WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.240 Well, again, let me say welcome to those of you who are returning, and especially welcome to those of you who are visiting for the first time. 00:00:06.360 --> 00:00:11.919 Again, as I said at the beginning of the service, if I've not had an opportunity to meet you, I'd love to do so after the service. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:16.100 It's been a busy week in our country. 00:00:16.740 --> 00:00:17.620 A lot has happened. 00:00:17.620 --> 00:00:21.400 I think there's been a lot to think about and meditate on. 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:33.140 I think, like many of you, the last two days for me, I've spent largely thinking and reading and praying a lot about the Supreme Court decision that happened. 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:37.659 And since it was announced, Laura and I have really been talking about little else. 00:00:38.619 --> 00:00:43.159 And like many of you, I think that we recognize that this is an epic moment. 00:00:44.820 --> 00:00:50.500 This, for many of us, will probably be one of the single most significant things that happens in our generation. 00:00:50.500 --> 00:00:58.980 It'll be a thing that we look back on as one of the things that defined our generational experience, you know, as mostly young adults here. 00:01:00.700 --> 00:01:02.980 And I know for many of us, this isn't just an issue. 00:01:04.340 --> 00:01:11.620 For most of us in this room, this is an incredibly personal, real, relevant thing that has happened. 00:01:11.620 --> 00:01:25.580 Whether you're gay, whether you have brothers or sisters or best friends, you know, for me, I have several family members for whom this is incredibly relevant. 00:01:26.540 --> 00:01:40.439 You know, and since I heard this, I've been thinking a lot about my uncle, a man we love very much, who we watched waste away and ultimately die as a result of HIV-related complications. 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:48.780 And I remember a conversation where he said, you know, Christianity is a religion for straight married people. 00:01:49.819 --> 00:01:54.859 And he said, there's no place in a religion like that for a gay man like me. 00:01:56.299 --> 00:01:57.979 And we have mourned that. 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:01.939 And I remember it broke my heart then and it breaks my heart now as I say it. 00:02:01.939 --> 00:02:12.560 So I think we need to be very careful in how we think about, how we respond to as a community, the events of the last several days. 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:15.199 I've heard from a number of you. 00:02:15.300 --> 00:02:16.560 I really appreciate it. 00:02:16.819 --> 00:02:18.000 I've heard from a number of you. 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:20.599 Others of you have seen your posts on Facebook. 00:02:20.599 --> 00:02:27.139 I think it's pretty clear that this community is all over the map with regard to reactions to this. 00:02:27.240 --> 00:02:34.099 I think there are, you know, many people in our community who saw the announcement and they celebrated and they're excited and they think this is the best thing that could have happened. 00:02:34.539 --> 00:02:39.240 Believe it or not, there are just as many people in our community who responded with a sense of despair. 00:02:40.799 --> 00:02:45.519 There are a lot of people, I think, for whom this issue divides you in your heart. 00:02:46.340 --> 00:02:47.799 You feel torn apart by it. 00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:49.240 You're not sure what to think. 00:02:49.240 --> 00:02:52.260 You know, I would number myself among you. 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:56.300 And so I think it's an incredibly confusing issue. 00:02:56.439 --> 00:03:06.120 I think that the desire to be a faithful Christian, to be faithful to Scripture, and yet to love is something that we wrestle with. 00:03:06.260 --> 00:03:07.219 We all wrestle with. 00:03:09.879 --> 00:03:18.200 I think as a community of disciples, no matter what is happening at any given moment, no matter what the present circumstances might be, 00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:21.560 our call is always to ask the same question. 00:03:22.600 --> 00:03:25.540 And it's really the question that lies at the heart of discipleship. 00:03:25.539 --> 00:03:31.199 And that is, what does it look like to follow Jesus in this particular cultural moment? 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:35.639 What does it look like to follow Jesus in this particular cultural moment? 00:03:36.019 --> 00:03:38.599 And that's why together I want to look at Matthew 19. 00:03:38.599 --> 00:03:48.319 If you understand or remember the content of Matthew 19, on the surface you have some religious leaders who come to Jesus and they ask him about divorce. 00:03:49.139 --> 00:03:53.180 But underneath, I want to tell you what's going on here, because underneath there's a lot more going on than that. 00:03:54.139 --> 00:03:58.939 In this culture, at this time, there was a fierce marriage debate underway. 00:03:58.939 --> 00:04:08.180 And essentially what had happened is they didn't have a constitution, but they had the law, the Old Testament law. 00:04:09.139 --> 00:04:13.500 And Moses had made a kind of amendment to this law. 00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:18.100 And the amendment was an amendment about divorce. 00:04:18.300 --> 00:04:27.519 And the reason Moses did this was to try to regulate what was already a very widespread practice of divorce that was happening in the time that he was leading the people of Israel. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:36.019 And so this amendment was a kind of way of trying to regulate and actually bring some justice to the role that women would often play in the divorce. 00:04:36.620 --> 00:04:42.759 And there was very little, if any, justice for women at any point during all this. 00:04:43.139 --> 00:04:45.219 And so he was trying to regulate that a little bit. 00:04:46.159 --> 00:04:52.299 And so a number of differences had arisen since the time of Moses as to how to interpret and apply this amendment. 00:04:52.300 --> 00:05:01.360 And as is always the case, you had the liberals and you had the conservatives, right? 