Father, we confess that sometimes because the things that you offer for us seem very small,
that we don't think they're very powerful or very important, and we just sort of disregard them.
Father, we confess that this is a mistake on our part.
We ask, Father, that you help us not to despise the small things that you offer and the small things that you give us,
but to recognize them, Father, as means of grace that will grow and flourish into something, well, glorious.
We ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would prepare our hearts and minds and lives to receive your word this morning.
And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
Thank you.
True or not, I mean, I have no idea that that, I guess, might or might not eventually come out.
But generally speaking, we don't like the idea that we can be under surveillance all of the time.
If you read, if you see a movie where there is people are always under surveillance,
generally speaking, we see that as an evil thing.
If we read a novel that has somebody always under surveillance,
we tend to see that as an evil thing, not as a good thing.
Occasionally we might see it as a good thing.
But generally, if we have a society where everything is being observed by somebody all of the time,
we find that as going against our rights, the dignity of us as a human being.
So there's a bit of a puzzle.
I don't know how many of you are paying very close attention.
I'm not judging or anything like that.
But in the gospel text, which I just read, it seemed to say that God keeps us under constant surveillance.
So the question is, why is it that it's bad for the state but good for God?
And why is it that Christians actually would even, like, why would we even want a God that constantly keeps us under surveillance?
So we're going to look at this.
And actually, it might sound like a very, very oppressive idea.
And a lot of us resent this idea and hope it's not true.
But actually, if we press into it and look at how it's talked about, it's actually profoundly good news.
So if you take your Bibles and turn with me to Mark chapter 4, verse 21, we'll look at this and other ideas connected to it.
If you're online with us for the first time, we preach through books of the Bible and we're going through the book of Mark.
Sort of we're calling the series Jesus is King with a bit of a nod to Kanye West.
And so what's just gone on before this is Jesus has sort of talked about two things.
One of them is, why is it that God is sort of a, both reveals himself but is also hidden, which I talked about more last week.
I'll talk about it a little bit today.
And a famous parable in Christian circles called the parable of the sower.
And that's what's just happened.
And now the story continues with verse 21.
And it goes like this.
And Jesus said to them, actually, what I should just back up and say, what we're going to get today is we're going to look like at a couple of, in a sense, sayings or proverbs or aphorisms.
And then two parables.
So these are a couple of sort of like proverbs or sayings that comes first.
Verse 21.
Now just pause because it's going to continue.
The rest of the sort of the insight about that's going to continue.
Generally speaking, the Bible is translated very, very well into English.
But sometimes, some of you here, I know there's at least one person in the room who knows four languages.
Many of you know two or three.
And you know that sometimes when you translate from one language into another, there's a bit of a problem sometimes that the sense of the original doesn't translate very well into the second language.
And this is one of those verses where it is.
And so I'm going to mention it because it's sort of like what's translated is good, but it's actually even more powerful if you hear it in the literal sense.
And what and the issue is, is that in the original language, sorry, a bit of a grammar moment.
But in the original language, in the text, if you look at the text again, is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed and not on a stand.
And in the text, it's talking about an object and somebody or something is, somebody is bringing the lamp in and all.
But in the original language, the lamp is the subject.
And on top of that, in the original language, the grammar implies that the lamp is a person, not an object.
And so it would really be better if it's translated.
So more literally, it says this.
Does the lamp come in in order that it might be placed under the bowl or under the bed?
Does the lamp come in in order, and it should really almost be in order that he might be placed under the bowl or under the bed?
And you can see how that's sort of just a bit awkward in English.
But that's what it's actually saying.
And so that's the image.
It's actually, for those of you who know the Bible at all well, it's very similar in John chapter 1, 1 to 14.
And we've been at church over Christmas, and it talks about the light.
You know, the word is the light, and the light comes into the world, and the light, the darkness tries to overcome it, but the light, you know, reveals.
It's the same idea as John chapter 1, 1 to 14, only put in the words of this little aphorism or proverb.
So, you know, so does the lamp come in in order to be put under a basket or under a bed and not on a stand?
And then it goes on, for nothing, verse 22, for nothing is hidden except to be made manifest, nor is anything secret except to come to light.
If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.
