WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.120 We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church. 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:09.540 This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, 00:00:09.900 --> 00:00:15.300 redistribution, or any other use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church. 00:00:15.660 --> 00:00:22.640 Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org. 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:33.880 Hi, my name is Cody Texan. This is my wife Stevie. We're part of the North Berkeley Community Group. 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:41.980 Today's reading is from the prophet Isaiah, chapter 63, verse 15, and chapter 64, verses 1 through 12. 00:00:44.120 --> 00:00:48.100 Look down from heaven and see, from your lofty throne, holy and glorious. 00:00:48.100 --> 00:00:53.200 Where are your zeal and your might? Your tenderness and compassion are withheld from us. 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:58.000 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you. 00:00:58.539 --> 00:01:04.379 As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies 00:01:04.379 --> 00:01:06.799 and cause the nations to quake before you. 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:12.240 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down and the mountains trembled before you. 00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:18.979 Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, 00:01:19.500 --> 00:01:22.019 who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:26.359 You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:29.579 But when we continue to sin against them, you are angry. 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:31.479 How then can we be saved? 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:37.939 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all of our righteous acts are like filthy rags. 00:01:37.939 --> 00:01:43.939 We all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind, our sins sweep us away. 00:01:44.780 --> 00:01:47.900 No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you, 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:52.019 for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over to our sins. 00:01:56.620 --> 00:01:58.579 Yet you, Lord, are our Father. 00:01:58.979 --> 00:02:00.079 We are in the clay. 00:02:00.340 --> 00:02:01.200 You are the potter. 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:03.359 We are all the work of your hand. 00:02:03.879 --> 00:02:06.099 Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord. 00:02:06.099 --> 00:02:09.019 Do not remember our sins forever. 00:02:09.699 --> 00:02:12.419 O look on us, we pray, for we are all your people. 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:15.240 Your sacred cities have become a wasteland. 00:02:15.539 --> 00:02:17.000 Even Zion is a wasteland. 00:02:17.219 --> 00:02:18.479 Jerusalem, a desolation. 00:02:19.139 --> 00:02:23.819 Our holy and glorious temple, where our ancestors praised you, 00:02:23.939 --> 00:02:25.199 have been burned with fire. 00:02:25.740 --> 00:02:28.319 And all that we treasured lies in ruins. 00:02:29.060 --> 00:02:32.159 After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back? 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:34.979 Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure? 00:02:34.979 --> 00:02:37.879 The grass withers and the flowers fade. 00:02:38.399 --> 00:02:40.699 But the Lord, our God, stands forever. 00:02:42.099 --> 00:02:43.419 Thank you, Cody and Stevie. 00:02:43.419 --> 00:02:44.099 Good morning, everyone. 00:02:44.239 --> 00:02:45.560 I'm Andrew, one of the pastors here. 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:50.679 Will you join me in prayer as we take a look at what God has to say to us this morning? 00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:58.340 God, we pray that you would fill us with this kind of urgency, 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:04.480 to have the heavens just rend apart and for you to come down. 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:07.000 Give us that kind of urgency, God. 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:14.439 And Lord, when we all come before you with this question of like, where are you? 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:15.219 Where's your zeal? 00:03:15.319 --> 00:03:16.020 Where's your might? 00:03:16.120 --> 00:03:18.000 Will you be far? 00:03:18.599 --> 00:03:20.300 Will you hold yourself back forever? 00:03:21.419 --> 00:03:28.659 We hear your gracious word to us this morning that you will not hold yourself back. 00:03:28.659 --> 00:03:30.319 You have not held yourself back. 00:03:31.099 --> 00:03:32.020 But you've come down. 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:34.180 You've given yourself to us. 00:03:34.379 --> 00:03:39.900 And God, would you give us eyes to see the privilege that that is. 00:03:40.579 --> 00:03:44.680 You've come down to be with us, to save us, to save this world. 00:03:45.780 --> 00:03:47.300 And we want to hope in that, Lord. 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:50.699 So open our eyes, we pray this morning in the preaching of your word. 00:03:51.239 --> 00:03:52.979 And we pray all these things in the name of Jesus. 00:03:54.039 --> 00:03:54.339 Amen. 00:03:55.619 --> 00:03:56.500 Well, good morning, everyone. 00:03:56.619 --> 00:03:59.599 Again, this is the final Sunday of Advent, right? 00:03:59.619 --> 00:04:02.959 And on this final Sunday of Advent, we are going to be looking at one more passage 00:04:02.959 --> 00:04:05.259 from the prophetic voice of Isaiah. 00:04:05.799 --> 00:04:09.839 And this passage is an interesting one because normally in a prophetic passage, 00:04:09.839 --> 00:04:12.699 you have God speaking words to people. 