You know, this is just a really good time to remember how blessed we are to live in this city.
When I was in Angola a year ago, when I arrived in Angola, the power was all out in that part of Lubangu, which is where I was.
I was there for just over two weeks by the invitation of SIM to do some teaching.
And every single day that I was in Lubangu, there was not a single day when there was not a power outage for a significant number of hours.
And that's just normal life there. That's just normal life. You don't have power all the time.
And we just take it for granted. And so it's just one of those things that we should be thankful for, that we have a power grid.
And it connects to the fact, which is sort of my next point, is that, you know, we have just normal, ordinary desires that are just very good desires.
And it's good to work to help meet the ordinary human desires of our community to seek to be a blessing in the city.
Switching more specifically to my sermon, I grew up in a Christian house.
But in some ways, it was growing up in a Christian house that made it hard for me to become a Christian.
And part of that was because I was very familiar with the Christian culture.
And I didn't like Christian culture.
I didn't want, I thought if I had to become a Christian, I had to sort of like the Christian culture that I saw,
which was as a child and as a teenager, it was the only Christian culture I knew.
And I didn't like the music. I didn't like the way they dressed.
I didn't like how they wanted me to spend my time.
I just didn't like a whole lot of it.
And I wanted to sort of be part of a different culture.
And it was a real problem for me.
It felt as if I was going to have to sort of kiss my normal desires that I had for how I wanted to live my life goodbye
and sort of force myself to do something that didn't fit.
And it's a very common concern that people have that if they're going to become a follower of Jesus,
that there's a whole pile of things that they desire, that they like, that they just have to get rid of.
Because God's going to say, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
And our life will seem smaller rather than bigger as a result of giving our lives to Jesus.
And this very ancient story that we're going to look at actually talks about human desires in a very, very interesting way
and helps us to understand what it means to follow Jesus, even though it's a story set 1100 B.C.
So if you have your Bibles, turn in them to Ruth chapter 3, Ruth 3.
And we're going to also have the text up on the screen for those who don't have your Bibles
or just find it easier to follow along like that.
And if you're a guest here this morning, here's a little thing about this.
So this is a story set around 1100 B.C.
We don't know exactly when it was written.
And the way to understand this story is a little bit like if you watch Netflix
and you get something which has been made specifically for Netflix
or maybe something like from Europe, you know, where they have shorter series
and the series all stands together as one.
And so this is like a four episode series.
And we've looked at episode one and two.
Today we're looking at episode three.
And next week we look at episode four.
And each episode sort of stands alone, but it's all part of four episodes that make up a big story.
And in the first episode, what we saw, we were introduced to a man by the name of Elimelech
and his wife Naomi and their two sons, Malon and Kilian,
and how they had to leave Bethlehem.
Ironically, they had to leave the house of bread because there was no bread in the house of bread.
It was a famine.
And so they go to a place which was a traditional enemy of Israel.
And while there, all of their dreams come to an end.
Elimelech dies.
The two sons marry.
After more than 10 years of marriage, the sons die.
There's no children.
And all it is is just tragedy after tragedy after tragedy.
And by the end of the story, Naomi says, you can't call me Naomi anymore because that means pleasant.
Call me Mara, which means bitter.
And she delivers two sort of rants against God.
And that's episode one.
Episode two we looked at last week.
In episode two, as I said last week, in some ways it's a little bit like a rom-com.
A bit of a shock after a whole series of tragedies and complaints and bitterness against God.
And here we see Ruth, who's a woman who's introduced in the first episode.
One of Naomi's sons marries Ruth in Moab.
And so she's a Moabitess.
And Ruth and Naomi have come back to Israel.
And Ruth, in a sense, is an economic migrant.
And Naomi has come home because there's prosperity back in Israel.
And what we see in the last episode is that things start to turn for the better for Naomi and for Ruth.
Through Ruth going to work in the field.
And by a chance encounter, she comes across Boaz.
And that's the beginning of a turnaround in Ruth and Naomi's life.
This chance encounter.
And if you remember last week, I shared how in the original language, when it says that they happened by chance, it says,
By chance they chanced.
And you can't capture it in English, but in the original language, it's a literary device to say the opposite.
It would be as if I said, by chance, this happened.
Right?
