Father, we ask that you would pour the Holy Spirit out upon us at this time as we think upon your Word.
I ask that you would pour the Holy Spirit upon me, that I not only be a hearer of the Word, but a doer of your Word.
And Father, for myself and for all who are listening and entering into worship,
I ask, Father, I give, we give an unconditional permission and invitation for your Word
to speak into our hearts and rule into our hearts.
And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
I'm so programmed, I want to say please be seated as if we're all together in the same place
and you've all been standing because of the creed.
The Bible text that Matt read today, it's too bad that it's just a really obscure, irrelevant topic.
I mean, all it does is talk about the problem of being judgmental, the problem of arrogance,
the problem of arrogant planning, injustice and oppression by the rich.
So it has actually nothing to say about anything that's going on in the world today or your life.
Obviously, I'm joking.
But some of you, if you listened to the text at all when Matt was reading it,
if you were paying any attention to it,
you might come back and say, George, first of all, it's a little bit interesting to us,
especially if you're entering into this today as a bit of a seeker,
or maybe you've been burned out by religion,
by some type of form of the Christian faith or some other religion.
And so you watch this.
There we go.
You watch this and you think, well, George,
it's sort of interesting to discover that the Bible condemns people for being judgmental.
But, George, don't you agree that most Christians are very, very judgmental?
In fact, that that's a common experience that I've had
and many people have had when they meet Christians,
that they're very, very judgmental.
So I guess all I can say now, George, is not only are they judgmental,
they're hypocritical because they go against what their own book tells them to do.
But I don't know, like, George, you know,
so it's good to know that the Bible text is against being judgmental and all that.
But you know what it talked about in terms of planning and all?
Like, that just sounds completely absurd,
as if you should just, you know, not make any plans about the future.
It just sort of says, I don't know, do nothing.
That doesn't seem to be very helpful.
And then I guess for some of you, if you were listening to it,
for those of you who are more left-wing and vote NDP,
you're going, yay, about what the Bible says about judgment,
about the rich and all of that.
But for those who are more conservative, you're going, boo,
it sounds like it's a sort of a socialist text and anti-capitalist.
So sort of what's going on?
So here's a little bit of a thing to try to sort of figure out
what's going on with the text.
I'm going to say you're not going to be surprised by this
because I'm a Christian.
And I think the Bible here gives very profound advice
worth meditating upon in all of these different areas
that it talks about.
And in fact has, well, here's the thing about your comment.
I'm not going to deny that many Christians are judgmental.
I'm not going to deny that.
And if some of you who are watching this have had experience
of me being judgmental, that might very well be the case.
I'm not going to say I'm perfect in these areas.
And I just would like to say I'd like to apologize to you.
But there's a bit of a riddle here about how Canadians think
about being judgmental.
Like before, in some ways, it's actually a bit judgmental to say
that Christians are judgmental, if you think about it for a second.
Like in a bit of a paradoxical or ironic thing,
if you're saying Christians are judgmental,
that sounds a bit judgmental.
But I'm not going to complain about that.
I'm not going to take the victim role.
I'm actually going to say that we Canadians are actually very confused
about the issue and don't realize it.
And I'll just give you two sort of things.
On one hand, we say you should never be judgmental.
That's true.
But on the other hand, what it doesn't actually address
is how do you have moral confrontation,
a moral confrontation which is valid.
So in other words, if you were to hear that a teenager,
for instance, his parents catch him lying
and the parents confront him about lying.
And then you hear the teenager respond,
you guys are so judgmental.
Well, I mean, depending on the nature of the lie,
you might say, well, one moment here,
like did you lie?
And did you lie about things who are really important?
Like, so is that actually being judgmental
to capture somebody who's lying about something
which is very important?
Or maybe a better example,
if, you know, over coffee,
you find out that a woman has found out
that her husband has had an affair
and she confronts him about it
and he said, you're so judgmental.
Well, how many of you would back the husband
in that particular thing?
So if you think about it for a second,
there's a bit of an issue about how do we actually
figure out both how,
I mean, we all sort of have a sense
that there's two things that both have to be true,
but in fact, we Canadians don't really know
how to figure it out
other than just I decide this,
I decide this is judgmental
and I decide this is valid.