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:14.460 And you had the conservative party, the Shammai school of thought, and the Shammai school of thought believed that marriage was, you know, they took it very seriously. 00:05:14.459 --> 00:05:20.219 And the only way that divorce was allowable is through a clear, provable case of adultery. 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:23.079 And then you had the Hillel school of thought. 00:05:23.159 --> 00:05:25.120 They were sort of the liberals of the debate. 00:05:25.359 --> 00:05:30.139 And they viewed marriage much more as a contract that could easily be entered into or broken. 00:05:30.219 --> 00:05:34.219 And they believed that divorce, for a man to divorce a woman, you could divorce for any number of reasons. 00:05:34.359 --> 00:05:37.299 I mean, if dinner is cold one night, that's grounds for divorce. 00:05:37.300 --> 00:05:42.740 And so, again, situation not very good for women in general at all. 00:05:43.280 --> 00:05:45.500 But there's a huge debate over the nature of marriage. 00:05:45.740 --> 00:05:49.240 Now, they don't have a supreme court, and so they come to Jesus. 00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:51.740 And they did so for a lot of reasons. 00:05:51.840 --> 00:05:55.620 They came to Jesus primarily because they want to get a ruling from him. 00:05:55.939 --> 00:06:00.680 They want him to deliver a final ruling as to how to apply Moses' amendment. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:04.340 And they have an agenda. 00:06:04.339 --> 00:06:11.259 See, ultimately, what they want to do is to get Jesus to side either with the conservatives or with the liberals. 00:06:12.819 --> 00:06:17.319 And what will happen, they know, is if they can get Jesus to side with either the liberals or the conservatives, 00:06:17.620 --> 00:06:19.599 whoever he doesn't side with will be alienated. 00:06:20.099 --> 00:06:21.659 And that's what their ultimate goal is. 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:29.000 And I've been thinking about this passage quite a bit because I think that this is probably something that we can identify with. 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:34.360 You know, we have, from the time that we began as a group of a couple of dozen people in a living room, 00:06:34.660 --> 00:06:40.639 been a church that has done everything we can to maintain the sense of the mystery and the complexity of the gospel. 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:45.759 And we have done our best to refuse to toe any party line. 00:06:46.620 --> 00:06:48.660 We've refused to engage in the culture war. 00:06:48.939 --> 00:06:52.459 I mean, when it comes to the culture wars, we're the draft dodgers, you know. 00:06:52.459 --> 00:06:55.399 We don't want to get swept up in a war we don't believe in. 00:06:56.560 --> 00:07:01.839 And so I think many of us can understand the pressure that we feel now to pick a side. 00:07:02.680 --> 00:07:06.199 And whichever side I pick, do I side with my Christian friends who want to uphold Scripture 00:07:06.199 --> 00:07:09.099 and alienate all of my gay and lesbian friends? 00:07:09.319 --> 00:07:12.379 Do I side with my gay and lesbian friends and alienate the church? 00:07:12.459 --> 00:07:13.039 What do I do? 00:07:13.819 --> 00:07:16.019 And they're trying to get Jesus to make the very same decision. 00:07:16.120 --> 00:07:16.839 Who are you going to side with? 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:18.240 Who are you going to pick and who are you going to alienate? 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:22.400 And what I want to do is to look at Jesus' response. 00:07:23.939 --> 00:07:28.600 Because Jesus' response, bad news, it makes everybody angry. 00:07:29.420 --> 00:07:30.900 It makes everybody angry. 00:07:31.720 --> 00:07:35.180 And I know that some of you believe one thing and some of you believe another. 00:07:35.379 --> 00:07:37.360 I know some of you are Christians and some of you are not. 00:07:37.840 --> 00:07:42.600 I will warn you, probably everybody will get a little angry at some point looking at this response. 00:07:42.600 --> 00:07:47.420 But there's value in it because I believe if we can understand why Jesus responds the way he does, 00:07:47.420 --> 00:07:51.400 it will help us know a little more what it looks like to follow him here and now. 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:54.140 And so the two things I want to show you are this. 00:07:54.220 --> 00:07:58.160 First of all, Jesus' response is more conservative than the conservatives. 00:07:59.280 --> 00:08:02.379 And the second thing we'll see is that it's more liberal than the liberals. 00:08:03.080 --> 00:08:06.860 So it's at the same time more conservative than the conservatives and more liberal than the liberals. 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:08.600 And somehow it holds together. 00:08:10.180 --> 00:08:14.139 So let's, before we look at this in more detail, let's pray for God to help us. 00:08:14.139 --> 00:08:20.560 Lord, we do ask, as we've already asked earlier in the service, as Dan prayed, Lord, 00:08:20.939 --> 00:08:23.579 as we sang together that your word is a light. 00:08:23.979 --> 00:08:28.159 And we pray that it would illuminate an incredibly dark and incredibly confusing 00:08:28.159 --> 00:08:32.259 and incredibly complex set of circumstances and issues, Lord, 00:08:32.279 --> 00:08:34.580 that affects us all personally in different ways, Lord. 00:08:35.419 --> 00:08:41.240 Help us to know what following you means and use your word to instruct us, Lord, toward that end. 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:43.000 We pray this in your son's name. Amen. 00:08:44.220 --> 00:08:47.779 So on the one hand, Jesus' response is more conservative than the conservatives. 00:08:47.879 --> 00:08:49.100 Let me just read what he says. 00:08:50.360 --> 00:08:52.019 Jesus answers them in verse 4. 00:08:52.539 --> 00:08:56.539 Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female 00:08:56.539 --> 00:08:59.180 and said, therefore a man shall leave his father and mother, 00:08:59.740 --> 00:09:02.220 hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? 00:09:02.620 --> 00:09:04.720 So there are no longer two but one flesh. 