Father, who you are is God. You're big. You are a mystery. We don't understand it.
We understand bits and pieces of it, but Father, we love you, and we acknowledge that you are God,
that this whole earth is yours, that you are sovereign over all things.
You are the creator of all things, sovereign over all things, present and active, Father, in the world.
And we thank you for Jesus and what he did for us on the cross.
We thank you, Father, that you love us and want us to be reconciled to you by accepting Jesus as our Savior and Lord.
We thank you, Father, that you want us to live filled with the Holy Spirit,
lives that are free from idolatry and free from addictions,
and able, Father, to serve you and please you in freedom and joy,
confident that our security in Christ is completely and utterly sure.
Father, may the Holy Spirit move in our lives at this time.
Open your word. Open your word to us.
Bring it deeply to our lives.
And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
So, what's going on with this weird story with Mary?
I guess I forgot to put on the mic. That's fine. We're fine.
But what's going on with this? I mean, that's a weird story, isn't it?
Jesus is reclining a table, and Mary comes in and takes some ointment.
And it's not so much weird that she puts it on her feet.
Some of you know that I'll be going to Jerusalem to an international conference.
I leave on Wednesday.
This time next week, I'll be in Jerusalem.
And I've been looking at the weather network for Jerusalem.
And no rain forecast while I'm there.
Like 30 degrees every day.
And the UV index, the UV index is 12 every day, which is the highest the UV index can get.
And so, you can well imagine that Jesus wandering around, that he could probably use some ointment on his feet.
But the weird thing is that she wipes it with her hair.
Like, that's...
Like, I just...
I was...
You know, all week, I've been imagining,
what would it be like if I was to share this story with a group of my non-Christian friends
that I meet in the different coffee shops?
Um...
It really touches on one of the deep fears that a lot of people have about the Christian faith.
And one of the fears that people have about the Christian faith is that it makes you weird.
That if you become a Christian, you'll end up doing weird things.
So, to see a text like this, I can just well imagine them thinking,
that's weird.
Like, they'd probably be hoping that I say it's weird.
And probably at the same time, my non-Christian friends would wonder
if George does weird things in private that he's hiding from them.
Because it's odd.
So, what's up with this?
What's up with this odd act?
So, let's take our Bibles.
Let's get it sort of fresh in our mind, what happened and didn't happen.
What was said and was not said.
In this very unusual story.
Set of stories.
So, it's John chapter 12.
John chapter 12.
And it begins like this.
Six days before the Passover,
Jesus therefore came to Bethany,
where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
And just sort of pause there before I read any further.
So, Bethany is just less than two miles outside of Jerusalem back in the day.
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
Mary and Martha are sisters, and Lazarus is the brother.
So, there's three siblings.
Adult siblings.
Don't know how old they are other than the fact that they're adults.
It's Lazarus' house, probably.
And six days before the Passover,
it means it's probably,
this is actually probably happening on the Sabbath.
It's probably happening on a Saturday.
The events in this particular thing.
And the Passover, those of you who are familiar with the Bible,
know that the triumphal entry that happens just after this,
that happens just the week before Jesus dies.
So, this is the end of Jesus' ministry.
Okay?
So, just read that verse 1 again.
Six days before the Passover,
Jesus therefore came to Bethany,
where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
So, they gave a dinner for him there.
That's Jesus.
Martha served,
and Lazarus was one of those reclining with Jesus at table.
Mary therefore,
and I can tell you the commentators puzzle over why the word therefore is there.
Lots of ink has been spilled on why the word therefore is there.
But Mary therefore took a pound,
about 350 grams,
of expensive ointment made from pure nard,
and anointed the feet of Jesus,
and wiped his feet with her hair.
The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume,
but Judas Iscariot,
one of his disciples,
he who was about to betray Jesus,
said,
why was this ointment not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?
And just sort of pause there.
300 denarii would be approximately 13 to 14 months of the average wage.
