Okay, here we go.
Do you know when you're reading, how do you feel?
Let me just ask you, how do you feel when you hear that Genesis 3 account being read?
It's worth thinking about that, though, just reflecting on that.
How does that make you feel?
Because there's something about that account, it's just absurd, isn't it?
Why? Why did you do it?
And there's something about the way that the Bible speaks about sin
that confronts us with that unanswered why question.
We're left thinking, this makes no sense.
It's absurd.
It's anti-rational in every possible way.
And there's something about that in this account in Genesis 3.
It's hugely explanatory of so much of what we experience in this world, of course.
And that's why we're going to spend a little bit of time on it
and just unpack it a little bit further.
What we want to do is just talk a bit about the text
and some of the features of sin and what it is and what it does.
Look at the extent of it.
Think a little bit about why the extent of it,
and talking about that actually paradoxically is good news.
And then think a little bit about some of the cultural factors
in this cultural moment that take aspects of this sin,
this problem, and amplify it
so that we can begin to relate that to this moment that we're living in.
I mean, it doesn't take a genius.
Yes, these are just a bunch of photos of ugliness, really.
It really doesn't take much of a genius
to say that things are not the way that they're supposed to be.
How else do we talk about stuff that goes on in the world?
I think about Only a Stone's Throw from Here
was where I did one of my first ever funerals.
Preached at a funeral
for very dear friends of mine
whose daughter had been born at 26 weeks
and only lasted a matter of a couple of hours after birth.
What do you say in those circumstances?
Tough?
It's always been like this?
These things happen?
Because they do, right?
It has pretty much always been like this.
These things do happen.
Get over it.
I wouldn't recommend that as a preaching strategy
or a pastoral strategy in those kind of situations.
Really, the only thing I could say,
and it was taking that passage from Revelation 21,
was this is not the way it's supposed to be.
It wasn't meant to be like this.
It wasn't created to be like this,
as broken as this.
And therefore, the way that we feel about it,
the anger that we feel,
the indignation at the wrong,
the sorrow, the lamenting,
the howling grief,
is right and proper.
It's a proportionate, proper, right response
to things being broken.
And you know, that response that we have
makes no sense
if things have always just been this way.
This is one of the reasons that,
in fact, the problem of suffering
or the problem of evil
is much more of a problem for the atheist
than it is for the Christian.
Intellectually, it's really hard
to give an account
of why we should have a problem with it
if there is no absolute outside of ourselves,
if there is no way it's supposed to be.
Where on earth does that come from?
Otherwise, it's just,
has always been like this.
Suffering is nature,
red and tooth and claw,
so why should we have a problem with it?
We have a problem with it
because it's not the way it's supposed to be.
It's marred.
It's twisted out of shape.
It's, and this is to use Augustine's picture,
it is humankind curved in upon itself.
Think about that as a way of thinking
about what sin is,
just for a second or two.
I'm going to focus very much
on the concept here of autonomy.
Autonomy, a word that's used
frequently in our cultural context,
but autonomos, self-law.
You know, we decide ourselves.
We're in charge ourselves.
So the key concept I want us to get a hold of,
and it's almost certainly
where we're going to go tomorrow
in the morning,
is that at the heart of the way
that the Bible's seeing this,
is that if you like,
life is intended to have God himself
on the throne and ruling,
and us on his behalf
reflecting that good reign and rule
to those around about us.
And that this gets disordered
when we throw God off,
when we push him aside,
and when we push him aside
and take his place on that seat,
on that throne instead,
this autonomy, this,
as Augustine then said,
self-curved in upon self.
Instead of loving God and loving others,
we curve in instead.
That idea then of autonomy,
of this thrusting of God aside,
and the putting of ourselves in place,
is exactly what we're seeing
in this account in Genesis.
The temptation to the woman,
it starts with what?
Did God really say?
Question about his word.
How, by the way,
was Eve to know what God had said?
If you read through the,
we didn't read it this morning,
but if you read through Genesis 2,
you'll see Adam created first,
and God's mandate,
God's instructions to Adam
about where he's not to eat
are given before Eve is created
in that account in Genesis 2.
So how's she meant to know
what she can and can't eat?
Because Adam's meant to tell her, right?
And so if she gets it wrong,
at least in part,
we can ask whose fault is that?
And where is Adam, by the way,
when she's being tempted?
Did you notice that
as we read that?
It's right there with her.
Right there with her.
