WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.759 The title of this morning's message, as you probably saw on the screen just there, is 00:00:06.759 --> 00:00:08.679 Do As Jesus Did. 00:00:10.380 --> 00:00:13.040 And if I'm honest with you, I really don't like it. 00:00:14.179 --> 00:00:17.320 It makes me feel really, really uncomfortable. 00:00:20.179 --> 00:00:22.359 Which is rather bizarre, because I chose it. 00:00:24.940 --> 00:00:28.960 I'll tell you why it makes me feel a little bit uncomfortable, but first let me say why 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:30.019 it's in the series. 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:38.700 We're thinking about discipleship, and being a disciple of Jesus, being an apprentice to 00:00:38.700 --> 00:00:45.740 Jesus, as we said a few weeks ago, is about following him, about walking in his way, about 00:00:45.740 --> 00:00:54.740 striving to be like Jesus, and to do as Jesus did. 00:00:54.740 --> 00:00:59.500 It's a key theme in Christian discipleship. 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:03.440 And we've got it here in God's word. 00:01:04.540 --> 00:01:09.760 Whoever claims to live in him must do as Jesus did. 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:12.939 It's not the only place we find that. 00:01:13.060 --> 00:01:16.740 I mean, Paul says in Ephesians chapter 5, be imitators of God. 00:01:16.739 --> 00:01:20.379 So what's my problem? 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:26.560 Why does it make me feel so uncomfortable, this command to do as Jesus did? 00:01:27.619 --> 00:01:30.959 Well, in some ways it feels unrealistic. 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:32.419 It feels unattainable. 00:01:33.699 --> 00:01:41.019 You know, I don't think, hand on heart, I could really imitate Mother Teresa, who gave up 00:01:41.019 --> 00:01:47.599 everything to work in the slums of Calcutta, serving the poorest of the poor. 00:01:49.259 --> 00:01:58.120 I don't think I would have the courage to imitate Martin Luther King, who gave his life 00:01:58.120 --> 00:02:02.640 standing up for racial and social justice and equality. 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:07.019 And these are amazing human beings. 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:10.060 But they're human beings. 00:02:11.719 --> 00:02:16.699 But Jesus, to do as Jesus did. 00:02:17.060 --> 00:02:17.479 Come on. 00:02:20.139 --> 00:02:24.759 It almost seems something quite incredulous as well about, when you think of the life of 00:02:24.759 --> 00:02:29.340 Jesus and the things he did, recorded in the Gospels. 00:02:29.340 --> 00:02:36.659 I mean, honestly, next time we have a church social event, we get on to the discussion of 00:02:36.659 --> 00:02:38.039 the catering arrangements. 00:02:39.140 --> 00:02:43.240 I'm picturing, does this really mean that we have a staff team meeting about it? 00:02:43.340 --> 00:02:46.300 And we end up saying, don't worry about booking anyone. 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:50.480 Well, I'll pop into Lidl's beforehand and pick up a pack of rolls and a couple of tins of 00:02:50.480 --> 00:02:51.039 sardines. 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:54.719 My mum lives on the Isle of Wight. 00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:55.740 That's where I grew up. 00:02:55.980 --> 00:02:58.219 We go and visit her several times a year. 00:02:58.219 --> 00:03:03.300 Next time we go, do we rock up at Portsmouth, park the car and walk across? 00:03:07.860 --> 00:03:12.800 Sounds like I'm being facetious and I'm saying this tongue-in-cheek, of course. 00:03:13.500 --> 00:03:15.539 By the way, I really do believe in miracles. 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:16.719 I've seen them. 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:27.500 But when I hear that command, you must do as Jesus did, I can't help just feeling, come 00:03:27.500 --> 00:03:30.079 on, that's just unrealistic. 