00:09:05.100 --> 00:09:08.220 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. 00:09:08.220 --> 00:09:12.519 What we need to understand is that, as I said a moment ago, 00:09:13.160 --> 00:09:15.620 the Pharisees are looking for a ruling from Jesus. 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:20.660 They're looking for legislation that they can then take and apply, right? 00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:24.259 But what Jesus does, and it's very important that we understand this, 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:26.139 he goes around that question. 00:09:26.940 --> 00:09:29.040 He doesn't even address legislation. 00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:33.940 He goes behind it, and he goes immediately back to the purpose of marriage. 00:09:34.019 --> 00:09:35.440 He goes all the way back to the beginning. 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:40.520 And that has to be incredibly frustrating for them. 00:09:41.280 --> 00:09:44.520 But he goes back to the very beginning, and he quotes from Genesis, 00:09:44.840 --> 00:09:47.900 and he begins to lay out, this is the original purpose for marriage. 00:09:47.960 --> 00:09:48.860 And you see a few things. 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:54.380 First of all, he says in verses 4 and 5, marriage is established by God. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:56.420 It's divinely established, he says. 00:09:56.860 --> 00:10:01.560 And he refers to the Creator, and he says that marriage is something rooted in creation itself. 00:10:01.559 --> 00:10:07.119 What he's really saying here is that marriage, as he's talking about it, that's important, 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:10.500 marriage is something that we fit into. 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:13.619 It's a design that we submit ourselves to. 00:10:13.979 --> 00:10:16.739 It's part of the architecture of creation. 00:10:18.099 --> 00:10:21.399 And what he's saying is that, you know, just like when you renovate a house, 00:10:21.559 --> 00:10:22.739 you want to talk to the architect. 00:10:22.740 --> 00:10:26.240 You want to talk to the person who designed it because you want to know, 00:10:26.379 --> 00:10:27.620 what can I change and what can I change? 00:10:27.639 --> 00:10:31.500 And you certainly don't want to take out any load-bearing beams because the whole thing will crash down. 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:36.460 And this is sort of Jesus' way of saying marriage is a load-bearing beam in creation. 00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:39.659 So that's the first thing. 00:10:39.700 --> 00:10:40.600 It's established by God. 00:10:40.680 --> 00:10:44.500 The second thing he says in verses 4 and 5 is that marriage is a complementary union. 00:10:45.960 --> 00:10:46.539 It's interesting. 00:10:46.539 --> 00:10:52.179 The first thing he says is he made them male and female, therefore a man shall leave his father and mother. 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:57.799 What he's saying is that if you look at the design of human beings, they're designed for union. 00:10:59.099 --> 00:11:00.120 And it makes sense. 00:11:00.559 --> 00:11:03.659 You know, they're designed for union, therefore they join together. 00:11:04.299 --> 00:11:08.659 And it makes sense if you look at the larger way in which creation is laid out. 00:11:08.659 --> 00:11:18.059 You know, beginning in the first few verses of Genesis chapter 1, you see God creating sets of complementary pairs. 00:11:18.659 --> 00:11:19.719 You have light and dark. 00:11:20.079 --> 00:11:21.299 You have sky and sea. 00:11:21.419 --> 00:11:22.539 You have sea and land. 00:11:23.019 --> 00:11:27.179 And in every case, God takes chaos and he brings order to it. 00:11:27.259 --> 00:11:29.860 And he brings order by creating a complementary pair. 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:37.079 And what he does is he creates in those complementary pairs the possibility for life to exist and to flourish. 00:11:37.080 --> 00:11:42.080 And this sort of climaxes with the creation of the male and the female. 00:11:42.700 --> 00:11:46.139 And in their union, you see the possibility for life and flourishing. 00:11:48.060 --> 00:11:53.080 So what we see is that the essence of marriage as Jesus is talking about it is not actually love. 00:11:54.040 --> 00:11:56.300 It's a sexually complementary union. 00:11:56.400 --> 00:11:57.740 That's the essence of marriage. 00:11:59.520 --> 00:12:05.200 And Paul tells us that the complementarity of marriage, you know, Paul in Ephesians 5 says that it's this complementarity 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:08.420 that reflects the relationship between Jesus and his church. 00:12:09.240 --> 00:12:12.800 And then thirdly, he says in verse 6 that marriage is a lifelong covenant. 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:16.620 He says, you know, what we say in the liturgy, what God has joined together, let not man separate. 00:12:18.440 --> 00:12:24.180 So they want Jesus to make a ruling and instead he takes them back and reminds them of the purpose of marriage. 00:12:25.340 --> 00:12:26.879 He says, here's God's ideal. 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:32.419 It's a divinely established complementary union that is a lifelong covenant. 00:12:32.580 --> 00:12:33.500 That's God's ideal. 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:42.700 And what we need to understand is that what Jesus is saying, what he's laying out here, is way more conservative than the Shammai party. 00:12:43.179 --> 00:12:44.279 Way more conservative. 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:47.720 And you have to imagine everybody balking at this answer. 00:12:47.720 --> 00:12:54.340 And we know from his disciples' reaction that everybody hears him and thinks, that's not possible. 00:12:55.800 --> 00:13:00.899 And so they say, well, if this is the case, Jesus, then why did Moses allow divorce? 00:13:01.139 --> 00:13:03.240 And here's what Jesus says, and this is fascinating. 00:13:03.800 --> 00:13:08.540 He says in verse 8, because of your hardness of heart, Moses allowed divorce. 