Father, we ask that you would continue to show mercy upon us and pour out the Holy Spirit upon us,
those gathered here in person, those gathering online, those who might watch this later.
We ask, Father, that the Holy Spirit would fall with might and power and deep conviction,
that we might not only hear your word well, that we would also do and live your word well.
And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Amen. Please be seated.
So I don't know if you, where everybody is with Jesus, who are here, and those watching online, where everyone is with Jesus.
But one of the things which Christians don't really like talking about, and if you're not a Christian, you might not realize that this is the case,
is that Christians often struggle with disappointment with God.
We Christians often struggle with disappointment with God.
And in fact, Christians often struggle with disappointment with God's word.
We have a problem in our lives, and we go to read God's word, and it doesn't seem to do anything at all for us.
It doesn't seem to give us any insight.
It doesn't seem to give us any particular peace.
And so we become a bit cynical about God's word.
Some of us will continue reading through our cynicism.
Others will just quietly go from reading the word on a regular basis, being every day, to once a week, to once a month, to once every six months,
to we can't remember the last time we read God's word.
And now that George is saying this up front, we feel a tiny bit guilty.
But the fact of the matter is, is that Christians struggle often, without being able to share it with anybody, with disappointment about God's word.
It doesn't seem to speak to them at all.
In fact, it's a very common problem that Christians in small groups would rather not study the Bible,
but they'd rather study something that's more interesting and more helpful.
We'd rather study something by C.S. Lewis or, you know, Kyle Strobel or something like that,
because that just seems to be far more helpful than reading God's word.
This is going to really come to the fore for us a bit with this passage that we're looking at today,
because the passage is talking about, on one level, a very, very, very contemporary problem,
which is the control of the tongue, control of your speech, and the problems that go along with it.
I mean, we live in an age...
I think last week I said a couple of things off the cuff, and I think I shared with you that's how Amy Van Hemmen,
when she was her admin person in staff meetings, about every second staff meeting,
she'd say in the middle of the staff meeting after I'd said something that,
George, is why we're not allowing you to have a Twitter account.
But we live in an age where people are hypercritical about speech in social media.
So to hear that the Bible is going to talk about the tongue, the text that Shane just read,
in fact, now you're maybe going back and saying,
wow, he read that and nothing jumped out at me as being particularly helpful.
And if that's the case, aha!
We start to have a little bit of a window into the problem that we Christians have with God's word,
and the disappointment we have with it, and the disappointment we have with God.
So let's walk towards that issue.
Let's look at the text again, and also at the same time,
look a little bit at our disappointment with God.
So it's James chapter 3, verses 1 to 12.
Those of you who are watching online, we preach through books of the Bible,
and that means that sometimes we have to talk about things which aren't very popular culturally,
that are very counterculture in terms of today.
In fact, I'm going to have to make a very profoundly countercultural reference
in the process of doing this sermon.
But just sort of try to extend a little bit of grace to me as we do that.
But we read through books of the Bible.
We don't hide anything.
Everything in the Bible was written as a book,
and so the best way to understand it is to read it like a book,
to go from the beginning to the end.
And today we're at James chapter 3, verses 1 to 12.
And it goes with this.
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters,
for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
Now, I'm just going to pause here for this.
First of all, I take that very seriously.
But one of the things I'd ask is that if you would have kindness towards me
and pray that every time I have to open the Word of God to teach and preach,
that I would take it very seriously,
that I will be judged with greater strictness.
And pray not just for me, but for those who lead small groups
when they look at the Bible or talk about the Bible.
When our Sunday school, I mean Messiah Kids Sunday school,
just in general, when anybody is opening the Word,
pray that this text will come to them
and they will understand their responsibility under God
as they teach, as we teach, as I teach.
And especially in me, because in our polity,
I have, in a sense, like the top teacher role.
That's partly in Anglican polity, how they understand who the rector is,
is that I have the primary responsibility
for handling the Word of God well.
So please pray for me
and that I will be able to do that very well.
Maybe by the end of the service,
you'll say, boy, George, I need to pray for you more.
And if that's the only thing you get out of a sermon,
then I guess that's not a bad thing,
that you'll pray for me more,
that I can handle the Word of God better.
I'll just read that text again,
and then we'll look at verse 2.
Not many of you should become teachers,
my brothers and sisters,
for you know that we who teach
will be judged with greater strictness.