00:04:13.079 --> 00:04:18.199 But here in Isaiah chapter 63 and 64, it's people speaking words to God. 00:04:18.199 --> 00:04:21.379 And what is raised up into the heavens is a question. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:25.439 And it's a question I imagine that many of us have considered in our lifetimes. 00:04:25.579 --> 00:04:27.939 Maybe we're considering it this morning as well. 00:04:28.180 --> 00:04:30.339 The question is, God, where are you? 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:32.240 God, where are you? 00:04:32.259 --> 00:04:33.159 Where are you, God? 00:04:33.899 --> 00:04:36.339 Look with me at how our passage begins and ends again. 00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:38.219 Chapter 63, verse 15. 00:04:38.740 --> 00:04:40.639 Look down from heaven and see. 00:04:41.240 --> 00:04:43.740 From your lofty throne, holy and glorious, 00:04:43.740 --> 00:04:47.259 where are your zeal and your might, your tenderness and compassion, 00:04:47.259 --> 00:04:48.519 are withheld from us. 00:04:48.980 --> 00:04:51.459 Then look at the end of the passage, chapter 64, verse 12. 00:04:52.339 --> 00:04:55.560 After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back? 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:59.399 Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure? 00:04:59.459 --> 00:05:02.039 They're basically asking, God, where are you? 00:05:02.459 --> 00:05:05.939 They're like, I know you see me up there on your lofty throne. 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:09.339 I know you can see us and all the hard stuff that we're going through. 00:05:09.480 --> 00:05:10.560 So where are you? 00:05:10.860 --> 00:05:11.740 Where is your zeal? 00:05:11.980 --> 00:05:12.779 Where is your might? 00:05:12.779 --> 00:05:14.980 Where is your tenderness, your compassion? 00:05:15.420 --> 00:05:16.459 Where is your presence? 00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:19.959 Will you at least say something to us, God? 00:05:20.799 --> 00:05:22.399 Because as it mentions in verse 10 and 11, 00:05:22.479 --> 00:05:26.060 what's happened in Israel is that the promised land has become a wasteland. 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:31.699 And God's holy dwelling place has become a temple burned up and ruined. 00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:34.839 And so it's as if they've been abandoned by God. 00:05:34.899 --> 00:05:38.439 Like, how could all of this happen if God were truly with them? 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:41.060 And so they ask, God, where are you? 00:05:41.060 --> 00:05:44.259 Now, if you think about it, this is super interesting. 00:05:44.699 --> 00:05:49.220 This is super interesting that this part of the prophetic scriptures, that this question 00:05:49.220 --> 00:05:55.139 coming from the lips of mere mortals is also a word that's divinely inspired from God at the same time. 00:05:55.220 --> 00:05:56.379 Like, think about that for a second. 00:05:57.019 --> 00:06:00.899 Think about how this is the words of people and the words of God at the same time. 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:07.459 God himself, this means that God himself actually inspired this question of, God, where are you? 00:06:07.459 --> 00:06:10.479 So, it's pretty fascinating, right, to consider that. 00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:15.699 That these words questioning God, almost even maybe accusing God, they almost sound like, right? 00:06:16.259 --> 00:06:19.879 Are actually themselves divinely inspired by God. 00:06:19.879 --> 00:06:26.579 And I don't mean to get into a whole doctrine of scripture and, you know, the organic inspiration of the word of God 00:06:26.579 --> 00:06:30.500 and how it's got two, you know, authors, human and divine. 00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:35.360 But I bring this up to make the point that God himself, he invites our questions. 00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:37.939 God himself welcomes our questions. 00:06:38.019 --> 00:06:38.860 He gets our questions. 00:06:38.980 --> 00:06:40.040 He feels our questions. 00:06:40.139 --> 00:06:42.120 He even inspires our questions. 00:06:42.379 --> 00:06:45.639 Another example is, think about Psalm 22. 00:06:45.639 --> 00:06:50.740 The very same God who created the world, who sovereignly orchestrates all of history, 00:06:51.219 --> 00:06:57.139 he also divinely inspired the question asked in Psalm 22, the question Jesus asked upon the cross 00:06:57.139 --> 00:06:59.199 when the very Son of God asked his Father what? 00:06:59.959 --> 00:07:02.219 My God, my God, why? 00:07:03.219 --> 00:07:04.959 Why have you forsaken me? 00:07:05.919 --> 00:07:07.360 It's a bold question, right? 00:07:08.159 --> 00:07:09.339 It's a bold question. 00:07:09.339 --> 00:07:17.359 And yet it was God himself who inspired those words that Jesus took onto his lips in his moment of greatest anguish. 00:07:18.179 --> 00:07:22.399 So again, the point is we can ask our bold and honest questions to God. 00:07:22.699 --> 00:07:23.659 God, why? 00:07:23.979 --> 00:07:24.799 God, how? 00:07:25.079 --> 00:07:26.419 God, where are you? 00:07:27.479 --> 00:07:29.919 And perhaps some of us feel this is too bold, though. 00:07:30.459 --> 00:07:32.599 And some of us think this is just too scary. 00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:40.860 Maybe it even seems impious to ask such a question, to be so vulnerable with God, to share with him our hurts and our hearts, 00:07:41.140 --> 00:07:44.700 and to ask him these various questions that so vex us. 00:07:45.620 --> 00:07:51.480 But if that's you this morning, I hope that you'll see in God's word that God not only welcomes our questions, 00:07:51.640 --> 00:07:54.040 but sometimes, again, he even inspires them. 00:07:54.939 --> 00:07:58.980 And I want you to know that this place, Christ Church, isn't just a place that's sacred, 00:07:58.980 --> 00:08:02.080 where we exalt the divine, but it's a safe place as well. 00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:04.439 Where we can examine the divine. 