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:09.600 Do you see what he's doing here? 00:13:09.800 --> 00:13:10.580 This is fascinating. 00:13:10.700 --> 00:13:11.279 It's very important. 00:13:11.580 --> 00:13:14.220 What Jesus is doing is he's turning the conversation around. 00:13:14.220 --> 00:13:24.980 They want legislation, and Jesus is reframing the conversation, and he's saying, why do you think legislation is even necessary? 00:13:26.279 --> 00:13:28.960 Why is legislation even necessary? 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:38.080 And he's turning the focus away from the legislative to the much deeper level of the heart. 00:13:38.080 --> 00:13:45.480 And he's saying, the very fact that you're asking me this, the very fact that there's even a debate, is because your hearts are hard. 00:13:46.340 --> 00:13:47.720 All human hearts are hard. 00:13:48.580 --> 00:13:56.960 It's his way of saying there's something much more fundamental at stake here than marriage, and that is the hardness of human hearts toward God. 00:13:57.080 --> 00:14:00.860 The word is actually the unyielding nature of hearts. 00:14:00.940 --> 00:14:01.920 Hearts that don't yield. 00:14:02.100 --> 00:14:04.200 Hearts that don't follow. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:05.420 Hearts that resist. 00:14:05.419 --> 00:14:05.539 Hearts that don't exist. 00:14:07.479 --> 00:14:09.719 So this, I think, applies in a lot of ways. 00:14:10.059 --> 00:14:13.079 Before we move on, I just want to highlight a couple. 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:22.319 For all of us here who are lamenting the Supreme Court decision and thinking we have now significantly departed from God's will in our country. 00:14:23.500 --> 00:14:24.839 A lot of people saying that. 00:14:25.599 --> 00:14:31.939 What this tells us is this, is that regardless of what rulings come out of the Supreme Court, 00:14:31.940 --> 00:14:42.020 the relationship between God's ideal for marriage and any civil legislation regarding marriage, that there's always been a separation. 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:45.680 You know, sometimes maybe they overlap and sometimes they don't. 00:14:45.900 --> 00:14:48.500 But they've always been two completely, utterly distinct things. 00:14:48.560 --> 00:14:51.200 And this is the thing that Jesus is trying to highlight here. 00:14:51.580 --> 00:14:53.660 Marriage isn't defined by how we legislate it. 00:14:53.659 --> 00:14:56.620 There's a reality of marriage that has always existed. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:02.019 And then there are all of the different ways that different governments throughout history have handled and legislated marriage. 00:15:02.919 --> 00:15:04.339 But they're two separate things. 00:15:04.439 --> 00:15:06.139 Sometimes more overlap, sometimes less. 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:12.059 And then for all the people who are celebrating this decision, this shows us that the very fact that we need legislation, 00:15:12.059 --> 00:15:21.439 the very fact that we even ask these questions at all, shows us how far all human hearts, regardless of sexuality, 00:15:21.639 --> 00:15:26.059 regardless of whether you're married or single, the fact that every single human heart is hard. 00:15:27.119 --> 00:15:30.000 And Jesus is saying that is the much more fundamental issue. 00:15:30.139 --> 00:15:31.899 That's the thing that you need to be asking about. 00:15:32.279 --> 00:15:33.419 Why is my heart hard? 00:15:35.599 --> 00:15:36.979 That should be cause for grief. 00:15:36.980 --> 00:15:42.480 So first, we see that Jesus out-conservatives the conservatives. 00:15:43.539 --> 00:15:43.860 Okay? 00:15:44.019 --> 00:15:45.159 And everybody balks. 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:49.080 And then as we go on, we see that he does the opposite. 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:52.080 On the other hand, Jesus' response is more liberal than the liberals. 00:15:52.539 --> 00:15:56.720 A little bit after this, the disciples, when they have Jesus alone, they sort of come up to him and they say, 00:15:57.639 --> 00:16:03.600 Well, if what you're saying is true, then maybe it's better if we don't get married. 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:08.259 And we have to understand that when they say this, they're being cynical. 00:16:09.080 --> 00:16:13.580 You know, it's their way of saying, what you just said, Jesus, is so completely unrealistic. 00:16:14.659 --> 00:16:14.960 You know? 00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:17.240 And they're saying, well, maybe it's better if we don't get married. 00:16:17.300 --> 00:16:23.560 But that's cynical, and we know it's cynical because they lived in a society where to not be married as an adult was utterly unthinkable. 00:16:23.899 --> 00:16:24.920 It wasn't even an option. 00:16:25.920 --> 00:16:32.980 You know, they lived in a society where nobody dreamed of not marrying if they could possibly help it. 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:38.379 What we need to understand is the liberals, the Hillel Party, yeah, they had a very liberal view of marriage. 00:16:38.500 --> 00:16:39.580 You can easily enter into it. 00:16:39.659 --> 00:16:41.700 You can easily break out of it for any number of reasons. 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:42.700 Well, if you were a man. 00:16:45.680 --> 00:16:53.620 But no, even the most liberal liberal would never have dreamed of just doing away with the idea of marriage altogether. 00:16:53.620 --> 00:17:00.639 Because the primary concern, if you were an adult in this culture, was your children and your legacy. 00:17:01.720 --> 00:17:03.019 Will my name continue? 00:17:03.259 --> 00:17:04.579 Will my land pass on? 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:05.839 Will my legacy go on? 00:17:06.119 --> 00:17:08.940 It was all about ensuring and protecting your legacy. 00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:12.240 And if you didn't have a legacy, it was a death sentence. 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:16.579 To be an adult in this culture and to be unmarried was a death sentence. 00:17:17.319 --> 00:17:20.420 Much like huge parts of the conservative evangelical church. 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:26.259 The prospect of being an unmarried adult felt like a death sentence. 