Father, you know how we just try to cling to different things
to give us some type of a security, some type of a fixed point,
something that we can stand on amidst all the changes
and all the tensions and all the different ways that we're pulled.
Sometimes, Father, it seems like the world is fraying
or country is fraying with wars in Ukraine and conflict here at home.
And, Father, you know how we seek out things to cling to or stand on
to give us some type of security.
We ask, Father, that the Holy Spirit would do a gentle but powerful work
in our hearts this morning so that we might see you, Father,
as our anchor, our hope, that we might be formed by the gospel
at a deeper and deeper level of our hearts.
So we invite and give you permission, Father, for your word to speak
very deeply within us this morning.
And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
So I don't know if it's five or six weeks ago now, I got very emotional.
Hopefully I'm not going to get very emotional right now at the start of this sermon.
And I shared how our strong, healthy seven-year-old German shepherd dog, Rocky,
had all of a sudden sort of collapsed.
And he was diagnosed with a serious heart condition,
which at the time after we had this very difficult conversation about, you know, moving forward.
But even surgery would have only added lots of pain to his life in only a handful of months.
And the vet, we brought Rocky home to die.
And the vet said he might have just hours or he might have two or three weeks.
Well, Rocky beat the odds but didn't win the battle.
And on Thursday night, he died.
And actually, he died in a very...
And I thank you, by the way, for all...
I know that many of you have prayed.
And some of you are thinking, what?
Praying about a dog?
Anyway, it's that dogs are...
Obviously, they're not as important as a human being.
But they're important.
And they have...
They take a place that's hard to sort of explain to people who don't...
Haven't had a dog.
To sort of explain how they have a big part in the family.
And he's always loved the winter.
And he spent quite a few hours outside over these last few weeks enjoying the cold.
And on Thursday night, he'd been outside for an hour or two.
He came in, walked up to where, by coincidence, three of us were standing.
He looked at us and he died.
In lots of ways, it was a mercy that we didn't have to, of course, make the...
Just watch him really suffer and then maybe have to euthanize him or something like that.
It's a...
In some ways, for those of you who've been praying, it's been a real answer to prayer.
That we had those extra time with him and you get to prepare to know that he'll die.
So, you know, at some point in time after, you know, an hour or two, about two hours or so after that,
this people process and we had to wait for my son to come home because he was out.
We...
You treat the body gently.
Right?
You treat him gently.
And so we, you know, put a tarp gently underneath him.
It's really funny.
I don't know if you've ever...
Any of you have tried to do something like this, but it's almost when we were trying to
move him that you didn't want to hurt him.
I mean, of course, he's dead.
You can't hurt him.
But you treat him very gently and then we carried him outside and put him in the back of Louise's
van and he would have been cremated the next day.
Now, I mentioned that.
It's actually, I think, a very important story for us to think about as we begin to look
at the gospel and contrast it with something different.
I bet if I was to ask, if we were to be very honest with each other, I would bet that a
very large number, maybe even the majority of you, of us, not you, of us, don't like our
bodies.
Like we're embarrassed by our body, ashamed of our body.
Yeah.
We don't like our bodies.
In fact, not only, you know, me saying this, I mean, most of us don't think about it all
the time, but in fact, if over, if you, you know, you had coffee with somebody and said,
and they were actually, you got to know them well enough that they said, you know, I really
don't like my body when I look at myself.
I don't even like to look at myself in the mirror because I just don't like my body.
I hate my body.
Like that probably wouldn't shock anybody.
And in our culture, it's sort of interesting.
We seem to either idolize our bodies or hate our bodies.
And it's hard to sort of be balanced about having, and as you know, in our culture, not
only do we often hate our bodies, we hate our bodies.
And some people do things connected to hatred of the body, like cutting themselves.
And there's a whole range of issues around mutilation and all of that.
So we have this weird thing.
On one hand, if I had told you that we took Rocky's body and just sort of dragged him by
the leg and threw him outside, you'd all go, what?
Like, you'd be horrified that I would do something like that.
Yet at the same time, we in our culture are very familiar with the fact that we have this,
even if we don't always consciously think of it, we either tend to idolize our bodies
or we hate and despise our bodies.
And in fact, in many religious systems, the sign of holiness is despising and hating the
body.
That's actually a sign of holiness often in religion.
