WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.080 We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church. 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:11.580 This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, redistribution, or any other 00:00:11.580 --> 00:00:15.280 use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church. 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:22.620 Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org. 00:00:26.300 --> 00:00:27.179 Good morning. 00:00:27.179 --> 00:00:33.159 I'm Ethan, and I'm one of the co-leaders of the Berkeley Thursday Night Community Group. 00:00:33.820 --> 00:00:37.759 Today's reading is Psalm 27, as printed in your liturgy. 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:43.500 For the director of music, of the Sons of Korah, a psalm. 00:00:44.500 --> 00:00:47.600 The Lord is my light and my salvation. 00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:49.420 Whom shall I fear? 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:52.879 The Lord is the stronghold of my life. 00:00:52.980 --> 00:00:54.920 Of whom shall I be afraid? 00:00:54.920 --> 00:01:01.380 When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. 00:01:02.340 --> 00:01:05.200 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear. 00:01:05.579 --> 00:01:09.079 Though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. 00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:13.180 One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek. 00:01:13.640 --> 00:01:17.460 That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. 00:01:17.459 --> 00:01:21.879 To gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. 00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:26.000 For in the day of trouble, he will keep me safe in his dwelling. 00:01:26.679 --> 00:01:31.119 He will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. 00:01:31.799 --> 00:01:34.759 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me. 00:01:35.560 --> 00:01:39.419 At his sacred tent, I will sacrifice with shouts of joy. 00:01:39.420 --> 00:01:41.840 I will sing and make music to the Lord. 00:01:43.180 --> 00:01:45.159 Hear my voice when I call, Lord. 00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:47.400 Be versatile to me and answer me. 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:50.240 My heart says of you, seek his face. 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:52.180 Your face, Lord, I will seek. 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:54.500 Do not hide your face from me. 00:01:55.019 --> 00:01:56.859 Do not turn your servant away in anger. 00:01:57.740 --> 00:01:58.939 You have been my helper. 00:01:59.240 --> 00:02:01.799 Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Savior. 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:05.939 Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me. 00:02:06.700 --> 00:02:07.939 Teach me your way, Lord. 00:02:07.939 --> 00:02:11.439 Lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. 00:02:11.859 --> 00:02:14.840 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes. 00:02:15.060 --> 00:02:19.000 For false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations. 00:02:19.859 --> 00:02:22.259 I will remain confident of this. 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:26.400 I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:28.539 Wait for the Lord. 00:02:29.099 --> 00:02:33.579 Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:36.379 The grass withers and the flowers fall. 00:02:36.379 --> 00:02:39.500 The word of God stands forever. 00:02:40.299 --> 00:02:42.879 Well, thank you, Ethan, for that scripture reading. 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:47.759 Let's come before the Lord in prayer as we give our attention to his word. 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:59.179 Oh, God, would you convince us by your Holy Spirit in the preaching of your word that the Lord is our light and our salvation, 00:02:59.939 --> 00:03:05.579 and that we've beheld him, Jesus, the light of the world, salvation for all peoples. 00:03:06.539 --> 00:03:11.780 Would you fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith? 00:03:11.780 --> 00:03:15.580 Would he be the one thing that we seek? 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:18.580 Change our hearts, oh God. 00:03:19.300 --> 00:03:20.240 Open our hearts. 00:03:21.159 --> 00:03:28.800 Open our hearts to obey, to submit to you, to be the kinds of people you've called us to be for the good of this world. 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:30.219 We ask in Jesus' name. 00:03:30.219 --> 00:03:31.340 Amen. 00:03:31.340 --> 00:03:31.460 Amen. 00:03:33.139 --> 00:03:33.460 All right. 00:03:33.479 --> 00:03:38.599 Well, Jonathan has said everything that needs to be said, I think, about what's going on this week. 00:03:38.680 --> 00:03:41.020 I'm just going to preach the word of God, if that's okay with you. 00:03:42.740 --> 00:03:48.180 In case you are new to Christ Church, we have been going through this series on what we're calling the Holy Habits of Grace, 00:03:48.180 --> 00:03:58.420 these Christian spiritual disciplines that believers in Jesus have practiced for thousands of years in order to get into deeper communion with God. 00:03:58.760 --> 00:04:03.379 And today, the Holy Habit that we're going to be talking about is the Holy Habit of simplicity. 00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:03.860 All right. 00:04:03.920 --> 00:04:04.360 Simplicity. 00:04:05.020 --> 00:04:09.980 And honestly, it was hard for me to prepare this talk this week on simplicity because, you know, 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:13.600 the Holy Spirit really made me extra sensitive to that the whole week, 00:04:13.600 --> 00:04:16.800 to all the ways I fall short of this in my own life. 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:20.819 And I knew I had to especially practice what I was going to preach this week. 00:04:20.920 --> 00:04:23.340 So, like, I was at Costco this week, business Costco, 00:04:23.900 --> 00:04:29.160 and I wanted to buy these boxes of sun chips and migaring instant ramen that were on sale. 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:32.520 And I didn't know when they were going to be on sale again, but no. 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:33.060 Right? 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:39.980 Preparing for the sermon reminded me that wanting something and it being on sale doesn't mean I have to buy it. 00:04:40.400 --> 00:04:41.580 Doesn't mean I have to buy it. 00:04:41.699 --> 00:04:41.980 All right? 00:04:41.980 --> 00:04:49.000 Practicing simplicity this week also meant not monitoring my news feed like a hawk. 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:49.240 Right? 00:04:49.319 --> 00:04:51.640 Simplicity of media intake. 