00:17:28.599 --> 00:17:29.960 And look what Jesus says. 00:17:30.019 --> 00:17:35.259 He says, essentially, they're being cynical, maybe a little sarcastic, and Jesus takes them literally. 00:17:35.400 --> 00:17:36.700 And he says, you're right. 00:17:37.240 --> 00:17:38.680 And you can imagine, what? 00:17:38.680 --> 00:17:42.320 And then he goes on to talk about eunuchs. 00:17:42.380 --> 00:17:46.060 And a lot of people look at this and they're like, is this a complete non sequitur? 00:17:47.120 --> 00:17:47.920 But look what he says. 00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:51.360 We have to understand why he goes and he starts talking about eunuchs. 00:17:51.420 --> 00:17:52.660 We have to understand what that means. 00:17:53.160 --> 00:17:56.580 Eunuch was kind of a broad umbrella catch-all term. 00:17:57.820 --> 00:18:04.080 And it was a word used to refer to people who, for any number of reasons, would remain unmarried as adults. 00:18:04.180 --> 00:18:06.000 To men who would remain unmarried as adults. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:15.859 And what's interesting about this is he talks about different categories of people and different reasons why they would not be married as adults. 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:18.059 Some have been physically castrated. 00:18:18.940 --> 00:18:19.119 Right? 00:18:19.380 --> 00:18:20.680 Some have been physically castrated. 00:18:21.460 --> 00:18:24.380 And a lot of times they were, you would castrate somebody and you would put them, 00:18:24.740 --> 00:18:28.380 and eunuch literally meant the keeper or the protector of the couch. 00:18:28.859 --> 00:18:31.279 In other words, they would be put in charge of protecting the harem. 00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:36.059 Because you could be reasonably sure that they weren't going to fool around with anybody in the harem. 00:18:36.619 --> 00:18:37.660 If you had castrated them. 00:18:38.379 --> 00:18:45.519 And that was important because you needed to make sure that all of the, you know, birthright and child and lineage, that that was all, you know, clear. 00:18:45.700 --> 00:18:47.519 And so you didn't want anybody messing around with the harem. 00:18:48.019 --> 00:18:48.279 Right? 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:49.720 So that's one kind of eunuch. 00:18:49.799 --> 00:18:52.819 But then he talks about those who are eunuchs from their mother's womb. 00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:55.559 And this has been massively debated. 00:18:55.559 --> 00:18:57.299 I've done an enormous amount of research on this. 00:18:58.299 --> 00:19:04.859 I'm reasonably convinced that this is an umbrella term that refers to a whole range of different kinds of men. 00:19:07.159 --> 00:19:11.000 Including people who are biologically sexually equipped in every way. 00:19:11.099 --> 00:19:12.119 They have not been castrated. 00:19:12.419 --> 00:19:13.139 They're not deformed. 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:15.440 And yet their primary attraction is not to women. 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:27.380 And then Jesus lastly talks about there's a kind of person who's a eunuch who have given up voluntarily family and kids and all of that for the sake of the kingdom of God. 00:19:27.539 --> 00:19:29.259 This would include people like Jesus. 00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:31.039 And people like Paul. 00:19:32.340 --> 00:19:39.500 And he says that what he's doing here when he talks about this, he's essentially saying in a culture where marriage is everything. 00:19:40.019 --> 00:19:41.840 In a culture where family is everything. 00:19:41.840 --> 00:19:44.580 Your salvation was your family if you were a Jew. 00:19:44.579 --> 00:19:46.859 Salvation was based on family line. 00:19:47.019 --> 00:19:47.619 Family lineage. 00:19:49.379 --> 00:19:50.779 That's how salvation happened. 00:19:50.899 --> 00:19:52.379 Was being part of the right part of the family. 00:19:53.240 --> 00:19:56.199 He's saying in a culture where family is everything. 00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:58.599 Where the focus is entirely on the family. 00:20:00.279 --> 00:20:04.460 He's saying there's a whole category of people who for various reasons are not called to marriage. 00:20:04.839 --> 00:20:08.119 In other words, he's saying in God's community, unlike the world at the time, 00:20:08.119 --> 00:20:12.500 marriage and singleness are distinct, complementary, equally viable vocations. 00:20:14.579 --> 00:20:27.259 And the reason he's saying this and what he's pointing us to is that he's saying there's something bigger, there's something more beautiful, there's something more eternal at hand than marriage and family. 00:20:27.500 --> 00:20:28.859 It's the kingdom of God. 00:20:28.859 --> 00:20:35.039 And he's saying you have to look past this and you have to recognize that the kingdom of God is at hand. 00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:39.299 And there are people who are voluntarily giving up what they could have for the sake of the kingdom of God. 00:20:39.539 --> 00:20:40.659 It's worth that much. 00:20:40.740 --> 00:20:42.099 It's the pearl of great price. 00:20:42.599 --> 00:20:48.959 It's the treasure that when a man finds it, he buries it and sells all that he has so he can buy the field in order to possess it. 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:50.459 It's that valuable. 00:20:50.459 --> 00:20:50.500 It's that valuable. 00:20:50.500 --> 00:20:57.819 Jesus came into a culture where family was everything. 00:20:59.299 --> 00:21:01.640 And with him comes the kingdom of God. 00:21:02.019 --> 00:21:06.019 And through his death and resurrection, he establishes a community, which is the church. 00:21:07.559 --> 00:21:13.259 And that church looks forward to the day when the kingdom of God is, as we say, fully consummated. 00:21:14.119 --> 00:21:17.680 The Pharisees at one point asked Jesus, well, what will happen to marriage in that day? 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:19.100 And he says, oh, there won't be marriage. 00:21:21.019 --> 00:21:22.539 No, marriage won't be necessary. 