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:36.020 But that's what we're told. 00:03:37.060 --> 00:03:42.700 Whoever claims to live in him, says John, must do as Jesus did. 00:03:42.699 --> 00:03:46.239 So what does that mean? 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:55.079 Well, if, like me, you feel slightly overwhelmed by that challenge, be reassured that whatever 00:03:55.079 --> 00:03:59.219 else it means, it is shot through with realism. 00:03:59.219 --> 00:04:05.060 Because in the preceding verses in 1 John, he writes, 00:04:05.879 --> 00:04:10.719 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:18.459 But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous 00:04:18.459 --> 00:04:18.939 one. 00:04:18.939 --> 00:04:23.560 So there is a realism in those opening verses. 00:04:24.139 --> 00:04:29.699 And John is quite clearly saying that we are not Jesus. 00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:31.939 He is our advocate. 00:04:33.379 --> 00:04:38.680 And there's an acceptance there that we are sinful, broken beings. 00:04:38.819 --> 00:04:39.720 That's the reality. 00:04:43.220 --> 00:04:48.839 So if there is that realism about it, what does he mean? 00:04:49.899 --> 00:04:53.279 What is John saying when he says, live as Jesus did? 00:04:55.240 --> 00:04:59.680 One of the things I found really helpful in John Mark Comer's book, Practising the Way, 00:04:59.819 --> 00:05:05.860 was how he draws attention to that phrase, well, what would Jesus do? 00:05:06.139 --> 00:05:12.100 You know, something that in recent decades has become a go-to phrase, that that's what being 00:05:12.100 --> 00:05:16.019 a follower of Jesus is, is living by that code, if you like. 00:05:16.019 --> 00:05:17.720 What would Jesus do? 00:05:17.720 --> 00:05:18.920 And WWJD. 00:05:19.080 --> 00:05:20.600 And it's an easily memorable thing. 00:05:20.660 --> 00:05:22.500 Well, what would Jesus do in this situation? 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:26.720 And it is a helpful approach. 00:05:27.400 --> 00:05:36.220 But John Mark Comer actually challenges it and says, in some ways it can mislead us because 00:05:36.220 --> 00:05:39.620 Jesus was the son of God. 00:05:39.620 --> 00:05:45.860 He was a rabbi living 2,000 years ago in a different culture than our own. 00:05:46.940 --> 00:05:50.940 And in some ways a better phrase, although it would be a mouthful, was not what would Jesus 00:05:50.940 --> 00:05:53.660 do, but what would Jesus do if he was you? 00:05:53.660 --> 00:06:03.000 Kind of amounts to the same thing, but it does accentuate the important thing here. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:09.540 That as we seek to live out this challenge, to do as Jesus did, it's about you being the 00:06:09.540 --> 00:06:17.060 person that God has created, that God calls and God invites and challenges to be a follower 00:06:17.060 --> 00:06:18.319 of Jesus today. 00:06:18.740 --> 00:06:24.740 Facing your situations, your circumstances, your struggles, and they will be unique to 00:06:24.740 --> 00:06:25.100 you. 00:06:25.100 --> 00:06:32.580 So through that lens, what does it mean to do as Jesus does? 00:06:33.439 --> 00:06:40.280 Let's remember that the gospel is not about rules. 00:06:41.500 --> 00:06:49.439 So if we think for a moment that actually the command to do as Jesus does is a list of 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:51.620 rules, then we're missing the point. 00:06:51.620 --> 00:06:55.379 The gospel never has been about rules. 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:58.079 It has always been about relationship. 00:06:59.160 --> 00:07:00.840 Relationship with the living God. 