WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.520 Good morning, everybody. Glad we could be here together. 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:17.640 December 26, 2004, you may remember this date. It was the deadliest tsunami in recorded history. 00:00:18.300 --> 00:00:24.440 This was a tsunami that was caused by an earthquake, a massive earthquake under the Indian Ocean. 00:00:24.440 --> 00:00:33.859 It was a 9.1 on the Richter scale. And this earthquake created waves that were 100 feet high and that traveled 500 miles an hour. 00:00:34.120 --> 00:00:45.200 And you know, this wreaked massive devastation. Some estimates say close to 300,000 people were killed as a result of the waves that radiated out from this earthquake. 00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:51.700 And one of those waves headed toward Indonesia. Indonesia was right in the path. 00:00:51.700 --> 00:00:55.100 And you know, there was massive devastation there, lots of loss of life. 00:00:55.620 --> 00:01:05.140 But what's interesting is there was a small tribe of people, the Mokin Sea Gypsies, who lived right on the beach, right in the path of this tsunami. 00:01:05.579 --> 00:01:11.859 And while there was massive devastation all around and tons of loss of life, the Mokin people survived the tsunami. 00:01:12.379 --> 00:01:18.300 100-foot wave, traveling 500 miles an hour. And the big question is, how in the world could they have survived? 00:01:18.299 --> 00:01:29.579 And the answer is, is that for generations, the elders who led this tribe had passed down knowledge and teaching from one generation to the next. 00:01:29.679 --> 00:01:40.200 And this knowledge and teaching included the signs to look for and the ways to recognize the coming of a great wave like a tsunami. 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:50.320 And so when these early signs began to manifest, when all of the birds stopped chirping, and when all of the hermit crabs started heading into the woods, 00:01:50.420 --> 00:01:56.400 and when all of the deep sea fish started surfacing, and when all of the dolphins started heading out to deeper waters, 00:01:56.480 --> 00:02:00.079 and when all of these strange things started happening, most people didn't even notice. 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:12.020 When all of the water drained away from the shore and left fish flopping in the wet sand, many people looked on it with a kind of curiosity. 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:14.159 That's an interesting thing. Wonder what's going on there. 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:18.039 Many more people grabbed baskets and went down. They thought it was their lucky day. 00:02:18.120 --> 00:02:22.759 They began grabbing and filling their baskets with fish, thinking that they were going to have a feast that night. 00:02:22.759 --> 00:02:29.299 Little did they know that a wave the size of a skyscraper was racing toward them. 00:02:29.859 --> 00:02:33.899 The Moken people, however, recognized all of these signs for what they were. 00:02:33.979 --> 00:02:40.819 They recognized the truth about what was coming, and so they knew to get their people out of the way and get them to high ground. 00:02:41.939 --> 00:02:45.739 And so while people all around them were obliterated, they survived. 00:02:46.099 --> 00:02:50.259 And this is an example of what we might call faithful vigilance. 00:02:50.259 --> 00:02:56.019 They were faithfully and vigently watching for the signs that they had been taught to watch for. 00:02:57.259 --> 00:03:02.259 And in Luke chapter 21, Jesus is doing something similar with his disciples. 00:03:02.419 --> 00:03:11.159 He's saying, I'm going to teach you what you are to look out for, the signs that you are to look out for, 00:03:11.299 --> 00:03:16.060 and then you're going to pass this knowledge down to the next generation, and the next generation, and the next generation. 00:03:16.239 --> 00:03:18.159 And this has come all the way down to us. 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:24.039 We are now, like those elders, receiving that knowledge, right? 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:27.139 But Jesus is not just talking about a tsunami. 00:03:27.519 --> 00:03:33.539 Jesus is talking about something far greater, and for many people, far more terrifying. 00:03:34.120 --> 00:03:39.319 He's saying that at some point, it could be an hour from now, it could be a thousand years from now, 00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:42.800 but at some point, there will be a moment when Jesus returns. 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:46.580 And at that moment, everything is going to change in an instant. 00:03:47.760 --> 00:03:55.680 So this passage, and specifically the end of it, verses 34 through 36, is all about how to prepare for that day, 00:03:55.780 --> 00:03:58.180 how to prepare for the second coming of Jesus. 00:03:58.439 --> 00:04:01.000 And we can summarize his teaching under three headers. 00:04:01.960 --> 00:04:02.660 Keep watch. 