Father, you know the different things that we boast in, and you know that we don't recognize when we're boasting.
We don't recognize, Father, many of the things that we put our hope in and our trust in and that we think will give us significance.
So, Father, we ask that the healing medicine of your word, that your Holy Spirit would apply that to our hearts, the command centers of our lives.
That you would, Father, touch our memories, touch our imagination, touch our emotions, touch our hopes and our dreams.
Father, that we might become disciples of Jesus who are gripped by the gospel, boasting only in the cross, and learning to live for the good of people and your great glory.
And all this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
So, we've gotten maybe a little bit distracted with the singing of the Nunc Dimittis, but I don't know how many of you notice, but the Bible passage that Ken began with talked about money.
In fact, it was basically an exhortation for you folks to give, and not for you folks, for us folks to give lots of money.
And, you know, I know that one of the things which many, many non-Christians think about churches is that all we do is think about money, talk about money.
In fact, I think that many people who aren't Christians, and maybe even people who go to church, at least occasionally, might even think that all the greed that seems to be on display at Christmas, that's one way of understanding it.
It's not necessarily the way I understand it, but many people would say that the commercialism and greed evident at Christmas actually has its roots in the Christian faith because of the church's preoccupation with money.
And so, here you come, and maybe you're a guest, and like, bang, give lots to make sure guys like me are able to open the Bible.
And that's where we move on to the next topic.
And, you know, it's a problem passage for us, right?
Like, why on earth is it that the Bible seems to talk about money?
So, it'd be a great help if you got the Bible out, see what it said, and we're going to look at it.
If you don't have a Bible with you, there's some Bibles up at the front.
Andrea's getting one right now.
And it's Galatians chapter 6.
And for those of us who come here week in and week out, the book of Galatians, we've now finished it.
Next Sunday, I begin a new series on the Gospel of John.
But Galatians is going to be finished.
And Galatians chapter 6, this is how it goes.
Am I in darkness here, by the way?
It feels like I'm in darkness.
Just ignore the darkness?
Just for a moment?
That's fine.
I can do that.
My wife says my ability to ignore the obvious is astounding.
But that's a whole other sermon topic and also to be dealt with later on in prayer.
One more thing for you folks to pray about me.
Anyway, so why is it that, you know, for many, especially if you're here as a guest, you know, why is it that church sometimes seems to go on and on and on about money?
And here it is.
The Bible's talking about money.
It's, in fact, the first verse.
And I had to divide the book up some way.
And in many ways, this is a good place to divide up the last.
But here's what it says.
Verse 6 of chapter 6.
Let the one who has taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.
And you'll notice it says all good things.
And one of those good things is money.
So why on earth would the Bible be talking about something like this?
Well, it's actually goes about, it's dealing with a very, very important issue, which the Bible, the Paul has just finished talking about.
And we talked about last Sunday.
And we'll just look up at verse 5.
This just gives you a bit of a hint about the broader topic that Paul has just been wrestling with in the previous eight verses.
For each will have to bear his own load.
Verse 5.
For each will have to bear his own load.
And that word for load is, it would be as if you're going on a canoe trip, a solo canoe trip.
And it's the stuff you take in your canoe so that you can do the canoe trip.
Or if you're going for a long hike, it would be an overnight or several overnights.
It's all of the food, all of the clothes, the pots, the pans, everything that you need to go on your hike.
That's what your load is.
And it's your life.
So, you know, one of the things which the Bible was talking about last week, which is a very countercultural idea and a very, very powerful idea,
is that God never judges you in comparison to other people.
That was one of the main things that we looked at when we were looking at the verses just immediately before this thing, which is talking about money,
is that God never judges any individual by comparing them to somebody else.
Now, this is a very, very, very powerful idea.
And if we think about it, we tried to look at it a little bit last week.
It's almost impossible for us to think about ourselves and assess ourselves without assessing ourselves relative to other people.
It's almost impossible for me to think about what I am like as a husband without thinking about how I stack up compared to other husbands.
