WEBVTT

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 What is the good life?

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 That's pretty much the question behind all of our self-help efforts, the multi-billion dollar

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! global self-help industry, isn't it?

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 All our new year's resolutions, all our financial planning.

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 We might not all go to exotic places like the Caribbean for holiday or live our lives

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 on celebrity Instagram, but also behind all of our new year's resolutions and plans and

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 studying for exams, good as all of these things are, I think at least partly is the desire

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 for our best possible life.

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 There's a phrase going around that you might have heard recently when someone's having

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 a lot of fun, people say he or she is living their best life right now.

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 The problem is the goalposts always shift with what that best life looks like, doesn't it?

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 At one stage, it was being glamorous and flying all over the world in private jets and now

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 these celebrities get publicly shamed if they take a plane instead of a train.

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 Last week we spoke a bit about how, despite how things change, the God of all of these things

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 does not change and will not change.

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 And that is where we get our security from.

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 And that means we don't have to be concerned that we'll never know what our best life looks

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 like.

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 Because God's intentions for his people have not changed and will not change because he does

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 not change.

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 And so I hope tonight we'll see from this chapter that with all these laws that don't seem relevant

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 to us in the year 2020 now, that they actually have an incredible amount to say to us about

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 how and why our best life is the holy life.

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 The first thing tonight, a good life, is the holy life.

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 You heard the phrase in this passage, you shall be holy for I, the Lord your God, am holy.

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 Right at the beginning there.

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 And then every couple of verses, every couple of sentences through it, in shorthand, the same

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 thing over again, I am the Lord your God.

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 And it kind of doesn't bite the question, why does God say that over and over again here

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 when he's giving them a list of instructions about how to live?

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 And we really get that answer all the way back in Genesis already.

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 When God makes Adam and Eve, when he makes the first human beings and he makes them in

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 his image, doesn't he?

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 In open Genesis 1, God created man in his own image.

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 In the image of God he created him.

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 Male and female he created them.

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 He created them in his image.

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 He created us to be like him, although we'll never be him.

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 And so when God tells him, do these things, do these things in this way, because I am the

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 Lord your God, he's telling them, if you want to know me, if you want to worship me properly,

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 if you want to be who you were made to be, you have to live in a way that reflects who I made

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 you to be.

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 It's not saying they should try and be holy so that he would be their God.

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 You notice the syntax works completely differently there.

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 He says, no, because he is the Lord their God, they should be holy.

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 And here God, what he's really doing in this chapter, in this whole section in Leviticus,

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 he's preparing Israel to go into the Holy Land and know how to live, and know how to live

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 their best life.

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 The holy life that he made them, rescued them for.

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 I mean, that does raise the question, you know, when we hear, you know, we've got to be holy.

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 How are we holy?

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 How do we live holy lives?

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 Does that mean that everyone has to become church ministers now, people of the cloth, or

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 you know, like the nuns who ran this chapel over there before we bought it?

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 Of course not.

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 Firstly, the New Testament tells us we are all in Christ, prophets, priests, and kings now.

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 We are all of those things in him, because those are the three offices that Jesus came

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 to fulfill.

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 So, you know, for a Christian to be holy really just means that we are what God has made us,

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 people set aside for God.

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 People belonging to the Lord Jesus Christ who saved us.

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 And that's incredible news.

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 I mean, 1 Peter 2 verse 5 says here, we're a royal priesthood.

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 It doesn't always feel like that every day in the normal drudgery from day to day, but

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 you are a royal priest in Christ Jesus.

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 But when we hear that, you know, it should probably also fill us with a little bit of dread.

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 The priests in the Old Testament, just a couple of chapters before this in Leviticus, you know,

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 some of these same things, but a lot more detail.

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 A lot more were expected of the priests in their day-to-day holiness.

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 They had more regulations to fulfill than the average Jonathan Bloggs, son of Benjamin Bloggs,

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 in Israel.

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 But, now that we've got the Holy Spirit given to all of us, and God literally dwelling not

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 just among us, but in us, that raises the bar for holiness a lot, lot more.

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 But, pursuing a life that means we live as the holy people, the holy God made us to be,

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 the people Jesus came to save us to be, is guaranteed the best life.