00:08:05.359 --> 00:08:09.300 And we would be honored to walk with you as you engage these questions. 00:08:09.300 --> 00:08:10.519 Because we believe in a God. 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:14.279 We believe in a God who engages our questions. 00:08:14.539 --> 00:08:19.439 Even this question of where are you to this God we're supposed to know is omnipresent, who is everywhere. 00:08:19.579 --> 00:08:23.519 He wants us to engage him and to ask him, go ahead and ask me, where are you? 00:08:24.459 --> 00:08:28.199 Now, God's word to us today is that this question, God, where are you? 00:08:28.759 --> 00:08:32.799 This question is still worth asking, and it's worth crying out to God today. 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:38.480 And what we're going to consider is why we have to ask this question, God, where are you? 00:08:38.600 --> 00:08:40.019 Why we have to ask this question? 00:08:40.419 --> 00:08:41.980 Why we hate to ask this question? 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:44.500 And why we hope to ask this question? 00:08:44.919 --> 00:08:45.159 All right? 00:08:45.580 --> 00:08:48.860 So first, why do we have to ask this question, God, where are you? 00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:50.059 Why do we even ask that question? 00:08:50.059 --> 00:08:57.819 Well, the reason we have to ask the question, God, where are you, is because deep down we know that the presence of God is our deepest need. 00:08:58.299 --> 00:09:00.279 That God with us is our deepest need. 00:09:00.379 --> 00:09:04.879 Like imprinted into the collective memory of humanity are the good old days, right? 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:08.019 The good old days when we actually walked with God in the garden. 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:11.459 When rather than hiding from his presence, we enjoyed it. 00:09:12.359 --> 00:09:13.739 And man, those were the days, right? 00:09:14.019 --> 00:09:17.500 Those were the days, the days when we didn't have to ask God, where are you? 00:09:17.500 --> 00:09:22.059 Because he was so perceptibly, so palpably near to us. 00:09:22.379 --> 00:09:26.419 Right by our side, strolling along with us in the cool of the day. 00:09:27.159 --> 00:09:30.159 No fear, no guilt, no shame, no hiding. 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:32.559 Only love, truth, peace, and joy. 00:09:33.480 --> 00:09:35.019 All until that one day, right? 00:09:35.639 --> 00:09:39.659 When we rebelled and no longer desired his presence but hid from it. 00:09:40.340 --> 00:09:44.940 That fateful day in history when God said to us, where are you? 00:09:44.940 --> 00:09:49.440 While we hid behind trees, while we hid under fig leaves. 00:09:49.500 --> 00:09:51.180 And man, it's so ironic, isn't it? 00:09:51.740 --> 00:10:00.440 It's so ironic that the very reason we now ask God, where are you, is actually because we first ran from God and prompted him to ask, where are you, to us? 00:10:01.460 --> 00:10:03.060 We ask God, where are you? 00:10:03.460 --> 00:10:05.300 Because we fled from the presence of God. 00:10:05.940 --> 00:10:07.240 And thus everything has gone to pieces. 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:14.200 When we fled from God, we subjected ourselves to a state of no longer seeing him, hearing him, feeling his presence. 00:10:14.279 --> 00:10:16.580 We subjected ourselves to his absence. 00:10:17.620 --> 00:10:19.600 And look at what happens in his absence. 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:22.220 Verse 10, the promised land, again, is turned into a wasteland. 00:10:22.940 --> 00:10:25.360 Zion is turned into a desolate wilderness. 00:10:25.980 --> 00:10:29.419 Verse 11, the temple, the dwelling place of God, has gone up in smoke. 00:10:29.419 --> 00:10:33.879 So you see, the people of Israel, they had to ask God, where are you? 00:10:34.139 --> 00:10:36.500 We all have to ask God, where are you? 00:10:36.539 --> 00:10:42.559 Because we all see the death and the destruction that's all around us because of our sinful flight from God. 00:10:43.099 --> 00:10:55.860 We all ask this question because we all know deep down that the only possible remedy for all the death and all the destruction is the very presence of God that we fled from in the first place. 00:10:55.860 --> 00:10:59.879 Maybe the very presence of God that some of us are fleeing from even today. 00:11:01.100 --> 00:11:12.419 But make no mistake, even if we're not sure that we even believe in God, every time, where are you, God, is uttered from the lips of those who are bearing his image. 00:11:13.019 --> 00:11:16.680 Even the lips of the atheists who ask this question mockingly. 00:11:16.679 --> 00:11:26.139 Any time this question is asked, whether mockingly or sincerely, it is evidence that this broken world's ultimate need is God's presence. 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:31.359 Whether asked intentionally or unwittingly, we all ask, where are you, God? 00:11:31.459 --> 00:11:36.539 Because we know that the presence of God is our only hope, the only hope of the world. 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:40.839 The presence of God alone can clean up our mess in this world. 00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:42.500 The presence of God alone. 00:11:43.339 --> 00:11:44.099 Like, let's be honest. 00:11:44.479 --> 00:11:44.879 Think about it. 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:48.439 What really can save the world other than the presence of God? 00:11:48.919 --> 00:11:52.120 Think about all the biggest challenges that you personally face. 