So, whatever the average wage in Canada is,
average monthly wage,
multiply that by 13 or 14 or 13 and a half,
and that's how much money this is worth.
Okay?
Basically,
in terms of every time you see the word denarii,
think of the fact that five denarii in our labor market would be what you need to live on.
That would be in terms of both buying your RSPs or whatever it is for your retirement,
paying your rent.
So, five denarii is the equivalent of a week's wages,
and you can figure those things out for yourself.
Verse six,
Judas said this not because he cared about the poor,
but because he was a thief,
and having charge of the money bag,
he used to help himself to what was put into it.
Jesus said,
leave her alone so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.
For the poor you always have with you,
but you do not always have me.
So, you might say,
okay, George,
you've read it again a second time,
I was paying more attention,
what's up?
It's still really odd.
Like, what's up?
It's still pretty odd.
And it does sort of touch on my sort of fear,
my perception that Christians have to do weird things and odd things
if they become Christians,
so why on earth would I want to do it?
So, here's a couple of things about it.
First of all,
let's just acknowledge that there's a range of human beings on the planet
who like doing odd things.
I'm on Amazon Prime,
there's a series on,
which a documentary series on the New Zealand rugby,
team,
the All Blacks.
And in the first two episodes,
it highlights a game of the New Zealand All Blacks versus the English Lions
in a three-game rugby tournament.
And the English Lions,
it only happens every 12 years,
and it's the elite players from Northern Ireland,
Scotland,
Wales,
and England all come together to make one team,
and they go and they play New Zealand.
So, let me tell you,
if you want to see odd behavior,
watch the fans.
Like, I mean odd behavior.
Just watch the fans.
Just watch a football game.
You know,
guys who take their shirts off,
paint themselves funny colors,
put funny hats on,
make funny noise.
So,
it's not just that Christianity encourages you to do odd things.
There's lots of things in life that encourage us to be odd.
And there's a lot of people who like being odd.
Some of you know who you are.
And the rest of you,
we've been dying to tell you that you like doing things that are odd,
and we just haven't worked up the courage.
But it's a bit of a human issue that some people like to do odd things.
And the second thing then,
just sort of taking that into account,
the second thing is,
if you notice in the story,
that Jesus does not tell her off for what she did.
He doesn't say,
come on, Mary,
this is kooky.
Don't do it.
He doesn't say that to her,
does he?
He also doesn't say,
all you dudes around here,
you should be doing this.
Like,
this is what I want real Christians to do.
He doesn't say that either,
does he?
He doesn't say,
this is what a real Christian does,
and he doesn't tell her off.
He defends her and accepts her.
So if you could put up the first point,
here's the first point,
and you're going to see it's the first point.
Three of my points are framed the same way,
and you'll see the significance of it.
Hopefully,
if I haven't put you all to sleep,
you'll see it as I go forward.
The gospel shapes your singularity.
Your singularity does not shape the gospel.
In other words,
I'm using here the gospel in the biblical sense.
It's a bit of a short way.
It's gospel means good news.
It's the good news as to who Jesus is,
and what he accomplished for us on the cross.
And it's the good news as to who Jesus is,
God,
the Son of God,
man who came and died on the cross,
so that human beings like you and me
can be reconciled to God
and become part of his kingdom,
come under the rule of Jesus.
And this is not only something about Jesus
and what he's done.
It's good news for you
because it's told in the hope
that you will accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord.
It's the good news of what God has done.
And so what we see here
is that who Jesus is and what he does,
that as that works in our lives,
it makes us more unique
or more singular.
singularity just sort of worked it
a little bit better in the sentence
when I was playing around
with the different synonyms.
And so that's actually what the gospel does to us.
It makes us more unique.
The more we know Jesus,
the more we will become ourselves.
It doesn't sort of flatten us
and make us like clones,
like the Stepford Wives.
It makes us unique.
But here's the thing.
Our uniqueness,
and I'll try to bring this in a little bit at the end,
our uniqueness does not shape the gospel.
The gospel is the gospel.
