy Spirit. 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:49.879 He said, make your home in me. 00:15:49.879 --> 00:15:51.480 Maybe that's what you're doing. 00:15:51.559 --> 00:15:52.500 You're making home. 00:15:52.620 --> 00:15:53.700 You're home in Jesus. 00:15:54.779 --> 00:15:55.899 Take five or 10 minutes. 00:15:56.100 --> 00:15:58.200 And I sort of say this to myself too. 00:15:58.700 --> 00:15:59.659 Take a deep breath. 00:16:00.860 --> 00:16:02.179 Put your cell phone away. 00:16:03.179 --> 00:16:04.939 Let your heart slow down. 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:08.279 Let God take care of the world. 00:16:09.779 --> 00:16:13.100 Sit in silence and solitude alone with yourself and God. 00:16:14.179 --> 00:16:15.120 Try that this week. 00:16:15.179 --> 00:16:15.940 Do 10 minutes. 00:16:15.940 --> 00:16:17.200 Look at the clock. 00:16:17.520 --> 00:16:19.160 And you just close your eyes. 00:16:19.620 --> 00:16:20.280 Light a candle. 00:16:21.540 --> 00:16:22.340 And just breathe. 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:24.600 And be in God's presence. 00:16:24.740 --> 00:16:25.800 It's better than a hug. 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:28.320 It's better than a hug. 00:16:29.920 --> 00:16:34.000 I've added that to, just recently added that to sort of what I do. 00:16:35.540 --> 00:16:39.800 That posture has given me a pace through reading through Psalms. 00:16:40.020 --> 00:16:41.140 It's slowed down. 00:16:41.780 --> 00:16:44.700 I'm hearing things and reading things differently. 00:16:44.700 --> 00:16:53.020 I started back to sort of even more starting to memorize scripture because I want to maybe just hear a word of the Lord and grab onto something. 00:16:53.660 --> 00:16:57.220 And abide in Jesus and remain with him throughout the day. 00:16:57.580 --> 00:16:59.660 It's the most significant thing you can do. 00:16:59.780 --> 00:17:00.520 Abide in him. 00:17:00.660 --> 00:17:02.280 Making your home in Jesus. 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:08.120 All the best things you imagine of what a home is, is found in Jesus and more. 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:15.359 And as you adopt that, it'll be hard a lot of times. 00:17:15.559 --> 00:17:19.239 I think it's Henri Nouwen said that our brains are so crazy full. 00:17:19.319 --> 00:17:20.819 We're thinking about stuff all the time. 00:17:21.079 --> 00:17:23.959 It's like having wild monkeys in a banana tree in your head. 00:17:26.159 --> 00:17:27.459 Have you felt like that? 00:17:27.460 --> 00:17:36.579 And as we begin to breathe in scripture, as we read, and as we hear the voice of Jesus, it is calming. 00:17:36.779 --> 00:17:38.000 It is better than a hug. 00:17:38.340 --> 00:17:40.460 It's better than the hug Mary Magdalene got. 00:17:41.380 --> 00:17:42.100 It's better. 00:17:42.099 --> 00:17:47.559 Okay, so imagine yourself, because we're going to go on a point two. 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:48.459 That's your heart. 00:17:49.619 --> 00:17:54.399 And you want to stay, as the hymn says, no further than the cross and no higher than the feet of Jesus. 00:17:54.859 --> 00:17:55.939 And just stay there. 00:17:56.639 --> 00:17:57.159 And breathe. 00:17:57.500 --> 00:18:00.279 And sense his presence as he does his work in you. 00:18:00.500 --> 00:18:04.819 Because all the practices of following Jesus, they really accomplish this. 00:18:05.099 --> 00:18:06.639 It's something you can do. 00:18:07.899 --> 00:18:09.439 You can carve out ten minutes. 00:18:09.719 --> 00:18:10.879 You can read your scripture. 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:13.180 That's something you can do. 00:18:13.480 --> 00:18:19.420 And it creates space for the Holy Spirit to do in you what you cannot do. 00:18:20.140 --> 00:18:23.940 That's the beauty and that's the mystery of knowing Jesus. 00:18:24.140 --> 00:18:25.900 And by the way, do you know what eternal life is? 