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:55.139 Can anyone but God really save you? 00:11:56.399 --> 00:12:03.240 I'll say, as your pastor, sometimes I listen to some of your struggles, and in my head, I'm like, oh man, yeah, that is bad. 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:04.919 It is. 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:05.919 It is hard. 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:06.679 Right? 00:12:06.679 --> 00:12:10.859 I know that the deacon's fund is not going to heal that problem. 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:11.479 Right? 00:12:11.639 --> 00:12:18.019 I know that my best sermon, my best pastoral counsel is not going to heal you and solve your problems. 00:12:18.199 --> 00:12:19.059 You need a miracle. 00:12:19.259 --> 00:12:19.979 I need a miracle. 00:12:19.980 --> 00:12:23.340 We all need a miracle to save us. 00:12:23.340 --> 00:12:23.740 Right? 00:12:23.740 --> 00:12:23.820 Right? 00:12:24.820 --> 00:12:34.340 And you know, it's precisely in my attempt to shepherd this flock, to even be a shepherd to myself, that I'm reminded that, man, the Lord has to be our shepherd. 00:12:34.340 --> 00:12:39.759 The Lord has to be our shepherd, because then and only then shall we truly not want. 00:12:40.620 --> 00:12:42.840 Like, he alone can restore our souls. 00:12:42.980 --> 00:12:46.340 He alone can lead us through the valley of the shadow of death. 00:12:47.420 --> 00:12:49.960 And man, that's just on a personal, individual level, right? 00:12:49.960 --> 00:12:53.519 But think about all the biggest challenges, like, our whole collective world faces. 00:12:54.560 --> 00:12:59.000 Like, what will truly bring salvation to our suffering world? 00:12:59.500 --> 00:13:05.740 Like, in the fullest sense of the word salvation, incorruptible, imperishable, eternal salvation and shalom. 00:13:05.860 --> 00:13:06.800 What's it going to take? 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:09.360 More diplomacy and politics? 00:13:10.379 --> 00:13:12.759 Better science and technological advancement? 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:14.360 More therapy and counseling? 00:13:14.580 --> 00:13:15.940 More hard work and wisdom? 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:17.940 More charity and goodwill? 00:13:18.139 --> 00:13:18.420 No. 00:13:18.419 --> 00:13:23.839 Nothing from within this cursed creation can cure our cancerous corruption. 00:13:24.979 --> 00:13:28.199 It's got to be something, it's got to be someone transcendent. 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:30.860 Someone incorruptible. 00:13:31.059 --> 00:13:32.959 Someone coming from the outside in. 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:36.240 Because creation will never be able to save itself. 00:13:37.199 --> 00:13:38.299 Only our creator can. 00:13:39.319 --> 00:13:46.759 And this is why Isaiah 64 uses such urgent, aggressive, even violent sounding language and imagery, right? 00:13:46.759 --> 00:13:48.339 Begging for God's presence. 00:13:48.419 --> 00:13:51.339 Begging God to do whatever it takes to come down. 00:13:52.259 --> 00:13:52.719 Verse 1. 00:13:53.379 --> 00:13:57.240 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down. 00:13:58.120 --> 00:13:59.579 Like, break through God. 00:13:59.659 --> 00:14:00.979 Tear through the sky if you have to. 00:14:01.259 --> 00:14:02.099 Burst onto the scene. 00:14:02.479 --> 00:14:04.259 Make the mountains tremble, it says in verse 1. 00:14:04.379 --> 00:14:05.419 Set twigs ablaze. 00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:06.679 Cause water to boil. 00:14:06.979 --> 00:14:08.179 Cause the nations to quake. 00:14:08.259 --> 00:14:08.620 Verse 2. 00:14:08.839 --> 00:14:12.459 Do something unexpectedly amazing, it says in verse 3. 00:14:12.460 --> 00:14:21.660 It's basically saying nothing else will possibly do but a literally earth-shattering, unexpected, surprisingly seismic act of God, 00:14:21.879 --> 00:14:27.900 rending the heavens, bursting through every barrier to come to his people to save them. 00:14:27.899 --> 00:14:31.399 Nothing less than an out-of-this-world power. 00:14:31.399 --> 00:14:37.480 So fiery, so blazing, so surprising that all creation trembles will do. 00:14:37.480 --> 00:14:40.720 This is the ultimate Advent prayer. 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:44.500 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down. 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:48.480 A prayer for the surprising breakthrough of the presence of God. 00:14:48.539 --> 00:14:51.300 And my question is, is this our Advent prayer? 00:14:51.299 --> 00:14:59.279 Are we longing for his coming with this kind of desperate urgency, hungry for a real seismic change? 00:14:59.500 --> 00:15:01.839 Something beyond our wildest imaginations? 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:06.339 And I've been captured by this verse, verse 3 this week. 00:15:06.419 --> 00:15:07.399 It really stood out to me. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:10.579 This idea of God doing awesome things that what? 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:13.000 We did not expect. 00:15:13.979 --> 00:15:15.879 Awesome things that we did not expect. 00:15:15.879 --> 00:15:22.820 And it got me thinking, are we living lives where we're refusing to be surprised by God? 00:15:24.580 --> 00:15:26.980 And might that be a huge problem, actually? 00:15:27.820 --> 00:15:29.439 An evidence of a lack of faith. 00:15:30.419 --> 00:15:35.620 I've been reading this Anne Voskamp book, and she really caught me with this quote. 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:40.139 She said, there is no way to discover joy but as surprise. 00:15:41.259 --> 00:15:45.019 There is no way to discover joy but as surprise. 00:15:45.879 --> 00:15:52.379 So, like, what if our struggles actually have less to do with the shattering of our circumstances 00:15:52.379 --> 00:15:56.980 but more to do with our unwillingness to be surprised by God, 00:15:57.620 --> 00:16:00.340 even in the midst of our shattered circumstances? 