But one moment, I mean, in the case,
the husband and the wife are both making decisions
and they're obviously disagreeing.
Like, how do you figure out
how to have a valid moral confrontation
and at the same time,
accept that there is, in fact,
something called judgmentalism,
which Christians are going to say
with everybody else in Canada,
probably just about everybody else,
that it's wrong to be judgmental.
So how do you actually have to,
how can you deal with that?
Well, believe it or not,
I think that what at first
we might dismiss about the text
is actually uniquely wise
in the world of conversation
about this particular issue.
So let's get our Bibles.
We're going to walk towards it.
We're going to meditate upon the text.
If you're watching this for the first time,
one of the things that we do
at Church of the Messiah,
which is a bit unique
in the Canadian context today,
is that we preach through books of the Bible.
And that means that we get to,
you know, it's not like I felt like
talking about judgmentalism
or anything like that.
We preach through the books of the Bible.
We just look at what is there.
They're written as books.
It's like the smart way to actually,
if you think about it,
it's the smart way to study it.
Because it was written as a book
and we preach through the whole bit.
So let's look at it.
James chapter 4, verses 11 to 12.
Now, just one other little bit
of encouragement.
And we're going to show the Bible verse
on the screen as I read.
But it's really helpful
if you have your own Bible with you
for these sections,
especially a paper version of the Bible.
And you can look at the text yourself
and think about it.
The text isn't always going to be on the screen,
or I might go from 11 to 12.
And it's just very helpful.
Because, you see,
we want to help you read the Bible for yourself.
That's what we want you to do.
Like, at the end of the day,
what matters is what the Bible teaches for me.
I'm just sharing with you.
For me, what matters is what the Bible teaches,
not what I say.
I'm under the Bible,
and I'm just trying to help us
to understand and appreciate the Bible.
But at the end of the day,
remembering the Bible is far more important
than remembering anything I say.
Anyway, so just James 4, verses 11 to 12.
And just a bit of a context.
Last week, we talked about how, in some ways,
the very heart of the whole book of James
is captured in verses 6 and 10,
which is that God always gives more grace.
God opposes the proud
and gives grace to the humble.
That's verse 6.
And then verse 10,
that's unpacked in verses 7, 8, and 9.
And then verse 10,
it has this wonderful, wonderful text that says,
just make sure you read,
humble yourselves before the Lord,
and he will exalt you.
And immediately from that,
it goes into this topic.
And here's what it says.
Verses 11 and 12.
Do not speak evil against one another,
brothers and sisters.
The one who speaks against a brother
or judges his brother
speaks evil against the law
and judges the law.
But if you judge the law,
you are not a doer of the law,
but a judge.
There is only one lawgiver and judge,
he who is able to save and to destroy.
But who are you to judge your neighbor?
Now, this is a text designed to be meditated upon.
And some of you might say,
okay, George,
I mean, now, you know,
Matt read the text,
and I was listening,
but I didn't really catch it.
I mean, you didn't make me sort of look at the text
as closely as I did when you just read it.
But now that you read it,
actually, George,
don't you think it comes across
as very unhelpful?
Like, doesn't it sound very judgmental?
In fact, like, George,
I actually think that Christianity
is inherently judgmental,
and that you have, like, a problem.
That's one of the reasons I'm not a Christian,
some people would say.
Like, this whole idea about God being a lawgiver
and God being a judge,
able to save and destroy,
like, George, that sounds like,
I mean, I'll just be honest,
that sounds very judgmental.
Like, George, don't you think,
like, the average Canadian would say,
I think, that they could not worship
or believe in a God like this,
a judge who judges.
The average Canadian would say
that they can only believe in a God of love.
And this text doesn't seem to talk
about a God of love.
It seems to talk about a God
who judges,
who is the judge,
and who judges,
and they can't believe in it.
But here's the problem.
To those of you who,
and I can understand it, by the way,
the Bible is often very shocking
and surprising
when you look at it very closely.
But the question is,
is the problem in the text,
and I'm saying, you know,
hopefully you can see a little bit
of my body language,
I'm not against you,
I'm for you,
but is the problem,
I'm trying to say this very gently,
is the problem in the text or in you?
