WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.580 Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. 00:00:16.839 --> 00:00:21.820 It is wonderful that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, 00:00:21.940 --> 00:00:25.679 either by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:32.159 would you pray for us that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:38.259 like yourself? The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, 00:00:38.780 --> 00:00:43.560 we really, I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:49.899 Bible, they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We 00:00:49.899 --> 00:00:55.719 will do what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're 00:00:55.719 --> 00:01:00.659 a non-Christian checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't 00:01:00.659 --> 00:01:05.980 hesitate to send us questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the 00:01:05.980 --> 00:01:09.079 types of things that you're really struggling with. So God bless. 00:01:09.079 --> 00:01:22.900 Father, let's just bow our heads in prayer. Father, we confess before you that most of the time we 00:01:22.900 --> 00:01:27.700 don't realize this, Father, but we confess before you that we are way better at seeing little tiny 00:01:27.700 --> 00:01:33.340 specks in other people's eyes while we have logs right planted in our own eye and we're completely 00:01:33.340 --> 00:01:39.420 unaware of it. We're just, Father, often, sometimes, most of the time, Father, we're just really good 00:01:39.420 --> 00:01:44.280 at seeing sins in other people, but at the same time, Father, you know, sometimes we just beat 00:01:44.280 --> 00:01:50.020 ourselves up over things that we have done wrong or not accomplished. And so, Father, we bring to you, 00:01:50.120 --> 00:01:57.159 we come to you as who we are. We are way more unbalanced and way more fragile than we realize, 00:01:57.420 --> 00:02:02.280 and we give you thanks and praise that Jesus sees us as we really are and loves us. 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:09.719 And so we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would bring this word, your word, very deeply home into 00:02:09.719 --> 00:02:15.860 our hearts, that it might rule within us, knowing that as your word rules in us, you will strengthen 00:02:15.860 --> 00:02:22.719 that which is fragile and broken. You will heal. You will help us to repent and amend our lives 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:29.000 and live a life that is good for us and brings you glory. So, Father, may your Holy Spirit do this 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:33.060 wonderful and mighty work, and we ask it in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen. 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:34.659 Please be seated. 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:45.460 So, that was a really encouraging verse that I just read a couple of moments ago. 00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:51.879 What we're going to be looking at today is how do you, how do you follow Jesus? How do you live in a world 00:02:51.879 --> 00:02:58.479 where money and possessions exist? I mean, how do you live in a world where money and possessions exist? 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:08.180 And money and possessions affect us very, very, very powerfully. Many of you, if you are honest, 00:03:08.280 --> 00:03:14.659 in a small group or others, despair about ever owning a house. Some of you who have investments, 00:03:14.659 --> 00:03:19.180 you know, maybe where some young people wish that we were going to be in 20 years or 30 years, 00:03:19.740 --> 00:03:25.319 have seen the value of your investments drop a lot within the last little while, and inflation 00:03:25.319 --> 00:03:33.819 is slowly making all of us poorer. You come here to get good news and to be encouraged. That's what 00:03:33.819 --> 00:03:37.800 I always say. But that's, you know, the fact of the matter is, is that, you know, when times are really 00:03:37.800 --> 00:03:43.379 good for us in our personal life or in the society, it's really easy not to think much about money, 00:03:43.379 --> 00:03:50.039 but we're always being formed by it. And it's a very disheartening time for a lot of people with 00:03:50.039 --> 00:03:58.799 inflation, with housing prices, and for some underemployed or not being able to get jobs. 00:03:59.979 --> 00:04:06.479 So the Bible text that we're looking at today is going to talk a little bit, but very wisely, 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:15.599 and not in a way that's disheartening about money. And so if you take your Bibles, money and 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:20.579 possessions, take your Bibles, and we're looking at Mark chapter 10, and we're going to begin at verse 00:04:20.579 --> 00:04:28.800 13. And so if you're following along in these small ones, it's on page 60. Mark chapter 10, 00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:38.759 verse 13. And what's happened, those of you who've been tracking with the church, this is my fourth, 00:04:38.819 --> 00:04:46.220 in a sense, controversial sermon in a row. We've had to talk, we've talked about demons, we've talked 00:04:46.220 --> 00:04:54.800 about and hell, we've talked about marriage and divorce, and now we talk about money. And it's about 00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:59.040 the main context, and that's just because those are the parts of Mark's gospel that have just, we've 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:05.060 looked at up until today. The main part of the context, so that we need to grasp, is that at the 00:05:05.060 --> 00:05:12.460 end of chapter 8, Jesus said he was going to Jerusalem to die. And basically the disciples and the other 00:05:12.460 --> 00:05:18.460 followers don't believe it, and nobody else believes it, and even the people who are plotting it aren't 00:05:18.460 --> 00:05:24.100 entirely sure they're going to be able to accomplish it. But Jesus knows that he's come to die, he's going to 00:05:24.100 --> 00:05:29.640 Jerusalem, and he's going to die. And that's the context within, you hear everything in Mark's gospel 00:05:29.640 --> 00:05:38.920 after chapter 8. Jesus knows he's going to Jerusalem to die and arise from the dead. So here's this next 00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:45.939 bit, verse 13. We looked at 1 to 12 last week, verse 13. And they were bringing children to Jesus that he 00:05:45.939 --> 00:05:55.300 might touch them. And the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, 00:05:56.660 --> 00:06:04.560 Let the children come to me. Do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 00:06:05.220 --> 00:06:10.819 Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. 00:06:10.819 --> 00:06:16.500 And Jesus took the children in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. 00:06:17.139 --> 00:06:23.939 Now just sort of pause here for a second. One of the things about, it's helpful to think about what 00:06:23.939 --> 00:06:30.539 Canadians think about things like this. And as we all know in Canada, if I was to say to somebody, 00:06:30.620 --> 00:06:36.480 let's say somebody came to me for some counseling, or in the coffee hour after the service, and I 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:42.920 listened to them a while, and if I said to them, you're such a child, now they would be pierced. 