For we all stumble in many ways.
And if anyone does not stumble in what he says,
he is a perfect man, a perfect person,
able also to bridle his whole body.
And here body is being used as a sort of a metaphor
for the whole person, including the physical.
So it says something which is very, very true.
The word stumble here means sin.
And so every single person sins at some time or another
in terms of how they speak.
In fact, actually, it makes the interesting observation,
and this is sort of a key to what's going to go on
with the rest of his little teaching
about the use of our tongue or the use of speech,
is that in fact, if you ever met a person
who had perfect control of their speech all the time
and used speech perfectly all the time,
that could only be possible if the individual was perfect.
And so given that there are no perfect people,
Jesus being an exception,
that means we're all going to say things which are wrong.
We're going to stumble in terms of how we speak.
And now it's interesting.
James then doesn't go on to say,
therefore, make sure that your preacher
or your pastor is kind with himself.
Or therefore, don't be too hard on him
if he makes a mistake.
Or for me just to say to myself,
well, you know, I said five or six really stupid things,
two heretical things,
but what the heck, everybody stumbles.
So it could be that James introduces that.
It would be a very Canadian way, actually,
a certain type of branch of Canadian thinking
for him to go from that.
We're going to be judged with greater strictness,
but let's be kind.
In fact, if you think about that,
it's a very common refrain in our culture.
You have to learn to be kind to yourself,
be kinder to yourself, be kind to yourself.
It's a very, it's in a sense,
how we would understand the normal wisdom of the world
about how it is to handle speech.
But James doesn't go in that direction.
He takes it in a very, very different direction.
But he doesn't take it actually
in the direction that we want.
We would like him after saying something like,
be kind to yourself
or be kind with the other person.
And we'd want him then to maybe say,
and by the way,
here are three simple points to control your speech.
And so if, in fact,
the Bible went from these two verses
to say that, you know,
verse three is be kind,
and then verse four, five, and six
are verses about how to have better control of your tongue,
we would all probably say,
well, no wonder we really want to study the Bible.
It's just, it's really practical, really helpful.
It really touches me.
It really makes me feel good.
But in fact, the Bible doesn't do any of those things.
It goes in a very different direction.
And when we go to the very different direction,
that we start to, if we're conscious of it,
see our disappointment with God and with his word.
So what happens next?
Well, let's look at verse three.
James goes on to say,
if we put bits into the mouths of horses
so that they obey us,
we guide their whole bodies as well.
Look at the ships also,
though they are so large
and are driven by strong winds.
They are guided by a very small rudder,
wherever the will of the pilot directs.
Just sort of pause here before I keep reading.
So he's just making a very sort of a simple,
commonplace observation
that in many cases,
there are cases in the world
that we just see naturally
that a very, very, very tiny thing
can control the big thing.
He's just sort of drawing that to our attention
with how you work with really big horses
and how you work with big ships.
The very small thing can, in fact,
be very powerful in controlling the big thing.
And then he continues on,
and now his analogy starts to get
a little bit more telling here,
where in verse five he goes also,
so also the tongue is a small member.
And member here is saying,
if you think about the body,
the tongue is a pretty small part of the body.
Yet it boasts of great things.
In other words, we use our speech
as if it is like the bit in the horse.
It is like the rudder in the ship.
And the tongue,
our speech, it readily accepts
that type of role of control,
of presenting the person,
of being able to master situations,
of being able to have
just a greater power in situations.
We understand that, we grasp that.
So he's going from, okay, you know,
our speech, it's very common for us
to boast of this,
that our speech has this power in the world.
And of course, obviously,
the more powerful you are,
the more powerful that you think
your speech has,
that the prime minister thinks
his speech is going to have
far greater control
than maybe one of you.
But we all,
even in our smaller roles,
think that speech is going to have
that type of power.
So in a sense,
we're setting ourselves up
to think a little bit
about what actually happens
with our speech,
which is what he does
very next breath.
The second part of verse 5,
how great a forest is set ablaze
by such a small fire.
And the tongue is a fire,
a world of unrighteousness.
The tongue is set among our members,
staining the whole body,
sitting on fire the entire course of life,
and set on fire by hell.
Now, a lot of us have a problem
with a text like this.
It seems to be a little bit extreme.
But if you think about it for a second,
it's actually not very extreme at all.