So anything hidden except to be made manifest, in other words, to be able to be seen, and any secret will eventually come to light.
And you can see that this, well, here, actually, if you could put up the first point, here's the first point.
The true and greater light has been revealed, will be fully revealed, and will fully reveal all things.
The true and greater light has been revealed, that's Jesus, will be fully revealed, that is, when he comes again in glory, or when we see him face to face.
And will fully reveal all things.
So, I mean, that's, in fact, actually, this is one of the doctrines, one of the things which separates the Christian worldview from basically how most Canadians think.
This idea that there's absolutely nothing, that every second, every thought, every imagination, every desire, every word, every action is seen by God, with no exception.
There's absolutely nothing which is secret.
He sees all.
Now, for most Canadians, and probably for most of us, I mean, part of the problem for us as Christians is we don't really live most of our lives as if that's the case.
We often still function as if we get away with keeping things hidden from God, that we can do things in secret without him seeing it.
But this is a Christian doctrine, and I have to confess, it does sound like a very frightening doctrine or idea, and something which almost seems a bit oppressive.
And if, in fact, the gospel just ended with this, we'd probably have, you know, probably would be pretty reasonable to find this emotionally repulsive and not very helpful.
But Jesus says this in the context of this larger story of the gospel.
And what we see by the time the gospel comes to an end is that the light, the true and greater light, dies for human beings like you and me, who are a mixture of light and darkness.
That's one of the ways that the gospel of John describes us, that every human being is a mixture of light and darkness.
Some human beings, you can see a fair amount of light, some very little.
Some human beings, you see an awful lot of darkness and some very little.
I mean, the Bible also say that ultimately no light that we see in any human being ultimately comes from the human being.
It comes from God.
Human beings are mirrors in that sense.
We reflect back the light of God rather than our source of light ourselves.
But the Bible ends up finishing the story by making it very, very clear that when you come to Mark chapter 15, what you see is the darkness swallowing the light.
And in a sense, what you see there is that lies have swallowed the light.
Injustice has swallowed the light.
Envy and pride and greed has swallowed the light.
Insecurity has swallowed the light.
Imperial power has swallowed the light.
Religion has swallowed the light.
And chapter 15 ends with the darkness having swallowed the light.
But chapter 16 reveals this mystery.
That out of God's love for us, that the true light that sees every single thing there is to know about human beings,
willingly, even though the true light knew every single thing about you,
including the darkness in your life that you have not yet come to recognize or understand,
that seeing all of that, the true light died for you.
And the true light was swallowed with darkness so that the true light could swallow darkness.
That that's how the true light defeats the darkness.
So it looks at the end of chapter 15 as if the darkness has swallowed the true light.
But by the end of chapter 16, you understand that the true light was swallowed by darkness
so that the true light could swallow darkness.
And that in fact, this is actually the most profound description of love.
This is actually the most profound description of love.
We all keep things away from other people.
I mean, we all don't express all of our thoughts and judgments and prejudices and hatreds and pettiness
and greed and envy.
Like we keep that from them.
We keep how we maybe are in a crowd and we evaluate the type of shoes that people have
or how their clothes match or whether they're well-groomed
or whether they're good-looking or bad-looking
or whether they look stupid or foolish.
Like we hide those things all of the time.
And we worry if all of a sudden, if even for a day,
our loved one, our family member or our close friends,
we're actually able to be privy, actually we're able to understand and hear
every one of our judgments that we make throughout the day
where we all actually probably would believe
that we wouldn't have a friend at the end of the day
and that our marriage might be at an end at the end of the day,
that our family would have broken up at the end of the day,
that we sort of believe that to maintain love,
we have to maintain privacy and secrecy.
In fact, that's not even counting the fact that some of us
just so easily and effortlessly make judgments about people
that we don't even recognize that we're doing it.
We don't even recognize the fact that we go through the mall
or go through some other place,
making judgment after judgment after judgment.
And we've just become so part of our inner life
that we don't realize that we're doing it.
And it might be that all of a sudden,
even me saying something like this, we realize,
well, actually I do do that.
And if even for only 24 hours that was completely revealed to our loved ones,
they wouldn't love us.
Because we see that our evil, our darkness, is a barrier to love.
