WEBVTT 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:05.600 Morning everyone who's here, morning to everyone who's joining online. 00:00:06.140 --> 00:00:10.419 It's nice to see you, it's nice to be with you, be together. 00:00:13.099 --> 00:00:18.000 My initial thoughts even before coming to the... 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:20.800 I'm trying to get my thumb to open this. 00:00:21.780 --> 00:00:27.240 Before even coming here when you're driving in haste and all your favorite parking spots are blocked up, 00:00:27.239 --> 00:00:33.759 nothing shows how sanctified you are or are not in those moments. 00:00:34.060 --> 00:00:40.579 And so I had lots of opportunity to pray and bring my heart before God this morning. 00:00:40.820 --> 00:00:43.340 So always a good time. 00:00:45.859 --> 00:00:52.060 So my sermon topic is oppression, structural systemic injustice. 00:00:52.060 --> 00:00:59.920 And no one knew when I was preparing this sermon, when I was slotted for this Sunday, 00:01:00.100 --> 00:01:03.000 that the Supreme Court would make its announcement on Friday. 00:01:03.719 --> 00:01:07.680 And so I went back to this topic and I thought, is this the right topic? 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:09.300 And I still think it is. 00:01:09.299 --> 00:01:15.299 I'm aware that the words oppression, systemic injustice, that sort of thing, 00:01:15.879 --> 00:01:18.239 evoke different responses from different people. 00:01:19.019 --> 00:01:20.239 If you're more... 00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:23.159 Depending on whether you're more conservative or more progressive-leaning, 00:01:23.659 --> 00:01:28.359 you may be hearing these words and bracing yourself for what you think is about to come. 00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:33.340 Is this a lecture about things that have nothing to do with the gospel? 00:01:33.340 --> 00:01:38.459 Is this going to be a lecture about all that's wrong with current social justice issues? 00:01:39.299 --> 00:01:39.719 So... 00:01:39.719 --> 00:01:41.920 You may... 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:45.420 If you're more conservative-leaning, you may have felt that Friday's announcement was 00:01:45.420 --> 00:01:50.079 an ending of decades of injustice. 00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:54.019 And if you're more progressive-leaning, you may have felt like this was a rolling back 00:01:54.019 --> 00:01:57.340 to greater structural or systemic injustice. 00:01:57.539 --> 00:02:02.879 So I want to recognize that this is who we are and that all these thoughts and feelings 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:07.159 are probably here in this room and among people who are online. 00:02:09.300 --> 00:02:15.600 Like many people, I have found that the way these important policy and social issues are 00:02:15.600 --> 00:02:18.560 talked about to be so intensely polarized. 00:02:19.300 --> 00:02:23.280 The way of talking about these things can be so filled with anger, and not just about 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:23.860 the issues. 00:02:24.140 --> 00:02:29.700 And there's a legitimate anger that should be felt for issues. 00:02:30.020 --> 00:02:35.040 But it's the anger and the hate that gets directed towards people who we see as on the 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:39.959 opposite side of our issue or the opposite side of the ballot box. 00:02:41.519 --> 00:02:46.799 And I've watched many parts of the church over the last year and a half get drawn into this 00:02:46.799 --> 00:02:52.919 really intense polarized way of talking about and approaching issues, even into these ways 00:02:52.919 --> 00:02:53.840 of hate and anger. 00:02:54.699 --> 00:02:55.840 I've heard this said. 00:02:55.899 --> 00:02:57.259 I've even thought these things. 00:02:57.259 --> 00:03:02.219 How can a Christian think or believe, vote, or feel like that? 00:03:03.139 --> 00:03:03.879 That can't be. 00:03:04.299 --> 00:03:05.759 That's not consistent with Scripture. 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:07.959 That person can't really be a Christian. 00:03:08.099 --> 00:03:08.819 I've heard this. 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:10.739 I've had these thoughts go through my head. 00:03:11.699 --> 00:03:17.000 I found that I've needed to turn off my screen and exit the online environment periodically, 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:20.299 even for days at a time, especially before bed. 00:03:20.739 --> 00:03:24.139 Because if I don't, my head starts to spin. 00:03:24.139 --> 00:03:26.799 I find it hard to switch my brain off and go to sleep. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:31.479 But I've also found myself asking the Lord, Lord, is this it? 00:03:32.279 --> 00:03:34.039 Is this the best we can do? 00:03:34.599 --> 00:03:38.359 Is this all there is for us and for so many issues? 00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:45.939 So this sermon this morning is part of my attempt to reorient myself, to reground myself 00:03:45.939 --> 00:03:55.199 in the way I see Jesus in the Scriptures, and to do so in a way that will help me stay engaged 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:57.039 in a more healthy way. 00:03:57.060 --> 00:03:58.479 And I hope you find this helpful, too. 00:03:58.819 --> 00:04:04.099 I hope that people here are a little surprised, maybe disappointed in all the right ways. 00:04:04.579 --> 00:04:09.400 But I hope that all of us are pushed towards a tighter connection with Jesus and pushed to 00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:09.639 prayer. 00:04:09.939 --> 00:04:11.740 Because I think that's the right place to start. 00:04:11.740 --> 00:04:16.620 Let me start with an imaginary scene. 00:04:17.220 --> 00:04:20.939 I've actually hoped that this would…I wish this had happened in the Gospels. 