If we were doing this
in a retreat context,
praise God,
the day will come
when we can crowd into a living room
or go off to a retreat location
and we can sit without masks
and see each other's faces.
But we go to some type of a retreat
and I said,
you're going to have three pieces of paper
in front of you,
you have a pen.
You're going to have
a little cardboard thing
so nobody can see it.
I want to assure you
before we go into this exercise
that nobody is to see
what you're going to write.
I'm not going to ask to see it.
You're not going to be asked
to show anybody.
And at the end of it,
we're going to,
there's a fire here
and we're going to all throw
the pieces of paper in the fire.
So you can just be completely
as honest as you possibly can.
And I said,
so the first thing
I'd like you to do
is we're going to take five minutes.
I'm going to set my timer
and take five minutes
and write down
times in your life
where somebody has said
something to you
that was very hard
and cutting.
Go.
Now my guess is
we'd fill that five minutes
quite effortlessly.
Like if I was to ask you that,
every single one of us
would be able to think
of different times
that people have said
something to us
that's been very hard
and very, very cutting.
We wouldn't have problems.
We wouldn't have to think,
gosh, I got to go back.
Like I'm really old.
Gosh, I got to go back
till I was like four
or something like that.
No, you know,
there'd be all sorts of times.
In fact,
you'd almost want to do this
with a retreat context
that there's going to be
some prayers for healing
and forgiveness afterwards
because it could be triggering
some of the terrible things
that your husband,
your wife,
you know,
your ex-husband,
your ex-wife,
you know,
your neighbor,
your boss,
your teacher
have said to you
that still have power
into your life
even today.
But then I said,
we get over that.
I said,
now we're going to take
five minutes
and I'd just like you
to write down
things that you've said
to other people
that have really hurt them
and you wish
you could take them back.
Once again,
I'd got $100.
None of us would have
problems thinking it.
In fact,
the fact of the matter is
is that if one of you
had problems
coming up with anything
that you'd said wrong,
what would all of the rest
of us say?
You are so self-absorbed
and narcissistic
that you don't ever recognize
having said anything hard?
Like it wouldn't be,
none of us,
not a single one of us
would take it as a sign
of holiness
that a person can't think
of things that they've said
that have hurt another person.
None of us.
And I'm not even just saying
us because we're,
you know,
Christians here.
If you went to a local
Tim Hortons,
you went to a local
Starbucks,
a bridgehead,
you went to a bar,
a restaurant,
you took your people
at workplace
and you said,
we're going to do this exercise
and there was this one person
who couldn't think of
a single thing
that they could say
that they'd ever hurt
another person
and everybody would go,
oh gosh,
boy,
that person must be
really narcissistic
and self-absorbed.
That's what we would all say.
Why?
Because we can all think
of things that we've said.
And that actually
would even get worse.
I said,
okay,
now we're in our third
five-minute period
and you have a third
piece of paper.
Okay,
we've dealt with things
that people have said to you,
things that you have said
to other people.
I want you to write down
things that you've said
in the car
or in your mind
but not to the other person.
Write it down
on a piece of paper.
Well,
if you're at all
self-aware
and not self-absorbed
and narcissistic,
there'd be smoke
in the room.
I mean,
unless you guys
and gals
are all vastly
more holy than I am,
which is probably
the case in most cases,
but even if you're holy,
you'd have all sorts
of things that you say
in your mind
about people,
your boss,
your wife,
your husband,
your best friend,
your kids.
So,
if that's in fact
the case,
why is it that we have
such a hard time
with verse six
and verse five?
Listen to it again
where it says,
the second half
of verse five,
how great a forest
is set ablaze
by such a small fire.
How many of us
have trouble
in our marriages,
in fact,
have had friendships
or relationships break,
have lost promotions,
have had deep trouble
in our lives
because of something
that we've said?
How many of us
have a hard time
relating to maybe
a father or a mother
even today,
even if it's just
the memory of them
because of something
that they've said?
Isn't that true?
Verse six,
and the tongue is a fire,
a world of unrighteousness.
In other words,
it reveals to us
things about ourselves
which are deeply wrong.
It stains the whole body
and sets on fire
the course of our life
and actually,
when I hear set on fire
by hell,
I'm not going to talk
about the reality of hell
but Christians,
Orthodox Christians
believe that hell exists.