00:04:03.260 --> 00:04:04.200 Stay awake. 00:04:04.900 --> 00:04:05.640 Stand firm. 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:06.960 Keep watch. 00:04:07.460 --> 00:04:08.080 Stay awake. 00:04:08.500 --> 00:04:09.180 Stand firm. 00:04:09.180 --> 00:04:09.800 Let's pray. 00:04:10.920 --> 00:04:16.620 Lord, we thank you for your word, and we thank you that this is not something that we have fabricated. 00:04:16.939 --> 00:04:22.060 It's not just the accumulated wisdom of human teaching or even tribal elders, 00:04:22.340 --> 00:04:26.460 but rather this is something that is divinely revealed to us, 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:35.220 that these words reflect those things that you would have every follower of Jesus know in our hearts, Lord, and live out. 00:04:35.220 --> 00:04:38.620 And so we pray that we would be receptive to what you have to tell us this morning. 00:04:39.080 --> 00:04:40.320 In your son's name, amen. 00:04:41.540 --> 00:04:42.520 So keep watch. 00:04:42.660 --> 00:04:43.180 Stay awake. 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:44.280 Stand firm. 00:04:44.580 --> 00:04:47.180 First of all, Jesus says, keep watch. 00:04:48.420 --> 00:04:53.880 This entire section of Luke begins when Jesus and his disciples are in Jerusalem, 00:04:53.880 --> 00:04:59.080 and someone looks up at the temple, and they remark, we don't know who it is, probably one of his disciples, 00:04:59.300 --> 00:05:01.880 and someone says, look how beautiful the temple is. 00:05:01.879 --> 00:05:03.860 Look at all of those precious stones. 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:04.879 Look at all of the riches. 00:05:05.100 --> 00:05:06.719 Look at the glory and the splendor. 00:05:06.899 --> 00:05:08.439 It's an amazing thing to behold. 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:09.480 Right? 00:05:09.560 --> 00:05:10.899 And how does Jesus respond? 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:11.219 Right? 00:05:11.459 --> 00:05:14.139 Jesus doesn't say, I know, it's amazing, isn't it? 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:19.019 You know, you wish just once Jesus would give like a normal response, but he doesn't. 00:05:19.399 --> 00:05:21.899 You know, Jesus gives the Debbie Downer response. 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:23.019 It's like, wah, wah. 00:05:23.159 --> 00:05:26.360 You know, Jesus says, yeah, that building, it's nice, isn't it? 00:05:26.360 --> 00:05:32.520 And, you know, pretty soon it's going to be so destroyed that there's not going to be one stone even left standing on another. 00:05:32.680 --> 00:05:37.680 And you can see sort of his disciples like, whoa, you know, you know, don't have to be so intense. 00:05:37.780 --> 00:05:42.199 But Jesus sees this as an opportunity to begin to teach them something that they need to know. 00:05:42.199 --> 00:05:53.019 And he begins through this entire section to teach them about the connection between the coming destruction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem and his second coming. 00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:54.740 Because there's a connection there. 00:05:54.779 --> 00:05:57.639 And people look at this chapter and they wonder, what's he talking about? 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:02.300 Is he talking about the destruction of the temple or is he talking about his second coming in the world? 00:06:02.439 --> 00:06:03.519 And the answer is both. 00:06:04.439 --> 00:06:05.500 He's talking about both. 00:06:05.500 --> 00:06:15.360 In the Bible, before there was ever a Jewish temple, all of creation was God's temple. 00:06:16.620 --> 00:06:19.860 The world is the original temple. 00:06:21.100 --> 00:06:32.019 And so the temple in Jerusalem, the temple that was the kind of seat of Jewish culture and identity and religion, this temple is what we call a type. 00:06:32.019 --> 00:06:35.779 It's like a symbol of creation itself. 00:06:36.579 --> 00:06:43.180 And so what Jesus teaches essentially in this chapter is that God is going to destroy the temple. 00:06:43.479 --> 00:06:48.959 And that's going to be a sign that at some point down the road, we don't know when, 00:06:49.639 --> 00:06:55.439 Jesus is going to come and he's going to restore the world to be God's true temple. 00:06:55.439 --> 00:07:07.779 We no longer need this brick and mortar temple because one day this entire world, every leaf, every branch, every blade of grass, every mountain, every river, every ocean is going to be the great temple of God. 00:07:07.879 --> 00:07:09.220 That was God's original intent. 00:07:09.560 --> 00:07:11.420 And that's the reason Jesus is coming again. 00:07:12.259 --> 00:07:14.040 And so that's what's going to happen. 00:07:14.360 --> 00:07:19.259 And Jesus says, though, that this is not all going to happen at once, that there's going to be the destruction of the temple. 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:24.000 And that's going to be a sign that that other event, Jesus' second coming, is going to happen. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:32.860 So he says, when you see the temple destroyed, you know that if I'm making that accurate prediction, then you know that eventually the other prediction is going to come true. 00:07:32.939 --> 00:07:36.180 I'm going to come back and restore the cosmos to be God's great temple. 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:40.819 And so Jesus says there's going to be a span of time in between. 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:42.139 In verse 9b, he says, 00:07:42.459 --> 00:07:47.100 For these things must first take place, the destruction of the temple, the persecution of Christians. 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:50.160 But the end will not be at once. 00:07:50.519 --> 00:07:51.540 There's a span of time. 00:07:51.540 --> 00:07:58.900 And, of course, we know that just a few decades after Jesus made this prediction, in 70 A.D., the Jewish temple was, in fact, destroyed. 00:07:59.280 --> 00:08:07.920 Emperor Titus retook Jerusalem from the rebels who had tried to capture it, the Jewish rebels who were rebelling against Rome. 00:08:08.360 --> 00:08:14.060 Titus responds in force, sacks Jerusalem, destroys the temple, burns it to the ground. 00:08:14.060 --> 00:08:18.600 And so what that tells us is that happened just as Jesus said it would. 00:08:19.300 --> 00:08:25.839 And so now we are in that in-between time between the sacking of the temple and the restoration of the cosmos. 00:08:26.600 --> 00:08:29.379 And so we recognize that and so we pay attention. 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:32.179 So right now, Jesus says, we're in that time. 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:34.299 And so that means we need to be watchful. 00:08:35.059 --> 00:08:36.259 We need to be watchful. 00:08:36.259 --> 00:08:44.200 He says in verse 34, watch yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life. 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:47.179 And that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 00:08:48.299 --> 00:08:50.360 Watch yourselves means pay attention. 00:08:51.439 --> 00:08:52.319 That's the word. 00:08:52.580 --> 00:08:53.120 Pay attention. 00:08:53.399 --> 00:08:54.819 And pay attention to what matters. 00:08:54.820 --> 00:08:58.420 There was a famous experiment done at Harvard. 00:08:58.640 --> 00:08:59.620 Don't know if you're familiar with it. 00:08:59.860 --> 00:09:02.020 But it was an experiment where they created a video. 00:09:02.180 --> 00:09:07.700 And this video had three people in white shirts and three people in black shirts. 00:09:07.940 --> 00:09:12.320 And they're all moving around a room passing basketballs back and forth to one another. 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:15.640 And they took participants in and they showed them this video. 00:09:15.640 --> 00:09:21.980 And they said, we want you to count all of the times that someone with a white shirt passes the ball. 00:09:22.640 --> 00:09:24.360 And at the end we'll ask you the total. 00:09:24.360 --> 00:09:28.340 And so these participants sit and they all watch this video of basketballs being passed around. 00:09:28.539 --> 00:09:31.960 And at the end the researchers come in and they say, how many passes did you count? 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:33.500 And most people get it right. 00:09:33.879 --> 00:09:36.139 And then they ask the real question of the study. 00:09:37.060 --> 00:09:38.180 Did you see the gorilla? 00:09:40.039 --> 00:09:40.980 You know this study? 00:09:42.340 --> 00:09:53.180 Right in the middle of the video, a person literally in a gorilla suit comes into the middle of the frame and sort of dances around, you know, a little bit. 00:09:53.179 --> 00:09:55.059 And just kind of walks around, right? 00:09:55.679 --> 00:09:57.319 And then just kind of walks off, right? 00:09:58.019 --> 00:10:02.459 But half of the participants had no idea the gorilla even came in. 00:10:02.659 --> 00:10:03.979 They said, what gorilla? 00:10:04.059 --> 00:10:04.639 What are you talking about? 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:05.899 And they showed them the video again. 00:10:06.019 --> 00:10:08.259 And everybody said, oh my gosh, I didn't even see it. 00:10:08.659 --> 00:10:13.259 It's an amazing groundbreaking study because it illustrates something called inattentional blindness. 00:10:13.259 --> 00:10:20.000 It turns out that we don't see everything that's happening around us all the time. 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:21.860 In fact, we miss most of it. 00:10:22.519 --> 00:10:27.879 We only tend to see and to record things that we're already paying attention to. 00:10:28.139 --> 00:10:29.120 And here's the key point. 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:38.320 If we're not paying attention to the right things, we can quite literally be blind to the things that matter most. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:46.279 So it really matters what we are paying attention to because that determines what we see and what we remain blind to. 00:10:46.919 --> 00:10:47.879 And the point is this. 00:10:47.879 --> 00:10:54.379 I think it is so profoundly easy to waste our lives counting basketball passes. 00:10:56.679 --> 00:10:58.259 You know, counting basketball passes. 00:10:58.419 --> 00:11:00.039 Looking at things that don't matter. 00:11:00.200 --> 00:11:02.340 Attending to things that are meaningless. 00:11:02.899 --> 00:11:04.899 Worrying about things that are vapor. 00:11:05.820 --> 00:11:11.559 And we can spend so much time and energy counting passes that we miss the 800-pound gorilla. 00:11:12.679 --> 00:11:13.840 And what is that? 00:11:14.500 --> 00:11:16.419 That's what Jesus is talking about here. 00:11:16.419 --> 00:11:25.159 One day, when Jesus comes again, the only thing that is going to matter is our relationship to him. 00:11:26.219 --> 00:11:28.860 That's the 800-pound gorilla of life. 00:11:30.219 --> 00:11:30.299 Right? 00:11:30.360 --> 00:11:36.519 And so knowing that, if you think about all of the things, just take a minute and do an inventory. 00:11:37.659 --> 00:11:41.279 What are all of the things that are weighing you down right now? 00:11:42.219 --> 00:11:42.679 Right? 00:11:42.740 --> 00:11:44.159 It could be financial stress. 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:50.559 You know, it could be job dissatisfaction. 00:11:50.899 --> 00:11:52.620 Or maybe you don't have a job and you're wanting a job. 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:55.159 It could be stuff about your kids. 00:11:55.959 --> 00:11:57.419 And maybe they're not doing well. 00:11:57.539 --> 00:12:00.219 Or maybe they're struggling and you don't know how to help them as their parent. 00:12:00.860 --> 00:12:01.000 You know? 00:12:01.100 --> 00:12:04.639 It could be a major fight or argument that you got into literally this morning. 00:12:05.100 --> 00:12:05.399 You know? 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:07.839 Getting ready for church is really hard. 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:14.540 I saw this funny article that said, you know, husband wonders why it takes wife so long to get herself and three kids ready for church. 00:12:14.700 --> 00:12:15.080 You know? 00:12:15.139 --> 00:12:15.899 And I loved it. 00:12:16.180 --> 00:12:20.280 There's this picture of a guy just sort of sitting on a couch and he was like, it takes me 20 minutes. 00:12:20.360 --> 00:12:21.320 I don't know what your problem is. 00:12:21.700 --> 00:12:25.060 Anyway, so time before church can be really stressful. 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:25.280 Right? 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:27.100 And so we come in with all these distractions. 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:29.059 Now, all those things are weighing you down. 00:12:30.299 --> 00:12:31.500 All those things are weighing you down. 00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:32.439 Now, let me ask you this. 00:12:34.439 --> 00:12:38.339 How many of those things hijack your attention away from Jesus? 00:12:38.340 --> 00:12:43.899 How many of those things are hijacking you and hijacking your attention? 00:12:44.300 --> 00:12:45.280 And then here's the real question. 00:12:46.180 --> 00:12:48.259 Is it worth it to you? 00:12:48.820 --> 00:12:49.940 Is it worth it? 00:12:52.860 --> 00:12:53.720 Inattentional blindness. 00:12:55.200 --> 00:13:00.500 Your attention, your attention is the most precious resource you have. 00:13:01.800 --> 00:13:02.240 Right? 00:13:02.340 --> 00:13:06.240 It's more important than money, more important than health, more important even than time. 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:09.840 I would say your attention is your number one resource. 00:13:10.180 --> 00:13:12.820 And if you're anything like me, it is severely limited. 00:13:13.220 --> 00:13:15.379 It is a rare and precious thing. 00:13:15.899 --> 00:13:19.500 And so the question we need to reflect on is how are we spending it? 00:13:20.740 --> 00:13:24.080 How are we spending this limited resource that we have? 00:13:24.860 --> 00:13:28.039 If we want to be prepared for the coming of Jesus, we have to be watchful. 00:13:28.120 --> 00:13:30.700 We have to pay attention to what matters. 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:33.259 That's the first thing I think Jesus wants us to take from this. 00:13:33.259 --> 00:13:37.779 But watchfulness requires something else. 00:13:37.779 --> 00:13:40.080 In order to be watchful, you have to be awake. 00:13:40.620 --> 00:13:41.740 You have to be wakeful. 00:13:42.519 --> 00:13:48.340 And so the second thing that we see in this passage is preparing for the coming of Christ means that we have to stay awake. 00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:53.620 Jesus says in verse 36, stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength. 00:13:54.220 --> 00:13:57.840 Now is Jesus worried about all of us literally falling asleep like narcoleptics? 00:13:57.899 --> 00:13:58.939 I don't think so. 00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:00.799 That's probably not the primary focus here. 