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:28.060 Because it won't be like today where unless you're a part of a nuclear family, you're nothing. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:32.140 In that day, all of humanity will be one great, beautiful family. 00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:34.279 Marriage will no longer be necessary. 00:21:35.460 --> 00:21:39.840 And what the early church understood, what these Christians began to understand, 00:21:40.420 --> 00:21:43.100 is that the church is called to inhabit that space between. 00:21:43.099 --> 00:21:49.659 And what the early church began to recognize, is that the bond they had in Jesus Christ, 00:21:49.779 --> 00:21:52.339 was deeper, even than blood. 00:21:53.579 --> 00:21:59.339 That the church, in the church you see a family, where the bonds are deeper and stronger, 00:21:59.500 --> 00:22:01.119 even than blood, even than DNA. 00:22:04.500 --> 00:22:10.199 And the early church understood this, that they were meant to be a preview of this kingdom family. 00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:14.360 The church was called to be a kingdom family for those without families. 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:17.420 One of the things you realize very quickly when you look at the early church is, 00:22:17.860 --> 00:22:21.299 they had a huge impact on the larger Greco-Roman world, 00:22:21.480 --> 00:22:24.840 not because they won the culture war, right? 00:22:25.880 --> 00:22:27.759 It was because of their radical love. 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:33.799 It was because they became a haven, they became a family for the marginalized, 00:22:34.420 --> 00:22:38.580 for the orphan, and the widow, and the slave, and the eunuch. 00:22:40.200 --> 00:22:43.779 This is why, you know, that beautiful story in Acts chapter 8, 00:22:43.880 --> 00:22:49.819 when the Ethiopian eunuch is riding along, and he's interested in who Jesus is, 00:22:49.860 --> 00:22:52.380 and he's come all of the way, traveled this enormous distance, 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:56.140 probably wanting to go to the temple to worship this God he had heard so much about. 00:22:56.319 --> 00:22:58.519 Well, what would have happened to him when he got to the temple? 00:23:00.299 --> 00:23:02.240 They would have said, you're not allowed to come in, 00:23:02.900 --> 00:23:05.420 because castrated men were not allowed in the temple. 00:23:05.420 --> 00:23:07.960 So he would have traveled all that way for nothing. 00:23:09.100 --> 00:23:12.800 And then he's riding back, and he's reading through the scriptures, 00:23:12.940 --> 00:23:16.259 and he's trying to figure out, this God who I know I'm called to, 00:23:16.340 --> 00:23:18.820 this God who is wooing me to himself, who I went to worship, 00:23:18.920 --> 00:23:19.940 why am I not allowed in? 00:23:21.380 --> 00:23:23.300 And you realize where he's reading in Isaiah, 00:23:23.560 --> 00:23:27.220 about the suffering servant, comes just before Isaiah chapter 56. 00:23:27.680 --> 00:23:29.120 And that's the place where God says, 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:31.620 let not the eunuch say I am a dry tree. 00:23:31.619 --> 00:23:34.500 In other words, let not the eunuch, let not the person who, for whatever reason, 00:23:35.779 --> 00:23:39.799 does not get married, cannot have children, 00:23:40.500 --> 00:23:43.399 cannot have that legacy that was salvation for so many people. 00:23:44.139 --> 00:23:46.899 Let not that person say, my legacy is cut off. 00:23:47.359 --> 00:23:51.500 Instead, if that person trusts me, I will give them a legacy, 00:23:52.059 --> 00:23:53.639 I will give them an inheritance, 00:23:54.679 --> 00:23:58.500 a thousand times greater than anything they could imagine on this earth. 00:23:58.500 --> 00:24:01.799 And you imagine that man reading that, 00:24:01.880 --> 00:24:05.039 and then going back and seeing all of this is possible because of this suffering servant, 00:24:05.319 --> 00:24:06.599 and so when Philip shows up, he says, 00:24:06.839 --> 00:24:09.220 who is this person? I have to know who this is. 00:24:10.599 --> 00:24:11.980 And Philip says, it's Jesus. 00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:14.460 It's Jesus. 00:24:16.920 --> 00:24:19.880 Because of Jesus, that promise is possible. 00:24:19.980 --> 00:24:21.619 What's he talking about? The kingdom of God. 00:24:22.480 --> 00:24:23.859 That's what the kingdom means. 00:24:23.859 --> 00:24:33.379 There are many people who, regardless of the Supreme Court ruling, 00:24:33.479 --> 00:24:37.139 will still never be married or have kids. 00:24:38.740 --> 00:24:41.399 You know, there are many straight men and women 00:24:41.399 --> 00:24:44.139 who, for whatever reason, will never marry. 00:24:45.259 --> 00:24:47.359 There are people who have lost their spouses. 00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:49.939 There are people who have been divorced and will not get remarried. 00:24:49.940 --> 00:24:53.940 I think of the conversation that I had not too long ago 00:24:53.940 --> 00:24:56.039 with a gay man in his late 40s. 00:24:56.160 --> 00:24:57.480 And he said, you know, for me, 00:24:58.380 --> 00:25:01.000 gay marriage is completely irrelevant. 00:25:01.900 --> 00:25:02.820 And I said, why? 00:25:03.080 --> 00:25:05.360 And he said, well, look at me. 00:25:06.759 --> 00:25:08.039 I'm in my late 40s. 00:25:08.140 --> 00:25:08.720 I'm overweight. 00:25:09.860 --> 00:25:12.860 He says, I'm not 22-year-old, well-built, attractive. 00:25:14.059 --> 00:25:18.000 There's virtually no chance that anyone would ever want to marry a person like me. 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:21.019 And my question is this. 00:25:21.059 --> 00:25:24.059 If the church cannot become a family for a person like that, 00:25:24.200 --> 00:25:25.359 then what the heck are we doing? 00:25:26.440 --> 00:25:27.339 You know, what are we doing? 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:28.619 We're wasting our time. 00:25:31.380 --> 00:25:34.640 So I want to leave you with five takeaways. 00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:37.119 Maybe five things to think about, discuss. 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:43.240 First of all, I think this is showing us this, 00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:47.019 that we need to focus on the big picture, right? 