And so this small little saying of Jesus,
obviously referring to himself,
actually shows like a type of love that's almost incomprehensible to us.
like a perfect love,
like a love that would actually die for the darkness,
yet has a perfect, clear-sighted, clear-eyed knowledge
of the darkness in each one of us.
And yet he chose to die for you and for me.
Now,
some of us might actually say,
well, there's a bit of a pushback to all of this,
and say, well, okay, George, that's good, I guess.
But, George, don't you think there's something a little bit unfair
with how God,
I mean, on one level, yeah, that is really,
that is something,
that the light would die for the darkness,
and that the true light would know every single thing
there is to know about you and me,
and yet still die.
But, George, don't you think it's,
like, don't you think it's a little bit unfair
that the darkness within us
is sort of evaluated by God's perfect standard?
Like, don't you think it's a little bit, George,
like God isn't giving you any opportunity to grow?
Like, you know, think about it, George.
If you put kids in grade one,
and you judge them by somebody who had,
you gave them a question
that would be on, like, a PhD exam,
that was the math test,
and if they couldn't pass a PhD-level math test,
I mean, not a PhD in, like, English or something,
a PhD in math,
if they had to pass that test,
that very, very high-level test,
that's not even perfect, but very high-level,
of course, all the kids in grade one are going to fail.
They're going to fail all the time.
They'd never get out of grade one.
Like, that seems almost unfair.
And that's why it's very interesting what Jesus,
it's almost as if he anticipates that type of a pushback
by the very next thing that he says,
which is actually quite remarkable.
And for those of you who really know the Bible well,
it's very similar to what Paul writes in Romans chapter 2.
Look what he says next.
Verse 24.
Pay attention to what you hear.
And he said to them,
pay attention to what you hear.
In other words, just back up a little bit.
Basically, in the two verses,
23 and 24,
three times he tells you to hear.
So it would be as if,
I mean, I don't have a hearing aid in right now.
I have very little hearing in my right ear.
And in fact, it's a little bit distracting right now.
For some reason,
I have a very, very, very, very, very loud
ringing noise in my right ear.
Those of you who have hearing problems
are familiar with that,
and I don't have my hearing aid in,
which would sort of, you know, stop it.
But what the Bible is saying,
just because a person can put their hearing aid in
and their hearing aid's working
doesn't mean they listen.
So when it says hear,
it's meaning listen.
Okay?
And so he says that this is the third time.
And then what is it said?
So pay attention to what you hear.
The third time he says,
make sure you listen.
And here's what he says.
With the measure you use,
it will be measured to you,
and still more will be added to you.
I'll say it again.
With the measure you use,
it will be measured to you,
and still more will be added to you.
Now, this is a good translation,
although interestingly enough,
if you translate it very literally,
which you're going to see on the screen in a moment,
it actually makes it even simpler
and clearer to understand.
And then I'll read the next verse.
Literally it goes,
in whatever measure you measure,
it will be measured to you
and will be added to you.
In whatever measure you measure,
it will be measured to you
and will be added to you.
In other words,
whatever measure you use,
that's the measure God's going to use.
He's going to give that measure to you.
He's going to give it to you back.
There's a Jewish proverb
that developed a little bit after this
that's captured in ancient Jewish writings,
which helps to maybe make it
a little bit easier for us to understand.
And the Jewish proverb is,
in the pot in which you cook others,
you will be cooked.
In the pot in which you cook others,
you will be cooked.
So I'll say that again.
In the pot in which you cook others,
you will be cooked.
And then verse 25,
for to the one who has,
more will be given.
And from the one who has not,
even what he has will be taken away,
which almost sounds like
it's a little bit unfair.
But here's what the text is saying,
which is a very, very remarkable thing.
And it points in this direction,
this constant direction
that only Christianity has,
that only the gospel has,
that just as God condescends
the true light,
the true and greater light,
for your good,
not for his own,
but for your good,
to deal with the darkness in you
that you cannot deal with for yourself,
the true and greater light
gets swallowed by darkness,
condescends to be swallowed by darkness.
We see even that this,
this principle of condescension
rooted in love and justice
even goes to how God judges.
If you could put up the point,
it goes like this.
The Lord God Almighty
can condescend to put you
in the same pot
that you put others in.