Jesus is God, the Son of God.
He is the Savior.
He is the long-promised Messiah
to the Jewish people
who dies for the Jewish people
and for all who put their faith and trust in them.
Jesus is Jesus.
The gospel is the gospel.
And our uniqueness does not shape the gospel,
but the gospel shakes our uniqueness.
So some of you might say,
well, George, okay, that's sort of interesting.
So what you're saying then
is that the gospel doesn't make you weird
and the gospel won't make you eccentric and odd.
Well, actually, I'm not saying that.
If I was to say to you,
yes, actually, that's true.
The gospel will never make you weird
or odd or eccentric.
Some of you, and you know who you are,
would be disappointed.
You like being odd.
You like coming into a room,
sort of dancing and making a scene
and wild gestures and funny hats
and, I don't know, odd eccentric clothing.
And it would be really disappointing to you,
wouldn't it be, if I just said,
no, actually, the gospel is all about
when the gospel hits our lives,
we're all bland, all vanilla,
all beige, all the time.
Well, that's not what the gospel is.
That's not our singularity.
So on one hand,
I'm not going to say that the gospel won't make you,
the gospel is going to make you more yourself.
And so for some very, very quiet people
who all their lives have been imprisoned
by vanilla,
by the way, vanilla is my favorite flavor of ice cream,
so I'm not picking on vanilla.
But vanilla, you know,
all vanilla, all beige,
all bland, all the time.
For some people,
their inner self has always desired
that they could be the one
who would dance into a room
or would feel uninhibited enough
to take their shirt off
and paint themselves blue or green or gold
and wear funny hats and cheer on their team.
And the gospel will free you up to start to do that.
And for others who sort of do that
because they got drunk,
the gospel will give you the self-control
to no longer do those things
that you wouldn't normally do
if you weren't drunk out of your skull.
So it's not really a matter
that the promise is
that the gospel won't make you odd.
The gospel will make you more yourself.
And if you are in simple...
In other words,
the gospel isn't just making us all into marbles or clones.
It makes us more ourselves.
But here's the other way.
On one level, though,
the gospel will inevitably make everyone weird.
If you could put up the next point, please,
that would be helpful.
The gospel creates a counterculture.
And this counterculture will sometimes seem weird
to the dominant culture.
The gospel creates a counterculture,
and this counterculture will sometimes seem weird
to the dominant culture.
So two things about this.
First of all,
the Bible doesn't create one culture.
I mean, one of the reasons why people...
It's so important that churches like ours
help somebody like me or Gary to go to GAFCON
is that it's...
The gospel will make the Christians
into a counterculture within their dominant culture.
But cultures are different.
When I was in Kenya for the first time in 2003,
one of the very, very funny things that they did
in one of our worship sessions
is they had the many different tribes in Kenya
show how they dance.
Sort of like a little bit of a dance-off.
And it was one of those things
that brought lots of laughter,
how the Maasai danced.
I can't remember the different tribes.
But they all danced a bit different.
It was very funny just to watch
the different ways that they would dance.
Everybody laughed.
It was a good time.
It was why we were singing
some silly little praise song as well.
But the fact is that, you know,
if you're from India,
part of your culture is going to be
a certain type of food,
a certain type of cooking,
a certain taste in music.
And there'll be things that the gospel does
to make you a counterculture within India,
but you're still in India.
And in Canada, you'll still be in Canada.
It's just...
But in every culture,
there'll be something that is...
makes you a bit of a counterculture.
It's going to become more clear
as we go forward,
but I just want to give you
one other example.
I think that if my barista friends
in Starbucks,
if they were to find out...
And I'm not tooting my own horn here.
It just was the example
I could think of easily.
If they found out how much money
I give away,
they'd think I was weird.
If I was to tell them
how much money I gave away in 2018,
they'd say,
that's weird.
Like, that's really odd
that somebody would give away
so much money.
And, you know,
if you're in a very, very culture
which emphasizes revenge,
the gospel message of forgiveness
will seem very, very weird.
