WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.339 Holy Spirit, would you illuminate both your living word and our hearts that we might receive 00:00:08.339 --> 00:00:15.040 ! as we seek to be a loving community, a loving family. Teach us the way of love. 00:00:15.039 --> 00:00:25.299 Not one that is, we make up, we construct ourselves, but one that comes from you. And so as we hear, 00:00:25.460 --> 00:00:30.740 help us to apply all that you have for each of us. Amen. 00:00:35.019 --> 00:00:41.399 Well, I spent a few moments this week doing a little Google search, and it was on 00:00:41.399 --> 00:00:49.679 what silly things have churches had disputes over that have either caused division or 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:56.780 major splits and that sort of thing. There's quite a few of them. One listed that there 00:00:56.780 --> 00:01:05.420 was a debate about the length of the worship pastor's beard. There was a huge rift about 00:01:05.420 --> 00:01:11.299 whether the service leader should be wearing shoes or not. There was one incident recorded 00:01:11.299 --> 00:01:14.959 about the size of the filing cabinet that was being purchased for the office. 00:01:16.620 --> 00:01:23.060 Type of coffee being served. Huge debate about that. And of course, who gets to use the photocopier 00:01:23.060 --> 00:01:29.319 in church? Now, I read this list and many more. And to be honest, I thought, well, I could read 00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:35.140 that. Oh, actually, that one's a bit close to the bone, in my experience. Oh, yes. Yeah, 00:01:35.140 --> 00:01:40.120 that one. I can see how. And as I read through, I thought, well, yes, some of them seem silly. 00:01:40.299 --> 00:01:46.900 They all seem silly. But how often have church communities been driven apart or come into 00:01:46.900 --> 00:01:55.659 major conflict over what seems really on the surface to be quite a trivial matter? And here 00:01:55.659 --> 00:02:02.719 at Christchurch, I believe we're on a journey towards becoming increasingly inclusive. And 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:09.000 I wonder, and perhaps not just here, but many people wonder into our churches and to this church, 00:02:09.139 --> 00:02:16.319 perhaps, and what's the thing that mainly puts them off? Perhaps not what's taught or said up front, 00:02:16.419 --> 00:02:22.240 but actually it's people's attitude to, I don't know, their hairstyle or to what clothes they're 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:28.740 wearing or maybe the language that they're using. And so it's really important we examine ourselves 00:02:28.740 --> 00:02:34.960 this morning and tease out, well, what's going on there? How do these small, seemingly small matters 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:41.520 suddenly become so huge? And what part can each of us play in changing the dynamic? 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:52.280 So we're going to explore three different things that arise out of the reading that Margaret read for us. 00:02:53.620 --> 00:02:58.620 Firstly, why quarrelling over minor issues does cause so much damage? So what's going on there? 00:02:58.700 --> 00:03:04.300 That's what we're going to ask. Secondly, why tolerance is not necessarily the best answer. 00:03:04.300 --> 00:03:15.100 And then thirdly, a better way of walking together. Okay, so we're going to explore the issues that cause damage, 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:21.380 why tolerance might not be the best answer, and then we'll explore a better way to walk together. 00:03:24.300 --> 00:03:31.240 So over the last few weeks, we've been exploring this mighty book of Romans, Paul's letter to the 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:41.000 Christians in Rome. And in this letter, he unpacks and expands on the wonderful gospel of God, God's good 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:50.219 news to the world. That we are, even though we are wayward from God, he has provided a way in which we 00:03:50.219 --> 00:03:57.360 can be brought into his family, that we can become children of God, not by our own efforts or any system 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:06.400 of law, but by grace alone, through faith. And that's at the heart of what he's saying. And it's clear 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:12.160 that he has his, the recipients of this letter in mind, because as we've talked about over the last 00:04:12.160 --> 00:04:17.379 few weeks, we know that that group of churches in Rome would have been filled with people who were both 00:04:17.379 --> 00:04:26.639 Jewish by descent and in heritage, but also Gentiles, non-Jews. And there were legitimate questions 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:33.360 about what aspects of their heritage they should hold on to and perhaps let go of. 