00:06:43.080 --> 00:06:50.080 That's like an insult to Canadians, to say that you're such a child. To say that if you're, say, 00:06:50.140 --> 00:06:57.800 to your husband or your wife, you're so childish, that's an insult. And so if we think about it for a 00:06:57.800 --> 00:07:04.780 second, it's a little bit odd that Jesus tells us, I mean, we like the fact, Canadians like the fact 00:07:04.779 --> 00:07:12.559 that Jesus welcomed children, and he wanted to bless them. And in fact, it's almost too bad that 00:07:12.559 --> 00:07:16.899 we have the Sunday school going on outside, and we almost should have brought them back in, 00:07:17.119 --> 00:07:22.459 because we should really give a round of applause, maybe even a standing ovation to the people in the 00:07:22.459 --> 00:07:26.619 church who care for children during the service and teach them in the Sunday school, because 00:07:26.619 --> 00:07:31.539 they're doing, we're doing exactly what Jesus would have us do, which is to bless children, 00:07:31.540 --> 00:07:39.100 to love them, accept them, and to bless them. But when Jesus says, truly I say to you, whoever does 00:07:39.100 --> 00:07:45.300 not receive, sorry, verse 15, truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a 00:07:45.300 --> 00:07:52.800 child shall not enter it, Jesus isn't telling us to be childish, that only people who follow Jesus, 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:58.500 people who follow Jesus are to become like children all their lives, and never mature, never grow up, 00:07:58.500 --> 00:08:05.180 never use their minds, never have adventures and take risks. No, he's not referring to that at all. 00:08:05.180 --> 00:08:11.779 And there's two reasons to understand that. What fundamentally he's saying is the aspect, 00:08:12.060 --> 00:08:18.120 it's going to become more obvious when you look at the next story, is what he's really emphasizing is 00:08:18.120 --> 00:08:20.540 children's complete trust and abandonment. 00:08:20.540 --> 00:08:30.640 I mean, I think, I don't know, I mean, you know, you see some of the little kids who are here, and I mean, 00:08:30.640 --> 00:08:36.159 if their parents were to just leave them, just to leave them, leave them, leave them, they'd be dead in no time 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:42.600 at all. And that's not even counting like a, like just a six month old or something, that they wouldn't live more 00:08:42.600 --> 00:08:51.740 than a couple of days. Children are completely dependent on a parent, an adult, and they're 00:08:51.740 --> 00:08:58.500 fundamentally trusting. And that's really what Jesus is getting at here. It's a call to be dependent, 00:08:58.500 --> 00:09:05.879 and it's a call to trust, because you can't really be dependent without trusting, or you can, but it's 00:09:05.879 --> 00:09:13.159 miserable. We hate depending on something that we don't trust. I almost made a comment about something, 00:09:13.259 --> 00:09:19.179 but I'm glad I, somebody's praying so I didn't say it. And, and the reason we know that it's not a 00:09:19.179 --> 00:09:24.240 matter that Jesus doesn't want people to grow up is, is because of the word bless. Because you see, 00:09:24.299 --> 00:09:30.080 the word bless, what that really is, when you want to bless somebody, you pray God's blessing upon 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:35.860 them. You're praying that God's grace and his power will come into their life, so they will thrive. 00:09:35.879 --> 00:09:43.559 So they will thrive, both in the sense of just as a fundamental human being, but for those who, 00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:48.740 and that, that we will thrive as human beings. That's, that's what blessing means. If I, if I pray 00:09:48.740 --> 00:09:53.939 God's blessing on somebody, I'm praying that they'll, they'll thrive. And, and you can't thrive if you 00:09:53.939 --> 00:10:00.139 stay constantly childish and immature. Part of thriving is, is growing up, is developing your talents. And, 00:10:00.279 --> 00:10:05.860 and of course, as well, there is this other aspect that true thriving means to be reconciled 00:10:05.879 --> 00:10:13.179 to God, to have the fruit of the Holy Spirit become more evident in our lives. And so what we see here 00:10:13.179 --> 00:10:18.879 isn't that God is, that Jesus is telling us that we have to be immature and unthinking for the rest of 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:23.799 our lives. He's, he's saying, listen, at the heart of receiving the kingdom of God and eternal life 00:10:23.799 --> 00:10:32.620 is a dependency, ultimately on Jesus and a trust in Jesus. And that's what he's saying. And it's going 00:10:32.620 --> 00:10:38.959 to become very obvious with this very next story. And by the way, this next story, which I just read 00:10:38.959 --> 00:10:45.219 part of it when I was reading the gospel text, it begins at verse 17 of chapter 10. The ancient, the 00:10:45.220 --> 00:10:50.440 the four, there's four ancient biographies of Jesus, which have survived. And these are eyewitness, 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:57.100 biographies, based on eyewitness testimony or directly from eyewitnesses written while eyewitnesses 00:10:57.100 --> 00:11:03.500 were still alive. And in three of the four ancient biographies of Jesus, they tell this story. So it's 00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:08.420 obviously a very important story. In fact, all three of them have the story about the children, 00:11:08.419 --> 00:11:14.360 and then this story about the man, one after the other. And so they, they saw that they were 00:11:14.360 --> 00:11:18.419 connected and they thought that this was a very important story. And here's how it goes. It's what 00:11:18.419 --> 00:11:27.000 we just read, but I'll read it again. Verse 17, and he was setting out on a journey, sorry, and Jesus 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:36.000 was setting out on his journey, sorry, and as Jesus was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:42.980 knelt before him and asked him, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to 00:11:42.980 --> 00:11:52.000 him, why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. Now, before we go any further, let's just 00:11:52.000 --> 00:12:01.120 be honest that for most Canadians, this would be very confusing. It would be very confusing, and the 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:07.360 confusion affects you and me as well at a different level. Because what is it that most Canadians will 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:12.639 say about themselves? Maybe every Canadian will say about themselves. And it wouldn't matter if they 00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:18.399 have just been caught doing something completely and utterly horrific, that they've been caught, 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:25.200 they've murdered somebody, and you might actually even hear them say about themselves, listen, I know 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:33.280 there's some things that weren't quite right, but I'm a good person. I'm a good person is like a 00:12:33.280 --> 00:12:42.720 Canadian motto. It could be tattooed on your hand. I'm a good person. And in fact, one of the deepest 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:47.759 ways that I could insult another person, even more than saying that you're being such a child, which 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:53.680 would be insulting, even more than that, if I was to say to somebody, you're not a good person. And to say 00:12:53.679 --> 00:13:02.719 that to another Canadian would be highly, highly, highly offensive. You, I'm a good person. I'm a good 00:13:02.719 --> 00:13:10.079 person. Like, how dare you say that I'm not a good person? And so to hear this, sorry, this is my 00:13:10.079 --> 00:13:16.719 stopwatch to watch my time. And I had it positioned so that it keeps, anyway, I've moved it. It was 00:13:16.719 --> 00:13:21.839 shining in my light and distract, eyes and distracting me. So I finally figured out maybe I should just move 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:29.920 my stopwatch. Anyway, so it's something which, in fact, if you hear about it as the story is going 00:13:29.920 --> 00:13:36.080 to progress, the implication is that it's not clear to Canadians whether Jesus is acknowledging that the 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:43.680 young man is a good person. But to not say, to not acknowledge, to not affirm somebody when they say 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:49.599 that they're a good person, that's, that's like deeply offensive and wounding. In fact, if they 00:13:49.599 --> 00:13:54.239 told everybody about what everybody, if they said to all their friends, you know, I was talking to 00:13:54.239 --> 00:13:59.439 George and I, and he said I wasn't a good person, they'd all take that person's side, not mine. 