The Lord God Almighty
can condescend to put you
in the same pot
that you put others in.
So what does that mean?
That means this,
that it's not as if
God's going to say,
well, listen,
all grade ones have to pass,
grade one students
in their math tests
have to pass the same test
that a PhD,
doing a PhD in math,
has to pass
as part of the examinations
for him or her.
No, what it says here
is God says,
okay, I understand
that maybe the true light
on one level,
the true light
that sees everything truly,
that might be
a very high standard
and very intimidating for you.
It might even seem
as if that's a bit unfair
for me to judge you by this.
So what I'm going to do
is I'm just going to judge you
by the way you judge yourself.
No, so not the way
you judge yourself,
but by the way
you judge others.
So in a sense,
all I have to do
is say, okay,
well, how does George,
how does George
judge drivers?
Well, I'll just play back
George's judgments
on other drivers.
Okay?
And now we're going to
take a video
and watch George drive.
Okay?
I'm going to take
the way George judges
what people say
as to whether,
you know,
it's smart or dumb
or foolish.
And now we're going
to replay,
we got George's judgments,
now we're going to replay
what George says.
Now, unless you are
a raving narcissist,
this should worry you.
Because the fact of the matter
is we won't pass
our own moral judgments.
In other words,
it's not as if God will say,
well, we'll look at the pot
that you put people in
and boy,
after I've looked at George's life,
I don't have to put him
in that pot
because he never violates
his judgments
on other people.
No,
if God used that judgment,
I would be in the pot.
The pot that I cook others in,
I would be cooked in as well.
This is part of God's
great condescension.
It's part of what Paul
talks about in Romans 2.
And it shows,
in a sense,
the profound justice of God
that when we appear
before the judgment seat
of Christ,
that nobody will be able
to say they have an excuse.
In fact,
actually,
the flip side,
the profound knowledge
that God sees
each of us perfectly
is a profound comfort
for those of us
who are in Christ
when we come to him
in prayer.
Because,
you see,
the fact of the matter is
is that when we come
to confess our sins,
we don't have to try
to explain to God.
We don't have to give
excuses to God.
Because,
you see,
God sees you and me
perfectly,
and because he sees
you and me perfectly,
he already knows
the different things
that we might want
to say that,
you know,
might temper
the moral judgment.
He knows it better
than I do.
He knows it better
than you do.
He already,
in a sense,
applies it.
And yet,
at the same time,
we would stand
before God
and we would,
well,
literally,
it would be obvious
that we deserve
to be cooked
in lots of pots,
that we can't even
survive our own
moral judgments.
but some of you
might push it back
and say,
but George,
doesn't the text say,
like,
doesn't it almost seem
as if God adds
things to you?
Look what it says,
like in verse 25,
for to the one
who has more
will be given
and from the one
who has not,
even what he has
will be taken away.
Like,
George,
that doesn't seem fair.
And,
you know,
it just seems
as if God is like
all those people
in my life.
I get passed over,
I do all the hard work
and I get passed over
for the promotion
and somebody
who just doesn't
deserve it
gets the promotion
and it just seems
as if God
or fate
or karma
or whatever
just isn't really fair
and it keeps adding
things to me
that I,
you know,
it just,
like,
George,
that text
just doesn't seem
to be fair.
Well,
it actually is fair
and what it is
is it's deeply human.
In fact,
it really,
maybe one of the things
that we should be
starting to talk about
is that the only
true humanism
is Christianity.
Christianity is the true
and deep
and thick
humanism
because of the way
it portrays
us.
Like,
just take a step back
before I talk about this
a bit more directly,
but one of the things
that we have a problem
of in our culture
that's very unrecognized
by people,
like,
if you follow
the,
what goes on
in movies
and in lots of novels
and what goes on
especially in academia
right now
and amongst
the academic elites
is there's two
very contradictory ideas
that are talked about
at the same time,
but because people
believe the contradictory
beliefs,
they don't recognize
them as contradictory.
They just don't recognize
that they're incoherent.
Well,
what do I mean by it?