And you'd say,
George,
the text,
the problem is in me.
Well,
just think about it for a second.
Two things that the average Canadian would say.
The average Canadian would say
they cannot believe
in a God like this,
a judge who judges.
I believe in a God of love.
But then it's not unusual
when I've had conversations with people
that one minute later
they say something like this,
I cannot believe
in the God of the Bible
because he does not judge evil.
Whoa,
one second.
You can't believe in a God
who judges
and you can't believe in a God
who doesn't judge evil.
Like,
those two thoughts
don't fit together.
I hate saying this,
I have a big smile,
maybe a little bit
because I'm nervous.
Like,
that's actually incoherent.
It's like asking God
to make you full and hungry
at the same time.
It's like God asking you
to make you so,
fill you so much up with fluid
that you have to go pee
but at the same time
that he makes you thirsty.
Like,
it just doesn't fit together.
And in fact,
actually,
the problem is
not only is it
that most Canadians
don't realize
that they have,
that this is a problem,
they don't even aware
of the fact
that there's a type
of incoherence in them.
And by the way,
a lot of Canadian Christians
are the same way.
Many Canadian Christians
are very bothered
with texts like this
and very,
very bothered
with this whole idea
of God judging
and they're bothered
by the problem of evil.
And for many of us,
we don't realize
that there's a type
of incoherence
within us
when we look
at these things.
So,
how does Christianity
solve this?
Well,
actually,
there's many ways
that Christianity
solves this particular problem
and in fact
maintains that God
is a God of love
and that he's worthy
of worship
and that he judges evil.
But it's,
and it also actually,
this text is actually
extremely wise
about the problem
of judgmentalism.
So,
let's look at,
let's look at the verse again.
It says in verse 11,
do not speak evil
against one another,
brothers and sisters.
The one who speaks
against a brother
or judges his brother
speaks evil
against the law
and judges the law.
But if you judge the law,
you are not a doer
of the law
but a judge.
And here,
this is in a sense
talking about the fact
that there is a real moral order
that really does exist
because there really
is a God
who does exist
who's not an amoral
or an immoral God
but in fact,
all right and wrong
is fundamentally based
on who God is
and God is fundamentally good.
But it says here,
do you notice it?
It's actually here,
the ESV,
last week,
the last two weeks
if you watch these,
I changed one of the verses
that I read
to get around a problem.
It's not a bad problem.
I just,
to try to help
to make sure
you can understand.
Here,
the text is actually
very literal
in terms of what
the Greek says.
Speak against
speak evil
against one another.
Speak evil
against
or speak against
a brother.
Speak evil
against the law.
It's actually being
very, very literal.
So here's the question.
Is God for you
or against you?
Is the triune God
for you
or against you?
So,
what a Christian
would say
is that I have
very good news
and it's not news
that I invented,
it's news that I was told
and the very good news
is this.
Is that God
is the triune God
is for you.
In fact,
the triune God
is for you
vastly more
than you can possibly
ever imagine
or retain.
That's,
in fact,
one of the reasons
why Christians
are to gather
on a weekly basis
and we're to open
the word
and the hope
for every good congregation
should be
that the pastor
always reminds them
of the gospel
is because
this good news
is so good,
it's so beyond
our ability
to imagine
and retain
and go so against
how we are ingrained
to think of the world
that we need to be reminded
of it time and time
and time and time again
for it to begin
to sink in.
But the good news
of the Bible
is that God
is not against you,
God is for you
in a way
vastly beyond
anything you could
ever possibly imagine.
Remember how I began
by that?
The context was
is that God
gives greater grace.
No matter how messed up
or whatever your situation
in life is,
no matter what your history is,
God's grace
is greater.
His unmerited kindness,
his unmerited compassion,
his unmerited love,
his unmerited power
to deal with that
in a very powerful way,
it is greater.
And God opposes the proud,
but he gives grace
to the humble.
And so humble yourself
before the Lord
and he will exalt you.
And the great,
great,
great news
is that the Bible,
the God of the Bible
is not an impartial God
or a mild,
like your Uncle Bob
or your Aunt Sue
who just wants
to encourage you.