If you're in a culture
which emphasizes subservience,
then the gospel message
of the dignity of the human being
will seem very, very weird
and very, very threatening.
If you're in a culture
that doesn't sing,
which is increasingly
what Canada is like,
they'd say,
you guys sing songs?
Like, that's weird.
Canadians virtually don't sing
anymore.
I actually had a person
in a coffee shop.
The reason she was really curious
about me being a minister,
she's doing a master's
in music ethnology
and she wanted to come
visit the church sometime
because she said to me,
churches are the only place
left in Canadian culture
virtually where people sing.
And that's what she's
just curious about.
So, it's a bit complicated
with this.
Now, but some of you
might say,
okay, George,
well, that's all sort of interesting.
But, oh, by the way,
back to the Gafcon thing,
the fact that the gospel
creates many, many different cultures
and different countercultures
in different countries.
One of the things
which is important, then,
is for Christians
across from different cultures
to get together
to help to be clearer
about what's key
and what's just different.
Anyway, so,
some would say,
George, well, what's up?
That's, like,
that's all very interesting.
And so, what you're just saying
is that maybe that's why
it says Mary, therefore,
took a pound of ointment
because if you knew Mary,
you'd say, well,
that's the type of thing
that Mary does.
You know?
You could almost have said,
well, Martha, therefore,
served,
and Lazarus, therefore,
the lazy bum,
just sat and ate.
I mean, I don't know
what you mean,
but it's just different.
But what's up
with this odd comment
of Jesus?
Like, I mean, surely,
separate from the fact
as to whether or not
Judas is a thief,
surely Judas had a point.
Don't you think?
Like, do you actually think,
George?
Like, what's up with that?
What's up with it?
Like, why didn't Jesus
just say to Mary,
Mary, before you do that,
because he's all-knowing,
before you do that,
like, why don't you go
sell that ointment,
buy some other ointment
that you could buy
for, like, a day's wage,
and then use that
on my feet.
And then you can take
the other 299 denarii
and you can give it
to the poor.
Like, George,
even though Judas
was a thief,
surely he had a good point
and didn't,
isn't it a bit hard-hearted
of Jesus to say
something like that?
And don't you think
it's almost sort of cynical
to just sort of pass it off
because you're always
going to have the poor
with you?
Well, let's just look again
at what Jesus said.
Look, his response
in verse 7.
How does Jesus respond
to Judas?
He says,
Leave her alone
so that she may keep it
for the day of my burial.
For the poor
you always have with you,
but you do not always
have me.
So, you know,
what's up with this?
Well, the first thing is,
like, there's several things.
The first thing is,
well, isn't Jesus
actually just being realistic?
Like, I know a couple
of years ago
in the election
there was a whole big thing
about we needed
evidence-based policy.
Well, if there's one thing
which is scientifically
and anthropologically true
is that there's always
been poor people
in every culture.
Like, isn't that
just empirically true?
Like, why would we be upset
with Jesus just saying
what's true?
But there's several
other things going here
in Jesus' response.
And if you could just
put up the next point,
that'll help us
to understand.
The gospel shapes your heart
to care about the poor.
Caring about the poor
does not shape the gospel.
The gospel shapes your heart
to care about the poor.
But caring about the poor
does not shape the gospel.
In other words,
the gospel doesn't only
have value
because it helps us
deal with the poor.
So here's the thing
about Jesus' statement
which is going to be
very, very counter-cultural.
On Friday,
I was talking to
one of my friends
in a coffee shop
and he's very, very progressive.
He's progressive
on everything.
I mean, he's progressive
on immigration.
He's progressive
in terms of relations
with Muslims.
He's progressive
in terms of sexuality,
same-sex marriage,
gender,
income redistribution.
You pick the topic.
He is Mr. Progressive.
So I asked him on Friday,
who did you vote for?
And he said,
I didn't vote.
And I said,
well, why didn't you vote?