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 Guaranteed, because that's what this God, the Lord God, the God who made a covenant with

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 Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the God who fulfilled his promises and has proven him to be the God

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 who doesn't change and the God who is reliable, has promised us.

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 He is the Lord our God.

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 And if we are holy, that is the best life possible.

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 Secondly, the thing we see here, I think, is the holy life is a life lived in a whole way.

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 W-H-O-L-E.

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 A whole way.

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 It is a holistic holiness.

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 What does a holy life look like?

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 Well, in short, it's a life dedicated to God.

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 We've got to touch on that, haven't we?

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 In Leviticus, you've got these terms being thrown around.

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 You've got things that are outside of the normal pattern.

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 Dead things, animals that crawl when they should walk, all of those things that are unclean.

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 So anything outside the norm, outside the normal explication, that's unclean.

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 Then you have normal, that is clean, everything that is as it should be.

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 And then you have things dedicated to God.

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 And they are holy.

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 And then, when things are holy, when they're set aside for God,

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 there are particular rules about how they should be handled.

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 That's why they've got rules about the sacrifices and rules about the temple.

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 And our lives, set aside for God, really are no different in that way.

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 And Leviticus helps us to see what that's like.

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 People sometimes make a distinction when we come to the laws,

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 and it's confusing sometimes.

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 You look at a chapter like this, and which rules are applicable and which aren't.

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 People make a distinction between the moral laws, like the Ten Commandments,

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 and those are always true and will always apply.

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 And then civil laws, that kind of govern the things of how do we live from day to day,

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 and how Israel lived from day to day in their society.

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 And then the ceremonial laws, the sacrifices in the temple and those kinds of things.

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 And the New Testament tells us that ceremonial laws are abolished and fulfilled,

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 because Jesus was the final sacrifice.

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 So that's why we don't have rules about washing before we come into this building,

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 although sometimes with mud on the carpet, you wish we had.

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 And that leaves us with the civil law.

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 And that's really what we have in here in this chapter, isn't it?

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 And that's, you know, some of them are more obvious.

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 The bits about mixing of fabrics and not interbreeding different types of cattle

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 and those types of things.

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 They were there to remind Israel that they were separate,

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 that they were set aside for God, that they were special,

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 that they were not to intermingle with the nations around them.

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 Every day you put on your clothes, you were reminded of that.

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 But in the church that goes away, and we heard about that this morning, didn't we?

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 That's Ephesians for you.

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 That is Jews and Gentiles being united in the church.

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 That's the mystery that Paul is so excited about.

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 The rest might be a bit more tricky.

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 But actually, hopefully, we'll see tonight they aren't.

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 In Luke 10, there's a lawyer that comes to Jesus,

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 and he wants to test him, really, about this.

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 He wants to, you know, trick him.

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 And he asks him what he should do to inherit life.

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 And Jesus asks him, doesn't he, he says,

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 what is written in the law?

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 You should know this, you're a lawyer.

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 And he answers, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart

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 and with all your soul and all your strength

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 and with all your mind and your neighbour as yourself.

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 And what does Jesus say?

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 Well, you've answered correctly, do this and you will live.

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 I don't know if you realise, but this chapter that we've just read,

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 verse 18, is the only place in the Old Testament

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 that that phrase appears.

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 You shall love your neighbour as yourself.

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 That not just Jesus, I mean, this lawyer used it before,

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 but Jesus affirms it.

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 This is a summary of the law.

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 Right in that one sentence there.

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 Jesus doesn't say, yes, and all the things around it,

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 they've gone away now.

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 They don't apply, do they?

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 I think it's really striking that in this chapter of laws and things about living,

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 right in the middle of that, you've got this verse,

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 and this is the verse that is the summary of all the second half of the law.

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 The second half of the Ten Commandments.

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 The instructions that God says,

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 this is how you should relate to each other,

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 because that reflects who I am.

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 It's all summarised in that one verse.

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 Now, we don't have time to look at all of these commandments tonight,

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 but I don't think we have to,

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 to get the sense of the completeness of what Jesus is talking about here.

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 Firstly, it covers all of the Ten Commandments in this one chapter.

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 If you go through it,

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 God, through Moses, shows them,

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 this is how it becomes real.

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 This is how the Ten Commandments become real in daily life.