00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:56.259 Not clicking on every single appealing article title that caught my interest and attention. 00:04:56.400 --> 00:05:01.460 Not listening to every single podcast promising juicy commentary on everything that was happening this week, 00:05:01.520 --> 00:05:04.600 whether it be the markets, the election, or the Golden State Warriors. 00:05:04.600 --> 00:05:08.180 This was a tough week for me to practice simplicity. 00:05:08.520 --> 00:05:08.760 All right? 00:05:09.900 --> 00:05:17.820 But, you know, another thing that made this talk difficult to prepare was that simplicity is quite unlike all the other unholy habits, I think. 00:05:17.980 --> 00:05:19.700 Like, you can read the Bible. 00:05:19.820 --> 00:05:20.620 You can meditate on the Bible. 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:21.180 Memorize it. 00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:22.200 You can observe the Sabbath. 00:05:22.400 --> 00:05:23.879 You can evangelize. 00:05:24.100 --> 00:05:25.400 You can practice a lot of these things. 00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:26.700 You can pray that we've been talking about. 00:05:26.740 --> 00:05:27.760 You can check that box. 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:35.620 But when can we ever check the box and say, yes, I have lived simply in the way of Jesus. 00:05:35.860 --> 00:05:35.959 Right? 00:05:36.039 --> 00:05:37.659 When can we really check that box? 00:05:37.719 --> 00:05:39.259 I'm faithful in my simplicity. 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:44.899 This is probably one of the most subjective and contextual of the holy habits that we're going to be talking about. 00:05:45.159 --> 00:05:48.500 And the truth is, it's not something that you can check a box on. 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:50.199 It's a lifelong process. 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:51.599 It's a growth process. 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:59.000 Like, to repent of our lack of simplicity and to pursue a simple life like Jesus's, it's not like other kinds of repentances. 00:05:59.260 --> 00:06:01.400 You know, like, okay, I'm going to stop murdering now. 00:06:01.580 --> 00:06:01.780 Right? 00:06:01.960 --> 00:06:03.100 I'm going to stop lying now. 00:06:03.100 --> 00:06:04.520 I'm going to stop stealing. 00:06:05.400 --> 00:06:05.680 No. 00:06:05.960 --> 00:06:08.160 It's very different with simplicity. 00:06:08.540 --> 00:06:17.540 What act or acts could ever indicate our final repentance, right, of our excess and our binging and our consumerism and our hoarding? 00:06:17.540 --> 00:06:17.819 Right? 00:06:18.020 --> 00:06:23.840 Repenting of all these things and living in simplicity demands the whole of our lives, the rest of our lives, right? 00:06:24.520 --> 00:06:30.939 The holy habit of simplicity is a 24-7 commitment that needs to be reflected in our every waking moment. 00:06:31.160 --> 00:06:34.000 And honestly, it's something we fall short of all the time. 00:06:34.320 --> 00:06:35.740 We need continual growth. 00:06:35.820 --> 00:06:41.660 There's no one act, no one standard, just set it and forget it and I'm good with simplicity. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:42.180 Right? 00:06:42.180 --> 00:06:52.860 There's no clear-cut answer for how many sun chips or instant ramens I can have in my pantry, right, in order to be faithful to this lifestyle of simplicity that Jesus calls us to. 00:06:53.620 --> 00:06:55.860 So for all these reasons, simplicity is a tricky topic. 00:06:56.000 --> 00:07:00.560 It's countercultural to so much of how we Western, modern, urban, and suburban people live. 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:06.120 It's also so all-encompassing, right, touching on all our actions, all our decisions, all of our habits. 00:07:06.120 --> 00:07:12.180 It doesn't come with clear-cut, standardized rules for determining when we are living simply and when we are not. 00:07:13.060 --> 00:07:16.879 And it's something in which none of us can ever say that we've arrived. 00:07:17.860 --> 00:07:22.259 But I think we all do want to arrive, right, or we all do want to pursue this, right? 00:07:22.600 --> 00:07:33.500 Even those of us here who aren't Christians today, we all know we could be less consumeristic, right, less greedy, more generous, less wasteful, more environmentally sustainable. 00:07:33.500 --> 00:07:37.060 But then thinking about this too much, it can be daunting, right? 00:07:37.579 --> 00:07:41.560 Like, are we supposed to monitor every single second of our lives? 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:43.399 Most of us, you know, we try. 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:49.319 We try to make these little changes in our lifestyles to be less consumeristic, to live more simply. 00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:54.100 And then, you know, with those other areas that we struggle with, we're just like, ah, I'll get to it. 00:07:54.139 --> 00:07:56.120 And we kind of numb ourselves to the guilt, right? 00:07:56.120 --> 00:08:05.280 And then we just let ourselves coast and drift along, too weary, too preoccupied to pay such close attention to our lifestyles and our consumer habits, right? 00:08:06.220 --> 00:08:11.019 Today, I'm not calling you to perfect your lifestyles and your habits overnight. 00:08:11.560 --> 00:08:16.540 But as we like to say here, it's about direction more than it's about perfection. 00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:24.240 And the question I think God would have us consider is, is my life trending in the direction of simplicity with Jesus? 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:33.919 Think of today as a tune-up, an opportunity to do an audit on our lifestyles as we seek to conform our lives to the pattern of Jesus's. 00:08:34.519 --> 00:08:37.480 And in case you're here today and you're thinking to yourself, well, I'm not even a Christian. 00:08:37.620 --> 00:08:40.779 I'm not even sold on the way of Jesus and the simplicity stuff. 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:44.259 So why should I care about his model of living with simplicity? 00:08:44.259 --> 00:08:49.779 Well, whether or not you're convinced that Jesus's way of life, his simple way of life is compelling, 00:08:50.460 --> 00:08:53.299 wouldn't you agree that we in the West, we have a problem? 00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:56.980 We have a problem that simplicity very much speaks to. 00:08:57.060 --> 00:08:58.580 Wouldn't you agree with Steve Howard? 00:08:58.659 --> 00:09:01.659 He was a former chief sustainability officer at IKEA. 00:09:02.320 --> 00:09:05.799 He said the West has reached peak stuff, right? 00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:07.039 We've reached peak stuff. 