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:06.079 Almost always. Because you're not allowed to say that. And so it's very confusing to Canadians, 00:14:06.079 --> 00:14:10.479 like, and Jesus said to him, verse 18, why do you call me good? Like Canadians go, 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:17.440 like, what's going on here? Like, that doesn't make any sense. Like, why wouldn't Jesus just accept that? 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:25.680 See, the other aspect for Canadians, which makes this text very confusing, 00:14:28.560 --> 00:14:34.240 is that there's actually two things the average Canadian believes. The first one is that I'm a good 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:40.320 person, and the second one is that I'm not sure if the God described by Christians is good. 00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:48.639 You know, once again, if you go to your workplace, if you go to a Tim Hortons, it's, it goes beyond 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:52.240 class differences. You could go to Tim Hortons, you could go to Starbucks, you could go to, 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:59.039 to Bridgehead, you could go to some little very, very, very trendy coffee place that old, unhip people 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:04.879 like me have never heard of. It wouldn't matter where you go, but if you were to say to people, 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:09.200 I don't know if God's good. Like, hardly anybody would get upset with that. Most would just go like 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:13.279 this. They would just nod, yeah, I don't know if God's good. The fact of the matter is, is that I am 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:22.240 good. That's something that I can say about me. But it's, God in a sense is on trial. He's on trial, 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:29.200 because we're not sure if the triune God is good. So, so you look at, again, and just realize, 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:34.080 right, verse 18 is highly confusing to Canadians. Why do you call me good? No one is good except 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:42.000 God alone. That's the exact opposite of what Canadians think. The exact opposite of what Canadians think. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:51.200 You know, but by the way, one of the things about it, and I, and this might be a bit shocking, but 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:59.039 one of the things about Canadians really maintaining, it's not just Canadians as well. If you re, if you 00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:06.159 watch Ricky Gervais, like I think was a four season special, I mean really time after every episode was 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:13.519 whether he was a good person or not. And it's, it's a, it's a, it's sort of a Western world thing. But 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:19.919 I think part of it is it reveals our, how fragile we are. 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:26.719 That we, we're trying to hold ourselves together. 00:16:29.199 --> 00:16:33.679 And, and the fact of the matter is, is that what often happens with people, that at the same time 00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:40.639 that they're, they're, they, they use drugs to numb the suspicion that they're not a good person, 00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:50.000 that the shame in their lives. They use alcohol to try to numb. There's the, the voice in your head 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.639 that you're not good, you're not good enough. You should be ashamed of that. 00:16:54.639 --> 00:17:03.439 That we, we spend lots of money on clothes. So the appearances will be that we're all together, 00:17:03.439 --> 00:17:06.720 while inwardly, we can't sleep at night. 00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:16.799 We take medication and go to doctors, we go to therapy, we take on meditation practices and yoga. 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:22.319 And it's all different attempts to prop us up in this view that we're a good person, 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:26.159 meditation while inwardly we're falling apart. 00:17:29.679 --> 00:17:33.439 That one of the things which fuels so much addiction 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:44.159 is that secretly in our own head, we say to ourselves, if people knew who I really was, 00:17:44.159 --> 00:17:47.679 they would, if people knew who I really am, they wouldn't love me. 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:53.840 If people knew who I really am, what I'm really like, they wouldn't love me. 00:17:57.120 --> 00:18:02.560 And that's a very terrible thing, very hard thing to say to yourself over and over again. 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:07.519 And so it's very powerful that we want to try to maintain the opposite while we, 00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:10.720 while we try to medicate and numb these things. 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:18.960 So what we're going to see in this very confusing dialogue, which begins with being good and ends up 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:19.839 talking about money. 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:28.480 Jesus isn't hating you or merely trying to drag you down. 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:34.160 What he's actually offering is something deeper and better than meditation, 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:40.240 deeper and better than drugs, deeper and better than alcohol, and deeper and vastly better 00:18:41.600 --> 00:18:45.440 than your thin assurance to yourself that you're a good person. 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:49.120 Well, let's see what he does. 00:18:51.360 --> 00:18:54.720 Verse 19. 00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:00.720 So Jesus says, so you know, Jesus says, no one is good but God alone, except God alone. 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:06.960 That's verse 18, verse 19. You know the commandments. Jesus continues, do not murder, do not commit adultery, 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:12.240 do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and your mother. 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:18.960 So he just names a couple. And the young man says to him, and he said to him, teacher, 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:21.360 all these I have kept from my youth. 