00:16:02.039 --> 00:16:09.899 Like, I know many of us, I know many of us have had just incredibly major eruptions alter our lives, right? 00:16:10.039 --> 00:16:12.840 Seismic events shattering our plans, our plans for our children, 00:16:12.840 --> 00:16:16.620 our plans for our marriages, our plans for our careers, and our finances. 00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:20.100 Maybe your vision for the perfect life that you've been working so hard to pursue 00:16:20.100 --> 00:16:22.180 has just been broken to pieces recently. 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:25.680 But might God be asking you this morning, 00:16:26.620 --> 00:16:30.420 child, are you willing to be surprised by me? 00:16:31.259 --> 00:16:32.899 Are you willing to be surprised by me? 00:16:32.920 --> 00:16:34.639 Are you willing to be pleasantly surprised? 00:16:34.840 --> 00:16:35.840 Surprised by joy? 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:41.540 Surprised by a God who rends the heavens and comes down for your good? 00:16:42.840 --> 00:16:46.259 You know, I think a lot of us say we want salvation. 00:16:46.460 --> 00:16:48.800 We say we want better days, a better world, 00:16:48.899 --> 00:16:53.120 but we don't actually long for God's new heavens and new earth. 00:16:53.660 --> 00:16:56.560 We just kind of settle for an amended one, right? 00:16:57.320 --> 00:17:02.660 With no big surprises, just some mild alterations that suit our personal plans. 00:17:02.659 --> 00:17:05.819 And so then we don't expect much from God. 00:17:06.519 --> 00:17:08.659 And we don't care to be surprised by God. 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:12.960 We don't care to be surprised by joy because, honestly, most of us hate surprises. 00:17:14.619 --> 00:17:17.180 If you ask my wife, she'll tell you, Chelsea will tell you, 00:17:17.500 --> 00:17:18.960 oh man, Andrew hates surprises. 00:17:20.359 --> 00:17:22.019 She tried to surprise me one time. 00:17:22.099 --> 00:17:24.639 It was briefly before, right before we got married. 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:27.659 And she surprised me with, like, honestly, my favorite thing. 00:17:27.660 --> 00:17:32.060 It was a surprise gathering with all my buddies doing my favorite thing, playing basketball. 00:17:33.040 --> 00:17:34.940 And, man, I hated it. 00:17:35.900 --> 00:17:38.240 I, like, couldn't enjoy myself. 00:17:38.580 --> 00:17:39.340 I played terribly. 00:17:40.080 --> 00:17:40.920 And you know why? 00:17:41.800 --> 00:17:46.640 I hated being surprised because I hated not being in control. 00:17:47.860 --> 00:17:50.580 I hated being surprised because I hated not being in control. 00:17:50.579 --> 00:18:00.599 But now, what if that's the point that God's wanting to surprise us, to show us that it's always better for him to be in control? 00:18:02.159 --> 00:18:09.980 So, again, do we truly yearn for a God who will rend the heavens and come down to save us in unexpected and surprising ways? 00:18:09.980 --> 00:18:23.799 Are we willing to have a God rend whatever he needs to rend in our lives and in our world in order that we might experience the surprising salvation that he wants for us, 00:18:23.860 --> 00:18:26.819 the surprising salvation we so desperately need? 00:18:28.039 --> 00:18:30.160 Do we even believe that we need to be saved? 00:18:31.460 --> 00:18:34.740 Or do we fear the earthquake that comes with his presence? 00:18:34.740 --> 00:18:39.059 Do we fear the upheaval and the disruption of our comfy status quo? 00:18:40.980 --> 00:18:45.839 Christ Church, do we truly yearn for a new heavens and a new earth? 00:18:46.539 --> 00:18:50.079 Or would we rather God leave our current heavens alone? 00:18:51.460 --> 00:18:56.799 You know, maybe some of us, even though we know we should be asking, God, where are you? 00:18:56.819 --> 00:19:01.660 We are quite content to kind of push that question off and not give it too much thought or attention. 00:19:01.660 --> 00:19:06.360 In fact, for many of us, the answer to this question is quite scary and threatening, right? 00:19:06.359 --> 00:19:10.799 For many of us, we actually hate to ask the question, God, where are you? 00:19:10.819 --> 00:19:14.119 Because the notion of the presence of God presents us with a huge conundrum, right? 00:19:14.759 --> 00:19:16.799 We hate to ask this question, God, where are you? 00:19:16.819 --> 00:19:22.019 Because we know that just as much as we need him to rend the heavens and come down with fire 00:19:22.019 --> 00:19:23.979 to judge all wickedness and save the world, 00:19:24.099 --> 00:19:29.279 we know that his fiery power and presence actually threaten us as much as anybody else. 00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:36.680 Notice in verses 2 to 4, how just as soon as the request is made for God to come down with fire 00:19:36.680 --> 00:19:41.460 and cause his enemies to quake, just like he'd done for Israel many times before, 00:19:41.539 --> 00:19:44.480 notice the conundrum that this prayer introduces in verse 5. 00:19:44.480 --> 00:20:00.960 There's a realization here, right? 00:20:01.740 --> 00:20:06.299 That yes, we need your presence and yes, we know you come to save the righteous, 00:20:06.860 --> 00:20:08.759 but what about those of us who aren't righteous? 00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:14.180 What about those of us who have forgotten to follow your ways? 00:20:15.220 --> 00:20:15.920 Oh, shoot. 00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:21.359 We just ask them to come down and fire against our enemies, but wait a minute. 00:20:22.119 --> 00:20:24.319 What if we're actually his enemies? 00:20:25.779 --> 00:20:29.599 Like, yes, we need God to judge and condemn all that is wicked in this world, 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:31.680 but what about us and our wickedness? 