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:12.459 And this passage from 1 John is all about not only how we know him, but how we know that 00:07:12.459 --> 00:07:13.459 we know him. 00:07:13.459 --> 00:07:26.819 So to live as Jesus did invites us into that deeper knowledge of how it is that we know 00:07:26.819 --> 00:07:27.180 him. 00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:36.939 See, we too, like Jesus, and this is what I want to suggest is what John is really driving 00:07:36.939 --> 00:07:37.500 towards. 00:07:38.699 --> 00:07:44.819 We too, like Jesus, can know God as Father. 00:07:48.899 --> 00:07:56.120 And that, I would like to suggest, is what doing as Jesus did is all about. 00:07:56.120 --> 00:07:59.920 It's about knowing God as Father. 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:07.959 Notice that I say knowing God as Father, not calling God Father. 00:08:08.980 --> 00:08:14.160 Now, we should call God Father, of course, but to call God Father is not enough. 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:22.380 You see, sometimes people will say that some of the language that we sing in some of our worship 00:08:22.380 --> 00:08:28.680 songs where we sing the praises of God our Father is a bit wishy-washy and sentimentalist. 00:08:29.320 --> 00:08:33.060 Of course, it can be if we just call God Father. 00:08:33.059 --> 00:08:44.459 You know, Christian faith can be accused of being sentimentalism if it's just about calling 00:08:44.459 --> 00:08:45.299 God Father. 00:08:47.459 --> 00:08:48.839 We use it in the Lord's Prayer. 00:08:49.099 --> 00:08:51.979 We use the language in many of our worship songs. 00:08:53.979 --> 00:08:55.279 But again, we miss the point. 00:08:55.359 --> 00:08:59.619 If we think the gospel is just about calling God Father, it does involve that. 00:08:59.620 --> 00:09:04.860 But more fundamentally, the reason we can call God Father is because we can know God as Father. 00:09:05.879 --> 00:09:12.779 And that's where it is most definitely not sentimentalism or wishy-washy thinking. 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:21.019 You see, properly understood, calling, it's not about calling God the Father, but knowing 00:09:21.019 --> 00:09:21.740 God as Father. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:28.320 And when we know God as Father, and herein lies the distinction, it is about submission to 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:28.580 Him. 00:09:29.620 --> 00:09:33.240 You see, anyone can use the language and say, well, Father God. 00:09:34.860 --> 00:09:41.860 But what we're talking about here is a spiritual posture where we know that God is the one who 00:09:41.860 --> 00:09:43.820 loves us infinitely. 00:09:45.019 --> 00:09:52.919 And because God loves us infinitely, He makes that claim over us and calls us, invites us to 00:09:52.919 --> 00:09:54.259 submit to Him. 00:09:54.259 --> 00:10:07.279 So when John says here, we know we have come to know Him if we keep His commands, what he 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:15.919 is talking about is that when we submit to God as our Father, when we accept that God loves 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:18.039 you intimately as His child. 00:10:18.039 --> 00:10:21.259 Then you submit to that reality. 00:10:21.259 --> 00:10:30.299 God ceases to be some distant moral being that we can't know in any personal way. 00:10:30.299 --> 00:10:38.539 And instead calls us into an intimate, loving relationship where we know that everything He does towards 00:10:38.539 --> 00:10:39.439 us is out of love. 00:10:41.299 --> 00:10:43.199 But that involves submission. 00:10:44.500 --> 00:10:47.279 Not out of rules, but out of relationship. 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:51.740 If you're going to know that relationship, if you're going to know that relationship, you 00:10:51.740 --> 00:10:54.259 will naturally submit to that dynamic. 00:10:54.259 --> 00:11:03.319 We know we have come to know Him if we keep His commands. 