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:50.059 The problem is much bigger. 00:25:51.140 --> 00:25:53.039 It's much worse than we think. 00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:55.220 It's not marriage legislation. 00:25:55.940 --> 00:25:58.619 It's the fact that we all have hard hearts. 00:25:59.779 --> 00:26:01.059 That's the biggest problem. 00:26:02.079 --> 00:26:04.440 Our hope is much greater than we dared hope. 00:26:04.839 --> 00:26:06.440 It's not marriage legislation. 00:26:07.200 --> 00:26:08.599 It's the kingdom of God. 00:26:09.420 --> 00:26:12.660 It's the kingdom family that Jesus is establishing here and now. 00:26:12.660 --> 00:26:19.340 Because Jesus Christ has come to melt hard hearts with his love. 00:26:20.019 --> 00:26:23.960 That's the only way we can have soft hearts is if they're melted by his love. 00:26:25.060 --> 00:26:26.500 You know, the law breaks hearts. 00:26:27.220 --> 00:26:28.340 It crushes them. 00:26:28.900 --> 00:26:31.360 But love and grace melts hearts. 00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:36.659 No matter how much we make and break our marriage covenants, 00:26:37.419 --> 00:26:39.099 which we do and we will, 00:26:40.859 --> 00:26:43.559 God never breaks the covenant he made with us. 00:26:44.379 --> 00:26:46.019 And Jesus Christ is proof of that. 00:26:47.819 --> 00:26:48.839 So that's the first thing. 00:26:48.879 --> 00:26:50.279 We need to focus on the big picture. 00:26:51.119 --> 00:26:52.259 The second thing is this. 00:26:52.319 --> 00:26:53.679 We need to become church. 00:26:53.819 --> 00:26:55.299 We need to become a kingdom family. 00:26:56.299 --> 00:26:58.019 I do not believe we are that. 00:26:59.599 --> 00:27:01.480 We need to become that and we need to be that. 00:27:01.559 --> 00:27:04.480 And that means we need to majorly change how we think about community. 00:27:04.980 --> 00:27:06.259 How we prioritize community. 00:27:06.859 --> 00:27:08.720 How we open our homes and our lives. 00:27:09.159 --> 00:27:10.519 We need to become less busy. 00:27:11.940 --> 00:27:14.740 We need to create margins in our lives 00:27:14.740 --> 00:27:19.119 to welcome and embrace the people who God sends our way. 00:27:20.279 --> 00:27:21.379 People who need families. 00:27:21.480 --> 00:27:24.259 I think of Julie Rogers, a friend of ours, 00:27:24.259 --> 00:27:29.299 who is gay but has chosen out of her faith a life of celibacy. 00:27:30.259 --> 00:27:32.480 And I think of a conversation where she said, 00:27:32.539 --> 00:27:34.359 you know, I can live without sex. 00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:35.440 I can survive without sex. 00:27:35.500 --> 00:27:36.759 I don't know if everybody can say that. 00:27:37.220 --> 00:27:37.980 She says that. 00:27:38.859 --> 00:27:41.799 I can live without sex, but I cannot live without intimacy. 00:27:43.379 --> 00:27:45.259 And I think that's true of every single one of us. 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:47.879 And I remember she said sort of to the church, 00:27:48.379 --> 00:27:49.500 I need you. 00:27:50.140 --> 00:27:51.619 I need you to be my family. 00:27:51.940 --> 00:27:53.640 I'm not going to survive without you. 00:27:54.259 --> 00:27:57.680 She doesn't need a lesson in morality. 00:27:57.940 --> 00:28:00.440 She's pretty grounded. 00:28:01.140 --> 00:28:02.779 She doesn't need conversion therapy. 00:28:03.859 --> 00:28:05.640 I think we need to repent of that. 00:28:05.879 --> 00:28:06.740 I think it's a heresy. 00:28:08.420 --> 00:28:09.619 She needs a family. 00:28:10.980 --> 00:28:11.779 She needs a family. 00:28:13.359 --> 00:28:15.000 So we need to become a kingdom family. 00:28:15.099 --> 00:28:17.700 The third thing, we need to live into the tension. 00:28:18.620 --> 00:28:18.860 Okay? 00:28:19.200 --> 00:28:22.819 We need to embrace the reality of tension. 00:28:24.259 --> 00:28:27.279 We have to love God, his ideal, his word, his truth. 00:28:28.400 --> 00:28:31.140 And we need to love our neighbors as ourselves. 00:28:31.759 --> 00:28:33.240 Jesus says these are the two great commandments. 00:28:33.600 --> 00:28:35.519 You ever realize how much at odds they are with one another? 00:28:35.519 --> 00:28:38.940 Some people love the idea of loving God. 00:28:39.039 --> 00:28:40.460 Some people love the idea of loving their neighbors. 00:28:40.879 --> 00:28:41.639 But to do both? 00:28:42.279 --> 00:28:43.119 That's tension. 00:28:43.879 --> 00:28:44.240 Tension. 00:28:44.519 --> 00:28:45.359 It's hard. 00:28:45.779 --> 00:28:47.900 If you're not struggling over this, you should be. 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:50.299 If you don't feel torn apart by this, you should be. 00:28:52.119 --> 00:28:54.039 Those of us who are wrestling with this, 00:28:54.200 --> 00:28:56.619 who are struggling, who feel torn to pieces, 00:28:57.160 --> 00:28:58.440 I think you're on the right track. 00:28:58.440 --> 00:29:02.799 Tension is a prerequisite to being a Christian. 00:29:03.420 --> 00:29:03.620 Okay? 00:29:03.840 --> 00:29:05.100 Think about what we believe. 00:29:05.519 --> 00:29:06.580 What do we believe? 00:29:07.080 --> 00:29:09.019 A God who is three and yet one 00:29:09.019 --> 00:29:11.680 sent his son, who is both human and divine, 00:29:11.820 --> 00:29:14.640 to establish a community of people who are sinners and saints 00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:17.620 who occupy a place in history we call the already but not yet. 00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:20.500 If you cannot handle tension, 00:29:20.600 --> 00:29:21.779 you need to find another religion. 00:29:23.059 --> 00:29:24.860 You're going to have a really hard time with this one. 00:29:24.859 --> 00:29:32.059 So, fourthly, we need to embrace the opportunity before us. 00:29:33.500 --> 00:29:35.439 We are not here by accident. 00:29:35.619 --> 00:29:36.979 God did not drop the ball. 00:29:38.079 --> 00:29:38.359 Okay? 00:29:40.159 --> 00:29:42.399 I think we have before us an opportunity 00:29:42.399 --> 00:29:45.359 to be a new kind of Christian in our culture. 00:29:46.939 --> 00:29:51.059 Maybe we can finally move beyond the God versus gay debate. 