WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.080 We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church. 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:15.280 This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, redistribution, or any other use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church. 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:22.620 Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org. 00:00:22.620 --> 00:00:34.980 Today's scripture reading is from the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 18, verses 1 to 20, as printed in the liturgy. 00:00:36.160 --> 00:00:38.939 A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:43.280 At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, 00:00:43.820 --> 00:00:45.679 Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 00:00:46.420 --> 00:00:50.040 He called a little child to him and placed the child among them. 00:00:50.039 --> 00:00:57.320 And he said, Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 00:00:58.179 --> 00:01:03.159 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 00:01:03.619 --> 00:01:07.239 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. 00:01:08.359 --> 00:01:13.219 If anyone causes one of these little ones, those who believe in me, to stumble, 00:01:13.579 --> 00:01:19.079 it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 00:01:19.079 --> 00:01:23.019 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble. 00:01:23.700 --> 00:01:27.340 Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come. 00:01:28.379 --> 00:01:32.939 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. 00:01:33.579 --> 00:01:40.159 It is better for you to enter life, maimed or crippled, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:44.599 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:50.280 It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. 00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:54.219 See that you do not despise one of these little ones. 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:58.920 For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my father in heaven. 00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:00.219 What do you think? 00:02:00.219 --> 00:02:07.060 If a man owns a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 00:02:07.560 --> 00:02:13.979 And if he finds it, truly I tell you he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 00:02:14.539 --> 00:02:19.759 In the same way, your father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish. 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:25.039 If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault just between the two of you. 00:02:25.659 --> 00:02:27.599 If they listen to you, you have won them over. 00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:34.479 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. 00:02:35.239 --> 00:02:37.599 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church. 00:02:38.039 --> 00:02:43.060 And if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. 00:02:44.659 --> 00:02:47.979 Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, 00:02:47.979 --> 00:02:50.199 and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 00:02:50.939 --> 00:02:56.359 Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, 00:02:56.539 --> 00:02:58.539 it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:02.479 For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them. 00:03:03.259 --> 00:03:04.979 This is the gospel of the Lord. 00:03:05.620 --> 00:03:07.179 Praise to you, O Christ. 00:03:11.539 --> 00:03:13.259 Good morning, Christ Church. 00:03:13.259 --> 00:03:20.739 I wonder how many of you actually read operating instructions. 00:03:21.699 --> 00:03:25.439 When you get a technological device, I saw three of you. 00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:31.319 You get a technological device, a phone, a computer, you get a new appliance, a car. 00:03:32.099 --> 00:03:33.180 How many of us read the instructions? 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:37.000 How many of us actually just ignore the instructions, the operating instructions altogether? 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:43.740 For that's most of us, we just kind of file them away in case we might need them in an emergency someday. 00:03:44.099 --> 00:03:47.400 If you're like me, you've just tossed them in the trash, and you've thought, 00:03:47.539 --> 00:03:49.879 well, I can figure that out on my own if I ever need to. 00:03:51.659 --> 00:03:57.979 And if you're like me, you've done that many times, and you've found, you know, it's actually okay. 00:03:58.099 --> 00:04:02.000 I haven't really gotten into that much trouble ignoring the operating instructions. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:08.680 But I'd like to suggest that with things that are more important than a phone or a car, 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:14.240 we really should pay attention to how that thing is supposed to operate. 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:20.060 So if you're running a nuclear reactor, let's say, if you're trying to run a family, 00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:27.720 if you're trying to run a church, you should really pay attention to this very powerful thing 00:04:27.720 --> 00:04:32.120 that could do great good in the world or that could do great damage in the world. 00:04:32.740 --> 00:04:37.600 And today we're looking at Jesus' operating instructions for his church. 