00:11:05.980 --> 00:11:14.399 You see, when we submit to His authority, when we commit His commands, that's when we know 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:15.679 that we know Him as Father. 00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:23.859 When I was 18 years old, went off to become a student studying theology. 00:11:24.359 --> 00:11:26.139 It was not training to be a minister. 00:11:26.299 --> 00:11:28.259 It was studying theology as an academic subject. 00:11:28.699 --> 00:11:38.500 It was the first time I'd experienced teaching of thinking about God at the hands of atheists. 00:11:38.739 --> 00:11:40.899 They weren't all atheists, but some of them were. 00:11:40.939 --> 00:11:42.699 And one particular one most definitely was. 00:11:42.740 --> 00:11:43.439 One of my tutors. 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:47.240 He taught us the philosophy of religion. 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:50.080 And he was a very outspoken atheist. 00:11:50.280 --> 00:11:58.260 And he was quite open about his mission that he was on to de-Christianize everyone in that year. 00:12:00.780 --> 00:12:02.440 I really struggled with this. 00:12:02.700 --> 00:12:04.180 I'd not encountered this before. 00:12:05.480 --> 00:12:07.380 This guy knew so much more than I did. 00:12:07.460 --> 00:12:08.680 He'd read so many more books. 00:12:08.760 --> 00:12:10.140 He just knew all his philosophy. 00:12:10.139 --> 00:12:14.919 He seemed to know his way around theological debate and discussion. 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:21.759 And yet he was vehement, passionately vehement that there was no God and that it made no sense to believe in God. 00:12:22.860 --> 00:12:25.120 How on earth will we just stand up to that? 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:34.259 I remember writing to a minister that I knew, the church where I'd grown up in. 00:12:35.879 --> 00:12:38.899 He wrote back to me something that I'll never forget. 00:12:42.340 --> 00:12:50.860 He said, at the end of the day, it all boils down to being one of two different postures. 00:12:50.860 --> 00:12:54.360 And every single one of us will be one of these two things. 00:12:55.800 --> 00:12:58.080 And you must choose as to which you are. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:05.360 He said, either you can choose to stand in authority over the word of God. 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:12.019 Or you can allow the word of God to stand in authority over you. 00:13:15.259 --> 00:13:17.419 I'll say that again because this is really important. 00:13:19.019 --> 00:13:22.200 Every single one of us will fall into one of two categories. 00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:31.220 Either our approach is one by which we, whether we are aware we do this or not, 00:13:31.660 --> 00:13:38.740 but we consciously or unconsciously stand in authority over God's word. 00:13:40.520 --> 00:13:44.040 And see it as that's something there, but we stand over it. 00:13:44.039 --> 00:13:48.059 And we can pull things out of it and put things back into it, 00:13:48.120 --> 00:13:49.939 but we make that judgment over it. 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:58.579 Or we see God's word as, in a mysterious way, taking an authority over us. 00:14:01.079 --> 00:14:05.319 And ultimately, every single one of us will be in one of those two categories. 00:14:06.819 --> 00:14:10.120 Now I'm aware that some things can't be oversimplified, 00:14:10.219 --> 00:14:12.500 that there are a lot of grey areas in life, I totally get that. 00:14:14.039 --> 00:14:19.159 But this is one single truth that I come back to over and over and over again. 00:14:20.959 --> 00:14:23.379 Either you stand in judgment over God's word, 00:14:24.099 --> 00:14:27.299 or you allow God's word to stand in judgment over you. 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:31.599 Now, let us be really clear. 