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:35.199 Now, we're all being solemn. Let me tell you, if at coffee time, I was to tell you that I kept all of 00:19:35.199 --> 00:19:43.599 these things perfectly all the time, and my kids or my wife were beside me, they'd snort or look up at 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:48.000 the ceiling. That would be an interesting thing. If I said with complete earnestness all of these things 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:53.119 I have kept from my youth, and you see my kids going like this, my wife looking away or looking 00:19:53.119 --> 00:20:01.440 down or snickering or something. So the young man is naive and more than a little bit deluded, 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:06.640 but he's also very earnest. Like it's a very... Billy Graham said of this story famously, 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:13.680 that... How did it go? I should have written it down. He said of this story, the young man asks the right 00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:18.880 question of the right person and gets the right answer, but responds the wrong way. 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:23.519 Not really, he asked the right question of the right person, gets the right answer, 00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:27.920 but he responds the wrong way. Anyway, this young guy says, well, I've kept all these things from my 00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:37.360 youth. And, you know, if we actually overheard somebody saying that to another person, like if we 00:20:37.360 --> 00:20:41.759 overheard a co-worker say this, if we were sitting beside somebody in a meal and we heard them say 00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:47.440 something, we would actually sort of despise them of it, wouldn't we? Like we would actually probably 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:53.039 think that we're better than them. We'd look down our nose at them. I'm not shallow like that guy, 00:20:53.039 --> 00:21:00.879 like that gal. I'm not shallow like them. How does Jesus react? Well, look at verse 21 and 22. 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:12.960 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, you lack one thing. Go, you lack one thing. Go, 00:21:13.600 --> 00:21:19.760 sell all that you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. 00:21:20.800 --> 00:21:28.000 Now, this is a very good translation, but it can't capture without having something annotated 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:32.960 what it really says. If you look at verse 21, it says, I'm looking at him. This isn't just like me 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:39.839 looking to the side and looking over there, you know, at Deborah Victory or something. This is like 00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:47.680 what if you go to somebody who's trained as a therapist and they've spent decades perfecting 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:56.880 being therapists, what they teach you in therapy is how to look at a person, like really look at them. 00:21:56.880 --> 00:22:02.960 And notice everything. Notice whether they have chewed fingernails or how they're dressed and 00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:08.560 their mannerisms, but to look at them, to have the person feel like they've really been seen, 00:22:08.560 --> 00:22:16.000 like they've really been heard, that you are really looking right into who they are in a way that's 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:20.400 going to be looking at them to help them. And that's what's being communicated here. When Jesus says he 00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:26.960 looks at them, he doesn't look down his nose at them. He doesn't make a comment. He doesn't snicker. 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:31.120 He doesn't say, you know, you're being pretty shallow, like dude, let's be a bit more real. 00:22:31.120 --> 00:22:40.000 He looks at them. He really sees the young guy as the young guy. And then it's the only place in the 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:48.640 gospels where Jesus says, and he loved him. I mean, isn't this the long, when I said earlier about how 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:53.119 most Canadians, part of what's going on with us maintaining that we're good people is that inwardly, 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:58.480 we're very fragile and we're very broken and we have lots of anxiety and we have lots of worries. 00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:04.319 And maybe we don't have that all the time because we have these times where we're very successful or, 00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:07.679 you know, like, you know, we've just gotten the promotion and we just bought some really, 00:23:07.679 --> 00:23:12.240 some really, really good looking clothes and, and it's a beautiful fall day and we're feeling 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:16.000 like a billion bucks as we walk around. And it's not as if we're depressed all the time, 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:21.599 but inwardly there's this type of fragile and brokenness. And what we really want is somebody 00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:27.759 to look at us and see us as we really are and love us. And that's what we see here in the gospel, 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:37.200 Jesus on his way to the cross. Jesus, I talked a couple of weeks ago about the fact that hell is 00:23:37.200 --> 00:23:46.319 real. It is possible to die and spend your eternity separate from God and in rebellion from God and, 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:52.079 and, and living with all the consequences of that is both the internal ones that eat you up and 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:57.359 God's judgment on you. But what this text is saying is that nobody goes there because Jesus didn't love 00:23:57.359 --> 00:24:07.679 them. Nobody is apart from God forever because Jesus didn't love them. This is how Jesus sees you. 00:24:07.679 --> 00:24:15.839 And this is how Jesus sees me. He looks at you. He sees you as you really are. And he loves you. 00:24:16.879 --> 00:24:20.719 And here in the text, he's on the way to the cross to die for you. 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:32.000 The young man in verse 22 is disheartened. He's sorrowful. And this is a really important thing 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:40.079 for us to understand. Being sad isn't the same thing as repentance. Being sad isn't the same thing 00:24:40.079 --> 00:24:45.039 as repentance. See what, what the Jesus is asking the young man to do. Look what, if you look up again 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:50.240 at verse 21, you lack one thing. And by the way, one thing doesn't mean, oh, you're just one little 00:24:50.240 --> 00:24:55.680 tiny thing. No, no, no. It would be like, it would be like, yeah, you know, I've done this, 00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:58.879 I've done this, I've done this. And then, you know, then, and then I say, okay, you lack only 00:24:58.879 --> 00:25:03.119 one thing to be a superhero. You have to jump over the Grand Canyon. Just that one thing, you know? 00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:10.079 Like it's not one tiny little thing. It's like a huge thing, right? And, and what Jesus is, 00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:13.519 and I'll explain more in a moment what he's saying here. But, but right here, he says, you know, 00:25:13.519 --> 00:25:18.480 go, sell all that you have, give to the poor, you'll have treasure in heaven, and come follow me. 00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:26.240 It's calling him to repentance, to change the direction of his life. And sorrow and sadness 00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:31.200 about your life isn't the same thing as repentance. The fact of the matter is, is that some people, 00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:37.279 when they finally come to Christ, or maybe as a long period of time when they've been far from Christ, 00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:41.599 where they've had a problem with maybe a type of a demonic oppression in their life, 00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:46.959 or they've been terribly anxious and, and burdened because of something they've made of an idol of, 00:25:46.959 --> 00:25:51.679 or they have some secret and besetting sin, and it's finally brought into the open, and they're 00:25:51.679 --> 00:25:58.240 able to confess it and feel the love of Christ. What they don't feel is sadness, but I'm free. 