00:04:38.460 --> 00:04:43.180 We talked last week about Matthew chapter 16 where Jesus says, 00:04:43.720 --> 00:04:49.100 I'm going to build my church, and the gates of hell are not going to prevail against my church. 00:04:49.260 --> 00:04:51.800 I'm the builder, and I'm the protector of the church. 00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:58.840 And today we come to Jesus' more specific instructions for how the church is supposed to work. 00:04:59.259 --> 00:05:04.500 Now, as a reminder, in the Gospel of Matthew, there are five major sermons from Jesus, 00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:07.500 these great blocks of his preaching and his teaching. 00:05:07.660 --> 00:05:11.180 So in Matthew chapter 5 through 7, we get the Sermon on the Mount, 00:05:11.879 --> 00:05:13.879 which is Jesus' sermon on the Christian life. 00:05:14.439 --> 00:05:18.199 In Matthew chapter 10, we get Jesus' sermon on Christian mission. 00:05:18.199 --> 00:05:22.779 Matthew 13, we get Jesus' sermon on the kingdom of God. 00:05:22.899 --> 00:05:24.839 Andrew preached about that this past Wednesday night. 00:05:25.099 --> 00:05:29.079 Now we're in Matthew 18 to 20, his sermon on the church community. 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:34.899 And then you can read on to Matthew 23 to 25, his sermon on judgment. 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:38.899 And there's really nothing more important for Christians and for churches 00:05:38.899 --> 00:05:42.899 than to really focus ourselves on these sermons. 00:05:42.899 --> 00:05:49.099 What's the content of what Jesus preached, and how can we practice what he preached? 00:05:49.699 --> 00:05:53.839 And as we come to Matthew 18 to 20, Jesus' sermon on church community, 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:58.399 Jesus is unfolding here for us in these next few weeks. 00:05:58.479 --> 00:06:04.219 We're going to be looking at the elements of love that make the church a community, a family, 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:09.899 and how that works, how it operates properly and optimally. 00:06:09.899 --> 00:06:17.319 And we know that Jesus is talking about the church here because he says so implicitly 00:06:17.319 --> 00:06:21.299 when he's talking about the flock and the sheep, that's a metaphor for the church. 00:06:21.359 --> 00:06:25.699 When he's talking about the family of brothers and sisters, that's a metaphor for the church. 00:06:26.199 --> 00:06:32.679 And then he says explicitly two times in verse 17, I'm talking about my church. 00:06:32.680 --> 00:06:37.500 And so Andrew's going to talk next week a little bit about these verses 15 to 20, 00:06:37.579 --> 00:06:45.460 but I want to talk today about verses 1 to 14 and what Jesus says are the operating instructions for his church. 00:06:46.280 --> 00:06:51.920 How is my church that I'm building and that I'm protecting designed to work? 00:06:51.920 --> 00:07:09.920 And this text tells us that Jesus wants to build a humble, sacrificial, and retrieving church. 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:13.480 First of all, Jesus builds a humble church. 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:18.300 Verse 1 tells us that at that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, 00:07:18.300 --> 00:07:21.500 who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:26.759 And this question comes because Jesus has been talking to them about the kingdom of God. 00:07:26.819 --> 00:07:30.920 And every kingdom, as we know, has a certain structure, has a hierarchy. 00:07:31.160 --> 00:07:32.639 It has the greatest and the least. 00:07:33.460 --> 00:07:36.560 In every kingdom you have people at the top, the middle, and the bottom. 00:07:36.680 --> 00:07:40.860 And so the disciples are saying, well, who's going to have the top positions in the kingdom? 00:07:42.060 --> 00:07:44.639 Who's going to have the highest honor in the kingdom of God? 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:48.339 Who's going to play the most important roles and get the most recognition? 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:52.079 If you look in your pew Bibles, you'll see in the previous chapter, 00:07:52.199 --> 00:07:56.680 Jesus invited Peter, James, and John, just three of the 12 disciples, 00:07:56.800 --> 00:07:59.939 to come up with him on the mountain of transfiguration. 00:08:00.099 --> 00:08:05.519 And so perhaps these other disciples that didn't get invited are feeling kind of aggrieved, right? 00:08:06.259 --> 00:08:11.459 And we can sense underneath this question, there's some sort of selfish ambition, 00:08:11.459 --> 00:08:18.919 some sort of vain conceit, some sort of prideful competition that's going on in Jesus' disciple community. 00:08:19.919 --> 00:08:22.019 And so how does Jesus respond to that question? 00:08:22.859 --> 00:08:26.219 And how does he respond to the attitudes underneath that question? 00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:32.100 Well, it says in verse 2 that he called a little child whom he placed among them, 00:08:32.100 --> 00:08:38.040 and he said, truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, 00:08:38.600 --> 00:08:41.940 you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 00:08:42.840 --> 00:08:46.840 Now, that's not shocking for us because we live in a child-centered society. 00:08:47.980 --> 00:08:52.379 Kids have a high status despite the fact that they're the smallest and the weakest among us, 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:57.320 and I would argue that's because of Jesus and this great revolution that he launches here. 00:08:57.320 --> 00:09:00.160 But that was not so in the Greco-Roman world. 