With all the hand gestures to let you know that it's not by chance.
That it's by providence.
That God has been working anonymously.
But present and with power in this situation.
And now we come to episode three.
And here's how it goes.
Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, that's Ruth's mother-in-law, said to her,
My daughter, should I not seek rest for you that it may be well with you?
And just sort of pause.
In the original language, it's literally the place of rest.
And so what Naomi is saying to Ruth is, listen, you need a place of rest.
You don't just need a nap.
You need a place of rest.
She's really saying what you need is you need some security.
You need some financial security, some emotional security, some physical security.
And in the context, we'll talk about this a little bit more.
She's saying you need a husband.
And Naomi says, Ruth, that's what you need.
You're still a young woman, and that's what you need.
So verse two, she says, Naomi's still speaking.
It's not Boaz, our relative, with whose young women you were with.
See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor.
Wash, therefore, and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak, and go down to the threshing
floor.
But do not make yourself known to the man until he is finished eating and drinking.
But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies.
Then go and uncover his feet, and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.
And she replied, all that you say I will do.
Now, just pause here.
These few verses that I just read, if you read an academic commentary, a huge, way, way more
time than you'd think was spent on this.
Like, there's probably about four times more work done on these few verses than all the
rest of the chapter.
Why?
Well, one of the things is that in the Old Testament, the word feet is sometimes used
when they want to refer to a man's sexual member.
I didn't know that before I read the commentaries either.
In other words, they don't want to come out and just say it, so it's a type of a polite
way to talk about a man's sexual member.
And so, there's a lot of commentaries about what's actually, what is Naomi actually telling
Ruth to do here in this situation.
So, if you want to read pages and pages of academic commentary, you can go and do it,
but I'll just tell you this very briefly.
Sometimes feet is a way of referring to a man's sexual member, and sometimes it's just
talking about feet.
And in this case, it's actually just talking about feet.
And it has to do, there's a, you don't want to know all the literature.
Literary geeks, find an academic commentary.
You can look it up and you can geek out over verb tenses and constructions and nouns connected
to other stuff.
But basically, there's a lot of stuff that goes on.
Naomi doesn't say to Ruth, dress provocatively.
And some commentaries, believe it or not, some preachers will say that Naomi has told
Ruth to get dressed in a wedding gown and go and do this, trying to make it sound more
pure.
It's just a cloak.
In fact, the word that she urges Ruth to, the piece of clothing that Naomi tells Ruth to
wear is basically sort of like a poncho.
It's a heavy outer garment that if you don't have a blanket, you can use as a blanket to
sleep in.
So she's not saying get sexually provocatively dressed.
She's not saying go in proposition or try to hook up with Boaz or tempt him, nothing
like that.
Something completely and utterly different is going on.
It's very, very simple.
And we're going to see what's going on in a moment.
But she says, listen, you know, it's going to be dark.
He's going to be there.
Watch where he is in sort of secret, sort of sneak up to where he is, do these actions.
And well, what's going to happen?
Let's read up verse six.
So Ruth goes down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded
her.
And when Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of
the heap of grain.
Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down.
And just sort of pause.
One of the things I like telling couples when I'm preparing them for marriage is that during
the wedding ceremony, there has to be three sober people in the room.
I mean, hopefully there's a whole room full of sober people, but there needs to be a minimum
of three sober people in the room.
The couple getting married and me.
And if everybody else in the room is under the influence of some soon to be no longer
controlled substances or alcohol, I said, then what we'll do is I'll go out to the street
corner and I'll find two sober people over the age of 18 and I'll say, could you come in
for a minute?
We need you to witness a legal document.
Because if you are drunk and you exchange vows and then sign a document afterwards, you can
say, what?
I didn't mean that.
I thought I was drunk.
So just here's the thing.
Whatever's happening now is Boaz isn't drunk.
In the original language, all it says is he's just feeling good.
He's had a good meal.
He's had an appropriate amount of an alcoholic beverage.
He's not drunk.
He is just feeling a thousand percent.
You know, for some of you, he's had quinoa and kale and chickpeas.
And for others of us, you know, he's had some juicy lamb and some quinoa and some kale because
we're going to be healthy.
So, but he's just feeling great.
That's all that's going on here.