Like a big numpty saying nothing,
if you like.
It's fascinating.
But the temptation,
did God say a doubt
about God's goodness?
Is God really good?
Can you really trust him?
As one of the Puritan authors said,
that in every sin,
there is atheism.
In every sin,
there is a doubt about God
and his goodness.
And really, that's the case.
It's a question.
Is he good enough that I can trust?
But the temptation goes beyond that for Eve.
It goes beyond that to,
if you eat this,
you will be like God.
Fundamentally,
we see in Genesis 3
a rejection of creatureliness,
a rejection of our place in creation
as creatures under the Creator,
given a place and a task,
a mandate,
a glorious gift of life
as creatures.
And the temptation,
no, no, no,
you can be like God.
A rejection of creatureliness.
Now,
we might say,
given the creation account
that we've just read earlier on,
that when we reject creatureliness,
we shouldn't expect things to go well.
And indeed, they don't.
They really don't.
I wonder if there's been
a cultural moment
when creatureliness
has been more rejected
at a cultural,
at a societal level
than it is being right now.
You know,
when we have,
for example,
just to take
one controversial example,
primary school kids
being told
how you feel
about yourself inside,
that,
well,
you know yourself best,
that defines reality.
And whatever you feel about that,
that's true.
But there's a rejection
of the givenness
of creatureliness,
that there's things
we don't get to decide
because we're creatures,
not the creator.
So,
this account then
is hugely explanatory
of so much
of what we then see
in our life
and in our culture right now.
There is a rebellion
in Genesis 3.
It is rooted
in a doubt
of God's goodness.
If we don't believe
that God is good,
why on earth
would we want to obey Him?
Why would we want
to be in that position?
I mean,
you know,
obedience that is just
sort of a white-knuckle
determination
to do it right
because I'm scared
of the consequences.
Augustine had something
fascinating to say
about that.
He said,
obedience to the law
that is rooted
in fear of punishment
is not obedience
at all,
he said,
because it's done
in a spirit
of servitude
instead of a spirit
of sonship.
You're doing it
like a slave
instead of a child.
And the reason
that's important
is the idea
we introduced
in the last session
that the human mandate
is to represent
the character of God.
When you see,
and this is
the mandate
then for the church,
the vocation
of the church
is then to present
to the world
who God is
and what He's like.
And if our obedience
is out of a spirit
of servitude,
of slavery,
we are saying
our master
is a slave driver
instead of saying
we are loved children
and our master
is the loving Father.
so that how we then
relate to Him,
whether we believe
His goodness
or not,
to be captured
by the goodness of God,
there is nothing
more important
we could say.
We see the curses,
the effects
of sin
in that account
that we read.
I want to say one thing
about one of the bits
of translation there
where it speaks
of the curse
on the woman.
Your desire will be
for your husband
and he will rule over you.
It's a fascinating
little bit there
because the Hebrew term
for your desire
for your husband
only occurs one other place
in the whole of the Hebrew Bible
and that's in Genesis 4
and it's about sin
crouching at the door
desiring to master you.
In other words,
I think,
maybe a better way
of that,
it's not,
in other words,
it's not a text
about sexual desire.
it's a text
about somehow
the relationships
between the sexes
being broken
and being competitive
where they're not
meant to be competitive.
I think that's
something of what's
going on there.
But everything
is spoiled.
Work is spoiled.
Labor is spoiled.
Everything
is frustrated
and the whole
of creation
is affected
by it.
we're designed
for that intimate
presence with God
doing meaningful work
and yet,
how does it feel
for most of us
most of the time?
We could say
that what happens
in that account
in Genesis 3
is a fourfold
disruption
of relationship.
And I'm just going
to put them all out there
so you can see them
all at once.
First of all,
and obviously,
there is a disruption
of relationship
with God himself.
I mean,
that's obvious
because the first thing
they do,
having wanted to know
as God knows,
and by the way,
just as a little aside,
a little sort of
philosophical aside,
we don't know
as God knows.
We know as creatures
to whom God reveals.
And that,
by the way,
is just huge implications
for how we think
about knowledge
and some of the ways
in which we've gone wrong
in society.
If anyone's talked
about that later,
delighted to do so.
But that relationship
with God
is broken,
is disrupted.
The first thing
they do is to hide
from God
in the garden
when he comes
to walk with them
in the garden.
But to hide
from God
and then
to hide
from each other,
to cover up,
because the end
of Genesis 2
says that the man
and the woman
were naked
and had no shame.