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:27.680 If somebody said, what is eternal life? 00:18:28.080 --> 00:18:30.600 Do you know what Jesus said eternal life was? 00:18:30.800 --> 00:18:31.900 John 17, 3. 00:18:32.800 --> 00:18:34.460 He said, this is eternal life. 00:18:34.760 --> 00:18:36.120 That they may know you, Father. 00:18:37.980 --> 00:18:39.500 The only true God. 00:18:39.500 --> 00:18:42.980 And me, in Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 00:18:43.299 --> 00:18:45.339 Eternal life is knowing God. 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:48.299 Eternal life is experienced now. 00:18:49.299 --> 00:18:52.420 Dallas Willard said, you know, eternity is now in session. 00:18:53.940 --> 00:18:55.259 It's knowing God. 00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:56.480 And that's enough. 00:18:57.099 --> 00:18:58.279 I'm telling you, it's enough. 00:18:58.980 --> 00:18:59.720 It's everything. 00:19:00.039 --> 00:19:00.420 It's beautiful. 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:01.339 It's the beautiful. 00:19:01.339 --> 00:19:03.659 It is the only path to a beautiful life. 00:19:04.359 --> 00:19:05.000 He is it. 00:19:05.339 --> 00:19:05.659 Period. 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:06.899 Right? 00:19:07.099 --> 00:19:07.459 Benediction. 00:19:07.539 --> 00:19:08.059 Let's go home. 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:08.879 All right. 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:09.539 Well, hold on. 00:19:10.759 --> 00:19:11.559 That's our hearts. 00:19:12.199 --> 00:19:12.859 And they're tamed. 00:19:13.019 --> 00:19:16.059 The wild of our hearts is tamed by the Holy Spirit as we abide in him. 00:19:16.059 --> 00:19:21.559 Second thing, the hearts of somebody in the wild. 00:19:21.740 --> 00:19:23.259 It's good to understand what's going on. 00:19:23.399 --> 00:19:25.240 I'm going to read this passage from Ecclesiastes. 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:25.960 It's crazy. 00:19:26.919 --> 00:19:28.099 I'm going to see if I can explain it. 00:19:28.779 --> 00:19:30.279 Hear now the written word of God. 00:19:30.919 --> 00:19:33.539 Receive the gift of his written word. 00:19:34.539 --> 00:19:36.379 What gain has the worker from his toil? 00:19:36.380 --> 00:19:41.640 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:46.640 He has made everything beautiful appropriate in its time. 00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:54.120 Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done 00:19:54.120 --> 00:19:55.720 from the beginning to the end. 00:19:56.060 --> 00:20:01.520 I perceive that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long 00:20:01.520 --> 00:20:02.380 as they live. 00:20:02.380 --> 00:20:07.300 Also, that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil. 00:20:07.780 --> 00:20:09.820 This is God's gift to man. 00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:11.160 Amen. 00:20:11.500 --> 00:20:12.080 Thank you, Lord. 00:20:12.940 --> 00:20:13.800 What does that mean? 00:20:15.180 --> 00:20:19.340 Ecclesiastes, just like we did at the beginning of the sermon, is a thought experiment. 00:20:19.580 --> 00:20:21.300 The whole book is a thought experiment. 00:20:21.420 --> 00:20:24.560 It's saying, what is life like without God? 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:26.820 And the phrase is, under the sun. 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:28.880 Like there's nothing new under the sun, we know. 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:34.260 And then the author of Ecclesiastes uses that imagery to say, this is life without God. 00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:38.660 You live life just with the sun and just the earth and everything you can touch. 00:20:38.760 --> 00:20:39.520 There's no God. 00:20:39.860 --> 00:20:41.040 There's no transcendence. 