It's almost impossible for me to think about how I'm doing as a pastor or a preacher without thinking about how other people are doing.
And sometimes that depresses me and sometimes it flatters me.
But it's almost impossible.
I would suggest that it's almost impossible for any human being to merely imagine or try to think about how they stand,
in a sense, naked and isolated, purely themselves before the face of God.
Because even if we begin to do that, we think, boy, I'm doing that better than other people, aren't I?
Like, it's almost impossible to do it.
And so what this text, what Paul was talking about just before this, it's in very, not cryptic language, it's in very, like, every word counts.
It's like reading a poem or maybe a legal document that's been very well thought out.
And every single word bears a lot of weight.
And it's not something we rush through.
But if we linger with it, it's communicating to us, God never judges me and never judges you by comparing me to other people.
Never.
He just judges me as me by the situations that I have to deal with.
Many of you know that I was in Angola this July.
I'm going to talk about it a little bit more in a moment.
And I saw some poverty there.
But I have to confess, I didn't see, at least where I was, I never saw the same type of poverty as I've seen when I was in Nairobi.
And the first time I was in Nairobi and the time we lived out in the country and we had a place where we kept chickens.
And I saw restaurants, in quotation marks, and the chicken coop at our house was cleaner.
And just, I'd have rather eaten from in there than in that place.
And some of the beggars that you see in the streets of Nairobi, massive physical deformations and just heart-wrenching.
It's just, I can't even, words fail you.
Now, I don't know why it is that I was born in Ottawa.
And that I was born in a safe city, at a safe time, in a prosperous city.
And I have a job and I've never missed a meal because of not having any money.
And I have comparatively good health.
And I don't know why I'm me compared to some of the beggars that I've seen on the streets of Nairobi.
But here's what this very powerful message is that the Bible has been trying to teach just before this talk about money.
Which is, George, you're responsible for the stuff and the situations in your life.
You know, Billy Graham, for all the things that are in his life, he's responsible for those.
Ravi Zacharias, for those.
That beggar in the streets of Nairobi, they're responsible for those.
And God's going to look at your situation, your opportunities, and not compare you to other people.
And he's just going to judge you by yourself.
It's a very, very...
Actually, as it starts to play around in our mind and our heart, it's a very, very liberating idea to no longer live under the burden of comparing yourself to other people.
And that you just deal with the talents and the opportunities that you have.
And that's how God's going to judge you.
Now, it's very easy when you have an idea like that, and it's connected to other things that Paul has been going through all the way through the book of Galatians.
You might remember Galatians chapter 5, verse 1.
I encourage you to memorize this verse.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
Therefore, do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
And wherever I go, there's thunder.
Anyway, if we start to see lightning, then look up.
He's about to come.
No, I don't know what it'll...
Is there something I can do about this?
I've actually ordered a different mic.
Okay, there's nothing I can do.
You know what I'm going to do?
I'm just going to speak out of this.
I think it's a bit distracting for you, and I'll just have to not wander around.
Is this mic on now?
Okay.
I'm out of practice.
For many, many, many, many, many years, I wasn't able to wander around when I preached.
I had to sort of stay in one spot.
And so I used to really be lots of waving around and everything to compensate for it.
So you'll start to see whether that returns to me as I sort of have to just be in one spot because of the mic.
Where was I?
Oh, yes.
So it'd be very easy if you hear this message of for freedom Christ has set us free,
that Jesus, that God only judges me without comparing me to other people.
It's really easy to take from this an idea that God is calling us to radical individualism.
That that's what he's calling me be.
I'm free of people's opinions.
I'm free of their expectations.
I'm free of all of that stuff.
He's just going to judge me by me.
And so what other people think and what do they do?
You know, sucks to be them.
I don't give a bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, and off we go.
Just a life of radical individualism.
And so the Bible is very wise.
The Bible knows the direction of our hearts, how it's very easy for us because many of us are very, very selfish.
And many of us don't struggle with narcissism, but we should.
That we're just radically in love with ourselves and think everything we do is wonderful.
And the Bible knows that that's our problem.