It's a beautiful picture.
Absolutely beautiful picture.
And, of course,
it's not just the idea
of physical nakedness.
It's the idea
of relationship
in which there is no shame.
Think about this
for a second
as a slight aside,
but I think it's important.
Where do you look
when you feel ashamed?
Where do your eyes go?
Down.
Right.
You look down.
Okay.
The Hebrew expression,
and this is fascinating,
and it relates
to the story
I told at the beginning.
My last conversation
with my father
just five days
before he died
in a plane crash.
It's another story.
I wrestled with him
to get him
to look me in the eye
so that I could bless him
and tell him
that I loved him
and I was proud of him.
And finally,
it's like,
look me in the eye.
It was a real wrestle
and my mother was
getting nervous
in the background.
Look me in the eye.
You need to hear this.
I am unreservedly proud of you.
And he looked me in the eye
and he accepted it.
Just after that,
I was preaching
through Malachi.
The Hebrew idiom
in Malachi
for God accepting us
is,
will God lift the face?
Think about that
just for a second.
But the answer
to shame
is a lifting
of the face.
Think about
the Aaronic blessing.
Lord,
that Yahweh
bless you
and keep you
and make his face
shine upon you.
This idea
of face-to-face
is an incredibly
rich biblical idea
and God's acceptance
of the shamed one
to lift the face
and to look
and to confer
blessing
and honor
and dignity.
And what happens here
is the eyes
go down
because they hide.
They hide from God
so relationship
is disrupted
with him.
They hide from each other.
Relationship
is disrupted
with each other
and they lie
about it
so they're actually
introducing
a disintegration
in themselves.
They're actually,
their relationship
with themselves
at that point
when they're lying
about it
is also fractured.
And then we see
with the result
of the curses
that the relationship
with the whole of creation
is also adversely affected.
Fourfold disruption
of relationship
that kind of explains
pretty much everything
that we experience
day by day
in the frustration
of living.
Broken relationship
with God,
with self,
with others,
and with the creation itself.
That's the effects
of wanting
to be like God.
Rejecting
our creatureliness.
So that's Genesis 3.
That's the account of it.
And at the heart of it
is this autonomy.
I will be like God.
I will be in charge.
I always think
about my daughter.
She's now 30.
Actually,
she's still like this.
It's not just
when she was little.
It would be,
I do it myself.
And then,
you know,
10 minutes later,
whatever.
Dad,
help.
She's still at that
at 30,
which is slightly concerning.
But anyway,
autonomy.
I do it myself.
I be at the center
because I can't trust
anybody else to do so.
I need to be at the center
to arrange my life,
my circumstances,
my relationships,
everything around me.
It all exists
to serve
my comfort,
my security,
and my pleasure.
That's the call
of autonomy.
And fundamentally,
this is what I want us
to grasp,
is that that's a rejection
of creatureliness.
It's putting ourselves
in the place
of God himself
who's the one
who guarantees
to meet those needs
for us.
And when we reject
that creatureliness,
we shouldn't expect
things to go well.
Why is this good news?
Because it doesn't sound
very much like good news,
does it?
But the universality
of it actually
is good news.
I'm just going to skim
through this
next section.
But it's good news
for this reason.
It is a universal
diagnosis.
And that means
that there's nobody
here
who is not
infected by this.
This doesn't mean
that all of us
are as bad
as we could be,
but it does mean
that every part
of every single
one of us
is infected
by this same
disease,
this same
bent
towards autonomy,
this same
curving in on ourselves
instead of loving God
and loving others,
trying to get
what we can
from the world
to make our lives
work.
This desperate
attempt
to construct
identity
for ourselves,
to answer those
questions on our
own terms.
We're all
infected by it.
And the thing
about that is
that if we're
all infected
by it,
then one of the
things this means
is that there
is nobody
here who is
any worse
than anybody
else.
Which means
that if you're
sitting feeling
crushed by your
sin,
and you look
around and you
make that
cardinal error
of comparing
how you feel
outside,
inside,
to how others
look outside,
do you know
that mistake
that you can
make?
Well,
they look like
they're sorted
and together
and that life
is fine,
but I know
how I feel
internally.
It's a big
mistake we all
make is comparing
those two,
but it's not
a fair comparison.
But if you're
sitting and you're
thinking,
well,
these people
clearly don't
sin the way
that I do,
don't struggle
the way I do,
this is good news
because it's saying,
no, no,
actually,
we're exactly
the same.