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:43.159 And in the chapter 14, as Paul begins to apply the gospel into the life of the community, 00:04:43.699 --> 00:04:48.500 we meet several of these issues that aren't frivolous. They're not kind of in the sort of 00:04:48.500 --> 00:04:54.740 what size filing cabinet kind of category. These are like actually concerns. Should we be eating meat 00:04:54.740 --> 00:05:02.600 or no meat? Should we be reserving special days, sacred days, or not? And particularly you can see 00:05:02.600 --> 00:05:08.340 this one that came through in our reading. Is there any more clean food, unclean food? You know, what if 00:05:08.340 --> 00:05:15.220 my Jewish background tells me something different to my neighbour? The drinking of alcohol, should we, 00:05:15.220 --> 00:05:23.500 shouldn't we? And Paul regards these issues as disputable matters. That's the phrase he uses, 00:05:23.640 --> 00:05:29.720 disputable matters. I'll just read the first verse of chapter 14. Paul writes, 00:05:30.020 --> 00:05:37.200 accept the one whose faith is weak without quarrelling over disputable matters. 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:45.800 Because as he's unpacked the gospel, hopefully it's becoming clear to them and to us that there's 00:05:45.800 --> 00:05:52.800 incredible freedom almost to live as we want, because we're not tied down by an external law 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:59.459 anymore. We're not justified by what we do. We have freedom if we stand in the grace of Christ. 00:05:59.459 --> 00:06:06.419 But as I say, there's some legitimate questions that still remain. And so we've got these questions 00:06:06.419 --> 00:06:14.759 of food, drink, holy days, and they become issues of conscience for people. People would like to do 00:06:14.759 --> 00:06:20.759 them. People think that they are no longer necessary. And actually many of those, and you've probably 00:06:20.759 --> 00:06:31.659 already sensed this, the fault lines continue to this day. And your attitude to them will differ depending 00:06:31.659 --> 00:06:39.639 on your experience and also your culture. And we can add on to those a whole number of issues. And not to 00:06:39.639 --> 00:06:46.740 call them trivial in the sense that they're small, but in some sense they are just disputable matters. We might 00:06:46.740 --> 00:06:55.920 talk about what kind of music should we worship with. Still, the idea of what clothing is suitable 00:06:55.920 --> 00:07:02.780 when we gather. The issue of hats, head coverings continues. What language is acceptable to use? You 00:07:02.780 --> 00:07:10.540 know, how coarse should one be with your words? Even that issue of what frequency of church attendance 00:07:10.540 --> 00:07:16.720 is proper. You know, all these things, little niggles perhaps, and perhaps you already, you can 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:21.560 feel, oh, I've got my own view on that, or perhaps you haven't at all, and that's okay. But these 00:07:21.560 --> 00:07:29.480 become what we call disputable matters, are around still. And as I've already illustrated, they can 00:07:29.480 --> 00:07:35.260 cause division. And I think it's important to realise that what Paul is talking about here is 00:07:35.260 --> 00:07:43.480 disputable matters rather than core matters of faith, the kind of non-negotiables. And sometimes in 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:50.120 different church circles we might call these primary issues over secondary issues. So we're talking 00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:56.060 about issues of salvation, the person of Jesus, whether we should forgive or not, whether we should 00:07:56.060 --> 00:08:03.860 love our neighbours or not. These aren't disputable. These are part of the gospel. But there are obviously 00:08:03.860 --> 00:08:09.140 some disputable matters which is disputable whether they're disputable or not. So let's have a dispute 00:08:09.139 --> 00:08:18.159 about that. Perhaps issues about sexual ethics might fall into that category, or even about how 00:08:18.159 --> 00:08:25.599 involved we might get in other spiritual practices or other religions. So a good example of this, and I 00:08:25.599 --> 00:08:32.620 know from my own experience it is disputable, is what's your attitude to yoga? As I say that, some of you 00:08:32.620 --> 00:08:38.220 will be thinking, what's wrong with that? And others will be thinking, oh, I wouldn't touch that with a 00:08:38.220 --> 00:08:42.759 barge pole. You know, it's association with the Eastern traditions. So does that give you an example? 