00:20:41.480 --> 00:20:43.560 There's no, life isn't enchanted. 00:20:43.900 --> 00:20:47.280 It's just life without God with all its consequences. 00:20:47.279 --> 00:20:55.119 You know, Friedrich Nietzsche was sort of had the same thought experiment because he was 00:20:55.119 --> 00:20:56.639 the one that coined the phrase, God is dead. 00:20:56.720 --> 00:20:57.519 You know, we've killed him. 00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:02.240 But he was concerned about what was going to fill that void because there are consequences 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:03.539 to living without God. 00:21:03.639 --> 00:21:08.519 Now, his solution, you know, played out really nicely in the 20th century, but horribly. 00:21:08.519 --> 00:21:12.440 But even G.K. Chesterton said, look, be careful. 00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:20.200 If you take down a fence without first asking why it's there, you're going to reap the problems 00:21:20.200 --> 00:21:20.960 that come with it. 00:21:21.539 --> 00:21:27.639 And so we as a generation of people in a nation and a culture are reaping the difficulties 00:21:27.639 --> 00:21:30.920 of life under the sun, life without God. 00:21:31.059 --> 00:21:33.379 We are in a post-Christian world, period. 00:21:34.259 --> 00:21:36.139 And it's getting worse and worse and worse. 00:21:36.140 --> 00:21:42.259 So how can we understand the heart of somebody out in the world that has no sense of transcendence, 00:21:42.380 --> 00:21:45.940 no idea, and wants to live life their own way? 00:21:46.220 --> 00:21:49.320 I think the author of Ecclesiastes is certainly helpful here. 00:21:51.820 --> 00:21:53.200 The human heart. 00:21:54.120 --> 00:21:56.800 We think about the heart, it's the place where we have emotions. 00:21:57.180 --> 00:21:58.980 It's the place where we think, feel, and desire. 00:21:59.140 --> 00:22:02.140 It's everything, all of our being, everything involved. 00:22:02.140 --> 00:22:08.880 Now, God's, in Ecclesiastes, the author says, God has placed eternity in the hearts of man. 00:22:09.980 --> 00:22:15.820 And it's frustrating because man under the sun, without a reference to God, it's frustrating 00:22:15.820 --> 00:22:18.580 because they're trying to make sense of a world without God. 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:20.500 Where does the meaning come from? 00:22:20.759 --> 00:22:22.380 Where does identity come from? 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:24.920 And we see that just being played out so often. 00:22:24.920 --> 00:22:29.080 But it's very frustrating for someone apart from God. 00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:33.960 They're haunted by a deep desire, a deep compulsion to know the meaning of it all. 00:22:34.800 --> 00:22:35.980 But they have a problem. 00:22:36.100 --> 00:22:37.320 They don't believe in God. 00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:38.880 They don't believe in transcendence. 00:22:38.940 --> 00:22:42.560 And so they have to make it what they want. 00:22:43.460 --> 00:22:47.019 And the only one who can do anything with that frustration is God himself. 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:48.680 Ezekiel 36, right? 00:22:48.680 --> 00:22:57.580 We need a heart of stone pulled out and a heart of flesh put in so that we can begin to look to the one who makes sense of it all. 00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:05.519 Now, people in the wild, okay, are far from God, who are far from God. 00:23:05.860 --> 00:23:07.400 They're haunted by transcendence. 00:23:07.480 --> 00:23:08.740 They're haunted by eternity. 00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:16.460 That word eternity, there is a phobia, a fear of infinity that's out there. 00:23:16.519 --> 00:23:17.700 There is an actual thing. 