The ground is
level or we're
all in the same
boat,
whatever metaphor
you want to
use there.
But if you're
also sitting here
and you're
thinking,
well,
I'm pleased
with yourself
because you've
done pretty well
in life and
you've sorted
things out,
you've achieved
and you're
a jolly nice
person,
well,
there's news
here that also
levels the field
for you because
you're in exactly
the same boat
as everybody
else.
So the wonderful
thing about this
is it's actually
incredibly leveling,
though none of
us as sinful
as we could
be,
we're all
infected.
One of the
things this
does then is
to free us
from our
pride.
There's nothing
to be proud
of,
we're all
on the same
level.
One of the
things that
was said to
me,
I remember
it vividly,
I was a
medical student
at the time,
I was at
the Christian
Medical
College
Conference
in
Creef
and I
was boasting
to this
Chinese
medical
student
about my
own commitment
to God
and how I
was so much
more committed
than these
other guys
who didn't
take it
seriously
as I
did.
And he
said one
thing to
me,
he said,
Mark,
the ground
is level
at the
foot of
the cross,
thereby
chopping my
legs from
under me
in a
wonderfully
merciful
moment.
The ground
is level.
There's no
one better,
no one
worse.
No reason
to feel
better than
your brother
or sister,
no reason
to feel
worse.
than your
brother
and sister,
but instead
to be
shoulder to
shoulder with
brothers and
sisters,
because we
are all
struggling with
the same
thing.
That means
then,
and this is
lovely,
there is no
space for
self-righteousness.
How can
people who are
so infected
with this
particular disease
feel proud of
the stuff that
we've done,
feel that we've
managed to
arrange our
lives in
such a way
as to
establish our
own
righteousness?
That too
is an
autonomous
rejection of
creatureliness.
Have you
ever thought
about self-righteousness
as a rejection
of creatureliness?
But it is.
It's exactly
what it is.
This also
frees us to
face reality.
We don't
need to
pretend that
things are
different to
what they
are.
We don't
need to
kid on that
we're sorted
and together.
One of the
things that
has so
blighted
the church
and especially
in this land
and I now
live in the
highlands
and boy
it's kind
of off the
scale that
has been
historically
there
is this
kind of
pretense
that somehow
maturity
as a
Christian
looks like
not having
any troubles
anymore,
not having
any struggles,
being free
from sin.
You have
this absurdity
of a view
of Christian
leadership
that says
something like
let me tell
you how
much you
need Jesus
whilst I
show you
how little
I need
him myself.
A false
view,
an utter
lie
that says
I'm sorted
and together
and I don't
have any
issues and
troubles and
struggles anymore.
No,
this doctrine
is wonderfully
leveling.
It brings
us all to
the same
place as
brothers and
sisters before
the same
God
desperate
and this
is the
thing,
it makes
us look
outside
ourselves.
We can't
fix this
ourselves.
It forces
us, once
we begin to
understand this
doctrine of
sin rightly,
it forces us
to look
outside of
ourselves to
the answer,
to look to
God to
say,
have mercy
on me.
Would you
do something
about this?
And it
frees us
from any
attempts to
fix it
ourselves.
us.
And that's
good news.
Really,
really briefly,
just in
passing,
it's not
just pretending
about sin
not being
there that's
a problem.
We need
to be
willing to
talk about
it appropriately.
It's also
our naivety
about it.
I've just
finished editing
a book on
the misuse of
power in the
church,
which is a
pretty sobering
subject.
But there's
one whole
chapter that a
friend of mine
wrote on
evangelical
naivety about
sin.
We don't
think it
can happen
here.
Do we
really think
that any
of us is
incapable of
any particular
sin?
Being free
to face it
and talk
about it,
not be
naive about
it,
because it's
in being
naive about
it we allow
really dark
things and
especially abuse
to flourish.
That's just a
side note in
passing.
So we might
say as we
think about
this,
who am I?
This framework,
remember that
creation,
fall,
redemption,
and new
creation?
We're kind
of covering
creation,
fall,
we've talked
a bit about
new creation,
redemption,
we'll talk
about more
tomorrow,
although it's
kind of woven
through everything
that we're
saying.
We're created
image bearers,
but also we're
sinful rebels.
The Bible's
very clear on
this one.
And we'll
talk more
about the
fact that we
become children
known intimately
and part of
an entity
that has a
purpose in
the world.