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:48.539 I'm not asking for opinions at the moment, but they're there. Don't have to dig very far to realise 00:08:48.539 --> 00:08:53.720 that there are some fault lines here that we all need to know, oh, how are we going to manage 00:08:53.720 --> 00:09:01.120 difference of opinion in this? And I would suggest that as we go through, and perhaps other issues will 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:09.279 come in, they all need to come under this attitude, this posture that Paul encourages us in, particularly 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:15.299 in verse 19. I'll just read it. It says, let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace 00:09:15.299 --> 00:09:26.080 and to mutual edification. So even if we disagree, and that's kind of the point here, let's not let 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:34.680 disputable matters bring us into dispute. So there's a question, and I think many of us would 00:09:34.680 --> 00:09:42.920 like to be leading to peace and mutual edification. Absolutely. But how should we do that? How should 00:09:42.920 --> 00:09:47.300 we do that when there are different points of view about issues, or whether they're, how important they 00:09:47.299 --> 00:09:57.379 are even, or what we should do about them? Now one response, as it were, is that we might be tolerant 00:09:57.379 --> 00:10:07.099 towards one another. Being a tolerant society is often one that we are encouraged to be. 00:10:07.100 --> 00:10:18.019 And I'd say that even in the last 10 or so years, the plurality and the diversity within our society 00:10:18.019 --> 00:10:27.860 has meant that there are increasingly different views on different subjects. My truth is also by the 00:10:27.860 --> 00:10:37.080 nature of the way our media works. There's just so many views out there. And working out my truth, 00:10:37.080 --> 00:10:41.940 versus your truth, seems to be happening. And so there's a sense in which tolerance seems to be 00:10:41.940 --> 00:10:46.040 necessary in that kind of atmosphere. 00:10:48.800 --> 00:10:54.400 Now the problem is, if tolerance is all you've got, then those disputable matters, whether they're 00:10:54.400 --> 00:11:01.340 inside or outside the church, all seem to get raised to the same level as one another. 00:11:02.259 --> 00:11:07.060 They seem to become non-negotiables. So for example, if you take a particular 00:11:07.080 --> 00:11:13.500 political view, sometimes that seems to be inseparable to your very person. And they become 00:11:13.500 --> 00:11:18.960 very linked. Our different views come linked to our sort of identity. So of course, if you disagree 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:24.759 with their point of view, you start disagreeing with them personally. And then it gets personal. 00:11:25.460 --> 00:11:32.340 And then we start using others to either push down to promote our own view, or we get 00:11:32.340 --> 00:11:39.000 derided by others because our point of view is different. And so what I want to say is, 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:47.680 without being too controversial, is that tolerance has its limits. Because sometimes tolerance can 00:11:47.680 --> 00:11:53.240 actually just lead to indifference, to sort of ignoring the other point of view, and getting our 00:11:53.240 --> 00:11:59.100 heads down, and thinking, I'll just tolerate that. Until it comes too much, and then we're very 00:11:59.100 --> 00:12:06.960 intolerant about the other point of view. And Tim's already mentioned it in our prayers, actually. 00:12:07.659 --> 00:12:15.620 As a framework for our laws and ethics, which has been founded by the Christian faith in this country, 00:12:16.180 --> 00:12:22.680 as that begins to sort of shift, our understanding of what right and wrong is, is also a bit more of a 00:12:22.679 --> 00:12:29.079 shifting entity. And it seems that our rights and our preferences, again, they've become equivalent of 00:12:29.079 --> 00:12:33.659 rights and wrongs. And there seems to be no mechanism anymore for distinguishing between the two. 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:40.699 And so preference becomes everything. Everything becomes a disputable matter. And that's what kicks 00:12:40.699 --> 00:12:51.379 off the disputes. And tolerance, although it is worthy in some ways, it does seem to keep us at arm's length 00:12:51.379 --> 00:12:59.360 from one another. And within a church, there's got to be more. There's got to be a better way of 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:10.519 negotiating and walking with disputes and disputable issues. So let me just find where I am here. Yeah, 00:13:10.580 --> 00:13:18.639 so what is the better way? I would say that tolerance is a distant relative of gospel love. It is, 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:26.559 if you like, the poor cousin of something far greater and a far richer resource to help us move on 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:36.779 together and to navigate disputable matters. And one of the prime reasons why it's different to 00:13:36.779 --> 00:13:47.639 tolerance and is better is because it brings God into the picture. Because it starts by reorienting, 00:13:47.639 --> 00:13:54.799 reorienting, I can't even say it, reorientating ourselves to living to please God, not people. 00:13:56.340 --> 00:14:03.199 Let me just, well, and so basically, a life concerned to please God will prevent our preferences 00:14:03.199 --> 00:14:09.699 prevailing over others. A life concerned to please God will prevent our preferences from prevailing 00:14:09.699 --> 00:14:17.100 over others. Let me just read the first verses that Margaret read out for us, verses 10 to 12. 