So the very thing it does right after this section is it returns to an earlier theme.
And it says, listen, you're called to a life with one another.
And part of the way that life with one another is going to work is it's going to involve an actual exchange of money and of other things which are good in your lives,
especially with those who preach the word.
And because, you see, look at verse, that's what it says in verse 6.
Verse 6, it says, let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.
Now, so actually, if you could just put up the first point.
This is something I've said in different times throughout the years.
I've just changed it very slightly, but we enter the Jesus way one by one.
But we walk the Jesus way with Jesus and one another.
And I've used this phrase one another because the Bible, if you just do a little word search someday,
it's amazing how many times in the New Testament the phrase one another is there.
It implies a certain way of walking with Jesus, that we walk with Jesus with one another in some type of a community.
And so why is it that it's talking about money?
For me, it's because, well, actually, if you could put up the next point.
This is going to be really weird to some of us.
The preaching of the gospel while preaching through the Bible is central to the life of the local church
and central to God's plan to make the gospel known to every people group.
Now, the preaching of the gospel while preaching through the Bible is central to the life of the local church
and central to God's plan to make the gospel known to every people group.
Now, obviously, there's lots of churches where it's not central.
But if you read the New Testament, if you read the book of Acts, and if you read the epistles,
you'll see that there's this constant message that God has only one plan.
It's plan A. He doesn't have plan B.
He doesn't have plan C or plan D.
He just has plan A.
And plan A is pretty outrageous.
It is that people, one by one, come to a faith in Jesus,
and God draws them together into a local church.
And what is to be at the center of that local church is opening the Bible,
teaching the Bible in such a way that the whole counsel of God is made clear,
but always that the gospel is made clear.
And that's the method by which God is going to see the gospel go to the ends of the earth.
That is the means by which God is going to see people in cities come to hear about Jesus
and come to a saving faith in Jesus.
That's his plan.
We're part of his plan.
And central to that plan is this opening of God's word in such a way that,
I mean, different things happen just as we do this,
that God just sovereignly draws people,
that God sovereignly works in our hearts,
that, you know, like last Sunday after church,
I, you know, I stopped in at one of my favorite coffee shops,
and there were several baristas there who didn't know me,
and they said, oh, you know, are you going to sit here and work for a while?
And I said, no, I finished my work for the day.
And they said, oh, really?
And I said, yeah, I'm a pastor of a church.
I mean, it was my opportunity to share with them.
And, you know, I say, I'm a pastor of a church.
And then I said, you know, do you have a religious or spiritual connection or past or heritage?
And I find out some things about them.
You know, it's just a little seed, right?
But it's all connected, that either God sovereignly draws people,
or as we leave and bear witness to Jesus,
that it begins conversations that will end up leading them to some local word preached and taught.
Sorry, I wandered away from the mic.
And that's separate from the other things.
As just as the word does its work within a congregation,
then congregations start to have a desire to see the gospel spread in other congregations form.
It's why people have left our congregation to go to places in Central Asia and Asia and Southeast Asia.
And we're about to share.
It's just going to be $100 a month.
But starting in January, we're going to be contributing $100 a month to helping to plant a church in Jerusalem.
And through the preaching of the word and the sharing of the resources that the word be preached,
I went to Angola.
We went to Angola.
I got to preach.
We got to share the gospel with a semi-nomadic tribe in the Kalahari Desert,
a different people group.
And this is God's plan A.
It's God's plan A.
He doesn't call us...
I mean, on one level, there is nothing like the gospel,
nothing like the Bible,
so grounds our integrity and dignity and importance as human beings.
Only the Bible teaches that human beings aren't a cosmic accident.
They're not a cosmic mistake.
It's not something because the gods were fighting,
and lo and behold, out of that fight, they created some human beings.
Or it's not because there's some cosmic problem way back in history
that now means that human beings' indifference comes to be,
and we have to get rid of it and get away from it.
It's not that there's been some plan by the gods to make human beings
so that we human beings can feed them and care for them and maybe be their food.