But the other thing
which is just true
about that,
about all of this thing
is this,
that there is a profound
mystery to evil,
that there is something
about evil
which is irreducible,
that if we once again
we are not so self-absorbed
that we can't be self-aware,
that we are so addicted
to narcissism,
there are times
in our life,
I mean there's times
in my life I might say,
well you know,
I said that bad thing
to my wife,
you know,
but the fact is,
you know,
I was under a lot of stress,
the fact of the matter is
you'd said a couple of,
you know,
you said two or three things
to me that,
you know,
sort of put me off,
I'm tired,
you know,
I'm hangry,
like,
you know,
I can come up with,
but you know,
the fact of the matter is
there's some times
where it just comes out.
It just is there.
You could tell a truth
and the truth
wouldn't even cost you anything,
like the person
might even be happy
that you say the truth,
but you say a lie.
You could just make
a compliment,
it would be easy,
but instead you make
an insult
and it's just there,
it just springs out.
You can't blame it
on your upbringing,
you can't blame it
on anything,
you can't give any type,
it's just there.
And so,
all of a sudden
we see that this
which looks a little bit
as if it's a bit extreme,
is actually
describing
what we are like
as human beings.
And in fact,
actually,
remember I said
at the beginning
that one of the things,
the wisdom of the world
is that what we have to do
is to be kind
with ourselves,
but the fact of the matter
is that we see
that if we understand
what really goes on
in our lives,
that that's actually
often very terrible advice.
I mean,
just imagine for a moment
that if I had said
something very,
very,
very cutting and bad,
a couple of very,
very cutting things
to one of my daughters,
and this still bothers them
to this day,
and then here I get up
and I stand up
on my hind legs
and say,
you know,
sometimes I've said
some things
that are pretty hard,
but I'm trying
to be kind to myself.
Well,
the people
who've been hurt
by what I've said
would say,
no,
time out.
I don't want you
to be kind
to yourself.
Like,
own up to it.
Like,
I'm glad you have anxiety
and are sleepless.
Like,
good.
If you hear somebody
saying racist things
which are very,
very helpful,
and then you hear them say,
by the way,
I'm learning to be kind
with myself,
say,
no,
don't be kind
with yourself.
Like,
what you need
is repentance,
like amendment
of life,
like taking responsibility
for what you did.
In some ways,
what James is doing here
before he continues,
he's sitting a little bit
of a puzzle
and a riddle for us,
a bit of a riddle
about human experience.
And the riddle
of the human experience
is that we both expect
of ourselves
and others
is that they should
always control
their speech.
Yet at the same time,
he's sitting before us
that we cannot
control our speech
all the time.
And so,
what's the third sentence there?
I should control
my speech all the time.
I can't control
my speech all the time.
Therefore,
maybe I should pretend
that I'm holy
and righteous
and better than you.
Maybe I should do,
which is a lot
of what goes on
in our culture right now,
which is,
sorry,
I almost said something.
Thank you for whoever
is praying for me right now.
I almost said something
that, you know,
anyway,
but a lot of times
what we do
is we get on the attack
to make it look
like we've arrived,
but to hide
our own problems.
We attack,
we attack,
we attack
and try to make
other people feel guilty.
Do we pretend
that there's some,
like,
what do we do with that?
And so,
James is sitting before us
a bit of a riddle,
something to ponder.
And then he goes on
a little bit
and he tries to make it
a little bit deeper
for us.
Verse 7,
for every kind
of beast and bird
of reptile
and sea creature
and just pause,
it's going to be,
for those of you
who know your Bible
very well,
it's obvious here
that James is making
an allusion
to Genesis chapter,
the sixth day of creation.
And he uses
these four categories
from the sixth day
of creation
and he's saying
basically
all of
every animal,
every creature,
because he's taking
the four categories
that the book
of Genesis
and the sixth day
of creation
uses to talk about
every type
of creature,
animal.
And so,
I'll read it again.
For every kind
of beast
and bird
of reptile
and sea creature
can be tamed
and has been tamed
by human beings.
But no human being
can tame the tongue.
It is a restless evil
full of deadly poison.
Now, once again,
it sounds a bit extreme,
but there is something
restlessness.
There's a restlessness
to our speech.
That we,
if we're at all
self-aware,
we know that there are times
when we just say something,
we exaggerate,
we under things,
we flatter
when we know
we're doing the wrong thing,
we insult,
we put down.
There's something
unstoppable
and unsettled
about our speech,
even amongst
the most controlled.
And how is it?