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:15.399 Did you know that Americans in 2020 consumed 11 times as many material goods as Americans did in 1910, all right? 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:19.019 Even though the population only grew by four times, all right? 00:09:19.019 --> 00:09:29.620 Did you know that while America only has 3.1% of the children in the whole world, America consumes over 40% of all the world's toys? 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:41.399 Or that there are 50,000 public storage facilities here in the U.S., which is 10,000 more than all the Starbucks in the world, all right? 00:09:41.399 --> 00:09:41.439 Right? 00:09:42.079 --> 00:09:43.600 We've reached peak stuff. 00:09:44.059 --> 00:09:52.579 As the Christian financial planner Dave Ramsey has said, we buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't like that much, right? 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:57.759 Consumerism has become our default. 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:02.100 Without even thinking, we Westerners assume that we should always be upgrading, right? 00:10:02.139 --> 00:10:02.720 That's just our default. 00:10:02.819 --> 00:10:04.299 Just always upgrade, always grow. 00:10:04.580 --> 00:10:05.919 Grow your talents, grow your treasures. 00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:10.519 We feel entitled to comfort and expect that our comfort will grow over time. 00:10:10.620 --> 00:10:17.779 Nicer homes, nicer cars, nicer neighborhoods, more luxuries, more conveniences, more vacations, as much as we can get, as far as we can go. 00:10:17.899 --> 00:10:19.840 We believe the myth of more. 00:10:20.659 --> 00:10:21.840 We believe the myth of more. 00:10:21.879 --> 00:10:23.779 Like when Rockefeller was asked, how much money is enough? 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:24.319 What did he say? 00:10:25.100 --> 00:10:26.799 Just a little bit more. 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:27.740 Or we're insatiable. 00:10:28.740 --> 00:10:33.039 Now, some would blame our consumeristic default on the second industrial revolution, right? 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:42.719 That culminated around the time of World War I when greedy capitalists, they strategized to squeeze more money out of this post-war American population. 00:10:43.199 --> 00:10:46.740 So, for example, in the 20s, a leading banker at Lehman Brothers, he said, 00:10:47.059 --> 00:10:50.779 we must shift America from a needs to a desires culture. 00:10:51.539 --> 00:10:54.859 People must be trained to desire, to want new things. 00:10:54.860 --> 00:10:57.720 Even before the old, have been entirely consumed. 00:10:58.200 --> 00:10:59.899 We must shape a new mentality. 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:03.440 Man's desires must overshadow his needs. 00:11:04.460 --> 00:11:06.500 And no doubt, they were quite successful. 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:10.080 They were very successful in making this shift happen in American culture. 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:19.440 But I think it would be naive of us to blame our consumerism primarily on these market shapers and economy influencers of the early 20th century. 00:11:19.540 --> 00:11:27.980 No, according to the Christian narrative of history, the Christian interpretation of history, our consumeristic tendencies, they go all the way back to the garden. 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:33.240 They go all the way back to the fall when our ancestors first believed the myth of more. 00:11:33.240 --> 00:11:39.180 That they could have more and that they could be more through consumption. 00:11:39.860 --> 00:11:48.860 Though they had everything they needed to be fruitful and to multiply and to rule, every tree on the face of the earth was theirs to consume except one. 00:11:49.419 --> 00:11:54.340 They had no time pressure, no time restraints, no thistles or thorns, enemies or obstacles. 00:11:54.779 --> 00:12:00.740 Though they were already made in the image of God, they believed that they could be more like God. 00:12:00.740 --> 00:12:03.899 That God was keeping something back from them. 00:12:03.980 --> 00:12:09.320 That God had plagued them with the scarcity that they could overcome by consuming a forbidden fruit. 00:12:09.980 --> 00:12:23.700 They believed that God was withholding a greater blessing and fuller blessedness from them by restricting them and restricting their consumption to countless numbers of trees minus one, right? 00:12:24.820 --> 00:12:29.139 You see, outside the story of scripture, consumerism is just human nature. 00:12:29.139 --> 00:12:34.480 Or a problem of overproduction and a lack of foresight into sustainability, right? 00:12:35.419 --> 00:12:43.559 But according to the Christian tradition, according to the Christian interpretation of the world, consumerism isn't just a problem between humans and humans and the environment, no. 00:12:44.299 --> 00:12:48.439 It's a problem that entered in between humanity and God. 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:50.840 As the theologian Richard Foster has written, 00:12:50.939 --> 00:12:56.259 consumerism is a rival religious philosophy about what constitutes blessedness. 00:12:57.059 --> 00:12:58.019 It's two different stories. 00:12:58.019 --> 00:13:01.899 Blessed is the one who has the most time, the most talent, and the most treasures. 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:06.480 Or blessed is the one who delights in what God says. 00:13:07.079 --> 00:13:09.019 And who meditates on it day and night. 00:13:09.159 --> 00:13:12.799 And who is like a tree planted by the streams of God's living water. 00:13:13.799 --> 00:13:21.340 Whatever story we believe, it's hard to deny that while we Westerners live in an age where we have plenty to eat, plenty to entertain us, 00:13:21.340 --> 00:13:29.960 there's always more to read, more to watch, more to laugh at, more to take our minds off things, more to medicate us, more therapists to treat us, more possibilities of connection than ever before. 00:13:29.960 --> 00:13:32.519 Just more to do, right, than ever before. 00:13:33.259 --> 00:13:39.300 We are still just as troubled and despairing, if not more, just as hopeless as any other generation. 00:13:39.299 --> 00:13:43.319 The myth of more is killing us. 00:13:43.320 --> 00:13:46.000 So the author and teacher John Mark Homer asks, 00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:50.600 What if the formula, more stuff equals more happiness, is bad math? 00:13:51.640 --> 00:13:57.800 What if more stuff often just equals more stress, more hours at the office, more debt, more years working in a job I don't feel called to, 00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:05.780 more time wasted cleaning and maintaining and fixing and playing with and organizing and reorganizing and updating all that junk I don't even need? 00:14:05.779 --> 00:14:09.759 What if more stuff actually equals less of what matters most? 00:14:09.959 --> 00:14:19.360 Less time, less financial freedom, less generosity, which according to Jesus is where the real joy is, less peace as I hurry my way through the mall parking lot, 00:14:19.439 --> 00:14:28.419 less focus on what life is actually about, less mental real estate for creativity, less relationships, less margin, less prayer, less of what I actually ache for. 00:14:28.419 --> 00:14:39.379 What if I were to reject my culture's messaging as a half-truth at best, if not a full-on lie, and live into another message, another gospel? 