00:14:31.699 --> 00:14:34.439 When I talk about God's word standing in judgment over us, 00:14:34.759 --> 00:14:37.159 submitting to his authority, let me say what I don't mean, 00:14:37.659 --> 00:14:39.919 and what this ministerial friend of mine didn't mean either. 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:45.620 We're not talking about just a blithe submission, 00:14:46.259 --> 00:14:50.740 a kind of fundamentalist stance where we exercise no critical judgment whatsoever. 00:14:50.919 --> 00:14:52.099 We're not talking about that. 00:14:52.519 --> 00:14:56.059 Of course, when we read scripture, we need to understand what it means. 00:14:56.679 --> 00:14:59.639 We don't just take everything literally at face value. 00:15:00.120 --> 00:15:04.539 Of course, when we read the Bible, we need to understand it and its context, 00:15:04.539 --> 00:15:07.379 and we need to exercise critical judgment over it, 00:15:07.419 --> 00:15:10.199 we need to evaluate it, we need to read commentaries, 00:15:10.360 --> 00:15:13.939 we need to understand its social context in which it was written. 00:15:14.199 --> 00:15:16.379 And indeed, the Bible itself is not just one book, 00:15:16.419 --> 00:15:19.079 it was written over many centuries by lots of different people. 00:15:20.059 --> 00:15:25.879 I'm not for one moment dismissing the importance of critical reading of the Bible. 00:15:25.879 --> 00:15:32.299 What I am talking about is a posture of spirit, 00:15:33.419 --> 00:15:36.539 that as we engage in that enterprise of reading the Bible, 00:15:37.539 --> 00:15:39.200 what's our approach? 00:15:40.919 --> 00:15:45.779 Do we simply see it as something that we will exercise judgment over, 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:48.220 that we have authority over? 00:15:49.620 --> 00:15:53.519 Or do we see God's word as having authority over us? 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:59.360 Because I want to suggest that that is what John is talking about here, 00:15:59.980 --> 00:16:01.220 when he says, 00:16:02.919 --> 00:16:06.539 we know we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 00:16:08.220 --> 00:16:12.960 If we are willing to accept God as father, 00:16:14.179 --> 00:16:16.519 that is a relationship dynamic 00:16:16.519 --> 00:16:23.139 by which we yield our control over our past, our present and our future, 00:16:23.139 --> 00:16:24.220 over to him, 00:16:25.620 --> 00:16:27.699 as the higher power over us. 00:16:28.899 --> 00:16:30.919 And whilst we may have all sorts of questions 00:16:30.919 --> 00:16:32.659 that we continue to wrestle with, 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:33.939 moral questions, 00:16:34.299 --> 00:16:36.419 questions of why things happen in life, 00:16:36.659 --> 00:16:39.980 that we will take to eternity, I'm sure, 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:41.740 and there we will find the answers. 00:16:41.860 --> 00:16:42.740 But whilst in this life, 00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:44.980 we may still wrestle with those things, 00:16:46.539 --> 00:16:49.500 ultimately, it comes down to that question. 00:16:49.500 --> 00:16:53.799 Do we accept his authority over us? 00:16:54.460 --> 00:16:57.139 Or do we, in so subtle ways, 00:16:57.779 --> 00:17:00.960 try to have authority over him? 00:17:02.860 --> 00:17:05.579 The invitation of the gospel, of course, 00:17:06.119 --> 00:17:10.519 is to yield authority to him, 00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:12.480 to submit to him. 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:14.299 Because when we do that, 00:17:15.059 --> 00:17:19.220 when we see God's word as the one that has authority over us, 00:17:19.400 --> 00:17:23.759 when we accept God as father who watches over us in love, 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:26.319 and yield to his authority, 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:28.660 things are different. 