So what's going on?
Well, this miracle story, which I said is a story that many, many, many people have hard
times with, if we're going to look at it, it's actually a very profound reflection to give
us some real wisdom about all of this and a good place to stand.
So it'd be a great help to me if you would open your Bibles and turn with me to Mark chapter
6, verses 45 and following.
And once again, whether you're online or here, and obviously we're going to have the scripture
text on the screen, but it's really a good habit to get to look at your own Bibles.
Partly, I want you to all be Bereans to check to see that I'm not cheating on the translation
or anything like that, to look around it.
And also, it's just a way to help make the text a bit more real to yourselves.
But anyway, we all have different ways of handling that.
But I encourage you to use your own Bible or the way that you read your Bible.
Anyway, here's how the story goes.
It goes like this, just to refresh our memory.
And actually sort of to delve into the problematic bits and actually see how the things which,
in fact, are problems in the text are really windows and mirrors that actually present to
us not just a profound vision, but a profound truth about the way the world is and about
our bodies.
So verse 45, immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the
other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.
But just in the original language, it's all perfectly good, but in the original language
there's a bit of an emphasis.
He actually really forces them into the boat.
And this miracle, the feeding of the 5,000, as I shared last week, which is what has just
happened before this, actually it's the 5,000 men, so it's probably about 10,000.
Because it's the only miracle other than the death and resurrection of Jesus that's recorded
in all four of the Gospels, you get bits of other pieces of information about the miracle.
And you know, in John's thing, only John records that the crowd, realizing the miracle that
happened, wants to rise up and have Jesus lead them as an armed force to take back Jerusalem
and to vanquish the pagans and vanquish the Romans.
And so I guess Jesus must be worried that his disciples are getting caught up in all the
crowd and excitement.
And he knows that he is the king, and he knows that he will be the king of a kingdom that embraces
all the world and that embraces cultures and times apart from him.
But the way to that kingship is going to be him dying upon the cross, not leading a popular
uprising against Rome.
And so I guess he gets rid of his disciples, tells them to go on ahead.
He dismisses the crowd, but he compels them.
They don't want to go.
They're saying, no, no, no, no, Jesus, this is where all the action is, you know, so to
speak.
We want to stay here.
And he said, no, no, no, you got to go.
Got to go.
You got to go.
Right?
Compelled them to get into the boat and to go.
And he dismisses the crowd.
And then what does he do?
Verse 46.
And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.
This is, I think, the third time in Mark's gospel that shows Jesus praying.
And just as an aside, right?
I mean, this is, I've been thinking about this all week.
If Jesus needed to pray, then I really need to pray.
And so do you.
But here now we come to the miracle.
And actually, the first little bit of the miracle might actually make Jesus feel, seem
almost a bit mean.
Because if he knows things and he sends them out and there's going to be a story.
Why did he do that?
Well, anyway, let's look at what happened.
Verse 47.
And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus was alone
on the land.
And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them.
And just sort of pause there.
I know it's still up on the screen.
Painfully is a really good word.
The original word in the original language is with torment.
They were in torment rowing.
And if you go all the way through the story, and it's not obvious in the English, you might
even forget that they started out to go to Bethsaida.
So they started to go to Bethsaida.
But the wind is so strong that they don't end up in Bethsaida.
They end up somewhere over here in Gennesaret.
Because that's how powerful the wind and the waves was.
They're going this way.
And it really is strong because it blows them way, way, way, way off course.
And they land in a different place.
And so they're struggling with them painfully, with torment in the original language.
And about the fourth watch of the night, and this is Roman terminology.
So somewhere between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., somewhere in those three hours, that's the fourth watch
of the night.
And Jesus came to them walking on the sea.
He meant to pass by them.
Now, this seems really mean.
And I'm going to circle around.
We're going to talk about it in a moment.
But it's a significant part of the text.
He meant to pass by them.
There they are.
The wind's so strong, it's going to blow them sort of backwards into the side.
So they want to go across the lake this way.
But they end up going across the lake this way.
Because that's how powerful the wind is.
And he meant to pass by them.
But when they saw him, verse 49, walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost.
In the original language, it's phantasm.
I don't know.
I didn't pronounce it correctly.
And it can include anything from a ghost to an evil spirit.