So he's just feeling great.
He goes to lie down and he goes to sleep.
By the way, cultural context, at celebrations like this, often prostitutes would show up because
there's people flush, young men flush with cash.
But that's not what's going on here.
It's all very chaste.
So what happens?
She lays down.
She's uncovered his feet.
Verse eight.
At midnight, the man, that's Boaz, was startled and turned over, turned over, and behold,
a woman laid his feet.
He said, who are you?
And she answered, I am Ruth, your servant.
Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.
And just sort of pause here.
Now, this is a huge ask.
And you don't realize until right now the huge risk that Naomi has urged Ruth to take.
Ruth has just asked Boaz to marry him, marry her.
Spread your wings.
There's some other ways you can translate that.
If you have different versions of your Bible, it can sometimes be your covering.
More literally, it's spread your wings over your servant is an idiom for marrying me.
By idiom, you know how an idiom is when they say something which we all know what it means,
but literally it doesn't make any sense.
If I say that somebody's a few bricks shy of a load, you know, if somebody has a screw loose,
most of you know what that means.
I don't mean literally they have screws in their head and it's a little bit loose.
You know, I mean they're a bit crazy or whatever, right?
So this is an idiom.
So Ruth has just asked Boaz to marry her.
This is a huge risk.
Remember, Boaz is rich.
Ruth is poor.
Boaz is a native-born Israelite.
Ruth is an economic migrant.
Boaz is older.
Ruth is younger.
Boaz is a man.
Ruth is a woman.
Huge risk.
She's also asked that he will redeem her.
Now, we're going to talk about this a little bit more in a moment, but for some people,
this is very, very, very problematic.
Because some people might wonder, is the Bible here teaching that a woman needs a man to fix her?
Does a woman need a man to make her more complete?
Does a woman need a man to redeem her life?
Is that what the Bible is teaching here?
Well, we have to read the rest of the story.
Well, we have to read the rest of the story, but I'm going to come back to it.
If I don't come back to it, start waving your arms, which either means you have had a charismatic moment,
or you're trying to get my attention to return to the story.
So how does Boaz react?
This is a huge risk.
Huge, huge, huge, huge risk.
Even today, with far more equal relations between men and women,
I said far more, not perfect, but far more, that would be a huge risk.
Can you imagine an Iraq or a Syrian economic migrant who comes to our country and a woman?
It's still a huge risk.
So how does Boaz react?
Verse 10.
And he said, may you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter.
Just pause here.
You know, they don't say anything about it, but I bet her sweat was pouring off her palms and her underarms,
and she was probably shaking when she asked this.
And his initial response, she'll start to relax.
Because he doesn't say, how dare you?
Like, what?
Are you?
He doesn't act with disgust.
His first words are, may you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter.
Daughter here means, it's helped one of the many pieces of Edvin said he was older than her,
but it's a term of affection and care.
You have made this last kindness greater than the first.
And that you have said,
And now, my daughter, do not fear.
I will do for you all that you ask.
For all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman.
And now it is true that I am a redeemer, yet there is a redeemer nearer than I.
Remain tonight and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good.
Let him do it.
But if he is not willing to redeem you, then as the Lord lives, I will redeem you.
Lie down until the morning.
And I just sort of pause here.
This is another important thing to gather about this story.
He's not mansplaining.
He's not saying, well, you just said a few words.
I'm going to say a lot of words.
I'm going to tell you how it all works out because I'm a man and I'm smart and you're dumb.
It's not what's happening in the story.
Once again, if I don't explain it in a moment, wave your arms.
But we will talk about it in a moment.
But the main thing is, it's not mansplaining.
But it's very, very, very significant to what it means to walk with Jesus.
And it's very significant in the story.
So what does she do?
You know, verse 14, she doesn't say, you're mansplaining.
I think I take my offer back.
No, she doesn't say that.
What she does, verse 14, so she lay at his feet until morning.
But arose before anyone could recognize her.
When anyone could recognize another.
And he said, let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.
And he said, bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out.
So she held it.
And he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her.
Then she went into the city.
And just sort of pause here.
There's lots of things going on.
Basically, what he's doing is he's protecting her honor.
And he's also giving her a cover in case she stopped.