00:17:28.660 --> 00:17:31.580 Now that, of course, 00:17:31.660 --> 00:17:33.900 is not the culture in which we live. 00:17:35.720 --> 00:17:38.759 People think we are absolutely crazy when we talk 00:17:38.759 --> 00:17:42.519 about submitting, in that kind of way, 00:17:42.840 --> 00:17:45.460 to God as the one who has authority over us. 00:17:45.700 --> 00:17:49.640 It cuts right against the instinct of our cultural flow. 00:17:49.640 --> 00:17:55.200 The kind of more popular understanding is that, 00:17:55.600 --> 00:17:57.780 you know, you're in charge of your decisions, 00:17:58.560 --> 00:18:00.140 you must take charge of things, 00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:02.440 and you must follow where your instincts lead you. 00:18:03.560 --> 00:18:06.240 That you must go where your heart leads you. 00:18:07.780 --> 00:18:10.860 Trust your heart and follow its lead. 00:18:11.100 --> 00:18:14.600 Now that may make for wonderful lyrics in a Disney song. 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:21.500 But it doesn't always get us into the right place. 00:18:23.559 --> 00:18:29.519 There can be dangers when we simply follow the leading of the heart. 00:18:31.659 --> 00:18:37.159 But the gospel expects so much more for our lives. 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:40.139 Promises so much more. 00:18:41.819 --> 00:18:44.099 Reassures us that life can be so much bigger. 00:18:44.599 --> 00:18:49.339 Than just following the guiding of our own internal world. 00:18:53.179 --> 00:18:55.000 So what does it look like then, 00:18:55.519 --> 00:18:56.879 in practical terms, 00:18:57.279 --> 00:18:59.639 to submit to God's commands? 00:19:02.119 --> 00:19:02.619 Well, 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:05.959 it means loving, 00:19:07.059 --> 00:19:07.459 behaving, 00:19:07.679 --> 00:19:08.379 making choices 00:19:08.379 --> 00:19:12.219 in ways that can be quite painful at times. 00:19:14.599 --> 00:19:15.159 Because, 00:19:15.159 --> 00:19:17.019 because John says quite clearly here, 00:19:17.159 --> 00:19:18.839 that if we claim 00:19:18.839 --> 00:19:21.639 to know God as Father, 00:19:22.459 --> 00:19:23.519 and to walk in his light, 00:19:23.659 --> 00:19:26.219 and yet harbour hatred towards others, 00:19:27.619 --> 00:19:28.219 well, 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:29.119 you just can't do it. 00:19:30.339 --> 00:19:31.639 It doesn't work. 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:33.919 Now, 00:19:33.980 --> 00:19:34.719 this is challenging. 00:19:34.919 --> 00:19:36.159 It's really challenging stuff, 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:37.379 and let's not pretend otherwise. 00:19:37.380 --> 00:19:40.980 C.S. Lewis 00:19:40.980 --> 00:19:43.740 offered some really practical wisdom. 00:19:45.120 --> 00:19:45.800 He said this, 00:19:45.799 --> 00:19:51.240 do not waste your time bothering whether you love your neighbour. 00:19:53.379 --> 00:19:55.240 Just act as if you did. 00:19:55.240 --> 00:19:58.819 As soon as we do this, 00:19:59.019 --> 00:20:01.259 we find one of the great secrets. 00:20:03.319 --> 00:20:06.339 When you are behaving as if you loved someone, 00:20:07.460 --> 00:20:09.700 you will presently come to love them. 00:20:09.700 --> 00:20:14.000 If you injure someone you dislike, 00:20:14.140 --> 00:20:16.920 you will find yourself disliking them more. 00:20:18.620 --> 00:20:20.539 If you do them a good turn, 00:20:21.660 --> 00:20:25.279 you will find yourself disliking them less. 00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:30.019 To do as Jesus did. 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:32.519 To submit to the Father. 00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:34.140 To know 00:20:34.140 --> 00:20:39.360 the difference that that makes. 00:20:40.580 --> 00:20:42.700 Often involves making difficult choices. 