And so they thought it was a ghost and cried out,
for they all saw him and were terrified.
They saw what they thought was a ghost or an evil spirit.
But immediately, Jesus spoke to them and said,
Take heart.
It is I.
Do not be afraid.
And Jesus got into the boat with them.
And the wind ceased.
And they were utterly astounded.
For they did not understand about the loaves.
They did not understand about the loaves.
But their hearts were hardened.
So just a pause there.
And let's think about this miracle.
So first of all, I think this miracle really happened.
But the normal reaction to it is like several types of things.
A fundamental one would be this.
Like I can think of several people that I've had coffee shop,
had conversations with in coffee shops over the years.
And I can picture two of them in particular.
And they would just, they got to the point where they'd be very blunt with me.
And I can just picture either one of them saying,
George, you Christians are so gullible.
Like this is one of many reasons why I can never be a Christian.
George, if this miracle happened, science is impossible.
It defies all the laws of nature.
And if you actually think something like that happened,
then, I mean, George, I don't even know what I can say to you.
Because it's just like, it's just a sign of why Christians,
you kiss your minds goodbye.
You're credulous.
And then some of them might even say,
and George, and not only are you credulous,
but it's even worse because you have double standards.
Like just George, be honest with me.
If I told you that I saw a newspaper account of somebody walking on the water
in some part of the world, would you believe it?
And I'm guessing you wouldn't believe it.
I mean, if you do believe it, then you really are credulous.
But if you don't believe it, then you have a double standard.
You don't believe it when it happens somewhere else,
but you believe it because it happens to Jesus.
Like that's like a double standard.
Like what on earth is going on?
Now, I've never had this conversation,
but I've had conversations with people like this about miracles,
and I know that's what they would say to me.
They can be very blunt.
Sometimes they can be blunt and loud, which gets me red in the face,
not because I'm angry, but because I'm embarrassed.
The whole restaurant, this is back pre-COVID, they all stop.
And you hear the conversation go from ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba to silence,
and they all look at me, and I get red in the face and embarrassed.
But I guess what I'd say to skeptics and people who have problems with this,
I'd say it is because I believe this miracle happened
that I would not believe another account.
It's precisely because I believe this miracle happened
that I wouldn't believe it if I heard a newspaper account
of somebody walking on the water.
I think that's actually what the text wants us to understand.
And so why is it?
Well, first of all, we have to notice that this text,
everything about this text is emphasizing that the miracle actually happened.
That's the first thing, okay?
I mean, it's not a way of going that it's just a metaphor.
It's, you know, because in some ways, you know, I was thinking about it,
this story sounds a little bit like something that Harry Potter could do
or that would happen in a Harry Potter novel.
And so many people would say, well, it's all right to read Harry Potter.
You know, it's fun.
But, I mean, George, like real, you know, if you believe this,
if believing in Harry Potter is really like those people who play Quidditch on the lawn
and actually think they could fly on brooms, like that would be pretty pathetic.
But this miracle emphasizes that it's not like Harry Potter, that it actually happened.
If you think about it for a second, you know, if you think, well,
maybe it was just some type of vision, well, the text already deals with that.
The people in the boat aren't expecting Jesus to walk on the water.
They actually think they're having a vision.
They think they're seeing something like a ghost or some type of apparition.
And the other thing about it is that if you know anything about the Gospels,
earlier on it sets it up that at least four of the Gospels made their living as fishermen.
And they made their living as fishermen on that precise sea.
So they understand boats.
They understand the sea.
They're familiar with it.
It's not as if they go to a body of water that they've never been to before
and they don't know where the sandbars are or anything like that.
No, no, no.
This is their home turf.
This is how they would have been, their dads would have been fishermen
and they would have been in the boat from a very young age
and they would have had the repository.
Oops.
Oh my.
I should have had a lid.
They would, I'm not going to stop.
They should have had a repository.
They'd have a repository of all of the knowledge about the lake.
And so these are people who understand the water
and they would have known that there were no shoals.
And even the way the story is described,
it doesn't describe it the way it would work if there was like a shoal that Jesus is walking on.
Because, you know, how that would work is he's sort of walking on a shoal
and they'd bring the boat, they'd have to bring the boat close to him,
but they don't bring the boat close to him.
He comes to them.