00:14:17.100 --> 00:14:24.159 You then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:29.779 all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written, as surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will 00:14:29.779 --> 00:14:36.580 bow before me, every tongue will acknowledge God. So then each of us will give an account of ourselves 00:14:36.580 --> 00:14:48.300 to God. Now, if that is always in view in your life, that what you do is for an audience of one, and that is God 00:14:48.300 --> 00:14:57.020 only, I think that changes everything. If we are to surrender to him and his ways, surrender to his grace 00:14:57.019 --> 00:15:04.679 and his love, then we'll recognise it's him that calls the shots. It's him who defines what is 00:15:04.679 --> 00:15:10.259 important, what are the primary matters that matter to him. 00:15:10.259 --> 00:15:22.539 And of course, by submitting to that, our identity starts becoming more associated with him. We realise 00:15:22.539 --> 00:15:30.240 that we are children of God, that that is our identity, that that's the core of who we are. 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:35.779 And that perhaps allows us to let go of the other stuff that we sometimes prop ourselves up with 00:15:35.779 --> 00:15:39.179 in order to make us who we are. Now, some of those things are important, and some of them, 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:44.600 nearly all of them are God-given. But perhaps a reorientation of our hearts, which says, 00:15:45.199 --> 00:15:51.939 firstly, I am God, and I will live for him. Now, this idea of God judging each of us might become 00:15:51.939 --> 00:15:55.759 a little bit of a surprise to some of us, because you thought, oh, I'm saved. I'm not going to face 00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:59.819 God's judgment, am I? Now, this isn't that God's going to be going to stand before God, he's going to say, 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:05.120 oh, because of your good works and your lack of, because of the way you handled this dispute, 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:12.720 oh, maybe you're out. No, in Jesus, he has passed the test for us, and we cling to him and his track 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:19.860 record. That is ours. We stand before God, not condemned. We are free. But nevertheless, as his 00:16:19.860 --> 00:16:26.220 children, we are in relationship with our Heavenly Father, and what we do matters to him. Are we going 00:16:26.220 --> 00:16:34.019 to please him, or are we not? And that is important. And the Bible speaks of reward and great blessing for 00:16:34.019 --> 00:16:40.319 those who seek to please God in what we think, say, and do. So that's why I think Paul writes clearly 00:16:40.319 --> 00:16:46.220 about recognising that we will each bow before God. And it's not someone else's account, it's what we do, 00:16:47.059 --> 00:16:50.939 which he will be interested in and concerned with. 00:16:50.940 --> 00:16:59.160 And so if we know we are children of God, and perhaps I say, in some sense, outside of the church, 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:06.620 if we recognise that actually everyone is made in the image of God, then everyone is worthy of our 00:17:06.620 --> 00:17:12.519 respect and our love, whatever they've done. And that, for me, that changes everything. It means we 00:17:12.519 --> 00:17:21.799 can't slander others. We can't reduce them to an argument on social media or whatever. These are 00:17:21.799 --> 00:17:26.879 people made in the image of God. And I think that needs to undergird everything that we do as we 00:17:26.879 --> 00:17:37.879 interact with people. And I think living only to please God also encourages us to think about, 00:17:37.880 --> 00:17:46.360 okay, so where am I in that relationship with God? Am I pursuing my relationship with God? Am I 00:17:46.360 --> 00:17:52.400 actually being formed by relationship? Actually, my opinions and my preferences, are they being shaped 00:17:52.400 --> 00:18:03.000 by what God loves and God's call on my life? Because however long, whatever step on the journey you are, 00:18:03.060 --> 00:18:06.420 whatever stage in faith, whether you're completely new to this, you've just walked in today, 00:18:06.420 --> 00:18:12.980 who knows why, and this is all new, or whether you've been here for many years on this journey, 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:19.840 it's a question for us. Are we in a position where we are listening to what God is saying, 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:28.240 and that is shaping our thoughts and our opinions and how we go about life? And I want to lay that 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:34.060 out as a sort of primary challenge for us here. And this isn't to be formed by other people's 00:18:34.059 --> 00:18:40.700 opinions of God. It's what's yours? Are you personally in touch with God, hearing from him 00:18:40.700 --> 00:18:48.259 daily to know and gradually be shaped by what he has? It's a personal call