00:23:17.700 --> 00:23:24.819 And the studies that have looked at the fear of infinity, people that wake up, you know, we are just like thinking about what that means. 00:23:25.080 --> 00:23:26.960 It is along the same spectrum. 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:29.759 And in fact, it's probably overlaps with the fear of death. 00:23:30.500 --> 00:23:37.360 And so our culture fears what is out there, but they can't quite put their finger on like, what is that? 00:23:38.840 --> 00:23:42.940 They're haunted by eternity, haunted by forever. 00:23:43.600 --> 00:23:46.920 They're haunted by the notion that this is an enchanted world. 00:23:46.920 --> 00:23:49.180 And yes, I believe this is an enchanted world. 00:23:49.240 --> 00:23:52.440 And what I mean by that is that there is more than meets the eye. 00:23:52.759 --> 00:23:54.820 It's sort of like Elijah with his servant. 00:23:54.920 --> 00:23:58.640 And he said, he prayed and said, God, show him what's going on behind the scenes. 00:23:59.140 --> 00:24:00.340 You know, there's more than meets the eye. 00:24:00.339 --> 00:24:02.500 And God opened up the heavens, right? 00:24:02.619 --> 00:24:07.079 And so that he could see all of God's army fighting. 00:24:07.959 --> 00:24:10.759 That's what I mean, that there's more than meets the eye. 00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:12.500 That's what we believe. 00:24:13.079 --> 00:24:16.279 But people apart from God, far from God, that's not on their radar. 00:24:16.419 --> 00:24:18.859 And it's hard for them to reconcile what that is. 00:24:18.859 --> 00:24:24.479 And in fact, the idea is that they buffer themselves from that truth, that there's eternity. 00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.119 And they even buffer themselves against death, the inevitability of it. 00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:31.639 Okay, so where does this come from? 00:24:32.339 --> 00:24:36.740 This is, I think, the best example of what's going on in the heart of somebody far from God. 00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:42.339 Julian Barnes is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. 00:24:42.459 --> 00:24:44.719 He wrote a book called Nothing to Be Frightened of. 00:24:44.740 --> 00:24:45.939 It came out in 2008. 00:24:45.940 --> 00:24:46.580 It's a memoir. 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:48.600 He is an agnostic. 00:24:49.539 --> 00:24:53.000 And what he does throughout the whole book, he's looking at the inevitability of death. 00:24:53.539 --> 00:24:56.900 Like, hey, as an agnostic, how do you make sense of it? 00:24:57.080 --> 00:24:59.559 How do you buffer yourself from thinking about it? 00:24:59.600 --> 00:25:03.559 How do I kind of redirect my thoughts so I don't have to think about that? 00:25:04.059 --> 00:25:07.440 He's English, so it's kind of funny on one hand, tragic on the other. 00:25:07.559 --> 00:25:08.240 Very interesting. 00:25:08.380 --> 00:25:11.500 But this is how the book begins. 00:25:11.500 --> 00:25:16.140 I don't believe in God, but I miss him. 00:25:17.539 --> 00:25:20.240 Do you see the eternity planted in his heart? 00:25:20.700 --> 00:25:23.859 I don't believe in God, but I miss him. 00:25:24.460 --> 00:25:26.799 This is somebody haunted by transcendence. 00:25:27.220 --> 00:25:28.740 Doesn't quite know what to make of it. 00:25:29.539 --> 00:25:33.559 Now, he was an agnostic, but he tells this story. 00:25:33.559 --> 00:25:41.220 And by the way, that theme of death that runs through that memoir runs through all of Ecclesiastes. 00:25:42.519 --> 00:25:50.599 You know, because the author of Ecclesiastes, you know, we get the, you know, hey, if there's no God, the best thing for you to do is earn as much money as possible. 00:25:51.159 --> 00:25:51.980 But then guess what? 00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:53.259 You earn all that money. 