Well,
on one hand,
you have all this theory,
whether it's critical race theory
or queer theory
or different other types
of theory
and in those types
of theory,
what you have
is you have
very,
very powerful
social forces
and human beings
are portrayed
as being essentially
passive
and formed
by these forces
that the color
of your skin
fundamentally determines
your destiny
and how other people
view you
and your prejudice
or your lack
of prejudice,
your accountability,
your lack
of accountability,
that human beings
are fundamentally
passive,
especially by these
categories of race
or sexuality,
that you're just
propelled into this
social thing
and you're just
almost like a
quirk that just
moves along
in the currents
of the culture
and that's just
the way things are.
And that's
what caused
lots of huge debates
in the United States,
not as many here
in Canada,
but that's actually
the way a lot
of elites
and a lot
of people
talk.
But on the other
hand,
you can have
somebody say that
and then 10 minutes
later talk
from a very,
very different
perspective
and the very
different perspective
is this,
which we're also
very familiar with.
Nobody can tell you
who you really are,
only you know
who you really are.
And it's incumbent
upon you to not only
figure out who you
really are in terms
of your desires,
but to pursue that.
You need to be authentic
and to need to be
authentic,
you need to be
autonomous,
you need to be not
to be under control
or the judgment
of any person,
you need to pursue,
you need to go
for that,
go for that,
and you can go
for that,
and you can actualize
that,
and people deserve
to applaud you
as you pursue
this thing
within yourself.
But if you think
about it for a second,
those are two
completely opposite
views of the person.
Two completely
opposite views
of the person.
And for people
who are completely
consumed by this,
the only reason
that never,
the incoherence
doesn't strike them
is because everybody
or many,
many people
talk in the same
categories,
but they're very,
very inconsistent.
What the Bible says
is something very
different.
If you could put it
up on the screen,
that would be
very helpful.
You are not
plastic,
you are not
passive,
and you are not
shielded from
the eyes of God,
but you are
created,
active,
and seen
by him.
You are
creative,
created,
active,
and seen
by him.
So human beings
are created
by the loving
triune God.
It means that we
have a particular
type of nature.
And part of that
particular nature
is that we are
within the concept
that we're
creatures,
not God.
Obviously,
that means we
can't just sort
of do anything,
but as part of
the fact that
we are created,
we are created
as active
creatures,
that human
beings have
direction
and momentum.
And that's
what's being
captured in
verse 25.
You think about
it for a second,
there's momentum.
You believe a
lie,
and you tell
a lie.
And when you
believe a lie
and tell a lie,
it is far easier
to believe another
lie,
and to tell
another lie.
And in fact,
when you tell a lie,
you often have to
tell other lies.
There's a momentum
to lying.
When you believe
a lie,
when you sort of
turn your mind
off and say,
well,
how can that
possibly be true?
But you realize
that if you
voice your
doubts
about that lie,
it's going to
cause harm to you,
and so you
believe the lie.
And once you
believe the lie,
it's far easier
to believe a
second lie.
And once you
believe that
second lie,
it's far easier
to believe a
third lie.
In fact,
part of what
makes human
beings human
beings is that
it's almost as
if in lots of
different areas
of our lives,
we're like a
snowball rolling
down a slope
that can gather
up more snow
as it goes.
And it's not
only in terms
of bad things,
but it's in
good things.
That when you
have the courage
to speak the
truth,
and then you
survive it,
it's easier to
speak the truth
a second time.
Or in love,
that when you
do something
which is
loving to
your family
members or
to your
friends or
to your
spouse or
to your
neighbors,
there's in a
sense a type
of momentum
to that love.
And so that's
what the Bible
is just saying.
The Bible is
saying here
something very,
very, very
human and
very, very
profound.
You are made
in the image
of God.
You have a
nature.
And part of
that nature
is to be
active,
not passive.
And because
you are a
creature created
in the image
of God,
God the
creator always
sees his
creature.
And that's
actually part
of the reason
why the
gospel provides
you with
profound hope.
If you put
up point
number four,
it is only
the person
and work
of the Lord
Jesus Christ
that can
give you
hope for
the new
life.
It is only
the person
and work
of the Lord
Jesus Christ
that can
give you
hope for
the new
life.
One of the
problems
that we
have with
religion
is that
in religion
you have
to try
to make
it look
like you're
a good
person.