And if you were actually on a shoal and the water sort of, you know,
even if it's a very, very sudden drop,
Jesus would sort of have to unceremoniously jump into the boat,
not just sort of walk into the boat.
And so it's all set up in such a way that,
and on top of that, it's all in the historical language.
And as I shared last week,
the flow of the story is you go right from a story which is historical,
which has Josephus and non-Christian historians have talked about the same types of incidents.
You go right from there to the 5,000 to this,
and it's all the same historical language.
Everything in the story is trying to emphasize that this actually really happened.
So, why is this not like a double standard?
And how on earth could you believe in science and the laws of nature
and still believe in a miracle like this?
Well, here's partly what's going on in the text.
This is a text about God, the creator of all things,
revealing himself to his disciples.
If you go back, if you could put the scripture text back up for a second,
if you go back up to verse 48.
About the fourth watch of the night,
he came to them walking on the sea.
He meant to pass by them.
Now, we tend to read that thinking,
oh, he's sort of mean.
Like, why would he mean to pass by them?
But what it actually says he meant, to pass by them,
and the language passed by them is word for word exactly the same
as the times in the Old Testament,
what we call the Old Testament,
our Jewish friends call the T'ak,
where there's two times in the Old Testament
where God reveals himself,
or at least like his back, so to speak,
to Moses and to Elijah.
And in both of those stories, he passes by them,
and he uses the exact same language,
that God reveals just the tiniest bit of his glory,
his back to them, by passing by them.
And that's exactly the language which is used by here.
So in other words, Jesus is using this as an opportunity
to pass by them,
to reveal himself as God to the disciples.
And on top of that,
the very words that he uses
are also words found in places like the Book of Job
and other places in what we call the Old Testament
and our Jewish friends call the T'ak,
where it actually describes God walking on the water.
And that's exactly the type of language which is used here.
And the other thing is that this particular story
is encapsulating a whole range of biblical stories
in biblical texts like, you know, the trees clap their hands
and, you know, the heavens declare the glory of God
and, you know, that all creation praises God
and all of this type of language
that implies that we can't hear
the trees praising God
and the mountains praising God
and the ocean praising God
and the stars praising God.
But the Bible says it's that.
And it's almost as if...
So here we have that Jesus is going to reveal himself as God
to his disciples by passing in front of them with his glory.
And he uses the thing that only God can do.
Only God can walk on the water.
And it's almost bringing to fruition
and bringing to a highlight
and bringing to an image
all of this other language
about creation serving Christ God
and praising God.
And it's almost as if
for a brief moment
Jesus allows the ocean
and the sea to do
what it longs to do
which is to praise him.
And it's almost as if
he's allowing the sea
to all of a sudden become
just where he's walking
a place that will hold him up
and bear him up
and praise him in such a way
as he walks upon the sea
because only God can walk upon the sea.
You see, here's the difference
between...
This is why it's not doing anything
that undermines science.
God is not under or bound
by the laws of nature.
God is not under or bound
by the laws of nature.
And what the Bible reveals is this.
is the one who made
the laws of nature
is the same one
who sustains the laws of nature.
And only he can suspend
the laws of nature
for a short time
to reveal himself.
See, it's a very, very different thing.
He's created the laws.
He's created all things
so all of the laws of nature
are his creation.
They don't bind him.
He's created them.
And all of creation
is sustained by him
so he sustains the law of nature.
And it's only the one
who has made the laws
and sustained the law
that can, in a sense,
pause one or two laws
for a very brief instant
to reveal that he, in fact,
is God coming to visit
his creation.
You see,
there's lots of tales
in the Hindu
and Buddhist tradition
that if you become
very, very, very holy,
you can levitate.
You see,
if that's true,
then the laws of nature
really don't work.
And in fact,
actually,
those tales
are really trying
to paint a picture
of something
which is very, very
completely the opposite
of what the Bible
is trying to do.
Because in those systems
of thought,
the idea is that
ultimately,
the idea of matter
and the world
are ultimately
an illusion.
And that what you need
to do is you need
to develop your own
spirit and mind
and God consciousness.
And if you develop that,
usually in ways
by treating your body
really, really,
really terribly,
that if you do that
and ascend and ascend
and ascend
into the power
of your mind,
that then you can do
whatever you want.
Those of you
who've seen the movie
The Matrix,
The Matrix presents,
in a sense,
the heart of that
Buddhist Hindu worldview.