00:09:00.800 --> 00:09:06.440 The child was the least significant human being you could possibly think of. 00:09:07.100 --> 00:09:14.840 And so this is an astonishing object lesson where Jesus just plops a kid right down in the middle of his disciple community, 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:18.480 and he says, your idea of what is great is wrong. 00:09:19.780 --> 00:09:21.540 This is greatness. 00:09:21.539 --> 00:09:29.599 And Jesus says, unless you change your whole attitude, unless you change your whole outlook 00:09:29.599 --> 00:09:36.120 to have the lowliness and the humility of this small child, 00:09:36.899 --> 00:09:43.559 you cannot even enter into the kingdom of God, much less be great within that kingdom. 00:09:44.740 --> 00:09:48.699 This is Jesus' doctrine of what we call conversion. 00:09:48.700 --> 00:09:57.500 And Jesus is saying that, you know, you have to undergo a heart transplant because you cannot even gain access. 00:09:57.720 --> 00:10:02.900 You cannot even be admitted into the kingdom of God unless you have a humble heart. 00:10:03.920 --> 00:10:06.420 And this fits with his Sermon on the Mount. 00:10:06.520 --> 00:10:08.100 Remember how he begins that sermon. 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:09.520 What does he say? 00:10:09.620 --> 00:10:10.759 Blessed are the... 00:10:11.480 --> 00:10:12.759 Blessed are the... 00:10:12.759 --> 00:10:15.100 Okay, we've got to preach that sermon again. 00:10:15.100 --> 00:10:18.220 Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount, and he says, 00:10:18.560 --> 00:10:22.800 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:10:22.899 --> 00:10:28.700 Blessed are those who realize that they have absolutely nothing to offer to God. 00:10:29.720 --> 00:10:31.720 And then he ends that sermon, and he says, 00:10:32.300 --> 00:10:37.700 Small is the gate, and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. 00:10:37.700 --> 00:10:42.860 And why is that gate that leads to life so hard to find? 00:10:42.920 --> 00:10:46.680 And why is that narrow gate so difficult to enter through? 00:10:46.940 --> 00:10:50.280 It's because you can't bring a big ego through it. 00:10:50.860 --> 00:10:53.560 You can't bring all your pride through it. 00:10:54.160 --> 00:10:57.780 And Jesus is giving us kind of a clue about this in verse 4. 00:10:57.900 --> 00:10:58.320 He says, 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:15.879 You see, the problem for us, left to our own selves, is that we love the first place. 00:11:16.720 --> 00:11:17.980 We love the best position. 00:11:18.120 --> 00:11:23.560 We love the highest and the greatest place, and not the lowly and the humble place. 00:11:23.559 --> 00:11:30.159 But Jesus is telling us that that pride that's in us is a sin that's so grave, 00:11:30.899 --> 00:11:33.259 that if it characterizes your life, he says, 00:11:33.359 --> 00:11:35.279 You cannot even enter in. 00:11:35.339 --> 00:11:36.439 You can't be included. 00:11:36.599 --> 00:11:40.279 You cannot participate in the kingdom of heaven. 00:11:41.979 --> 00:11:47.779 Now, if Jesus diagnoses our heart problem and says that we are full of pride, 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:50.519 well, what's his remedy? 00:11:50.659 --> 00:11:51.839 What's his cure? 00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:58.580 And I think Jesus is suggesting here that we should ask God in his grace to change us, 00:11:59.180 --> 00:12:02.899 right, to give us a new heart that's childlike. 00:12:03.460 --> 00:12:06.280 Not childish, but childlike. 00:12:06.379 --> 00:12:11.420 Childish is about being immature and irresponsible, and that's not what Jesus is saying. 00:12:12.200 --> 00:12:13.560 He's encouraging us to pray, 00:12:13.559 --> 00:12:20.679 Lord, make me something by your grace, other than what I am by nature, which is full of myself. 00:12:21.439 --> 00:12:29.500 Give me a childlike heart that's able to take the lowly position, that's able to be in that humble place. 00:12:30.199 --> 00:12:32.559 And how does that typically happen? 00:12:32.659 --> 00:12:34.679 How does God typically answer that prayer? 00:12:34.679 --> 00:12:40.079 Well, God will typically give you a glimpse of himself. 00:12:41.419 --> 00:12:51.759 God will typically show you how great and glorious he is, how majestic, how transcendent, how holy and how beautiful he is. 00:12:51.759 --> 00:13:05.439 And when you have a glimpse of God, you can't help but feel small and insignificant and lowly and weak and humble like a little child before his awesome presence. 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:11.400 And you see, what does a little child know about themselves? 00:13:12.340 --> 00:13:18.000 A little child knows that they're not an autonomous creature, right? 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:26.600 They know that, in fact, they're dependent creatures, that they rely on their parents for absolutely everything that they need to live. 00:13:26.600 --> 00:13:39.379 And I think Jesus is suggesting here that only a childlike, humble, dependent, trustful heart can do something like pray the Lord's Prayer. 00:13:40.100 --> 00:13:40.540 Right? 00:13:40.600 --> 00:13:42.100 Because that's a child's prayer. 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:42.879 How does it start? 00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:45.279 Our Father. 00:13:46.519 --> 00:13:47.399 Our Father. 00:13:47.500 --> 00:13:48.800 Abba, Father. 00:13:48.800 --> 00:13:54.680 In heaven, I depend upon you for all that I am and all that I have. 00:13:54.679 --> 00:13:57.599 I depend upon you for my bread and all things physical. 00:13:58.439 --> 00:14:01.959 I depend upon you for forgiveness and all things spiritual. 