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 Have a look.

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 Verse 4, no images to worship.

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 Verse 12, no using of the Lord's name in vain.

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 The Sabbath on a father and mother, murder, adultery, and so on as well.

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 Verse 11 and 13, no stealing.

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 You shall not steal, you shall not deal falsely.

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 And then really fascinating, verse 13,

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 you shall not oppress your neighbour or rob him.

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 The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning.

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 Not keeping back what is owed to someone.

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 Verse 35, 36, just weights, using just weights and measures.

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 We've got false witness, we've got coveting in there as well.

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 You know, when we start to see this in that light,

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 you can't separate out the moral law that most people would say,

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 yes, that stays and all these other things fall away so easily.

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 You can't separate out the moral law.

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 The way God wants us to live reflects who he is.

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 And he says that over and over there again, doesn't he?

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 Do this because I am the Lord and I am holy.

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 You get the picture.

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 You know, it's not always a word for word quoting back.

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 And I think that's helpful for us because it helps us to see that the Ten Commandments

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 and God's law, God's instructions for holy living isn't just a bunch of tick box options.

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 It's not like a pre-flight checklist that a pilot goes through.

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 It's not, you know, like this lawyer tried to go and, you know, see kind of how can I narrow it down

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 to the least I need to do.

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 We start to think about holy living in a way that touches every area of life.

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 And see what are the implications of all of these things.

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 How far can I stretch it, not how much can I narrow it down.

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 It's all encompassing of our lives.

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 You know, God talks here about our private lives.

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 He talks about public worship.

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 He talks about private worship.

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 He talks about family life.

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 He talks about societal life.

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 He talks about business and the courts.

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 It all belongs to him.

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 And it all must run in a way that reflects his holiness and his hatred of sin and his perfect justice.

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 And his perfect love.

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 That's the holy life.

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 It's not some dry list of things to do, isn't it?

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 When you read the compassion for the marginalized and the poor and the vulnerable in there,

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 that is the heart of God.

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 I want to take some homework this week and go through that list

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 and try and see the principles behind those laws and how they apply today.

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 But the point I want to make, and the point we need to grasp, all of us,

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 especially when we make plans and when we review our lives like people tend to do at this time of the year

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 and think how we should organize and plan,

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 is this.

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 Every single aspect of our lives

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 need to reflect the holiness of the one true holy God.

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 Let's think through just a couple.

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 We don't have time to do all of them.

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 We could do many, many, many of them.

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 We don't farm.

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 So, you know, it's very difficult for all of us to leave the gleanings at the edge of the field

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 for the poor to come and pick up.

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 But when you start thinking about that,

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 it does seem that contributing to the needs of the poor,

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 especially in a way that gives dignity

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 to people who are poor,

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 I mean, they work in this,

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 there's a mutuality there,

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 and seeking a welfare system, for example,

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 that does that

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 isn't optional.

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 Or take verse 13 that I mentioned there about

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 not holding back a worker's wages.

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 So when we buy things,

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 do we take the time to buy from suppliers

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 that don't exploit their workers

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 and hold back their wages,

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 as it's put in this chapter?

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 What shall we always do?

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 We do loads of online shopping.

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 I think the poor postal system creaked under all the packages

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 getting delivered for Christmas

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 and getting sent back soon after.

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 I think the first package was delivered at an off-license

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 at 7.02am in London on Christmas Day.

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 But here's the question for us.

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 Do we know whether that driver is on a zero-hours contract

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 and given impossible targets by the delivery company

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 and penalising them if they take a break

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 in their 18-hour day or go to the loo?

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 Impossible targets seem like false measures,

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 don't they?

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 These questions should be on our radar, really,

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 if we think through every aspect of our lives

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 in terms of what living a holy life looks like, I think.

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 We can go through each of them, like I said,

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 but I think you get the point.

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 Leviticus tells us, in a bold, clear call for holy living,

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 that we'll see that living a holy life

00:18:31.539 --> 00:18:35.660
 is how God helps us to feel whole again

00:18:35.660 --> 00:18:39.240
 in a world that is fallen and fractured because of sin.

00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:43.900
 It's not a list of things that constrain us.

00:18:44.460 --> 00:18:46.360
 It's not a list of things that limit us.