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:00.640 I'm free. 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:10.319 See, what God is asking us is for repentance, not necessarily a particular emotional experience. 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:14.160 Now, Jesus sort of broadens it out. 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:22.400 Actually, what he does is, I'm going to go back to here to say what, when Jesus says this, 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:26.559 it's not, he's not trying to demoralize us, although at first it's going to sound like he really is trying 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:33.039 to demoralize us. But you see, what, what Jesus, what the Bible does, what Jesus is doing, is he's 00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:40.720 helping to see us as we really are in the context of the fact that the triune God really exists, 00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:49.119 and that there really is a savior, and that Jesus is the savior. And so the Bible wants us to try to 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:55.119 see who we really are, so we begin to appreciate who he really is, and what the world is really like, 00:26:55.119 --> 00:27:00.319 and so we can live and be free. So what does he do? He makes it worse. Look at verse 23. 00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:03.439 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, 00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:09.439 how difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. 00:27:10.719 --> 00:27:14.079 And the disciples were amazed at his words, but Jesus said to them again, 00:27:14.879 --> 00:27:18.639 children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God. And note when he says that, 00:27:18.639 --> 00:27:21.839 he says that's for everybody, for poor people and rich people. 00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:26.159 Verse 25, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle 00:27:27.439 --> 00:27:29.839 than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. 00:27:32.079 --> 00:27:37.199 And so they're completely shocked by this. And by the way, some people have said that there's some 00:27:37.199 --> 00:27:41.839 gate that you go in, and no, no, no, no, no, no, that's not, there was no gate like this. 00:27:41.839 --> 00:27:47.439 Basically, you know, the time Jesus was the biggest land animal that anybody could see 00:27:47.439 --> 00:27:55.359 was a camel in Jesus's time. And the smallest hole in most people's experience was the eye of a needle. 00:27:55.359 --> 00:28:00.799 And he picks it because it's impossible. It's completely and utterly impossible. 00:28:02.159 --> 00:28:08.079 Now, the other thing about it is, is that we don't feel the full sting of why the disciples were amazed, 00:28:08.079 --> 00:28:11.839 because part of the reason we don't, when Jesus says how difficult, verse 23, 00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:15.919 it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. Like most of us go, yeah, 00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:24.480 yeah, yeah. Because most Canadians hate rich people. First of all, most Canadians don't think they're rich. 00:28:26.399 --> 00:28:30.319 Like if you were to go to Rockcliffe or Bell, you know, or to the Glebe or some of those other, 00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:34.879 like, you know, very, very, you know, expensive areas, probably people say that I'm not rich. 00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:40.640 And you all snicker, but that's people, most Canadians don't think they're rich. And most 00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:44.480 people think, yeah, look at Trump. Like I could see that Trump can't get into heaven, like he's a rich guy. 00:28:45.360 --> 00:28:51.200 So, but here's the thing, right? How is this going to help us in our heart? The fact of the matter is, 00:28:51.840 --> 00:28:59.920 is that generally Canadians don't like rich people. And remember, Jesus loved this young guy. 00:28:59.920 --> 00:29:06.160 In fact, I'm going to make a little, I'm going to make a terrible, I'm going to make this aside. I 00:29:06.160 --> 00:29:12.320 think I have to say it. One of the things that Jesus is going to talk about, I'm going to explain 00:29:12.320 --> 00:29:16.560 what Jesus is saying about money. But one of the things which is completely unavoidable about Jesus's 00:29:16.560 --> 00:29:23.120 comment about money is that we should care for the poor. Christians should care for the poor. 00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:30.719 And one of the problems in Canada is that the left has been taken over by white collar unions. 00:29:31.679 --> 00:29:36.000 And what characterizes most of the left is not that they care for the poor, but they hate the rich. 00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:43.919 And they're caught up with white collar, middle class preoccupations. And we as a church, 00:29:43.919 --> 00:29:49.679 and the Christian community has to be countercultural, and not hate the rich, and love the poor. 00:29:49.680 --> 00:29:59.120 Hating the rich isn't the same thing as loving poor people. Using poor people as a pawn to stick it to the rich, 00:29:59.920 --> 00:30:05.759 isn't what Jesus is calling us to. Christians should have a heart for poor people. 00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:18.319 But here's the thing. We can use this, we can have multiple examples. Many people could say, 00:30:18.319 --> 00:30:22.240 yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I can easily, effortlessly see how rich guys, and they think of Trump. 00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:30.000 But then they don't think of Clinton as being rich. People can say, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:37.359 I can see how Jordan Peterson's a terrible guy, because he's well off now. And Olivia Wilde, 00:30:37.359 --> 00:30:44.240 whose movies just came out where she bases the villain on it, and she's very public about basing 00:30:44.240 --> 00:30:50.160 the villain on Jordan Peterson. And so some people, if they don't like Jordan Peterson, they can say, 00:30:50.160 --> 00:30:54.319 yeah, yeah, yeah, people like Olivia Wilde are right, and they're really good, and they're really 00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:58.559 leading the way. And yet we can see how by people like Jordan Peterson. Or if you're on the other 00:30:58.559 --> 00:31:05.279 side of the political spectrum, you stand up for Jordan Peterson, and you sort of try to demonize 00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:10.000 Olivia Wilde. But the fact of the matter is, is that Olivia Wilde is rich. See, the fact is, 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:15.599 we're only selective in the rich people that we don't like. And we ultimately do believe that there 00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:20.159 are people who are very well off that are better than us. And Jesus says, the best of humanity can't 00:31:20.160 --> 00:31:24.880 possibly be good enough to enter the kingdom of God. That's what Jesus is saying. 