And that
usually means
that we
have to
either tell
lies to
ourselves
about what
we're doing
or make
excuses for
ourselves
or act
very,
very aggressively
to others
or put
on fronts
to others
and it
always leads
to a great
deal of
insecurity
because
once again
unless you're
a raving
narcissist
who are
by almost
definition
profoundly
insecure
you realize
that you're
not quite
as holy
or good
as it
seems
that you
start to
become aware
of your
pride
or your
greed
or your
envy
or the
jealousy
that you
have for
others
or the
desire
for
rivalry
that you
have
for
others
but you
can't
let that
out
and you
can't
really
look at
it
because if
you do
you lose
it's sort
of shameful
you lose
your standing
before others
and you worry
that you lose
your standing
before God
and there's
another problem
in the religious
life or just
the human
life is that
what happens
when you realize
something about
your past
that five
years later
or ten years
later and
pardon my
language I'm
just going to
speak the way
many Canadians
do and all
of a sudden
you say oh
my God
I used to
do that to
my spouse
or oh
my good
gracious
I said
that to
my parents
that's what
I used to
do to
my parents
good
gracious
that's
actually
what I
used to
how I
used to
treat my
employees
five years
or ten
years
or twenty
years
or thirty
years
ago
and like
where do
you go
with that
and what
do you
do with
that
but you
see here's
the profound
difference
that the
gospel
makes
remember
that in
a sense
what happens
is that the
pot that you
cook others
in as you
develop more
moral clarity
it starts to
you start to
realize that
there's other
things that
you would have
that really
you hadn't
really realized
that that was
a judgment
you were making
upon other
people or that
what you were
doing was all
wrong and now
you realize it
was wrong and
it's five or
ten or twenty
years in the
past and of
course you can
do certain
types of
things like
make reparations
or apologize
you know many
years later but
at the end of
the day there's
still this
problem of
conscience but
the wonderful
thing about the
gospel is that
when Jesus died
for you on the
cross he knew
all of the
darkness in
your life
the darkness
that you discover
that was in
there that you
didn't realize it
was there a year
ago it was there
a year ago you
just didn't see
it but he saw
it when he died
for you
all of the
darkness in
your life he
saw all of it
every single
bit of darkness
he saw when he
died for you
like every
single bit
he saw when
he died for
you
and you see
that's
partially why
the gospel is
so different
than religion
and as the
gospel becomes
more real and
more precious to
you it really
does provide a
place that you
can start to
look at the
things in your
life that are
just wrong
that were just
wrong
without it
unmaking you
he always knew
you were proud
self-centered
greedy
glutton
filled with
lust
he knew that
about you when
he died
he knew your
prejudices when
he died for
you
it's a shock
to you but
it's not to
him
and so the
gospel both
provides you a
place where you
can begin to
look at your
life with
with honesty
and with
honesty not
where you have
to say well
that's you
know that the
fact that I
had those
prejudiced views
ten years ago
that's just no
no no no no no
no they were
wrong then
they were wrong
then you can
see the darkness
for darkness
and you can
repent
and ask
for the light
of Christ to
be even more
real and
powerful in
you to help
to put those
parts of
darkness in
you to
death
that they
not have
any part
in you
anymore
and you can
be just so
grateful that
Jesus knew
that about
you too
when he
died for
you
the darkness
that shocks
you now
is a
darkness he
saw
when he
died
on the
cross
for you
thinking
of you
just want
to wrap
it up
very closely
by looking
at the
two
parables
and
they go
like this
and
I'm going
to put
the point
up in
a moment
but for
some of
you who
are
Christians
for a
long
time
and
you're
familiar
with
Zechariah
4
do not
despise
the day
of small
things
that's
the way
to understand
these two
parables
do not
despise
the day
of small
things
verse
20
26
and
Jesus
said
the kingdom
of God
is as if
a man
should scatter
seed on
the ground
now
just
pause
it's going
to be
the same
type of
an image
of a
small
seed
just
think
about
what we
actually
wish
it
said
you see
from the
perspective
of the
world
what we
wish
we would
say
is
the kingdom
of God
is like
Mount
Everest
the kingdom
of God
is like
Niagara Falls
the kingdom
of God
is like
this
superhero
the kingdom
of God
is like
this
invincible
army
or this
invincible
sports
team
we want
to have
something