00:18:46.359 --> 00:18:49.000
 It is a list of things that help us feel whole again

00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:51.959
 by living in a way that reflects God's character.

00:18:54.519 --> 00:18:58.619
 But here's the third thing that maybe falls off our radar even more.

00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:00.979
 I think thirdly we see here,

00:19:01.319 --> 00:19:07.599
 a holistic holiness seeks to make others whole too.

00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:16.799
 I think too easily we can think a holy life is a life that is separate

00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:18.799
 from the world around us.

00:19:19.919 --> 00:19:24.219
 We've made personal holiness something to do primarily with

00:19:24.219 --> 00:19:29.259
 our own sinful tendencies towards speaking and reading

00:19:29.259 --> 00:19:31.240
 and touching and watching.

00:19:31.240 --> 00:19:33.500
 And that's good and right.

00:19:34.039 --> 00:19:37.480
 We should avoid the water cooler chat with the crude jokes.

00:19:38.599 --> 00:19:39.839
 Don't watch pornography.

00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:40.620
 Don't gossip.

00:19:40.839 --> 00:19:42.980
 Those aren't holy things to do.

00:19:44.740 --> 00:19:47.079
 But what I don't think we realize

00:19:47.079 --> 00:19:52.120
 just how much that focus on holiness

00:19:52.120 --> 00:19:54.400
 is influenced by the world around us.

00:19:54.400 --> 00:20:00.440
 In a sense, you know, it can become an unholy,

00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:04.300
 a common holiness.

00:20:05.860 --> 00:20:09.300
 Because Western culture especially is incredibly individualistic, isn't it?

00:20:10.180 --> 00:20:10.960
 We know that.

00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:12.740
 It's all about me.

00:20:12.900 --> 00:20:15.000
 It's all about what makes me happy and safe

00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:17.060
 and empowered and whole.

00:20:17.059 --> 00:20:22.099
 I think Leviticus 19 is a bit of a shock to the system

00:20:22.099 --> 00:20:24.579
 when we think about holiness.

00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:29.539
 Just have a look with me at verses 11 to 17,

00:20:29.700 --> 00:20:30.700
 just very briefly there.

00:20:32.639 --> 00:20:35.159
 The Hebrew text uses a couple of words there

00:20:35.159 --> 00:20:36.919
 that are all translated,

00:20:37.179 --> 00:20:38.419
 can all be translated neighbor.

00:20:40.419 --> 00:20:42.440
 And because it's different words,

00:20:42.519 --> 00:20:45.440
 they translate it with different words in the text there.

00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:49.340
 And it builds up from verse 11 to verse 18.

00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:51.900
 Verse 11, it talks about fellow citizens.

00:20:52.500 --> 00:20:53.519
 I am the Lord.

00:20:54.200 --> 00:20:55.539
 Verses 13 to 14,

00:20:55.660 --> 00:20:56.220
 your neighbor,

00:20:56.880 --> 00:20:57.820
 I am the Lord.

00:20:59.019 --> 00:21:00.360
 Verses 15 and 16,

00:21:00.740 --> 00:21:01.880
 fellow citizens again,

00:21:02.380 --> 00:21:02.820
 people,

00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:04.580
 your neighbor,

00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:06.080
 I am the Lord.

00:21:07.600 --> 00:21:09.080
 You know, suddenly there's people in there.

00:21:09.720 --> 00:21:11.519
 And then verses 17 and 18,

00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:12.340
 your brother,

00:21:12.759 --> 00:21:13.559
 fellow citizens,

00:21:14.100 --> 00:21:14.500
 people,

00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:16.100
 neighbors,

00:21:16.660 --> 00:21:17.680
 I am the Lord.

00:21:19.360 --> 00:21:21.600
 Anybody who read this,

00:21:21.779 --> 00:21:22.860
 or heard this,

00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:23.539
 read to them,

00:21:23.600 --> 00:21:25.320
 would have picked up on that pattern

00:21:25.320 --> 00:21:26.620
 and realized that

00:21:26.620 --> 00:21:29.400
 verse 18 is the high point.