But meanwhile,
they're just waiting
to see if you can finally
get your alcohol
under control
or get good enough
or be nice enough
or smart enough
or young enough
or good looking enough
or rich enough
or popular enough
that he'll finally say,
okay, you've passed.
No.
Not at all.
He's not a God
who is on the sidelines
waiting for you
to sort your life out.
He is for you.
And so even when you
could not deal
with anything yourself,
God,
the Son of God,
sets aside his glory,
sets aside his prerogatives,
sets aside his being worshipped
and all of that,
sets aside the angels.
He empties himself
of all of that,
meaning fully God.
He humbles himself
to the point
of even taking into himself
our human nature,
being a zygote
in the womb
of Mary,
of living a fully human life
as part of an oppressed people group
and dying on a cross
and on the cross
bearing all of the shame
that you might have,
all of the accusations
against you.
Everything like that
is completely
and utterly laid on him
and he does it
knowing
that you can't
meet the moral standards,
that you can't
get your life
in perfect order,
that you can't
defeat death.
He does that
knowing you can't
do all of those things
and long before
you even begin
to desire
to turn to him,
Jesus did that
for you
because God,
the Father,
the Son,
and the Holy Spirit
is for you,
not against you.
that's the good news
of the gospel,
that he is for you.
But then some of you
might say,
okay, well, George,
but like,
I don't know, George,
is that what the text
is saying?
I mean,
I remember a little bit
about what Matt was saying
and it seems as if God's,
you know,
like against luxury.
Like,
why is he against me
just having a comfortable bed
or like a really nice TV
or something?
And it does sound
a little bit like
he's against you,
like God opposes the proud.
I thought you said
that's what it said
in verse 6.
You know,
he opposes the proud.
And don't you say,
George,
that all of us are proud?
So if all of us are proud
and he opposes the proud,
how is he for us?
Well, first of all,
the Bible does teach
that all are proud.
And that includes me.
I have a pride problem.
And I will have a pride problem
until I die
and see Jesus face to face.
And I have a final healing.
And I can tell you
that if you're in Jesus,
if you've given your life
to Jesus and you've received him
as your Savior and Lord,
that the moment of your death,
you will,
your pride problem
will be lifted finally,
completely and utterly
separate from who you are.
And you will cry
in the words of that great
African-American spiritual,
free at last,
free at last.
Praise God Almighty.
I'm free at last.
That's what you'll say.
You see,
the problem about this,
the text is very,
very profound.
That's why if you think about
God opposes the proud,
if you think about the fact
that this text
in verses 11 and 12
is about the problem
of speaking against,
and you understand
that at the heart
of the gospel
is that God is not against you
but for you.
And so why is it
that he's against proud?
The problem is,
when it says that
God opposes the proud,
the problem is
that every single one of us,
me included,
base our identity
on sin and idols.
Every single one of us
base our identity,
our worth,
our value
on different sins
and different idols.
Every single one of us.
And the fact of the matter is,
is that these different things
are so fundamental
to our identity
that it feels as if God,
like if God was to come
against that
and tell us that
that has to be removed
from us,
it would feel as if
God's completely
and utterly opposed
to it.
So, in other words,
like we say things like,
how can I exist
without my looks?
How can I exist
without my money?
How can I exist
without my alcohol?
How can I exist
without my drugs?
How can I exist
without that person?
How can I exist
without being
in a romantic relationship?
How can I exist
without sex?
How can I exist
without control?
How can I exist
without power?
How can I exist
if I don't have
these particular positions?
How can I exist
if I don't have
my health?
How can I exist
if I don't...
And that's what we say.
We find it completely
and utterly impossible
to imagine.
And the funny thing is
is that we all notice
that primarily
about other people.
We'll notice
that we have a friend
who's consumed
with money
and that they don't seem
as if they can exist
without money
or they don't think
they can exist
if they don't have
these particular possessions.
But because the things
that we don't think
we can exist with
are different than them,
we make fun of them
or we feel pity for them.
We think to ourselves,
how ridiculous
to think you can't exist
without a Rolex.
Like, that's just so shallow.
But the other time
we have somebody else
saying,
well, how on earth
can you think
you can't exist
without having
that particular relationship
or without maintaining
your looks
or without having
that type of physique
or whatever it is.