very
big
and
overwhelming
but
what
does
it
say
the
kingdom
of God
is as if
man
should
scatter
seed
on the
ground
little
tiny
seeds
scattered
in the
ground
verse
27
he sleeps
and rises
night
and day
and notice
there that
little
Jewish
thing
Jewish
people
begin
their
day
at
sunset
we
begin
our
days
in a
sense
at
sunrise
they
begin
their
days
at
sunset
it's
sort
of
this
little
Jewish
thing
which
is
put
there
sort
of
a
very
interesting
idea
by the
way
we
in a
sense
view
that
our
day
begins
when
we're
active
and
after
we've
accomplished
all we
have to
accomplish
and we
sleep
almost
as if
sleep
is
sort
of
an
irrelevancy
and we
wish
those
of us
who are
workaholics
wish we
could get
rid of
it
but
for the
Jewish
people
the day
begins
with rest
and out
of rest
you act
anyway
sorry
that's a bit
of an
aside
so
the kingdom
of God
is as if
a man
should scatter
seed on
the ground
he sleeps
and rises
night and
day
and the
seed sprouts
and grows
he knows
not how
the earth
produces
by itself
first the
blade
then the
ear
then the
full grown
grain in
the ear
but when
the grain
is ripe
it once
he puts
in the
sickle
because the
harvest
has come
it's
saying that
you know
just as in
a sense
it seems
like a
very small
thing
when you
ask Jesus
to come
into your
life
to be
your
savior
and your
lord
or you
recognize
that you've
asked Jesus
to be
your savior
and lord
you don't
really know
when it
began
but you
know
that it
happened
and
it seems
like a
very very
small
thing
yet that
small
apparent
thing
continues
to work
in your
life
and grows
without you
realizing how
it works
and for us
who are in
Christ the end
will be
the new
heaven and
the new
earth
seeing Christ
as he is
and being
like him
or
reading the
bible seems
like such a
small thing
and let me
guarantee you
it is very
easy for an
apparently clever
person with
a high
IQ to
make the
bible look
completely
and utterly
ridiculous
and it
seems so
completely
powerless
and weak
and helpless
yet the
means of
grace are
such that
when we
read the
bible and
we hear
it
that's what
he asks us
to do
read my
word
hear my
word
hear my
word
listen to
it
yes I
know it's
small
yes I
know it
doesn't seem
like it's as
powerful as
learning some
other massive
spiritual
technique or
exercise program
or having all
sorts of money
I know it
seems very
weak and
inconsequential
but just
trust me on
the means of
grace
and say that
prayer
forgive that
person
read the
bible
be in part of
a small group
a tiny part of
your whole week
where you open
the word with
other people
seeking to
follow Jesus
yes I know it
seems small
and doesn't
seem very
powerful like
it'll accomplish
much but
God's the
one who
does the
work of
building
it's a
small means
of grace
where God
does all
the work
look at
verse 30
and he
said with
what can
we compare
the kingdom
of God
or what
parable
shall we
use for
it
it is
like a
grain
of mustard
seed
which when
sown on
the ground
is the
smallest of
all the
seeds on
earth
yet when
it's
sown it
grows up
and becomes
larger than
all the
garden plants
and puts
out large
branches
so that
the birds
of the
air
can make
nests
in its
shade
now just
a pause
here
the mustard
seed image
is a
proverbial
saying
what's a
proverbial
saying
we're familiar
with
proverbial
sayings
garbage
in
garbage
out
now garbage
in garbage
out isn't
literally
true but we
know what it
means right
with statistics
and stuff like
garbage in
garbage out
there's a whole
range of
proverbial
sayings
and in
Jesus'
time the
idea of the
smallness of
the mustard
seed and
the bigness
of the result
was a
proverbial
saying
he wasn't
making a
scientific
saying but
a proverbial
saying and
it's the same
type of thing
this in fact if you
could put up the
point that would be
great do not
despise the day of
small things trust his
grace and the means
of grace do not
despise the day of
small things trust his
grace and the means
of grace that just
as in a sense a
small thing like
hearing the bible
taking some time
every day to hear
the bible and to
listen to the bible
and you put it
away and well it
hasn't changed my
emotions it hasn't
put extra money in
my bank it hasn't
added five pounds of
muscle or taken
away three pounds of
fat or added two
inches to my height
or taken two inches
away from my height
it doesn't seem like
it's very powerful
but Jesus is saying
don't despise the day
of small things like
taking me into your
life seems like a
very small thing but
it ends in glory
and you read my
word out of obedience
and listen to it
and the work that I
do in you that's
small and unnoticeable
almost like planting