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:02.059 So what's this all about? 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:13.459 Jesus says this because I think he knows that even Christians, even people who have technically been spiritually awakened, tend to live all of our lives half asleep. 00:14:14.579 --> 00:14:15.959 We live half asleep. 00:14:16.979 --> 00:14:27.120 If you're anything like me, most of the time you avoid, you actively avoid having to actively engage and inhabit your own life. 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:32.279 I will engage as much as I have to and then I will disconnect. 00:14:33.240 --> 00:14:35.340 And then I will engage and then I will disconnect. 00:14:35.460 --> 00:14:38.480 That sense of, oh man, you know, I really had to be on tonight. 00:14:39.419 --> 00:14:41.240 You know, with those people I really had to be on. 00:14:41.340 --> 00:14:42.379 You know, I had to be engaged. 00:14:42.460 --> 00:14:46.419 But the minute, the minute you don't have to be on, the minute you don't have to be engaged, you disconnect. 00:14:46.419 --> 00:14:52.659 And I think most of us are habituated to spend as much time disconnected as possible. 00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:57.319 Not present, not inhabiting our lives, but sort of in autopilot mode. 00:14:58.139 --> 00:15:02.759 You know, we look back over the last month and we say, how is it already December? 00:15:02.959 --> 00:15:04.139 How is it already Advent? 00:15:04.439 --> 00:15:06.699 How is time flying so quickly? 00:15:06.700 --> 00:15:18.640 And I think the main reason that we feel like time flies is because we stumble along in a haze of unnecessary busyness and vaguely defined anxieties. 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:24.560 I think it's because we anesthetize ourselves with alcohol and with technology. 00:15:24.560 --> 00:15:26.120 We're sort of half awake. 00:15:26.280 --> 00:15:27.360 We're half aware. 00:15:27.660 --> 00:15:29.340 We're not fully present anywhere. 00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:33.580 We're just sort of spread out, spread thin. 00:15:36.700 --> 00:15:39.660 I think of the movie Jungle Book. 00:15:40.860 --> 00:15:42.480 You know, the snake, Ka? 00:15:43.780 --> 00:15:48.000 The snake is the embodiment of evil in the Jungle Book. 00:15:48.340 --> 00:15:53.600 And the snake wants more than anything to devour Mowgli, the young boy. 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:55.300 But notice what Ka does. 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:56.900 Ka doesn't attack outright. 00:15:57.620 --> 00:15:58.660 That would be too obvious. 00:15:59.580 --> 00:16:00.759 What does Ka do? 00:16:01.800 --> 00:16:03.160 Ka sings a song. 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:05.259 Have you ever listened to the lyrics of that song? 00:16:05.259 --> 00:16:07.819 Well, trust in me. 00:16:08.200 --> 00:16:09.319 Just in me. 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:11.679 Shut your eyes and trust in me. 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:15.860 You can sleep safe and sound, knowing I'm around. 00:16:16.799 --> 00:16:18.439 Slip into silent slumber. 00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:20.679 Sail on a silver mist. 00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:25.019 Slowly and surely your senses will cease to resist. 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:28.939 That's the form of attack that comes. 00:16:29.080 --> 00:16:31.360 And listen, I know this is just a movie. 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:45.779 But I do believe that the most insidious form of spiritual attack does not come as violence or interpersonal conflict or poverty or even sickness and disease or even death. 00:16:45.779 --> 00:16:54.279 I think the most pernicious forms of spiritual attack are the forms of spiritual attack that sing that song to us. 00:16:55.179 --> 00:16:57.439 That try to convince us. 00:16:57.659 --> 00:17:05.980 That try to seduce us to slip into silent slumber until our senses cease to resist. 00:17:05.980 --> 00:17:09.220 And the reason is it's quite simple. 00:17:09.339 --> 00:17:21.019 It's because people who have been sedated are spiritually inert, spiritually impotent, spiritually completely inconsequential. 00:17:21.019 --> 00:17:28.319 If you're spiritually asleep, if you've been seduced into slumber, your senses are no longer resisting. 00:17:28.519 --> 00:17:30.700 You're just disengaged as much as possible. 00:17:32.639 --> 00:17:34.039 Then you're a non-factor. 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:36.759 Nobody has to worry about you. 00:17:37.859 --> 00:17:37.980 Right? 00:17:38.039 --> 00:17:43.879 All of the forces mounting against the kingdom of God, they don't have to worry about you anymore. 00:17:43.880 --> 00:17:44.360 Right? 00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:49.400 And so, you know, I've been thinking about all this for a long time in my own life. 00:17:49.460 --> 00:17:51.240 And, you know, I've taken some steps. 