But more importantly, the fundamental thing she's doing is she goes home and it's real.
You know, Naomi will see the barley and she knows it's real.
It's not just a few words.
He's serious.
It's almost like giving a ring.
It's something which is real.
Siri thinks I'm talking to it.
Sorry.
And verse 16.
And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, how did you, the mother-in-law said, how did it fare my daughter?
Then Ruth told her all that the man had done, saying, these six measures of barley he gave me.
For he said to me, you must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.
And Naomi replied, wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out.
For the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today.
And because if you were paying attention a little bit earlier, Boaz said, there's technical problems and legal and other problems with me actually being the redeemer.
However, it's a cliffhanger and you have to come back next week to find out what happens next.
So what's going on here?
Okay.
So some of you might say, okay, George, I'm going to be, let's see if you have your dancing shoes on here.
Because we all know that things in 1100 BC and so much stuff in the Bible, it's very, very, it's filled with patriarchy.
It's oppressive to women and others who weren't in positions of power.
And it sure seems as if this story is about Boaz having to redeem Ruth.
And don't you think it's a little bit insulting that in 2018 in a city like this, right beside a university, that some type of a story like this would even be read?
It seems to be teaching that women have to be passive.
They have to be dependent upon men.
They find their identity in a man.
And don't you think this is just not an appropriate story?
Why on earth would you read it in a story today?
Okay.
By the way, these are all great questions.
Every single one of those is a great question.
So part of it, before we actually look at a little bit of trying to understand this Redeemer thing, I mentioned this the first week.
I'm going to say it again.
Actually, could you all turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 24?
Luke, those of you have Bibles.
It's not going to be on the screen, unfortunately, but Luke chapter 24 and verses 25 to 27.
Luke chapter 24, verses 25 to 27.
And in the flow of the book of Luke, this is after Jesus has risen from that he's died on the cross.
He's been buried.
And on the third day, he's risen from the dead.
And it's a series of resurrection encounters where Jesus is showing people that he's fully alive.
And in this particular encounter, in the road to Emmaus, he talks to two disciples.
And in them, he says, in verse 25, he said to them,
Oh, foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?
And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
That's really important.
Moses and the prophets is one of the ways that you say what we would call the Old Testament,
what Jewish people call the Tanakh, all of the 39 books written before Jesus.
And Jesus is saying to the disciples,
Listen, in all of the Old Testament, it's all about me, all about my life, my death on the cross, my resurrection.
And in verse 27, in beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself,
in all of the scriptures.
So that means for us, the reason I'm saying this is why do we read a story set in 1100 BC?
We read it because Jesus told us to.
That's why I read it, because Jesus told me to.
And Jesus said, when I read these stories, when he said that the stories all refer to him,
what it's saying is that in a particular sense, Jesus is deconstructing the Old Testament.
And what I mean by deconstructing, there's sort of two senses of deconstructing.
I mean the sense that he's helping us to reinterpret it.
So that if we read an Old Testament text and say, oh, it teaches patriarchy,
it teaches that we should uphold patriarchy,
it teaches that a woman needs a man to be a full woman,
or a woman needs to be married to be a full...
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Jesus has deconstructed the Old Testament.
He said we have to read the Old Testament always within the perspective
that it's helping us to understand who Jesus is,
what he did for us on the cross, and what it means to follow him.
That's always going to be the context.
It's about Jesus.
So if that's the case, then what on earth is going on with the story?
If you could put up the first point, that would be wonderful.
In the Old Testament, so it's said in 1100 BC,
everything in the story assumes that there's only five books of what we now call the Bible,
which would be known to people, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
And in those five books, there's a very powerful idea taught, the idea of the Redeemer.
And the thing about a Redeemer is the Redeemer owns your insoluble problems
and works on them until they are made right.
That's what a Redeemer does.
A Redeemer owns your insoluble problems.
Notice, owns your insoluble, unsolvable problems
and works on them until they are made right.
I can't solve certain problems.
A Redeemer comes and works on them until they're made right.
And they own the problem.
You see, you and I don't need a rock star.
And most of the time, we don't need a guru.
We don't need a consultant.
We don't need a coach.
Sometimes we need a Redeemer.
You know, off and on, those of you who come to our church for very long,
you know there's all sorts of things we don't know do very well.