And it's not that we human beings are just a result of blind chance
where the strong eat the weak, where the strong survive,
and it sucks to be weak because the strong eat the weak and the strong survive.
And it's none of those stories.
It's only in the Bible that we hear that human beings,
every human being is made in the image and likeness of God
and has a dignity and integrity before God,
which God has given that no government can take away,
no economic power can take away,
no racial group can take away of another group,
that men can't take away from women,
and women cannot take away from men,
that there is this inherent dignity,
and nothing in the world is as powerful as speaking about
the dignity of the human being as the Bible is.
And the same word of God tells us that
in this world where the individual is so important,
yet at the same time the social is so important,
and the gospel brings to not only bring us individual freedom and healing,
and freedom from being crushed by the expectations of the tribe,
the culture, the coach,
you know, the world,
the markets,
but at the same time it calls us always into a family,
one another family,
where we walk with Jesus with one another,
and at the very, very center of God sharing the gospel with this world
is this plan of ordinary fallen human beings like you and me
gathering together on a regular basis on a Sunday
and in small groups and in mentoring things,
and the very center of central function
is the opening of God's word
to make the whole counsel of God plain
as the gospel is regularly shared.
That's his plan A.
And it's to involve the sharing of our money,
the sharing of our time,
the sharing of our imaginations
and our hearts and our musical gifts
and our gifts of hospitality
and our gifts of baking
and coffee preparation,
and it's a giving of ourselves
and of our time
and of our talents
and our imagination
and our creativity
and it involves the giving of our money
because it's God's plan A.
Now,
some people might say after hearing all that
that this is a completely and utterly crazy plan.
Like it's a stupid plan.
Like George,
like what a,
like don't you think it's a bit of a stupid plan?
Like don't you think nowadays
that music's more powerful?
And, you know,
maybe what it is
is we need to have,
like get Bach back in churches
or maybe it is
we just have to have better rock bands
or better indie bands
or better roots music.
And don't you think maybe
that far more central
to doing all of this
is that there's better use of the web
or there's just better use
of communication technology?
And don't you think, George,
that that plan that you've just described
that is God's plan,
that there's just,
you know,
if it just harnessed
the power of organization
and the power of managing resources
to make a profound difference in society
through philosophy
or through laws
or science
or markets,
you know,
George,
music,
culture,
there's so many things
that are way better than that.
And if you've thought
any of those things,
you now understand
why it is that Paul
immediately from going about
sharing about money
warns us about mocking God.
Because many of us
have a hard time believing
that we mock God.
But we do.
Look what verse 7 says.
So look at verse 6 again.
Let the one who has taught the word
share all good things
with the one who teaches.
This is all just part of this whole plan A
that we gather as families.
The word is preached
that this is the means
by which the word will go.
The gospel will go to the ends of the earth.
And then verse 7.
Do not be deceived.
God is not mocked.
God is not ridiculed.
God is not belittled.
God is not made fun of.
God is not ignored.
We don't flip God off.
Give him the bird
and tell him we know better.
For whatever one sows,
that will he also reap.
For the one who sows to his own flesh
will from the flesh
reap corruption.
But the one who sows to the spirit,
that's the Holy Spirit,
will from the Holy Spirit
reap eternal life.
So Paul now,
it's part of the brilliance
of how the Bible is written here
that Paul instantly starts
to slide back into another topic.
I mean, hopefully he's hoping
that the barb or the hook
about this call
to be realistic
in the sharing of the good things
in our lives
so that the word can be proclaimed
in a congregation,
in a city,
and to the ends of the world.
But he wants to also teach us
some other really important things
about this idea
that God doesn't judge us
compared to other people
and all this.
And if you could put up
the first point,
that would be very helpful.
So one of the things
he wants to make clear
about this,
this text,
is that being made right
with God
by faith in Jesus Christ crucified
does not mean
I can do whatever I want
with impunity.
Why?
Because I reap what I sow.
I reap what I sow.
And the Bible wants us
to understand
that that is always a principle
which is going on.
We reap what we sow.