He said,
there was nobody
for me to vote for
so I didn't vote.
And, you know,
it's as if
he's so completely
and utterly progressive
he can't deal
with the real world.
So here's the thing
about this comment
of Jesus'
which is so significant.
If a Christian
goes into the sociology
faculty of Carleton
or Ottawa U,
if a Christian
goes to many
of the social justice
faculties or gatherings,
if he goes to a group
of anti-poverty
advocates,
that Christian
has to say to them
something that's going
to offend them,
the poor you will
always have with you.
It is not a criticism
of a church
or a government
that there are still
poor people
in the city
or the country.
Because it is not
the case,
as you hear Christians,
many Christians say
that if the church
was really the church
there would be no poor.
Really?
That's not what Jesus said.
Jesus didn't say
if the church
was the church
there would be no poor.
He said the poor
you will always have
with you.
But Jesus isn't
making a very cynical
comment.
What Jesus is doing
here is he's quoting
from the book
of Deuteronomy.
So if you just
turn in your Bibles
with me for a moment
to Deuteronomy
chapter 15
verse 11.
Deuteronomy 15
verse 11.
You'll see that
what Jesus does
is he actually
quotes a passage
of the Bible
which is in the context
of being generous
to the poor.
And none of the
Jewish hearers
who were hearing
Jesus would have
understood him
to be cynical
about the poor.
He would have
been understood
as being part
of the teaching
to be perpetually
generous
towards the poor.
Listen to what
it says
in Deuteronomy
and if you go
back and read
the rest of
Deuteronomy 15
it becomes
even stronger.
But 1511
For there will
never cease
to be poor
in the land
therefore I
command you
you shall
open wide
your hand
to your brother
to the needy
and to the poor
in your land.
So the Jewish
hearers
who are hearing
Jesus
would not have
understood
Jesus as
saying something
cynical.
He would have
been saying
something about
lay off Mary
here for a second
but let me
understand
you know
you're always
going to have
the poor
and they
would have
been able
to fill
in the rest
of the sentence.
We understand
that you
always have
to be generous
and not
countermanding
that.
The other
thing is the
very nature
of the gospel
itself.
You know
on the point
up here
I say
how the gospel
earlier I said
the gospel
treats a
counterculture
and the gospel
shapes your
heart to care
about the poor
but caring
about the poor
does not
shape the gospel.
Just turn
with me
to 2 Corinthians
chapter 8
verse 9
it's a great
verse to
memorize.
In fact
it's a very
powerful verse
to memorize
2 Corinthians
8 9
I sort of
have it
half memorized
because my
brain doesn't
work as well
as it used
to.
So I'm
going to
read it
just so I
don't sort
of mess
up the
quote a
little bit.
But here's
one of the
most powerful
ways to
understand
what the
gospel is.
Like what
is it when
we say
that Jesus
is God
the son
of God
as the
creed
tells us
that leaves
beside his
glory and
splendor
and prerogatives
that he
dies on
the cross
and when
he dies
as I've
said to
you before
it's a
line from
Flannery
O'Connor
you can't
be any
poorer than
dead.
This week
I was
talking to
somebody in
a coffee
shop and
we got
talking about
life being
meaning.
I think
we were
talking about
that spade
who committed
suicide and
I just
said to
them I
said you
know I
don't know
how people
who don't
have a
sense that
life has a
final ultimate
meaning and
it's not
just an
abstract meaning
but that
there's a
real ultimate
meaning to
life that
we can
receive through
Jesus and
that we can
pray to
Jesus.
I don't
understand how
people can
live like
that without
that.
I said if
your whole
life is
centered around
one dang
thing after
another and
then you
die.
One dang
thing after
another and
then you
die.
Like it's
hard to
know how
like I
like as a
Christian it's
increasingly
hard for me
to understand
how you're
able to
just to
live like
that without
that sort
of deeper
meaning.
And I
shared with
one of
them I
said you
know the
second after
you die and
let's say you
and Bill Gates
die in the
exact same
second and I
said the
second after
you both die
you both have
the exact same
amount of
assets under
your control
which is
zero.