00:21:29.500 --> 00:21:31.120
 It builds to this climax where

00:21:31.120 --> 00:21:35.120
 God's concern is for how we look after

00:21:35.120 --> 00:21:36.500
 the welfare of others

00:21:36.500 --> 00:21:38.820
 and look out for the welfare of others.

00:21:38.819 --> 00:21:44.439
 And we have a bit of a gut punch there

00:21:44.439 --> 00:21:45.659
 to the thinking that holiness,

00:21:45.899 --> 00:21:46.220
 I think,

00:21:46.279 --> 00:21:48.599
 is primarily a personal thing

00:21:48.599 --> 00:21:50.519
 or a passive thing.

00:21:52.099 --> 00:21:52.839
 And here's why.

00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:55.519
 So Leviticus 19 shows us that

00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:57.939
 you can't be a holy person

00:21:57.939 --> 00:21:59.279
 living a holy life

00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:01.779
 and not be concerned about

00:22:01.779 --> 00:22:03.559
 making the world whole.

00:22:03.559 --> 00:22:05.399
 a whole,

00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:07.059
 a world that looks and lives

00:22:07.059 --> 00:22:08.440
 like the holy God

00:22:08.440 --> 00:22:09.179
 who made it.

00:22:11.099 --> 00:22:11.619
 You know,

00:22:11.679 --> 00:22:13.099
 we know the Apostle James writes,

00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:13.559
 doesn't he,

00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:15.019
 that faith without works

00:22:15.019 --> 00:22:15.819
 is dead.

00:22:17.379 --> 00:22:18.500
 And it might surprise you

00:22:18.500 --> 00:22:19.559
 how many of these commandments

00:22:19.559 --> 00:22:21.480
 from this chapter of Leviticus 19

00:22:21.480 --> 00:22:22.899
 he picks up in James

00:22:22.899 --> 00:22:23.960
 in that book.

00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:24.359
 In fact,

00:22:24.740 --> 00:22:24.919
 you know,

00:22:24.919 --> 00:22:25.899
 many of the commentators think

00:22:25.899 --> 00:22:27.019
 he was consciously

00:22:27.019 --> 00:22:28.500
 echoing these,

00:22:28.879 --> 00:22:29.019
 you know,

00:22:29.019 --> 00:22:29.980
 I'm not going to do all of them

00:22:29.980 --> 00:22:31.019
 because that will take too long

00:22:31.019 --> 00:22:33.480
 but in James 5, 12

00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:33.759
 he says,

00:22:33.819 --> 00:22:34.799
 do not swear by anything

00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:35.880
 let your yes be yes

00:22:35.880 --> 00:22:36.759
 and your no, no.

00:22:37.240 --> 00:22:39.039
 We read that in this chapter,

00:22:39.160 --> 00:22:39.519
 don't we?

00:22:39.579 --> 00:22:40.960
 Not use the Lord's name in vain

00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:41.720
 in verse 12.

00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:45.980
 In chapter 5, verse 4

00:22:45.980 --> 00:22:46.400
 he says,

00:22:46.799 --> 00:22:47.880
 you held back the wages

00:22:47.880 --> 00:22:48.660
 of the labourers

00:22:48.660 --> 00:22:49.480
 who mowed your fields

00:22:49.480 --> 00:22:51.120
 it is crying out against you.

00:22:52.259 --> 00:22:53.279
 We've read that here,

00:22:53.339 --> 00:22:53.759
 haven't we?

00:22:56.339 --> 00:22:58.299
 In chapter 5, verse 9

00:22:58.299 --> 00:22:58.539
 he says,

00:22:58.539 --> 00:23:00.000
 don't grumble against one another.

00:23:00.139 --> 00:23:00.859
 Verse 18

00:23:00.859 --> 00:23:04.559
 and verse 8 of chapter 2

00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:05.000
 he says,

00:23:05.099 --> 00:23:06.980
 love your neighbour as yourself.

00:23:10.359 --> 00:23:11.599
 Love your neighbour as yourself

00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:12.700
 can mean many things.

00:23:13.559 --> 00:23:14.659
 It's one of those phrases

00:23:14.659 --> 00:23:15.659
 that people have used

00:23:16.200 --> 00:23:17.420
 for all kinds of things

00:23:17.420 --> 00:23:19.019
 and cover all manner of sins.

