Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons, one God, we come into your presence.
We have been in your presence all morning, but we come into your presence very consciously
to be with your children and your people, to be with seekers and skeptics, to be in your presence, Father.
We come to receive from you this morning, to receive grace from you.
Father, we acknowledge that we are always in deep need of receiving grace from you.
And so, Father, we ask that the Holy Spirit would do a wonderful work deep in our lives,
that we might be in your presence, that we might receive from you this morning,
and that we might respond to you as we receive in a worthy manner.
And, Father, that might be repentance, that might be praise, that might be new hope,
it might be healing, it might be strength, it might just be, well, Father, you know that there's many different ways
that we have needs, that your grace is sufficient, and we ask that you would help us to receive it with gratitude,
and respond in a worthy manner.
And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
It can sometimes be a surprise to people who come to the 10 o'clock service that they see,
oh, there's an 8 o'clock service, and they decide to come to the 8 o'clock service,
and discover that the 8 o'clock service is radically, radically different.
There's no screen, no words on it.
You get these little booklets.
And, in fact, we use the 1662 Book of Common Prayer in a booklet form,
but it's the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.
It has thee, thou, dost, wast, hast, all that old-fashioned language.
I wear robes as well, and the service has no music, and the sermon is about half the length.
That's the goal.
A little bit less than half the length of the 10 o'clock service.
In fact, sometimes at the 8 o'clock service, I say, I'm going to talk about this.
I don't have time now.
I'm going to talk about this at 8 if you're curious to see how I handle it.
You know, watch the 10 o'clock, the sermon from the 10 o'clock service.
I mention that because what sometimes happens, and in fact happened to me today,
is I always teach people that I'm, when I'm trying to teach them how to preach the Bible
or teach the Bible, that you should begin with something interesting to get people's attention.
And I had a really, really good grabby thing for this sermon.
And I did it at the 8 o'clock service, and I realized after the service that it was the
complete wrong opening for the sermon.
So you're not getting it.
Instead, you get me telling you that I had a good one, but this wasn't it.
But hopefully I've got your attention.
If you want to turn in your Bibles, we're going to look at one of the most famous stories of Jesus.
There are four ancient biographies of Jesus.
Now they're known as Gospels.
And three of the four ancient biographies have different versions of this same story.
So the early Christians, the early disciples of Jesus, thought that this was a very important story.
They all wanted to make sure that it got told.
And so turn with me in your Bibles to Mark 2, verses 1 to 17.
It's the first story that's the one which is in three of the Gospels.
We're going to look at two stories.
And here's how it goes.
By the way, one of the most common things that we hear in our culture today
is that you need to learn how to forgive yourself.
It's a very, very common thing.
And you would just get a very sympathetic nod.
And it really is very interesting.
It wouldn't matter if you were at a Bridgehead, a Starbucks, or a Tim Hortons.
It wouldn't matter if you went to the best cigar lounge in the region,
the best Scotch lounge in the region,
where the bar, which is the cheapest, nastiest, grungiest, most down-and-out, sketchy bar,
if you said, I'm trying to learn how to forgive myself, people would just nod.
It sort of turns.
It doesn't matter whether you vote NDP, conservative, or liberal.
It doesn't matter if you, like, make America great hats,
or you want to vote for Joe Biden or Kamala Harris or AOC.
It's one of those things that just most people nod their heads at.
And this story talks about this very directly, by the way,
the wisdom or the possibility of this.
So anyway, here's how the story goes.
Verse 1.
And when Jesus returned to Capernaum,
after some days, it was reported that he was at home.
I just sort of want to pause there for a second.
And some of you might remember last week's scripture text,
which came just before this,
is that it ends with Jesus healing a leper.
And after Jesus heals the leper, he says to the leper,
go to the priest, have him certify you as clean,
do the appropriate sacrifices, and don't tell anybody I did this.
And it's not clear in the text whether he actually goes to the priest,
but what it is clear is he does the opposite of what Jesus tells him,
and he goes and tells everybody.
And this just builds Jesus' fame so that it's hard for him to go anywhere.
But some people, and at some point in time in one of the sermons,
I'm going to talk a little bit about why it is that Jesus would tell people
not to tell him.
Like Mark records him saying this quite frequently.
But one of the things we can see here that helps us to understand that is this.
I don't know how many of you lived in small communities,
but Jesus must have come in at night when it was dark,
and he's actually been in this small community in a person's house
for a couple of days before people figure out he's there.
It tells you something about the character of Jesus
that he didn't say,
I'm here!
Come in with trumpets,
you know, drums,
banging, let everybody know he's here,
draw a big crowd.
Like that's not,
he comes in,
he's actually just spending some time in the house,
and it takes a couple of days before people realize that Jesus is there.
And once they realize he's there,
then the crowds start to come.
They want to hear him,
and I guess they also want to see him do a miracle.
And let's just be honest,
we'd love to see a miracle.
We're no different from them.
It would be on the news,
somebody performing miracles like this.
So a crowd gathers.
But it sure is sort of a sense,
the humility and the self-effaciness of Jesus,
that he doesn't intentionally go out to try to draw crowds
and attract attention to himself.
Verse 2,
And many were gathered together
so that there was no more room,
not even at the door.