00:14:02.199 --> 00:14:06.319 I depend upon you for deliverance from evil and all things moral. 00:14:07.179 --> 00:14:12.079 And Jesus is wanting us to think about this as a disciple community. 00:14:12.539 --> 00:14:14.739 Do we pray like a little child? 00:14:16.419 --> 00:14:23.679 And are we putting ourselves in this lowly position, in this humble place before our Father on a regular basis? 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:29.099 Because that's Jesus' definition of true greatness in his kingdom. 00:14:30.379 --> 00:14:34.739 You see, the disciples ask this question, who's the greatest in the kingdom of God? 00:14:35.219 --> 00:14:40.539 And Jesus' answer is, well, whoever's taken the humblest place and the lowest place of all. 00:14:41.259 --> 00:14:42.519 And who is that actually? 00:14:44.159 --> 00:14:47.679 Who's taken the humblest place and the lowest place in the kingdom of God? 00:14:48.579 --> 00:14:50.059 It's Jesus himself. 00:14:50.059 --> 00:14:54.259 The Apostle Paul says in Philippians 2, he says, 00:14:54.379 --> 00:14:57.319 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. 00:14:58.259 --> 00:15:03.299 Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking out for your own interests, 00:15:03.399 --> 00:15:05.319 but each of you to the interests of the others. 00:15:06.259 --> 00:15:11.339 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset that Christ Jesus had 00:15:11.340 --> 00:15:17.740 when he made himself nothing and he humbled himself and he became obedient to death, 00:15:18.420 --> 00:15:20.420 even death on a shameful cross. 00:15:21.860 --> 00:15:27.820 And you see, if the highest one, Jesus Christ, became the lowest one, 00:15:27.920 --> 00:15:31.840 isn't this what his disciples are to be like as well? 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:37.420 That if the greatest one, Jesus, became the humblest one, 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:43.820 shouldn't this be one of the most distinctive marks and characteristics of his church community? 00:15:44.980 --> 00:15:47.540 And that's the kind of church he wants to build here. 00:15:48.019 --> 00:15:49.639 He wants to build a humble church. 00:15:50.940 --> 00:15:56.620 People who take the lowliest positions and say, that's greatness. 00:15:56.620 --> 00:16:02.600 But Jesus not only wants to build a humble church, he wants to build a sacrificial church. 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:04.899 A sacrificial church. 00:16:05.139 --> 00:16:10.440 He shifts his focus now from our inward character in verses 1 to 4. 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:15.580 He now begins to talk about our outward conduct in verses 5 to 9. 00:16:15.700 --> 00:16:20.440 And he's basically saying, look, our humility before God should be expressed 00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:24.200 in our humility before others in the church with our fellow disciples. 00:16:24.200 --> 00:16:32.440 That this attitude of humility as we relate to one another serves as evidence and as a sign 00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:37.240 and an indicator that God has, in fact, worked a change of heart within us. 00:16:38.140 --> 00:16:39.740 Listen to what he says in verse 5. 00:16:40.860 --> 00:16:44.480 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. 00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:48.879 If anyone causes one of these little ones, those who believe in me, to stumble, 00:16:48.980 --> 00:16:52.180 it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck 00:16:52.179 --> 00:16:54.959 and they were drowned in the depths of the sea. 00:16:56.359 --> 00:17:00.559 When Jesus is speaking here about the child and these little ones, 00:17:00.620 --> 00:17:05.559 he's not still talking about the actual child that he's brought before them as an object lesson. 00:17:05.559 --> 00:17:10.319 Rather, he's saying that the childlike disciples who trust in me, 00:17:10.419 --> 00:17:13.500 these are the children, these are the little ones, 00:17:13.500 --> 00:17:18.619 and what he's saying is I want you to treat one another like you would treat me. 00:17:20.259 --> 00:17:24.140 When you welcome a brother or sister in Christ, 00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:29.200 when you warmly receive them, when you accept them in my name, 00:17:29.259 --> 00:17:32.660 when you go out of your way and you overcome barriers 00:17:32.660 --> 00:17:38.660 and you extend yourself to welcome one another with encouragement and support and service, 00:17:38.660 --> 00:17:42.140 Jesus says you are actually welcoming me. 00:17:44.120 --> 00:17:49.360 And what if we're not relating to each other like we would relate to Jesus? 00:17:50.420 --> 00:17:53.759 Well, that's why Jesus begins to give us this worrying warning 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:57.259 about this millstone tied around our necks. 00:17:57.320 --> 00:17:58.620 What in the world does that mean? 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:00.519 Jesus is saying there, 00:18:00.620 --> 00:18:07.019 I want you to take care that you do not injure the faith of my people in my church. 00:18:07.019 --> 00:18:13.339 I want you to do no harm to your brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. 00:18:13.420 --> 00:18:15.579 I want you to do nothing to hurt their faith. 00:18:15.639 --> 00:18:20.779 I want you to care so much for your fellow disciples in this community 00:18:20.779 --> 00:18:24.420 that you care for them more than you care about yourself. 