That at the end
of the movie,
when all of a sudden
Neo finally sees through
and pierces the reality
to realize that
it's just a machine
and it's just code
and all of a sudden
he can just take
the lines of code
and he can do with them
whatever he wants
and he can do
whatever he wants
because he's pierced
the veil and to see
that none of it's real
and that all there is
is his mind
and he can do things
and in a world
like The Matrix,
you couldn't have
anything like science
because ultimately
the world is just
an illusion
and the enlightened mind
can just do
whatever it wants.
But this particular text
is communicating to us
as all of the biblical worldview
is that the world
is a creation
of a good,
is a good,
was originally
a good creation
that human beings
are made
to have bodies
to in a sense
be an embodied soul
or another way
to look at it
would be
an ensouled body
and that that's how
God created us to be,
to be a unity
and a harmony
of the soul
and the body
to be one
and God designed us
to do that
and it's,
it's not an illusion
to think
that a sunset
is beautiful
and it's not a matter
of trying to pierce
through things
to see
because there's been
some profound tragedy
by which we believe
the created world
has come to exist.
If you could put up
the first point,
this is the same point
that I shared last week
and it's very significant
that this miracle
happens just after
the feeding of the 5,000.
I'll say the point
and then I'll explain it.
The strong hand of love
that made the world
is the same
strong hand of love
that sustains the world
is the same
strong hand of love
that was nailed
to the cross
to redeem
his fallen world
and it's the same
strong hand of love
that will beckon
and welcome
his redeemed children
into the new heaven
and the new earth.
See,
the,
if you look at
these two miracles
in the context
of this one story
of the gospel,
one of the things
we looked at last week
with the feeding
of the 5,000
is in the feeding
of the 5,000
you see that Jesus
is revealed as God,
that it's,
that the creator
has come
and dwelt
amongst his creation
and we,
you,
you have this,
this understanding
from the Bible
that God created
all things out of nothing
in a sense
that by his hand
he created all things
out of nothing
and,
and you also see
that even though
after we sinned
and fell
that there was
this,
this promise
that the same God
who created all things
will now,
even now,
sustain a world
that,
that human beings
have brought evil
into it
and dissolution
into it
and,
and we have
this sense
that,
that when the world
is functioning
properly
that there's this,
the compassion
of the bounty
that we understand
that a garden
that produces
lots of tomatoes
and zucchini
and,
and flowers
is,
is the way
things should be
and,
and one that brings
nothing whatsoever
is,
is the way
that the,
that we just realize
and,
and understand
that that's not right
and so we see
in the miracle
last week
we see of the,
the,
this,
we have to sort of
take it by faith
that God made
all things out of nothing
but when you read
that story
you're actually seeing
Jesus making
something out of nothing
and what he makes
out of nothing
is bread to eat
and so what you get
this sense of
is that every time
we have a harvest
and there's lots
of tomatoes
and lots of zucchinis
and lots of cilantro
and lots of potatoes
and,
and we enjoy
all of that bounty
and,
and we see
that the same
strong hand of love
that created the world
is the one that,
that gives you that food
and we see it all
enacted in the miracle
of the 5,000
and then at the end
of the story
we're going to see
that exact same
strong,
strong hand of love
nailed to the cross
to redeem
fallen humanity
and in between that
we see this particular story
and for a very,
very brief moment
not only do we see
God revealed
because only God
can walk on the water
we also get
a brief moment
a sense of what
the new heaven
and the new earth
will be
that in the new heaven
and the new earth
there will be
a relationship
of us
to the created world
well this just gives
a bit of a hint
of it
you know the Bible
says that when we
see Jesus
we will be like him
and there's still water
there's still waves
he still has a body
but he walks on it
and it's a very,
very brief glimpse
of the future
the strong hand of love
that made the world
is the same strong hand
of love
that sustains the world
is the same strong hand
of love
that was nailed
to the cross
to redeem
his fallen world
and is the same strong hand
of love
that will beckon
and welcome
his redeemed children
into the new heaven
and the new earth
you see this is part
of what
why
as you enter
into the Christian faith