And Jesus was preaching the word to them.
And they came,
this is going to describe who they are,
it's four guys.
Four guys come,
bringing to Jesus a man who's paralyzed.
Verse 4,
And when they could not get near to Jesus
because of the crowd,
that's sort of very interesting,
they say,
listen, I got the good spot,
I'm not giving up my spot to let you get in there.
It sucks that your friend's paralyzed.
I mean, that's really the attitude of the crowd.
It just sucks for them,
I'm not giving up my spot.
So verse 4,
They could not get near to Jesus because of the crowd,
so they,
in the houses in those days,
the roof was always flat,
and in a sense it was like a deck.
And so whether it was a ladder
or stairs on the outside,
there was usually a way,
always a way,
to get up onto the roof.
So they removed the roof above Jesus,
and when they had made an opening,
they let down the bed
on which the paralyzed man lay.
Now, just before we see anything further,
you know,
one of the interesting things about this story,
if you think about it for a second,
if let's say we were,
we were in Jesus' time,
or it was just happening right now,
and Mark said,
listen here,
I've written about this story,
what do you think?
And all of us would do this.
They'd say,
you know,
come on,
Mark,
give it some extra colorful details,
like,
surely the people were sort of swearing,
you know,
at the commotion going upstairs,
they were saying,
you know,
you guys,
you know,
keep it quiet,
we're trying to listen to Jesus,
you know,
people are,
they're wrecking the roof,
and probably there would have been people
wanting to go out,
and all this,
all this detail
that we would love to know about,
what was going on in the room
when they're making a big hole in the roof,
and none of it's there.
That's what I mean by,
you see,
it's very interesting,
and it shows our distraction,
like,
the inherent type of distraction
that we have
when it comes to things of God,
that we would be far more interested
in lots of ways
with all this other stuff,
you know,
the,
you know,
the mess,
who's going to clean it up,
all of that type of stuff,
than what,
but Mark sort of ignores that,
he doesn't play to our habit
to get distracted,
because he's driving towards
making a particular type of point
about Jesus,
and by the way,
it must have been Jesus
who stopped people
from going upstairs
and up onto the roof
to stop those guys
from wrecking the roof.
It must have been Jesus,
but we don't say that.
Maybe it wasn't.
Verse five.
So the guy,
they lay down,
they make a hole,
they drop the guy down,
and the guy's now
standing in front of Jesus.
Probably a lot of people
are in a very,
very,
very bad mood,
because they're covered with straw,
covered with dirt.
The homeowners are probably
really furious,
but when Jesus saw their faith,
he said to the paralytic,
son,
your sins are forgiven.
Now,
we want to pause here
for a second.
Here's one of the problems
we have.
If you're a person,
maybe from a,
you know,
a Muslim background
or a Buddhist background,
and you're hearing this story
for the first time,
or if you're just,
you haven't had any real
Christian background,
you're hearing this story
for the first time,
I want to tell you
about a problem
that Christians have
when they're very familiar
with the story.
One of the things
I try to tell people
when I'm trying to give them
encouragement about how to
preach and teach the Bible
when it comes to a narrative
like this,
is never assume
that a response is obvious.
Like,
don't assume,
well,
of course that's what
Jesus would say.
No,
no,
just a thought experiment.
What would Stalin say?
Kill those guys.
Like,
what would,
what,
no,
I'm going to say
a few things today
for our Muslim friends
who might be watching.
I'm going to say
a few things today
about Christianity
and Islam
and just sort of
give me some mercy
about this.
I don't mean any disrespect,
but I want to throw out
some,
there's some puzzles
and riddles
in this text
in terms of the contrast
between Christianity
and other faiths.
But if you think about it
for a second,
what would Muhammad say?
Muhammad would probably say,
well,
it's Allah's will.
It is the will of Allah.
That's what he would say.
He wouldn't say,
son,
your sins
are the will of Allah.
What would Buddha say?
Buddha was obviously,
from the records of him,
he was obviously a man
who did have great compassion
and that part of his way
is the way of compassion.
But he also emerges
out of a Hindu worldview
that he might very well
have just said,
well,
may I,
you know,
I can help you
with some water
and he might say
to his disciples
it's important
to show compassion.
But at the end of the day,
it's as a result
of the sins
in this life
and the sins
in previous lives
that have now
brought this state,
karma has brought
this state
upon this particular person.
And really,
what you can do
is use this
as a time
to illustrate
to the man
and to others
the importance
of following
the way
so that you
will no longer
be caught up
in the cycle
of death and rebirth
and having all these
karmic penalties
come to you
to begin to try
to break that cycle
by having enlightenment
and, you know,
achieving nirvana.
That's probably
what something along the line
that Buddha would say.
What would a politician say?
What would a therapist say?
You see,
part of the thing
which we don't quite get
when we see this story
is the,
Jesus is going to
relate to this man
in a profoundly
compassionate way.
And whether our culture
wants to acknowledge it
or not,
it's as if
in around the years,
depending on how you count it,
27 to 30
or 30 to 33,
that's the time
that Jesus'
teaching ministry
went on
and culminating
with his death
upon the cross
and his resurrection
which launches
this Christian movement
Jesus is like a bomb
that blows up
modern thought.