All of Bill
Gates assets are
completely and
utterly worthless the
second after he
dies.
So look at
that mindful of
that look at
this text 2
Corinthians
chapter 8
verse 9 for
you know the
grace of our
Lord Jesus
Christ that
though he was
rich yet for
your sake he
became poor so
that you by his
poverty might
become rich.
We'll read it
again.
It's a very
powerful verse
well worth
remembering
memorizing for
you know the
grace of our
Lord Jesus
Christ.
What's the
good news?
The good news
is all about
grace.
It's all about
the fact that
God the son of
God came and
died on a
cross for
you out of
grace that
his death upon
the cross does
all that has
to be done to
make you right
with God out
of grace out
of unmerited
mercy and
favor for you
know the grace
of our Lord
Jesus Christ
that though he
was rich yet
for your sake
he became poor
so that you
by his poverty
might become
rich.
You see as
when we give
our lives to
Jesus when we
accept the
gospel it
will in
other words
when we
accept the
passage like
this and it
becomes part
of our just
how we
understand what
the world is
like what
God is like
like how we
stand where
we stand that
Jesus who
had he was
I mean he had
everything and
he's God he's
in heaven I
mean even the
richest person
on earth can't
even like even
it's not even
they can't even
buy a blade of
grass in heaven
the blade of
grass in heaven
is more
precious he
had all of
that he sets
it all aside
to come and
walk amongst
us and to
die on the
cross for us
and and he
does that so
that I can
know God's
unmerited favor
and that I can
be clothed in
the righteousness
of Jesus and
I can be
reconciled to
God and I
can begin to
know him as
my heavenly
father and I
can begin to
pour up my
heart to him
and that
relationship will
go on into
all eternity
and into a new
heaven and a new
earth and he
did all of that
he became so
completely and
utterly poor that
I can have this
wealth and as
that story grips
us it will
change how we
view money and
it will change
how we view
the poor it
will it will
turn our hearts
to the poor it
will mean that
when you look
when you walk
along Bank
Street you
won't think to
yourself I
wish that smelly
stupid street
person would get
out of the way
I mean it
doesn't necessarily
mean you're going
to give them
money but it
means you should
love them it
means that you
look at them
and say Jesus
gave his life
for that person
Jesus died that
that person might
be free
you see so the
statement of Jesus
on one hand it
would cause us
lots of trouble in
social justice
circles on the
other hand though
if we go into
many of the MBA
faculties and
business clubs it
would cause trouble
there because it
would mean to
be gripped by
the gospel you
have to care
about the poor
and the meaning
of life is not
to accumulate as
much money as
you possibly can
it's counter
cultural in
terms of how we
view money and
how we view the
poor and the
gospel shapes us
inevitably as the
gospel grips us
it will shape us
this same friend
of mine who's a
big social justice
guy he comes out
of the orthodox
church the
capital orthodox
church and one
of the things he
loves to tell me
is about the
latest excess by
the Russian
excess by the
Russian patriarch
the latest great
expensive gift or
privilege he's
gotten from Putin
he loves telling me
about this story
because he says
it's a great great
indictment of
religion but I
now often after he
goes on this little
rant or maybe it'll
be about something
do with Catholicism
or some mega
preacher but he
loves picking on
his own orthodox
tradition he's an
atheist he loves
picking on his own
orthodox tradition
and one time when he
was saying all this
I said to him well
that might be true of
some Christians but I
said that's not true of
our church I said we
walked away from our
property we don't own
any property we voted
unanimously to walk
away from it all and
I remember one time he
paused he said yeah but
you folks are different
which was the closest we
ever got to any type of
praise from him but and
then normally he'll still
condemn me for my views
on abortion or some
other type of thing like
that but that's a that's
a whole other sermon
topic but one of the
things I think that my
friend I almost said his
name by accident one of
the things I think my
friend would say he was
here with looking at this
story but we'll go back
to John is he would say
George this just seems
like all of a sudden
Jesus is playing power
politics like doesn't it
look like he manipulates
events so that he's
fulfilling a prophecy
and doesn't it look like
he's manipulated events
so he hits a great crowd
and so he's he's he's
proclaimed as king what
it's really important
that we see is that as
the sermon sort of wraps
up that we look and see
what exactly is going on
with this this story so