I used to joke that if you don't like organized religion,
come to Church of the Messiah
because we're not really always very organized as we should be.
But one of the things that happens sometimes
is that some people, they see a problem
and they come and they give me a written report
and advice about how to fix it.
Once I had an 18-page report.
Another time, I had a 16-page report.
Normally, they're shorter than that.
And they come, and with a great sense of accomplishment,
they come and they put it on my table and say,
George, you read and follow all of these things
and the problem will be solved
and then they walk away feeling very virtuous.
And I take it and throw it in the garbage
because it's completely and utterly worthless.
The reason it's worthless is I don't need a consultant.
I need somebody to roll up their sleeves and say,
George, I know how to fix this
and I know that you can't fix it
and I'm going to own the problem.
I'm going to own the problem.
I'm going to help you to get it done.
I'm going to help to teach you how to get it done.
I'm going to coach, but I'm not just going to coach and help.
I'm going to get it done.
I'm going to own the problem.
See, a consultant doesn't own the problem.
They own the paycheck after the problem.
I'm not putting down those of you
who are blessed to have jobs as a consultant.
And sometimes consultants are, in fact,
very, very helpful.
I'm not knocking consultants.
I'm just saying that there are sometimes some issues
where you don't need a few new ideas,
you don't need a little bit of help.
You need somebody to roll up their sleeves
and work on a problem you cannot solve by yourself
until it's solved.
And that's what Boaz does for Ruth.
He says, if I am not, you will be redeemed.
And that's what he does.
He says to her, he says, listen,
I understand you have debt issues, property issues,
ownership issues, financial issues, status issues.
And because you are an economic migrant from another country,
you can't solve those things.
I'm going to own your problem.
And so that's why in the text, he's not mansplaining.
Because you see, if he said, I'm going to own your problem,
and then afterwards he said, oh, by the way, what's your problem?
You'd go, oh, gosh.
I got a dork, not a redeemer.
Like I got a clueless person.
The fact that he knows what's going on isn't the mansplaining.
And it's not making a general comment about the relationship of men or women.
In fact, you think about it, that's exactly,
this helps you and me to understand what it is that Jesus does for us.
If you could put up the next point.
I mean, this is really hard news.
But, you know, the fact of the matter is,
is that you are separated from the Lord.
And you are dying.
I mean, the second you are born, you begin to die.
You get older, you get better looking and stronger and richer
and all that type of stuff.
But the fact of the matter is, is that you're born mortal.
And mortal means you will die.
And the Bible says that physical death is a constant reminder
of the spiritual truth that we are separated from God
and cannot fix that problem ourselves.
And you and I are separated from the Lord.
You and I, we are dying.
And you and I, we cannot fix this.
And Jesus is the Redeemer.
Call out to him with humble, penitent trust,
and he will be your Redeemer.
Why is he the Redeemer?
He's God's provision.
It is God owning my problem and yours.
It's not God's problem.
It's my problem and yours.
And when you understand in the New Testament that Jesus is called the Redeemer,
this story helps you to understand what exactly that means.
That Jesus says, I will do everything that has to be done
because you cannot solve this problem yourself,
and I will do everything that has to be done
to make it right.
And that's what he does.
His sinless life.
His death upon the cross.
His tasting all there is to taste of death without anything left over.
His resurrection.
His ascension.
His coming again.
His dealing with the just penalty of our sins.
His perfect life standing for ours.
His defeat of death, which he shares with ours.
He does everything that has to be done that we cannot do ourselves.
And humble, penitent trust doesn't mean groveling.
It just means to come to that point where we say to Jesus,
I can't fix this.
I need a Redeemer.
And the wonderful news of the Gospel is that there's no one here so rich or powerful
that they do not need a Redeemer.
And there is no one here so passed over or so broken
that Jesus will pass over you.
We will not need a single person ever in our lives
who are so passed over or forgotten or derided
that Jesus will not be their Redeemer.
And that's what this story is opening up to us.
Well, some of you might say,
George, I can see how this sort of fits about the Redeemer.
But, you know, George, I don't know if you got it straight.
Doesn't it seem as if this is really all about Ruth doing it herself?
Like, God isn't even mentioned in this story, George.