there's a very
there's at a very deep level
as it starts to form you
there's a beauty
and a coherence
about it
that is found
nowhere else
not in Buddhism
or Hinduism
with all due respect
not in Islam
with all due respect
not in the different
secular
and other speculative
philosophies
of the west
or the east
you will not find them
and even
you know
with all due respect
even in Canada
we live with incoherences
like
how did things
you know
things came to be
by chance
and then by the strong
eating the weak
but how do you go
from saying
everything that exists
comes about by chance
and by the strong
eating the weak
therefore love one another
well
that doesn't make any sense
like that doesn't make any sense
that's incoherent
and how is it
that we
we believe
that we're all
going to go to
a better place
when we die
and that place
that we're going to go to
which is better
when we die
is some type of
either a spiritual place
where we sort of
become all part of nature
but if we're all
going to automatically
go to a better place
when we die
therefore love one another
well one moment
how does that make any
like how does that
make any sense
like that doesn't
make any sense
and on one hand
if our bodies
are just a result
of the fact
that of an evolutionary
process
that begins
with chance
and the strong
eating the weak
that means like
our bodies
are just a result
of chance
and somehow
we just
we had
hungrier
bigger forebears
that eight
weaker forebears
that were the
that's
that's my heritage
but if I'm going to
just go to a place
which is
ultimately
my destiny
is to be
completely
and utterly
disembodied
and just
either
floating in
some place
with
that's just
pure spirit
or somehow
mingled with it
then
okay well
what does that
say about
how I live
or treat
my body
but there's
this very
very very
deep coherence
in the Christian
faith
that
the strong
hand of love
made the world
and the strong
hand of love
made human beings
to bear the image
of God
and to have
an inherent
dignity
and worth
and value
like he
God
chose
to create
human beings
and God
the same
strong hand
of love
is the
strong hand
of love
that sustains
all things
and
and the same
strong hand
of love
is the one
that redeems
all things
and the same
strong hand
of love
is the one
that's going
to bring us
to the new
heaven
and the new
earth
and so
there's this
very very
deep coherence
we were
made in God's
image
we were made
to have
communion
and fellowship
with him
he sustains
us
even when
we're rebels
he deals
with all
that separates
us from you
from God
so that we
could be made
right with God
and at the end
that same
strong hand
of love
is going
to welcome
us
to be
with him
forever
and if
God
if Jesus
is revealed
as God
when he
feeds the
5,000
he's revealed
as God
when he
walks on the
water
you see
that's the
only possible
way
that you
and I
can have
any type
of hope
because
it's only
if it's
God
who dies
on the
cross
as a
sacrifice
that that
sacrifice
can possibly
count for
every human
being that
receives it
I mean if it's
just me
I don't
I mean the other
day it would
just be me
dying for me
maybe I could
die as a
sacrifice for
my family
or my
grandkids
or you
or something
like that
let the
terrorists
let them
all go
take me
instead
but people
puzzle over
how it is
that one
man's death
could cover
for them
all these
years later
and the
same death
could cover
for people
in Singapore
and people
in Rwanda
and people
in France
and people
in Russia
and how that
one death
could cover
well that
can only
happen if
it's God
who dies
on the cross
and that's
what the
Bible is
revealing
with these
powerful
stories
and just
sort of
in closing
the final
point
if you
could put
it up
that would
be wonderful
and this
is where
we start
to begin
to have
an image
or a hope
to try
to steer
away
between
idolizing
our bodies
or tormenting
and denying
and hurting
our bodies
in Christ
your destiny
is to be
resurrected
body and
soul
and to
dwell
in the
new heaven
and earth
with Christ
in his
kingdom
that's your
destiny
I mean
that's one
of the things
this miracle
shows
if we are
going to be
like Christ
when we
see him
and we
see that
Jesus had
this body
that walks
on water
and the
water is
real
but he
walks on
water
we're
not
eventually
going to
just be
disembodied
minds
or
nowadays
disembodied
emotions
somehow
existing
in some
other plane
with no
body
and no
connection
to this
world
that's
not your
destiny
in Christ
your
destiny
in Christ
is
resurrected
body
and soul
and you're
going to
dwell
in a
new
heaven
and a
new
earth
you're
going to
dwell
with
Christ
and you're
going to
dwell
with him
in his
kingdom
and the
ability to
do that