And much of now,
2,000 years downstream,
we just assume,
we just assume
that the proper response
is to show
some type of compassion
towards him.
But that's not
an obvious response.
Once again,
what would Stalin say?
It's not an obvious response.
In a sense,
our whole response
to this
is formed by stories
like this,
the compassion of Jesus.
But he says this
very,
very odd thing.
Son,
your sins
are forgiven.
men.
We,
last Sunday
at the 8 o'clock service,
we had a street person
come to be part
of our service.
And,
in fact,
Shane happened
to be there
and I said to Shane
when I came in,
could you just
keep an eye on him
because I wasn't sure.
You see,
as soon as I came in,
he told me
that he was
the second coming
of Jesus.
That's the first thing
he told to me.
He's the second coming
of Jesus.
And,
and so I just said
and he was wandering around.
He signed his name
three times in the book.
Actually,
one of the times
he signed his name
was Zeus
as well,
actually.
But,
you know what I mean?
Like,
he was very,
very,
like,
clearly mentally ill
and having a psychotic episode.
And,
and so I just asked Shane
if he could keep an eye
on him
in case he was
very disruptive.
Now,
as it turned out,
he wasn't disruptive.
He sat there.
He did a few little odd things,
but he sat there.
I mean,
he told me a second time
when I gave him communion
that he was the second coming
of Jesus
and some other things.
And,
and I just listened to him
for a few seconds
and I said,
I'm really sorry
you have to sit down.
And he did.
So it was all fine.
But the fact of the matter is
is that that fellow
was clearly mentally ill.
He either thought he was Zeus
or he thought he was
the son of God.
So,
that's the offensive
and shocking thing
about this text
which we have to get into it.
You see,
once again,
partly what happens
is when we read the text
we say,
well,
that's just religious language,
just religious language,
just religious language.
No,
no,
no.
Just think about it
in real life.
This is a story.
Remember the very,
one of the early sermons
on this,
I said that one of the things
which is very unique
about Mark's gospel
compared to the secular literature
or the pagan literature
of the day.
I shouldn't say secular.
There would have been no idea
of secular in those days.
But in the pagan literature
of those days
is that he uses fact-type language
all the way through.
He emphasizes the fact-ness
of what he's talking about.
And just as,
I didn't ask,
but I know that all of the other people
at the 8 o'clock service,
they all would have instantly recognized
that this man was mentally ill.
And he talked to several of them.
They all knew he was mentally ill
and all of us were reacting appropriately
to him as a mentally ill man.
Trying to act with compassion to him.
Gentleness.
We didn't tell him to leave.
We didn't do anything like that.
We tried to act with him.
You all know he's mentally ill.
Only mentally ill men
say something like,
son, your sins are forgiven.
Right?
That's a mentally ill thing to say.
So now you're having to go,
whoa, okay.
Even most,
you know,
maybe Richard Dawkins
or some very,
very,
very hardcore atheist
would be prepared to say,
yes,
George,
Jesus was mentally ill.
I'm so glad
a Christian finally,
I'm not saying he's mentally ill.
I'm just saying,
you think about it,
that's a mentally ill type of thing to say.
That's how we would all respond to it.
Now,
in his time,
they,
his hearers
don't respond to it
as mental illness,
although they might have
if you heard all of the things
they wanted to say.
In fact,
if you read the Gospels,
you'll find out that
there are in effect,
and I can't remember
if it comes up in Mark,
there is a time
when basically
all of Jesus' family
is concerned
that he's mentally ill
or that he's consumed
with demons
or something.
They know,
they come to think
he's not right.
You see,
one of the other reasons
to believe
that Jesus actually did
die on the cross
and rise from the dead
is that the historical evidence
shows that his family
thought he was mentally ill
or something was wrong,
that at his death,
only his mom was there,
none of his brothers or sisters,
and yet we know
that after the resurrection
of Jesus,
that at least
his brothers and sisters
also came to believe
that he was now
God,
the Son of God.
It's actually part
of the historical record
to believe
that something like this
actually happened.
But look how the story
continues in verse 6.
Now some of the scribes
were sitting there
questioning in their hearts,
why does this man
speak like that?
Notice what they say,
why does this man
speak like that?
He is blaspheming.
Who can forgive sins
but God alone?
I mean,
that's,
by the way,
what we could say
to the mentally ill fellow
who was here with us
two Sundays a week ago.
You know,
only God can forgive sins,
dude.
Like,
you can't.
You're a man.
Um,
verse 8,
and immediately
Jesus,
perceiving in his spirit
that they thus questioned
within themselves,
said to them,
why do you question
these things
in your hearts?
Which is easier
to say to the paralytic,
your sons are forgiven?
Or to say,
rise,
take up your bed
and walk?
Now just sort of
pause here.
On one hand,
it's equally easy
to say both.
And I'm sure
if I'd given
that fellow,
sorry that Ross
is sitting there,
it's not Ross,
it's the,
there was another person,
in fact,
you were at church
last Sunday,
in fact,
actually,
you saw that fellow,
I think.
He might have even
talked to you.
But he was sitting
right there in that seat,
the very front seat,
as close as he could
to be to me
when I had the,
when I was doing
the communion,
right?