00:14:40.579 --> 00:14:52.339 The way we live into Jesus' alternative to the gospel of more, the way we live out of Jesus' good news, is through a lifestyle of simplicity, the holy habit of simplicity. 00:14:52.340 --> 00:14:58.519 Now, simplicity, it isn't simply decluttering, getting more organized, Marie Kondo-ing your life, okay? 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:08.200 Nor is it a sanctified Christian version of, you know, the minimalist aesthetic, these techniques, you know, they can be helpful, but they're far from the main point of simplicity. 00:15:08.360 --> 00:15:14.820 Simplicity also isn't starvation before God, this kind of mean God who doesn't want us to enjoy His gifts in creation. 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:20.540 No, God's first words to humanity were to be fruitful, to flourish in abundance and in the context of His generosity. 00:15:20.539 --> 00:15:24.500 His ideal and goal for humanity is feast, not famine. 00:15:24.579 --> 00:15:26.459 We celebrate that every week here at this table. 00:15:26.539 --> 00:15:28.199 He wants our cups to overflow. 00:15:29.079 --> 00:15:35.559 He has set a table before us, and Jesus Himself enjoyed good meals and the hospitality and generous gifts given to Him. 00:15:35.620 --> 00:15:39.299 He even had a treasurer to manage all the things that people were giving to Him. 00:15:39.799 --> 00:15:42.059 And that didn't end that well, but He had one, right? 00:15:43.539 --> 00:15:46.659 Another thing, simplicity isn't about being simplistic. 00:15:46.659 --> 00:15:51.439 The opposite of simplicity isn't complexity, it's superficiality. 00:15:52.039 --> 00:15:55.480 It's a life that is trivial and vain and ephemeral. 00:15:55.620 --> 00:16:01.959 The choice is not between a simple life and a complex one, but between a deep life and a shallow one. 00:16:02.419 --> 00:16:05.379 Or a life of focus versus a life of distraction. 00:16:06.539 --> 00:16:11.459 See, simplicity isn't just about your spending, your material possessions, and your consumer habits. 00:16:11.460 --> 00:16:16.540 Simplicity bears not just on your treasures, but on your time and your talents. 00:16:17.560 --> 00:16:21.480 Are our calendars and time commitments marked by simplicity? 00:16:22.200 --> 00:16:26.200 Or do we try to cram as much into our 24-hour days as possible? 00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:32.580 And is the development of all our interests and our talents and our gifts and capabilities and strengths and careers, 00:16:32.580 --> 00:16:34.340 is that marked by simplicity? 00:16:35.180 --> 00:16:42.879 Or do we pursue growth and development and progress and excellence unceasingly and without any restriction or limitation? 00:16:44.160 --> 00:16:46.680 See, this is an all-encompassing holy habit. 00:16:46.800 --> 00:16:47.820 To quote John Mark Homer again, 00:16:48.040 --> 00:16:52.940 the goal isn't just to declutter your closet or garage, but to declutter your life. 00:16:53.639 --> 00:16:56.900 To clear away the myriad of distractions that ratchet up our anxiety, 00:16:57.320 --> 00:16:59.600 feed us an endless stream of mind-numbing drivel, 00:16:59.920 --> 00:17:01.680 and anesthetize us to what really matters. 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:07.419 The goal here is to live with a high degree of intentionality around what matters most. 00:17:07.539 --> 00:17:13.940 Simplicity is the countercultural discipline that increases our contentment and decreases our FOMO. 00:17:15.019 --> 00:17:19.539 Again, so much of what Bay Area culture preaches at us 00:17:19.539 --> 00:17:22.720 is that not only should we have as much as possible, 00:17:23.339 --> 00:17:25.279 but we should know as much as possible, 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:27.919 and we should experience as much as possible, 00:17:27.919 --> 00:17:31.019 and we should achieve as much as possible. 00:17:31.680 --> 00:17:35.120 How many of us find ourselves spending hours on YouTube, on Wikipedia, 00:17:35.320 --> 00:17:39.100 for no other reason than trying to satisfy our bottomless curiosities? 00:17:39.820 --> 00:17:41.060 How to cook a beef wellington? 00:17:42.060 --> 00:17:46.440 How much certain teams are over the salary cap in the NBA, right? 00:17:46.840 --> 00:17:49.060 How exactly does the Electoral College work again? 00:17:49.779 --> 00:17:53.460 What did David French have to say in response to the election results? 00:17:53.460 --> 00:17:56.140 Those are just my curiosities this week, all right? 00:17:57.200 --> 00:17:58.620 I'm not going to make that beef wellington. 00:17:58.779 --> 00:17:59.240 That was too hard. 00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:03.620 You should see the clutter in my inbox, though, right? 00:18:04.460 --> 00:18:07.460 Updates and newsletters of all sorts of things that I'm interested in 00:18:08.100 --> 00:18:10.120 and want to keep up with, but I never can. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:12.120 I have like, I have inboxed like 900. 00:18:12.360 --> 00:18:14.079 I know some of you guys are inbox zero people. 00:18:14.140 --> 00:18:15.120 I'm like inbox 900. 00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:15.980 I'm sorry. 00:18:15.980 --> 00:18:18.960 All these things I want to keep up with. 00:18:19.059 --> 00:18:19.940 How the warriors are doing. 00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:21.279 How to be a good pastor. 00:18:21.400 --> 00:18:22.200 How to preach better. 00:18:22.539 --> 00:18:23.980 How to be better at apologetics. 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:25.799 How to lead a church better. 00:18:26.200 --> 00:18:28.480 Personal finance, health, politics. 00:18:28.680 --> 00:18:29.660 I'm interested in everything. 00:18:29.740 --> 00:18:31.000 I want to know everything, right? 00:18:31.620 --> 00:18:34.599 How many of us always feel like we have to constantly check our Twitter 00:18:34.599 --> 00:18:37.240 and our news feeds and all our online sources 00:18:37.240 --> 00:18:40.640 so that we can be current on the happenings in this world 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:45.160 and have an informed opinion on these happenings? 00:18:46.100 --> 00:18:47.860 Since when did that become a necessity? 