00:23:21.079 --> 00:23:22.220
 Politicians like to send

00:23:22.220 --> 00:23:23.539
 thoughts and prayers

00:23:23.539 --> 00:23:25.039
 after tragedies.

00:23:25.039 --> 00:23:29.220
 But when God puts that phrase

00:23:29.220 --> 00:23:30.139
 smack bang

00:23:30.139 --> 00:23:31.500
 in the middle of this chapter

00:23:31.500 --> 00:23:34.559
 that drips with the kind of ways

00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:36.039
 we ought to treat one another

00:23:36.039 --> 00:23:37.980
 with the practical ways

00:23:37.980 --> 00:23:39.019
 we ought to look after

00:23:39.019 --> 00:23:40.659
 especially the poor,

00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:41.639
 the vulnerable,

00:23:41.899 --> 00:23:42.879
 the marginalised,

00:23:43.740 --> 00:23:44.480
 the sojourners.

00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:48.079
 that's calling us

00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:48.519
 to see that

00:23:48.519 --> 00:23:49.180
 if we believe

00:23:49.180 --> 00:23:49.980
 such a world

00:23:49.980 --> 00:23:51.660
 where everyone lives

00:23:51.660 --> 00:23:52.620
 in a holy way

00:23:52.620 --> 00:23:54.059
 is the only way

00:23:54.059 --> 00:23:54.620
 in which people

00:23:54.620 --> 00:23:55.620
 will really flourish

00:23:55.620 --> 00:23:57.440
 if that's what we want

00:23:57.440 --> 00:23:58.460
 for ourselves

00:23:58.460 --> 00:24:00.620
 working

00:24:00.620 --> 00:24:02.079
 to change

00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:03.319
 the world around us

00:24:03.319 --> 00:24:04.700
 while knowing

00:24:04.700 --> 00:24:06.519
 that it'll only

00:24:06.519 --> 00:24:07.160
 really be changed

00:24:07.160 --> 00:24:08.059
 when Jesus returns

00:24:08.059 --> 00:24:09.200
 and makes everything new

00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:10.380
 including our

00:24:10.380 --> 00:24:11.160
 limited efforts

00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:12.019
 to live holy lives

00:24:12.019 --> 00:24:12.720
 we can't

00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:13.519
 I believe

00:24:13.519 --> 00:24:14.039
 and I think

00:24:14.039 --> 00:24:15.440
 Leviticus 19

00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:17.400
 compels us to think

00:24:17.400 --> 00:24:18.639
 not strive

00:24:18.639 --> 00:24:19.819
 to see this happen

00:24:19.819 --> 00:24:21.000
 at our homes

00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:21.720
 in our communities

00:24:21.720 --> 00:24:22.799
 in our politics

00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:24.660
 and in our workplace.

00:24:27.299 --> 00:24:28.259
 If you want to think

00:24:28.259 --> 00:24:28.960
 through this more

00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:30.000
 in two weeks

00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:30.980
 we're starting a course

00:24:30.980 --> 00:24:32.039
 Living in Christianity

00:24:32.039 --> 00:24:33.579
 Monday night here

00:24:33.579 --> 00:24:34.839
 thinking through these things

00:24:34.839 --> 00:24:35.639
 how does it look

00:24:35.639 --> 00:24:36.119
 to live

00:24:36.119 --> 00:24:37.720
 in a Christian way

00:24:37.720 --> 00:24:39.639
 in our workplace

00:24:39.639 --> 00:24:40.079
 at home

00:24:40.079 --> 00:24:40.680
 in society

00:24:40.680 --> 00:24:41.840
 and how does a society

00:24:41.840 --> 00:24:42.920
 look that reflects that.

00:24:45.720 --> 00:24:46.500
 After Jesus

00:24:46.500 --> 00:24:47.299
 asked that lawyer

00:24:47.299 --> 00:24:48.140
 in Luke 10

00:24:48.140 --> 00:24:48.799
 the man was

00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:49.880
 indignant

00:24:49.880 --> 00:24:51.580
 and he asked Jesus

00:24:51.580 --> 00:24:52.299
 to trick him again

00:24:52.299 --> 00:24:52.580
 and he says

00:24:52.580 --> 00:24:53.440
 well who exactly

00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:54.320
 is my neighbour

00:24:54.320 --> 00:24:56.740
 whom I should love

00:24:56.740 --> 00:24:57.420
 as myself.