Like,
if you think about it
for a second,
now this is like
James,
Jim,
yes,
but probably what
Jesus called him,
Jimmy,
but James,
he's setting this riddle.
Like,
why is it?
Why is it
that human beings
can,
in a sense,
master or control
every single type
of animal
in some way or another?
I mean,
whether it's through our,
you know,
not a particular individual,
but human beings
in general,
doing something
that makes an animal
to go extinct
or causes others
to flourish
or kills
or poisons
or whatever,
but there's this
general power
that we have.
But why is it
that we can do that?
Like,
why is it
that you can,
you know,
you can have somebody
who can tame a,
you know,
a snake charmer
or an elephant trainer
or a dog
or whatever.
We can actually do that
to ourselves
with what we say.
Like,
why is that?
How come that is?
But,
by the way,
what,
what James is doing here,
remember I said
that this text
reveals a little bit
at first about
our disappointment
with God
because what we want
is we want something
like be kind
to yourselves,
and then we want
a couple of techniques
about how to use
our tongue better,
but the fact of the matter
is,
is that what often
happens with techniques
is they don't,
if you don't understand
the way the world is,
you can't provide wisdom.
There's a fellow
who comes to the clock
and for many years
he had a very,
very high level job
in the government
and he was an expert
on federal,
the relationship
of the federal government
to the provinces.
He had risen
to the top
of the Privy Council,
a very high position
in the Privy Council
and he knew the history,
he knew the laws
and I'm sure
that if one of you
one day went and said,
by the way,
I figured out
this wonderful thing
with COVID and masks
and this is my wisdom,
they should do this
and this and this and this
and after one minute
of you talking to him,
he'd know that you
have no idea
about how provincial
and interprovincial,
you know,
federal and interprovincial
things work.
Like you were
as clueless
as that door
over there
and the more you talk,
the more he'd realize
that you actually
know nothing
and so any advice
you give
is worse than useless
because you're not
talking about
the real world.
There are some of you
here who are engineers
and within your sphere
of engineering,
if I said,
oh, you know,
there's this technological
problem and I figure
out a way to solve it
and then within 10 seconds
they realize you don't
know the vaguest thing
in the world
about that engineering
problem
and every extra
five seconds of conversation
just cements the depth
of your ignorance.
Your technique will not
be of any use.
You need often
in self-help books
which provide techniques.
It does not emerge
out of one
who has thought
about the nature
of human beings.
not always obviously.
There can be
some good advice
that comes
but often it comes
out of a lack
of awareness,
a lack of real pondering
the riddle
and the mystery
and the enigma
of human beings
in speech.
And he's going to
press into the mystery
of what it means
to be human
and how we use speech
in verses 9 and 10.
Look at what he says.
With it,
this is our speech,
we bless our Lord
and Father
and with it
we curse people
who are made
in the likeness
of God.
From the same mouth
come blessing
and cursing.
My brothers and sisters,
these things
ought not to be so.
If this week
one of you
who's in a small group
and I encourage you
to be in small groups,
if one of you
is in a small group
said,
you know,
so I just need
to get something
off my chest.
No,
so blessing God
means that
when you bless God
you get to know
who God is
in terms of
his attributes
and his excellencies
and his glory
and you're able
to express it
and give thanks
and gratitude
and in a sense
if you believe
that God
is the highest being
you're talking
about the very
highest things
and if you understand
cursing partially
as not necessarily
casting a spell
but as wishing,
doing something
so that the person
withers,
that they're diminished,
that they are shamed,
that if you understand
that that is what
cursing is,
if one of you
in a small group
this week
said,
you know,
I had this
really great time
of worship
on Sunday,
the scripture text,
the singing,
everything was just
so good
and yet,
you know,
I got home
and I just did
this to my wife.
I just said this
or I said this
to my kids
or I went out
for coffee
or I saw my mom
or I talked
to my dad
and I just did this.
You know what?
None of us
would be surprised.
Like every single
one of us
would say,
I've been there.
And at a deeper level,
how is it
that the German people
could produce
Bach and Auschwitz?
How is it
that the German people
could produce
Bach and Mozart
and Auschwitz?
And we know
that this ought
not to be.
That in the world
of is and is
and is and is
that there's an ought
that's there,
that it ought
not to be.
And then he brings it
to a bit of a close
before he moves
into other things
in verses 11 and 12.