00:18:48.040 --> 00:18:49.300 I feel that pressure all the time. 00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:53.380 But somehow we are ruled not just by the fear of missing out, 00:18:53.460 --> 00:18:56.940 but we're also ruled by the fear of being ignorant, right? 00:18:58.300 --> 00:19:00.660 But when will we ever know enough? 00:19:01.480 --> 00:19:05.140 And it's not just a drive to know, but to experience as much as possible, right? 00:19:05.600 --> 00:19:08.060 Just this week I learned of a friend who is behind on his rent, 00:19:08.340 --> 00:19:09.340 who's lost his job, 00:19:09.339 --> 00:19:12.439 but for some reason he booked a trip to Thailand, okay? 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:14.759 Because, hey, I got time off now, 00:19:14.899 --> 00:19:16.079 and I have some friends that are going. 00:19:16.359 --> 00:19:18.000 It's a great opportunity to go, 00:19:18.059 --> 00:19:19.179 and I should take advantage of it 00:19:19.179 --> 00:19:22.539 and go experience the world while I can, right? 00:19:23.240 --> 00:19:24.059 Because I can. 00:19:24.299 --> 00:19:27.039 And then some other friends of his at his church, 00:19:27.819 --> 00:19:30.000 they heard about his trip to Thailand. 00:19:30.139 --> 00:19:32.299 They said, yo, you got to go to Japan too. 00:19:32.579 --> 00:19:33.779 It's a great time to go to Japan. 00:19:34.220 --> 00:19:35.459 The dollar is strong right now. 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:37.819 It's so much cheaper to fly to Japan from Thailand 00:19:37.819 --> 00:19:39.000 than from California. 00:19:39.339 --> 00:19:43.599 So he booked another one-week trip on top of his two-week trip to Thailand to Japan. 00:19:44.859 --> 00:19:48.079 And maybe you were judging him right now, just like I was, all right? 00:19:48.759 --> 00:19:54.199 But honestly, don't we all do this on different varying scales? 00:19:54.299 --> 00:19:55.539 Haven't we all said something like, 00:19:55.539 --> 00:19:57.980 oh, I might as well. 00:19:58.980 --> 00:19:59.659 I might as well. 00:20:00.279 --> 00:20:01.159 YOLO, right? 00:20:01.839 --> 00:20:03.319 Or have we not said to others, 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:05.200 oh man, you have to go here. 00:20:05.379 --> 00:20:06.399 You have to try this. 00:20:06.579 --> 00:20:08.639 You got to go to Hawaii, Bali, Paris, Rome, 00:20:08.700 --> 00:20:11.059 or at least once you got to go before you die. 00:20:11.099 --> 00:20:13.920 You have to eat here at this five-star Yelp-reviewed restaurant. 00:20:14.220 --> 00:20:15.359 You have to stay at this resort. 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:16.519 Try this activity. 00:20:16.519 --> 00:20:21.119 You have to watch this Netflix series to fully experience all that life has to offer. 00:20:22.119 --> 00:20:25.740 Or maybe for you, it's not so much about what you consume or learn or experience, 00:20:25.819 --> 00:20:26.500 but what you accomplish. 00:20:26.740 --> 00:20:27.379 Hey, you're smart. 00:20:27.779 --> 00:20:28.619 You're a great student. 00:20:28.779 --> 00:20:30.960 You should definitely try to be the top of your class. 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:31.960 Get straight A's. 00:20:32.180 --> 00:20:33.240 Get into the best institutions. 00:20:33.660 --> 00:20:35.660 Get the best programs at all costs. 00:20:35.740 --> 00:20:38.319 And if you're not, if you don't get into those, you're being lazy. 00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:41.539 Or hey, you know, you shouldn't just try to be healthy. 00:20:42.019 --> 00:20:44.299 You should try to have a body like Thor, all right? 00:20:44.539 --> 00:20:46.279 That's what you should be going for, right? 00:20:46.460 --> 00:20:48.079 And if not, you're ugly. 00:20:49.539 --> 00:20:53.000 See, whether it's what we consume or what we know or what we experience 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:54.960 or what we're trying to accomplish and achieve, 00:20:55.480 --> 00:20:59.179 everything around us is preaching to us the myth of more. 00:21:00.059 --> 00:21:05.899 And in this technological age, we're fed the lie that we can always be getting more 00:21:05.899 --> 00:21:08.159 if we just have the right technique, right? 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:10.720 If we just have the right technological appliance, 00:21:10.820 --> 00:21:15.300 then we can get more of what we want, how we want, and when we want it. 00:21:16.380 --> 00:21:17.200 We need to be careful. 00:21:17.800 --> 00:21:21.200 We need to be careful with what technology would tempt us to believe about our calling 00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:23.400 and our limitations as human beings. 00:21:23.400 --> 00:21:27.759 Sure, technology does give me access to more information than ever before. 00:21:28.740 --> 00:21:31.100 But do I need to know all of it? 00:21:32.019 --> 00:21:35.460 Sure, technology does enable me to fly to Hawaii for so much cheaper now. 00:21:36.140 --> 00:21:36.860 But should I go? 00:21:36.859 --> 00:21:42.519 Sure, technology does enable me to get so much more done at work and take on so many more responsibilities. 00:21:43.899 --> 00:21:44.699 But should I? 00:21:45.740 --> 00:21:48.779 People used to think that technology was going to shorten the work week, right? 00:21:48.779 --> 00:21:57.399 Actually, it just made us able to get even more done in 40-plus hours per week and hungrier to do even more, right? 00:21:58.160 --> 00:22:04.920 The French philosopher, theologian, sociologist Jacques Ellul writing in the 60s on the technological society, 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.839 he says that we were made to go six kilometers an hour and yet we now go a thousand. 00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:13.980 We were made to eat when we were hungry and sleep when we were sleepy. 00:22:14.379 --> 00:22:16.740 Instead, we now obey a clock. 00:22:17.740 --> 00:22:23.119 And this is a huge factor behind all of our depression and shame and our inability to get out of bed. 00:22:23.199 --> 00:22:24.779 None of us feels like we can keep up. 00:22:25.779 --> 00:22:31.659 And yet technology is telling us that we can exceed our limitations and be awesome all the time. 00:22:31.660 --> 00:22:38.140 And not only that we can, but that we should because we have the technology to help us do so. 00:22:39.320 --> 00:22:41.660 See, this is why we need simplicity. 00:22:42.420 --> 00:22:48.440 Simplicity isn't about depriving ourselves and restricting ourselves in empty homes with empty closets and empty pantries 00:22:48.440 --> 00:22:50.160 and a joyless life without freedom. 00:22:50.259 --> 00:22:52.440 No, the goal of simplicity is exactly the opposite. 00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:54.440 It's more freedom. 00:22:55.299 --> 00:23:00.820 Not freedom to pursue anything and everything, but freedom to pursue the best and most ultimate thing. 00:23:02.019 --> 00:23:02.460 Like, think about it. 