Like, Ruth is the one who takes the risk.
And Ruth is the gutsy one.
And Ruth and Naomi, they're the ones who figure out the strategy.
Like, it's going to be really dark and we won't know where Boaz lies down.
So sort of, you know, take a hiding place and just watch where he goes to lie down
and keep track of him and then sneak in after people are sleeping and do all that.
It seems like it's all Ruth and Naomi taking the risk and doing everything like this.
But don't you think the story is a little bit more about telling us
to sort of do all that type of stuff?
Well, that's...
Here's the thing.
Last week, I shared with you...
Remember, and I did it at the introduction.
I said how when in chapter 2 it goes,
by chance, they chanced.
In other words, it's a literary device to let you know
that this is going to be a story about God's providence.
And it's introduced in chapter 2, not in chapter 1.
It's not as if by God's providence,
if God caused all these terrible things to happen,
that the solution to the Christian problem of evil
isn't that God does all the evil things, by the way, and the good things.
No, the issue of providence is brought in
after Naomi blasts God for being a terrible God
and ruining her life.
Naomi blasts God.
And remember I shared how rather than God,
the Lord erasing Naomi's complaint,
he caused it to be written in Scripture so we hear it.
It's an invitation for us to be honest to God
when things are just going really, really crappy.
And this idea of providence comes in,
and there's a bookend because when you're next week,
you're a bit of a spoiler alert,
but at the very end,
it emphasizes how God's providence has been working for 700 years.
This is a story about God's providence.
And providence just means that God acts anonymously.
He is present anonymously in our lives.
And he's present anonymously, but with power in our lives
because providence is all about God leaving you and me space.
Well, why does he leave a space?
Let me tell you.
If God, with even a zillionth of his glory,
appeared right here, right now,
or a spectacular miracle appeared here, right now,
what happens?
It sucks the air out of the room.
There's no space.
There's just the force of God's presence
hammering you like this.
And there is no space for a personal response of faith.
And in fact is that the main way that God relates to human beings
is anonymously,
through his providence,
his presence,
acting.
It's through providence
that Naomi and Ruth
and their trust in God's providence
that they come upon a world planet.
It is through providence that Boaz is predisposed
to say yes,
just as it was by providence that they met.
And here's the thing.
If you could put up the next point,
that would be very helpful.
The gospel will shape you
to live under the Lord's providence
without passivity
or presumption.
The gospel will shape you
to live under the Lord's providence
without passivity
being overly passive
or presumption.
You see,
once we understand
that Jesus is the Redeemer
who takes our insoluble problem
and works on it
until it's made right
and that on one hand
we now have this secure identity
with God,
a secure identity
that even though
I'm going to screw up
and I'm going to do
all these terrible things
and I'm not going to live
a perfect life
but I have this secure identity
that's given to me
as a gift by grace
and that the Redeemer
doesn't just sort of say,
okay,
oh yeah,
okay,
I got George done that
with conversion.
I'm going to go off
and no,
no,
he now continues to work
in my life through providence.
He never lets me go.
He never abandons me.
There's a security there
to trust
that through even
the circumstances
of my life
that God can still be at work
and as the gospel grips us,
it teaches us
that we shouldn't be passive
but we also shouldn't be presumptuous.
By passive,
it means that,
well,
I need a job
and I'm going to just trust
in God's providence
so I'm going to sit
playing PlayStation
and eating potato chips
until that job
as the head of the CBC
is given to me
because they call me
out of the blue.
That's not understanding
God's providence.
God's providence
gives you security
to act and take risks
but it's also not saying
that providence
is a Christian superpower.
We don't have superpowers.
if you're a Christian.
So you can't say,
well,
because of God's providence,
I'm going to jump off
the edge of this building
because under God's providence
nothing bad will happen to me.
No,
that's presumption.
Do we get things wrong?
Sometimes are we too passive?
Sometimes are we presumptuous?
Yes.
That's why we need a redeemer.
But as the gospel shapes us
and we start to understand
that God is present
and powerful in our lives
anonymously
through strangers,
through circumstances
that he hasn't left us
or abandoned us
as we start to understand
that this is my father's world,
this is God's world,
if as that grips us,
it allows us to take risks.
It allows us to step out in faith.