we've I've already said
in fact it's actually from
this story that we get
how the gospel shapes our
relationship to the poor
but our relationship to the
poor doesn't shape the
gospel and that our
gospel shapes our our
our uniqueness but our
uniqueness doesn't shape
the gospel because if
you could put up the
final point not the final
next point what what we
see in this story is that
the gospel shapes what it
means to be king being
king does not shape the
gospel the gospel shapes
what it means to be king
being king does not shape
the gospel let's look at
the story we'll just jump
down to verse 12 the next
day that's what we would
now call palm sunday the
large crowd the first day
of the week the large
crowd that had come to
the feast heard that
jesus was coming to
jerusalem so they took
branches of palm trees and
went out to meet him
crying out hosanna which
means lord save us
blessed is he who comes in
the name of the lord even
the king of israel blessed
is he who comes in the
name of the lord it's a
quote from psalm 118 even
the king of israel and they
understand king of israel
probably by the way that
king is understood in
sociologically and
anthropologically in the in
in the world that's what
they would have understood
jesus by the category of
king they wouldn't have
understood king by how
jesus redefines what it
means to be a king but they
call out uh blessed is he
who comes in the name of
lord even the king of israel
verse 14 and jesus found a
young donkey and sat on it
just as it is written fear
not daughter of zion behold
your king is coming sitting
on a donkey's cold just to
give it a bit of a context i i
i was on uh parliament hill
just the other day when um i
about a week or so ago when
trudeau came back on the hill
lots of big suvs flashing
lights big muscle type of
things this is describing jesus
coming into jerusalem in a
hyundai accent they're tiny
cars if you don't know cars i
think that they're the second
or third cheapest car so here
you're expecting that you know
if trudeau shows up all by
himself in a little hyundai not
even a not even a green prius or
something like that with a green
license plate just a little
dinky elantra that's what's going
on here in the text and i mean he's
fulfilling a prophecy but it's
even interesting isn't it that in
the prophecy which comes from
zechariah it's prophesying the
day when the king the great king
the true king comes but he's going
to come on on an elantra he's not
going to come on a war horse he's
not going to come in an escalade he's
not going to come in a rolls royce
he's not going to come in something
armored verse 16 his disciples not
understand these things at first but
when jesus was glorified that is
after he died and risen from the
dead then they remembered that these
things had been written about him
and had been done to him so you see
jesus redefine if we understand who
jesus is by the worldly category of
king it's blasphemy
it's blasphemy
because how does it work and i'm not
picking on people here who maybe have
been in politics but we all know how it
works i mean i talk about this we all
know how it works with the powerful
right how does it work with the
powerful well the powerful their goal
is to maintain power or to increase
their power if they possibly can for the
powerful it's the little guy or the
little gal who dies so that the
powerful can stay powerful it's you know
i think i shared with you before a
famous anti-war activist during the
vietnam war dick gregory an african
american really really funny i had the
great privilege to to see him live once
when he came to to canada and he said
i wish i could imitate his he had an
accent from mississippi and i wish i
could imitate his accent he said i'm not
opposed to to the vietnam war i just
want that whenever wherever whatever when
my son gets drafted he goes and he gets
he gets to serve right beside rockefeller's
son
and as long as my son can serve in the
exact same place as rockefeller's son i'm
fine with us sending young men over to
vietnam but he knew that how did it
work african-american men got sent to
poor the poor black and white they get
sent and the rich stay home or have
far not always of course not always not
always but um we all know how power
works and so you see part of the problem
with the gospel this is why one of the
things i've said not every week but in
many weeks so part of the problem we
have with is that we have to keep
there's there's words that are common in
our culture like the word god but the
fact of the matter is is that the way
god is described in our culture in some
ways it it helps us to understand when we
say god but otherwise it's always going
to keep getting us mixed up we'll have
mixtures of like god is like the force