00:04:21.019 --> 00:04:21.439 I don't know. 00:04:21.540 --> 00:04:22.620 I'm pretty sure it didn't. 00:04:22.740 --> 00:04:24.000 But imagine this. 00:04:24.680 --> 00:04:27.780 This is a moment where Jesus gathers together His disciples. 00:04:27.939 --> 00:04:29.819 Picture the chosen, if that helps, right? 00:04:29.860 --> 00:04:30.879 Picture all those people. 00:04:31.340 --> 00:04:34.680 And in the chosen, the Jesus of the chosen calls His followers boys. 00:04:34.980 --> 00:04:36.259 He says, gather around, boys. 00:04:36.259 --> 00:04:42.180 And they all gather around, and He says, I would like to introduce to you two new members 00:04:42.180 --> 00:04:42.839 of our group. 00:04:43.659 --> 00:04:47.740 And He turns and He says, first of all, I'd like to introduce to you Simon the Zealot. 00:04:48.659 --> 00:04:54.939 Before Simon joined us, he was training with a militia group who was deeply concerned about 00:04:54.939 --> 00:04:56.519 the direction that Israel was going. 00:04:57.120 --> 00:05:02.439 He felt it was going down, and He was willing to go to any length to make Israel great again, 00:05:02.439 --> 00:05:06.680 including violently overthrowing the government, if necessary. 00:05:07.579 --> 00:05:11.139 And then He would turn to this side and say, and I'd like you to meet Matthew the tax collector. 00:05:11.899 --> 00:05:14.339 Before this, Matthew was deep in the swamp. 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:19.259 He was collecting taxes for the occupying Romans and for the Herodian government. 00:05:19.939 --> 00:05:22.159 And he was lining his pockets along the way. 00:05:22.759 --> 00:05:28.420 And that money that he took from all of you was being used to fund the oppression of the 00:05:28.420 --> 00:05:31.480 Romans, basically to pay for your oppressors. 00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:36.120 And then Jesus would smile and look at everybody and maybe slap some people on the back and 00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:40.420 say, I know that you'll join me in giving them both a warm welcome. 00:05:41.200 --> 00:05:42.439 And then He'd walk away. 00:05:42.860 --> 00:05:46.620 And there'd be this stunned silence, and the disciples are looking at each other in disbelief, 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:47.700 like, did this just happen? 00:05:48.200 --> 00:05:49.640 Like, is He really doing this? 00:05:49.900 --> 00:05:50.660 Like, we were good. 00:05:50.860 --> 00:05:52.879 And then He brought these two people in. 00:05:53.220 --> 00:05:57.620 And Simon and Matthew are looking at each other, and they're like, you? 00:05:58.220 --> 00:05:59.040 Like, you? 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:01.120 And He...but there they were. 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:04.680 Now, obviously, the scene didn't happen. 00:06:04.939 --> 00:06:08.180 Jesus went up and had a night in prayer, and He announced who His twelve were. 00:06:08.460 --> 00:06:12.600 But along the way, people were coming and going and getting to know Jesus, and He was 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:13.660 drawing them to Himself. 00:06:14.120 --> 00:06:16.740 But these two disciples were real disciples. 00:06:17.080 --> 00:06:19.620 They were real disciples with those exact backgrounds. 00:06:20.220 --> 00:06:22.379 And they were brought into the inner circle. 00:06:22.379 --> 00:06:26.219 And that means that they had to contend with each other. 00:06:27.560 --> 00:06:30.480 But their backgrounds are not just sort of incidental. 00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:33.699 I mean, Simon the Zealot was called Simon the Zealot his whole life. 00:06:34.339 --> 00:06:38.019 And Matthew the tax collector was called the tax collector his whole life. 00:06:38.540 --> 00:06:43.019 Long after they had followed Jesus and the Gospels were being written, they were still being 00:06:43.019 --> 00:06:44.259 called by those names. 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:45.980 So those labels stuck. 00:06:45.980 --> 00:06:51.700 But their backgrounds point to some really important realities of what was going on in 00:06:51.700 --> 00:06:54.700 Jesus' life and ministry, what was going on in Israel at the time. 00:06:55.319 --> 00:06:56.460 There was injustice. 00:06:57.140 --> 00:06:59.200 There was structural and systemic injustice. 00:06:59.720 --> 00:07:02.700 It was very real, and it was very, very difficult. 00:07:03.400 --> 00:07:09.000 Nobody could spend one day not being affected by these things, or even spend a day not even 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:10.220 thinking about these things. 00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:11.379 It was constant. 00:07:11.379 --> 00:07:14.480 So I want to sketch a few of these. 00:07:15.560 --> 00:07:19.839 This may be familiar to some of you, so let me try and cover this quickly. 00:07:20.040 --> 00:07:22.079 So I already mentioned the Roman occupation. 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:26.879 So this was an unwelcome military occupation of Israel. 00:07:27.740 --> 00:07:30.159 Israel was located between Egypt and Syria. 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:34.879 It was at the intersection of trade routes going between east and west, north and south. 00:07:35.339 --> 00:07:38.620 And it was of political and economic strategic value to Rome. 00:07:38.620 --> 00:07:42.840 So the Roman occupation was brutal and violent. 00:07:43.500 --> 00:07:48.060 Roman soldiers could come into any village and take whatever they wanted, food, animals, 00:07:48.780 --> 00:07:50.540 people, women. 00:07:50.840 --> 00:07:55.560 They could do this, and there was no way to resist them, really, and no recourse. 00:07:56.660 --> 00:07:57.840 And they were violent. 00:07:58.220 --> 00:08:03.399 Resistance, uprisings, insurrections were all viciously suppressed. 00:08:03.399 --> 00:08:08.859 So Jesus would have grown up walking on roads, seeing crucifixions lining the road. 00:08:09.919 --> 00:08:15.979 This was one of Rome's favorite ways to not just punish criminals, but to put people to 00:08:15.979 --> 00:08:17.539 death who were challenging their power. 