I mean,
I'm sure if I'd let
him speak,
he would say,
son,
your sins are forgiven
and stuff like that,
right?
So,
you know,
on one level,
it's easy to say
stuff like that.
It's a sign of mental illness.
And even if it's not
a sign of mental illness,
even if it's some type
of a poser,
some type of person
who's figured out
that he's got some
very,
very gullible people
and he can make
very,
very extravagant claims,
and,
but he knows
that he can't really do it.
He's just talking.
That talk is cheap,
but healing a man
who's paralyzed,
well,
that's an indicator
of something.
So,
verse 10,
but that you may know
that the Son of Man
has authority on earth
to forgive sins,
Jesus says to the paralyzed man,
verse 11,
I say to you,
rise,
pick up your bed
and go home.
And the man rose
and immediately picked up
his bed and went out
before them all
so that they were all amazed
and glorified God,
saying,
we never saw anything
like this.
We never saw
anything like this.
So,
you see,
here's the thing
which is going on
in the text.
Just like the mentally ill man
from last Sunday
didn't say to me,
I'm going to tell you
about the Son of God.
He didn't tell me,
I'm going to tell you
about Zeus.
Jesus just says,
your sins are forgiven.
He's not like me
during the absolution
where I pronounce
what God has done.
Jesus doesn't pronounce
what God has done.
Jesus just says it.
And it's the same thing
with the healing.
Jesus doesn't pray
for healing.
He just says,
he just says,
just like God would.
In a sense,
what we would do
when we pray
is we would pray to God
and say,
God,
could you heal this man?
And when we pray,
what we're hoping
is that God,
in a sense,
up in heaven,
hears our prayer
and says,
okay,
man,
stand up and walk.
And what you see
here with Jesus
is what you hope
God would do
when you pray to God.
Jesus is doing
something that only
God can do.
And so,
what you see here
is it's an indicator
of the fact
that Jesus,
when he says
your sins are forgiven,
that that is,
he can actually do that.
Now,
there's a couple
of things here
about this.
Like,
I think if you said
to most Canadians,
you know,
you can come to Jesus
and your sins
are forgiven.
And I think
most Canadians
would say,
I need Jesus
to forgive my sins
like a fish
needs a bicycle.
Like,
okay,
that's what you're selling,
this is how much
interest I have in it.
In fact,
actually,
probably if you got
into it,
you'd say,
you know what,
what I'm really
trying to learn
is how to forgive myself.
Like,
if Jesus could give me
some advice
about how to forgive myself,
well,
that would be
an interesting story.
Because that's what
I'm really trying to learn.
I'm trying to learn
how to forgive myself.
And,
in fact,
I think for most Canadians
they'd say,
you know,
don't you think
it's a lot more important
to learn how to forgive yourself
than,
I don't know,
be forgiven by God,
by Jesus?
Well,
here's a couple of things
just to consider about it.
Before I was the
rector of Church of the Messiah,
I was in a rural church,
non-rush hour traffic,
be about a two-hour drive
to where I lived,
two hours and a bit drive.
It was on the,
I lived on the way
to Algonquin Park.
So you'd go down
the Trans-Canada Highway,
Cobden,
you'd turn left,
and you'd,
you know,
another 20 minutes
or so on the road
on the way
to Algonquin Park.
You come to Eganville
and I just lived
one block over
from the one set
of lights in town.
And I looked after Eganville,
I looked after Killaloo,
and I looked after
two other little spots
that nobody's ever heard of.
They used to be
sort of communities,
but now they're just
a sign on the road,
Tremor and Clontarf.
And,
but in that big geographic area
that I looked at,
and if I was to go
from Arnold Theobig's house
at one end
to Delmer's house
at another end
and I kept to the speed limit,
it would have taken me
about 70,
75 minutes to drive
from one into the other.
So I covered a lot of land
but not many people.
A lot of deer,
a lot of cattle,
not many people.
But within that area
there was a First Nations reserve,
and that First Nations reserve
had been originally evangelized
by Roman Catholics.
There was an actual
Roman Catholic church
on the reserve,
and so I didn't have much
to do with people
who lived there,
but I did have something
to do with several of them.
And one of the people
that I had to deal with
was part of our church.
He got in some trouble
with the law,
which is neither here
nor there.
I actually thought
he was innocent,
but that's neither here
nor there.
And so he asked me
if I would support him.
He had to go to
appear before the judge
for the first go-around.
And so he asked me
if I would sit with him
in the crowd
waiting for his name
to be come up,
and I'd buy him a coffee,
and then afterwards
we'd talk,
and I'd pray and all that.
And I said, sure.
It was a very interesting
experience to sit there.
So first of all,
I said to him,
you know, the thing
that you did,
I almost said his name,
we'll just call him Bob.
He said, the thing you did,
Bob, you could go
to the tribal,
there was a tribal justice
system set up
to deal with this.
Why didn't you go to that?
Now, by the way,
I'm not, just time out,
I'm not making
any political comment.
I never followed him.
I have no idea
whether he was telling
me the truth.
But what he said was this.
He said, no, no, no.
He said, guys like me
on the reserve,
we never go to
the tribal justice system.
I said, you never go there?
He said, no, no, no.
He said it's controlled
by a couple of powerful families.