00:20:44.420 --> 00:20:45.400 And in practical terms, 00:20:45.500 --> 00:20:46.460 that will look different 00:20:46.460 --> 00:20:47.780 for each and every one of us 00:20:47.780 --> 00:20:49.200 at different points in our lives. 00:20:51.259 --> 00:20:52.840 But it's what we're called to do. 00:20:54.759 --> 00:20:56.280 I'm going to pray about this in just a moment. 00:20:56.360 --> 00:20:58.460 I just want to share with you one final story, 00:20:58.800 --> 00:20:59.180 an image. 00:21:00.920 --> 00:21:02.640 When Tamara and I 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:04.060 were in the very early stages 00:21:04.059 --> 00:21:04.839 of parenthood. 00:21:05.559 --> 00:21:06.960 I'll never forget the first time 00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:08.679 we took our eldest child, 00:21:09.159 --> 00:21:09.539 Charlie, 00:21:09.740 --> 00:21:11.319 to have his first vaccination. 00:21:12.919 --> 00:21:14.299 We were living in Devon at the time. 00:21:14.599 --> 00:21:16.399 I can't remember how old he would have been, 00:21:16.460 --> 00:21:17.500 but he was tiny. 00:21:18.899 --> 00:21:22.639 I remember we took him into the surgery 00:21:22.639 --> 00:21:25.539 and it wasn't our normal GP, 00:21:25.799 --> 00:21:27.460 it was a locum doctor 00:21:27.460 --> 00:21:28.460 that was there on that day. 00:21:29.639 --> 00:21:30.859 And as he was getting ready 00:21:30.859 --> 00:21:32.759 with this syringe, 00:21:32.759 --> 00:21:35.359 he turned to us 00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:36.879 and he looked at our 00:21:36.879 --> 00:21:38.119 little baby boy 00:21:38.119 --> 00:21:40.339 and then looked at us 00:21:40.339 --> 00:21:41.740 and said, 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:44.559 I hate doing this. 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:50.279 So why did he do it? 00:21:52.740 --> 00:21:54.220 Why would a human being 00:21:54.220 --> 00:21:55.940 stick a needle 00:21:55.940 --> 00:21:57.599 in an innocent child? 00:22:00.220 --> 00:22:01.319 Why would he do it? 00:22:03.559 --> 00:22:04.940 When everything inside him 00:22:04.940 --> 00:22:05.980 hates doing it, 00:22:05.980 --> 00:22:09.579 why would he do that? 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:16.059 For the same reason 00:22:16.059 --> 00:22:19.400 that throughout our lives 00:22:19.400 --> 00:22:20.860 we face situations 00:22:20.860 --> 00:22:23.200 where there are things 00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:24.579 that we don't feel like doing. 00:22:26.620 --> 00:22:28.140 Where our hearts might draw us 00:22:28.140 --> 00:22:28.900 in one direction. 00:22:28.900 --> 00:22:32.800 but where 00:22:32.800 --> 00:22:34.380 we know 00:22:34.380 --> 00:22:38.040 that actually 00:22:38.040 --> 00:22:40.860 when we do those things 00:22:40.860 --> 00:22:42.320 that we don't feel like doing 00:22:42.320 --> 00:22:44.840 but we do them, 00:22:45.500 --> 00:22:48.640 things will be so much better. 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:53.080 We know that we have come 00:22:53.080 --> 00:22:53.820 to know him 00:22:53.819 --> 00:22:56.960 if we keep his commands. 00:23:00.619 --> 00:23:01.299 Let's pray. 00:23:05.939 --> 00:23:07.200 As we come to pray, 00:23:08.460 --> 00:23:09.779 let's think right now 00:23:09.779 --> 00:23:11.179 of any decisions 00:23:11.179 --> 00:23:12.339 that we might be 00:23:12.339 --> 00:23:14.559 battling with, 00:23:14.740 --> 00:23:15.439 struggling with, 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:15.960 facing. 00:23:20.220 --> 00:23:21.419 Let's just picture 00:23:21.419 --> 00:23:22.460 those decisions 00:23:22.460 --> 00:23:23.420 before God. 00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:27.819 And ask ourselves 00:23:27.819 --> 00:23:28.420 the question, 00:23:28.620 --> 00:23:29.559 what does it mean 00:23:29.559 --> 00:23:31.759 to do as Jesus does 00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:33.079 in those situations? 