And even if we get it wrong,
it's not the end of the story,
it's not the end of the world.
But some of you might say,
well, George,
okay,
just,
you know,
before you leave,
that's all very,
very good,
George,
but here's the thing.
You're talking about all these
high spiritual types of things,
but look,
George,
all she wants is a husband.
All she wants is to get out of debt.
All she wants is some financial security.
All she wants is a home
that is hers.
And all she wants is maybe a baby.
Like,
she doesn't want all these highfalutin,
spiritual,
evangelistic stuff.
She just wants normal things.
And here we come right back
to the beginning of the sermon.
If you remember at the beginning of the sermon,
I don't expect you all to remember.
I'm not even sure how many of you are awake.
No,
that's an aside.
But that,
at the beginning,
I said,
you know,
one of the problems I had
with the Christian faith
is that I was very familiar
with Christian culture
and I didn't like it.
And I was worried
that if I became a Christian,
I would have to say goodbye
to a lot of the normal desires
that I thought were just normal desires.
And I had to say goodbye to them.
I had to take on these new desires.
And it just,
it was very hard for me.
It was a barrier
to be coming to faith.
So here's where this story
is very helpful.
It's precisely the ordinariness
of the desires.
If you could put up the final point,
that would be wonderful.
The Lord made you
to have ordinary desires.
And when he saves you,
he does not kill your desires.
He reorders
and purifies them.
The Lord made you
to have ordinary desires.
And when he saves you,
he does not kill your desires.
He reorders
and purifies them.
You see,
what happens is,
unlike in mysticism
and unlike in religion
and unlike in spirituality,
in religion and spirituality,
what you have to do
is you have to purify yourself,
purify yourself,
cleanse yourself,
deny yourself,
go through rituals,
do all of this
and all of this
and all of this.
And maybe at the end of it,
you eventually have union with God.
And the Bible says
none of that's going to work.
You need a redeemer.
You've got to begin with union.
And that only comes as a gift.
And out of union
that comes out of a gift,
then the gospel starts
to shape you,
to trust him,
to shape your identity
and to shape your desires.
And you're shaped
out of gratitude.
You're shaped
out of security.
You're drawn
and propelled
to change
out of security,
out of grace,
out of generosity,
out of love,
out of mercy.
And that's what shapes you.
And so the gospel
comes to you
and then change.
And the gospel,
what happens
is that the Holy Spirit
applies the gospel
to deeper and deeper levels
of our heart
so we start
to be able to change.
And some of you might say,
but George,
doesn't the Bible say
you've got to crucify the flesh,
you've got to pick up your cross
and follow him.
And are you saying
that all desires are good?
And here,
I'm just going to take a moment,
I'm going to,
like there's an elephant
in the room,
are you saying
that gay desires are good?
Are you saying
transgender desires are good?
And what about terrorists
and their desire
to kill people?
Are you saying
that all desires are good?
If you had thought
of that question,
that means that's a great question.
It really is.
It's a really good question.
You have to come back
next week
and we'll answer it.
No, just joking.
Just very, very,
very, very briefly.
So here's the thing.
Those things are in the Bible
about crucifying the flesh
and picking up your cross.
But we need to think
about two different things.
First of all,
some desires that we have
are idols.
That's why I said
in my point up there
that the Lord
is going to reorder
your desires.
And by that I mean
there's nothing wrong
for a young man
or a young woman
to have ambition
to want to be able
to get a good job.
That's completely fine.
But it's not fine
if all of a sudden
getting more and more
promotions
and more and more money
starts to become
bigger and bigger
and bigger part
of your life.
that desire
has gotten disordered.
It's gone out of order.
It's become an idol.
It's become a god.
And one of the things
that the gospel starts to do
is it starts to put
your order,
your desires
in some type of order
with the desire
for God first
and having a proper desire
for others
and having desires
to be generous
and hospitable
which is a natural
human desire
to be generous.
But if you get so consumed
and make an idol
out of money
then that normal desire
for generosity
completely and utterly
dies in you.
And so what the gospel does
the Holy Spirit
as the Holy Spirit
applies the gospel
to your life
your desires start
to be reordered
and put in a proper order
so you're free.
Not so you don't have
any desires
but so you're free.