00:08:18.139 --> 00:08:24.459 And why not just execute people in the quiet, you know, enclosure of a dungeon? 00:08:24.659 --> 00:08:25.779 Why do that? 00:08:26.579 --> 00:08:28.779 Well, this was about terror and trauma. 00:08:28.779 --> 00:08:34.240 This was about making sure that everybody understood who was in charge and what would happen if you 00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:35.240 resisted their power. 00:08:36.259 --> 00:08:38.759 So another layer, Herod's government. 00:08:39.959 --> 00:08:46.179 So Herod, at the time, Herod was permitted to rule by Rome as a client king as long as 00:08:46.179 --> 00:08:47.159 he did what Rome wanted. 00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:51.379 So he was king when Jesus was a boy, when he was born. 00:08:51.659 --> 00:08:55.079 He was the one who sent soldiers to look for Jesus to try and kill him. 00:08:55.080 --> 00:08:59.780 Well, Herod's main job was to keep things stable and keep the tax money flowing. 00:09:01.040 --> 00:09:04.940 But sure, in Jesus' early years as a boy, Herod died. 00:09:05.560 --> 00:09:10.800 You remember that a dream came to Joseph telling him, go to Egypt because Herod's still looking 00:09:10.800 --> 00:09:13.660 for you and stay there until he's died. 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:17.840 So Herod died when he was a boy and Herod's kingdom went to his kids. 00:09:18.620 --> 00:09:20.060 And the Gospels described them. 00:09:20.820 --> 00:09:22.040 All the Herods were brutal. 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:23.879 They were all oppressive in their own right. 00:09:23.879 --> 00:09:31.100 One of Herod's sons, who was in charge of Judea and some of the territory, irritated 00:09:31.100 --> 00:09:32.240 Caesar Augustus. 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:37.779 And Caesar Augustus got rid of him and appointed a Roman prefect to be in charge of that territory 00:09:37.779 --> 00:09:38.220 instead. 00:09:38.580 --> 00:09:39.820 His name was Pontius Pilate. 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:45.559 So from birth to death, Jesus was deeply touched by all those systems. 00:09:46.179 --> 00:09:51.940 By these systems, from Herod to Pontius Pilate, these systems had a deep impact on his life. 00:09:51.940 --> 00:09:56.620 But there was another group that had an impact too, the high priest and his council. 00:09:57.680 --> 00:10:02.020 So the Roman prefect ruled Judea, but he actually didn't govern Jerusalem. 00:10:02.340 --> 00:10:03.560 That was the high priest's job. 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:10.940 And so his job was to keep order, mediate between the Romans and the locals, and keep things 00:10:10.940 --> 00:10:13.920 under, keep things quiet, and yes, keep the money going. 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:18.559 Now, the person who we read about in the Gospels was the most important, Caiaphas. 00:10:19.219 --> 00:10:24.139 He was the chief priest for the longest, and he and Pontius Pilate worked together for about 00:10:24.139 --> 00:10:24.799 10 years. 00:10:25.199 --> 00:10:26.139 So what does that mean? 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:28.279 Caiaphas was really good at his job. 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:33.199 And he and Pontius Pilate may not have liked each other, but they knew how to work together. 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:39.699 So by the time they were hanging out and collaborating and working together in how to handle Jesus, 00:10:39.700 --> 00:10:40.740 they knew each other. 00:10:41.259 --> 00:10:42.820 They were used to handling things. 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:48.379 Now, Caiaphas and the council controlled the temple, which is really important, made them 00:10:48.379 --> 00:10:49.180 doubly powerful. 00:10:50.060 --> 00:10:51.120 Worship was obligatory. 00:10:51.300 --> 00:10:53.500 Thousands of people came to the temple every day. 00:10:54.379 --> 00:10:59.020 Now, you may not know this, but the original temple had a space for the priests and a space 00:10:59.020 --> 00:10:59.840 for everyone else. 00:11:00.020 --> 00:11:04.820 But when Herod built the temple or rebuilt it, he had a space for priests, a space for men, 00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:07.360 then a space for women, and a space for Gentiles. 00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:12.220 He literally structured discriminatory status for people who were coming. 00:11:12.580 --> 00:11:13.860 He built it right into the temple. 00:11:14.800 --> 00:11:19.740 And also, there was an animal market and a currency exchange system. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:23.379 If you were a pilgrim and you were coming from afar, you didn't bring an animal. 00:11:23.899 --> 00:11:25.379 You had to buy one inside. 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:27.460 And you had to trade money. 00:11:27.700 --> 00:11:28.560 Now, here's an example. 00:11:28.980 --> 00:11:30.139 Imagine going to Dulles. 00:11:30.340 --> 00:11:33.639 You go through security and you say, I feel like a hamburger from Five Guys. 00:11:34.019 --> 00:11:35.200 But you're told two things. 00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:38.700 One, you're not allowed to bring food and drink from the outside, so you have to buy 00:11:38.700 --> 00:11:39.720 the food that's inside. 00:11:40.120 --> 00:11:44.360 And two, I know you have money, but you have to exchange it for special airport money. 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:49.420 And it turns out that once you exchange your money, the Five Guys burger is the equivalent 00:11:49.420 --> 00:11:50.120 of $50. 00:11:51.920 --> 00:11:53.000 But you had no choice. 00:11:53.180 --> 00:11:54.120 Now, it's different. 00:11:54.220 --> 00:11:58.400 I would walk away and just kind of complain and go buy Tic Tacs and tell my kids to stop 00:11:58.400 --> 00:11:58.840 complaining. 