00:25:53.359 --> 00:25:53.819 You die. 00:25:54.179 --> 00:25:54.940 Someone else gets it. 00:25:55.019 --> 00:25:55.899 Somebody else spends it. 00:25:56.440 --> 00:25:57.640 All of life is meaningless. 00:25:57.860 --> 00:25:58.580 Vanity, vanity. 00:25:58.860 --> 00:25:59.700 You know, vapor, vapor. 00:25:59.820 --> 00:26:00.420 All of life. 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:01.620 If you read that, that's. 00:26:02.040 --> 00:26:06.900 And so the author of Ecclesiastes and the Pulitzer Prize winner, Julian Barnes, are talking about the same thing. 00:26:07.360 --> 00:26:08.880 Life under the sun without God. 00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:09.580 No reference. 00:26:10.460 --> 00:26:12.040 Now, he tells a story in the book. 00:26:12.460 --> 00:26:16.560 He said his mother was a staunch atheist, like just really rabid. 00:26:16.560 --> 00:26:20.400 Always giving him a hard time with his being an agnostic. 00:26:20.400 --> 00:26:27.820 She said, the only reason why you're an agnostic now, because he said he was an atheist in his 20s, agnostic when he was in his 60s. 00:26:27.820 --> 00:26:31.200 She said, the only reason why you're doing that is because you've had a death awakening. 00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:35.620 That's when you sort of realize, I am going to die. 00:26:37.060 --> 00:26:38.660 And he said, you've had a death awakening. 00:26:38.800 --> 00:26:40.180 Now you're just sort of hedging your bets. 00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:41.500 And he said, no. 00:26:42.100 --> 00:26:44.580 He said, I had my death awakening when I was 14. 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:46.480 Just sort of realize, wait. 00:26:46.480 --> 00:26:51.259 And he said that feeling was something like this. 00:26:51.299 --> 00:26:52.420 And this is a quote from the book. 00:26:55.700 --> 00:26:58.140 It's like being in an unfamiliar hotel room. 00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:00.160 Death awakening is. 00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:04.200 Where the alarm clock has been left on the previous occupant setting. 00:27:05.099 --> 00:27:13.940 And at some ungodly hour, you are suddenly pitched from sleep into darkness, panic, and a vicious awareness that this is a rented world. 00:27:13.940 --> 00:27:17.279 No wonder he's a Pulitzer Prize winning author. 00:27:17.420 --> 00:27:18.820 That is profound, right? 00:27:19.000 --> 00:27:19.820 And it's tragedy. 00:27:20.279 --> 00:27:21.320 A rented world. 00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:25.840 And I've been in one of those hotel rooms with a person. 00:27:25.980 --> 00:27:27.059 Have you ever, that ever happened to you? 00:27:27.080 --> 00:27:27.820 And it goes off. 00:27:28.059 --> 00:27:28.840 And that feeling. 00:27:30.059 --> 00:27:38.259 That is the feeling of eternity planted in the hearts of people that don't believe in transcendence, enchanted world, none of that. 00:27:38.259 --> 00:27:41.180 And they have to buffer themselves from it. 00:27:41.879 --> 00:27:44.379 And they have to think of anything else. 00:27:45.220 --> 00:27:46.119 And they do. 00:27:46.259 --> 00:27:47.839 They try to figure out so much. 00:27:49.119 --> 00:27:50.619 That should bring us compassion. 00:27:51.339 --> 00:27:53.799 That's really what that all should work in us. 00:27:54.740 --> 00:27:56.500 So we have two contrasting hearts. 00:27:57.039 --> 00:28:02.940 The hearts of people far from God living in a rented world. 00:28:02.940 --> 00:28:13.680 And then there's those of us that follow Jesus that know eternal life is just knowing him, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent, Father. 00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:17.220 And we don't live in a rented world. 00:28:17.360 --> 00:28:19.200 We live in a world that's being renovated. 00:28:20.120 --> 00:28:22.200 It's being renovated along with our hearts. 