isn't because
you kept
a really
really good
lent
it's not
because you
really
were good
at
subjugating
your body
or starving
your body
or doing
anything
like that
it's all
because of
what he did
for us
on the
cross
and
it's
fine
I mean
obviously
I mean
I'm not
happy with
my body
I have
dimples
where it's
not cute
you know
bulges
and sags
and all
that type
of stuff
and it
doesn't mean
you have
to idolize
your body
or love
your body
there's a
different way
there's a
different path
your body
is important
and the
story ends
with Jesus
healing
and as
you get
as you're
gripped by
the gospel
the part
of the body
is that
the gospel
will teach us
not to idolize
our bodies
as if they're
somehow
you know
I know
of one person
who wanted
euthanasia
because she
could no
longer
I'm not
making this
up
she could
no longer
put on
her makeup
and do
her hair
and she
couldn't bear
not looking
beautiful
because she
had been
a beautiful
woman
or thought
she was
and idolized
her body
and her looks
all her life
and to begin
to lose
that
it's not
even worth
living
but that's
such a trap
isn't it
and so
narcissistic
how do you
love others
if you have
to idolize
your body
and worship
it
and have
your body
worshipped
by others
and it's
as if
like she's
almost as if
in this story
she encapsulates
the problem
with the modern
world
if she
can't idolize
her body
she wants
her body
killed
and in the
midst of this
the gospel
just provides
this picture
of sanity
your body
your body's
good
treat it
well
befriend it
some of you
have been
blessed with
really
good bodies
some of us
have been
blessed but
not with
having good
bodies
and if you
live long
enough
everybody
gets
wrinkles
where
dimples
where it's
not cute
or attractive
but the
option isn't
it's always
a matter
of the
body's
a gift
you're
you are
meant to
be embodied
your destiny
is to be
healed
in Christ
and so
love your
body
care for
it
don't
despise
it
it's not
a sign
of holiness
to treat
it terribly
it's not
a sign
of wisdom
to mutilate
it
castrate
it
disfigure
it
there's a
better place
to get
your identity
and that
identity
is in
Christ
why
yeah yeah
you're
terrible
I thought
you're
far worse
than you
could ever
imagine
but Jesus
knew that
when he
died for
you on
the cross
and you're
far more
loved
and far
more
precious
than even
the greatest
narcissist
could ever
imagine
about
themselves
because
Jesus
loved you
so much
that he
died
for you
and when
he's
finished
saving
you
you will
have a
new
body
and a
new
soul
but you're
still you
in the
new
heaven
and the
new
earth
for all
eternity
please
stand
let's
bow our
heads in
prayer
father we
thank you
for the
hope of
glory
and we
thank you
father that
the hope
of glory
isn't
something that
takes us
away from
the world
and that
our bodies
matter and
that other
people
that they
don't matter
or that
the creation
doesn't matter
father we
give you
thanks and
praise that
you are the
same God
who created
all things
you are the
God the
same one
the same
God who
sustains all
things you
are the
same God
who through
the death
of your
son redeemed
not just
human beings
but will
eventually
redeem the
entire
created
order and
you are the
same God
who will
make the
new heaven
and the
new earth
and you
have redeemed
us to be
your children
and your
friends by
adoption and
grace to
live in this
world to
be gripped by
the gospel
to serve you
and to bring
you glory
and father we
ask that you
would so grip us
with these
profound truths
so that we
would be ones
father who
care for the
creation in a
very very deep
way that we
do not despise
it or just
treat it as
plastic or just
treat it as
garbage to do
with as we
wish that we
don't also
idolize it or
make it into a
God but that we
just see it for
what it is
something which
you have
designed for
us to
inhabit in
such a way
that people's
needs are met
and the creation
is honored and
that there's a
flourishing of
human and
created life and
we give you
thanks and
praise that you
have called us
father to a
destiny which is
ours in Christ
where we will
have resurrected
bodies and
souls and a
new heaven and
a new earth
and we ask
father that you
would so grip us
with the gospel
and have it form
us that father
we can learn how
to live with our
bodies except in
those things that
are falling apart
and aren't good
and accepting
those things that
do work good
and and and
just accepting
father who we
are in Christ
taking steps to
improve but take
accepting who we
are content father
learning to be
content to wait
for that glorious
day when we
have those new
bodies and we
live with you and
see you face to
face we ask this
in the name of
Jesus your son
and our
savior amen