00:18:25.539 --> 00:18:29.379 Jesus is saying I don't want you to cause any fellow Christian 00:18:29.379 --> 00:18:34.299 to stumble in their relationship with the Lord. 00:18:34.299 --> 00:18:40.720 And I don't want you to trip people up in their way that God wants them to walk 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:42.720 and wants them to live as they're following me. 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:49.259 In fact, Jesus says if you hurt the faith of one little disciple in my church, 00:18:49.919 --> 00:18:54.940 then death by drowning is better than what you're going to experience on judgment day. 00:18:55.700 --> 00:18:58.039 Ooh, this is awful. 00:18:58.039 --> 00:19:02.799 This is what the Apostle Paul is saying in his letter to the Romans. 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:04.480 In Romans 14, he says, 00:19:04.740 --> 00:19:10.819 Make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. 00:19:11.879 --> 00:19:14.259 And he goes on in Romans 16, he says, 00:19:14.359 --> 00:19:18.579 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions 00:19:18.579 --> 00:19:24.319 and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching that you have learned. 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:28.399 You see, what Jesus is saying here in Matthew 18 00:19:28.399 --> 00:19:31.119 and what Paul is saying in his letter to the Romans 00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:35.559 is that it's possible to hurt Jesus' disciple community 00:19:35.559 --> 00:19:42.559 by failing to be for one another theologically and morally and spiritually, 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:47.200 all the things that the New Testament calls us to be for one another. 00:19:47.980 --> 00:19:53.919 And this is why Jesus shifts his focus from not just what's causing fellow disciples to stumble, 00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:57.100 but what causes you to stumble, he says. 00:19:57.800 --> 00:20:01.420 Because if you're tripping your own self up and you're causing yourself to stumble, 00:20:01.539 --> 00:20:04.860 you're surely going to cause other people in my church to stumble. 00:20:05.800 --> 00:20:08.860 And so he says, I want you to pay serious attention to yourself. 00:20:09.880 --> 00:20:13.840 Examine yourself according to these words in verse 8. 00:20:14.840 --> 00:20:19.279 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. 00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:24.099 It's better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet 00:20:24.099 --> 00:20:25.759 and be thrown into eternal fire. 00:20:26.299 --> 00:20:29.220 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:32.139 It's better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes 00:20:32.139 --> 00:20:34.920 and be thrown into the fire of hell. 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:38.799 This is the most loving person in the universe 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:42.299 who talks the most about this doctrine of hell. 00:20:42.299 --> 00:20:46.279 And do you know who he talks the most about this doctrine with? 00:20:47.659 --> 00:20:48.740 His disciples. 00:20:49.899 --> 00:20:52.159 Not the pagan world, not the crowds. 00:20:53.099 --> 00:20:57.839 He warns his disciples, his believers, his people of faith most severely 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:00.919 because he wants to motivate them here in this case 00:21:00.919 --> 00:21:08.379 to get rid of whatever is causing you to stumble and get rid of it immediately. 00:21:08.380 --> 00:21:14.360 Whatever is hurting your faith or the faith of others must go, Jesus says. 00:21:14.820 --> 00:21:19.880 If it's your hand and what you do, if it's your foot and where you go, 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:21.480 if it's your eye and what you see. 00:21:22.440 --> 00:21:25.300 Or you could go down the rest of the list of our body parts. 00:21:25.360 --> 00:21:27.120 If it's your ear and what you hear, 00:21:28.140 --> 00:21:30.980 if it's your tongue and the things that you're saying, 00:21:31.080 --> 00:21:32.620 if it's your mind and what you're thinking, 00:21:32.740 --> 00:21:35.520 if it's your heart and what you're desiring, 00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:39.859 Jesus says you need to identify that thing that's causing you to stumble 00:21:39.859 --> 00:21:41.700 and you need to kill it. 00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:46.440 Because if you don't kill it, it is going to kill you 00:21:46.440 --> 00:21:49.059 and it's going to kill my whole disciple community. 00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:55.960 And Jesus isn't saying literally to cut off and to gouge out body parts. 00:21:56.039 --> 00:21:59.539 He's exaggerating like the millstone to make a point. 00:21:59.539 --> 00:22:04.000 And he's saying that, look, sin is like gangrene. 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:07.539 If you do not take drastic action, 00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:11.299 if you do not lose your foot or lose your hand, 00:22:11.379 --> 00:22:13.740 no matter how precious it is to you, 00:22:13.980 --> 00:22:16.119 you will ultimately lose your life. 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:22.139 There's hardly anything that's more valuable to a working person 00:22:22.139 --> 00:22:24.059 than their hands and than their feet. 00:22:24.740 --> 00:22:26.200 These are not bad things. 00:22:26.279 --> 00:22:28.039 These are good things that God created. 