You put our time,
your money,
your imagination
into certain types of pursuits
and something that is congruent
with that
is going to be the result.
And, you know,
in some ways
it sounds a little bit
like the idea of karma.
You reap what you sow,
but it's a very,
it's similar to karma,
but it's very, very different.
Karma is mechanical
and sort of linear.
And this isn't mechanical,
it's an organic image.
Right?
I mean,
if one of you
plant a corn seed
in your garden
in the spring,
if in the fall
you dig it up
and there's just one
corn seed there,
you know the whole thing failed.
If you dig it up
and there's three corn seeds there,
you think that's just weird.
And if you plant a corn seed
and a raspberry bush grows up,
you'd know that
something else has gone on.
I don't know,
maybe one of your kids
has dug up the corn seed
to play a trick on you
and planted something
that'll go raspberry thing.
But you know that,
you know,
it's not mechanical like karma
and there's always,
there's this extra process
that's involved
and at the end of the day
God is sovereign over it.
And so it's not like investing.
It's not like,
you know,
in some ways karma
is a little bit like investing.
You know,
you put $20 into this type of,
you know,
$2,000 into this mutual fund
and if you do that
and it's a good mutual fund
or a good investment in stocks,
you know,
the result will be maybe $2,200
a little bit later.
You've got a good return
on your investment.
It's a bit of a different image,
but it's like karma,
but it's different.
It's more organic.
It leaves God sovereign.
It's far more subtle
and supple
and not nearly mechanical
and the whole thing,
as we'll see in a moment,
leaves room for mercy.
But it says
that we sow what we reap.
And then it has
a terrifying image here.
I don't know if you caught it.
Look again at verse 7.
What does it say again?
Do not be deceived.
God is not mocked.
For whatever one sows,
that will he also reap.
For the one who sows
to his own flesh,
and the flesh here means
that part of us
which is in rebellion
against God,
that part of us
which turns our back on God,
that part of us
which desires to be a God,
ourselves.
If we sow to those projects,
we'll from the flesh,
that is,
from that part of us
that's in rebellion
against God,
we'll reap corruption.
Now,
if I was a typical Canadian,
I would quickly pass over this.
Because if there's one thing
that many Canadians
would say about the church
is that we go on and on
and on about money.
And another thing it would say
is that we're completely crazy
and kooky
about something called hell.
But this is a hell word.
If you could put up
the next point.
Hell is not glamorous.
Hell is real decay,
decomposition,
and corruption.
You see,
this word for corruption
is a word from the morgue.
It's a word
from what's left
on the battlefield
after the battle.
It's the word
that refers to a corpse
and what happens
to a corpse.
It's not talking about
political corruption
or anything like that,
a mere corruption
of your morals
or anything like that.
It's a death word,
a decomposition word.
It's a very,
very stark warning
about how
if we continue
to invest
our imagination
and our creativity
in our God project,
in our turning
our back on God.
And, you know,
the thing which is
so subtle about
this teaching
in the Bible
is that
this isn't just
some lambasting
of people
who are doing
like meth heads.
This is talking
as well about
people who live
in expensive condos
and Rockcliffe.
And it's talking
about religious people
and people
who are spiritual
but not religious.
But at the heart
of what they're doing
is a heart
to be,
to just flip God off
and ignore God.
To be their own God.
To be the Lord
of their own domain.
And,
and Paul,
here,
the Bible says
that the result
is hell.
But look,
look at verse 8 again.
For the one
who sows to his own flesh
will from the flesh
reap corruption.
But the one
who sows to the Holy Spirit
will from the Holy Spirit
reap eternal life.
If you could put up
the next point,
when we sow
as the Holy Spirit
leads,
we will reap
an eternal
weight of glory
beyond all comparison.
I'm quoting
2 Corinthians 4.
When we sow
as the Holy Spirit
leads,
we will reap
an eternal
weight
of glory
beyond all comparison.
You see,
there's a,
there's a connection
but a difference
between sowing
and reaping,
right?
I said if you put
corn seed in the ground,
you don't get another,
and if there's a corn seed
at the end in the,
in the fall,
it didn't work.