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:33.900 And yes, we need God to fight our enemies, 00:20:34.039 --> 00:20:36.339 but what happens when we're our own worst enemies, 00:20:36.339 --> 00:20:38.579 when we're even enemies of God? 00:20:38.579 --> 00:20:40.819 How then shall we be saved? 00:20:42.199 --> 00:20:43.839 It's a scary question to ask, right? 00:20:45.059 --> 00:20:46.299 It's a scary question to ask. 00:20:46.339 --> 00:20:51.220 And if it's not scary to you, then I wonder if you've realistically assessed yourself 00:20:51.220 --> 00:20:54.199 according to the standards of the holy God of the universe, 00:20:54.899 --> 00:20:56.679 the God who reveals himself in the scriptures, 00:20:56.899 --> 00:21:00.879 the God who's revealed himself in the person of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. 00:21:01.439 --> 00:21:05.099 Do we realize that even our most righteous deeds, it says in verse 6, 00:21:05.500 --> 00:21:08.220 are but filthy rags before God? 00:21:08.579 --> 00:21:12.240 It could be translated filthy menstrual rags. 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:18.000 Like, no matter how hard we try, there will always be blood on our hands, 00:21:18.420 --> 00:21:21.339 and uncleanness and impurity in our hearts. 00:21:21.460 --> 00:21:24.559 Blood, uncleanness, and impurity that we cannot cleanse on our own. 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:28.759 Because everything we do, everything we do is tainted by sin. 00:21:29.500 --> 00:21:33.380 Everything we do, even our most righteous deeds are worthy of condemnation. 00:21:33.380 --> 00:21:35.880 See, we don't just need to repent of our sinfulness. 00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:38.760 We need to repent of even our righteousness. 00:21:40.340 --> 00:21:47.800 Because 99.9% purity isn't good enough before our holy, holy, holy God. 00:21:48.860 --> 00:21:53.020 And man, I'm not even at 1%, let alone 99.9%, right? 00:21:53.019 --> 00:22:01.039 But really, 99.9% isn't even enough to save us from the anger of God against all that is wicked, 00:22:01.240 --> 00:22:04.039 both outside of the world and inside of us. 00:22:04.819 --> 00:22:07.059 And if this seems unreasonable to you, 00:22:07.879 --> 00:22:13.180 do you realize that if only 99.9% of airplanes landed in SFO every day, 00:22:13.859 --> 00:22:16.940 there would be nine crash landings every week? 00:22:16.940 --> 00:22:24.160 Do you realize that if only 99.9% of newborns were delivered safely into the hands of their doctors and midwives, 00:22:25.140 --> 00:22:29.299 there would be 371 babies dropped every day? 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:34.860 See, when we realize that 99.9% purity is not enough, 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:38.299 it really drives home the question, right? 00:22:39.160 --> 00:22:40.759 How then shall we be saved? 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:43.420 How then shall we be saved? 00:22:44.259 --> 00:22:46.700 And perhaps this is a question that's on your heart. 00:22:46.700 --> 00:22:49.100 Perhaps this is a question that you're wrestling with today. 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:50.519 How then shall I be saved? 00:22:50.580 --> 00:22:51.700 You feel the weight of your sin. 00:22:52.279 --> 00:22:53.140 You feel the guilt. 00:22:53.340 --> 00:22:53.960 You feel the shame. 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:57.819 You're haunted by that long list of things you ought to have done but failed to do, 00:22:57.880 --> 00:23:02.100 and that equally long list of things you ought not to have done but still did. 00:23:02.840 --> 00:23:03.779 And you think of the hurt. 00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:08.019 And you think of the damage that you've caused both to yourself and to others. 00:23:08.360 --> 00:23:12.039 The offensiveness that you've raised against God. 00:23:12.940 --> 00:23:15.660 And you can totally identify with this conundrum here in verse 6. 00:23:15.660 --> 00:23:18.279 All of us have become like one who is unclean. 00:23:18.980 --> 00:23:21.420 And all our righteous acts are like filthy rags. 00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:24.980 It's the complete opposite, right? 00:23:25.019 --> 00:23:28.160 Of the tree planted by streams of water delighting in God's law. 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:30.920 We all shrivel up instead like a leaf, it says. 00:23:31.420 --> 00:23:33.640 And like the wind, our sins sweep us away. 00:23:34.500 --> 00:23:37.620 No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you, 00:23:38.100 --> 00:23:41.700 for you have hidden your face from us and given us over to our sins. 00:23:41.700 --> 00:23:43.240 You read this and you're like, this is me. 00:23:44.039 --> 00:23:44.819 This is me. 00:23:45.460 --> 00:23:46.600 And you know what you deserve. 00:23:47.960 --> 00:23:52.019 You deserve, we all deserve the absence of God. 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:55.080 When we consider this question, God, where are you? 00:23:55.120 --> 00:23:57.860 We know the answer we deserve is his silence. 00:23:59.220 --> 00:24:03.940 And so we all wonder in one way or another, how then can any of us be saved? 00:24:03.940 --> 00:24:11.620 I want to tell you that the beautiful irony of the gospel is that it is precisely those who scratch their heads wondering, 00:24:11.799 --> 00:24:16.779 how then shall we be saved, who are in the best position to be saved by the God of grace? 00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:20.120 And this is the beautiful dynamic of the Christian faith, 00:24:20.240 --> 00:24:26.180 that salvation is only possible for those who feel the impossibility of their own salvation. 00:24:26.180 --> 00:24:30.259 That there is help for the helpless, hope for the hopeless, 00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:34.120 that blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:36.880 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 00:24:37.140 --> 00:24:39.680 because Jesus promises that they will be filled. 