of God because each of us, 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:53.639 not each group of us, each of us will be called to give an account before God. So what are you going 00:18:53.640 --> 00:19:01.520 to do about that? Have you invested, are you investing in time spent with him, letting the 00:19:01.520 --> 00:19:08.060 word of God form you? Are you in community enough that actually when you've got questions about God, 00:19:08.380 --> 00:19:12.320 the conversations are such that they are about discipleship. It's like, oh, I'm struggling with 00:19:12.320 --> 00:19:19.360 this, or I'm not understanding this. And I'd say that the key value we need to take if we want to avoid 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:25.659 letting disputable things crack us over, crack us open, is that of curiosity. 00:19:30.159 --> 00:19:36.359 As we follow God, we might be curious about, well, what do my gospel freedoms allow? What can I go and 00:19:36.359 --> 00:19:43.979 do? And when we're talking to others, say about something that you've got questions about, you know, 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:49.199 what's your attitude to me? I'll take the example of yoga because I think it's quite a ripe one. I mean, 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:54.380 if you just go up to someone and say, oh, you do yoga, you're in league with the devil. I mean, that's going 00:19:54.380 --> 00:20:00.880 to shut down conversations, it's going to, and also, it also displays a sort of ignorance from your own 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:08.000 point of view. Far better, whatever the disputable matter is, get into relationship with that person so 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:14.799 that it's not the first thing that you're talking about, and then begin to ask questions. You know, tell me about 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:21.659 what it is you do, what it is, what it is said. What are you thinking about it? How does it help 00:20:21.659 --> 00:20:27.500 your faith? And those sort of things, then there's an openness to hearing different points of view, 00:20:27.879 --> 00:20:32.740 to understanding them. And actually, that in community helps build us up. And each of us 00:20:32.740 --> 00:20:38.639 should be open to ways in which maybe blind spots we've got in our attitudes, in our thinking, 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:47.700 in our actions, that actually might just encourage us to live more towards pleasing God. So curiosity, 00:20:48.020 --> 00:20:53.700 I think, is actually a real key if we are going to be a church that learns to love one another and be 00:20:53.700 --> 00:21:03.440 increasingly inclusive. Because let's face it, our disputes, the things we care about, and I've listed a 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:10.180 view already this morning, they often come from a concern. But we should first check whether our 00:21:10.180 --> 00:21:16.640 preferences and also our experiences are not clouding the sense of importance we are putting on 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:26.539 that particular area of church life or of following God. Let me just read the closing verses. 00:21:26.539 --> 00:21:32.659 So whatever you believe about these things, i.e. these disputable matters, whether we should eat 00:21:32.659 --> 00:21:38.299 particular food or not, whether we should listen to particular music, whether we should do certain 00:21:38.299 --> 00:21:45.119 activities, whatever you believe about these things, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:51.879 does not condemn himself by what he approves, but whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because 00:21:51.880 --> 00:21:59.560 their eating is not from faith. And everything that does not come from faith is sin. It's a pretty stark 00:21:59.560 --> 00:22:10.040 statement. So even if you are a particular fan of, say, a musical style or way to worship, be careful that by 00:22:10.040 --> 00:22:17.200 your words you don't force others into thinking, oh, I should be doing that too. Because their response is not driven by 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:22.400 faith, it's by fear. It's like, oh, I want to fit in. I don't want to leave out here. And that, anything that 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:29.279 doesn't come from faith, is sin. And so we've got to not make sure we don't make others feel condemned 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:35.440 by even the very things that we promote and approve. It's a fine line here, and I hope that doesn't sound 00:22:35.440 --> 00:22:43.100 too complicated, but there's an attitude here about whether we are choosing to serve others or we are setting up 00:22:43.099 --> 00:22:51.019 obstacles or stumbling blocks for others to get over before they might feel truly part of what we are. 00:22:51.019 --> 00:22:55.740 So I think there's something here for us all to check ourselves on. 00:22:59.419 --> 00:23:08.299 Because the gospel, the gospel of love, the love of Christ, actually, it does help us get the right attitude. 