If you get three corn seeds,
it's weird.
If it's a raspberry bush,
it's even weirder,
right?
There,
you put a corn seed in
and you get a,
a corn stalk
with ears of corn on it
and,
and you get something
similar but different.
And what Paul is saying
here is,
listen folks,
you're putting money
in the plate
to further the preaching
of the word
and the spread
of the gospel.
Like in our case,
it's what helps to,
help us to go
on a Wednesday evening
and have Daniel Avitan
open the Bible
in public
at the center
of the university
and preach the Bible.
It's what our hope
is for the youth group.
It's what our hope
is for our small groups
that the word
is opened in public
and the gospel
is proclaimed.
And so,
you know,
it looks like it's money.
It looks like it's
caring for children.
It looks like
it's greeting at a door.
It looks like it's
bringing a casserole over
because you're
at a one another church.
It looks like
you're out
and being a shoulder
that a person
can cry on.
It looks as if
it's just because
you have a concern
for the world
bringing food
that we're going to give
to a food bank
and you're sowing
these things
and you're sowing
these things
and you're sowing
your life
but what comes out
of it
because you're doing
it as the Holy Spirit
leads,
as the word of God
directs you
and you're sowing
these things
but what comes out
of it
is an eternal
weight of glory.
It's an eternal
weight of glory.
And that's why
Paul goes on
in 9 and 10
to encourage us
because you know
the fact of the matter
is that sometimes
it's hard.
You get tired
of greeting at the door.
You get tired
of serving coffee.
You get tired
of opening the Bible.
You get tired
of turning the other cheek.
You get tired
of being the shoulder
to cry
and you get tired
of all these things
and so verse 9
what does it say?
And let us not
grow weary
of doing good
for in due season
and the word
due is a really good word.
It's even stronger
in the original language.
It's that
it's going to happen
in the future.
In due season
we will reap.
It's going to happen.
It's referring
to the second coming
of Jesus.
It's an eschatological word.
Sorry,
occasionally I have
to use big words.
It's guaranteed
for in due season
we will reap
if we do not give up.
So then as we have
opportunity
let us do good
to everyone
and especially
to those
who are of the
household of faith.
Now some of you
might say,
George,
you know this is
a very disturbing sermon.
I sort of get about
the money
and everything like that
but gosh George
this talk about hell.
You must think
you're something special.
That's one of the things
that so bugs me
about Christians.
You think
you're something special.
You think
your poop
smells better
than other people's poop.
Who are you
to think
that you go to heaven
and I'm going
to go to hell?
Who are you
to think that?
How dare you
think that?
I'm as good as you.
Like,
George,
my family's
in a better situation.
My finances
are a better situation.
I have a better car.
I have more people
who like me.
Like,
I'm,
how dare you
say something like that?
How dare you say
that I live in Rockcliffe
for an expensive condo
or I'm a soccer mom
or a soccer dad
in Kanata
or a hockey mom
or a hockey dad?
I'm,
how dare you say
something like that?
It's very interesting
that Paul immediately
deals with this
although we didn't
notice it.
Look at verses 11
to 13.
Verse 11,
see with what large letters
I am writing to you
with my own hand.
That's just a bit
of an aside.
One of the things
that they did
in the ancient world,
probably most of the letters
in the New Testament,
Paul dictated them
to somebody who wrote them
as he dictated them
and it could be
because his handwriting
was terrible.
Could be,
that's me,
by the way,
I'd have to have done it
or his spelling
was terrible,
that would be me,
I'd have to dictate it
but it's just very common.
So now what he's doing
is he's showing
the letters coming
to an end.
I've been dictating
this letter
but I want to let
the people in Galatia
who know me,
I'm going to show
that it's really me
by writing these
final things
in my own handwriting.
Verse 12,
it is those who want
to make a good showing
in the flesh
who would force you
to be circumcised
and only in order
that they may be persecuted,
may not be persecuted
for the cross of Christ.