00:24:40.740 --> 00:24:41.980 And this brings me to my last point. 00:24:42.060 --> 00:24:43.440 Why we hope to ask this question? 00:24:43.560 --> 00:24:47.400 Like, why do we still dare to ask this question, even though we hate to ask it, 00:24:47.580 --> 00:24:50.259 even though the presence of God presents us with a huge problem? 00:24:50.340 --> 00:24:52.880 How can we ask, God, where are you with hope? 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:55.500 Like, hope for better days and not worse days? 00:24:56.420 --> 00:24:58.560 Well, the answer is right here in verse 8. 00:24:59.140 --> 00:25:01.220 Yet you, it says. 00:25:01.960 --> 00:25:04.820 Not yet I, but yet you. 00:25:05.800 --> 00:25:07.120 They look back to God. 00:25:07.780 --> 00:25:08.780 And this is the gospel. 00:25:09.560 --> 00:25:14.040 That God is even better at saving than we are at sinning. 00:25:15.060 --> 00:25:19.120 Like right here in verse 8, this is the gospel. 00:25:19.540 --> 00:25:20.940 Yet not I, but God. 00:25:20.940 --> 00:25:25.059 But God, the Lord, Yahweh, the hope that we have of hearing from God 00:25:25.059 --> 00:25:28.420 and receiving His presence when we ask Him, where are you? 00:25:28.460 --> 00:25:31.519 The hope that we have of this God rending the heavens and coming down, 00:25:31.700 --> 00:25:33.200 not to destroy us, but to save us. 00:25:33.259 --> 00:25:37.200 This hope does not lie in us, but solely in Him. 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:42.180 And particularly in this God who is both a father and a potter. 00:25:42.180 --> 00:25:46.840 How then can we be saved the same way as the prodigal son was saved? 00:25:47.160 --> 00:25:51.279 By the benevolence and the forgiveness of His loving Father. 00:25:51.360 --> 00:25:56.700 The hope of the world, Christ Church, is the love of our Father in heaven. 00:25:57.980 --> 00:25:58.500 Verse 9. 00:25:59.299 --> 00:26:01.080 Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord. 00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:02.820 Do not remember our sins forever. 00:26:03.220 --> 00:26:06.660 Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people. 00:26:06.660 --> 00:26:13.580 Our great hope is that we have a Father who wants to call us His own, His own children. 00:26:14.660 --> 00:26:16.759 Verse 9 here, it reminds me of Psalm 103, right? 00:26:16.820 --> 00:26:22.380 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and mercy. 00:26:23.040 --> 00:26:26.120 He will not always chide, nor will He keep His anger forever. 00:26:26.119 --> 00:26:32.819 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him. 00:26:33.179 --> 00:26:38.079 And as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. 00:26:39.399 --> 00:26:43.119 As a father, it says, shows compassion to His children, 00:26:43.959 --> 00:26:47.899 so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him. 00:26:48.599 --> 00:26:52.959 There is no other love like the love of our Father in heaven. 00:26:52.960 --> 00:27:02.420 A love so strong, right, that He can put a ring on our fingers and forever change our status from estranged to heirs, just like that. 00:27:03.019 --> 00:27:09.220 A love so strong, He can completely cover our uncleanness and impurity with His robe of righteousness. 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:11.380 And all for free. 00:27:12.360 --> 00:27:13.860 All completely for free. 00:27:15.319 --> 00:27:20.220 See, because, get this, if God is our Father, then God's Son is also our brother. 00:27:20.220 --> 00:27:24.039 And remember, who do you think that ring belonged to? 00:27:24.460 --> 00:27:26.980 That ring that the Father put on the prodigal son? 00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:29.960 And who do you think that robe belonged to? 00:27:30.519 --> 00:27:32.759 And who do you think that fattened calf belonged to? 00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:34.319 We've squandered our inheritance. 00:27:34.500 --> 00:27:36.220 The rest belong to the older brother. 00:27:37.539 --> 00:27:41.880 But the good news of this benevolent family of God, Father, Son, and Spirit, 00:27:41.960 --> 00:27:47.779 is that by God's gracious initiative, we can be co-heirs with Christ by faith. 00:27:47.779 --> 00:27:51.700 Not at our own expense, but at Christ's expense. 00:27:52.039 --> 00:27:55.460 Co-heirs, Apostle Paul says, co-heirs with glory. 00:27:56.660 --> 00:27:57.940 Glory, isn't that crazy? 00:27:58.940 --> 00:28:02.920 From filthy rags to fancy robes, glorious robes. 00:28:03.879 --> 00:28:05.940 And this is where God, as the potter, comes and sees it. 00:28:06.099 --> 00:28:08.200 If God is our potter, then we aren't just children. 00:28:08.700 --> 00:28:10.960 We aren't just even clay, but we're His artwork. 00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:14.460 His masterpiece, to use Apostle Paul's language, where? 00:28:14.539 --> 00:28:15.180 His poema. 00:28:15.819 --> 00:28:17.079 His workmanship. 00:28:18.420 --> 00:28:20.960 And maybe you're here today and you feel like the prodigal son. 00:28:21.640 --> 00:28:25.000 Like you will never be worthy of your father's love. 00:28:25.799 --> 00:28:28.120 Like He could never call you His child again. 00:28:28.340 --> 00:28:31.360 Never accept you back into His household. 00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:36.380 Maybe you're here today and you feel like there is nothing good He could make of you 00:28:36.380 --> 00:28:39.040 and your clay, the clay of your life. 00:28:40.040 --> 00:28:45.840 Like you are a cracked and broken pot, bound to be tossed and of no use to any potter. 00:28:45.980 --> 00:28:47.220 No value to anyone. 00:28:48.520 --> 00:28:52.440 But the true story of Advent, the story that we celebrate at Advent, 00:28:52.540 --> 00:28:56.840 is that when God runs the heavens, He makes beautiful things 00:28:56.840 --> 00:29:01.540 out of what the world despises as ugly and worthless. 