And actually,
what he does here now
is he said
because we all
understand,
look what he does,
it's a very,
very clever type
of thing
to try to communicate
how human beings
are both natural
and unnatural,
that we are both
glorious and monstrous,
that we are both
good and evil.
And now he's done
some of that things.
He wants to bring home
the fact that we are
natural in the natural world
and yet there's something
profoundly unnatural
about human beings.
How does he put it
in verses 11 and 12?
Does a spring
pour forth from the same
opening both fresh
and salt water?
Can a fig tree,
my brothers or sisters,
bear olives?
Or a grapevine
produce figs?
Neither can a salt pond
yield fresh water.
So why is it
that there's something
about human beings?
We all know we're natural
and yet there's something
profoundly unnatural
about us.
In fact,
if you could put up
the first point,
what James is doing
is saying,
a human being
is a riddle
wrapped in a mystery
inside an enigma.
How can you be both
natural and unnatural,
good and evil,
glorious and monstrous?
A human being
is a riddle
wrapped in a mystery
inside an enigma.
That's a phrase
from Winston Churchill
used to describe Russia.
How can you be
both natural
and unnatural,
good and evil,
glorious and monstrous?
Now,
it's even harder
for us in our day and age
to try to get our minds
around this problem.
But,
you see,
we wanted a few words
to easily calm
our conscience
in a couple of
simple techniques.
techniques.
But,
James
is saying,
under the
renewing power
of the Holy Spirit
and the Gospel,
I'd like you
to learn wisdom.
Like,
wisdom for the real world
before you manage
techniques
for an unreal world.
So,
here I just ask
a little bit
of mercy for you.
I'm going to make
a reference
to one of the two reasons
why we have a lot
of trouble
trying to think
this through today.
And,
and,
and it's this.
I know that
in a room like this,
there's at least
one person
who's had an abortion
or helped somebody
to have an abortion.
And,
amongst those
who are watching
this online,
there's almost
definitely some
who are watching
this that have
either had an abortion,
work in the abortion
industry,
enable,
have enabled
or argued
for abortions.
So,
I know that
in my reference
right here,
I'm doing something
which might evoke
anger and pain
within you.
And,
I actually thought
and prayed along
as to whether
I was going to say this,
but I realized
I needed to say it
because of the nature
of the text
and the nature
of the riddle
which the text
has set before us.
So,
I just want to assure you
that I know
that many times
Christians talk
as if the church
gathered
is a rally
for the
anointed
and the righteous
to wage war
on an unholy
and unrighteous world.
And,
there have been
many churches
that talk
and act like that.
And,
I want to tell you
that that is not
the biblical understanding
of the church
and hopefully
it will never be
the understanding
of church
and the Messiah.
The church
is a hospital
for sinners.
It is a hospital
for the sinful
and the broken.
There's a place
where beggars
come to get
free bread.
And,
that's what a church
is.
And,
so if there are
any here
or any who are
watching
who have had
an abortion
or have been
part of having
an abortion,
I just want to
assure you
that Jesus
loves you
and that the
way to move
forward is always
to come to him
first for grace
and mercy.
And,
if you want to
have conversations
with us about
that,
you will be
listened to
without any
judgment whatsoever,
only with love.
And,
that even the
hardest parts
of God's word
that confront
things in our
lives which are
very hard
is always so
that he will
connect with you
and that you
can know
as love
and mercy.
But,
I mention that
because what is
at the heart,
one of the things
which is at the
heart of abortion
is it separates
the human
from the person.
It separates
the human
from the person.
And,
when it separates
the human
from the person
and then the
person starts
to increasingly
become some
type of a
construct,
it makes it
hard for us
to think of
human beings
and who
human beings
are.
It's one of
the reasons
why,
flowing out
of the deep
hold of
abortion in
our country,
that we have
discussions as
to whether
robots can be
persons,
whether there
will be a
time that
artificial
intelligence
can move
to becoming
a person,
whether a
whale or a
dolphin or a
chimpanzee can
be a person
because we've
completely decoupled
separated being
human from
being a
person because
then what
happens in
the womb is
not of a
person but
just of some
physical stuff.
And that
makes it very
hard for us to
have any type
of wisdom about
thinking about
this.
The Bible
makes it very
clear that
every human
being,
every human
being is made
in the likeness
of God and
has inherent
worth and
dignity.