00:23:08.299 --> 00:23:18.180 It more than helps us. It reshapes us. Because it humbles us, and it helps us to serve others, 00:23:18.440 --> 00:23:26.819 rather than get them serving you. Because at the heart of the gospel, the good news of God, 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:32.539 that the whole of the Bible, and Romans particularly, sets out, is the cross of Jesus. 00:23:32.539 --> 00:23:42.539 The cross of Jesus humbles us so that we don't, so that we know that what we don't know, or what we 00:23:42.539 --> 00:23:49.119 haven't done, and what we haven't always done what is best, that our own sin, well, yes, on one hand, 00:23:49.159 --> 00:23:55.619 it does have serious consequences. It does break community. It breaks our relationship with God. 00:23:55.619 --> 00:24:04.079 It breaks our relationship with others. But God's love demonstrated through that cross was a sacrifice, 00:24:04.219 --> 00:24:12.399 a costly sacrifice, to try and reverse that. And because it's that serious, because it was that 00:24:12.399 --> 00:24:18.500 costly to do it, we know that we can begin to focus on what is most important. 00:24:18.500 --> 00:24:27.460 It costs that much. Let me realign what I think is important to what Jesus thinks is important. 00:24:28.339 --> 00:24:33.579 And of course, Jesus laid down more than just his preferences. He was more than inconvenienced by 00:24:33.579 --> 00:24:42.220 the choices of others. He laid his life down for those who completely disagreed with him. He laid his 00:24:42.220 --> 00:24:48.259 life down for those who are his enemies, offering them life instead of condemnation. 00:24:48.500 --> 00:25:00.460 He didn't tolerate them. He loved them. He died for them. And when we're able to put ourselves in the 00:25:00.460 --> 00:25:09.319 place of being recipients of that love that's undeserved, that is just coming at us because God loves us, 00:25:09.319 --> 00:25:19.279 when we recognize the significance, the weight, the preciousness of what God has done for us, 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:26.439 and we surrender to that, then that is the thing that is going to change our hearts towards others. 00:25:27.259 --> 00:25:34.200 That is the very thing that will make us become servants to others, that will allow us to let go of 00:25:34.200 --> 00:25:42.180 those preferences because our identity so stuck in Jesus, the servant king, that we don't care what 00:25:42.180 --> 00:25:46.180 other people think, to be honest. We're living for him. 00:25:46.180 --> 00:25:56.680 And that will reposition us so that we use our own time, our own energies, our own money, our own 00:25:56.680 --> 00:26:05.600 conversations to step towards others, not away. We open up our arms rather than keep them our arm 00:26:05.600 --> 00:26:15.940 distance. And it helps us to give us the energy and the inspiration to build relationships, 00:26:16.180 --> 00:26:21.680 with not just people like us, but people who are called to be part of God's community, 00:26:22.360 --> 00:26:29.840 and to open the doors to others, and to have discipleship-building conversations with people. 00:26:31.460 --> 00:26:40.860 Curious, encouraging, always pointing to Jesus. So folks, that's what I think it looks like to be an 00:26:40.859 --> 00:26:50.740 increasingly inclusive church. It's a love that is always looking to open our arms to others, even if we 00:26:50.740 --> 00:26:56.819 might disagree with some of the ways that they conduct themselves, even some of their theology in that 00:26:56.819 --> 00:27:03.299 sort of sense. Let's open our arms and trust God's love to be at work in us. 00:27:03.299 --> 00:27:17.000 My sense as I wrote this is that there will be those here who have been the recipients of those disputes, 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:22.180 or you've been hurt in the past by disagreements. 00:27:22.180 --> 00:27:30.900 And I just wonder whether the Holy Spirit has just been shedding any light on what was at play there. 00:27:31.500 --> 00:27:40.299 What were the dynamics that caused that to be so? What caused someone to maybe do more damage than not? 00:27:40.299 --> 00:27:47.480 And I wonder, can you step towards them and begin to forgive them? 00:27:52.639 --> 00:27:58.019 And I wonder if there's perhaps another group of people, or perhaps even overlapping here, 00:27:58.359 --> 00:28:03.200 where we have got hung up on some of our own preferences for stuff. 00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:06.759 Stuff in church, stuff in the way we feel things should go. 00:28:08.080 --> 00:28:14.559 And perhaps we've forgotten the call to serve one another above ourselves. 00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:20.980 So Holy Spirit, would you 00:28:20.980 --> 00:28:26.539 bring life? 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:28.900 Bring love? 00:28:28.900 --> 00:28:39.720 Would you address the particular incidents and disputes that are on our minds, 00:28:40.100 --> 00:28:42.880 and help us to realign ourselves with Jesus?