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:34.800 He's not playing to your ideological biases. He's trying to get us to understand our ideological 00:31:34.800 --> 00:31:44.480 biases. So what does he say? Look at verse 26. He makes it very clear. So they're exceedingly 00:31:44.480 --> 00:31:48.480 astonished. You know, verse 25 again, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for 00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:52.960 a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle 00:31:52.960 --> 00:31:59.440 than for Trump to enter the kingdom of God, or the Clintons, or all the people in Martha's Vineyard, 00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:07.599 or Obama. Like, you know, just pick your rich person. And they, verse 26, they were exceedingly 00:32:07.599 --> 00:32:13.519 astonished and said to him, then who can be saved? And Jesus looked at them and said, 00:32:13.519 --> 00:32:19.839 with man it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God. 00:32:24.960 --> 00:32:29.839 So no one is good enough to enter the kingdom of God. And unless God does something, then human beings 00:32:30.799 --> 00:32:37.680 are in trouble. So what's going on here in the text? The last few minutes. I'm going to finish in a moment 00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:44.960 with the last few verses, but very briefly. Shortly after I was ordained a hundred million years ago, 00:32:44.960 --> 00:32:49.920 because I'm ancient of days, one of the first things I had to do, and by coincidence, I now live 00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:56.720 about six houses from this house. But at the time, I was living in the very, very low rental, you know, 00:32:56.720 --> 00:33:03.120 townhouse. And anyway, I'm just a young guy. I'm 29 years old. I haven't been ordained for very long. 00:33:03.119 --> 00:33:10.159 And the minister says, a woman in the congregation would like a house blessing. And he knew I was 00:33:10.159 --> 00:33:16.000 sort of charismatic-y and I do that type of stuff. And the reason was, is that somebody had broken into 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:21.359 her house. And now she'd like the house to be cleansed. And so I went over, you know, I was 00:33:21.359 --> 00:33:25.519 thinking about it, I'm thriving in today. You know, I remember at 29, I thought she was probably 00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:33.599 impossibly old, and she was probably in her mid-50s. But at 29, I thought she was impossibly old. 00:33:33.599 --> 00:33:40.160 But I never, I can never forget sitting in her living room in her beautiful house, just as simple, 00:33:40.160 --> 00:33:45.440 you know, many ways as simple as a beautiful house. And she shared with me how to have somebody come into 00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:55.120 her house and go through her stuff and steal things. She felt violated. She felt personally violated. 00:33:57.519 --> 00:34:01.680 She said, I know it's not the same thing as being raped or beaten up, but George, it's just this 00:34:01.680 --> 00:34:10.079 powerful sense of being violated. Because the fact of the matter is that our possessions, our house and 00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:17.519 our possessions are closely tied to us. So here's the thing that Jesus was doing to the young man. 00:34:18.480 --> 00:34:26.159 He offered himself as a substitute for the man's possessions. That's what he was doing. He offered 00:34:26.159 --> 00:34:33.840 himself as a substitute for the man's possessions. And because possessions are so closely tied to who we are, 00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:39.440 it's a way to get through to him that he's offering himself as a substitute for him. You see, 00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:44.000 that's what he's going to the cross to do. He's dying as a substitute. When Jesus dies on the cross, 00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:51.200 he dies in my place. He dies instead of me. The doom that I deserve falls on him. That's what he's 00:34:51.200 --> 00:34:57.599 doing on the cross. He is dying as my substitute. And Jesus, in a sense, remember, he's preparing 00:34:57.599 --> 00:35:01.840 people for the fact that he's going to the cross to die. And he offers himself as a substitute 00:35:02.800 --> 00:35:06.720 for the young man's possessions. And the young man doesn't want to give them up. 00:35:06.719 --> 00:35:18.480 The second thing which is going on in this text... 00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:33.919 Well, let me tell you this. This is now about 15 years ago or more, and I've lost track with him. But there was a fellow that I had a series of conversations with. 00:35:33.920 --> 00:35:38.639 And he was a Christian. He'd been a Christian for quite a few years. 00:35:39.599 --> 00:35:42.880 But he was dealing with a profound sense of loss. 00:35:44.320 --> 00:35:50.400 Because about five years earlier, he had been dating a young woman. 00:35:50.400 --> 00:35:58.000 And he was really very much in love with her. But there came a point in time before he could ask... 00:35:58.000 --> 00:36:02.160 He was going to ask her to marry him. But he had a chance to move to a different city for 00:36:02.160 --> 00:36:08.559 like a really big time promotion. Like, I'm not just talking about an extra 5,000 bucks. Like, this is like going from... 00:36:09.680 --> 00:36:15.680 Like, this was a huge type of thing. Somebody who had noticed him and thought he had huge potential and headhunted him. 00:36:15.679 --> 00:36:24.399 And here he is five years later. He, you know, his income, whatever, quadrupled, quintupled, like in a very short period of time. 00:36:24.400 --> 00:36:33.760 And we had a series of conversations because he said, I realize that the love of my life, I chose my money and my job over her. 00:36:33.760 --> 00:36:39.760 And if I could go back in time... 00:36:39.760 --> 00:36:48.960 You know, he knew through things that after a couple of years, she got over him and she was now married to another person. 00:36:48.960 --> 00:36:52.560 And he said, if I could go back in time, I made a very foolish mistake. 00:36:53.680 --> 00:37:00.160 I put this job and money and this prestige and I put it ahead of a person that I could spend the rest of my life with. 00:37:00.159 --> 00:37:04.239 And frankly, I've tried to date and I can't find anybody like her. She was absolutely perfect for him. 00:37:05.199 --> 00:37:10.159 And we spent several times... I mean, what... All you can really do in cases like that is just listen and pray, right? 00:37:10.239 --> 00:37:11.440 I can't make things better. 00:37:13.359 --> 00:37:19.839 So what's going on here in this particular story is that every single one of us has a way that we order our lives. 00:37:19.840 --> 00:37:22.960 Like that's just how we are. 00:37:22.960 --> 00:37:32.640 And a lot of times, one of the reasons why we're so fragile is that the ways we order our lives are in rebellion against either and conflict with each other. 00:37:32.640 --> 00:37:34.800 And we aren't aware of it. 00:37:34.800 --> 00:37:40.160 Like, you know, we want to have a soul mate and we want to have a soul, you know, a soul mate. 00:37:40.159 --> 00:37:46.159 But at the same time, you know, we want them to just do whatever we want or we want them to move where we move. 00:37:46.159 --> 00:37:47.839 And we want them to give up their life. 00:37:47.839 --> 00:37:50.239 And but that's not going to work. 00:37:50.239 --> 00:37:55.599 And but we want to make lots of money and we want to get the promotion and we want to have a soul mate. 00:37:55.599 --> 00:37:59.759 And those things are at war with each other and violence with each other. 00:37:59.760 --> 00:38:01.280 And they're not properly ordered. 