00:22:28.039 --> 00:22:34.500 But Jesus is saying that anything that's diminishing faith in yourself 00:22:34.500 --> 00:22:35.440 or in other people, 00:22:35.539 --> 00:22:37.299 anything that's causing you to stumble 00:22:37.299 --> 00:22:43.079 and not walk closely and consistently with God has got to go. 00:22:45.379 --> 00:22:48.019 This is a good place to begin Lent, I think. 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:51.720 Because you might think of a good thing in your life, 00:22:52.339 --> 00:22:54.480 a really good gift that God's given you, 00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:58.240 and you've allowed that good thing to push God off to the side, 00:22:58.339 --> 00:22:59.120 to the periphery. 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:02.460 You've allowed that thing to become the first thing in your life, 00:23:02.519 --> 00:23:05.860 and God has somehow now become the second thing or the third thing. 00:23:07.180 --> 00:23:11.319 Or you might think of an attitude in your heart that's killing you 00:23:11.319 --> 00:23:14.019 and will kill you if you do not remove it. 00:23:14.019 --> 00:23:18.740 I thought this week about this verse in Ephesians chapter 4, 00:23:19.859 --> 00:23:21.019 where the Apostle Paul says, 00:23:21.240 --> 00:23:26.400 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander 00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:29.859 be put away from you along with all malice. 00:23:31.319 --> 00:23:32.779 We talked about pride. 00:23:32.879 --> 00:23:34.779 Let's talk a little bit about anger. 00:23:36.059 --> 00:23:37.460 Frederick Buechner says this. 00:23:37.460 --> 00:23:37.819 He says, 00:23:37.960 --> 00:23:39.360 Of the seven deadly sins, 00:23:39.500 --> 00:23:41.500 anger is possibly the most fun. 00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:44.620 To lick your wounds, 00:23:45.559 --> 00:23:48.720 to smack your lips over grievances long past, 00:23:48.840 --> 00:23:53.279 to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, 00:23:53.940 --> 00:23:56.900 to savor to the last twosome morsel 00:23:56.900 --> 00:23:59.759 both the pain that you are given 00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:01.500 and the pain you are giving back. 00:24:01.600 --> 00:24:04.700 In many ways, it is a feast fit for a king. 00:24:04.700 --> 00:24:06.819 The chief drawback, he says, 00:24:06.860 --> 00:24:09.480 is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:13.000 And the skeleton at the feast is you. 00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:18.920 You know, if you've ever tried to break a bad moral habit like anger, 00:24:19.100 --> 00:24:22.559 you know that it feels like cutting off your hand or your foot. 00:24:23.779 --> 00:24:23.980 Right? 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:28.460 If you've ever tried to stop a bad attitude toward a fellow Christian 00:24:28.460 --> 00:24:30.319 that you're called to love, 00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:33.960 you know that it can be almost as hard as plucking out your eye. 00:24:34.700 --> 00:24:39.559 And Jesus knows that the discipleship he's calling us to here, 00:24:39.799 --> 00:24:41.420 it's a costly discipleship. 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:43.840 He knows that if we're going to become like him 00:24:43.840 --> 00:24:46.660 theologically and spiritually and morally, 00:24:46.860 --> 00:24:47.779 it's going to hurt. 00:24:50.519 --> 00:24:52.000 Jesus, of all people, 00:24:52.759 --> 00:24:55.140 knows the pain of what he's talking about. 00:24:56.259 --> 00:24:56.420 Right? 00:24:56.500 --> 00:25:00.759 Jesus didn't have his hands and his feet cut off with sharp objects, 00:25:00.759 --> 00:25:04.339 but Jesus did have his hands and his feet pierced with nails. 00:25:05.579 --> 00:25:06.059 Right? 00:25:06.140 --> 00:25:10.440 He himself and his body and his soul was cut off on his cross. 00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:11.759 Right? 00:25:11.819 --> 00:25:14.220 He went through these fires of hell. 00:25:14.299 --> 00:25:16.240 He lost his very life. 00:25:16.379 --> 00:25:17.259 Why did he do that? 00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:19.339 In order to save us from sin, 00:25:19.339 --> 00:25:23.299 so that we could walk with God without stumbling anymore. 00:25:24.980 --> 00:25:27.699 And so Jesus has earned the right to call his disciples, 00:25:27.859 --> 00:25:31.359 to call his disciple community to selfless sacrifice 00:25:31.359 --> 00:25:32.779 for the sake of one another, 00:25:33.159 --> 00:25:35.659 so that we can be a healthy church community 00:25:35.659 --> 00:25:38.339 where the humility of Christ is on display, 00:25:39.240 --> 00:25:41.299 where the welcome of Christ is on display, 00:25:41.399 --> 00:25:42.899 where the love of Christ is on display, 00:25:42.900 --> 00:25:50.000 where the holiness of Christ is obviously invisibly on display 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:52.720 for other people to see among us. 00:25:53.860 --> 00:25:56.960 That's the kind of church he wants to build, 00:25:57.019 --> 00:26:00.560 a humble church and a sacrificial church. 00:26:01.540 --> 00:26:04.280 But finally, he also wants to build a retrieving church. 00:26:05.080 --> 00:26:07.740 Jesus wants to build a humble and a sacrificial 00:26:07.740 --> 00:26:09.980 and a retrieving church. 00:26:10.940 --> 00:26:12.240 This is verse 10. 00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:13.079 And Jesus says, 00:26:13.180 --> 00:26:15.740 See that you do not despise one of these little ones. 00:26:16.759 --> 00:26:19.420 For I tell you that their angels in heaven 00:26:19.420 --> 00:26:21.480 always see the face of my Father in heaven. 00:26:22.420 --> 00:26:23.259 What do you think? 