00:24:59.460 --> 00:25:00.940
 Tried to limit it down

00:25:00.940 --> 00:25:02.560
 and Jesus turned

00:25:02.560 --> 00:25:03.480
 that question around

00:25:03.480 --> 00:25:03.880
 didn't he

00:25:03.880 --> 00:25:04.500
 with that parable

00:25:04.500 --> 00:25:05.480
 of the Good Samaritan

00:25:05.480 --> 00:25:07.120
 and he asked him

00:25:07.120 --> 00:25:07.680
 after that

00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:09.100
 who was a neighbour

00:25:09.100 --> 00:25:10.160
 to that man

00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:13.620
 so our temptation

00:25:13.620 --> 00:25:14.279
 might be

00:25:14.279 --> 00:25:15.779
 in a world

00:25:15.779 --> 00:25:16.820
 that is increasingly

00:25:16.820 --> 00:25:17.660
 unholy

00:25:17.660 --> 00:25:20.519
 to withdraw

00:25:20.519 --> 00:25:24.279
 to live

00:25:24.279 --> 00:25:25.540
 personally

00:25:25.540 --> 00:25:26.620
 holy lives

00:25:26.620 --> 00:25:28.960
 that's not

00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:29.880
 loving our neighbour

00:25:29.880 --> 00:25:30.620
 necessarily

00:25:30.620 --> 00:25:32.800
 and I don't think

00:25:32.800 --> 00:25:33.640
 Leviticus 19

00:25:33.640 --> 00:25:34.380
 says that is

00:25:34.380 --> 00:25:35.040
 holy living

00:25:35.040 --> 00:25:36.820
 really

00:25:36.820 --> 00:25:38.900
 we can do more

00:25:38.900 --> 00:25:40.420
 we can't do it all

00:25:40.420 --> 00:25:41.820
 but we can do

00:25:41.820 --> 00:25:42.360
 something

00:25:42.360 --> 00:25:45.019
 we can write

00:25:45.019 --> 00:25:45.860
 to our MPs

00:25:45.860 --> 00:25:47.220
 we can lobby

00:25:47.220 --> 00:25:48.060
 we can volunteer

00:25:48.060 --> 00:25:50.040
 we can buy

00:25:50.040 --> 00:25:50.580
 ethically

00:25:50.580 --> 00:25:52.580
 and we can challenge

00:25:52.580 --> 00:25:53.440
 companies

00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:54.560
 that work against