And this is a fundamentally
human problem.
You know,
we see it very clearly
when we confront somebody
who has a problem
with racism.
You know,
how can I exist
if I'm equal
to blacks
or something like that
or if they're,
like,
you see what I mean?
And so here's this wonderful thing
about the Bible
is that in the gospel,
God is for you
to redeem you
despite this.
despite the fact
that human beings
base their identity,
I base my identity
on different sins
and different idols.
Despite that,
God loved me.
Despite that,
God loved me.
And he deals
with my idols.
He deals with my sin.
He deals with the shame
I get
from not being able
to live up to my idols
and live up to my sin.
And he deals with that.
And his great act of love
is to begin
to separate me
as the gospel grips me,
as I become more
and more aware
of the fact
that God sees
the real me,
the real me
in both those things
in me that are glorious
but also the things
in me that are quite bad.
And he sees the real me
and he loves the real me.
And he knows the real me
from the moment
of my conception
to the moment
of my death.
He knows beneath
all of my fronts,
everything.
He knows the real me
and he loves me
even though
I am pathetic.
But part of the gospel
is to begin
to separate me
from my idols,
to separate me
from my sin,
to separate me
from having
an idol-based identity
and sin-based identity
and to begin
to give me
an identity
based on grace
and love,
his grace
and his love,
an identity
which is everlasting
and truly fulfills
the longing
of my heart.
And that is what
the gospel wants
to give you.
So God condemns
the sin you do
and he dies
for the sin you do
out of love
for you.
I'll say it again.
God condemns
the sin you do
and the idol worship
you do
and he dies
for it
because
he loves you.
See,
this begins
to give us
a little bit
of an insight
about how this
is a bit of an answer
to the riddle
that we began with
about how is it
that you can both
have a problem
with judgmentalism
in relationships
but at the same time
in a normal
human relationship
you have to be able
to have
moral conversation,
a moral confrontation
about things
that really are wrong
that in fact
a husband
is not right
to say
that his wife
is judgmental
if she challenges
him on an affair
and a boss
is not being judgmental
if he or she
challenges you
about a lie
that you've done
or embezzlement
yet there still
is reality
of judgmentalism.
You see,
the key is that
God opposes
the proud
and we regularly
are proud.
it is not judgmental
to humbly
but clearly
point out
a real moral law
and how you have
broken it.
Now there's a whole
other range
of biblical teaching
about we flatter
ourselves too much
to detect or hate
our own sin
and we see the speck
in another person's eye
and not in the log
in another eye
and there's a whole
other realm
of conversations
that we can have
about this
but just to sort of
stick to this
particular area
it is not judgmental
to humbly
but clearly point out
a real moral law
and how you have
broken it.
To do it in a way
that shows that
both the person
who says this
and the person
who is
the person who
confronts
and the person
under it
that we
who's broken it
are both equally
under it
and we're called
to try to live up
to it.
But the problem
is
the problem is
and this is where
judgmentalism comes in
is that each of us
and this is part
of our pride
is that each of us
in significant ways
thinks that we
are the moral center.
There are significant ways
that I will fall into
thinking that I am
the moral center
not God.
You have different ways
that you fall into
believing that you
are the moral center
but not God.
And you might say
George that sounds
awfully judgmental really
I don't think you can
possibly prove that
I can prove that
very very effortlessly
and easily.
There are many many
many people who say
I cannot follow a God
who does not
accept my sexuality.
I cannot follow a God
who will not
encourage me
in my desire
to be
the real me
who is really me.
I cannot worship
or accept
or live under
any type of censor
from that.
I cannot accept
or follow any God
who makes any claim
on what I do
with my money.
I cannot follow
or acknowledge
any God
who makes any claim
upon how I spend
my time.
And you see
the thing is
is that most of you
are saying
oh George
this is getting
a little bit hot
like what's wrong
with saying that
about sexuality?
What's wrong
with saying that
about money?
What's wrong
with saying that
about time?
But I'll tell you
exactly what's wrong
with it
because it's
when we put
different things
which aren't
culturally accepted
that we see
that there's a problem.
I cannot accept
that there's going
to be any type of God
who's going to make
any claim on me
owning slaves.