00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:36.460 God is making our hearts come alive for a love for him and a love for people that is the kingdom coming in a powerful way through the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:28:36.460 --> 00:28:39.019 We can make our home with Jesus. 00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:44.240 And in his presence is better than Mary Magdalene's hug to Jesus. 00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:47.100 That is eternal life. 00:28:47.220 --> 00:28:49.279 That's what we have right now. 00:28:49.279 --> 00:28:59.420 And so apart from God, people are left with defining their own identity, meaning, and purpose. 00:28:59.720 --> 00:29:01.160 It's a heavy yoke to bear. 00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:04.460 But Jesus said, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden. 00:29:06.039 --> 00:29:07.740 And I will give you rest. 00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:11.000 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. 00:29:11.079 --> 00:29:13.639 Come and learn from me. 00:29:14.420 --> 00:29:14.859 Learn. 00:29:15.319 --> 00:29:16.359 Be in his presence. 00:29:16.359 --> 00:29:20.740 Know me in a deep, abiding way through the power of the Spirit. 00:29:22.059 --> 00:29:24.000 That's a beautiful life. 00:29:24.639 --> 00:29:26.439 That's what Jesus offers us. 00:29:27.979 --> 00:29:31.259 And then when we think of people far from God, it breaks our heart. 00:29:32.319 --> 00:29:35.979 God creates room in our soul to go and be with people. 00:29:37.599 --> 00:29:39.139 All right, so let's land the plane. 00:29:39.140 --> 00:29:44.240 And the last part is we go into the wild with a heart of love. 00:29:44.520 --> 00:29:45.980 So this idea of loving our neighbor. 00:29:47.180 --> 00:29:51.800 Well, it all begins with, and it can end with, truly, we spend time with Jesus. 00:29:52.200 --> 00:29:53.759 He gives us a heart for the world. 00:29:54.300 --> 00:29:58.000 Holy Spirit empowers us to become more and more like our teacher, Jesus. 00:29:58.600 --> 00:29:58.780 Right? 00:29:58.880 --> 00:30:00.320 Learn from me, Jesus said. 00:30:00.880 --> 00:30:04.940 And to, by faith, imitate our teacher, Jesus. 00:30:04.940 --> 00:30:05.140 Jesus. 00:30:06.059 --> 00:30:06.360 Right? 00:30:08.059 --> 00:30:13.180 And that space that God creates in our soul, we can bring into the wild in different settings 00:30:13.180 --> 00:30:14.100 and with different people. 00:30:15.019 --> 00:30:19.680 Now, the example, if we were going to cover, if you were going to imitate Jesus, and there's 00:30:19.680 --> 00:30:21.700 lots of ways, how about this one? 00:30:21.759 --> 00:30:22.700 How about Zacchaeus? 00:30:23.559 --> 00:30:24.640 What about Zacchaeus? 00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:25.160 Right? 00:30:25.240 --> 00:30:26.640 Zacchaeus was a major sinner. 00:30:26.759 --> 00:30:28.900 He had stolen from his people because he took taxes. 00:30:29.120 --> 00:30:29.900 He took more. 00:30:30.200 --> 00:30:33.019 And he was living off of the backs of poor people. 00:30:33.019 --> 00:30:37.660 This was like the ultimate, the ultimate in loving people, the opposite. 00:30:37.879 --> 00:30:39.579 It was the opposite of loving people. 00:30:39.920 --> 00:30:45.680 And Jesus looks up at him and he says, Zacchaeus, he didn't read him the riot act. 00:30:45.740 --> 00:30:47.279 He didn't name all his sins. 00:30:47.359 --> 00:30:48.359 He didn't shame him. 00:30:48.599 --> 00:30:51.440 He looked up in the tree where Zacchaeus was, if you know the story. 00:30:51.599 --> 00:30:54.599 And he said, come down, let's go eat and drink together. 00:30:55.960 --> 00:30:57.740 Let's go eat and drink together. 00:30:58.879 --> 00:30:59.900 Sort of Ecclesiastes. 00:30:59.900 --> 00:31:04.320 What did we have left to do but eat and drink and take pleasure in our toil? 00:31:04.420 --> 00:31:06.740 But he says, Zacchaeus, let's go eat and drink. 