00:11:59.080 --> 00:12:00.140 Yes, there are no snacks. 00:12:00.139 --> 00:12:04.319 But if you're obliged to worship, you have to buy one of these burgers. 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:07.840 You have to buy it and you have to be cheated in the process. 00:12:09.500 --> 00:12:13.000 So, the high priest and the council had a lot of power. 00:12:13.779 --> 00:12:16.159 Now, with this setting, picture this. 00:12:16.460 --> 00:12:20.220 Most people in Jesus' time didn't just live in one zone or another. 00:12:20.360 --> 00:12:21.539 They moved in between them. 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:23.039 They occupied multiple zones. 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:28.959 So, you could have a member of the high priest council angry that he's oppressed by the Romans, 00:12:29.159 --> 00:12:33.319 angry about the violence that's happening to him and his people, and at the same time, 00:12:33.639 --> 00:12:39.299 cheerfully oversee a system that cheats pilgrims and especially the poor and never feel any 00:12:39.299 --> 00:12:40.779 tension or see the irony of it. 00:12:41.299 --> 00:12:44.139 He could be both an oppressor and the oppressed. 00:12:46.620 --> 00:12:50.419 And so, in Jesus' time, like ours, you couldn't easily classify people. 00:12:50.419 --> 00:12:52.059 And it's true. 00:12:52.219 --> 00:12:55.559 We all possess privilege or advantage and we all experience oppression. 00:12:56.219 --> 00:13:01.959 So, you can be white, have lots of privilege, but if you also live in a small, economically 00:13:01.959 --> 00:13:08.179 depressed town where jobs are scarce and opioids are abundant, you won't feel your privilege. 00:13:08.319 --> 00:13:09.339 You're going to feel your oppression. 00:13:10.500 --> 00:13:15.959 And you could be an executive of a large global corporation and have a lot of privilege because 00:13:15.960 --> 00:13:20.420 of the corporation you control, because of your compensation package. 00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:25.180 But if, as that executive, you are a black female and you are followed around a store 00:13:25.180 --> 00:13:28.620 by security, you don't feel any supposed privilege. 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:30.280 You just feel your oppression. 00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:37.820 So, people in Jesus' time, like ours, don't neatly fit into boxes. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:42.900 There are no clear and obvious oppressors and no clear and obvious oppressed. 00:13:42.899 --> 00:13:46.840 So, how did Jesus respond to all this going on around him? 00:13:47.319 --> 00:13:49.299 So, we read from Isaiah 58. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:54.819 We know from the Old Testament, from the writings of the prophets especially, that oppression, 00:13:55.139 --> 00:13:57.639 corruption, exploitation existed in Israel. 00:13:58.620 --> 00:13:59.840 We know how God saw it. 00:13:59.879 --> 00:14:02.559 We know how God felt about it in the writings of these prophets. 00:14:03.139 --> 00:14:08.960 He was deeply concerned about the weak, the marginalized, the powerless, the widow, the orphan, 00:14:09.079 --> 00:14:09.559 the poor. 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:12.679 We sometimes say the least, the last, the lost. 00:14:13.619 --> 00:14:18.919 And there are about 2,000 verses in Scripture that talk about God being a God of justice, 00:14:19.159 --> 00:14:21.479 who defends the weak and judges those who oppress. 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:26.459 So, this should give us a good head start in knowing how Jesus feels about things. 00:14:27.119 --> 00:14:33.539 But, Jesus' response could be both astonishing and maddening. 00:14:33.739 --> 00:14:38.119 It could be frustrating to everyone, both in his day and we can still find it frustrating. 00:14:38.120 --> 00:14:40.440 So, a couple things I want to point out. 00:14:41.299 --> 00:14:46.840 And I think this, and this is where, for me, I really wanted to kind of dig in as part of 00:14:46.840 --> 00:14:48.460 this grounding and reorienting. 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:54.340 So, Jesus and all the systemic injustice, all these structures around him. 00:14:56.060 --> 00:15:00.159 Jesus could move through all these structures and systems of injustice. 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:06.199 He could experience discrimination and ill treatment and never be co-opted or corrupted by it. 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:11.819 Jesus was the Holy One, the spotless Lamb of God, the light of the world. 00:15:12.019 --> 00:15:18.120 And whenever he came into contact with sin, disease, brokenness, and injustice, it never 00:15:18.120 --> 00:15:19.539 tainted or defiled him. 00:15:19.860 --> 00:15:22.399 It never dulled his love for others. 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:25.360 And he never fell subject to those temptations. 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:28.180 All that stuff, rather, gave way before him. 00:15:29.700 --> 00:15:35.000 And not only was he just not captured by these things, he even used systems and structures 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:37.600 and, at times, subverted them at will. 00:15:38.700 --> 00:15:42.620 So, one of my favorite moments when Jesus used these structures, it comes from John 7. 00:15:43.080 --> 00:15:46.200 So, it says this is the last and great day of the feast. 00:15:46.259 --> 00:15:47.379 It was the Feast of Booths. 00:15:47.940 --> 00:15:53.360 This is the time when a festival that celebrated the harvest and God's bounty and goodness. 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:58.159 And on the last and great day of that festival, what happened was that priests would take bowls 00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:03.680 of water and they would walk seven times around the altar and then, with great ceremonial flourish, 00:16:03.800 --> 00:16:05.340 pour the water out onto the altar. 