00:17:51.320 --> 00:17:53.260 You know, I'm trying to regulate alcohol intake. 00:17:53.360 --> 00:17:55.200 I'm trying to make sure I get enough sleep. 00:17:55.420 --> 00:17:56.900 You know, I went off social media. 00:17:57.140 --> 00:18:02.560 You know, and these are things that I didn't go off social media because I believe that social media is inherently evil. 00:18:02.660 --> 00:18:04.160 I think technology is neutral. 00:18:04.280 --> 00:18:05.220 I think it's just technology. 00:18:05.220 --> 00:18:05.600 Right? 00:18:05.720 --> 00:18:08.040 And actually, I think that it's an amazing technology. 00:18:08.039 --> 00:18:16.700 And there are a lot of things that social media does that are incredible for really connecting people and making movements possible and giving people voices and things like that. 00:18:17.319 --> 00:18:24.019 But for me, every time I would pick up my phone, I would hear that song. 00:18:24.899 --> 00:18:31.460 I would hear that song just trying to convince me to go to sleep, to check out, and to escape. 00:18:31.639 --> 00:18:34.539 And it's still, still a challenge. 00:18:34.539 --> 00:18:41.899 It's still a challenge reading the news, not because I want to be informed, but because I just don't want to be present with my kids in the room. 00:18:42.599 --> 00:18:44.000 Because they're driving me up the wall. 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:47.700 And I just want to disconnect for 20 minutes. 00:18:48.700 --> 00:18:49.059 Right? 00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:53.339 And so you do that enough and you begin to slip into that silent slumber. 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:55.319 Your resistances go down. 00:18:56.619 --> 00:18:59.480 You know, and so I thought about that and I said, I don't want to be asleep. 00:18:59.619 --> 00:19:02.639 You know, I know my life is going to be over in a moment. 00:19:02.639 --> 00:19:04.059 I know that my life is vapor. 00:19:04.940 --> 00:19:07.119 You know, and I just realized, you know, that could happen tomorrow. 00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:08.000 It could happen today. 00:19:08.639 --> 00:19:10.680 And I want to be awake for every minute of it. 00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:16.159 You know, I want to be awake for all of the pain and all of the joy and all of the suffering and all of the celebration. 00:19:16.460 --> 00:19:18.539 I want to be awake for the hard things and the good things. 00:19:18.599 --> 00:19:20.680 I want to be awake for the famine and the feasting. 00:19:20.859 --> 00:19:22.059 I want to be present for it. 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:26.899 I don't want to look back in 20 years if God allows me to be here that long and think, where did it go? 00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:30.079 I want to be awake. 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:39.679 You know, so when Jesus says stay awake, I think he's saying for us, beware the seductive, sedating song of life in the modern world. 00:19:39.980 --> 00:19:41.460 Because that song is everywhere. 00:19:41.460 --> 00:19:49.660 So staying awake means vigilantly attending to the presence and the work of God all around us. 00:19:49.779 --> 00:19:50.819 And that is happening. 00:19:50.819 --> 00:19:54.639 Now, we may be looking at the basketball passes. 00:19:55.419 --> 00:20:00.220 But right in front of our face, God is constantly at work. 00:20:00.419 --> 00:20:03.460 God's presence is constantly observable. 00:20:03.819 --> 00:20:05.839 In letters to Malcolm, C.S. Lewis writes, 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:08.179 The world is crowded with God. 00:20:08.500 --> 00:20:10.879 God walks everywhere incognito. 00:20:11.199 --> 00:20:14.039 And the incognito is not always hard to penetrate. 00:20:14.519 --> 00:20:17.759 The real labor is to remember, to attend. 00:20:18.179 --> 00:20:19.619 In fact, to come awake. 00:20:19.799 --> 00:20:22.159 Still more, to remain awake. 00:20:22.539 --> 00:20:22.659 Right? 00:20:22.859 --> 00:20:30.139 Remain awake with your eyes open and your senses sharp and your eyes alert so that you can see the presence and the work of God right in front of you. 00:20:30.919 --> 00:20:33.779 I've been reminded over the last couple of weeks in powerful ways. 00:20:33.779 --> 00:20:38.700 You know, the times when I see God most clearly in my life are the times when I fail. 00:20:39.259 --> 00:20:46.859 In other words, when I exert all of my skill and all of my learning and all of my credentials and I throw the full force of my resume at a problem. 00:20:47.960 --> 00:20:50.299 You know, take that, you know. 00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:55.599 You know, take, you know, 100 million years of schooling and four degrees and, you know, take that. 00:20:57.240 --> 00:20:59.599 It's like, you know, a pea shooter against a brick wall. 00:21:00.379 --> 00:21:00.740 Right? 