00:26:23.299 --> 00:26:26.160 If a man owns a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, 00:26:26.660 --> 00:26:28.640 will he not leave the 99 on the hills 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:30.660 and go to look for the one that wandered off? 00:26:32.019 --> 00:26:33.200 And in verse 14, he says, 00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:35.339 In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing 00:26:35.339 --> 00:26:37.799 that any of these little ones should perish. 00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:41.120 Now again, when Jesus is talking about little ones, 00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:42.319 he means disciples. 00:26:42.659 --> 00:26:43.799 And when he's talking about the flock, 00:26:43.919 --> 00:26:45.279 he means the church. 00:26:46.219 --> 00:26:48.799 And Jesus is trying to show us the heart of God 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:51.279 toward our fellow sheep in this flock 00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:54.239 in order to show us how we ought to relate to one another. 00:26:55.099 --> 00:26:57.419 Jesus assumes that we're prone to wander. 00:26:58.539 --> 00:27:00.259 Disciples and Christians in the church, 00:27:00.339 --> 00:27:01.959 we're prone to wander off from the church. 00:27:02.039 --> 00:27:04.219 We're prone to wander off from the faith. 00:27:04.220 --> 00:27:05.759 And how do we wander off? 00:27:06.259 --> 00:27:11.180 Well, we wander off theologically from the truth of God's word 00:27:11.180 --> 00:27:15.120 and we begin to adopt unbiblical ways of thinking. 00:27:15.980 --> 00:27:19.759 We wander off morally by living in ways 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:21.559 that are not in line with the gospel, 00:27:21.700 --> 00:27:23.539 living in ways that are dishonoring to God 00:27:23.539 --> 00:27:24.720 and ignoring his commands. 00:27:25.360 --> 00:27:26.980 We wander off spiritually. 00:27:26.980 --> 00:27:30.740 We sort of drift away from weekly worship 00:27:30.740 --> 00:27:36.140 and we slip off from the daily practices of scripture 00:27:36.140 --> 00:27:38.240 and prayer that will give us life. 00:27:38.360 --> 00:27:40.839 We wander in so many ways. 00:27:41.640 --> 00:27:42.500 But Jesus is saying, 00:27:42.620 --> 00:27:44.319 I want you to have the same attitude 00:27:44.319 --> 00:27:47.360 that my father has for this flock, 00:27:47.620 --> 00:27:50.019 especially for the sheep who are prone to wander. 00:27:50.180 --> 00:27:51.799 And what's the father's attitude? 00:27:51.799 --> 00:27:54.379 The father's attitude is, 00:27:54.579 --> 00:27:57.319 well, just let it go. 00:27:57.379 --> 00:27:58.159 It's just one sheep. 00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:00.359 We've got 99 more. 00:28:01.480 --> 00:28:04.139 I mean, let's not worry about this odd, silly sheep 00:28:04.139 --> 00:28:06.000 that just keeps drifting away from the flock 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:08.720 is probably not worth very much anyway. 00:28:10.279 --> 00:28:12.700 No, that's what Jesus means when he says, 00:28:13.139 --> 00:28:16.319 be careful that you do not despise one of these little ones 00:28:16.319 --> 00:28:18.879 as worthless and not valuable. 00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:22.520 Now, how does the father really think and feel? 00:28:23.160 --> 00:28:24.320 The father says, wait a minute. 00:28:25.220 --> 00:28:26.740 I had 100 sheep. 00:28:27.800 --> 00:28:31.900 Where's my one that's infinitely valuable to me? 00:28:33.060 --> 00:28:34.400 He says in verse 14, 00:28:34.520 --> 00:28:36.060 your father in heaven is not willing 00:28:36.060 --> 00:28:39.320 that any of these little ones should perish. 00:28:40.600 --> 00:28:43.340 My father loves to recover lost sheep. 00:28:44.360 --> 00:28:46.860 My father delights in his heart 00:28:46.859 --> 00:28:48.979 when sheep are brought back into the fold 00:28:48.979 --> 00:28:49.899 and Jesus is saying, 00:28:50.099 --> 00:28:51.399 we should have the same attitude 00:28:51.399 --> 00:28:53.359 for one another in the church. 00:28:54.479 --> 00:28:55.539 If you're a Christian, 00:28:55.779 --> 00:28:57.839 it's because Jesus, the good shepherd, 00:28:58.019 --> 00:29:00.699 laid down his life for you on his cross. 00:29:00.779 --> 00:29:03.799 He shed his blood to save you into this flock. 00:29:04.659 --> 00:29:07.359 But now, you're not only a sheep, 00:29:07.899 --> 00:29:10.339 you're also a shepherd. 00:29:10.339 --> 00:29:13.279 And every Christian is called to think 00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:14.599 and to act like a shepherd 00:29:14.599 --> 00:29:16.919 and to take spiritual responsibility 00:29:16.919 --> 00:29:19.139 for your fellow disciples, 00:29:19.339 --> 00:29:21.959 for the health and well-being of this flock 00:29:21.959 --> 00:29:24.379 so that if you see even one sheep 00:29:24.379 --> 00:29:26.839 that starts wandering off into dangerous territory, 00:29:27.019 --> 00:29:28.980 one sheep that starts drifting away 00:29:28.980 --> 00:29:32.359 into places where we know they will perish, 00:29:32.639 --> 00:29:33.720 what should you do? 00:29:33.720 --> 00:29:37.700 Obviously, you should call Pastor Andrew 00:29:37.700 --> 00:29:41.960 and say, hey, this is your job. 00:29:42.019 --> 00:29:42.759 You deal with it. 00:29:44.019 --> 00:29:46.680 No, Jesus is telling us this story 00:29:46.680 --> 00:29:49.019 in his sermon about the church community 00:29:49.019 --> 00:29:51.539 to tell us, you go after them. 00:29:52.759 --> 00:29:55.500 You go and shepherd them 00:29:55.500 --> 00:29:57.680 in the way that your shepherd came after you. 00:29:59.319 --> 00:30:01.299 You know, when I was a kid growing up, 00:30:01.299 --> 00:30:02.839 we had this dog named Junior. 