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:06.799 What if, counterintuitively, there was more freedom in our limitations? 00:23:07.720 --> 00:23:13.559 What if our limits actually defined rather than hindered our callings in life? 00:23:14.620 --> 00:23:16.779 What if our limits defined our callings? 00:23:17.840 --> 00:23:20.460 There's this psychologist, a professor at Swarthmore. 00:23:20.460 --> 00:23:22.880 He sometimes teaches here at Cal, Barry Schwartz. 00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:24.519 He wrote this book, The Paradox of Choice. 00:23:25.500 --> 00:23:26.640 Why more is less? 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:33.759 And he basically argues that, you know, having a ton of choices actually paralyzes us and makes us feel worse 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:38.900 compared to having some meta rules that we live by and that order all of our choices. 00:23:39.819 --> 00:23:45.720 So, for example, when I was in seminary, my classmates with spouses and children, 00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:52.120 they used to talk about being faithful to their spouses and kids by getting B's instead of A's, right? 00:23:52.220 --> 00:23:56.860 They didn't just take it for granted that you have to and you're supposed to go for A's all the time. 00:23:57.019 --> 00:23:59.240 They had a higher principle that they were living by. 00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:02.740 The same is with my dad, one of the most principled men I know. 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:04.120 He's a retired pharmacist. 00:24:04.119 --> 00:24:07.439 And throughout his career, he's had many opportunities to advance himself. 00:24:07.779 --> 00:24:10.359 He was a director of one of the Stanford hospitals. 00:24:11.079 --> 00:24:14.099 And he had many opportunities to get himself on the map, right? 00:24:14.419 --> 00:24:16.819 Get more pay, get more influence, get more esteem. 00:24:17.719 --> 00:24:19.319 But how did he choose to spend his summers? 00:24:20.339 --> 00:24:22.619 Doing a basketball camp for me and my friends, right? 00:24:23.659 --> 00:24:27.979 He committed to being a deacon, to teaching Sunday school, to singing in the choir, 00:24:27.980 --> 00:24:31.759 to visiting families at my school on Sunday nights to tell them about Jesus, 00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:34.799 to our senior citizen ministry in our church. 00:24:35.539 --> 00:24:40.640 You know, what's ironic is me and my siblings, we always give my dad a hard time for being so simple, right? 00:24:40.700 --> 00:24:44.120 For not trying new things, but for being so content, right? 00:24:44.539 --> 00:24:46.660 So simple that, come on, try this new food. 00:24:47.480 --> 00:24:48.620 Come on, try this new hobby. 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:49.980 Enjoy it with us, right? 00:24:50.920 --> 00:24:53.000 But my dad has always had a higher principle. 00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:56.360 A higher principle than being the best pharmacist he could be 00:24:56.359 --> 00:24:59.079 or experiencing as much of the world as he could. 00:24:59.159 --> 00:25:05.379 He gave himself limits in order to faithfully fulfill his primary calling as a child of God and as a father. 00:25:06.599 --> 00:25:11.659 So this is the question that Jesus' way of simplicity poses today to us. 00:25:12.259 --> 00:25:17.279 What if God doesn't want you to have more stuff, know more things, experience more pleasures, 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:20.279 or achieve more tasks all the time? 00:25:21.500 --> 00:25:24.879 What limits might you consider adding to your daily rhythms 00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:29.420 to experience greater freedom and clarity in your life? 00:25:29.980 --> 00:25:33.680 I want to suggest three concrete practices to help you live a life of simplicity. 00:25:34.300 --> 00:25:36.540 Fasting, generosity, and service. 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:38.660 Now, if you've never fasted before, give it a try. 00:25:38.800 --> 00:25:41.560 Jesus assumed that his followers would be fasting. 00:25:41.660 --> 00:25:42.760 He didn't say if you fast. 00:25:42.800 --> 00:25:44.740 He said when you fast, right? 00:25:45.400 --> 00:25:49.060 And maybe that's food for you or just something you normally thoughtlessly consume. 00:25:49.120 --> 00:25:49.760 For me, it's food. 00:25:49.940 --> 00:25:51.440 Okay, I try to fast once a week. 00:25:51.900 --> 00:25:52.820 I try to fast once a week. 00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:53.400 I'll eat dinner. 00:25:53.840 --> 00:25:55.279 I won't have anything after that. 00:25:55.759 --> 00:25:56.680 I'll skip breakfast. 00:25:57.100 --> 00:25:58.380 And I'll skip lunch. 00:25:58.840 --> 00:26:00.200 And I'll wait all the way until the next dinner. 00:26:00.279 --> 00:26:03.880 So that's maybe 20 to 24 hours of fasting once a week. 00:26:04.180 --> 00:26:08.660 And basically what I do with that time is I'll maybe spend extra time in prayer, 00:26:08.840 --> 00:26:10.140 extra time in the Word of God. 00:26:10.140 --> 00:26:15.580 Or at the very least, what I do is when I feel that hunger, and I always do, every week when 00:26:15.580 --> 00:26:18.440 I fast, I let that hunger draw me to God. 00:26:19.280 --> 00:26:23.780 And I let that hunger be a prayer offered up to God saying, Lord, you are my portion. 00:26:24.420 --> 00:26:28.440 I will not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from your mouth. 00:26:29.240 --> 00:26:32.180 And I let my longings lift themselves up to God. 00:26:32.220 --> 00:26:37.140 And I express my longings for all the things that I hope he will do in my life and in my family's 00:26:37.140 --> 00:26:38.300 life and in the world. 00:26:38.299 --> 00:26:43.159 I pray for my family and my friends who I want to come to Jesus. 00:26:43.899 --> 00:26:46.119 Every time I feel hungry, I remember them. 00:26:46.180 --> 00:26:47.399 It's like an alarm clock for me. 00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:48.399 Try fasting. 00:26:49.639 --> 00:26:54.460 Secondly, and thirdly, together, I want to also commend generosity and service to us. 00:26:55.019 --> 00:26:59.279 We practice simplicity not just to limit ourselves, but to give of ourselves. 00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:04.759 And this means creating margin to give our time, talent, and treasure to others. 00:27:04.759 --> 00:27:09.660 Building that margin into our budgets, building that margin into our calendars. 00:27:10.299 --> 00:27:14.180 Did you know that creating margin to share with others was even written into Israel's 00:27:14.180 --> 00:27:14.559 law? 00:27:14.660 --> 00:27:20.579 Leviticus chapter 23, verse 22 says, God says to the people, when you reap the harvest of 00:27:20.579 --> 00:27:26.680 your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of the fullness 00:27:26.680 --> 00:27:27.460 of your harvest. 