I cannot accept
any type of God
who's going to make
any type of claim
on me
thinking that women
are just
playthings for me
or that they're dumb
or that black people
are just less than me.
I can't accept
a God that's going
to challenge that.
I can't accept
a God
that doesn't have
my view
on the Israeli
Palestinian conflict.
We go on
and on and on.
Every time we say
I cannot accept
I am saying
I am the moral
arbiter.
I am the person
who clarifies
and makes clear
what's right
and what's wrong.
And here's the problem.
You're in a couple
and both of you
have that view.
You're in a family
and you have three kids.
All five of you
have that view.
You're in a workplace.
Everybody in that workplace
has that view.
And maybe it's all right
if every one of you
happened to be centered
around the same type
of idol
or politics
but then all that does
is just encourage you
to look at the outside world
and see all those other people
that you look down on
and so all you've done
is you've saved
the conflict
in your family
or your marriage
or your workplace
but all you've done
is made the conflict
in the world more.
Because when you say
that I cannot
then you're saying
you're the moral center
of the universe
and when you're
the moral center
of the universe
and you confront
another person
that is judgmentalism
and that is what
the Bible here
is pointing out
is the fundamental problem.
It is saying
there is only one law giver
and there's only one judge
and guess what?
He didn't die
and give you the job.
He didn't die
and give me the job.
Don't we often say
that people?
Who died
and made you the judge?
That's even a very
Canadian thing to say
and that's what
the text is confronting
us about.
That's what the text
is confronting us about.
You see
you are not
the moral center.
There is
a moral order
that's over you
and me
and all we can do
is humbly acknowledge
that we're under it
and that moral order
is not
by a God
made by some God
arbitrarily
a God
whose whole goal
is to
he will be exalted
while people die for him.
No,
the complete opposite.
It's a God
who humbles himself
to die
so that you will live.
He is for you.
You are not God
and when you come
to the true God,
the living God,
God the Father,
God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit,
when you come to Jesus
and accept what he has done
for you on the cross,
he says to you,
my yoke is easy
and my burden is light.
Lay down your burdens.
Lay down
the profound
anxious
causing weight
of believing
that you are
the moral center
because a lot
of the anxiety
that you feel
in your life
is because you think
you are God
or a goddess.
In fact,
that's going to come up
in the very next story
that in fact
not only do you think
that you're the moral center
but you think
you're the Lord of time
and you can control things
and if you think
you're the moral center
that causes anxiety
because you know what?
You're not.
And if you think
you have control
of the future,
you're the Lord
of the future,
you're the...
You're not.
And these false beliefs,
they just pile anxiety
upon anxiety
upon you.
That is why Jesus says
you will know the truth.
When you give yourself to him,
you will know the truth
and the truth
will make you free.
I have to be very brief
over these last three.
I sort of jumped ahead a little bit,
but let's look at what it says
in verses 13 to 16.
What the text is not saying
is the text is not saying
that you should try
to give up any type
of an attempt
to control the future
and God's goal for you
is to be...
You know those old-fashioned
pinball machines?
You know where you
bang off a ball
and it goes around
and then all the bumpers
move it around?
The Bible is not saying
that the goal of the Christian life
is to be like a ball
knocked around
by all the bumpers
where somebody else
controls the flippers.
That's not what it's saying at all.
But let's listen
to what it says.
Verse 13.
Who is wise
and understanding among you?
By his good conduct
let him show his works
in the meekness of wisdom.
Oh, sorry.
I'm reading the wrong verse 13.
It would be helpful
if I wrote the right...
Sorry.
Those were good verses
as well in chapter 3.
Chapter 4, verse 13.
Come now,
you who say
today or tomorrow
we will go into
such and such a town
and spend a year there
and trade
and make a profit.
Yet you do not know
what tomorrow will bring.
What is your life?
For you are a mist
or a vapor
that appears for a little time
and then vanishes.
Instead you ought to say
if the Lord wills
we will live
and do this or that.
As it is
you boast in your arrogance
all such boasting
is evil.
Now,
very briefly,
since we last met
I've had two friends die.
A week ago,
tonight,
my friend Ron Bales died
suddenly and unexpectedly.