00:31:07.380 --> 00:31:09.220 And so Zacchaeus spends time with Jesus. 00:31:09.660 --> 00:31:10.940 He's in Jesus' presence. 00:31:11.340 --> 00:31:12.259 He's with him. 00:31:12.340 --> 00:31:13.240 He's in his presence. 00:31:13.560 --> 00:31:16.100 He's talking with him over a meal, eating, drinking. 00:31:16.200 --> 00:31:17.440 And Jesus is there with him. 00:31:17.480 --> 00:31:21.259 We don't know what was said, but I think the imagery is he just spent time with Jesus. 00:31:21.540 --> 00:31:24.960 And as a result of time with Jesus, he became this generous man. 00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:26.180 He lived a beautiful life. 00:31:26.180 --> 00:31:28.519 He said, I don't care anymore. 00:31:28.880 --> 00:31:32.080 I'm giving back everything I stole plus more. 00:31:32.920 --> 00:31:34.320 He lived a beautiful life. 00:31:34.360 --> 00:31:35.360 The kind of thing you imagine. 00:31:35.700 --> 00:31:36.180 Generous. 00:31:36.759 --> 00:31:39.259 Just happy he had spent time with Jesus. 00:31:39.400 --> 00:31:41.080 And as he was transformed. 00:31:41.640 --> 00:31:42.440 It's a miracle. 00:31:43.100 --> 00:31:43.880 It's beautiful. 00:31:44.799 --> 00:31:47.700 That's what happens to us as we spend time with Jesus. 00:31:47.700 --> 00:31:47.900 Jesus. 00:31:48.819 --> 00:31:52.799 So I want you to remember that as you start to think of, well, how do I love my neighbor? 00:31:53.000 --> 00:31:55.940 If I go out into the wild to be with people, how do I love my neighbor? 00:31:56.440 --> 00:32:01.160 Man, all those sort of things on the surface, like, hey, you know, why don't you have a couple 00:32:01.160 --> 00:32:02.019 over for dinner? 00:32:02.180 --> 00:32:03.779 Why don't you ask somebody out for coffee? 00:32:03.980 --> 00:32:07.019 Why don't you, you know, sit over the fence, talk to somebody? 00:32:08.120 --> 00:32:10.380 You know, have a big giant cul-de-sac party. 00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:12.039 You type A's go, yeah, that's great. 00:32:12.080 --> 00:32:12.799 Let's do that. 00:32:12.799 --> 00:32:14.539 The rest of us are going, no. 00:32:15.460 --> 00:32:16.740 But here, how about this? 00:32:17.240 --> 00:32:19.819 What if it's simply this? 00:32:20.659 --> 00:32:28.279 That you spend time with Jesus and your heart is transformed and you have compassion for people. 00:32:28.419 --> 00:32:30.079 So now maybe what is it? 00:32:30.180 --> 00:32:35.539 Why wouldn't it just be that God has created space in your soul so that when you're out 00:32:35.539 --> 00:32:39.000 and about, you have room to hear people. 00:32:39.960 --> 00:32:42.079 You have room to hear what's going on. 00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:43.819 You have room to hear hurts. 00:32:44.939 --> 00:32:46.699 What if loving your neighbor was that? 00:32:47.359 --> 00:32:53.480 That you give them time and space and you're generous with it all because you have become 00:32:53.480 --> 00:32:59.359 a non-anxious presence because you have spent time with Jesus and he has done something to 00:32:59.359 --> 00:33:04.819 your soul that only he can do, only the Holy Spirit in you and only making your home in Jesus 00:33:04.819 --> 00:33:05.839 can that happen. 00:33:06.359 --> 00:33:08.779 What if that's loving your neighbor? 00:33:08.779 --> 00:33:10.779 I dare say it is. 00:33:13.720 --> 00:33:14.839 Do you know that? 00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:16.619 Do you know that peace? 00:33:17.940 --> 00:33:19.839 Have you made a home in Jesus? 00:33:21.059 --> 00:33:26.000 I don't know if that's something we ever really, it's something I really didn't learn, but I'm 00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:27.960 learning and it's a beautiful thing. 00:33:29.559 --> 00:33:31.039 Making a home in Jesus. 