00:16:05.700 --> 00:16:07.340 And the crowd would yell, Hosanna. 00:16:07.740 --> 00:16:12.919 It was a way of saying, thank you, God, and we pray for your continued generosity. 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:16.200 We recognize that life only can come from you. 00:16:16.820 --> 00:16:19.519 And then it gets super awkward. 00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:22.220 Jesus stands up. 00:16:22.220 --> 00:16:28.000 He says to the whole crowd, if anyone thirsts, let them come to me and drink. 00:16:28.519 --> 00:16:32.860 As the scriptures say, whoever believes in me, streams of living water will flow out of them. 00:16:33.460 --> 00:16:36.340 If you were the priest, you would have practically dropped those bowls. 00:16:37.060 --> 00:16:41.740 At this moment where you are pouring the water out and acknowledging that life and real life 00:16:41.740 --> 00:16:47.160 only comes from God, Jesus is standing up and saying, put faith in me like you put faith in God. 00:16:47.159 --> 00:16:49.360 Because life comes from me. 00:16:49.879 --> 00:16:50.939 And he used... 00:16:52.459 --> 00:16:56.299 I'm not sure if that was me, but if it was, I'll try and not do that again. 00:16:57.360 --> 00:16:59.100 Jesus, you... 00:16:59.100 --> 00:17:03.339 Is it my beard? 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:08.740 It's good news because I struggled most of my life to grow a beard. 00:17:08.740 --> 00:17:10.539 So if this is happening, I'm really pleased. 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:14.279 Okay. 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:16.019 I tried to bend this away. 00:17:17.319 --> 00:17:21.460 Jesus used a festival, a very public festival. 00:17:25.059 --> 00:17:26.680 A very public festival. 00:17:26.680 --> 00:17:32.019 For his own purposes. 00:17:32.820 --> 00:17:38.080 It wasn't a bad festival, but he just had a way of moving in and using things for his purposes. 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:40.660 How did he subvert some of these things? 00:17:41.160 --> 00:17:45.000 I already mentioned this captive market situation where you had to come to the temple, 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:48.259 exchange your money, and buy one of their animals for sacrifice. 00:17:49.900 --> 00:17:51.080 What did Jesus do? 00:17:51.539 --> 00:17:53.100 He literally flipped the table. 00:17:53.099 --> 00:18:00.159 I have seen no end of flip the table memes in the last 18 to 24 months, but he did that. 00:18:00.719 --> 00:18:05.000 He disrupted this system that was cheating people and disadvantaging the poor. 00:18:06.659 --> 00:18:11.179 Now, it probably lasted for as long as a week while he was in the temple every day preaching, 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:15.199 but after he died, I bet everybody set everything back up again and kept on going. 00:18:15.679 --> 00:18:17.000 But he did it. 00:18:17.740 --> 00:18:22.179 And in both these instances, him shouting during the water festival moment 00:18:22.180 --> 00:18:26.920 and flipping the tables, it didn't go down well with anybody who was in charge of the temple. 00:18:28.220 --> 00:18:31.940 Now, part of why Jesus could move through structures and systems as he did, 00:18:32.519 --> 00:18:35.279 use them and subvert them, is because of who he centered. 00:18:36.340 --> 00:18:43.080 So this idea of centering is everywhere in discussions about social justice, 00:18:43.460 --> 00:18:47.220 and there's a lot of important, there's a lot to be learned from this. 00:18:47.340 --> 00:18:48.759 There's a lot of validity to this. 00:18:48.759 --> 00:18:51.799 And so I asked myself, who did Jesus center? 00:18:52.200 --> 00:18:55.279 I will admit before coming into working on the sermon, 00:18:55.559 --> 00:18:59.099 I probably would have answered the question that he centered the poor or the marginalized 00:18:59.099 --> 00:19:01.279 because of what I see in the Old Testament. 00:19:01.900 --> 00:19:06.980 When I looked closer at it, I realized that Jesus centered his heavenly father. 00:19:07.940 --> 00:19:09.420 Not quite what I expected. 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:11.799 In John 5, Jesus said, 00:19:11.799 --> 00:19:14.859 I only do and say what I see my father doing and saying. 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:16.740 In John 8, he said, 00:19:16.819 --> 00:19:19.039 He always does what is pleasing to his father. 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:22.000 He repeatedly said he was sent from the father, 00:19:22.139 --> 00:19:24.839 does the father's will, and seeks to glorify his father. 00:19:26.119 --> 00:19:30.539 Jesus relentlessly centered his father by choosing to empty himself 00:19:30.539 --> 00:19:35.359 and become a servant who loved and obeyed his father without exception. 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:42.439 Jesus dropped his agenda and said he will only have his father's agenda. 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:44.319 That's centering his father. 00:19:45.339 --> 00:19:49.959 What his father cared about and was doing, Jesus cared about and did. 00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:53.339 What his father had to say, Jesus was saying. 00:19:53.779 --> 00:19:58.479 But when it came to his followers, Jesus asked them to center himself. 00:19:59.179 --> 00:20:00.039 It's pretty audacious. 00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:06.359 Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the life, the resurrection life, 00:20:06.519 --> 00:20:08.299 the light of the world. 00:20:08.740 --> 00:20:11.440 Every time Jesus said to somebody, come follow me. 00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:15.559 Can you imagine somebody coming up to you and saying, come follow me? 00:20:15.779 --> 00:20:20.960 He'd be like, and you are because you are so, why should I follow you? 00:20:22.059 --> 00:20:23.579 He said, come follow me. 00:20:24.039 --> 00:20:27.500 Every time Jesus told people, believe in me and put trust in me 00:20:27.500 --> 00:20:29.079 because you will have eternal life. 00:20:30.039 --> 00:20:34.599 High stakes centering of himself. 