00:30:04.899 --> 00:30:06.639 He wasn't the smartest dog. 00:30:08.639 --> 00:30:10.559 And he was pretty poorly behaved. 00:30:10.659 --> 00:30:11.480 Not his fault. 00:30:11.759 --> 00:30:13.059 We just didn't train him very well. 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:15.460 But we would spend hours 00:30:15.460 --> 00:30:17.839 doing something he was really good at, 00:30:17.919 --> 00:30:19.759 and that was we'd throw the ball, 00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:20.700 we'd throw the stick, 00:30:20.899 --> 00:30:21.960 and without fail, 00:30:22.440 --> 00:30:23.480 I mean, he's a retriever, 00:30:23.480 --> 00:30:26.919 so he would retrieve the ball. 00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:29.259 He would retrieve the stick. 00:30:29.419 --> 00:30:31.139 We'd be at the grass in our yard. 00:30:31.280 --> 00:30:32.580 We'd be at the lake in our neighborhood, 00:30:32.940 --> 00:30:35.900 and he just never grew tired of it. 00:30:35.940 --> 00:30:37.980 Just relentlessly, you'd throw it out, 00:30:38.060 --> 00:30:39.460 and he'd retrieve that ball 00:30:39.460 --> 00:30:40.940 and bring it back and say, 00:30:41.080 --> 00:30:42.000 here you are, master. 00:30:43.480 --> 00:30:44.700 He was a good dog. 00:30:44.880 --> 00:30:46.200 He wasn't that smart, but he was good. 00:30:48.100 --> 00:30:49.180 And Jesus is saying, 00:30:49.840 --> 00:30:51.720 we should relate to one another 00:30:51.720 --> 00:30:54.520 in the way that Junior related to that ball. 00:30:56.800 --> 00:30:58.380 We should be thinking to ourselves, 00:30:58.380 --> 00:31:00.400 the people in this flock. 00:31:01.260 --> 00:31:02.700 They're my fellow disciples. 00:31:04.660 --> 00:31:06.960 They've become my family in Jesus Christ. 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:11.120 These brothers and sisters of mine, 00:31:11.340 --> 00:31:12.960 we have a bond of grace 00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:15.700 that's thicker even than ties of blood. 00:31:17.300 --> 00:31:19.400 We're bound together by the scriptures 00:31:19.400 --> 00:31:22.600 and the sacraments and the spirit of God. 00:31:22.599 --> 00:31:24.980 We're bound together by worship 00:31:24.980 --> 00:31:26.939 and fellowship and mission. 00:31:27.980 --> 00:31:31.199 Jesus says the person sitting in the pew next to you, 00:31:31.319 --> 00:31:32.639 their angels in heaven, 00:31:32.799 --> 00:31:35.459 always see the face of Jesus' Father, 00:31:36.059 --> 00:31:37.859 which means that that person next to you 00:31:37.859 --> 00:31:39.179 that may be a little irritating, 00:31:39.319 --> 00:31:40.980 a little bit hard to love, 00:31:41.240 --> 00:31:44.399 they're exceedingly precious and valuable to God. 00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:47.400 And if they start to wander away, 00:31:47.480 --> 00:31:48.740 if they start to slip off, 00:31:48.800 --> 00:31:50.400 if they start to drift, 00:31:51.360 --> 00:31:52.620 each one of us 00:31:52.620 --> 00:31:55.759 are to take spiritual responsibility for them 00:31:55.759 --> 00:31:56.820 to go after them, 00:31:57.100 --> 00:31:58.040 to seek them out, 00:31:58.140 --> 00:31:58.860 to find them, 00:31:59.160 --> 00:32:00.840 and to bring them back. 00:32:02.240 --> 00:32:03.420 And this, of course, assumes 00:32:03.420 --> 00:32:05.360 that we're investing the time it takes 00:32:05.360 --> 00:32:06.600 to know each other, 00:32:07.160 --> 00:32:08.860 to be in each other's lives, 00:32:09.700 --> 00:32:12.100 to even realize that somebody's wandering off, 00:32:12.099 --> 00:32:14.559 much less to have the relational 00:32:14.559 --> 00:32:16.799 and the spiritual capital to go after them. 00:32:16.859 --> 00:32:20.139 But Jesus is calling us to be junior. 00:32:21.699 --> 00:32:24.579 He's calling us to be retrievers. 00:32:25.659 --> 00:32:28.519 He's calling us to bring one another safely back 00:32:28.519 --> 00:32:33.000 into this fold that he loves so very much. 00:32:34.039 --> 00:32:35.379 So friends, that's the church 00:32:35.379 --> 00:32:36.439 that Jesus wants to build, 00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:37.419 a humble church, 00:32:38.299 --> 00:32:39.500 a sacrificial church, 00:32:40.240 --> 00:32:42.000 and a retrieving church. 00:32:42.099 --> 00:32:45.159 And may God grant us his grace 00:32:45.159 --> 00:32:46.500 to become that 00:32:46.500 --> 00:32:49.139 by the power of his spirit 00:32:49.139 --> 00:32:51.240 and under the authority of his word. 00:32:51.980 --> 00:32:53.879 In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:32:54.559 --> 00:32:54.799 Amen. 00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:54.939 Amen. 00:32:54.939 --> 00:32:55.000 Amen. 00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:55.019 Amen. 00:32:55.019 --> 00:32:55.039 Amen. 00:32:55.039 --> 00:32:55.059 Amen. 00:32:55.059 --> 00:32:57.059 Amen. 00:32:57.059 --> 00:32:59.059 Amen. 00:32:59.059 --> 00:32:59.159 Amen. 00:32:59.159 --> 00:32:59.179 Amen. 00:32:59.179 --> 00:32:59.240 Amen. 00:32:59.240 --> 00:32:59.279 Amen. 00:32:59.279 --> 00:32:59.419 Amen. 00:32:59.419 --> 00:32:59.480 Amen. 00:32:59.480 --> 00:32:59.639 Amen. 00:32:59.639 --> 00:33:00.279 Amen. 00:33:00.279 --> 00:33:00.319 Amen. 00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:00.359 Amen. 00:33:00.359 --> 00:33:00.399 Amen. 00:33:00.399 --> 00:33:00.459 Amen. 00:33:00.459 --> 00:33:00.559 Amen. 00:33:00.559 --> 00:33:00.619 Amen. 00:33:00.619 --> 00:33:00.919 Amen.