00:27:28.279 --> 00:27:34.160 Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you, because I am the Lord, 00:27:34.500 --> 00:27:35.100 your God. 00:27:36.100 --> 00:27:41.120 We've got to stop harvesting our time, talent, and treasures all the way out to the margins. 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:45.880 We've got to create this margin in our budgets, in our calendars. 00:27:45.880 --> 00:27:46.380 All right? 00:27:46.780 --> 00:27:51.860 And if you're looking for opportunities to do that here at Christ Church, I really want 00:27:51.860 --> 00:27:52.780 to ask you to talk to me. 00:27:52.980 --> 00:27:54.140 Talk to Catherine Lopez. 00:27:54.680 --> 00:27:55.280 Well, stay tuned. 00:27:55.340 --> 00:27:58.680 You're going to be hearing about a lot more opportunities around Thanksgiving and Christmas 00:27:58.680 --> 00:28:00.040 to give and to serve. 00:28:00.520 --> 00:28:04.220 And also, we have this ministry called Care Portal that I really want to get in front 00:28:04.220 --> 00:28:04.520 of you. 00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:06.840 It's a great way for us to serve our community. 00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:13.280 It's this platform where social workers share the needs of their clients with churches. 00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:19.139 And it's a way for us to step up and support these families in need that are at risk of 00:28:19.139 --> 00:28:22.980 having their kids go into foster care because they don't have enough resources. 00:28:23.160 --> 00:28:25.920 If you want to know more about our Care Portal ministry, please talk to me. 00:28:26.220 --> 00:28:27.399 Talk to Catherine about that. 00:28:28.160 --> 00:28:28.859 Well, those are the three. 00:28:29.259 --> 00:28:31.319 Fasting, generosity, and service. 00:28:31.579 --> 00:28:38.259 These are the ways we can step into and activate the lives of simplicity that God invites us into. 00:28:39.019 --> 00:28:39.420 Okay? 00:28:39.420 --> 00:28:44.580 So I hope I've demonstrated to you the need for and the importance of simplicity and the 00:28:44.580 --> 00:28:47.820 limits and the need for limits and the need for saying no. 00:28:48.039 --> 00:28:48.140 Okay? 00:28:48.180 --> 00:28:49.519 It's so important to say no. 00:28:49.620 --> 00:28:53.880 On saying no, Steve Jobs once said, people think focus means saying yes to the thing you've 00:28:53.880 --> 00:28:54.720 got to focus on. 00:28:55.140 --> 00:28:56.440 But that's not what it means at all. 00:28:56.519 --> 00:29:00.920 It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. 00:29:01.320 --> 00:29:02.279 You have to pick carefully. 00:29:02.279 --> 00:29:07.379 I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. 00:29:08.139 --> 00:29:08.720 He was right. 00:29:09.399 --> 00:29:12.279 We need both one yes and a bunch of no's. 00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:19.480 So the question is, what should be that single, all-important yes to command all our other no's? 00:29:19.559 --> 00:29:20.980 The ultimate guiding principle. 00:29:21.119 --> 00:29:23.259 That single thing that can narrow our focus. 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:26.779 That's so worthy of the whole of our lives and all of our attention. 00:29:26.779 --> 00:29:32.920 That one thing that can truly satisfy us and make us content and secure forever and that's 00:29:32.920 --> 00:29:33.839 always worthy. 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:37.500 What's that one thing that's always worthy of our yes and amen? 00:29:38.639 --> 00:29:41.680 And this is where we finally open up the Bible, okay, to Psalm 27. 00:29:41.879 --> 00:29:43.299 Sorry, it's taken me a long time to get there. 00:29:44.399 --> 00:29:51.859 In Psalm 27 here, King David, he finds himself surrounded by wicked enemies who seek to devour 00:29:51.859 --> 00:29:52.160 him. 00:29:52.160 --> 00:29:56.200 War has broken out against him and he is being besieged by agents of falsehood. 00:29:56.500 --> 00:30:01.660 And ultimately, what he's up against are more threats and more opposition than he is able 00:30:01.660 --> 00:30:03.900 to handle and conquer on his own. 00:30:05.140 --> 00:30:06.560 But the question is, what does he seek? 00:30:07.080 --> 00:30:11.920 What he seeks isn't more wealth and more riches to buy an even bigger army than his enemies. 00:30:12.680 --> 00:30:16.860 He doesn't seek more knowledge and wisdom to devise a strategy that will deliver him from 00:30:16.860 --> 00:30:20.259 their hands nor an escape plan to go far, far away. 00:30:20.259 --> 00:30:28.339 No, verse four, one thing, one thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek. 00:30:29.220 --> 00:30:33.400 Not that I might escape to a well-defended fortress with tons of soldiers far from my enemies, 00:30:33.960 --> 00:30:41.700 but that I may dwell in the house of the Lord, that I may reside in the presence of God all the days 00:30:41.700 --> 00:30:42.339 of my life. 00:30:42.799 --> 00:30:43.519 To do what? 00:30:43.640 --> 00:30:46.640 To tremble in fear until God just takes care of these problems and I can come back? 00:30:46.640 --> 00:30:54.020 No, to gaze, to enjoy, to behold, to enjoy beauty, the beauty of the Lord and to seek 00:30:54.020 --> 00:31:00.680 or inquire or reflect or consider who God is in his temple, in his presence. 00:31:02.060 --> 00:31:07.380 While David is threatened on every side with enemies seeking to devour him, David is committed 00:31:07.380 --> 00:31:08.300 to simplicity. 00:31:08.500 --> 00:31:14.140 He even has margin to appreciate and gaze upon the beauty of the Lord to contemplate and to 00:31:14.140 --> 00:31:15.600 reflect upon his God. 00:31:15.840 --> 00:31:21.300 There is one thing on his heart, one thing on his mind that enables him to be a non-anxious 00:31:21.300 --> 00:31:21.880 presence. 00:31:22.680 --> 00:31:26.460 And his words are divinely inspired by God for us to be blessed by today. 00:31:26.960 --> 00:31:31.320 He doesn't capitulate to the myth of more, but rests content in his one thing. 00:31:31.940 --> 00:31:33.440 This is all he asks for, verse seven. 00:31:33.520 --> 00:31:37.300 Hear my voice when I call, Lord, be merciful to me and answer me, verse eight. 00:31:37.360 --> 00:31:38.840 All he asks for is the face of God. 00:31:38.839 --> 00:31:44.139 My heart says of you, seek his face, your face, Lord, I will seek. 00:31:45.199 --> 00:31:50.579 And with all his focus on this one thing, he is filled with confidence and hope and security. 00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:52.980 Verse 13, I will remain confident of this. 00:31:53.579 --> 00:31:57.759 I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 00:31:58.879 --> 00:32:00.220 King David kept it simple. 00:32:00.559 --> 00:32:01.399 This is his one thing. 00:32:01.679 --> 00:32:03.079 This is his only thing. 