And the way it works
is they give themselves
a pass,
but for people like me,
they're going to be
very hard on me.
And I get a better deal
with the white judge.
And I said, really?
So I never followed up
on that.
I have no idea
if it's true.
But that's what he said.
He said, yeah, yeah,
it's powerful families
that control that.
My family is a very
low-status family.
They don't like my family.
I would get hard.
I'd be treated very hard.
I'm going to get a better deal
with the judge.
I said, well, that's interesting.
And then as I sat there,
the second thing
that was really interesting
is that as each of the lawyers
stood up to help
the different client,
he gave me a prairie
about the effectiveness
of the lawyers.
He'd say, that lawyer
never returns his phone calls.
That lawyer has a serious
alcohol problem.
That lawyer is lazy.
Is this that lawyer?
Is this?
He knew who all the lawyers were.
At least that's he claimed to.
I have no idea
whether he was accurate
about any of it.
But he'd said, don't worry.
I, you know, me and my family,
we know about all the lawyers
in the region.
We have the best lawyer.
I have the best lawyer
that you can get.
Now, I'm saying all of this
because, you see,
what would you say
if he not only knew
about the lawyers,
but if it was a situation
where there were quite a few
different judges
and he was able to sit there
and tell you,
well, that judge
shows favoritism to the cronies.
That judge is racist
and that judge takes bribes
and that judge
has a serious alcohol problem.
And, you know,
that judge isn't very competent,
doesn't like me.
And if you heard that,
you wouldn't want to go
before that judge, would you?
You'd be very careful.
You sure wouldn't.
You'd want to try to figure out
the good judge,
not the judge that has
all those other major
character flaws.
Right?
That's what we'd all want to do.
But,
here's the problem.
You say you want to learn
to forgive yourself.
Do you show favoritism?
Do you show any prejudice?
Are you easily bought off?
Do you get distracted?
Do you only care about justice?
Yes.
If you didn't answer yes
to all of those things,
then why do you think
you can forgive yourself?
Like, if you wouldn't trust
another judge to do that,
why would you trust yourself
to forgive yourself?
Like, don't you think
it's always tainted?
And just think for a second.
Like, one of the things
that I had to do,
I would still do it
if somebody comes to me
and they want to be remarried
after divorce.
Let's say a 30-year-old man
comes and he wants to be
remarried after divorce.
And I'd talk to him
about a little bit of things.
But let's say I discovered
that that 30-year-old man
had a wife
and he had four kids.
And the wife
was a stay-at-home mom
and this man wants to marry
another, like a 23-year-old woman.
And I'd have to ask this man
this question.
That's why I've asked
this question to guys.
How do you think
you're going to be able
to fulfill your financial
responsibilities
to your four kids
and your first wife
and marry this young woman
who you're obviously
going to want to have kids with?
Do I like asking that question?
I am very Canadian.
Those of you who know me,
I hate conflict.
I am sleepless
for nights before it.
But I've had to look
guys in the eye
and say,
how are you going to
fulfill those obligations?
This is separate
from whether there was
a valid reason
biblically for his marriage
to break up
and being remarried.
The fact of the matter is
is if you sire those kids,
you've got a responsibility
to those kids.
You've got a responsibility
for your kids.
So here's the point
of the story.
The wife
with the four kids,
she hears
that her husband,
who now wants to marry
another young woman,
and maybe he's been
the one responsible
for the breakup
of the marriage
he's had in the fair.
What would she say
if she heard him say,
I've learned
to forgive myself?
That wife would say,
she'd go explosive,
she'd go ballistic,
what do you mean
you forgave yourself?
Like, she'd say,
what a jerk.
She'd probably say
something stronger.
Well, why is it
that we as Canadians
want to learn
how to forgive ourselves,
but we can't sort of
get our minds around
these types of
particular problems?
You see,
one of the things
which is always
talked about
at the end
of every presidential cycle,
it was talked about
with Trump,
it was talked about
with Obama,
it was talked about
before that,
it will be talked about
with Biden,
is that every U.S. president,
the last week or so
before they step away
from office,
they give a whole pile
of presidential pardons.
Get out of jail
for free cards,
you're completely
and utterly pardoned.
And those of you
who follow such things,
sometimes they're good.
There's been a miscarriage
of justice
somewhere along the line
and just because
of the angularity
of the law,
it can't actually
be rectified,
but there's been,
you know,
evidence and all
and so sometimes
you go,
that's a real,
that's a good use of it,
that there's been
an injustice corrected.
You know,
and sometimes it's just,
you know,
for whatever reason
there's been some
press reports
about this person
or that,
but always he lets off
his cronies,
right?
Always.
I'm not making
a political comment.
Trump did it,
Biden did it,
the president
after Biden
will do it.
It's a human thing.
They let off
their cronies
and there's always
a whole stuff
in the paper
about the fact
that he just
let off his cronies
and if you happen
to be pro-Trump,
you think,
yeah,
you know,
they shouldn't
have been punished,
blah, blah, blah,
way to go Trump.
But you know,
and they're going
to do the same thing
with Biden.
You know,
the people who
were mad at Trump,
they're going to say,
way to go Biden,
you know?
And all the people
who voted for Trump
said,
how come you guys
didn't like it
when Trump did it,
but now he,
like,
that's just human nature.