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:35.019 Knowing that 00:23:35.019 --> 00:23:36.140 it might mean 00:23:36.140 --> 00:23:38.519 making some very painful, 00:23:39.140 --> 00:23:40.140 costly decisions. 00:23:42.279 --> 00:23:43.400 Things that don't come 00:23:43.400 --> 00:23:44.740 naturally or easily. 00:23:52.460 --> 00:23:59.400 Lord, 00:23:59.460 --> 00:24:00.440 as we hold 00:24:00.440 --> 00:24:01.460 our lives 00:24:01.460 --> 00:24:02.640 before you now, 00:24:03.640 --> 00:24:09.059 grant us the courage 00:24:09.059 --> 00:24:09.779 to see things 00:24:09.779 --> 00:24:10.779 as they really are. 00:24:10.779 --> 00:24:21.000 help us to understand 00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:24.279 that we are faced 00:24:24.279 --> 00:24:25.119 with a choice. 00:24:27.420 --> 00:24:28.680 Either we stand 00:24:28.680 --> 00:24:29.420 in authority 00:24:29.420 --> 00:24:30.299 over you 00:24:30.299 --> 00:24:31.500 and your claims 00:24:31.500 --> 00:24:32.460 and all the things 00:24:32.460 --> 00:24:33.039 that the Bible 00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:33.819 will tell us, 00:24:33.819 --> 00:24:40.399 or we can allow you 00:24:40.399 --> 00:24:42.579 to take authority 00:24:42.579 --> 00:24:43.299 over us. 00:24:48.039 --> 00:24:48.559 Lord, 00:24:48.619 --> 00:24:49.299 sometimes it's really 00:24:49.299 --> 00:24:50.480 complex to work out 00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:51.500 what that looks like 00:24:51.500 --> 00:24:52.059 on the ground 00:24:52.059 --> 00:24:53.039 of everyday life 00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:54.779 as we face choices 00:24:54.779 --> 00:24:55.939 and work things out 00:24:55.939 --> 00:24:56.679 in relationships 00:24:56.679 --> 00:24:57.980 and make decisions. 00:24:57.980 --> 00:25:03.319 Lord, 00:25:03.420 --> 00:25:03.940 help us 00:25:03.940 --> 00:25:05.180 in the midst 00:25:05.180 --> 00:25:05.819 of all of it 00:25:05.819 --> 00:25:08.140 to know 00:25:08.140 --> 00:25:09.039 that you only 00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:10.240 want the best for us, 00:25:10.360 --> 00:25:11.160 that you love us 00:25:11.160 --> 00:25:11.940 unconditionally 00:25:11.940 --> 00:25:13.180 and that you long 00:25:13.180 --> 00:25:13.700 for us 00:25:13.700 --> 00:25:15.880 to call you Father 00:25:15.880 --> 00:25:16.839 but so much more 00:25:16.839 --> 00:25:17.960 than just call you Father, 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:19.539 to actually know you 00:25:19.539 --> 00:25:20.120 as Father. 00:25:24.819 --> 00:25:25.299 Lord, 00:25:25.420 --> 00:25:26.279 help us to do 00:25:26.279 --> 00:25:27.759 as Jesus does. 00:25:27.980 --> 00:25:32.519 to not just call you Father 00:25:32.519 --> 00:25:33.819 but to live in relationship 00:25:33.819 --> 00:25:35.480 with you as Father. 00:25:35.720 --> 00:25:36.480 Thank you 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:37.160 that we have 00:25:37.160 --> 00:25:39.299 that awesome privilege 00:25:39.299 --> 00:25:41.620 being able to know 00:25:41.620 --> 00:25:43.960 that we know you. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:47.420 So give us the courage 00:25:47.420 --> 00:25:48.860 as we face our decisions, 00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:49.779 as we face 00:25:49.779 --> 00:25:50.799 the challenges 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:51.860 of everyday life 00:25:51.860 --> 00:25:55.460 to do 00:25:55.460 --> 00:25:56.279 as Jesus did. 00:25:58.160 --> 00:25:59.120 to know you 00:25:59.120 --> 00:25:59.640 as Father 00:25:59.640 --> 00:26:00.200 and to live 00:26:00.200 --> 00:26:01.160 in that relationship. 00:26:08.420 --> 00:26:09.880 In his name we pray. 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:12.920 Amen.