And then this just passed
this Monday
another friend of mine,
Randy Jost,
the long-time minister
at the Met,
he died.
And even though
we knew he was sick
it was still a bit of a shock.
Why is it that
Canadians are bothered
if I remind them
that they will die?
You're going to die.
So will I.
Why is it that
Canadians
are bothered
if I say to you,
you know,
you have no guarantee
that you'll live
to be 80 or 85 or 90.
You have zero guarantee
about that.
Why is it that
Canadians are bothered
if we say to them
you might die this afternoon,
it might be an aneurysm,
it might be a blood clot,
it might be a car accident,
it might be some horrific
act of murder
by some crazed,
deranged person
with a gun.
Why is it that
we are bothered
by that?
The fact of the matter
is,
is that Canadians
have a very,
very hard time
imagining how to answer
this text
because Canadians
are addicted
to the type of
arrogant belief
they control
the future
that this text
is talking about.
You want to know
a perfect example
about that
is you just look
at the opinion polls
and you look
at politics
in Canada.
What has COVID
taught us?
COVID taught us
that on January 1st,
2020,
nobody knew,
nobody knew
that the entire
economy and world
was going to be
completely and utterly
transformed
in people's lives.
Their religious freedoms
were going to be suppressed.
Their abilities
to gather
were going to be
taken away.
that thousands
of people
would die.
Nobody knew
that on January 1st,
2020,
right?
I mean,
that's a common place.
But how
have we responded
to the fact
that it has been
revealed to us,
one,
that people will die?
I'm not being callous,
I'm just trying
to get us to think,
why is it that
we Canadians,
after it's been
unbelievably
powerfully revealed
to us
that we do not know
what's going to happen
in the future
and that people die,
and what's the response
of Canadians?
A greater control
of the future.
Whoa,
whoa,
one second.
COVID-19 just showed
that we have no control
of the future
and know about it.
And yet,
how's our response?
Well,
I'm not being political here.
You take the liberal budget
and I know the NDP,
they'd add a couple
of dozen billion dollars
to it.
And I know the conservatives,
they'd say,
well,
be conservatives
and we're going to just
knock it down 10 billion,
but all of the parties
all double down
on a belief
that they know the future
and they can control
the future
and they can control
interest rates
and they can control
all these other things
that happen.
We double down on it.
It bothers us
that the government
cannot control
the vaccines.
It cannot.
So rather than just saying,
you know,
we need to be a little bit
more humble and loose
about the fact
that our control
of the future,
we double down on it.
It's like an alcoholic
who thinks the solution
to the fact
that they only have
a bit of a buzz
after four drinks
is to have eight drinks.
Or the person who says,
well,
I don't know,
just smoke and marijuana
hasn't dealt with my problems.
I guess I need to add
some other drugs to it.
Like,
rather than saying,
maybe there's a problem here,
we double down on it
because we don't want
to acknowledge
that people die.
We don't want to acknowledge,
I don't want to acknowledge,
you don't want to acknowledge
it,
you die.
And Canadians,
you know,
four years ago this summer,
I got the great privilege
to be invited
to go to Angola
and to be part of SIM
for a short while
and do some teaching.
And so,
there's a local church
that wanted me
to do a morning of teaching,
like about three or four hours.
And so,
they wanted me to speak
for three to four hours
and lead some discussions,
right,
for three to four hours,
okay?
And so,
you know,
I try to find out
before I go
what they'd like me to do,
no answer.
I get there
and I'm still two more weeks
before I ask
what I want to do
and there's still no answer.
Monday before,
no answer.
Wednesday before,
no answer.
Thursday before,
why don't you come
meet me in my office
tomorrow morning
about what you're going
to do on Saturday?
And I sent a blog
back to the church
and said,
Angolan Christians
are very Angolan.
But then again,
Canadian Christians
are very Canadian.
I mean,
I guess in one level,
in Angola,
there's all these things
that kill you
and people have
a lower life expectancy
and you don't know
when all of a sudden
there's going to be
a gas ration
and it doesn't mean
that they'd like
to have some type
of control
but there's just
so many things
in that world
that just go wrong.
And maybe there's
some other,
just some very,
very good virtues
as well
in their temperament
and they could maybe
look at us
and laugh
at our,
maybe both laugh
and feel pity
at North America.