But basically what he's saying
is listen,
the religious people,
he's drawing the letter
to a close,
the religious people
in the congregation
that are causing you
all this trouble,
it's very interesting,
he doesn't go now
to talk about the meth heads
or the gun smugglers
or any of the people,
you know,
the gang members,
people who we would all
culturally say
are bad people,
he goes to the people
in the church
who are pushing religion
and pushing a whole pile
of rules
and he says in verse 12,
it is those who want
to make a good showing
in the flesh.
All they're caring about
is just showing off
to people,
that's what he's saying,
who would force you
to be circumcised,
to adopt a whole pile
of these religious rules
and only in order
that they may not be persecuted
for the cross of Christ
because religion
is always far more acceptable
than the offense
of the cross.
For even those
who are circumcised,
verse 13,
do not themselves
keep the law,
but they desire
to have you circumcised
that they may boast
in your flesh.
And so what he's just saying here,
we're going to get to this
hell thing in a moment,
he's saying all they're concerned
with is with externals,
all they're concerned with
is being able to,
to be able to go around
in a little bit of a circuit
and say,
by the way,
look at me,
I have this many conversions,
I have this many followers,
I'm really important,
my organization is growing,
look at me,
I'm better than other people,
and they're even,
they don't care about you,
they don't care about
your eternal destiny,
they just want to show off
and the thing they're pushing
doesn't even work.
And then in verse 14,
and it's a big but there,
you know I like saying that,
there's some big buts
in the Bible,
that's one of them,
but far be it from me
to boast,
except in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by which the world
has been crucified to me,
and I to the world.
It's a very important verse
as he's bringing the letter
to a close,
but far be it from me
to boast except in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by which the world
has been crucified to me,
and I to the world.
I encourage everyone here
to memorize this verse
and maybe spend some time
meditating upon
how to pray about it,
but you see here's this thing
back about hell.
I've had people in coffee shops
harangue me like this,
and I don't handle it very well
because I don't like being
the center of attention,
and it's a very culturally
acceptable harangue,
and I just probably have gotten
red and tongue-tied,
and that's just,
sometimes that's just,
you don't always win
every battle,
but what I'd say
in the face of that harangue
is I'd say,
I'm really sorry.
You misunderstand me.
I don't think my poop
smells better than yours,
and I don't think
I'm better than you.
I'm saved only by what Jesus
has done for me.
I'm quite prepared to accept
that I'm way worse
in my marriage than you
or way worse in my child raising,
way worse in my finances,
way worse in every way
that you would mention.
I'm quite prepared
to acknowledge that before you,
but I am not made right with God
because I'm good.
If you could put up
the next point,
you see,
my private
and my public boasting
reveals what I believe
saves me
and gives me meaning,
significance,
and worth.
You see,
the person who makes
that claim,
who would harangue
you or me,
they're saying
that they're good enough.
What's their hope?
Their boast?
I live in a million-dollar condo, George.
I live in a six-million-dollar
house in Rockcliffe.
I live on the edge
of a golf course in Canada.
I have a trophy wife.
I have trophy kids.
I have a trophy-winning dog.
I drive an Audi.
I drive a Lexus.
I drive whatever.
I'm better than you.
That's,
that's,
all Paul would say
is that's your hope
and your confidence
before Almighty God?
That's what you think
will make you right with God?
That your dog won an award?
Sorry.
Really?
That your wife
is prettier than my wife
or that you have a wife
and I don't have a wife?
Like, that's what,
really?
My hope isn't that.
You know what my hope is?
Just think of this image
of sowing.
I'll be honest,
with you.
I've sown to my flesh.
I've sown to my pride.
I've sown to my ego.
And my only hope
in the face of God
is that,
you know,
every time a seed
goes into the earth,
the Bible tells us
and biology tells us
there's a type of death
that the seed dies
in some way.
And God,
the Son of God,
sees my great need
and my great,
my great need.
And he comes to die
and be planted,
so to speak,
in the earth.
And what emerges
out of that
is resurrection.