Every human
being, both
those in the
womb, the
most severely
handicapped,
the most
elderly, the
most diseased,
that we can go
to India and
go to the
most lowest
despised
classes and
castes and
say you are
a human being
made in the
likeness of
God.
And because you
are a human
being made in
the likeness of
God, you
have an
integrity and
a worth which
is not bestowed
by the powerful
or by the
state or by
religion or
by ideology
and cannot be
removed by
them but is
to be acknowledged
by the powerful
and is to be
acknowledged by
the state.
Your dignity
comes as a
human being
from being
made in the
likeness of
God.
And because
you are a
human being
made in the
likeness of
God, it
means that
there is
something which
is unique
about being
human.
We have
another problem
which flows
from the
naturalistic
understanding
of evolution
and if in
fact the
naturalistic
understanding
of evolution
as it moves
through society
and it moves
through the
culture, it
becomes harder
and harder
to understand
why there is
anything
specifically
unique about
human beings.
Why should we
value a human
being over a
dog?
Why should we
value a human
being over a
tree?
Why should we
value a human
being over a
plant or a
microbe?
Well there is
no reason
other than
our quest
for power.
But the
Bible says
the fundamental
insight of
every human
being that
there is
something unique
about being
a human
being.
That sense
is based
in reality.
Only the
Bible makes
clear that
human beings
are made
in the
likeness
of God.
And because
human beings
are made in
the likeness
of God
that is why
there is
something in
a sense both
natural and
unnatural about
us.
Why there is
something glorious
about us.
But of all
the created
things only
human beings
are made in
the image
and likeness
of the
triune God.
only human
beings.
In fact
if you could
put up the
next point
the biblical
gospel is
the only
key that
fits the
riddle
wrapped in
a mystery
inside the
enigma of
the human
condition.
The biblical
gospel is the
only key that
fits the
riddle
wrapped in
a mystery
inside the
enigma of
the human
condition
of your
human
condition
human
beings.
The biblical
narrative tells
us we're
made in the
likeness of
the triune
God.
Hence we
were made
to be social.
We were
made to be
communal.
We were
made to be
with other
people to
have our
faces show
and reflect
who we
are and
to hear
speech and
conversation
and to
grow together.
God made
us in
his likeness
so that we
would have a
special role
in the
created order
of being
fruitful and
multiplying
and caring
for the
world to
be the
gardeners
and sub
creators of
his created
order and
we used
our glory
our splendor
which was
made to
have a
relationship
with a
triune God
and to have
a relationship
with each
other and
we use
that to
turn from
God and
turn from
each other
in self
exaltation
and in so
doing that
we bent
ourselves
we broke
ourselves
we twisted
ourselves
the biblical
word is
we fell
and God
in his
mercy and
kindness
did not
erase us
or erase
his likeness
in us
and so that
every human
being is
both made
in the
likeness of
God and
there is
something about
us that is
glorious and
that can bless
God but at
the same time
there is
something in
every single
aspect of
what makes
us us
what makes
me me
and what
makes you
you that
is twisted
that has
been touched
by our
desire to
turn from
God and
turn from
others and
turn from
the created
order and
to live
an imaginary
life where
we are
exalted and
we are
great and
we are
powerful and
we can do
what we want
and we can
declare who
we are and
we can declare
the meaning
of our lives
and there is
something in
every human
being that
is monstrous
it is why
that on one
level statistically
speaking what
you see in
human beings
is that we
are completely
natural but
it is not
natural in
the sense of
what God
intended and
because he
never removed
his likeness
from us
we have
this deep
sense that
it is not
in fact the
way things
are supposed
to be
that there
is something
unnatural about
the naturalness
of human
beings
and that God
in his mercy
seeing our
problem
does what
only the
biblical gospel
can account
for
that God
would show
mercy
in a way
that can
touch every
human being
who is made
in the
likeness of
God
because you
see if
every human
being is
made in
the likeness
of God
that means
that God
himself
God the
son of
God the
one in
whose likeness
we are
made
that he
could both
remaining
the God
himself
could take
into himself
our nature
as being in
his likeness
and that he
then could live
the life of
unbroken
communion and
fellowship
with God
that we
could not
live
and that he
could die