00:38:01.280 --> 00:38:05.360 And sometimes the soul friend is soul mate is higher and sometimes the money is higher. 00:38:05.360 --> 00:38:10.400 But either way, and and and and and and and so we all have different ways. 00:38:10.400 --> 00:38:13.440 You know, we know that we want to have good relationships and we want to have money. 00:38:13.440 --> 00:38:14.080 We have job. 00:38:14.080 --> 00:38:14.720 We want to have career. 00:38:14.720 --> 00:38:16.400 We got all these types of things. 00:38:16.400 --> 00:38:20.320 But the bottom line is and this is what counselors and therapists try to do. 00:38:20.320 --> 00:38:24.320 They try to get you to understand that you have a bit of a hierarchy within your life, 00:38:24.320 --> 00:38:27.760 that human beings have hierarchies within their lives. 00:38:27.760 --> 00:38:32.240 And that what causes us so much distress is that our hierarchies are out of whack. 00:38:32.240 --> 00:38:37.520 And and when they're not out of whack, some of the things that we put at the very top of the pyramid eat us up. 00:38:38.560 --> 00:38:39.520 They destroy us. 00:38:40.480 --> 00:38:41.600 They hollow us out. 00:38:42.800 --> 00:38:48.080 If you make money, the thing which orders and rules your life and the markets collapse 30% 00:38:49.280 --> 00:38:54.560 and you had three million dollars, you just lost nine hundred thousand dollars in a couple of months. 00:38:54.559 --> 00:38:59.039 Nine hundred thousand dollars and a person with three million dollars investments. 00:38:59.039 --> 00:39:00.159 I'll tell you they're not rich. 00:39:03.519 --> 00:39:05.119 And inflation's eating them up. 00:39:07.119 --> 00:39:08.880 And they're unhappy and they're anxious. 00:39:10.400 --> 00:39:12.159 And that's just the way human beings are. 00:39:12.159 --> 00:39:15.039 Human beings have a hierarchy of how they order their lives. 00:39:16.320 --> 00:39:16.799 We do. 00:39:16.800 --> 00:39:20.720 And Jesus looked at this man and he loved him. 00:39:22.000 --> 00:39:23.680 And he looked at this young man and he loved him. 00:39:23.680 --> 00:39:27.120 He knew that the top of the hierarchy of that man's life was money and possessions. 00:39:27.119 --> 00:39:39.759 Who better to be at the top of the hierarchy of your life than the one who looks at you as you really are and loves you? 00:39:41.839 --> 00:39:45.199 And not only does he look at you as you really are and loves you, 00:39:46.400 --> 00:39:48.880 but he offers to be a substitute for you. 00:39:50.400 --> 00:39:51.920 And he offers to die for you. 00:39:51.920 --> 00:39:58.639 And who better than he who's also the one who's created all things to be the one who begins to order the hierarchy in your life? 00:40:01.599 --> 00:40:05.920 So Jesus isn't saying here, he's not being demoralizing to young people. 00:40:05.920 --> 00:40:09.760 He's not saying to those of you who are here starting out in your career, 00:40:10.079 --> 00:40:13.280 don't try to have a career, don't try to have a house, don't try to make money. 00:40:13.519 --> 00:40:15.280 He's not saying anything like that. 00:40:15.840 --> 00:40:17.119 He's not saying like that. 00:40:17.119 --> 00:40:26.559 He is saying that for many people, one of the things which causes the most distress in your life and anxiety and fear and insecurity in your life 00:40:26.559 --> 00:40:29.199 and gets things way out of whack is money. 00:40:30.319 --> 00:40:31.119 It's money. 00:40:32.159 --> 00:40:36.159 And in fact, one of the things is it might be hard in our circle, but it's very, very hard. 00:40:36.159 --> 00:40:44.599 Very, very few people will come to the self-acknowledgement unless they've been terribly, terribly broken that money rules in their lives. 00:40:44.599 --> 00:40:49.559 We can see it how it rules in other people's lives, but it's very hard for us to see how it rules in our own life. 00:40:49.559 --> 00:40:54.920 And Jesus looks at that young man and he knows that he has an idol at the very center of who he is 00:40:54.920 --> 00:41:00.519 and that he has made money the top of the hierarchy in his life and possessions. 00:41:00.860 --> 00:41:02.699 And he says, you've got to get rid of that. 00:41:03.539 --> 00:41:06.179 And he says it because he looks at him and loves him. 00:41:07.819 --> 00:41:09.679 And he offers to be the substitute. 00:41:09.679 --> 00:41:15.359 And only Christ can be the one to order your life. 00:41:23.119 --> 00:41:24.679 Just, um... 00:41:24.679 --> 00:41:32.679 So what Jesus is saying here... 00:41:32.679 --> 00:41:36.679 It's connected to... 00:41:37.799 --> 00:41:44.219 You know, the way you deal with idols is you expose them to the light. 00:41:45.319 --> 00:41:47.799 And you do the opposite of what they want you to do. 00:41:50.739 --> 00:41:58.159 At the heart of dealing with the idol of money is generosity, being generous, which means giving money away. 00:41:58.159 --> 00:42:05.219 And so Jesus isn't saying to you, okay, you've got to just start giving your money away. 00:42:05.359 --> 00:42:08.299 Because the whole point of the message is you have to come to him. 00:42:09.219 --> 00:42:10.619 He wants to be your savior. 00:42:11.219 --> 00:42:11.719 He wants... 00:42:11.719 --> 00:42:12.480 He's died for you. 00:42:12.539 --> 00:42:13.039 He loves you. 00:42:13.079 --> 00:42:14.059 He wants to be your savior. 00:42:14.519 --> 00:42:15.319 You come to him. 00:42:15.559 --> 00:42:19.119 And once you come to him, one of the things he's going to want to start to do in your life 00:42:19.119 --> 00:42:20.940 is to reorder your life. 00:42:20.980 --> 00:42:24.259 And one of the things he's going to want to reorder in your life is your money and your possessions. 00:42:24.260 --> 00:42:26.880 To be open-handed with your possessions. 00:42:27.100 --> 00:42:28.540 To be open-handed with your house. 00:42:29.500 --> 00:42:31.540 To trust in him to care for you. 00:42:31.980 --> 00:42:35.580 To be characterized by generosity and hope for the future, 00:42:35.880 --> 00:42:39.620 rather than despair and being miserly and grasping. 00:42:41.000 --> 00:42:42.140 And one of the ancient... 00:42:42.140 --> 00:42:44.820 And in one level, everything that I have is God's. 00:42:45.560 --> 00:42:47.680 Everything I have, I want him to order. 00:42:48.320 --> 00:42:52.940 And part of the way that I try to model that or show that is by giving away money. 00:42:52.940 --> 00:42:56.619 For the work of the gospel and for the relief of poverty. 00:42:58.139 --> 00:43:03.119 And the historic Christian guide for that is to try to move towards 10%. 00:43:03.119 --> 00:43:05.280 God will cause some of you to give away more than that. 00:43:06.320 --> 00:43:12.179 And for many, it's too hard to go from what you do or don't do right now to tithing. 00:43:12.340 --> 00:43:16.119 But that's how you kill the idol. 00:43:16.119 --> 00:43:22.440 That's how Christ begins to help you to order your life. 00:43:23.400 --> 00:43:24.440 Just one final... 00:43:24.440 --> 00:43:25.679 Let's just read this final thing. 00:43:26.659 --> 00:43:27.259 And it'll just... 00:43:27.259 --> 00:43:30.119 I know I've gone past my timeline, but let's just... 00:43:30.679 --> 00:43:32.859 He says this other thing, by the way. 00:43:33.400 --> 00:43:36.519 And look what it says in verse 28. 00:43:36.639 --> 00:43:37.679 Bottom of page 62. 00:43:37.679 --> 00:43:39.519 Peter began to say to him, 00:43:39.639 --> 00:43:41.359 See, we have left everything and followed you. 00:43:42.239 --> 00:43:42.899 And Jesus said, 00:43:42.960 --> 00:43:50.339 Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel. 00:43:50.879 --> 00:43:52.119 In other words, they've come to Christ. 00:43:52.219 --> 00:43:54.699 And as a result of that, they've had to give away some of this stuff. 00:43:54.839 --> 00:43:55.679 They've had to make... 00:43:56.199 --> 00:43:57.699 You know, they've lent out their cottage. 00:43:57.899 --> 00:43:58.679 Or they've sold... 00:43:59.699 --> 00:44:01.619 You know, they have three cars or four cars. 00:44:01.699 --> 00:44:02.759 And they get convicted. 