That's just cronyism.
And in a sense,
when you want to learn
to forgive yourself,
it's cronyism
to yourself.
Now here,
you have to be
very careful.
You see,
one of the things
which is going on
in Jesus' words here
is there's a profound
mystery.
There's a riddle
which he's posing.
And the riddle
is this.
Why is it that
when Jesus says this
to the young man,
he's not just guilty
of cronyism?
Like,
why is Jesus
not like Trump?
Why is Jesus
not like Biden
and Obama?
Why is it not
just cronyism?
See,
the fact of the matter
is,
is that true forgiveness
has to honor justice.
And that's why
for true forgiveness
there always has to be
a cost that's paid.
Very,
very obvious
when it comes to
things like money.
Somebody,
I lend somebody
$10,000
expecting to get it back
and then something happens
they can't get it back.
If I forgive the debt,
let's say they only
were able to pay me
back $1,000,
I forgive the debt,
I'm writing off
the $9,000.
Well,
who pays that $9,000?
The $9,000
is still gone.
Like,
I can't call up Trudeau
and say,
Trudeau,
I've just forgiven
somebody $9,000,
could you send me
a check to cover it?
Like,
if I forgive somebody
the $9,000,
I pay that cost.
If you forgive me
a debt,
a financial debt,
you absorb
that cost.
And that gives us
a window
in all forgiveness.
That if somebody
has wronged you
in another type of way
and you,
you might have
a profound desire
to publicize
to everybody
how bad they are.
Or you might want
to have them,
you might want to do
some other type of thing
so that they really
suffer in some type of way,
that there's some
satisfaction that you
can get
to see that there's
some suffering
or some other types
of, you know,
or other legal
or other consequences
that happen to them
so that there's some type,
you have at least
the beginning of some
type of a sense
of balance.
And if you forgive them,
then you have to pay
the cost of that
within yourself.
You have to pay
the cost of the fact
that they will not
have that type
of punishment
that you think
they deserve,
that you just have to,
in a sense,
you have to,
in a sense,
swallow that
in some type of way.
There's always
a cost to forgiveness.
By the way,
for our Muslim friends,
this is one of the
profound weaknesses
in Islam.
Just give me some grace.
It's a profound weakness
in Islam.
Because in Islam,
Allah just,
he never pays a cost
to forgive.
It's hard not to see
that what goes on
with Allah
is any different
than cronyism.
Where he lets some
go free and others
have to suffer
his punishment.
You see,
the mystery
which here,
which happens,
is that Jesus
is setting up a riddle.
When he says,
son,
your sins are forgiven,
he's also pointing us
to the fact
that justice
is going to be met
in that young man
for whatever
that young man
is responsible for.
That this is one
of the things
preparing us
for the cross.
That when we see
Jesus dying upon
the cross,
what we see
is that Jesus
takes the place
of that young man
in a sense
what that Jesus
is saying.
And it's only
if he's God
that he can stand
for every single
human being.
It's only if he's
both God and man
that he can stand
for every single
human being.
And so for whatever
things that that young
man has done
which is wrong,
whatever demands
of justice
that that should be,
if you took the
accumulation of all
of those types
of things,
and you would say
if you knew
all of those
things that that
young man had done
and became an old
man and everything
that you would think
there has to be
some consequence.
There has to be
some consequence.
There has to
justice demand
some consequence.
That when Jesus
dies on the cross
that's what John
means when he says
behold the Lamb of God
who takes away
the sin of the world.
That Jesus in a sense
is saying
I will take your place
young man
and all of the
demands of justice
I will take your place
they can come on me.
No I don't.
I know you don't
deserve it.
No I know
I don't have to do it.
It's not a matter
of you deserving it.
It's not a matter
of you have a right
for this.
It's not a matter
that I have to.
It's not a matter
that I'm weak.
I am strong.
I am the one
who can heal
paralyzed people.
I am the one
who can heal
the leper.
I am the one
who can still
the storm.
I am the one
who can walk
on water.
I am the one
who can feed
five thousand
men.
I am strong.
I am doing this
of my own free will.
I see your profound
need and broken.
I see your profound
need and brokenness
and I know you can
never fulfill the
demands of true
justice if your life
was seen with
perfect moral clarity
and God sees your
life with perfect
moral clarity
and you can never
deal with that
without being
unmade.
need.
So I will take
your place.
And that when you
see Jesus dying
on the cross
what you are seeing
is the cost
of forgiveness
being borne
by God himself
for undeserving
people like you
and me.
And it's
powerfully
illustrated by
the symbol
that as Jesus
dies
the veil
which separates
the holy
of holies
from the world
is torn
from top
to bottom
to show
that the cost
of true
forgiveness
has been
paid.
Now the next
story is very
important to bring
this home to us
in a powerful way
because you see
we all say that
and believe that
and like that
for a moment
but there's
something about
the way
our brains
are wired
just that
our brains
are wired
that we
almost instantly
sabotage
the radicalness
of what this
is that Jesus
is doing for us
with his life
and death
and resurrection
and we see it
if we look
at the next
story.