on a cross
as a sacrifice
satisfying the
demands of
justice
and that he
could rise
from the
dead
burying in
himself in
his risen
resurrection
our human
nature
and that
because
every human
being is
made in
the likeness
of God
if the
God
in whose
likeness
we are
made
does something
it is
something
which is
potentially
available
for every
human
being
and only
the
biblical
gospel
can account
for that
and can
offer real
mercy
the way
that Jesus
is introduced
in the
gospels
is as
Emmanuel
God
with us
in the
midst of
our mess
and the
mess of
our life
only without
sin
to redeem
us
he
enters
the
mystery
of
what
it
means
to
be
human
that
we
might
enter
the
mystery
of
grace
and
redemption
at
great
cost
to
God
and that
we receive
this by
faith
if you
could put
the
last
point up
that would
be very
helpful
so
not only
has the
biblical
gospel
as the
only
key
that
fits
the
riddle
wrapped
in
a
mystery
inside
the
enigma
of
the
human
condition
the
biblical
gospel
provides
the
means
of
grace
for
humbly
pressing
on
remember
the
mystery
is
this
we
should
control
our
speech
we
can't
control
our
speech
therefore
well
we
should
despair
or
we
should
become
cynical
or
we
should
pretend
but
the
biblical
gospel
holds
us
if
we
are
in
the
security
of
mercy
we
are
in
the
security
of
mercy
we
have
the
grace
to
humbly
press
on
under
the
security
of
mercy
no
Christian
should
ever
start
to
say
you
know
what
I'm
going
to
stop
trying
to
care
about
my
speech
no
the
gospel
holds
us
never
surrender
to
cynicism
or
despair
always
press
on
towards
controlling
your
speech
ask
the
Lord
for
mercy
that
you
might
do
it
at
the
same
time
know
that
as
you
pursue
it
you
will
stumble
but
do
not
let
that
cause
you
despair
but
once
again
seek
out
the
Lord's
mercy
and
repent
and
be
reconciled
make
amends
secure
in the
mercy
and the
knowledge
that God
the Son
of God
knew all
of that
when he
died for
you
and that
your
relationship
with the
eternal
triune
God
is secure
not because
of what
you've
done
but because
of what
he has
done
so that
as the
gospel
grips you
you realize
that you
can walk
towards
forgiveness
you can
walk
towards
repentance
you can
walk
towards
amendment
of life
you can
walk
towards
reconciliation
you will
need to
do all
of that
why
because
until you
see Jesus
face to
face
you will
stumble
but the
means of
grace are
that you
will stumble
so call
out to the
Lord for
mercy and
know that
mercy allows
you to
say that
was wrong
that just
came out
of hell
that is
just wrong
Lord have
mercy help
me not to
do it
again
help me
to renounce
that at
the same
time help
me to
never
press on
and press
on to
press on
to become
more like
God has
intended you
friends if
you've never
given your
life to
Jesus there
is no
time better
than now
only the
Bible only
the biblical
gospel begins
to make clear
to you the
riddle the
enigma the
mystery of
your human
condition in
a way that
respects and
gives integrity
to who you
are only the
gospel provides
the way for
you to be
made right
with God
and the
means of
grace for
you to
press on
and to
know life
please stand
bow our
heads in
prayer
father we
thank you so
much that when
we gather
together as
your people on
a Sunday
morning
we're in our
small groups
we're in our
mentoring
relationships
that father
we are not
coming together
as the
perfect the
anointed
the exalted
the ones who
are above other
human beings
that father you
want to have us
enter in ever
more deeply as
we're gripped by
the gospel ever
more deeply into
the mystery and
the riddle and
the enigma of
the human
situation and the
human condition
that we find
ourselves in
and we give
you thanks and
praise that your
son entered
into that in a
way to save us
and to redeem
us that we can
know by faith
receive by faith
and that he will
walk with us
and in us and
we will walk with
him and in him
as we press on
as we stand up
after we have
fallen and so
father we thank you
for that father
make us disciples
of Jesus who are
more and more
gripped by the
gospel that we
might learn to
speak and to
live for your
great glory and
for the good of
our husbands and
wives our friends
our children our
parents our
bosses our
co-workers those
who work underneath
us our neighbors
our friends and
the the passerby
that we come to
see father because
so gripped by the
gospel that we
might forward
move forward
repenting as we
need but pressing
on and pressing on
to speak words of
blessing not
cursing speak
words of truth
and not lie
words of justice
and goodness not
injustice and evil
words of mercy
rather than vengeance
words of forgiveness
rather than hatred
and all God's people
said amen