00:44:02.879 --> 00:44:03.139 You know what? 00:44:03.159 --> 00:44:04.799 There's only two of us and we have three cars. 00:44:04.800 --> 00:44:14.120 Maybe we should sell one and give it to the poor or give the money to the church for gospel ministry or to evangelize children. 00:44:14.260 --> 00:44:15.700 Like, why on earth do we have three cars? 00:44:15.780 --> 00:44:16.760 There's only two of us. 00:44:17.140 --> 00:44:19.200 Most of the time we even drive together, you know? 00:44:19.340 --> 00:44:19.860 And whatever. 00:44:19.980 --> 00:44:20.780 They've given up whatever. 00:44:21.180 --> 00:44:22.320 For my sake and for the gospel. 00:44:22.440 --> 00:44:22.840 Verse 30. 00:44:22.900 --> 00:44:30.519 Who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and the age to come eternal life. 00:44:31.160 --> 00:44:33.360 But many who are first will be last and the last first. 00:44:33.360 --> 00:44:35.280 So what does Jesus mean by that very briefly? 00:44:35.620 --> 00:44:37.160 This is another call for us. 00:44:37.240 --> 00:44:45.120 It's not just a call for us to be generous in terms of our possessions, but to be open-handed and open-hearted with one another and become more of a community. 00:44:45.119 --> 00:44:55.279 In 2002, I had the great privilege of being invited to go to Kenya for a gathering of evangelical Anglicans from all over the world. 00:44:56.339 --> 00:45:04.480 And the gathering was in rural Kenya, about 100 kilometers upcountry and north from Nairobi, the capital. 00:45:04.480 --> 00:45:09.079 And I got there a bit early for the conference, just the way the flights worked. 00:45:09.619 --> 00:45:12.059 And on the morning, the conference was going to begin after lunch. 00:45:12.079 --> 00:45:13.480 In the morning, I went for a bit of a walk. 00:45:13.559 --> 00:45:15.159 I left the compound to go for a walk. 00:45:15.699 --> 00:45:20.800 And as I'm going for a walk, this fellow with a purple shirt, hence a bishop, he comes up beside me. 00:45:21.579 --> 00:45:23.219 And he's there at the conference as well. 00:45:23.219 --> 00:45:24.279 And we start to talk. 00:45:25.839 --> 00:45:29.379 Here I am in rural Kenya. 00:45:30.839 --> 00:45:31.980 And I'm talking to this guy. 00:45:32.819 --> 00:45:37.079 And as we're walking along, we come to a house not far from the college. 00:45:37.459 --> 00:45:41.139 And he sees the cross and all of that, some other stuff that's Christian. 00:45:41.579 --> 00:45:43.859 And he says to me, he says, 00:45:43.939 --> 00:45:47.459 Brother, let's go over and visit that house. 00:45:49.159 --> 00:45:50.439 Now I get very anxious. 00:45:50.440 --> 00:45:54.559 He says, no, no, brother, let's go over and visit that house. 00:45:55.340 --> 00:45:56.599 I think it could be good. 00:45:57.519 --> 00:45:58.700 And he can see I'm very anxious. 00:45:58.960 --> 00:46:01.440 And he puts his hand on my arm and says, 00:46:01.940 --> 00:46:04.119 Brother, we're not in Canada. 00:46:06.220 --> 00:46:07.260 We're in Africa. 00:46:09.119 --> 00:46:10.079 Let's go across. 00:46:11.019 --> 00:46:12.179 So we go across. 00:46:13.019 --> 00:46:16.039 And as he's coming up, a little boy opens the door. 00:46:16.940 --> 00:46:17.460 True story. 00:46:17.599 --> 00:46:18.320 Opens up the door. 00:46:18.320 --> 00:46:21.039 And the African bishop. 00:46:21.180 --> 00:46:22.100 He was from Tanzania. 00:46:22.900 --> 00:46:24.559 He says, is your father in? 00:46:24.980 --> 00:46:26.920 And the little boy goes and he gets his father. 00:46:27.620 --> 00:46:28.380 And the father comes out. 00:46:28.880 --> 00:46:30.280 Maybe the bishop knew this. 00:46:30.360 --> 00:46:30.720 I don't know. 00:46:30.880 --> 00:46:34.120 But the guy, they'd met each other 20 years earlier at some event. 00:46:34.460 --> 00:46:35.440 He didn't know that. 00:46:35.980 --> 00:46:37.700 He was an elder in one of the local churches. 00:46:38.260 --> 00:46:39.740 But I got invited into the house. 00:46:39.739 --> 00:46:41.899 And I got to sit down. 00:46:41.979 --> 00:46:42.939 Very simple house. 00:46:43.079 --> 00:46:44.839 You know, just the concrete blocks. 00:46:45.539 --> 00:46:47.239 Sit there in a very simple room. 00:46:47.799 --> 00:46:48.399 Have tea. 00:46:49.119 --> 00:46:49.759 And a biscuit. 00:46:50.539 --> 00:46:51.199 And chat. 00:46:51.679 --> 00:46:52.539 In a house. 00:46:52.899 --> 00:46:53.659 In rural Kenya. 00:46:53.659 --> 00:46:56.819 And I was called brother. 00:47:02.019 --> 00:47:03.219 And I was called brother. 00:47:05.719 --> 00:47:07.219 You see, you become a Christian. 00:47:07.460 --> 00:47:08.599 You give your life to Jesus. 00:47:09.099 --> 00:47:11.000 You have brothers and sisters all over the world. 00:47:11.000 --> 00:47:19.239 And not only are we to pray that we'll be a congregation of people who are very generous and open-handed with their money, but we'll be open-handed with their house. 00:47:19.820 --> 00:47:25.860 We'll be in small groups and we'll have friends and we'll notice strangers and newcomers and we'll love them and welcome them. 00:47:30.460 --> 00:47:38.880 You know, in a sense, the richest person in the world couldn't purchase what I got for free in rural Kenya. 00:47:38.880 --> 00:47:48.440 To go into the house of a local person and be welcomed as brother and have a simple cup of tea and a biscuit. 00:47:49.720 --> 00:47:52.519 And all the money in the world couldn't buy that. 00:47:53.900 --> 00:47:54.860 Let's stand. 00:48:02.019 --> 00:48:03.340 Bow our heads in prayer. 00:48:03.340 --> 00:48:12.539 Father, you know how much things in our lives are out of order. 00:48:13.140 --> 00:48:19.460 And Father, we thank you that your word calls us to come to Jesus, to have him be our savior. 00:48:19.740 --> 00:48:26.420 And Father, for those of us who have trusted Jesus as savior, we just recommit that he is our savior and we want him to be our Lord. 00:48:27.160 --> 00:48:28.900 And we thank you that he looked at us. 00:48:28.960 --> 00:48:29.740 He loved us. 00:48:29.800 --> 00:48:30.880 He still loves us. 00:48:30.880 --> 00:48:35.019 He sees the order and the disorder in our lives and still he loves us. 00:48:35.119 --> 00:48:37.480 And he'll never forsake us or leave us. 00:48:37.619 --> 00:48:43.860 And Father, we ask that you would help us more and more and more to have your word rule in our lives so that we will trust him. 00:48:43.920 --> 00:48:47.920 And that we will trust him to bring order out of our, into our lives. 00:48:48.519 --> 00:48:51.059 And that we'll have money in the right order. 00:48:51.160 --> 00:48:55.220 And career and relationships and family and friendships in the right order. 00:48:55.219 --> 00:48:59.179 And we ask, Lord, that the Holy Spirit would move and work in our lives. 00:48:59.279 --> 00:49:12.439 That as Jesus becomes truly our king, our crucified king, that we will be hospitable and open-handed and open-hearted about our possessions and welcoming people and including people. 00:49:12.440 --> 00:49:18.539 And Father, that you would do this wonderful work of the Holy Spirit and of your word in our lives, Father. 00:49:18.539 --> 00:49:20.980 Because we know this is what you desire of us to be. 00:49:21.139 --> 00:49:23.159 To not be frightened and anxious. 00:49:23.539 --> 00:49:25.539 To not be of despair and despondency. 00:49:26.440 --> 00:49:29.420 But to trust that you will see our needs met. 00:49:29.539 --> 00:49:31.920 And that you will build relationships and friendships. 00:49:32.119 --> 00:49:35.219 That you will use us to be a place of life and love. 00:49:35.599 --> 00:49:36.980 Of grace and of mercy. 00:49:37.559 --> 00:49:39.960 And of truth and of beauty and of goodness, Father. 00:49:40.039 --> 00:49:41.639 In this city and to the ends of the earth. 00:49:42.079 --> 00:49:45.259 And we ask all these things in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. 00:49:45.820 --> 00:49:46.139 Amen. 00:49:48.539 --> 00:49:49.539 Amen.