00:20:35.319 --> 00:20:40.079 But Jesus asked people to center himself as he centered his father. 00:20:40.920 --> 00:20:43.000 There's always an other centeredness. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:45.159 And that's important. 00:20:47.539 --> 00:20:50.319 And there were a number of effects of Jesus centering his father. 00:20:50.980 --> 00:20:54.119 Jesus centering his father meant that primarily he was a worshiper. 00:20:54.920 --> 00:20:56.480 He was intimate with his father. 00:20:56.480 --> 00:21:01.500 He could say, the father is in me and I am in the father and we are one. 00:21:01.940 --> 00:21:05.140 He could say, if you see the father, if you see me, you see my father. 00:21:05.900 --> 00:21:09.440 And out of that centering of his father flowed all his love, 00:21:09.860 --> 00:21:14.779 all his ministry to heal, forgive, restore, cast out demons, raise the dead, 00:21:14.819 --> 00:21:16.140 and even flip tables. 00:21:16.140 --> 00:21:23.400 Jesus centering his father meant he was completely open to his father's love and power and life. 00:21:23.740 --> 00:21:25.300 And no darkness could dwell in him. 00:21:26.360 --> 00:21:30.100 And the effect it had on him was that it meant that he was meek and lowly. 00:21:30.560 --> 00:21:32.820 He invited people to come find rest in him. 00:21:33.240 --> 00:21:35.380 It meant that he would, and the expression was, 00:21:35.380 --> 00:21:38.460 he would not break a bruised reed, which means he was gentle. 00:21:39.040 --> 00:21:40.420 He was gentle with the wounded. 00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:42.840 It meant that Jesus was safe. 00:21:43.400 --> 00:21:48.320 He could carry his identities as a Jewish man around a Samaritan woman 00:21:48.320 --> 00:21:52.080 with all the bad history that that involved. 00:21:52.460 --> 00:21:55.320 And she would find it life-giving and not oppressive. 00:21:57.940 --> 00:22:01.520 Jesus' expectation of us was that as he centered his father, 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:05.279 that we center him, being one with Christ, 00:22:05.940 --> 00:22:08.299 living in him and him living in us, 00:22:08.460 --> 00:22:10.740 that we too would be primarily worshipers, 00:22:10.900 --> 00:22:14.960 open to the love and life and power that comes through Christ. 00:22:15.500 --> 00:22:18.759 And that out of us then would flow that same love towards others, 00:22:18.839 --> 00:22:20.920 that same ministry of healing and deliverance, 00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:24.119 plus food for the hungry, relief for the poor, 00:22:24.119 --> 00:22:26.519 and advocacy on behalf of the oppressed. 00:22:26.519 --> 00:22:32.480 Part of how Jesus confronted structural injustices 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:35.000 was also to confront our hearts, 00:22:35.700 --> 00:22:38.879 to see us transformed by radically centering himself 00:22:38.879 --> 00:22:41.700 so that in turn, out of the overflow, 00:22:41.879 --> 00:22:43.519 the world would be changed around us. 00:22:44.839 --> 00:22:47.279 But there was one other way that Jesus also responded 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:48.339 to structural injustice. 00:22:49.259 --> 00:22:51.420 It was very inspiring during his lifetime, 00:22:51.639 --> 00:22:54.579 but in his death it was confusing and deeply counterintuitive. 00:22:54.579 --> 00:22:58.899 So during his life and death, Jesus handled power. 00:22:59.579 --> 00:23:02.500 That very thing that's misused by people who oppress, 00:23:03.019 --> 00:23:05.039 the very thing that gets embedded in structures 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:06.699 that are unjust and oppressive, 00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:09.619 but he used power in ways that were consistent 00:23:09.619 --> 00:23:11.519 with his father, whom he centered. 00:23:12.359 --> 00:23:13.619 So lots of people comment, 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:15.819 Jesus didn't have formal power, and that's true. 00:23:16.220 --> 00:23:18.759 He didn't come from a prominent or well-connected family, 00:23:18.859 --> 00:23:19.759 he didn't have degrees, 00:23:20.279 --> 00:23:22.599 he didn't hold a position of influence or power, 00:23:23.099 --> 00:23:24.079 he didn't have a lot of money. 00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:27.839 But in some ways that misses the point. 00:23:28.019 --> 00:23:29.439 There are lots of other people in the scriptures 00:23:29.439 --> 00:23:30.639 who do have those things. 00:23:30.939 --> 00:23:33.599 It's actually about how you handle the power in those things. 00:23:34.679 --> 00:23:36.139 Jesus had tremendous power, 00:23:36.220 --> 00:23:37.099 the power of the Spirit, 00:23:37.919 --> 00:23:39.220 which I love to talk about. 00:23:40.259 --> 00:23:42.399 The nature of this power was not that of the world. 00:23:42.919 --> 00:23:44.679 This power subverted the demonic 00:23:44.679 --> 00:23:46.579 in sickness and death. 00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:48.619 It set people free. 00:23:49.500 --> 00:23:51.279 But Jesus also had something else, 00:23:51.319 --> 00:23:51.879 he had love. 00:23:51.880 --> 00:23:53.960 I remember thinking, 00:23:54.060 --> 00:23:55.500 can I say the power of love? 00:23:55.820 --> 00:23:57.920 And I just felt this wave of cheese come over me, 00:23:57.960 --> 00:23:58.600 because I thought, 00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:02.220 like, even my mobile banking app 00:24:02.220 --> 00:24:03.120 will say something like, 00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:04.260 it's the power of love. 00:24:04.320 --> 00:24:04.720 And I'm like, 00:24:05.380 --> 00:24:05.640 it's, like... 00:24:05.640 --> 00:24:06.640 Like... 