00:25:54.560 --> 00:25:55.160
 family living

00:25:55.160 --> 00:25:56.259
 we can do those

00:25:56.259 --> 00:25:56.640
 things

00:25:56.640 --> 00:25:58.200
 we're not going to

00:25:58.200 --> 00:25:59.100
 change everything

00:25:59.100 --> 00:26:01.240
 but we can love

00:26:01.240 --> 00:26:01.700
 our neighbour

00:26:01.700 --> 00:26:02.780
 as much as we are

00:26:02.780 --> 00:26:03.280
 able to

00:26:03.280 --> 00:26:03.900
 in this way

00:26:03.900 --> 00:26:07.400
 we should

00:26:07.400 --> 00:26:08.220
 and we can

00:26:08.220 --> 00:26:08.900
 and we must

00:26:08.900 --> 00:26:09.480
 of course

00:26:09.480 --> 00:26:10.320
 strive

00:26:10.320 --> 00:26:10.920
 to share

00:26:10.920 --> 00:26:11.519
 the gospel

00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:12.660
 as widely

00:26:12.660 --> 00:26:13.340
 and as often

00:26:13.340 --> 00:26:14.019
 as we can

00:26:14.019 --> 00:26:16.460
 because only

00:26:16.460 --> 00:26:17.220
 a holy God

00:26:17.220 --> 00:26:17.980
 can change

00:26:17.980 --> 00:26:19.080
 unholy hearts

00:26:19.080 --> 00:26:21.460
 you can be

00:26:21.460 --> 00:26:22.060
 concerned about

00:26:22.060 --> 00:26:22.560
 many things

00:26:22.560 --> 00:26:23.160
 about me

00:26:23.160 --> 00:26:24.740
 but don't be

00:26:24.740 --> 00:26:25.380
 concerned that

00:26:25.380 --> 00:26:25.800
 I'm preaching

00:26:25.800 --> 00:26:26.820
 a social gospel

00:26:26.820 --> 00:26:28.420
 that we'll be

00:26:28.420 --> 00:26:28.940
 saved through

00:26:28.940 --> 00:26:29.800
 doing good deeds

00:26:29.799 --> 00:26:31.139
 this isn't

00:26:31.139 --> 00:26:32.200
 social Marxism

00:26:32.200 --> 00:26:32.799
 that I'm talking

00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:33.319
 about here

00:26:33.319 --> 00:26:33.700
 or something

00:26:33.700 --> 00:26:34.139
 like that

00:26:34.139 --> 00:26:34.619
 this is

00:26:34.619 --> 00:26:35.460
 the second

00:26:35.460 --> 00:26:36.299
 commandment

00:26:36.299 --> 00:26:39.000
 when Leviticus

00:26:39.000 --> 00:26:39.940
 19 tells us

00:26:39.940 --> 00:26:40.480
 to love our

00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:40.859
 neighbour as

00:26:40.859 --> 00:26:41.299
 ourselves

00:26:41.299 --> 00:26:41.960
 as Jesus

00:26:41.960 --> 00:26:42.339
 does

00:26:42.339 --> 00:26:43.899
 it's not a

00:26:43.899 --> 00:26:44.460
 question in the

00:26:44.460 --> 00:26:45.000
 first place

00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:45.879
 about who

00:26:45.879 --> 00:26:46.259
 our neighbour

00:26:46.259 --> 00:26:46.700
 is

00:26:46.700 --> 00:26:48.579
 living our

00:26:48.579 --> 00:26:49.279
 best life

00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:50.960
 living a

00:26:50.960 --> 00:26:51.579
 holy life

00:26:51.579 --> 00:26:53.440
 demands that

00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:54.359
 we ask the

00:26:54.359 --> 00:26:54.779
 question

00:26:54.779 --> 00:26:55.440
 who we're

00:26:55.440 --> 00:26:55.819
 a neighbour

00:26:55.819 --> 00:26:56.139
 to

00:26:56.139 --> 00:26:58.259
 and that

00:26:58.259 --> 00:26:58.740
 we're concerned

00:26:58.740 --> 00:26:59.359
 about social

00:26:59.359 --> 00:26:59.779
 issues

00:26:59.779 --> 00:27:00.180
 and about

00:27:00.180 --> 00:27:00.619
 injustice

00:27:00.619 --> 00:27:01.160
 and all of

00:27:01.160 --> 00:27:01.639
 those things

00:27:01.639 --> 00:27:02.599
 that maybe

00:27:02.599 --> 00:27:03.299
 we tend to

00:27:03.299 --> 00:27:04.139
 withdraw from

00:27:04.139 --> 00:27:05.099
 because they're

00:27:05.099 --> 00:27:05.420
 hard

00:27:05.420 --> 00:27:08.399
 but this

00:27:08.399 --> 00:27:09.000
 question of

00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:09.819
 who am I

00:27:09.819 --> 00:27:10.160
 a neighbour

00:27:10.160 --> 00:27:10.779
 to is the

00:27:10.779 --> 00:27:11.240
 question that

00:27:11.240 --> 00:27:11.960
 Jesus answered

00:27:11.960 --> 00:27:12.599
 when he was

00:27:12.599 --> 00:27:13.180
 born as a

00:27:13.180 --> 00:27:13.420
 man

00:27:13.420 --> 00:27:15.119
 and he had

00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:15.519
 the greatest

00:27:15.519 --> 00:27:16.240
 love for us

00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:16.759
 didn't he

00:27:16.759 --> 00:27:18.059
 laying down

00:27:18.059 --> 00:27:18.519
 his life

00:27:18.519 --> 00:27:19.299
 not just for

00:27:19.299 --> 00:27:19.799
 his neighbours

00:27:19.799 --> 00:27:20.500
 but for his

00:27:20.500 --> 00:27:20.940
 friends

00:27:20.940 --> 00:27:23.799
 Amen