And my only hope
is this,
that I,
who've invested
so much
of sowing
to my flesh,
and I can't
stop doing that,
that when I call out
to God
for mercy
and reach out to him
and he takes me
and it's as if
there is this
spectacular transaction
that is outside
of time,
but because God
is outside of time
and God is real,
it is still real.
And it's as if
me,
who's been sowing
my whole life
into the flesh,
that God,
the Son of God,
comes and he
surrounds me
and he holds me
and I die my death
with Jesus.
He dies my death
for me.
And what emerges
from Jesus dying
is that he reaps
eternal life.
He is the resurrected
Savior and Lord
and the Bible
in so many places
says that I am
part of his fruit
when I have allowed
myself to be
and surrounded
by him
and his mercy
and his love
so that as I die
it is him dying
for me
and I am dying
in him.
And I do not
deserve
an eternal
way to glory.
Far from it.
I deserve
the corruption
but I have
died in him.
My life is hid
in him
and so
my only hope
for salvation,
my only hope
for meaning
and significance
is in the cross
of Christ.
There is no other.
If you could put up
the next point.
As I learned
to only boast
in Jesus Christ
crucified,
the world's allure
and approval
dies
and my desire
for the world
and its approval
dies.
Maybe dims
is a better word.
It's a word
that fits.
Look at verse 14
again.
But far be it
for me to boast
except in the cross
of our Lord
Jesus Christ
by which
can also be
translated in
by whom
the world
has been
crucified to me
and I to the world.
Crucifixion
is a slow death.
It's a slow death.
It's a dimming
of life.
And then Paul
says this wonderful
thing which we'll
close with.
For neither
circumcision counts
for anything
nor uncircumcision
but a new creation.
If you could put up
the point
salvation
is not merely
a helpful idea.
God not only
saves me
he actually
makes me
a new
creation.
In John
it's talking
about being
born again.
Theologians
talk about
the word
regenerate.
It's that
God actually
does a new
work of
creation
in the one
who puts
their hands
in the hands
of Jesus
for him
to be their
savior and
Lord.
He actually
we can't
see it
but if we
could see
ourselves
from God's
eyes
God
makes
us
born
again
a new
creation
he creates
something
new
out of
the old
me
when I
put my
hand in
the hand
of Jesus
to trust
him as
my savior
and Lord.
I don't
know
this would
be arrogant
nonsense
if I just
told you
this in
my own
authority
and power
but this
comes from
God
himself.
God
wants you
and me
to know
that
as we
struggle.
Let's
stand
please.
Once
again I
just say
you know
for many
of us
maybe our
prayer right
now is
the verse
14
prayer
that
God
would help
me to
realize
that my
significance
my salvation
my meaning
comes from
being
gripped
by what
Jesus has
done for
me in
the cross
and that
as
partly what
he's done
for me in
the cross
but so
important
he actually
makes me
a new
creation
that one
day as
I sow
into that
as the
Holy Spirit
leads
and the
word makes
clear
will be
that I
will bear
not by
my own
effort
or will
or desire
but I
will bear
because God
has done
it and
he has
created
me to
bear an
eternal
weight
of glory
and if
you have
never given
your life
to Jesus
I urge
you now
to call
out to
him to
be your
savior
and your
lord
let's bow
our heads
in prayer
father
we thank
you for
your word
we thank
you for
Jesus
father
it can
be a
shock
to us
that we
mock
you
that we
ridicule
you
we think
you're
stupid
but father
your word
tells us
we do
that
father
gently
by your
Holy Spirit
reveal to
us how
we do
that
and most
important of
all
father
move in
our hearts
and minds
by the
power of
your Holy
Spirit
that we
might learn
more and
more to
boast only
in the
cross of
Christ
and from
that boasting
to sow our
money to
sow our
imagination
our
creativity
all those
things within
us that you
have given
us that we
can do
may that our
whole lives
father be
be sowed
into him
and furtherance
of his kingdom
as you make us
whole you make us
free you make us
new
and
in the world
is blessed
and the gospel
is spread
all this we
ask in the name
of Jesus
your son
and our
savior
amen