00:29:01.539 --> 00:29:06.720 When the Father sent His Son, when the potter became the clay, 00:29:07.960 --> 00:29:09.059 no one desired Him. 00:29:10.139 --> 00:29:12.220 But at His baptism, the heavens were torn open 00:29:12.220 --> 00:29:14.799 and the Spirit descended upon Him. 00:29:14.859 --> 00:29:16.960 And God basically said, well, I desire Him. 00:29:17.639 --> 00:29:18.659 I love Him. 00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:22.940 And God could not be kept silent about His love for His Son. 00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:26.980 His love burst through the heavens to declare His love for His child. 00:29:27.240 --> 00:29:29.019 And He wants to do that for all His children. 00:29:29.019 --> 00:29:33.619 And even though the story of His Son and all of our stories 00:29:33.619 --> 00:29:38.139 might include being broken to pieces like a fragile piece of disposable clay, 00:29:39.460 --> 00:29:43.059 the Master Potter's unfailing love for His Son, for His children, 00:29:43.180 --> 00:29:44.920 surprised the world with joy, 00:29:45.460 --> 00:29:48.559 with the most beautiful masterpiece of all time, 00:29:49.379 --> 00:29:49.940 the resurrection. 00:29:50.759 --> 00:29:52.139 The resurrection of Christ. 00:29:52.900 --> 00:29:54.759 The resurrection of all God's people. 00:29:54.879 --> 00:29:57.119 The first fruits of new creation to come 00:29:57.119 --> 00:29:58.719 when the heavens will be torn again, 00:29:59.179 --> 00:30:00.559 torn apart once again, 00:30:01.379 --> 00:30:03.219 that earth might receive her King. 00:30:03.279 --> 00:30:05.159 So you see, in the person of Jesus Christ, 00:30:05.739 --> 00:30:08.459 we have the answer to this cliffhanger question 00:30:08.459 --> 00:30:10.239 at the end of our passage in verse 12. 00:30:11.159 --> 00:30:14.219 After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back? 00:30:14.759 --> 00:30:17.779 Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure? 00:30:18.779 --> 00:30:22.179 In Christ, God's answer is no. 00:30:22.180 --> 00:30:22.660 No. 00:30:23.400 --> 00:30:23.680 No. 00:30:24.440 --> 00:30:27.120 The Lord does not hold Himself back. 00:30:27.700 --> 00:30:31.000 Nor does He keep silent and punish us beyond measure. 00:30:31.080 --> 00:30:32.980 No, He actually burst into the world 00:30:32.980 --> 00:30:36.299 as the eternal Word of God become flesh, 00:30:36.580 --> 00:30:39.820 for the heavens themselves could not contain His love for us. 00:30:40.360 --> 00:30:43.759 And the proof of this is that when the heavens tore open 00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:46.039 for Him to come amongst us, 00:30:46.460 --> 00:30:47.519 He did so. 00:30:47.519 --> 00:30:50.019 He came amongst us in order to take upon Himself 00:30:50.019 --> 00:30:52.480 the punishment that we deserved. 00:30:52.599 --> 00:30:54.859 As the prophet Isaiah says earlier in chapter 53, 00:30:54.960 --> 00:30:58.900 the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him. 00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:03.079 And by His wounds, we are healed. 00:31:04.259 --> 00:31:05.539 And this is the gospel. 00:31:06.779 --> 00:31:09.480 The surprising salvation that we never deserved, 00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:11.639 but always desired, right? 00:31:12.819 --> 00:31:13.639 So come. 00:31:14.319 --> 00:31:15.180 Come this Advent. 00:31:15.339 --> 00:31:16.059 Come this Christmas. 00:31:16.059 --> 00:31:17.639 Come all you faithful. 00:31:17.759 --> 00:31:19.619 Come all you unfaithful. 00:31:20.759 --> 00:31:22.119 Come to the one who's come. 00:31:22.899 --> 00:31:23.819 And who's coming again. 00:31:24.799 --> 00:31:25.000 Come. 00:31:25.740 --> 00:31:26.599 Let us adore Him. 00:31:27.539 --> 00:31:28.099 Let's pray. 00:31:35.299 --> 00:31:36.679 God, we thank You that 00:31:36.679 --> 00:31:40.519 we don't have to hide the truth about ourselves. 00:31:40.519 --> 00:31:45.220 We can acknowledge the depths of our sin before You. 00:31:47.220 --> 00:31:49.139 And that that is not the end of the story. 00:31:50.220 --> 00:31:53.619 That when we are overcome by the greatness of our sin, 00:31:54.259 --> 00:31:57.900 You always turn that around and show us the greatness of our Savior. 00:31:57.900 --> 00:32:05.180 Lord, would that dynamic be so real to us? 00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:07.800 Sin and salvation. 00:32:10.920 --> 00:32:13.000 Would we be so thankful 00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:16.519 that You are a God who runs the heavens, 00:32:17.519 --> 00:32:18.580 comes down, 00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:21.740 that You are a God who is better at saving 00:32:21.740 --> 00:32:23.340 than we are at sinning? 00:32:23.339 --> 00:32:25.500 And that's pretty good, God. 00:32:27.959 --> 00:32:28.899 Thank You, O Lord. 00:32:30.339 --> 00:32:31.319 Thank You, O God, 00:32:32.099 --> 00:32:33.459 for this Advent season, 00:32:34.459 --> 00:32:36.059 for the coming Christ. 00:32:37.220 --> 00:32:38.559 We long for Him, O God, 00:32:38.599 --> 00:32:40.019 and we invite Him here 00:32:40.019 --> 00:32:41.359 to save us, 00:32:41.459 --> 00:32:42.220 to save the world, 00:32:42.859 --> 00:32:43.879 to make all things new. 00:32:43.959 --> 00:32:44.639 Make us a people 00:32:44.639 --> 00:32:46.639 who long for the new heavens and the new earth. 00:32:47.459 --> 00:32:49.179 Make us a new creation people, 00:32:49.299 --> 00:32:50.179 a new creation community, 00:32:50.180 --> 00:32:52.320 a new creation church that bears witness 00:32:52.320 --> 00:32:55.180 to the only news worth telling, 00:32:55.279 --> 00:32:56.380 the good news of the gospel, 00:32:57.640 --> 00:32:59.019 that Jesus Christ is Lord. 00:32:59.960 --> 00:33:00.880 In His name we pray. 00:33:01.480 --> 00:33:01.720 Amen.