00:33:31.039 --> 00:33:35.180 Now one last thing, and I promise you this is it, I've probably gone too long. 00:33:37.480 --> 00:33:42.680 When we take, you know, in Ecclesiastes it says, what else left have you got to do but 00:33:42.680 --> 00:33:44.779 eat and drink and take pleasure in your toil? 00:33:44.779 --> 00:33:54.119 When we take communion, I think it's next week, when Jesus instituted that, he said, come and 00:33:54.119 --> 00:33:55.460 drink, come and eat. 00:33:57.240 --> 00:34:00.059 Do this in remembrance of me. 00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:02.599 So we were remembering something. 00:34:03.539 --> 00:34:09.219 We eat and drink and it's magical, mystical, wonderful, joyous. 00:34:09.219 --> 00:34:10.639 It's just this amazing thing. 00:34:11.759 --> 00:34:13.339 But do you know what we take pleasure in? 00:34:14.379 --> 00:34:15.059 His toil. 00:34:16.839 --> 00:34:17.819 It's his toil. 00:34:18.379 --> 00:34:21.299 We eat and drink and we take pleasure in his work. 00:34:21.899 --> 00:34:23.259 The finished work on the cross. 00:34:23.399 --> 00:34:27.779 The life he lived that we should have lived but didn't. 00:34:28.339 --> 00:34:29.559 The death he died. 00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:32.759 That work he rose again to end life. 00:34:33.000 --> 00:34:34.419 He took the wrath of God. 00:34:35.079 --> 00:34:37.319 We take pleasure in his work. 00:34:37.320 --> 00:34:39.280 We eat and we drink. 00:34:39.539 --> 00:34:44.720 And by the way, it's just not a communion, although that's special in particular because 00:34:44.720 --> 00:34:48.360 when one day in heaven, we'll say, I know this meal. 00:34:48.840 --> 00:34:49.800 I know this. 00:34:50.760 --> 00:34:52.100 And it'll be fuller. 00:34:52.280 --> 00:34:54.200 It'll be like, that was the hug. 00:34:55.340 --> 00:34:59.480 This is the grand love, right? 00:34:59.539 --> 00:35:00.300 You'll know it. 00:35:00.640 --> 00:35:02.940 But the other thing, it happens too in his presence. 00:35:03.559 --> 00:35:05.019 It happens in his presence. 00:35:05.460 --> 00:35:06.840 We drink Jesus. 00:35:06.840 --> 00:35:10.200 He said, come to me, all you who are thirsty and drink. 00:35:10.280 --> 00:35:12.140 And out of your heart will flow rivers of living water. 00:35:12.480 --> 00:35:13.340 We drink. 00:35:13.860 --> 00:35:16.180 We eat the word of God. 00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:17.860 It's that thing that happens. 00:35:18.280 --> 00:35:19.940 We take pleasure in his toil. 00:35:20.640 --> 00:35:22.420 And he does the work in our hearts. 00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:28.420 And so that when we go out, we bring the love of Jesus to every setting we're in. 00:35:28.420 --> 00:35:33.880 And loving your neighbor is having enough room in your soul to listen and hear what hurts, 00:35:33.880 --> 00:35:38.599 to pray and love and be patient and proclaim the gospel. 00:35:38.599 --> 00:35:42.539 And you say, I know the name of the man who is fixing all of this. 00:35:42.539 --> 00:35:47.380 All of the things you're running from, all the things that are weighing you down. 00:35:47.380 --> 00:35:49.759 I know the name of the man who's fixing it. 00:35:50.139 --> 00:35:50.820 It's Jesus. 00:35:51.659 --> 00:35:53.380 And I meet with him all the time. 00:35:54.960 --> 00:35:56.800 That is loving your neighbor. 00:35:57.259 --> 00:35:58.119 Knowing your heart. 00:35:58.259 --> 00:36:00.639 Knowing the heart of the people in the world far from God. 00:36:00.719 --> 00:36:02.840 Having compassion and going in love. 00:36:03.480 --> 00:36:04.039 Let's pray. 00:36:04.039 --> 00:36:07.579 Father, I'm so grateful for your word. 00:36:08.259 --> 00:36:09.059 You are kind. 00:36:09.719 --> 00:36:10.599 You are so kind. 00:36:11.219 --> 00:36:14.079 We give you all the honor, glory, and praise. 00:36:14.579 --> 00:36:15.539 It's in your name we pray. 00:36:15.759 --> 00:36:16.000 Amen. 00:36:17.880 --> 00:36:21.400 For more information, visit us online at southwood.org.