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:11.200 That's not what my bank statement says. 00:24:11.280 --> 00:24:11.720 But anyway, 00:24:12.120 --> 00:24:14.120 the power of love. 00:24:14.460 --> 00:24:15.780 So it's become a little bit empty. 00:24:16.020 --> 00:24:18.020 But love actually is powerful. 00:24:18.680 --> 00:24:20.720 Love sees and affirms your identity 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:22.900 and washes out the wounds of shame. 00:24:23.580 --> 00:24:25.560 Love forgives and extends grace 00:24:25.560 --> 00:24:26.920 when you least deserve it 00:24:26.920 --> 00:24:28.759 and makes redemption possible. 00:24:29.400 --> 00:24:31.680 Love protects the hurting and the powerless. 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:33.740 It houses the homeless, 00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:36.140 works for healthcare and quality education, 00:24:36.140 --> 00:24:38.480 and it gives food in times of famine. 00:24:38.980 --> 00:24:40.560 But to take it one step further, 00:24:40.740 --> 00:24:42.320 Jesus had sacrificial love, 00:24:42.740 --> 00:24:45.100 the kind that washes the feats of enemies 00:24:45.100 --> 00:24:47.279 so that the cycles of violence can be broken 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:50.240 and enemies transformed. 00:24:50.900 --> 00:24:52.740 It's the kind of sacrificial love 00:24:52.740 --> 00:24:54.519 that dies for other people's wrongs 00:24:54.519 --> 00:24:56.980 and even to handle their oppressions. 00:24:56.980 --> 00:25:00.299 This kind of love is called cruciform. 00:25:00.500 --> 00:25:01.720 It's in the shape of a cross. 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:05.000 This was deeply perplexing and counterintuitive. 00:25:05.740 --> 00:25:07.120 Most people during his lifetime 00:25:07.120 --> 00:25:09.779 expected Jesus to be a military Messiah. 00:25:10.400 --> 00:25:12.799 His followers hoped that he would overthrow Rome 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:15.380 and usher in the next kingdom for Israel. 00:25:16.599 --> 00:25:17.259 And to be honest, 00:25:17.319 --> 00:25:18.420 his detractors were feared 00:25:18.420 --> 00:25:19.880 that this is what he was up to anyway. 00:25:20.819 --> 00:25:23.319 But I'm going to read you a quote. 00:25:23.319 --> 00:25:26.599 This is a quote from Diane Langberg. 00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:27.679 It's from her book, 00:25:27.799 --> 00:25:29.399 Power, Redeeming Power, 00:25:29.579 --> 00:25:32.019 Understanding Authority and Abuse in the Church. 00:25:32.779 --> 00:25:34.019 I highly recommend it. 00:25:34.139 --> 00:25:34.859 Here's her quote. 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:37.839 The Lord we follow, God incarnate, 00:25:38.039 --> 00:25:41.240 had to navigate secular and religious cultures of his day 00:25:41.240 --> 00:25:43.500 when he came to earth as a human person. 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:46.980 He was so despised that both the Roman Empire 00:25:46.980 --> 00:25:48.639 and the Jewish nation, 00:25:49.279 --> 00:25:51.460 who hated each other vehemently, 00:25:51.460 --> 00:25:54.340 joined forces colluding to kill him 00:25:54.340 --> 00:25:56.360 because he would not bow to their rule. 00:25:57.440 --> 00:25:58.779 Miroslav Volf has said, 00:25:59.240 --> 00:26:01.220 the single most significant factor 00:26:01.220 --> 00:26:03.000 in determining whether a religion 00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:04.980 will be implicated in violence 00:26:04.980 --> 00:26:07.980 is its identification with a political project 00:26:07.980 --> 00:26:09.759 and its entanglement 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:11.759 with those trying to realize 00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:13.480 and protect that project. 00:26:14.200 --> 00:26:16.620 The temple leadership did exactly that 00:26:16.620 --> 00:26:17.720 with the Roman Empire. 00:26:17.720 --> 00:26:17.779 Thank you. 00:26:21.460 --> 00:26:23.079 I'll try and open this again. 00:26:24.140 --> 00:26:26.940 Jesus' life lived a life centered on his father, 00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:30.460 living out the power of love and the Holy Spirit, 00:26:30.819 --> 00:26:32.860 serving others, healing, giving them life. 00:26:33.400 --> 00:26:35.340 He used and subverted structures 00:26:35.340 --> 00:26:38.180 and institutions according to his father's will 00:26:38.180 --> 00:26:40.880 while never being captured or conformed to them. 00:26:40.880 --> 00:26:43.140 And that was so threatening 00:26:43.140 --> 00:26:44.900 to those structures and systems 00:26:44.900 --> 00:26:45.580 and the people 00:26:45.580 --> 00:26:48.740 who benefited from those structures and systems 00:26:48.740 --> 00:26:50.560 that they joined forces to kill him. 00:26:51.740 --> 00:26:53.340 But somehow, somehow, 00:26:53.720 --> 00:26:55.260 in the genius of God, 00:26:55.860 --> 00:26:57.300 this was the undoing 00:26:57.300 --> 00:26:59.320 of those unjust structures and systems. 00:26:59.800 --> 00:27:00.420 And somehow, 00:27:00.700 --> 00:27:02.260 it was the undoing of that oppression. 00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:04.380 So what does that mean for us? 00:27:06.060 --> 00:27:07.860 Paul picks all this up 00:27:07.859 --> 00:27:09.579 and carries out in his writings 00:27:09.579 --> 00:27:10.779 what it means for us. 00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:13.819 He seemed clear that those of us 00:27:13.819 --> 00:27:16.259 who said yes to Jesus' call to follow him 00:27:16.259 --> 00:27:17.659 were not only different, 00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:18.939 but were to live differently. 