And what we
see in the
next story
is why
what human
beings need
what you
and I need
is not to
learn how
to forgive
ourselves
I do not
have to
learn to
forgive
myself
I have
to learn
I have
to ask
God
to make
what Jesus
has done
for me
on the
cross
to be
more real
for me
because I
slip into
a different
way of
thinking
too quickly.
Look at
what happens
in verse 13
and Jesus
went out again
beside the sea
and all the
crowd was
coming to him
and he was
teaching them
and as he
passed by
he saw
Levi
the son
of Alphaeus
sitting at
the tax
booth
and Jesus
said to him
follow me
and Levi
rises and
follows him
now just
those of you
who aren't
familiar with
stories like
this in the
context
if you watch
a second
world war movie
set let's say
in occupied
Holland
and you
see Dutch
people
if you're
watching a
second world
war movie
now set
in Holland
during the
occupation
by the
Nazis
usually what
is going
to be
involved
is some
heroic
and there
were very
many heroic
Dutch
people who
resisted the
Nazis
tried to
protect the
Jews
did what
they could
to undermine
the Nazi
regime
but there
were also
Dutch men
and women
who supported
the regime
who helped
the regime
right it was
Corrie Ten Boom
and her family
and her mom
her sister
and her dad
died in a
concentration camp
for hiding
Jews but they
they were found
out because
neighbors reported
them so
when you
watch a
second world
war movie
and you
see a
Dutch man
or a
Dutch woman
working for
the Nazis
that's what
a tax
collector
is okay
they're
they're not
only they're
not only going
to be
constantly guilty
of graft
and injustice
and a whole
pile of other
things but
they work
directly for
the imperial
forces oppressing
the Jews
over the Jews
so that's what
a tax collector
so Jesus
sees a guy
like that
a guy
like a
Dutch person
helping the
Nazis
and he says
follow me
and the guy
follows him
you go
on one level
you go
wow
like wow
but now
you're going to
be concerned
with the very
next story
look what
happens next
verse 15
and as Jesus
as he reclined
a table
it's actually
very interesting
the Greek
it's not sure
whether it's
Jesus' house
or Levi's house
you can't actually
tell in the Greek
whether it's
Jesus' house
that he's renting
or staying in
or whether it's
Levi's house
but so I'll just
say and as he
reclined a table
in his house
many tax collectors
and sinners
were reclining
with Jesus
and his disciples
for they were
many who
followed him
look at that
for there were
many of these
sinners
and tax collectors
who followed
Jesus
and the scribes
of the Pharisees
who aren't
following Jesus
the scribes
are like the
experts in the law
when they saw
that he was
eating with
sinners and tax collectors
they said to his
disciples
why does he
eat with tax collectors
and sinners
now here's the thing
about us
one of the reasons
that we would side
we would say
whoa that's terrible
what they're doing
well the reason
one of the reasons
we say that's terrible
that he's doing that
is because
we've been formed
by Jesus
and also partially
because we like
the idea of
going against
the moral majority
but here's the thing
and I'm making
no political comments
you can pick your thing
Jesus is having
a party
with everybody
wearing
make America
great hats
with big pictures
of Trump
behind them
or
all the trans
activists
are together
and Jesus
is in there
having a party
with them
now
pick your politics
for those of you
of one group
you'd say
how could Jesus
be with a whole
pile of
make America
great people
like what's he
doing
with sinners
and for the rest
of us
we're going
what's he doing
with all the
trans activists
having a party
with them
Jesus says this
in verse 17
and when Jesus
heard it
he said to them
those who are well
have no need
of a doctor
but those who are
sick
I came not to
call the righteous
but sinners
now
here's the
thing about this
see the
normal way
the normal way
that we're
wired
at a very
very deep
level
is to
understand
spiritual
and religious
life like this
we'd say
okay it's
really good
you guys
with make
America
great hats
I'm just
going to keep
staying with
one thing
I'm not
making any
political comment
okay
I just
make it
simple
so we'd
say
okay
oh
that's
really
good
that you
guys
all wearing
your make
America
great hats
you've all
decided to
follow Jesus
okay
now here's
the first
thing
you've all
got to
take your
hats off
you've got
to get rid
of the
Trump posters
you've got
to burn
them
you've got
to promise
you'll never
use them
again
okay
and if
you do
that
and now
you've got
to do
a few
other types
of things
you've got
to do
this
and you
can do
that
well if
you do
that
okay
now you're
sort of
welcome
into polite
society
and now
we could
see how
if you
actually said
a few
prayers
because now
you're
working
you're going
to be
you're going
to be
kinder
to this
group
you're going
to be
kinder
to that
group
you're going
to make
a donation
to the
Black Lives
Matter
movement
you're going
to support
AOC
in politics
and you start
to do that
type of thing
well you can
be accepted
in church
and you can
say a few
prayers
and if you
do that
and you do