00:29:51.779 --> 00:29:54.559 Maybe we can finally move beyond this kind of culture war. 00:29:54.859 --> 00:29:56.959 And maybe we have an opportunity to forge 00:29:56.959 --> 00:29:58.779 an entirely new way of being a Christian. 00:29:59.579 --> 00:30:01.799 A new role that we can occupy in society. 00:30:03.299 --> 00:30:07.759 So, let's see this for the opportunity that it is. 00:30:08.639 --> 00:30:10.740 Let's stop complaining about persecution. 00:30:12.500 --> 00:30:14.959 Whatever we face, whatever we will face, 00:30:15.059 --> 00:30:17.959 it is nothing compared to what the gay and lesbian community 00:30:17.959 --> 00:30:19.299 has dealt with for centuries. 00:30:20.779 --> 00:30:22.519 Stop complaining about persecution. 00:30:22.519 --> 00:30:27.019 Let's joyfully say goodbye to our societal privilege 00:30:27.019 --> 00:30:29.700 and say good riddance. 00:30:30.579 --> 00:30:31.920 You know, when it comes to the church, 00:30:33.000 --> 00:30:34.940 privilege is most of the time poisonous. 00:30:37.000 --> 00:30:39.740 The gospel community has a natural habitat. 00:30:41.059 --> 00:30:43.039 The natural habitat of the gospel community 00:30:43.039 --> 00:30:44.559 is the place of greatest weakness 00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:46.619 because that is the place 00:30:46.619 --> 00:30:48.839 where the power of the gospel is the strongest. 00:30:48.839 --> 00:30:54.459 And then lastly, I think we need to remember this, 00:30:55.459 --> 00:30:57.220 that love does win. 00:30:59.819 --> 00:31:03.439 By love, I don't think we mean our romantic ideals of love. 00:31:04.539 --> 00:31:09.039 We mean the inexplicable, radical, sacrificial love of Jesus Christ. 00:31:09.039 --> 00:31:12.480 You know, yesterday, in all the fray, 00:31:12.639 --> 00:31:16.039 Nicholas Kristof published this beautiful little piece 00:31:16.039 --> 00:31:19.379 about a doctor named Tom Katana 00:31:19.379 --> 00:31:21.879 who is in the Nuba Mountains. 00:31:22.920 --> 00:31:25.799 And the U.S. and other governments 00:31:25.799 --> 00:31:27.639 have largely abandoned the people 00:31:27.639 --> 00:31:29.159 in the Nuba Mountains, 00:31:29.220 --> 00:31:30.379 about half a million of them. 00:31:30.380 --> 00:31:35.120 Their own government bombs them every day. 00:31:36.180 --> 00:31:37.000 Every day. 00:31:38.620 --> 00:31:41.000 And Dr. Katana is the only doctor 00:31:41.000 --> 00:31:44.160 remaining there to serve half a million people. 00:31:44.720 --> 00:31:45.620 Half a million people. 00:31:47.420 --> 00:31:50.240 His hospital has been bombed 11 times. 00:31:51.860 --> 00:31:54.500 He gets malaria at least once a year. 00:31:55.860 --> 00:31:57.360 He works without water, 00:31:57.760 --> 00:31:59.000 he works without electricity, 00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:02.420 and he relies on mostly Civil War era treatments. 00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:04.079 Because he has no supplies. 00:32:04.700 --> 00:32:06.059 Because nobody supports him. 00:32:06.940 --> 00:32:09.140 And the question that the article kind of asks is, 00:32:09.279 --> 00:32:11.759 why would any sane, rational person 00:32:11.759 --> 00:32:15.339 leave the possibility of a wife, 00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:17.559 leave the possibility of kids and a legacy, 00:32:17.779 --> 00:32:19.259 and go halfway around the world 00:32:19.259 --> 00:32:21.119 to love and to serve and to give his life 00:32:21.119 --> 00:32:22.680 for people he doesn't even know? 00:32:23.019 --> 00:32:24.740 Why would anybody do that? 00:32:24.740 --> 00:32:26.359 And the answer is, 00:32:26.440 --> 00:32:29.440 because that's exactly how Jesus Christ loves us. 00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:31.920 Who left the glory of heaven, 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:33.339 the privilege of being the Son of God, 00:32:33.400 --> 00:32:34.359 and came down here, 00:32:34.599 --> 00:32:35.900 and plunged into our suffering, 00:32:36.279 --> 00:32:37.680 and gave himself for us, 00:32:38.200 --> 00:32:39.900 all the while we were spitting on him 00:32:39.900 --> 00:32:40.620 and hating him. 00:32:40.839 --> 00:32:41.799 And he did it anyway. 00:32:42.819 --> 00:32:44.240 But it's that kind of love 00:32:44.240 --> 00:32:46.220 that will have the final say in this world. 00:32:47.160 --> 00:32:48.059 It is that kind of love 00:32:48.059 --> 00:32:49.079 that offers us a hope, 00:32:49.420 --> 00:32:51.079 regardless of what you think politically, 00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:52.819 regardless of where you stand. 00:32:52.819 --> 00:32:55.319 That is the source of hope 00:32:55.319 --> 00:32:56.599 that cannot be matched. 00:32:59.500 --> 00:33:00.839 So what does it mean for us 00:33:00.839 --> 00:33:02.619 to follow Jesus in this moment? 00:33:02.879 --> 00:33:04.720 I think it means what it always means. 00:33:05.079 --> 00:33:07.179 That we love. 00:33:08.399 --> 00:33:10.879 If they hate us, we love. 00:33:12.439 --> 00:33:15.720 If we lose our tax-exempt status, we love. 00:33:16.220 --> 00:33:18.439 If we lose our jobs, we love. 00:33:19.039 --> 00:33:21.179 If we lose credibility, we love. 00:33:21.180 --> 00:33:23.700 If we lose everything, we love. 00:33:26.080 --> 00:33:30.740 We love because he first loved us. 00:33:32.420 --> 00:33:33.580 That's what we do. 00:33:34.299 --> 00:33:34.980 Let's pray. 00:33:40.920 --> 00:33:44.600 Father, even as we recognize this call, 00:33:44.700 --> 00:33:46.580 we realize our insufficiency for it. 00:33:46.579 --> 00:33:50.539 Lord, may your grace enable us. 00:33:51.980 --> 00:33:54.119 May you make possible 00:33:54.119 --> 00:33:56.119 what is impossible for human beings. 00:33:56.899 --> 00:33:58.639 May you make possible in yourself. 00:34:00.379 --> 00:34:03.159 We pray this not only for our good, 00:34:03.279 --> 00:34:05.059 but for the good of every man, woman, and child 00:34:05.059 --> 00:34:07.379 in this city and in this world. 00:34:08.559 --> 00:34:09.759 People whom you love more 00:34:09.759 --> 00:34:11.319 than we can possibly even imagine. 00:34:13.179 --> 00:34:14.539 We pray this in your son's name. 00:34:14.679 --> 00:34:14.880 Amen. 00:34:14.880 --> 00:34:14.980 Amen. 00:34:14.980 --> 00:34:15.000 Amen. 00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:15.019 Amen. 00:34:16.579 --> 00:34:17.579 Amen.