00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:21.899 He seemed to think we were bonded together 00:27:21.899 --> 00:27:23.919 in a shared baptismal identity 00:27:23.919 --> 00:27:25.399 of being in Christ, 00:27:25.899 --> 00:27:27.639 an identity that was to run deeper 00:27:27.639 --> 00:27:30.019 than all other identities and loyalties, 00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:31.539 not to get rid of them, 00:27:32.539 --> 00:27:35.159 but so that we could hold those things in love 00:27:35.159 --> 00:27:37.259 in ways that don't oppress others. 00:27:37.859 --> 00:27:40.919 Paul seemed clear that we were to live 00:27:40.919 --> 00:27:41.979 like a new community 00:27:41.979 --> 00:27:44.439 of people in whom the resurrected Jesus 00:27:44.439 --> 00:27:45.879 dwells by his spirit, 00:27:46.359 --> 00:27:48.859 a new community that loved and served 00:27:48.859 --> 00:27:49.799 even its enemies, 00:27:50.299 --> 00:27:52.279 or at least people who are different from them. 00:27:53.159 --> 00:27:54.879 This new community would embody 00:27:54.879 --> 00:27:56.519 the way of Jesus in the world 00:27:56.519 --> 00:27:58.839 in relation to these structures and systems, 00:27:59.439 --> 00:28:01.419 in relation to oppression and injustice, 00:28:02.139 --> 00:28:03.639 to do what Jesus did 00:28:03.639 --> 00:28:05.000 and is continuing to do 00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:07.039 and wants to do by his spirit through us, 00:28:07.039 --> 00:28:09.139 to make all things new. 00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:12.460 And I think when Jesus introduced Simon the zealot 00:28:12.460 --> 00:28:13.680 and Matthew the tax collector, 00:28:14.139 --> 00:28:15.599 this is what he had in mind. 00:28:17.000 --> 00:28:20.079 When Simon and Matthew centered Jesus in their lives, 00:28:20.680 --> 00:28:21.399 they then had to, 00:28:21.579 --> 00:28:23.599 they were forced into a relationship with each other 00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:24.960 and had to reckon with each other 00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:26.619 and their backgrounds and pasts. 00:28:27.619 --> 00:28:30.079 They were required to learn to love each other, 00:28:30.079 --> 00:28:33.639 even to the point of laying down their lives for each other. 00:28:34.500 --> 00:28:36.859 And they were committed to seeing God 00:28:36.859 --> 00:28:39.619 transform the other one from the inside out 00:28:39.619 --> 00:28:43.000 and then see that what God has done inside of the other 00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:46.159 spill out into the world around them to change them. 00:28:47.539 --> 00:28:48.819 So when I think about this, 00:28:48.859 --> 00:28:49.659 when I think of Jesus 00:28:49.659 --> 00:28:50.919 and how he was in the world 00:28:50.919 --> 00:28:52.519 in these structures and systems, 00:28:52.599 --> 00:28:54.579 when I see his expectations on us, 00:28:54.980 --> 00:28:56.439 I start to wonder what would happen 00:28:56.440 --> 00:28:58.580 if we started really leaning into this? 00:29:00.019 --> 00:29:03.100 What would happen if we started leaning into this space 00:29:03.100 --> 00:29:04.559 and started asking the Lord, 00:29:04.920 --> 00:29:05.940 asking for his spirit, 00:29:06.059 --> 00:29:07.259 for fresh insight, 00:29:07.720 --> 00:29:08.600 fresh revelation 00:29:08.600 --> 00:29:10.360 on how to come together 00:29:10.360 --> 00:29:12.320 on the basis of this way of Jesus, 00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:14.140 this way of centering him 00:29:14.140 --> 00:29:15.799 and having an identity in him 00:29:15.799 --> 00:29:18.600 and finding fresh paths forward 00:29:18.600 --> 00:29:19.779 through this polarity 00:29:19.779 --> 00:29:20.880 and through the anger 00:29:20.880 --> 00:29:21.759 and through all that, 00:29:21.840 --> 00:29:23.700 all that ways that these things are talked about. 00:29:23.700 --> 00:29:26.240 I start to wonder if there's space 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:27.640 for redemptive solutions. 00:29:29.180 --> 00:29:30.299 Let me close in prayer. 00:29:32.019 --> 00:29:32.759 Lord Jesus, 00:29:34.759 --> 00:29:38.519 Lord, I think my confession is that 00:29:38.519 --> 00:29:41.380 when I see all the things that are, 00:29:41.500 --> 00:29:43.660 all the issues, important issues, 00:29:44.180 --> 00:29:49.920 Lord, when I see all the issues out there 00:29:49.920 --> 00:29:53.180 that are affecting the lives of my family 00:29:53.180 --> 00:29:54.580 and my friends, coworkers, 00:29:55.279 --> 00:29:56.539 people I go to church with, 00:29:57.620 --> 00:29:59.580 people who not just hold different views 00:29:59.580 --> 00:30:02.279 but occupy different places in these issues. 00:30:03.779 --> 00:30:06.060 Lord, some of it feels, 00:30:06.820 --> 00:30:07.800 not the issues, Lord, 00:30:07.880 --> 00:30:09.300 but how to really get into it 00:30:09.300 --> 00:30:10.900 in a way that honors you, 00:30:11.320 --> 00:30:13.240 that follows you into redemption. 00:30:13.240 --> 00:30:16.680 It feels a little bit above my pay grade. 00:30:17.080 --> 00:30:18.200 I don't feel smart enough 00:30:18.200 --> 00:30:19.720 to know how to navigate that. 00:30:20.420 --> 00:30:21.360 So my prayer, Lord, 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:22.580 is that you help us 00:30:22.580 --> 00:30:23.680 by your spirit 00:30:23.680 --> 00:30:24.940 find each other in love, 00:30:25.660 --> 00:30:27.779 find ways of maintaining 00:30:27.779 --> 00:30:29.120 the bond of love, 00:30:29.340 --> 00:30:30.480 the connection of the spirit 00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:33.519 with people who are different from us 00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:36.400 and that you would move us 00:30:36.400 --> 00:30:38.700 to pray and receive from you 00:30:38.700 --> 00:30:41.279 the kind of fresh approach 00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:44.380 that will open up space for you 00:30:44.380 --> 00:30:45.580 to make all things new 00:30:45.579 --> 00:30:46.980 in the midst of a lot of pain 00:30:46.980 --> 00:30:48.359 and a lot of hurt. 00:30:50.199 --> 00:30:51.199 I thank you, Lord. 00:30:52.199 --> 00:30:52.519 Amen.