I put to death
idols
and idolatrous desires
inordinate desires
but not normal desires
to be able to make
enough money
to eat
and to live
and have a roof
over my head.
The Lord doesn't kill those.
And the other aspect
of it is
is that he purifies them
because the problem
isn't the desire
but the object
of the desire.
The problem
isn't the desire
the problem
is the object
of the desire.
And often connected
with idolatry
but he purifies them
as well.
You see
it's a normal
human desire
a proper desire
to feel at peace
with your body.
To feel at peace
with your body.
To be at home
with it.
And that's a hard thing
for almost everybody here.
Lots of us
we're not at home
with our body
because our body
is too skinny
it's too fat
it's too young
it's too old
not enough hair
too much hair
loosen the hair
wish I had hair.
That's separate
from other
I don't want to be
trivial about it
but it's also
connected to
the whole problem
of I don't feel
like I'm a man
and I feel like
I'm something else
and I have desire
listen
the Lord
it's a natural
very proper desire
to feel at home
in your body
and the wisdom
of the body
because the Bible
is deeply
in favor of the body
but my normal desire
you see what the Bible
will do
is for those of us
who struggle
with feeling
as if we're not
the gender
that our biology is
is that the gospel
starts to shape you
it will start to heal you
to love your body
and love who you are
and come to peace
with it
and it's a natural
thing to desire
sexual intimacy
and the Lord
will start to either
shape you
to be
to realize
that most
of us
spend a large part
of our lives
not in a sexual
partnership
many never
enter into it
and many
are in it
just for a season
but their husband
or their wife
dies before
they do
and they spend
many many years
single
and the ordering
of desires
is there's
other things
which are higher
and there's ways
of coming to the Lord
and crying out to him
for those unfulfilled desires
but more importantly
is that
at some point in time
in your discipleship
the ordering
of your desire
what it is
that you long for
will fit
with what your body is
because it's part
of God's good creation
for you
and so you see
this text
in the very
ordinariness
of desires
like Buddhism
would say
desire is the problem
religion
and spirituality
of almost
every stripe
says that a key part
to being godly
is to kill your desires
but we see here
a celebration
of ordinary desires
which is good
because
you and me
having a body
isn't a mistake
it's not an error
it's not something
we have to get over
and the gospel
shapes us
to have our identity
in him
and to start to learn
to be at peace
with our body
could you all
stand please
I know I've said
some controversial things
I'm fine with pushback
but the main thing is
I just want you to
understand this
as we go
our different way
is that
the big thing here
is this story
is helping us
to understand
who Jesus is
that he comes
to you today
as the redeemer
that's who he comes
to you as
the redeemer
your big
insoluble problem
he will be
your redeemer
and you have
other lesser
but still
very important
insoluble
problems
and he will be
your redeemer
and if you have not
given your life
to Christ
there's no better
time now
than to call out
to him
and say
Jesus
be my redeemer
I humbly
just be my redeemer
and for those of us
who are dealing
with some
very insoluble
problems
the bible here
is inviting us
to call out
to him
and say
Lord
you have been
my redeemer
and the big thing
and the eternal thing
I have this anger
problem
I have this greed
problem
I have this lack
of generosity
problem
I have this
workaholism problem
I really need
your help
please be my redeemer
there's no better
time than now
to call out to him
and do that business
with the Lord
let's pray
Father
thank you
that you are
gentle with us
thank you
that you do
shake us
grab us
by the shirt
and shake us
sometimes
but that you are
you are kind
you are good
and we thank you
that Jesus
has come to redeem
Father
you know
those insoluble
problems
going on
in our lives
right now
you know
it better
than we do
and we just
invite and give
you permission
to come
and work
in us
in a powerful
and deep way
to apply the gospel
to our lives
that we might know
that you are
the redeemer
and we ask
Father
especially
because I brought
it up
that you help
us to be
at home
in our body
that you heal
us
in our embodied
existence
and that's really
Father
I know that
for many of us
that's a complicated
multifaceted prayer
but we just
thank you
that you will
not leave us
you will not
abandon us
you will not
forsake
give up on us
that you will
redeem us
and so we ask
you to come
and be our
redeemer
and this we ask
in the name
of Jesus
your son
and our
savior
amen