It's hard for us
to imagine
how this
is not the way
to live.
Just a couple
of things.
What the text
is saying
is that we Christians,
and this is the way
of wisdom,
it is not a bad thing
to remember
that you are mortal
because you are mortal.
and it's not a bad thing
to remind you
that you literally
do not know
what's going to happen
tomorrow.
You literally do not.
But at the same time
as being a human being
there needs to be
some planting,
there needs to be
some planting.
If I want to enjoy
tomatoes
from my garden
in August,
you've got to plant
the seeds.
You can't just
do nothing
and expect there
to be garden.
So what the Bible
is saying
is something like this,
that we need to,
in a sense,
meditate upon
these truths
to get a type
of healthy balance,
a wise balance
to having a beautiful life.
That only the triune God
is sovereign
and omniscient.
Only he is.
You are vapor.
You had a beginning.
You'll have an end.
You have not lived forever.
You aren't eternal.
You aren't everlasting.
And life
is always too short.
That only the triune God
is sovereign
and omniscient.
You are vapor.
You do not know
or control the future.
And for a Christian,
and this is the profound
comfort of this text,
you are in the palm
of his hand.
You are in the palm
of his hand.
You are in the palm
of the hand
of the one
who does know
the future.
You are in the palm
of the hand
of the one
who is for you,
not against you.
You are in the palm
of the hand
of the one
who,
as the Bible says,
if you humble yourself,
he will exalt you.
That God
gives more grace.
He opposes the proud
but gives grace
to the humble.
And in the context
of remembering regularly
that only the triune God
is sovereign
and omniscient,
that you are vapor,
that you do not know
or control the future,
that you are in his hand
with love,
it is in that context
that you build
and plan
and grow.
Because God
wants us to grow.
He wants us
to plan.
He wants us
to think about
our retirement.
He wants us
to do these things.
But to do it humbly
under the power
of God.
Just want to,
you know,
so much anxiety
in life comes
from thinking
that you control
the future.
that you have
to know everything.
That so much
of your anxiety
comes because
you constantly
seek to be a god
or a goddess.
And your anxiety
is only doubled
because you're
with others
seeking to be gods
and goddesses
and you don't all agree
because you can only
be one god,
only be one goddess.
And so this
biblical text
is a profound
invitation for you
to understand
that there is
a moral order,
that there really
is right and wrong,
that God is for you,
that he loves you,
that he really
loves you vastly
beyond what you
can imagine,
that he reaches
his hand of love
out for you,
that you would
take his hand
and you can't
reach his hand
but his hand
can reach you
and he will reach
you and hold you
and he will make
you his child
by adoption and grace
and then you can
live into eternity,
into the everlasting
life knowing
that he loves you,
that you're in the
palm of his hand.
And it is from
that posture
being in the palm
of his hand
that we are to
look at the world
to see how we
can bless it,
to see how we
can share the gospel,
to see how we
can plan the tomatoes,
plan our families,
plan our finances,
plan our generosity.
There is no wiser
place to live
than in the palm
of his hand.
Let's pray.
Father, we ask
that you would
pour the Holy Spirit
upon us with
might and power
and deep conviction
that for any
who have not
yet had that
move to give
themselves to
Jesus, that even
now you would
help them,
Father, to humble
themselves, to give
themselves to Jesus,
that he might be
their Savior and
Lord.
And Father, for
those of us who
call Jesus as Savior
and Lord, we
recommit to you,
we remember once
again why it is
that you are so
beautiful, that you
are so good.
It is so good,
Father, to be
reminded that you
are for us,
that you love us,
that Jesus died
for us, that we
are in the hollow
of your hand, that
we are safe there,
that we can deal
with the valley of
the shadow of death
when we are in the
palm of your hand,
that we can plan
for the future, we
can fight against
injustice, we can be
generous, we can
start to set aside
our sin and idol-based
identities to get
that identity that
you desire to give
us, that is the
longing of our hearts
that goes into all
of eternity.
Child, your child,
your child, your
friend, Father, we
give you thanks so
much for Jesus, and
we ask that you would
grip us again with the
truth of the gospel, and
all God's people said,
Amen.