Let me ask
this then,
as we think
about this.
When you're
asking this
question,
just take
these questions
and we can
maybe come
back to
them.
The serpent
comes to Eve
and tempts
her with,
did God
really say?
And whispers
lies to her.
The tempter
is described
in various
other parts
of scripture
as the
devil,
which is
an anglicization
of the Greek
diabolos,
which means
the slanderer.
The slanderer,
the one who
tells lies to
destroy or the
accuser.
It's just
worth asking,
what other
voices do you
listen to
that answer
the question,
who am I?
Who are you?
What answers
that voice in
your head,
that question
in your head?
So what other
voice is speaking
there?
You know,
I've already
shared a bit
of my own
story,
so things
like being
told,
yeah,
you're an
intelligent
idiot,
it's really
helpful,
stupid,
you look in
the mirror,
the voices
that are
telling you,
what are they
saying about
you?
How does
that make
you feel?
And there's
a fourth
question,
what do
you do
with that?
How do
you answer
the who
am I
question?
What pain
does it
cause you
and what
are you
taking for
the pain
is a really
great way
of understanding
how we
function as
human persons.
Let me
say a few
things as
time,
as we
hurtle in
this train
towards the
buffers at
the end of
the station.
Autonomy
and identity.
Let's just
add in a few
cultural factors.
So I'm
saying something
that's a
core idea.
Autonomy
is a
problem.
It's in
fact the
problem involved
in this
rejection of
creatureliness and
we live in a
cultural moment
that takes
that and
amplifies it
to the
nth degree,
to a degree
that's perhaps
never been
seen quite in
the same way
historically.
This cultural
moment that
speaks much
about identity
but defines
identity in
terms of
internal state
or feeling
rather than
something that
is given to
us, something
that is chosen.
Now there's a
real danger
actually for
many Christians
to talk about
well yeah
you've got your
identity in that
but I've got my
identity in
Christ.
There's a
similar problem
because it's
still placing
you as the
one who
chooses,
as the
autonomous
chooser and
I'm just
choosing the
best product
out there
off the
shelf.
rather than
an inferior
one.
No, and
this is what
we will come
to tomorrow,
Jesus' call
to discipleship
dethrones the
autonomous self
completely.
But the
culture is
encouraging that
sort of
autonomy, a
rejection of
creatureliness,
you decide how
you feel and
on the basis
of that, that's
reality.
I don't think
it's uncontroversial
to say that's
something that's
being massively
encouraged through
our culture,
through our
education system.
through many of
our news and
entertainment media
as well.
Alongside that,
there's this
loss of
absolutes.
And I'm
hesitant in
saying this
because although
there is a
kind of a
denial that
there's something
out there that
defines what is
right and wrong
for everybody
regardless of how
I feel about it,
that there are
such a thing as
absolute moral
rights and
wrongs.
There is a
rejection of
that.
If you want
to really dig
into this,
C.S.
Lewis and the
Abolition of
Man is one of
his most
important books
written 80
years ago and
just incredibly
prophetic in
describing where
we've got to
culturally right
now.
But the loss of
the idea that
there's a right
and a wrong
out there that
doesn't depend
on how I
feel, the
ethics,
therefore,
what I decide
is right and
wrong,
isn't just
about how I
feel about
things.
When I say
something's
wrong, I'm
not just
saying I
don't like
it.
I'm saying
there is
something wrong
out there.
Now, that
loss of being
able to say
there's something
absolutely wrong
is a real
problem in
this rejection
of creatureliness.
The enthroning
of ourselves is
the ultimate
arbiters of
truth and
right and
wrong.
Now, I said
I'm hesitant
in saying it
because nevertheless,
as created
image bearers,
we can never
really fully
escape the
idea that
there is an
absolute out
there.
Otherwise, why
would you
cancel people?
If it's just a
matter of
preference and
how you feel,
no, people
actually really
do still deep
down believe
there are some
things that are
wrong for
everybody all
the time.
And when we're
having conversations
with them, we
need to try and
connect with that
and recognize
that.
We're talking
about an
expressive
individualistic
culture.
that the
worst thing,
the worst
sin that can
be committed
is to stop
the individual
from expressing
how they feel.
So there must
be no law.
There must be
no restriction
and no
constraint.
So in an
expressive
individualistic
society,
shaped by that,
this is,
for those who
want to go into
that more,
it really is
Nietzsche
via Disney,
if you like,
is how we
end up where
we are.