a seed in a garden
and the next day it
looks like nothing's
happened and the day
after and the day
after but eventually
if you wait over time
and almost imperceptible
in the change something
quite remarkable happens
and this other image
here is the same type
of an image of not
only is it just like
the plant that grows
but it's something
big that comes that's
not only good for you
but good for the world
you want to know a
simple thing that I've
just come across
that when people despise
the Bible and they
worry and they make
claims about how the
Bible has been
mistranslated from
mistranslated
here's a thing for you
just to say to them
do you believe that
when you read Plato
or Socrates or
Aristotle you're really
reading what they say
when you read the
histories of Rome
do you believe that
fundamentally they're
correct and most
people will say yes
they do
well how is it that we
have any of those
writings
I can tell you how
we have those writings
it's because Christian
monks translated them
the same trans Christian
monks that translated
that not translated
that copied them
the same Christian
monks that copied
the Bible
so why is it that
you don't believe
in that you're
reading Plato
correctly but you do
you believe that
you're reading Plato
correctly but the
same monks
translate the Bible
and you don't think
they translated it
they copied that
correctly that like
that doesn't make
any sense
and the point I put
it on is this is
that is you see the
means of grace goes
and it brings flowers
it's out of the
Christian faith that
science developed
it's out of the
Christian faith that
human rights developed
it's out of the
Christian faith that
slavery began to be
seen as evil and
even though in our
day and age slavery
continues to make
comebacks that we
understand that
slavery is evil
it's from Christianity
that we understand
that human beings are
made in the image of
God and have a type
of integrity that is
a fruit of Christianity
it's it's out out of
out of the the fruit
of Christianity that we
understand that freedom
is important it's out
of freedom that you
have financial growth
and and markets and
and and other things
like that and and
and it's out of
Christianity that you
have a belief that
there's a concern for
the poor and for
hospitals and for
education and and and
all of that and it's
also in a sense things
that just the gospel
works in you and the
Bible works in you and
not only does it develop
into something big in
you that you will only
see when you appear
before Jesus at the end
of the end of the end
of the end but even
before we reach the end
of the end of the end
of the end
the birds can nest
and there's a
fruitfulness and a
blessing upon the whole
culture as we take the
grace of Christ and
receive the means of
grace so do not despise
the day of small things
come to communion read
the word do not despise
the day of small things
don't live by lies
don't live by hatred
when you feel hatred
repent of it it's a
small thing but it's a
big thing
don't despise the day of
small things don't
despise God's grace in
small packets it's a
small packet that comes
into us that we receive
but it's God's very
power and grace that
comes into us that we
receive and he does a
hidden work of grace in
your life and mine
that preparing us for an
eternal weight of glory
let's bow our heads in
prayer
please stand let's pray
father we ask for several
things we ask that you
build within us a
consciousness that you
see all things that there
is nothing in our lives
that is hidden from you
and we ask father that as
this truth father we know
that if we just think about
this truth without the
gospel without the
knowledge that the true
light died for us and
father it's a very hard
thing so make the gospel
more dear to our hearts
and as the gospel becomes
more dear to our hearts
help us father to rejoice
in the fact that you see
all and help us to live
lives father of
transparency and honesty
and integrity help us
father to live not by
lies or injustice or
hatred not by greed or
envy not by prejudice
but father we ask that as
the gospel grips us that
we would be more and more
open to the light of your
grace in every area of who
we are and not only us as
individuals but at a
societal and cultural and
communal level as well
that the light of christ will
reveal the darkness and that
we will love the light and
hate the darkness and that we
will learn to walk in your
light knowing that you walk
with us and that you love us
and care for us and we ask
this in the name of jesus your
son and our savior amen
yes
thank you
my
thank you