and that means he's sort of amoral or
where that god gets mixed up with utopian
social scheming of some great future that
we will accomplish by our politics and
our science and our technology and our
techniques or we'll have some type of a you
know like a vague sense of god and and
so and and and so whenever we come
across words in our culture what we need
to keep doing is we keep needing to be
gripped by the gospel and gripped by the
word of god because the gospel changes
the words these words if they're left to
themselves will cause blasphemy
so why is it that the gospel shapes our
uniqueness but our uniqueness not just does
not shape the gospel it's a very very hard
word to our lgbtq plus friends that the
gospel is not shaped by your your unique
experience the gospel will shape you the
gospel does not have to correspond to your
unique experience it can't it won't he's
god he's the lord
and to the business person into the social
progressive the gospel will shape how you deal
with money your understanding for the business
person and your understanding the anti-poverty
axis activist your understanding is not going to
shape the gospel the gospel if it's to be the
gospel will shape you and and if you understand
king in the earthly way well the gospel is going
to shape your understanding of king being king will not shape
your understanding of the gospel or should not because you see what
happens in the history of the church is when the world shapes these
definitions that then it's terrible then you have apartheid then you have
racism then you have segregation then you have hard-heartedness towards the
poor then you have militarism and and imperialism and when the world shapes how we
understand these terms it's terrible the church has to continually be
immersed in the scriptures as god's word written
so that we redefine what these terms mean and and and and and and the
implications for our lives final point just is wrapping it up if you could put it
up jesus christ crucified is the true king as we live in the kingdoms of this world
he leads his redeemed people to live under his rule in his kingdom to his glory
jesus christ crucified is the true king that's that's why zechariah could be promising and
predicting the true king who's going to come he's not just to be the king of israel
he is to be the king of people from every people group because he is properly the
true king he is the proper second adam over all human beings and what distinguishes
christians is that we receive mercy from the true king to be made his people not that
we are somehow special in and of ourselves but jesus christ crucified is the true king
and being a christian means that you receive the gospel you receive who jesus is and what
he's done for us on the cross we receive him as our savior and lord and as we receive him as our
savior and lord his word and the holy spirit his leading and guiding will will start to make us free
from idols free from things in our culture which bind us and wound us and hurt ourselves and hurt other
people and it will start to work to free us from anger and and pride and vanity and greed and sloth and
and lust and it will begin to free us from these things that we can begin to be free and unique and he
will he will lead his redeemed people to be part of a of a communities where we are learning to live under
his rule in his kingdom for his glory we're saved in a sense as i used to say they used to have a saying
that i i had we enter that we enter the jesus way one by one but we live the jesus way with jesus and others
one by faith, but we live the Jesus way with Jesus and others, with him as our king. Please stand.
Just bow our heads in prayer. Father,
pour out the Holy Spirit upon us. Father, if there are any here who have not yet given their
lives to Jesus, may, Father, may your Holy Spirit just press in deeply on their heart that they might
hear Jesus knocking at the door of their heart and they might open that door and say, Jesus,
please come in and be my savior and be my Lord. Be my savior and be my Lord. I give myself to you,
Jesus, come in and have your way within me. I trust that you will only make me free and unique
and fit me for heaven. And Father, for each of us, you know the different ways that the world bends
us out of shape. We ask, Father, that you would renew our minds, that you would renew our wills,
that you would renew our emotions, that you would renew and redefine our affections, that you would
renew and redefine our longings and our will, our values, that you would, Father, that your Holy
Spirit, through your word, as we're gripped by the gospel, would do this mighty work of ongoing
transformation in our lives. Father, and we ask this in the name of Jesus, your son and our savior. Amen.