00:21:00.879 --> 00:21:02.440 And then I say, well, what happened? 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:03.480 I thought that was supposed to work. 00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:04.599 No, no. 00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:05.960 You have no power here. 00:21:06.599 --> 00:21:07.860 And then God says, I'll do it. 00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:09.319 Step aside. 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:12.099 Do we have the eyes to see God doing that in our lives? 00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:13.120 Right? 00:21:13.779 --> 00:21:27.019 Some of the most profound moments in Jesus' earthly ministry, the first moments of his transfiguration, the last moments in the Garden of Gethsemane when he's praying and sweating blood, knowing what's about to come in the form of the cross. 00:21:27.019 --> 00:21:29.400 These profound moments in Jesus' earthly ministry. 00:21:29.400 --> 00:21:30.839 The disciples missed. 00:21:31.639 --> 00:21:33.039 Because they were asleep. 00:21:34.460 --> 00:21:35.639 They were asleep. 00:21:35.640 --> 00:21:42.120 And so now the question is, as the resurrected Jesus continues his ministry, how much do we miss because we are asleep? 00:21:42.119 --> 00:21:42.299 I don't want to be asleep. 00:21:44.500 --> 00:21:46.559 I don't want to be asleep for any of this. 00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:49.599 So Jesus says, keep watch. 00:21:49.980 --> 00:21:51.139 He says, stay awake. 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:54.000 And finally, he says, stand firm. 00:21:55.099 --> 00:21:55.839 Stand firm. 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:59.759 In ten years of preaching, I've gotten a lot of responses from people. 00:22:00.139 --> 00:22:09.539 Hands down, one of my most memorable responses from anyone after a service, you know, maybe one of my favorite responses ever, came from an older man who had visited. 00:22:09.699 --> 00:22:11.019 It was the first time in Advent he came. 00:22:11.299 --> 00:22:12.579 He participated in the whole service. 00:22:12.659 --> 00:22:24.240 At the end of the service, he beelines it over to me, comes up with a big smile on his face, holds out his hand, says, you know, pastor, I just want to tell you how much I enjoyed coming here and how much, how thoroughly I enjoyed your message. 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:29.420 I didn't believe a word of it, but I really enjoyed listening, so thanks so much. 00:22:29.819 --> 00:22:36.099 And I've always loved that because I'll take honesty any day over sort of empty platitudes and flattery, right? 00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:38.359 And so I really appreciated his honesty. 00:22:38.700 --> 00:22:43.000 But the more I've thought about that over the years, I really enjoyed it, didn't believe a word of it. 00:22:43.859 --> 00:22:51.960 I've thought about that, and I've realized how often I can take the exact same approach to Jesus' words, right? 00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:57.920 You know, I spend a lot of time reading and studying the words of Jesus, and I actually really enjoy doing it. 00:22:58.019 --> 00:23:03.860 I love the time that I get to study and the time that I get to read and reflect on what the word is actually saying. 00:23:04.019 --> 00:23:10.220 But then if I walk away from that and you look at my life, it really seems like I don't believe a word of it, right? 00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:14.440 Now, I don't consciously reject it. 00:23:14.519 --> 00:23:16.740 I don't read it and say, that was fun, but I don't believe a word of it. 00:23:16.740 --> 00:23:21.259 But I think that we live in a kind of information-saturated culture. 00:23:21.539 --> 00:23:26.799 And I think it's really easy to take all of the blog posts, all of the op-eds, all of the TED Talks, 00:23:27.079 --> 00:23:32.539 all of the podcasts we listen to, all of the sessions that we have with our counselors and spiritual directors, 00:23:32.900 --> 00:23:38.720 all of the insights that we receive from our yoga teachers, all of the books on the Enneagram that we've read, 00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:44.160 and we take all of that along with our own study of Scripture and the biblical preaching and teaching that we receive, 00:23:44.339 --> 00:23:48.920 and we take all of that and we put it in a big jar on the shelf labeled advice. 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:51.500 Advice, right? 00:23:51.559 --> 00:23:53.000 And we all have an advice jar. 00:23:53.380 --> 00:23:56.480 And it's just all the accumulated input we've gotten. 00:23:57.000 --> 00:24:02.360 And we put it or cram it all in this jar and we keep it so that when we need to make sense of our lives, 00:24:02.420 --> 00:24:06.039 when we need a little boost of morale, when we're struggling and we need a little encouragement, 00:24:06.039 --> 00:24:08.839 we can go to the advice jar and pull something out. 00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:19.519 I'm constantly tempted to put the words of Jesus in my advice jar so that they're there if I need them, 00:24:19.980 --> 00:24:21.779 but otherwise they can just sit on the shelf. 