00:32:03.139 --> 00:32:05.399 The only thing he knows he can bank on, right? 00:32:05.400 --> 00:32:08.380 The mercy and the goodness and the presence of God. 00:32:09.220 --> 00:32:13.300 And listen, this wasn't just some technique to manipulate God, to get God to help him or 00:32:13.300 --> 00:32:15.480 some kind of mind-calming trick, okay? 00:32:15.960 --> 00:32:16.880 He's pursuing God. 00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:21.200 In her book, Abundant Simplicity, Discovering the Unhurried Rhythms of Grace, the spiritual 00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:27.200 director, Jan Johnson, she writes, the point of simplicity is not efficiency, increased productivity, 00:32:27.500 --> 00:32:29.980 or even living a healthier, more relaxed life. 00:32:29.980 --> 00:32:35.460 The point is making space for treasuring God's own self. 00:32:36.640 --> 00:32:41.819 And my question to you this morning is when you, like David, face threats all around and 00:32:41.819 --> 00:32:48.319 insecurity and assaults and the least favorable of circumstances, what is it that you desire 00:32:48.319 --> 00:32:49.299 this much? 00:32:49.860 --> 00:32:55.200 Is there anything you seek this much with this much intensity, with this much single-mindedness 00:32:55.200 --> 00:32:56.660 and single-hearted devotion? 00:32:56.840 --> 00:33:01.740 What is your one thing, your single pursuit that controls everything else for you? 00:33:02.799 --> 00:33:03.940 And is it worth it? 00:33:04.660 --> 00:33:05.640 Will it last? 00:33:06.559 --> 00:33:07.259 Can it hold? 00:33:08.319 --> 00:33:13.960 If it is not the very presence and beauty of David's God, if you do not know this God, 00:33:14.720 --> 00:33:15.779 what is it? 00:33:16.620 --> 00:33:17.539 Will it last? 00:33:18.940 --> 00:33:22.900 If you haven't met this God, if you're here today and you haven't met this God, if you 00:33:22.900 --> 00:33:27.900 haven't gazed upon His beauty as David did, and for us, we can gaze upon it even more so 00:33:27.900 --> 00:33:29.100 now in the face of Christ. 00:33:29.780 --> 00:33:33.860 Whatever your one thing is other than this God, I'm going to tell you, it cannot compare. 00:33:34.620 --> 00:33:35.720 It will not compare. 00:33:36.700 --> 00:33:43.300 God has come in the person of Christ, in the flesh, and when we fix our eyes on Him who lived 00:33:43.300 --> 00:33:49.540 and died and rose again, we can have every confidence that we have seen and that one day 00:33:49.539 --> 00:33:55.059 we will see more fully the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 00:33:56.119 --> 00:34:03.240 And the good news is that this God, He invites you today into His simplicity, to say no to 00:34:03.240 --> 00:34:09.460 everything else and to say yes to Him, to make Him your one thing with all the passion and 00:34:09.460 --> 00:34:11.420 devotion of Psalm 27. 00:34:11.420 --> 00:34:19.079 And He invites you to make Him your one thing, wanting you to know that in Christ, He, with 00:34:19.079 --> 00:34:23.720 an even greater intensity, has made you His one thing. 00:34:25.119 --> 00:34:31.079 The writer of Hebrews says that for the joy set before Him, Jesus endured the cross, scorning 00:34:31.079 --> 00:34:36.340 its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God, and implores us to consider 00:34:36.340 --> 00:34:40.599 Him who endured such opposition from sinners so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 00:34:40.599 --> 00:34:41.400 Do you know what this means? 00:34:42.299 --> 00:34:50.380 It means that Christ committed Himself to simplicity of life for you, to bring you into 00:34:50.380 --> 00:34:56.480 glory, into His glory, seated at the right hand of God, the Father in heaven with Him. 00:34:57.319 --> 00:35:03.639 Enduring the cross, stripped naked, He lost it all, gave it all up, even to His last undergarment, 00:35:03.779 --> 00:35:08.019 everything He had, even His last breath, into your hands, I commit my spirit. 00:35:08.019 --> 00:35:13.440 When He had the power and the right and the authority as the Son of God to determine before 00:35:13.440 --> 00:35:19.059 the foundations of the earth not to rescue His greedy, gluttonous, arrogant, always binging, 00:35:19.280 --> 00:35:23.539 discontent, consumeristic people, the people who rejected His very presence and abundance 00:35:23.539 --> 00:35:28.259 in the beginning in the garden, He had the right not to save us, not to serve us, not to 00:35:28.259 --> 00:35:29.559 suffer for us, but He did. 00:35:29.559 --> 00:35:30.079 Why? 00:35:30.079 --> 00:35:30.139 Why? 00:35:30.920 --> 00:35:37.900 For the joy set before Him, and that joy was you in the presence of God with Him. 00:35:39.440 --> 00:35:40.400 So don't you see? 00:35:41.380 --> 00:35:45.079 Simplicity isn't about your deprivation and frugality. 00:35:45.299 --> 00:35:52.259 It's about your ultimate delight and fullness in God as He's been revealed to us in Jesus Christ. 00:35:52.260 --> 00:36:00.000 So ask yourselves this, are we filling our lives with so many good things that we've crowded out 00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.460 the one ultimate thing from whom all blessings flow? 00:36:05.600 --> 00:36:11.100 Are we so focused on filling our lives with as many good things as possible that we've crowded out 00:36:11.100 --> 00:36:14.280 the giver of every good and perfect gift? 00:36:14.940 --> 00:36:20.800 The one who made it His one thing to lead us into glory with Him and His Father forever. 00:36:20.800 --> 00:36:23.460 The one who made us His one thing. 00:36:24.720 --> 00:36:25.880 Listen, it was simple for Him. 00:36:26.840 --> 00:36:30.920 And my prayer is that it will be simple for us as a people of God as well. 00:36:31.720 --> 00:36:32.460 Let's pray. 00:36:38.800 --> 00:36:40.480 God, one thing we desire. 00:36:43.000 --> 00:36:44.340 To be in Your presence. 00:36:45.019 --> 00:36:46.320 To dwell in Your house. 00:36:47.260 --> 00:36:48.539 To gaze upon Your beauty. 00:36:48.539 --> 00:36:55.900 And thank You that You promised to fulfill that desire for everyone who seeks it. 00:36:56.960 --> 00:36:58.539 Make that our deepest desire. 00:36:58.659 --> 00:36:59.960 Be our one thing, O God. 00:37:00.659 --> 00:37:01.599 In Jesus' name. 00:37:02.139 --> 00:37:02.380 Amen. 00:37:02.380 --> 00:37:02.480 Amen. 00:37:02.480 --> 00:37:02.519 Amen. 00:37:02.519 --> 00:37:02.539 Amen. 00:37:02.539 --> 00:37:02.599 Amen. 00:37:02.599 --> 00:37:02.659 Amen. 00:37:02.659 --> 00:37:04.599 Amen. 00:37:04.599 --> 00:37:04.659 Amen. 00:37:04.659 --> 00:37:04.719 Amen. 00:37:04.719 --> 00:37:04.779 Amen. 00:37:04.779 --> 00:37:05.779 Amen. 00:37:05.779 --> 00:37:06.779 Amen. 00:37:06.779 --> 00:37:06.840 Amen. 00:37:06.840 --> 00:37:06.900 Amen. 00:37:06.900 --> 00:37:07.000 Amen. 00:37:07.000 --> 00:37:07.039 Amen. 00:37:07.039 --> 00:37:07.079 Amen. 00:37:07.079 --> 00:37:07.099 Amen. 00:37:07.099 --> 00:37:07.139 Amen. 00:37:07.139 --> 00:37:07.159 Amen. 00:37:07.159 --> 00:37:07.179 Amen.