The idea
that I have
within me all
the good that
needs to be
expressed and
anyone stops
that, that
that's an
evil.
That's the
evil in the
world.
And therefore,
a God who
comes along
with commands,
that's wicked.
That's something
we need to
reject.
And in that
cultural context,
education then
becomes,
instead of
what education
has been
historically
through the
centuries and
millennia,
education has
been training
people to
love what is
good and to
hate what is
wicked and
evil.
A training of
the desires
and the
loves.
And when we
don't do that,
what we end up
with is
education as
propaganda
instead of
formation and
shaping.
These are just
some of the
aspects of our
cultural moment.
I suspect folks
will want to
talk a wee bit
more about that
in questions.
I hope you do
because I think
this is where
it really starts
to get gritty
and real and
very challenging
because the
question is,
how do you
relate to that
in ways that
are Jesus-like
without resorting
to just hating
it?
We're living in
a moment,
yeah, I
believe in me.
How's that
turning out for
us?
It's an
important question
to ask in a
culture that has
enthroned autonomy
more than any
other culture
ever at any
point.
Ironically,
what we see
is people who
are infinitely
manipulable by
whoever has the
levers of
propaganda and
information.
It's a terrifying
prospect.
How is it
turning out?
It's not well.
This generation
of young folks,
students, folks
under the age of
30, are, of all
the generations
that have ever
been examined
and measured,
the most
depressed, most
anxious, most
suicidal, most
miserable, least
well-educated,
etc.
This isn't
turning out well.
And just that
question of how
is this going?
And will more
of the same,
but better,
fix this?
Silly slide.
I'm going to,
well, we're nearly
at that.
I'm going to
finish with this.
Will I?
This is from
100, oh,
when's Sartre again?
30s, 40s,
somewhere in
about there.
Anyway, it's a
long time ago,
but he's writing
this.
Whatever happens,
he says,
and this is,
I think,
sums up this
moment.
Whatever happens,
it's by my
agency,
everything must
happen.
I am autonomous,
in other words.
Even if he let
himself be carried
off like an old
sack of coal,
he would have
chosen his own
damnation.
He was free,
free in every
way,
free to behave
like a fool
or a machine,
free to accept,
free to refuse,
free to equivocate.
He could do
what he liked,
no one had the
right to advise
him.
There would be
for him no
good or evil
unless he brought
them into being.
He was alone,
enveloped in this
monstrous silence,
free and alone,
without assistance,
without excuse,
condemned to
decide,
without support
from any quarter,
condemned forever
to be free.
That's how your
average 15-year-old
high school student
in Scotland
feels right now.
My wife works
in a mental
health support
charity and she
hears the
response to this
all the time.
this is a
catastrophe
for everybody
but especially
for a generation
that grows up
believing this,
rootless,
foundationless,
miserable,
anxious,
desperate for
love,
desperate for
approval,
desperate for
real relationship
because that's
what they were
created for
and this is
not the way
it's supposed
to be.
Autonomy
is not the
answer.
it's the
problem.
Let me just
this really
I mean
there we go.
This applies
to everything
obviously
and we can
maybe tease
some of this
out a bit
more in
Q&A
this afternoon.
And a
positive place
to finish.
The dethroning
of the
autonomous self
then is good
news and
that's exactly
what Jesus
calls us
to do.
Let's pray.
Father thank
you.
This is a
sobering topic.
It's deep,
it's weighty
and Lord we
cry out to
you for a
generation of
young people
who are being
lied to,
misled,
in whom
the image
of God
is being
defaced.
And Lord
we long
that the
good news
that you
have shown
to us
we might
shine outwards
as light
into this
culture
that men
and women
young men
and women
might be
transformed
by encountering
the living
God
and might
be set
free
from
this
corrosive
autonomy.
Have mercy
on us Lord.
Would you
please shine
your light
in each of
our lives
today
right now
on the
areas in
which we
need to
get off
that throne?
If we
are proud
Lord
would you
humble us?
If we
are crushed
by the
weight of
sin
would you
let us
know
that we
are
side
by side
with
brothers
and sisters
and that
you
in your
mercy
would
save
and
forgive?
Oh Lord
please be
with us
as we
eat
together
now
and enjoy
each other's
company.
Would you
guide our
conversations
that they
would be
up
building
to us
and pleasing
to you.
In Jesus'
name.
Amen.