00:24:23.399 --> 00:24:28.319 But then Jesus goes and says something like what we see in Luke 21. 00:24:28.519 --> 00:24:29.980 And just to summarize it, he says, 00:24:30.359 --> 00:24:32.220 One day I'm going to come again. 00:24:32.220 --> 00:24:36.720 But I'm not going to come as an infant born in a manger. 00:24:36.900 --> 00:24:40.759 I'm going to come as a great and terrible conquering king. 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:45.200 And I'm going to come and reclaim the world that is rightfully mine. 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:50.079 And I'm going to come with a vengeance against those who took it from me. 00:24:50.980 --> 00:24:52.640 And on that day, Jesus says, 00:24:52.860 --> 00:24:57.539 people everywhere are going to be so filled with dread that they will literally pass out. 00:24:57.620 --> 00:25:00.400 They will literally even die of fear. 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:02.160 And then he says, 00:25:02.320 --> 00:25:05.060 but those who belong to me, they will stand tall. 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:07.200 They will straighten their backs. 00:25:07.820 --> 00:25:10.040 While everyone else is cowering in the streets, 00:25:10.120 --> 00:25:11.480 they will raise their eyes to heaven 00:25:11.480 --> 00:25:14.840 because they will know that the day of their redemption has drawn near. 00:25:16.440 --> 00:25:18.300 He says there are two kinds of people. 00:25:19.280 --> 00:25:20.960 There are those who are going to die of fear. 00:25:22.519 --> 00:25:24.920 And those who are going to be filled with hope, 00:25:25.280 --> 00:25:26.460 lifting their eyes to the heavens. 00:25:27.400 --> 00:25:28.740 And you read that and you realize, 00:25:28.740 --> 00:25:30.200 this is not a TED talk. 00:25:31.140 --> 00:25:32.560 This is a fire alarm. 00:25:33.400 --> 00:25:36.100 This demands an immediate response from us. 00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:39.340 And there are some people who hear the words of Jesus 00:25:39.340 --> 00:25:40.580 and they reject them outright. 00:25:40.700 --> 00:25:41.620 I don't believe a word of it. 00:25:41.820 --> 00:25:44.340 But I think there are many more of us who hear the words of Jesus 00:25:44.340 --> 00:25:46.740 and we try to put them in the advice jar. 00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:48.220 These are words to consider. 00:25:48.360 --> 00:25:49.560 These are words to contemplate. 00:25:49.800 --> 00:25:50.540 But nothing more. 00:25:51.620 --> 00:25:55.500 But remember what Jesus says to the church of Laodicea 00:25:55.500 --> 00:25:57.180 in Revelation chapter 3. 00:25:57.180 --> 00:25:59.840 When Jesus says this to the church, 00:25:59.920 --> 00:26:00.160 he says, 00:26:00.460 --> 00:26:01.400 I know your deeds, 00:26:01.799 --> 00:26:03.980 that you are neither hot nor cold. 00:26:04.920 --> 00:26:07.160 I wish you were either one or the other. 00:26:07.799 --> 00:26:09.460 So because you are lukewarm, 00:26:09.860 --> 00:26:11.000 neither hot nor cold, 00:26:11.160 --> 00:26:14.019 I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 00:26:14.019 --> 00:26:16.859 And you read those and you realize, 00:26:17.259 --> 00:26:20.619 there are those who stand in Christ 00:26:20.619 --> 00:26:22.639 because they have given their lives to him, 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:25.099 because they have held fast to his eternal word, 00:26:25.319 --> 00:26:27.660 because they've followed him in repentance and faith. 00:26:27.660 --> 00:26:29.759 And there are those who have not. 00:26:30.779 --> 00:26:32.279 And there is no middle ground. 00:26:33.240 --> 00:26:34.240 There is no middle ground. 00:26:36.600 --> 00:26:38.920 So these are the words of Jesus to us 00:26:38.920 --> 00:26:44.400 so that we would be like those Moken sea gypsy elders 00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:47.860 on the beaches of Indonesia on that day. 00:26:47.859 --> 00:26:50.179 that we would be faithfully vigilant, 00:26:50.419 --> 00:26:53.059 that we would be rightly oriented 00:26:53.059 --> 00:26:54.539 toward the world around us, 00:26:54.579 --> 00:26:56.439 that we would have the eyes to recognize 00:26:56.439 --> 00:26:59.179 what God is doing right in our midst, 00:26:59.240 --> 00:27:01.099 to read the signs of the times, 00:27:01.240 --> 00:27:03.199 specifically that we would keep watch, 00:27:03.659 --> 00:27:04.939 that we would stay awake, 00:27:05.219 --> 00:27:06.699 that we would stand firm, 00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:08.579 so that when Jesus comes again, 00:27:08.659 --> 00:27:10.259 we would not be taken by surprise, 00:27:10.619 --> 00:27:11.859 but that we would be ready. 00:27:12.759 --> 00:27:13.359 Let's pray. 00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:13.379 Let's pray.