that
you do
that
well eventually
you can be
connected
to God
that's the
basic way
we're wired
but that then
goes against
this profound
mystery that's
just happened
before this
that the only way
somebody's sins
can be forgiven
is if God
pays the price
for your sins
that God
absorbs that
cost into himself
and the fact
of the matter
is that the
religious development
that's presented
in the gospel
is a complete
opposite
it's not
that first
you get rid
of the
Make America
Great hats
and give
some money
to AOC
and then
you can sort
of say a few
prayers
and then
you're made
right with God
it's a complete
opposite
you begin
by being
made right
with God
while you're
wearing your
Make America
Great hats
and hating
AOC
when you're
completely
and utterly
unworthy
God forgives
you in the
person of
Jesus
it begins
with forgiveness
and union
with God
and works
backwards
from our
naturalistic
religious
point of view
that as
the gospel
grips you
you say
gosh
Jesus
is the
one
who's
reconciled
me
to
God
I
need
to
pray
I
need
to
figure
out
how to
pray
and I
need
to
figure
out
how
to
read
the
word
and
I'm
not
really
worthy
to be
with
other
Christians
I'm
going to
hang
around
with
Christians
and
now
as
you've
got
to
look
at
you
know
maybe
the
way
I'm
handling
politics
isn't
right
you know
maybe
walking
around
wearing
a
MAGA
hat
to
church
is
just
not
very
charitable
maybe
I
should
take
that
off
begins
with
grace
and
moves
the
other
way
it's
not
a
matter
of
making
yourself
worthy
until
you
find
a
union
with
God
that
never
is
going
to
work
never
going
to
work
only
makes
you
anxious
only
makes
you
self
righteous
only
makes
you
proud
only
makes
you
arrogant
only
makes
you
unhappy
only
makes
you
self
satisfied
until
your
life
crumbles
completely
useless
you
and I
need
grace
we
need
this
profound
act
of
Jesus
dying
on
the
cross
for
us
and
as
that
grips
us
we
say
you
know
what
my
view
of
people
of
different
colors
that's
wrong
my
view
of
women
that's
wrong
my
holding
on
to
money
that's
wrong
my
ungenerous
heart
that's
wrong
my
thinking
the
worst
of
C's
group
that's
wrong
works
from
the
gospel
out
to
our
behavior
not
being
worthy
until
Jesus
finally
dies
for
you
please
stand
you
know
that
Christian
life
for
those
that
I
point
here
there's
a
camera
here
by
the
way
that's
why
I
sometimes
look
I'm
not
picking
on
the
Maureen
family
or
Claire
on
the
computer
there's
the
camera
there
I
want
to
acknowledge
the
congregation
that's
there
but also
to
you
you know
that
the
Christian
life
just
begins
when you
sort of
have an
internal
desire
that you
need to
actually be
with
Jesus
and accept
what he
offers
you might
not be
able to
put that
into
words
that's
fine
you don't
have to
put
yourself
into
words
all you
have
to
do
is
just
say
if
you've
never
become
a
Christian
say
Jesus
what
you
did
for
that
paralyzed
man
could
you
do
that
for
me
and
what
you
illustrated
with
those
bad
people
could
that
be
the
story
of
my
life
that's
all
you
have
to
say
you
don't
have
to
know
all
the
theology
just
have
to
say
that
that's
where
I
need
to
belong
and
for
those
of
us
who
are
Christians
one
of
the
you
so
much
that
Jesus
loves
us
that
Jesus
loved
us
that
he
died
on
the
cross
thank
you
so
much
that
you
see
every
human
being
with
perfect
moral
clarity
because
you
are
the
author
of
morality
the
center
of
the
moral
universe
you
see
each
human
being
with
complete
utter
piercing
clarity
you
know
those
excuses
so
that
we
did
something
that
wasn't
really
wrong
that
there
were
good
excuses
you
know
those
things
that
had
no
excuse
that
we
just
did
something
wrong
we
give
you
thanks
and
praise
that
despite
your
moral
not
despite
that
father
when
you
were
full
with
moral
clarity
you
loved
us
and
Jesus
came
to die
upon
the
cross
for
us
to
take
that
punishment
that
making
rightness
that
had
to be
done
that
we
couldn't
do
for
ourselves
that
he
did
it
for
us
in
his
life
in
his
death
upon
the
cross
we
thank
you
father
for
the
many
evidences
for
his
resurrection
and
not
only
in
history
but
also
in
our
lives
and
we
thank
you
for
what
he
did
for
us
on
the
cross
father
we
thank
you
that
he
is
our
savior
we
ask
father
that
what
he
did
for
us
on
the
cross
that
might
be
the
ground
upon
which
we
stand
it
might
be
that
which
covers
us
it
might
be
the
lens
by
which
we
see
the
world
around
us
the
lens
by
which
we
see
ourselves
the
lens
by
which
we
see
money
and
relationships
in our
culture
and
politics
and
jobs
and
careers
and
sex
and
everything
else
that
it
might
be
father
the
way
that
we
understand
the
world
and
the
way
that
we
live
that
might
be
that
which
forms
us
father
that
it
might
be
Jesus
and his
death
upon
the
cross
we
ask
that
your
Holy
Spirit
would
do
that
work
in
our
lives
more
and
more
we
thank
you
that
we
can
gather
to
recommit
to
reconnect
to
renew
father
the
covenant
knowing
not
that
we
have
to
give
our
lives
to
Jesus
again
that
when
he
took
us
he
took
us
but
that
we
can
recommit
that
we
can
reconnect
we
can
renew
that
covenant
and
say
Lord
help
me
to
live
for
you
this
week
we
ask
all
these
things
in
the
name
of
Jesus
your
son
and
our
savior
amen